Chapter 12 Getting Information from Your Drawing

293

4.In the exercise on calculating area earlier in this chapter, you calculated a total area of 306975.04, in units of inches. To calculate what that is in square feet, type cal . At the Expression: prompt, type 306975.04/144 . AutoCAD calculates 2131.77.

5.In the Step-by-Step exercise on the DIVIDE command earlier in this chapter, you divided

a line into three segments by placing two points on the line. You can use CAL to calculate the length of those segments. Type cal . At the Expression: prompt, type abs(endend)/3 . The command prompts you for the two endpoint snaps. Pick the two ends of the line at ¡ in Figure 12-15. AutoCAD calculates 262.37.

6.Suppose that you want to draw a line starting from the intersection of two intersecting lines going from corner to diagonally opposite corner and ending perpendicular to the

top line of the land parcel. Start the LINE command. At the Specify first point: prompt, type 'cal . At the Expression: prompt, type ill(end,end,end,end) . The command prompts you for four endpoints. Pick the endpoints (in Figure 12-15) at 1 and 2 to define the first line, and then at 3 and 4 to define the second line. AutoCAD starts the line at the intersection of the two lines. At the Specify next point or [Undo]:: prompt, choose the Perpendicular object snap and pick 5. Figure 12-16 shows the result.

Figure 12-16: Using CAL, you can calculate the intersection of two lines without drawing the lines.

7. Save your drawing.

Summary

A great deal of information is available to you in each drawing. In this chapter you read about:

Getting a general status listing

Listing system variable settings

Tracking drawing time

294 Part II Drawing in Two Dimensions

Getting information about individual objects by using the LIST, DIST, and ID command

Calculating area and perimeters

Using the Properties palette to display all of an object’s properties

Dividing and measuring objects by placing point objects along them

Using AutoCAD’s calculator to use calculated results as part of your command input In the next chapter, I explain how to create and edit text.

Creating Text

All drawings include text that labels or explains the objects in the drawing. Such text is often called annotation. In each release, the

capabilities of the text function have improved so that you can now easily format and edit text to provide a professional appearance to your drawing. A wide array of font, alignment, and spacing options are available. You can also import text from a word processor. This chapter tells you all you need to know about creating text in AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT.

Creating Single-Line Text

A great deal of text in a drawing consists of short labels or comments. Use single-line text when you want each line of text to be a separate object or when you’re creating a small amount of text. Single-line text has fewer options than the multiline text that I explain later in this chapter, but it’s easy to create and to place accurately in a drawing.

Creating a single line of text using the defaults for font, height, and so on is very simple. Choose Draw Text Single Line Text. This starts the DTEXT command. DTEXT stands for dynamic text. You can see the text on the screen as you type it. Follow the prompts:

Current text style: “Standard” Text height: 0.2000

Specify start point of text or [Justify/Style]: Pick a start point for the text.

Specify height <0.2000>: Type a height, or press Enter to accept the default.

Specify rotation angle of text <0>: Type a rotation angle, or press Enter to accept the default.

Enter text: Type one line of text. Press Enter when you are finished.

Enter text: Press Enter to end the command.

Note You must actually press Enter to end the command. You cannot use the Return button of the mouse or the Spacebar.

The next section covers the Justify option. The Style option is discussed later in this chapter.

Single lines of text are very common in drafting. DTEXT continues to prompt you for lines of text so that you can type line after line. Unfortunately, you cannot control the spacing between the lines.

13C H A P T E R

In This Chapter

Creating and editing single-line text

Understanding text styles

Creating, editing, and formatting multiline (paragraph) text

Creating tables

Automating with fields

Managing text to improve performance

Using the Find command

Checking spelling

296 Part II Drawing in Two Dimensions

On the

CD-ROM

It (for the TEXT command) and Idt (for DTEXT) let you specify the spacing between lines of text as you create them. Look in \Software\Chap13\It. Txtstack, in \Software\ Chap13\txtstack, adjusts spacing between lines of single-line text. You can use txt2mtxt to convert single-line text to multiline text. It’s in \Software\Chap13\txt2mtxt. These programs work in AutoCAD only.

