Bricscad-UsrGui.pdf

BricsCAD - User Guide

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Table of Contents

User Interface ................................................................................. 1

Keyboard Shortcuts .............................................................................................. 1

The BricsCAD Application Window ........................................................................ 3

Overview ............................................................................................................ 3

To Display the Ribbon ........................................................................................... 4

To Hide the Ribbon............................................................................................... 4

Document Tabs ................................................................................................... 4

Open/Close the Command Bar ............................................................................... 5

To Set the Command Line Properties ...................................................................... 6

Open/Close the Status bar .................................................................................... 6

Working with the Status Bar .................................................................................. 7

Customizing the Status Bar ................................................................................... 9

Display/Hide Scroll Bars ...................................................................................... 10

Toolbars ............................................................................................................. 11

Main Toolbars .................................................................................................... 11

Toolbar Flyouts .................................................................................................. 14

Opening a Toolbar .............................................................................................. 15

To set the Icon Size ........................................................................................... 16

To Set the Position and Visible Property ................................................................ 16

To Tear off a Flyout Toolbar ................................................................................ 17

Closing a Toolbar ............................................................................................... 17

Properties Bar .................................................................................................... 17

Overview .......................................................................................................... 17

Open the Properties Bar ...................................................................................... 17

Adjust the Size of the Properties Bar .................................................................... 20

Set the Current Properties .................................................................................. 20

Setting the current properties in the Properties Bar ................................................ 20

Edit a Single Entity ............................................................................................. 20

Edit a Selection Set ............................................................................................ 22

Edit Endpoints and Nodes ................................................................................... 22

To edit the vertices of a polyline .......................................................................... 23

Prompt Menus .................................................................................................... 24

To control the display of prompt menus ................................................................ 24

Customizing BricsCAD ................................................................... 25

Startup Options .................................................................................................. 26

What are BricsCAD User Files ............................................................................. 27

Using the BricsCAD User File Manager ................................................................ 28

What are the CUI Files ....................................................................................... 29

Opening the Customize Dialog ........................................................................... 29

Working with CUI files ....................................................................................... 30

Commands ........................................................................................................ 30

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To Load a Main CUI File ...................................................................................... 31

To Load a Partial CUI File .................................................................................... 31

To Unload a Partial CUI File ................................................................................. 32

Managing customization groups ........................................................................... 33

Creating Custom Tools ....................................................................................... 33

Overview .......................................................................................................... 33

Create a Partial CUI File ...................................................................................... 34

Add a Toolbox to a Menu Group ........................................................................... 34

Add Tools to a Toolbox ....................................................................................... 35

Add a Main Menu ............................................................................................... 36

Add a Submenu to a Menu .................................................................................. 37

Add a Context Menu ........................................................................................... 37

Add a Toolbar .................................................................................................... 40

Add a Flyout to a Toolbar .................................................................................... 41

Add a Control to a Toolbar .................................................................................. 42

Add a Keyboard Shortcut .................................................................................... 42

Add an Existing Tool to a Menu, Toolbar or Shortcut ............................................... 43

Change the Tool Order ....................................................................................... 43

To change the order of the tools in a menu or toolbar ............................................ 43

Create a New Tool in a Menu, Toolbar or Shortcut .................................................. 43

Tool Palettes ...................................................................................................... 45

To Open the Tool Palettes Bar ............................................................................. 45

To Set the View Options ..................................................................................... 45

Adding a New Tool Palette ................................................................................... 46

Importing a Tool Palette ..................................................................................... 46

To Rename a Tool Palette ................................................................................... 47

To Delete a Tool Palette ...................................................................................... 47

Adding a Hatch Pattern ....................................................................................... 47

Adding a Block................................................................................................... 48

Adding a Command ............................................................................................ 50

Editing a Tool .................................................................................................... 51

Managing tools .................................................................................................. 54

To Specify a Tool Image ..................................................................................... 55

To Move a Tool .................................................................................................. 55

To Copy a Tool .................................................................................................. 55

Command Aliases ............................................................................................... 55

What Are Command Aliases ................................................................................ 55

To Edit the Alias File in a Text Editor .................................................................... 55

Using the Customize Dialog to Edit the Alias File .................................................... 56

User Profile Manager .......................................................................................... 58

Content of a User Profile ..................................................................................... 58

Launch the User Profile Manager .......................................................................... 58

Creating User Profiles ......................................................................................... 59

Loading a User Profile ......................................................................................... 59

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Restarting Bricscad Using a Different User Profile ................................................... 60

Managing User Profiles ....................................................................................... 61

Copy a User Profile ............................................................................................. 61

Rename a User Profile ........................................................................................ 61

