Glossary - AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011: No Experience Required - page 949

donut dynamic block

A closed, circular polyline created with the
DONUT command.

A block that, after insertion, can be edited to
take on a preset range of shapes and sizes to
fulfill a variety of conditions in the drawing,
such as windows with a multiplicity of widths
and heights. It also can be set up to align
automatically with geometry in the drawing.

drawing area

The portion of the monitor screen where you
draw objects and view your drawing.

dynamic input

drawing extents

A feature that, when turned on, displays
coordinate, distance, angle, and command
prompt information near the crosshair cur-
sor in the drawing area. The information
displayed varies with the execution of the
command. The Dynamic Input button on the
status bar controls whether this feature is on
or off.

The minimum rectangular area with the
same proportions as your drawing area that
will enclose nonfrozen objects in your draw-
ing. When you use Zoom to Extents, the
rectangular area fills the drawing area.

drawing limits

The area in a drawing that is covered by
the grid . It can be defined by the user. It's
stored as the coordinates of the lower-left
and upper-right corners of the rectangular
area covered by the grid. If on the Snap and
Grid tab of the Drafting Settings dialog box
the Display Grid Beyond Limits check box is
selected, AutoCAD displays the grid on the
entire screen regardless of the limits.

E

easting

A precise geographic point along the x-axis
representing the eastern offset from an
established datum.

edge

drawing units

1. The side of a 3D face, 3D mesh, or 3D
surface . 2. When capitalized, a command
for controlling the visibility of the edges of
three-dimensional faces.

The intervals of linear and angular measure-
ments chosen for use in a drawing.

drop-down list

An expandable list typically found in a dialog
box, Ribbon panel , or toolbar which allows a
user to select an item from a list.

elevation

A view of a building that viewers get when
they look at it horizontally, perpendicular to
an interior or exterior wall.

.dwg

The file extension and format for the stan-
dard AutoCAD drawing.