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4.6 - INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW |  |
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Topics covered in this Lesson: |
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Distance | Area | Mass Properties | List | ID |
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Most of these commands can be accessed from the Tools pull-down menu. Here is a list of those commands (click on the icon for more information) :
The first one, DISTANCE (DI), is quite straight forward. It allows you to select two points on the screen and AutoCAD will tell you the total distance as well as the changes in X,Y & Z. This command is very usefull for verifying distances that you check with your Disto. AREA is a command that can be very useful. This can used to calculate square footage for floors, property lots, or even something like sheet metal parts. To use this command, you can type in AREA and see this on your command line: Command: AREA The default option is to pick a point on the screen. This allows you to select the four corners of a room to find the total area in square drawing units (usually inches). You can pick as many points as you need and then press enter when you're done. AutoCAD returns the area and the perimeter length. If you select the next option (object), you can select a circle, rectangle, polyline or some other closed object. You also have the option of adding to or subtracting from the initial area. You may need to find the carpeting area of a room, but exclude where you have tile. Or you may need to add several rooms together. MASS PROPERTIES is an option for finding information about 3D solid objects. You can find out the total volume and from there calculate the weight based on volume. AutoCAD also figures out some important engineering figures for you such as the center of gravity for an object. This listing shows you all the information you can get from MASSPROP: Command: MASSPROP This is a lot of information, so AutoCAD gives you the option of saving it to a file after it is displayed. LIST is an inquiry that gives you some basic information about a command. This is usually the information that AutoCAD needs to know about it to keep track of it in its database. Here is a listing of a line: LIST
1 found Here are the properties
Notice that you can get the same information, but also have the option of changing anything that you need to. After List, the next option is ID POINT. This allows you to select anywhere on the screen and have AutoCAD return the X,Y&Z co-ordinates for that point. Here is a listing of ID POINT: Command: ID Specify point: <SELECT
POINT> (You can also get this information by selecting a grip and looking at the status bar.) OTHER INQUIRY TOOLS: Time Displays the date and time statistics of a drawing. Type TIME. Status Displays drawing statistics, modes, and extents. Type STATUS. Set Variable Lists or changes the values of system variables. Type SETVAR. TIME and STATUS are two inquiries that give you information about the system, as opposed to objects. Command: TIME Current time: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 6:00:11:671 PM You can see the current date, when you last saved and when AutoCAD will do its next automatic save. And yes, that file has been with me for 8 years. Command: STATUS As you can see, there is a lot of information here, not only about your drawing, but about the computer you are working on. The last inquiry, SET VARIABLE (SETVAR), allows you to change any system variables, or if you like AutoCAD will list them for you. The details of this command are not covered in this lesson. You must be VERY careful when working with system variables. A brief overview is given in Lesson 4-8
CONTINUE TO THE NEXT LESSON - 4-7 > Take the quiz for this lesson |
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