The Command Line has two functions. Displayed on the left of the Status Bar, it allows you to type in keystrokes known as FastKeys that accelerate the drawing process. It is also a way of entering information so that your drawings maintain complete accuracy. In this way Command Line entry changes the way you edit objects from a graphical method to a co-ordinate or dimension-based method.
For example, if a line is selected you can use the Command line to specify its length, or to re-position it within the document. This gives you a very fast method of editing your drawing.
The Command Line allows you to enter lengths and co-ordinates. When typing in co-ordinates you use x,y notation and enter either Dimensions, Absolute Co-ordinates (the location of a point in distances from 0,0), Relative Co-ordinates (the change in the co-ordinate) or Polar Co-ordinates (i.e. a bearing in degrees and a length, sometimes know as a vector). You distinguish the type of entry by typing a prefix and separate the numeric values with a comma. The prefixes are:
No prefix to indicate Dimensions
' to indicate Absolute Co-ordinates
@ to indicate Relative Co-ordinates
Using the Command Line you change the length of a selected line by typing:
5.6 [Enter] (Sets the length at 5.6 units, e.g. inches or meters depending on your document settings)
or you could set the height and width of a rectangle by typing:
3, 3 [Enter] (Sets the height and width at 3 units)
If you wanted to change the height of a rectangle to 5 units but leave the width unchanged you should select it and type:
, 5 [Enter] (Sets the height at 5 units)
To move objects using the Command Line you should remember to add a prefix to specify whether the movement is Absolute, Relative or Polar. It is the centre of the selection that is considered when you use the Command Line to move objects. Here are some examples:
'5, 0 [Enter] (Moves the centre of the selection to x=5, y=0)
', 8 [Enter] (Moves the centre of the selection to y=8. x co-ordinates remain unchanged)
@ 2, 3 (Moves the centre of the selection 2 units along in the x axis, and 3 units down in the y axis)