Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
The AutoCAD EXPLODE command on the Home tab's Modify panel will blow a
dimension to smithereens — or at least into a bunch of line and multiline text ob-
jects. Don't do it! Exploding a dimension makes it much harder to edit cleanly and
eliminates AutoCAD's ability to update the dimension text measurement automat-
ically.
Editing dimension text
In most cases, you shouldn't have to edit dimension text. Assuming that you draw your
geometry accurately and pick the dimension points precisely, AutoCAD displays the
right measurement. If you change the size of the associated object, AutoCAD updates
the dimension and its measurement. However, you may occasionally want to
override
the dimension text (that is, replace it with a different measurement) or
add
a prefix or a
suffix to the true measurement.
AutoCAD creates dimension text as multiline text, so dimension text has the same edit-
ing options as ordinary text. Unfortunately, the right-click menu for dimension objects
doesn't include a Text Edit option. You can use the Text Override field in the Properties
palette or type
ED
(the keyboard shortcut for the DDEDIT command) to edit dimension
text in the In-Place Text Editor.
AutoCAD displays the true dimension length as text in the actual dimension (and keeps
the text up to date if you change the size or location of the object). You can override the
true length by typing a specific length or other text string. You can preserve the true
length but add a prefix or suffix by inserting
<>
(that is, the left and right angle-bracket
characters) as placeholders for the dimension value. For example, if you enter
<> Max.
,
and the actual distance is 12.00, AutoCAD displays
12.00 Max.
for the dimension text.
If you stretch the object later on so the actual distance changes to 14.50, AutoCAD
changes the dimension text automatically to read
14.50 Max.
Now you can appreciate
the importance of drawing and editing geometry precisely!
Avoid the temptation to override the default dimension text by replacing the
angled brackets with a numeric value. Doing so eliminates AutoCAD's ability to
keep dimension measurements current, but even worse, you get no visual cue that
the default distance has been overridden (unless you edit the dimension text). If
you're overriding dimension text a lot, it's probably a sign that the creator of the