Delete a User Profile ........................................................................................... 61

Export a User Profile .......................................................................................... 62

Edit the User Profile Description ........................................................................... 62

Import a User Profile .......................................................................................... 62

Import a Profile from Another User ...................................................................... 62

Projects .............................................................................................................. 63

Definition .......................................................................................................... 63

Opening the Projects Settings .............................................................................. 63

Creating Projects ............................................................................................... 63

Adding Search Paths to a Project ......................................................................... 64

Changing the Order of the Search Paths ............................................................... 64

Assigning a Project to the Current Drawing ........................................................... 64

Workspaces ........................................................................................................ 65

Definition .......................................................................................................... 65

Managing Workspaces ........................................................................................ 65

Setting the Current Workspace ............................................................................ 67

Creating a Workspace ......................................................................................... 67

Editing a Workspace ........................................................................................... 68

Deleting a Workspace ......................................................................................... 70

Drawing Accurately ....................................................................... 71

Drawing Accurately Overview ............................................................................ 71

Orthogonal Mode ................................................................................................ 71

To toggle Orthogonal Mode ................................................................................. 71

Direct Distance Entry ......................................................................................... 71

To define the Coordinates setting ......................................................................... 72

Unit Settings ...................................................................................................... 72

Entering angles ................................................................................................. 72

The Quad Cursor Menu ....................................................................................... 73

Definition .......................................................................................................... 73

To Activate the Quad .......................................................................................... 73

Editing the Quad Settings ................................................................................... 73

The Quad Layout ............................................................................................... 74

Using the Quad .................................................................................................. 76

Selecting Multiple Entities ................................................................................... 76

Selecting Edges of Faces or Solids ........................................................................ 76

Customizing the Quad ........................................................................................ 77

Overview .......................................................................................................... 77

To Edit the Workspace Command Groups .............................................................. 77

To Edit the Custom Command Group .................................................................... 78

Parametric Constraints ....................................................................................... 81

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Overview .......................................................................................................... 81

Commands and toolbars ..................................................................................... 82

Using Dimensional Constraints ............................................................................. 84

Overview .......................................................................................................... 84

To Edit Dimensional Constraints........................................................................... 84

Using Expressions .............................................................................................. 86

Using expressions to define dimensional constraints ............................................... 86

Creating a New Parameter .................................................................................. 87

Using Operators in Expressions ............................................................................ 88

Using Functions in Expressions ............................................................................ 88

Using Geometric Constraints ............................................................................... 90

Overview .......................................................................................................... 90

To Control the Display of Constraints Bars ............................................................ 90

To Control the Position of a Constraints Bars ......................................................... 91

Working with the Constraints Bar ......................................................................... 91

Deleting Constraints ........................................................................................... 92

Using Fix Constraints .......................................................................................... 92

Using Coincident Constraints ............................................................................... 93

Using Horizontal and Vertical Constraints .............................................................. 95

To Constrain a Line to a Fixed Angle ..................................................................... 95

Dynamic Dimensions .......................................................................................... 96

Definition .......................................................................................................... 96

Defining Dynamic Dimensions ............................................................................. 96

Create Entities ................................................................................................... 98

Grip-edit Entities ................................................................................................ 99

Measure Entities ................................................................................................ 99

Using Dynamic Dimensions with Tracking Points .................................................. 100

Coordinate Input .............................................................................................. 100

Overview ........................................................................................................ 100

Relative Coordinates ........................................................................................ 100

Cartesian Coordinates ...................................................................................... 100

Using relative Cartesian coordinates to draw a rectangle ....................................... 101

Cylindrical Coordinates ..................................................................................... 101

Spherical Coordinates ....................................................................................... 102

Snap and Grid ................................................................................................... 104

Overview ........................................................................................................ 104

Snap and Grid Settings ..................................................................................... 105

To Synchronize Snap and Grid Spacing ............................................................... 105

Toggle the Drawing Limits ................................................................................. 105

Using Isometric Snap ....................................................................................... 105

Setting the Snap Angle ..................................................................................... 107

Entity Snaps ..................................................................................................... 108

Overview ........................................................................................................ 108

To Define the Entity Snap Settings ..................................................................... 108

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To Set the Entity Snaps .................................................................................... 110

Working with Multiple Entity Snap Modes ............................................................ 112

To Snap to the Extension of Two Entities ............................................................ 112

Using Temporary Tracking Points ....................................................................... 113

Using 'Middle of 2 Points' Snap .......................................................................... 113

Using Parallel Entity Snap ................................................................................. 114

Polar Tracking .................................................................................................. 115

Overview ........................................................................................................ 115

To Define the Polar Tracking Settings ................................................................. 115

