I've seen this question posted in News groups a couple times and thought I would try and shed some light on the differences between the two. First off, the AutoCAD command COPY was updated in AutoCAD 2005 to default to the multiple setting. Thus you can copy objects around your drawing without having to specify the multiple option before. Now many think that COPYM (from the express tools) does the same thing. Which it does!! But actually has some added features in the command after you select your objects and base point.
Once you select your objects, then specify your base point, you will notice on the command line an option to "Repeat/Divide/Measure & Array. I use the Divide option just about every day. When using the AutoCAD command DIVIDE you get nodes all over your drawing. Then if you need to place objects on top of the NODES you have to go back and use COPY and place the objects over each node manually. But if you use the Divide option in COPYM, you can COPY any specified objects without having all the nodes scattered about your drawing. Hopefully one day the standard COPY command will just include these options. Making it available to run in Lisp codes.
Another minor difference between the two, is COPY retains its base point from the original objects location. So your rubber-band on your cursor is always from one location while inside the command. But COPYM actually moves your rubber-band to the base point of each newly copied object. So you'll see your rubber-band hop around in the drawing when copying. Which can actually be kind of distracting.
Note: Using COPYM is a very fast command that combines a couple standard AutoCAD commands. But you need to make sure your OSNAP & ORTHO settings are turned OFF after you select your base point. If you don't turn these off, once your objects are placed sometimes it will actually SNAP to other objects in your drawing. Causing your DIVIDE or MEASURE operation to not be exact.
Below is some more specific aspects of each option in COPYM.
| Repeat | Repeats the last copy using the same offset distance. |
| Divide | Linear divide option. Prompts for an additional point and the number of copies to make. Makes evenly spaced copies of the selected objects between the base point and the second selected point. |
| Measure | Linear measure option. Prompts for an additional point and the distance between copies. Makes evenly spaced copies at the specified distance between the base point and the second selected point. |
| Array | Displays the Array Options prompt: |
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