The VLISP Console window is similar in some respects to the AutoCAD® Command window, but it provides many more features. Although the Console window and the AutoCAD Command window provide similar capabilities, you don't always use the same process to accomplish identical tasks. For example, to display the current value of an AutoLISP variable in VLISP, you simply type the variable name in the Console window and press ENTER. To view the value of a variable in AutoCAD, you must precede the variable name with an exclamation point (!) when you enter it at the AutoCAD Command prompt.
Unlike the AutoCAD Command window, where pressing SPACEBAR causes expression evaluation, text input at the VLISP Console prompt is not processed until you press ENTER. This permits you to do the following in the Console window:
- Continue an AutoLISP expression on a new line. To continue entering an expression on a new line, press CTRL + ENTER at the point you want to continue.
- Input more than one expression before pressing ENTER. VLISP evaluates each expression before returning a value to the Console window.
- If you select text in the Console window (for example, the result of a previous command or a previously entered expression), then press ENTER. VLISP copies the selected text at the Console prompt.
The VLISP Console window and the AutoCAD Command window differ in the way they process the SPACEBAR and TAB keys. In the VLISP Console window, a space plays no special role and serves only as a separator. In the AutoCAD Command window, pressing the SPACEBAR outside an expression causes AutoCAD to process the text immediately, as if you had pressed ENTER.