Using Polar Tracking to Draw a Line ................................................................... 116

Using Snap Track Lock ..................................................................................... 116

Using Temporary Tracking Points ....................................................................... 116

Snap Tracking .................................................................................................. 118

Using Entity Snap Tracking ............................................................................... 119

User Coordinate Systems ................................................................................. 120

Overview ........................................................................................................ 120

Dynamic UCS .................................................................................................. 120

To Define a User Coordinate System .................................................................. 121

To Restore the WCS ......................................................................................... 121

To Restore a UCS ............................................................................................. 122

To Set a Relative UCS....................................................................................... 122

Measuring ........................................................................................................ 124

Commands ...................................................................................................... 124

Measuring Distances ........................................................................................ 124

Measuring Lengths ........................................................................................... 125

Measuring Areas .............................................................................................. 126

Viewing your Drawing ................................................................. 127

View Commands Overview ............................................................................... 127

Layer Utilities ................................................................................................... 130

Hide and Show Entities .................................................................................... 131

Redrawing and Regenerating a Drawing .......................................................... 131

Commands ...................................................................................................... 131

Redraw All ...................................................................................................... 131

Regenerate All ................................................................................................. 131

Regenerate ..................................................................................................... 132

Redraw ........................................................................................................... 132

Panning ............................................................................................................ 132

Commands ...................................................................................................... 132

Real Time Pan Command .................................................................................. 132

Pan Command ................................................................................................. 132

Zooming ........................................................................................................... 133

Commands ...................................................................................................... 133

Zoom Command .............................................................................................. 133

Real Time Zooming .......................................................................................... 134

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Dynamic zooming ............................................................................................ 134

View Manipulation Using the Mouse and Keyboard .......................................... 136

Overview ........................................................................................................ 136

Walk Through Navigation .................................................................................. 136

Zoom Factor Variable ....................................................................................... 137

Middle Button Pan Variable ................................................................................ 137

View Rotation ................................................................................................... 138

Commands ...................................................................................................... 138

Restoring Orthographic and Isometric Views ....................................................... 138

Real Time Sphere............................................................................................. 141

Real Time X .................................................................................................... 142

Real Time Y ..................................................................................................... 142

Real Time Z .................................................................................................... 142

Preset Viewpoints ............................................................................................ 143

Plan View ........................................................................................................ 145

Layer States ..................................................................................................... 146

Definition ........................................................................................................ 146

Opening the Layer States Explorer ..................................................................... 146

Save the Current Layer State ............................................................................ 147

Edit a Layer State ............................................................................................ 148

Restore a Layer State ....................................................................................... 148

Copy Layer States to Another Drawing ............................................................... 148

Export a Layer State ........................................................................................ 149

Import a Layer State ........................................................................................ 149

Named Views ................................................................................................... 150

Exploring Views ............................................................................................... 150

Exploring views ............................................................................................... 150

Saving a View.................................................................................................. 151

Restoring a View .............................................................................................. 151

Defining the View Background ........................................................................... 152

To Edit the View Background ............................................................................. 154

Perspective Views ............................................................................................ 155

Defining a camera view .................................................................................... 155

Model Space and Paper Space .......................................................................... 158

Understanding Paper Space and Model Space ...................................................... 158

Switching between Model Space and Paper Space ................................................ 158

Using the Model and Layout Tabs ....................................................................... 158

Toggle between Model Space and Paper Space .................................................... 159

Model Space Viewports .................................................................................... 159

Definition ........................................................................................................ 159

Creating Viewports in Model Space ..................................................................... 160

Drawing in Multiple Viewports ............................................................................ 161

Joining Viewports ............................................................................................. 162

Paper Space Viewports ..................................................................................... 162

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Commands ...................................................................................................... 162

Displaying Paper Sheet and Printable Area .......................................................... 163

Creating Viewports in a Layout .......................................................................... 163

Creating an Array of Layout Viewports ................................................................ 166

To Clip a Viewport ............................................................................................ 167

To Remove the Clipping Boundary of a Viewport .................................................. 167

Defining Viewport Properties ............................................................................. 168

Navigating in a Paper Space Layout ................................................................... 169

Setting the Layer Visibility in a Viewport ............................................................. 170

Setting the Scale of a Viewport .......................................................................... 170

Setting the Scale of a Selection of Viewports ....................................................... 171

Rotating the Display in a Viewport ..................................................................... 171

To Align Viewports ........................................................................................... 172

To Align Model Space and Paper Space Points ...................................................... 173

Layouts ............................................................................................................ 174

Overview ........................................................................................................ 174

Creating a new Layout ...................................................................................... 174

Copying Layouts .............................................................................................. 174