Thanks to Leonid Nemirovsky, http://home.pacifier.com/~nemi, for creating It.lsp and Idt.lsp at my request.

One advantage of DTEXT is that each line of text is a separate object, making it easy to move or copy individual lines of text.

DTEXT remembers the location of the previous line of text even if you’ve used other commands in the meantime. To continue text below the last line of text you created, press Enter at the Specify start point of text or [Justify/Style]: prompt.

Cross-	You can also create text connected to arrows that point to objects, using the LEADER and
Reference	QLEADER commands. Chapter 14 covers the QLEADER command.

Justifying single-line text

When you pick a start point for text, the relationship between the start point and the actual letters is determined by the justification. The start point is also called the insertion point. When you want to refer to text by using object snaps, you use the Insert object snap. If you select text without first choosing a command, grips appear at the insertion point as well as the bottom-left corner.

By default, text is left-justified. To change the text’s justification, right-click and choose Justify at the Specify start point of text or [Justify/Style]: prompt. The command responds with this bewildering prompt:

Enter an option [Align/Fit/Center/Middle/Right/TL/TC/TR/ML/MC/MR/BL/ BC/BR]:

Align and Fit offer two ways to fit text into a specified space. Both respond with the same two prompts:

Specify first endpoint of text baseline:

Specify second endpoint of text baseline:

Specify the beginning and the end of the text line. Align then prompts you for the text and squeezes or stretches the text to fit within the text line. The height of the text changes accordingly to maintain the proportions of the font.

Fit adds the Specify height <0.2000>: prompt. Type in the height you want and then type the text. Fit also squeezes or stretches the text to fit within the text line but maintains the text height you specified, distorting the font letters to fit the space. Figure 13-1 shows an example of normal, fitted, and aligned single-line text.

The other justification options (listed in Table 13-1) specify the placement of the text’s insertion point in relationship to the text line. Each insertion point is marked with a small x.

Chapter 13 Creating Text 297

Figure 13-1: Normal (left-justified), aligned, and fitted text.

	Table 13-1: Text Justification Options
Example	Option	Description
	Left	Because this is the default justification, there is no suboption for left-
		justification when you choose the Justify option. The insertion point
		is on the baseline.
	Center	Text is centered around the insertion point. The insertion point is on
		the baseline.
	Right	Text is right-justified from the insertion point. The insertion point is
		on the baseline.
	Middle	Text is centered both vertically and horizontally. The vertical center
		point is measured from the bottom of the lowest to the top of the
		tallest possible letter.
	Top Left	Text is left-justified and the insertion point is at the top of the highest
		possible letter. For some fonts the insertion point appears slightly
		above the highest letter; for others it appears exactly at the top.
	Top Center	Text is centered and the insertion point is at the top of the highest
		possible letter.
	Top Right	Text is right-justified and the insertion point is at the top of the
		highest possible letter.
	Middle Left	Text is left-justified and centered vertically. The vertical center point is
		measured from the bottom of the lowest to the top of the tallest
		possible letter.
	Middle Center	Text is centered both horizontally and vertically. The vertical center
		point is measured from the bottom of the lowest to the top of the
		tallest possible letter.
	Middle Right	Text is right-justified and centered vertically. The vertical center point
		is measured from the bottom of the lowest to the top of the tallest
		possible letter.
	Bottom Left	Text is left-justified. The insertion point is below the lowest descending
		letter. For some fonts the insertion point appears slightly below the
		lowest letter; for others, it appears exactly at the bottom.
	Bottom Center	Text is centered. The insertion point is below the lowest descending
		letter.
	Bottom Right	Text is right-justified. The insertion point is below the lowest
		descending letter.

298 Part II Drawing in Two Dimensions

Tip If you know the option abbreviation of the justification you want, you can use it at the

Specify start point of text or [Justify/Style]: prompt.

If you choose a justification that centers or right-justifies, the text does not appear with the proper justification until after you press Enter for the second time and return to the command prompt.

Setting the height

Setting the height of text is fairly straightforward. The default is 0.2 units but this is not suitable for all applications. The main point to consider is the scale factor. If you’re drawing a house and plan to plot it at 1"=8' (1=96), you need to figure out how big to make the text so that you can still read it when it is scaled down.

