Tipster Bill Karkula shares a tip about managing the display of AutoCAD’s ViewCube (also known as the Navigation Cube) and Navigation Bar.

"In AutoCAD 2012, the ViewCube and Navigation Bar occasionally get in the way when drawing geometry or picking a window. I programmed a button to turn them off temporarily. They will reappear next time you start AutoCAD. Below are the macro and commands:

• Tool button macro: ^C^C_navvcube;off;navbardisplay;0;
• NavCube command: navvcube (on or off)
• Nav Bar command: navbardisplay (0=off and 1=on)
  

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: There are several options for managing these navigation tools in AutoCAD. The above macro will turn them off. But what if you don’t mind them being there, some of the time? The system variable NavVCubeDisplay has four settings for the ViewCube:

• 0: ViewCube is not displayed in 2D or 3D visual styles
• 1: ViewCube is displayed in 3D visual styles, but not in 2D visual styles
• 2: ViewCube is displayed in 2D visual styles, but not in 3D visual styles
• 3: ViewCube is displayed in both 2D and 3D visual styles

The NavBarDisplay value only has On and Off settings. That’s because it has several 2D tools, as well as 3D.