Importing Layouts ............................................................................................ 174

Renaming Layouts ........................................................................................... 175

Arranging Layout Tabs ...................................................................................... 175

Deleting a Layout ............................................................................................. 175

Generated Drawing Views ................................................................................ 176

Commands ...................................................................................................... 176

Commands and Toolbars ................................................................................... 177

Standard Drawing Views ................................................................................... 177

Generating Cross Section Views ......................................................................... 179

Updating Drawing Views ................................................................................... 180

Exporting Views to Model Space......................................................................... 181

Customizing drawing Views ............................................................................... 181

Creating Entities .......................................................................... 182

Drawing Entities Overview ............................................................................... 182

Entity Creation Settings ................................................................................... 183

Fill Mode ......................................................................................................... 184

Setting Fill Mode .............................................................................................. 184

Entity Color ..................................................................................................... 185

Commands...................................................................................................... 185

Index color ..................................................................................................... 185

True Colors ..................................................................................................... 187

To Set the Current Entity Color .......................................................................... 188

Lineweight ...................................................................................................... 188

Overview ........................................................................................................ 188

Setting Current Lineweight ................................................................................ 189

Defining the Lineweight Settings ........................................................................ 189

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Linetype ......................................................................................................... 190

Overview ........................................................................................................ 190

Current Linetype .............................................................................................. 191

Add a New Linetype ......................................................................................... 192

Entity Linetype Scale ........................................................................................ 193

Global Linetype Scale ....................................................................................... 193

Current Layer .................................................................................................. 194

Setting the current layer ................................................................................... 194

Drawing 2D Entities ......................................................................................... 196

Lines .............................................................................................................. 198

Drawing lines .................................................................................................. 198

Rays .............................................................................................................. 199

Drawing rays ................................................................................................... 199

Infinite Lines ................................................................................................... 200

Drawing infinite lines ........................................................................................ 200

Polylines ......................................................................................................... 200

Commands...................................................................................................... 200

Drawing Polylines............................................................................................. 201

Boundary Polylines ........................................................................................... 203

Splines ........................................................................................................... 205

Drawing splines ............................................................................................... 205

Sketch ............................................................................................................ 206

Setting the Sketch Poly (SKPOLY) system variable ............................................... 206

Creating a freehand sketch ............................................................................... 207

Circles ............................................................................................................ 208

Commands...................................................................................................... 208

General Procedure to Draw a Circle .................................................................... 208

Drawing a Circle Tangent to Three Entities .......................................................... 208

Editing a Circle ................................................................................................ 209

Arcs ............................................................................................................... 209

Command ....................................................................................................... 209

General Procedure to Draw an Arc ..................................................................... 209

Editing an Arc .................................................................................................. 210

Ellipses ........................................................................................................... 211

Command ....................................................................................................... 211

Setting the Polyline Ellipse (PELLIPSE) system variable ......................................... 211

General Procedure to Draw an Ellipse ................................................................. 212

Editing an Ellipse ............................................................................................. 213

Elliptical Arcs ................................................................................................... 213

Command ....................................................................................................... 213

General Procedure to Draw an Elliptical Arc ......................................................... 213

Editing an Elliptical Arc ..................................................................................... 215

Rectangles ...................................................................................................... 216

Drawing rectangles .......................................................................................... 216

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Polygons ......................................................................................................... 218

Drawing polygons ............................................................................................ 218

Traces ............................................................................................................ 219

Drawing traces ................................................................................................ 219

Donuts ........................................................................................................... 220

Drawing donuts ............................................................................................... 220

Solids ............................................................................................................. 221

Drawing solids ................................................................................................. 221

Revision Clouds ............................................................................................... 222

Drawing revision clouds .................................................................................... 222

Points ............................................................................................................. 224

Command ....................................................................................................... 224

Defining the Point Display Settings ..................................................................... 224

Drawing Points ................................................................................................ 225

Wipeouts ........................................................................................................ 226

Command ....................................................................................................... 226

To Create a Wipeout Using Points ...................................................................... 226

To Create a Wipeout from a Polyline ................................................................... 226

To Control the Display of the Edges of Wipeouts .................................................. 227

Mechanical ....................................................................................................... 228

BricsCAD Communicator ................................................................................... 228

Components and Inserts ................................................................................... 229

Definitions ...................................................................................................... 229

Parametric Components .................................................................................... 229

Edit Parameters ............................................................................................... 230

To edit the parameters of a parametric component insert ..................................... 230

Commands and Toolbars ................................................................................... 232

Organizing Geometry ....................................................................................... 232

Changing Mechanical Structure .......................................................................... 233