For example, if you want the text to be 0.2 units high and your scale factor is 96, your text needs to be 19.2 inches high (0.2×96). On the other hand, if you’re drawing a very small object, such as a computer chip, and your scale is 0.10, your text needs to be 0.02 inches high. The dimension text in Figure 13-2 is 5 inches high, but at a scale factor of 64, it plots at 5⁄64 inches high.

Figure 13-2: The dimension text in this drawing is 5 inches high.

AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT calculate text height in units. Most word processors calculate text height in points. A point is 1⁄72 of an inch. Therefore, 12-point text, a standard for most business letters, is about 0.17 inches high. The default of 0.2 units, if you’re using inches as your unit, is just over 14 points, which is usually appropriate for annotating a drawing. (You don’t usually hold a drawing as close as a letter, so a larger point size is appropriate.)

For information about changing the scale of text, see the section “Editing single-line text” later in this chapter.

Setting the rotation angle

The final prompt in DTEXT is the rotation angle. This angle applies to the entire line of text, not to individual characters. (You can specify slanted text — called obliqued text — using the STYLE command covered later in this chapter.) Figure 13-3 shows text rotated at 315 degrees.

Chapter 13 Creating Text 299

Figure 13-3: Text rotated at 315 degrees.

Adding special characters and formatting

The DTEXT command does not offer the same type of formatting options available for paragraph text (covered later in this chapter). Therefore, you have to use codes to create special characters and formats. These codes are shown in Table 13-2.

	Table 13-2: Special Character Codes for Text Fonts
Code	Results
%%o	Toggles overscore mode on/off.
%%u	Toggles underscore mode on/off.
%%d	Draws degree symbol (°).
%%p	Draws plus/minus tolerance symbol (±).
%%c	Draws circle diameter dimensioning symbol (Ø).

Figure 13-4 shows text using some of these codes, along with the entries that created them.

%%u35.3%%u not 35.8 Figure 13-4: Using special characters and formatting with text fonts.

%%c1.5

%%p.002

300 Part II Drawing in Two Dimensions

On the	The drawing used in the following Step-by-Step exercise on creating text with DTEXT, 13-a.
CD-ROM	dwg, is in the Drawings folder on the CD-ROM.

STEP-BY-STEP: Creating Text with DTEXT

1.Open ab13-a.dwg from your CD-ROM.

2.Save the file as ab13-01.dwg in your AutoCAD Bible folder. This is a master-bathroom plan drawing, as shown in Figure 13-5. Make sure OSNAP is on. Set running object snaps for endpoint, midpoint, and intersection.

2	3
1

Figure 13-5: The master bathroom.

3.Choose Draw Text Single Line Text. Follow the prompts:

Current text style: “ROMANS” Text height: 0'-4 1/2"

Specify start point of text or [Justify/Style]: Right-click and choose Justify.

Enter an option [Align/Fit/Center/Middle/Right/TL/TC/TR/ML/MC/MR/BL/ BC/BR]: Right-click and choose BC.

Specify bottom-center point of text: Use the Midpoint running object snap to pick 1 in Figure 13-5.

Specify rotation angle of text <0>: Pick the endpoint at 2. Enter text: 2-0

Enter text:

4.Start the DTEXT command again. Follow the prompts:

Specify start point of text or [Justify/Style]: Right-click and choose Justify.

Enter an option [Align/Fit/Center/Middle/Right/TL/TC/TR/ML/MC/MR/BL/ BC/BR]: Right-click and choose Middle.

Specify middle point of text: Pick 3 in Figure 13-5. (This point doesn’t have to be exact.)

Chapter 13 Creating Text 301

Specify rotation angle of text <45>: 0

Enter text: %%UMASTER BATH

Enter text:

5. Save your drawing. It should look like Figure 13-6.

Figure 13-6: The master-bathroom plan drawing with added single-line text.

Using the TEXT command

The TEXT command was the original command for creating text. DTEXT was an update, showing the characters on your screen as you typed. The relationship between these commands is as follows:

When used in a drawing, the TEXT and DTEXT commands function identically.

