Accessing Favorite Commands

You can organize your favorite commands through an immersive dialog box for a quicker access. The Action Pad lets you create sets of most used commands from the action bar, or from the commands list.

This task shows you how to:

Display the Action Pad

You can display the Action Pad in furtive or permanent mode.

  1. To access the Action Pad, do one of the following:
    • From the Tools section of the action bar, click Action Pad .
    • Right-click inside the 3D area, and select Display > Action Pad.
  2. To access the Action Pad in furtive mode, you can either:
    • Press the B key.
    • Drag Brief Action Pad from the Customize dialog box onto the action bar. For more information, see 3DEXPERIENCE Native Apps User's Guide: User Interface: Customizing the User Interface: Customizing Sections in the Action Bar: Managing User-defined Sections from the Customize Dialog Box..
    The Action Pad appears under the pointer to let you quickly choose a command:

    In furtive mode:

    • You cannot move, dock, or resize the Action Pad.
    • The Action Pad is hidden as soon as you click a command. To display it again, press the B key.

  3. When in furtive mode, you can click the Always Visible pin icon in the upper-right corner to switch to permanent display mode:


    In permanent mode, you can resize, move, or dock the Action Pad.

  4. Click the command you want to run.
  5. When finished, you can:
    • Close the Action Pad through Action Pad in the action bar, or through the Display > Action Pad context menu.
    • Keep the Action Pad open to display it automatically next time you access the app.

    Important: The display of the Action Pad is defined per app and is kept across sessions.

Add Commands from the Customize Dialog Box

You can customize the contents of the Action Pad by adding or removing commands. By default, the Action Pad does not contain any command.

  1. To add commands to the Action Pad:
    • If the Action Pad is empty, click Customize.
    • If the Action Pad already contains commands, do one of the following:
      • Select Me > Preferences > Customize.
      • Right-click inside the top bar, and then select Display > Customize....
  2. In the Customize dialog box, click the Action Pad tab.
  3. Click Add Commands.
  4. From the commands list, select the commands you want to add to the Action Pad.

    You can select multiple commands at the same time.

    Tip:
    • Enter your search criteria in the search box, and then click or press Enter. The search is not case-sensitive and special characters are not supported.

      This lets you filter the commands list to display only the commands containing your search string.

    • To display the whole commands list again, click .

  5. Click OK.
    The selected commands are displayed in the Action Pad tab, and in the Action Pad dialog box.
  6. To remove commands, select them from the list (multiselection is available), and then click the appropriate command:
    • Remove removes your selection. It can be a single command, a set of commands, or a separator.
    • Remove All empties the customized content in the Action Pad and restores the initial content.
  7. To organize commands, click Add Separator to insert a line at the end of the list (if no command is selected), or before the selected command.


    Separators are the only way to sort commands. You cannot create subsections in the Action Pad.

  8. To reorder commands in the list, drag them to the location of your choice.
    The Action Pad automatically reflects your changes.
  9. Optional: Resize the dialog box by dragging its edges.
  10. Optional: Modify the layout and visibility of the Action Pad.

    For example, you can snap the Action Pad to other immersive dialog boxes, or dock it to one of the four docking areas.

    Important: The contents, size, and position of the Action Pad are defined per app and are kept across sessions.

Add Commands from the Action Bar

You can drag commands from the action bar directly to the Action Pad.

  1. To access the Action Pad, do one of the following:
    • From the Tools section of the action bar, click Action Pad .
    • Right-click inside the 3D area, and select Display > Action Pad.
  2. From the Tools section of the action bar, click Action Bar Customization , or right-click anywhere in the action bar, and then select Customize... from the context menu.
  3. Drag the command of your choice to the Action Pad.
  4. Drop the selected command to an already existing command group, or on the New Group area to create a new command group.
  5. To remove a command from the Action Pad, drag it to the action bar, and then select:
    • Move to transfer the command back to the action bar.
    • Duplicate to copy the command to the action bar. In that case, the command is available in both the Action Pad and the action bar.
  6. To exit customization mode, click Action Bar Customization , or right-click anywhere in the action bar, and then select Exit Customize.