Using Standard Hardware ................................................................................. 233

Assembly Constraints ....................................................................................... 233

Component Visibility ......................................................................................... 233

Mechanical Browser .......................................................................................... 234

Bill of Materials ................................................................................................ 234

Assembly Mass Properties ................................................................................. 236

Command ....................................................................................................... 236

To Specify the Density ...................................................................................... 236

To Compute the Mass Properties ........................................................................ 236

MCAD Tutorial ................................................................................................. 237

Assembly Design and Kinematic Analysis Tutorial ................................................. 237

Step 1: Preparing for the Exercise ...................................................................... 237

Step 2: Creating the Assembly Drawing .............................................................. 239

Step 3: Adding the Components ........................................................................ 240

Step 4: Positioning the Components ................................................................... 241

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Step 5: Preparing for the Kinematic Analysis ....................................................... 249

Step 6: Kinematic Analysis ................................................................................ 252

Sheet Metal ..................................................................................................... 253

Commands...................................................................................................... 253

Sheet Metal Features ........................................................................................ 254

K-Factor ......................................................................................................... 255

Bend Table ...................................................................................................... 257

The Mechanical Browser for Sheet Metal ............................................................. 261

Commands and Toolbars................................................................................... 262

Creating the Base Flange .................................................................................. 264

Creating Edge Flanges ...................................................................................... 264

Corner Reliefs and Junctions ............................................................................. 268

To Rotate a Flange ........................................................................................... 269

To Connect Flanges .......................................................................................... 269

To Convert Geometry to a Valid Sheet Metal part ................................................. 269

Creating Missing Reliefs .................................................................................... 270

To Convert Hard Edges ..................................................................................... 271

To Split a Flange .............................................................................................. 272

To Re-thicken a Sheet Metal Body ...................................................................... 273

Changing the Thickness .................................................................................... 274

Changing the Bend Radius ................................................................................ 275

To Unfold the Sheet Metal Body ......................................................................... 275

To Export a SheetMetal Body............................................................................. 275

Direct Modeling ................................................................................................ 276

Direct Modeling Overview.................................................................................. 276

3D Constraints ................................................................................................ 276

Variational Direct Modeling ................................................................................ 277

Mechanical Browser .......................................................................................... 277

3D Constraints types ........................................................................................ 277

3D Constraints and Direct Modeling .................................................................... 277

Design Intent .................................................................................................. 278

Direct Modeling Operations ............................................................................... 282

Overview ........................................................................................................ 282

Selecting Geometry .......................................................................................... 283

To Control Dimensions ...................................................................................... 283

Making Holes ................................................................................................... 284

Deleting Holes ................................................................................................. 286

BIM .................................................................................................................. 289

Creating Walls ................................................................................................. 289

Command ....................................................................................................... 289

Creating a Single Wall ...................................................................................... 289

Creating a Chain of L-Connected Walls ............................................................... 290

Working with Walls .......................................................................................... 291

Commands...................................................................................................... 291

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Creating L-Connections ..................................................................................... 292

Creating T-Connections .................................................................................... 293

Modifying the Thickness .................................................................................... 293

Modifying the Height ........................................................................................ 294

Setting the Distance between Parallel Walls ........................................................ 295

Windows and Doors.......................................................................................... 296

Commands...................................................................................................... 296

Inserting Windows and Doors ............................................................................ 296

Editing Parameters ........................................................................................... 300

Moving Windows and Doors ............................................................................... 301

Copying Windows and Doors ............................................................................. 301

Working with Sections ..................................................................................... 302

Commands ...................................................................................................... 302

SectionPlane command ..................................................................................... 302

Align Section Plane to a Face ............................................................................. 302

To Create a Vertical Section Plane ...................................................................... 302

To Create a Vertical Jogged Section Plane ........................................................... 303

To Create a Horizontal Section Plane .................................................................. 304

To Create a Horizontal Jogged Section Plane ....................................................... 305

To Create a Orthographic Section Plane .............................................................. 306

To open the Drawing Explorer - Section Planes dialog ........................................... 307

To Edit Section Planes ...................................................................................... 307

To Modify the Size and Position of a Section Plane ............................................... 308

Using Live Section ............................................................................................ 309

To Save a Section ............................................................................................ 311

The SectionPlaneToBlock command .................................................................... 311

To Insert a Section as a 2D Block....................................................................... 312

To Insert a Section as a 3D Block....................................................................... 312

To Replace an Existing block ............................................................................. 313

To Export a Section to a File .............................................................................. 313

Hatches and Gradient Fills ................................................................................ 314

Overview ........................................................................................................ 314

Defining the MEASUREMENT setting ................................................................... 314

