Draw tools, Object Snap and Dynamic Input - Introduction to AutoCAD 2011: 2D and 3D Design - page 75

available in AutoCAD 2011 will be described in later pages. The variable
PELLIPSE controls whether ellipses are drawn as splines or as polylines.
It is set as follows:
Command: enter pellipse right-click
Enter new value for PELLIPSE <0>: enter 1 right-
click
Command:
And now when ellipses are drawn they are plines. If the variable is set to 0 ,
the ellipses will be splines. The value of changing ellipses to plines is that
they can then be edited using the Polyline Edit tool.
REVISION NOTES
The following terms have been used in this chapter:
Field - a part of a window or of a dialog in which numbers or letters are entered or which can
be read.
Popup list - a list brought in screen with a click on the arrow often found at the right-hand
end of a fi eld.
Object - a part of a drawing which can be treated as a single object. For example, a line
constructed with the Line tool is an object, a rectangle constructed with the Polyline tool
is an object and an arc constructed with the Arc tool is an object. It will be seen in a later
chapter (Chapter 9) that several objects can be formed into a single object.
Ribbon palettes - when working in either of the 2D Drafting and Annotation or of the 3D
Modeling workspace, tool icons are held in panels in the Ribbon.
Command line - a line in the command palette which commences with the word Command.
Snap Mode, Grid Display and Object Snap can be toggled with clicks on their respective
buttons in the status bar. These functions can also be set with function keys: Snap Mode -
F9, Grid Display - F7 and Object Snap - F3.
Object Snaps ensure accurate positioning of objects in drawings.
Object Snap abbreviations can be used at the command line rather than setting in ON in the
Drafting Settings dialog.
Dynamic input allows constructions in any of the three AutoCAD 2011 workspaces or in a full
screen workspace, without having to use the command palette for entering the initials of
command line prompts.
N o t e s
There are two types of tooltip. When the cursor under mouse control is
paced over a tool icon, the fi rst (a smaller) tooltip is seen. If the cursor
is held in position for a short time the second (a larger) tooltip is seen.
Settings for the tooltip may be made in the Options dialog.
Polygons constructed with the Polygon tool are regular polygons - the
edges of the polygons are all the same length and the angles are of the
same degrees.