Developing Drawing Strategies: Part 2 - AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required - page 213

Because three of the burners are the same size, you can use the
Equal geometric constraint to build a relationship between the two
right burners and the back-left burner. It's important to remember
that the focus here is to get the geometry correct. You'll apply dimen-
sional constraints shortly to correctly size each of the burners.
12. Click the Equal constraint tool from the Parametric tab ➢ Geometric
panel.
13. Select the back-right burner and then the front-right burner to set the
radius of each equal to the back-right burner.
14. Repeat the process once again, this time selecting the back-right burner
and the back-left burner.
Your stove should look like Figure 5.55.
FiGuRE 5.55 Stove with Equal constraints applied to three burners
15. Save your file as 05A-FPLAY5.dwg .
Applying Dimensional Constraints
The last several exercises gave you the opportunity to focus on geometry,
not dimensions. Although the stove is geometrically correct, it's currently
drawn using a series of arbitrary dimensions. Dimensional constraints let you
assign real values to the geometry in your drawing. Thanks to the geometric con-
straints you have already applied to the stove, you'll only need to apply dimensional
constraints to a few key points. The geometric constraints will handle the rest for
you automatically, ensuring that the integrity of the relationships is retained.
Dimensional constraints function similarly to regular dimensions in AutoCAD.
You'll have the chance to take a closer look at dimensions in Chapter 12, “Dimen-
sioning a Drawing,” but your experience with parametrics will certainly provide a