Defining the MAXHATCH setting ......................................................................... 315

Commands ...................................................................................................... 315

General Procedure ........................................................................................... 315

General procedure to create hatches and gradient fills .......................................... 315

To Define Hatch Properties ................................................................................ 316

To Define Gradient Fill Properties ....................................................................... 318

To Define the Boundary .................................................................................... 319

To define the boundary for a hatch or gradient fill ................................................ 319

Set the Hatch and Gradient options .................................................................... 320

Editing Hatches and Gradients ........................................................................... 321

To edit a hatch or gradient fill in the properties bar .............................................. 321

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To edit a hatch in a dialog box ........................................................................... 322

To edit a gradient fill in a dialog box ................................................................... 323

To edit a hatch or gradient fill using the Quad ..................................................... 324

Dimensions ...................................................................................................... 326

Dimensioning Tools Overview ............................................................................ 327

Dimension Styles Explorer ................................................................................ 329

Exploring dimension styles ................................................................................ 329

Associative Dimensions ..................................................................................... 331

Dimension Settings .......................................................................................... 332

Overview ........................................................................................................ 332

Lines and Arrows ............................................................................................. 332

Text ............................................................................................................... 333

Vertical Position of the Dimension Text ............................................................... 334

Fit .................................................................................................................. 335

Primary Units .................................................................................................. 335

Alternate Units ................................................................................................ 336

Tolerances ...................................................................................................... 337

Dimension Styles ............................................................................................. 338

Overview ........................................................................................................ 338

To Create a New Dimension Style ...................................................................... 338

To Edit a Dimension Style ................................................................................. 338

To Define Dimension Style Overrides .................................................................. 338

To Rename a Dimension Style ........................................................................... 339

To Set a Dimension Style Current ...................................................................... 339

Using the Status Bar to Set a Dimension Style Current ......................................... 339

To Copy Dimension Styles Between Drawings ...................................................... 340

To Move a Dimension Style Between Drawings .................................................... 340

To Delete a Dimension Style ............................................................................. 340

Dimension Style Tools ...................................................................................... 341

To apply the current dimension style .................................................................. 341

To save a dimension style ................................................................................. 341

To restore a dimension style ............................................................................. 342

To list the settings in the current dimension style ................................................ 342

To Apply the Current Dimension Style ................................................................ 342

To Save a Dimension Style ................................................................................ 342

To Restore a Dimension Style ............................................................................ 343

To List the Settings in the Current Dimension Style .............................................. 343

Creating Linear Dimensions ............................................................................... 343

To Create a Horizontal or Vertical Linear Dimension ............................................. 343

To Create an Aligned Linear Dimension ............................................................... 344

To Create a Rotated Linear Dimension ................................................................ 344

To Create Baseline Dimensions .......................................................................... 345

To Create Continued Dimensions ....................................................................... 345

To Create an Arc Length Dimension ................................................................... 346

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Creating Angular Dimensions ............................................................................. 346

To Dimension an Angle Between Two Lines ......................................................... 347

To Dimension an Angle Encompassed by an Arc ................................................... 347

To create an angular dimension defined by a vertex and two endpoints .................. 347

Creating Diametrical and Radial Dimensions ........................................................ 348

To Create a Diametrical Dimension .................................................................... 348

To Create a Radial Dimension ............................................................................ 348

Creating Center Marks and Center Lines ............................................................. 348

Creating Ordinate Dimensions ........................................................................... 349

To create an ordinate dimension ........................................................................ 349

Creating Leaders and Annotations ...................................................................... 349

To Create a Leader and an Annotation ................................................................ 349

To Create a Leader only .................................................................................... 350

Working with Multileaders ................................................................................. 351

To create a multileader ..................................................................................... 351

Adding vertices to a leader line of a multileader ................................................... 352

Removing vertices from a leader line of a multileader ........................................... 353

Adding leader lines to a multileader ................................................................... 353

Removing leader lines from a multileader ........................................................... 353

To Create a Multileader ..................................................................................... 353

Adding Vertices to a Leader Line of a Multileader ................................................. 354

Removing vertices from a leader line of a multileader ........................................... 355

Removing Vertices from a Leader Line of a Multileader ......................................... 355

Adding Leader Lines to a Multileader .................................................................. 355

Removing Leader Lines from a Multileader .......................................................... 355

Editing dimensions ........................................................................................... 356

Using Grips to Edit a Linear Dimension ............................................................... 356

Editing the Dimension Text ............................................................................... 356

To edit the dimension text in the MText editor ..................................................... 357

To edit the dimension text in the Properties Bar ................................................... 357

To edit the dimension text using the Edit Dimension Text tool ............................... 357

