Learning Basic Commands to Get Started - AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required - page 54

of available information about the shapes varies from segment to segment, one of
the two relative coordinate systems will turn out to be more appropriate. As
you start drawing the floor plan of the cabin in Chapters 3 and 4, you'll get more
practice using these systems.
using Direct input
Now draw the box once more, this time using the Direct Input method by fol-
lowing these steps:
1. Erase the lines in your drawing as you did in a prior exercise (Home
tab ➢ Modify panel ➢ Erase tool).
2. Make sure Polar Tracking is turned on; then start the LINE command.
3. Enter 3,3 ↵ to start the box at the same point.
4. Place the cursor so that it is directly to the right of the first point. When
the cursor is nearly perpendicular, it will snap to a perfectly horizontal
orientation. The Dynamic Input field shows a value of 0º and the dis-
tance from the first point, as shown in Figure 2.18.
FiGuRE 2.18 Drawing a line using the Direct Input method
5. Enter 6 ↵ . The first line is created extending from the initial point to
a point 6 units away at an angle of 0º. Notice that the @ symbol is not
required when using direct input.
6. Move the cursor so that it is directly above the last point until the angle
field reads 90º; then enter 5 ↵ . A vertical line 5 units long is drawn from
the previous point.
7. Move the cursor so that it is directly to the left of the end of the last
line drawn and then enter 6 ↵ . A horizontal line 6 units long is drawn
from the previous point. Even though the line is drawn in the nega-
tive X direction, the minus sign (negative indicator) is not required.