You can type -text on the command line to get the original TEXT behavior, which ends the command after one line of text.

Only the TEXT command works in script files, menus, or AutoLISP routines. (See Parts VI and VII of this book for more information.)

Editing single-line text

As with any drawing object, the need often arises to edit your text. You can edit single-line text in two ways.

The most common way to edit single-line text is to use the DDEDIT command. Double-click the text. Remember that each line of text created with DTEXT or TEXT is a separate object. The Edit Text dialog box opens with your text highlighted in an edit box, as shown in Figure 13-7. You can start typing to completely replace the text or click where you want to change part of the text and use standard Windows techniques to edit the text. Click OK or press Enter to make the changes and return to your drawing.

302 Part II Drawing in Two Dimensions

	Figure 13-7: The Edit Text dialog box.
Tip	If you start the DDEDIT command by choosing Modify Objects Text Edit (or typing
	DDEDIT on the command line), you’re prompted to select an annotation object. Select the
	object, and the Edit Text window opens. When you click OK, you’re again prompted to select
	an object. The command continues to prompt you for objects until you press Enter at the
	prompt. Use this method when you want to edit several lines of text.
	You can also change text using the Properties palette. Select any text object and click Proper-
	ties on the Standard toolbar to open the Properties palette, as shown in Figure 13-8. Here you
	can edit not only the text content but also every other conceivable property, including layer,
	linetype, lineweight, color, insertion point, justification, rotation angle, and several other
	properties that I cover in the next section on text styles.
		Figure 13-8: The Properties palette lets you edit all text
		properties, including text content, in one place.

Chapter 13 Creating Text 303

Scaling text

You can change the scale of selected text (either one text object or several at once) without moving the text insertion point using the SCALETEXT command. All the text objects stay in their original location.

To use SCALETEXT, follow these steps:

1.Choose Modify Object Text Scale.

2.Select the text objects to scale.

3.At the Enter a base point option for scaling [Existing/Left/Center/ Middle/Right/TL/TC/TR/ML/MC/MR/BL/BC/BR] <Existing>: prompt, press Enter to

use the existing insertion point of the selected text or choose a new base point. (Your last choice for this prompt becomes the new default, so if you used another option, type e .) These options are the same as the Justify options described earlier in this chapter.

4.At the Specify new height or [Match object/Scale factor] <3/32>: prompt, right-click and choose Scale factor to specify a scale factor, just as you would for the SCALE command (see Chapter 9.) You can also type a new height or use the Match Object option to match the height of the selected text objects to another existing text object. The prompt asks you to select an object with the desired height.

5.If you chose the Scale Factor option, type the factor you want at the Specify scale factor or [Reference] <2>: prompt.

6.If you want to specify the scale factor with reference to existing text or a value, use the Reference option. At the Specify reference length <1>: prompt, type a length or specify two points that measure the reference length. At the Specify new length: prompt, type a value or pick two points to indicate the new length.

Justifying text

The JUSTIFYTEXT command lets you change the justification of selected text objects without moving the text. To use JUSTIFYTEXT, choose Modify Object Text Justify. Then select the text objects you want to modify. At the Enter a justification option [Left/ Align/Fit/Center/Middle/Right/TL/TC/TR/ML/MC/MR/BL/BC/BR] <Left>: prompt, right-click and choose the justification you want.

On the	The drawing used in the following Step-by-Step exercise on editing text, ab13-b.dwg, is in
CD-ROM	the Drawings folder on the CD-ROM.

STEP-BY-STEP: Editing Text

1.Open ab13-b.dwg from your CD-ROM.

2.Save the file as ab13-02.dwg in your AutoCAD Bible folder. This is an air and vacuum release valve, as shown in Figure 13-9.

3.Double-click the text 1/2" piping. The Edit Text dialog box opens. Highlight the text 1/2 and type 3/8. Click OK. The text changes.

4.Choose Properties from the Standard toolbar. Click Quick Select in the Properties palette. In the Quick Select dialog box, choose Text from the Object Type drop-down list. In the Operator drop-down list, choose Select All. Click OK to select all the text objects in the drawing.