To Rotate the Dimension Text ........................................................................... 357

To Reposition the Dimension Text ...................................................................... 358

To Restore the Text Position .............................................................................. 358

To Make the Extension Lines Oblique .................................................................. 358

Geometric Tolerances ....................................................................................... 359

Definitions ...................................................................................................... 359

Geometric Tolerance Symbols ........................................................................... 359

Geometric Tolerance Dialog ............................................................................... 359

To Create a Geometrical Tolerance Frame ........................................................... 360

Working with Text ............................................................................................ 361

Text Variables ................................................................................................. 361

Working With Text Styles .................................................................................. 362

Overview ........................................................................................................ 362

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Open the Text Style Explorer Dialog ................................................................... 362

Create a Text Style .......................................................................................... 362

Edit a Text Style .............................................................................................. 362

Make a Text Style Current................................................................................. 363

Delete a Text Style .......................................................................................... 363

Creating text ................................................................................................... 364

To Create Single Line Text ................................................................................ 364

To Create Multiline Text .................................................................................... 364

Multiline Text Justification ................................................................................. 366

Special Characters and Symbols ........................................................................ 367

To Add a Background Mask ............................................................................... 367

Editing text ..................................................................................................... 368

To edit a text entity ......................................................................................... 368

To edit a selection of Mtext entities .................................................................... 369

To select a different multiline text editor ............................................................. 369

Exploding text ................................................................................................. 369

To explode text ............................................................................................... 369

Finding and Replacing Text ............................................................................... 370

To Open the Find and Replace Dialog ................................................................. 370

To Set the Find and Replace Options .................................................................. 371

To Find Text .................................................................................................... 371

To Replace Text ............................................................................................... 371

Checking Spelling ............................................................................................ 373

Command ....................................................................................................... 373

Dictionary Settings ........................................................................................... 373

To Open the Spell Checking Dialog ..................................................................... 373

To Check the Spelling ....................................................................................... 374

To Change Dictionaries ..................................................................................... 376

To Add a New Main Dictionary ........................................................................... 377

To Add a New Custom Dictionary ....................................................................... 378

Working with Fields ......................................................................................... 379

Commands ...................................................................................................... 379

General Procedure to Create Fields ..................................................................... 379

To Display an Entity Property in a Field ............................................................... 381

To Edit a Field ................................................................................................. 383

To Update a Field ............................................................................................. 383

Convert Field To Text ....................................................................................... 383

Working with Tables ........................................................................................ 384

Commands ...................................................................................................... 384

Table Styles .................................................................................................... 384

To open the Table Styles Explorer ...................................................................... 384

To Create a Table Style .................................................................................... 384

To Edit a Table Style ........................................................................................ 385

To Apply a Table Style ...................................................................................... 385

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To Delete a Table Style ..................................................................................... 385

To Create an Empty Table ................................................................................. 386

To Create a Table from Data ............................................................................. 387

To Create a Table from an Excel Spreadsheet ...................................................... 387

Editing a Table Using Grips ............................................................................... 388

Editing a Table Using the Table Toolbar .............................................................. 388

Editing a Table in the Properties Bar ................................................................... 391

Editing a Cell in the Properties Bar ..................................................................... 392

To Edit the Table Content.................................................................................. 393

To Export a Table ............................................................................................. 393

Defining the list separator character ................................................................... 393

Annotative Entities ........................................................................................... 395

Commands ...................................................................................................... 395

System variables and user preferences ............................................................... 395

Setting the current annotation scale ................................................................... 396

To make an annotation entity annotative ............................................................ 396

Overview ........................................................................................................ 397

Commands ...................................................................................................... 397

System Variables and User Preferences .............................................................. 397

Setting the Current Annotation Scale .................................................................. 398

Making an Annotation Entity Annotative .............................................................. 398

Annotation Scales ............................................................................................ 398

To add or remove annotation scales to annotative entities .................................... 399

Adding or Removing Annotation Scales to Annotative Entities ................................ 400

Annotative Texts .............................................................................................. 400

To make a text entity annotative ....................................................................... 401

To remove the annotative property .................................................................... 401

Annotative Hatches .......................................................................................... 401

To set the HPANNOTATIVE system variable ......................................................... 401

To make a hatch or gradient entity annotative ..................................................... 401

To remove the annotative property .................................................................... 401

Annotative Blocks ............................................................................................ 401

To make a block definition annotative ................................................................. 402

To match the orientation of a block to a layout .................................................... 402

Annotative Dimensions ..................................................................................... 402

To make a dimension entity annotative............................................................... 402

To remove the annotative property .................................................................... 402

Annotative Leaders .......................................................................................... 402

Modifying Entities ........................................................................ 403

Entity Modification Commands ......................................................................... 403

Entity Modification Settings ............................................................................. 405

Match Properties .............................................................................................. 406

To copy properties between entities ................................................................... 406

Grips editing ..................................................................................................... 407

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Overview ........................................................................................................ 407

Selecting Multiple Grips .................................................................................... 407

The grips editing context menu.......................................................................... 408

To Stretch Entities Using Grips .......................................................................... 408

To Move Entities Using Grips ............................................................................. 409

To copy entities using grips ............................................................................... 409

To Mirror Entities Using Grips ............................................................................ 410

To Rotate Entities Using Grips ........................................................................... 410

To Scale Entities Using Grips ............................................................................. 411

Selecting Entities ............................................................................................. 412

Settings .......................................................................................................... 412

Grips Settings ................................................................................................. 415

Selection Methods ............................................................................................ 417

Overview ........................................................................................................ 417

Composing a Selection Set Before (pre- pick) ...................................................... 417

Composing a Selection Set Afterwards (post-pick) ............................................... 418

Selecting Overlapping Entities ........................................................................... 419

Selection Preview and Overlapping Entities ......................................................... 419

Using Quick Select ........................................................................................... 420

To create a selection set ................................................................................... 420

Rearranging Entities......................................................................................... 425

Adjusting the Draw Order ................................................................................. 425

Using Draw Order ............................................................................................ 425

Using Draw Order tools ..................................................................................... 425

Moving Entities ................................................................................................ 426

Commands...................................................................................................... 426

Using the Move Command ................................................................................ 426

Moving Entities Using Grips ............................................................................... 427

Using Cut and Paste to move entities between drawings ....................................... 428

Move a Selection as a Block .............................................................................. 428

Rotating Entities .............................................................................................. 429

Commands...................................................................................................... 429

Rotating a Selection Set ................................................................................... 429

Rotating a Selection Set in Reference to a Base Angle .......................................... 430

Rotating in 3D ................................................................................................. 430

Mirroring Entities ............................................................................................. 431

Commands...................................................................................................... 431

Mirroring Entities about a Line ........................................................................... 431

Mirroring Entities about a Plane ......................................................................... 431

Aligning Entities ............................................................................................... 432

Command ....................................................................................................... 432

Aligning an Entity in 2D .................................................................................... 432

Aligning an Entity in 3D .................................................................................... 433

Changing Entities ............................................................................................. 434

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Command ....................................................................................................... 434

To Change Text Entities .................................................................................... 434

To Relocate Blocks ........................................................................................... 435

Copying Entities ............................................................................................... 435

Copying Entities in a Drawing ............................................................................ 435

Commands...................................................................................................... 435

To Copy a Selection Set .................................................................................... 436

To Make Multiple Copies ................................................................................... 436

To Paste a Selection Set as a Block .................................................................... 437

Copying Entities Between Drawings .................................................................... 438

Commands...................................................................................................... 438

Using Copy and Paste ....................................................................................... 438

Using Copy and Pasteorig ................................................................................. 438

Using Copybase and Paste ................................................................................ 439

Paste a selection as a block in the target drawing ................................................ 439

Making Parallel Copies ...................................................................................... 440

Making a parallel copy at a specified distance ...................................................... 440

Making a parallel copy through a point ............................................................... 440

Arraying Entities .............................................................................................. 441

Commands...................................................................................................... 441

Creating a Rectangular Array............................................................................. 441

Creating a Polar Array ...................................................................................... 443

Arraying Entities in 3D ...................................................................................... 445

Command ....................................................................................................... 445

Creating a 3D Rectangular Array ........................................................................ 445

Creating a 3D Polar Array ................................................................................. 447

Resizing Entities ............................................................................................... 448

Extending Entities ............................................................................................ 448

To extend entities ............................................................................................ 448

Trimming Entities ............................................................................................. 449

To trim entities ................................................................................................ 449

Changing the Length of an Entity ....................................................................... 450

Command ....................................................................................................... 450

Changing the length of an Entity Dynamically ...................................................... 450

To Modify the Included Angle of an Arc ............................................................... 450

Stretching Entities ........................................................................................... 451

Command ....................................................................................................... 451

To Stretch Entities ........................................................................................... 451

Stretching Entities using Grips ........................................................................... 452

Scaling Entities ................................................................................................ 453

Command ....................................................................................................... 453

Scaling an Entity Using a Base Scale .................................................................. 453

To Scale a Selection Set ................................................................................... 454

Breaking Entities .............................................................................................. 454

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To break an entity ............................................................................................ 454

Joining Entities ................................................................................................. 455

To join colinear lines ....................................