DIMCONTINUE

DIMCONTINUE adds dimensions end to end, in a chain. Each new dimension starts at the second extension line of the one before and sits on the same dimension line. It is the quick way to dimension a row of steps or holes, one after another.

How it works

First draw one dimension, for example with DIMLINEAR. Then type DCO and press Enter. Click the next point you want to dimension to. A new dimension is added from the end of the last one to that point. Keep clicking: each new dimension carries on from the one you just added.

To finish, press Enter twice, or press Esc. The first Enter asks which dimension to continue from; the second one ends the command.

Command line

Command: DCO
Specify a second extension line origin or [Select/Undo] <Select>: 70,35
Continued dimension added.
Specify a second extension line origin or [Select/Undo] <Select>: 100,20
Continued dimension added.
Specify a second extension line origin or [Select/Undo] <Select>: Enter
Select continued dimension: Enter

One DIMLINEAR, then two picks with DIMCONTINUE.

Plotted by Musa CAD 0.8.0 from the example drawing cmd-dimcontinue.musaDownload the drawing

Continue from a different dimension

DIMCONTINUE starts from the last dimension drawn. To go on from another one, press Enter (or type S) at the first prompt. At Select continued dimension: click the dimension, near the extension line you want to continue from. Then click the next points as before.

Command line

Command: DCO
Specify a second extension line origin or [Select/Undo] <Select>: Enter
Select continued dimension: (click the dimension near its right-hand extension line)
Specify a second extension line origin or [Select/Undo] <Select>: (click the next point)
Continued dimension added.

Options

Option	What it does
Select (S)	Asks Select continued dimension:, so you can continue from a dimension you pick. Enter does the same. Pressing Enter at Select continued dimension ends the command.
Undo (U)	Removes the last dimension added and goes back to the one before it, so the next pick continues from there. With nothing added yet in this run, Musa CAD says Nothing to undo.

Good to know

• You can continue from a linear, aligned, angular or ordinate dimension. An angular chain goes round the same vertex, on the same arc. An ordinate chain adds the next feature measured from the same datum.
• A linear chain keeps the first dimension’s direction. A horizontal row stays horizontal even when the points step up and down, as in the picture.
• Each new dimension takes the style, the overrides, the layer and the colour of the one it continues from. If DIMLAYER names a layer, the new ones go on that layer instead.
• If the drawing has no dimension yet, a pick says DIMCONTINUE: no previous dimension to continue from; select a dimension.
• If the last dimension is one that cannot be chained, such as a radius, a pick says DIMCONTINUE needs a linear, aligned, ordinate or angular dimension to continue from.
• At Select continued dimension, a pick on empty space says No dimension found. A pick on a dimension of the wrong kind says The dimension selected is not a linear, aligned, ordinate or angular dimension.
• Each dimension added is its own undo step, both with Undo inside the command and with U afterwards.

Compared with AutoCAD

DIMCONTINUE asks the same questions as AutoCAD’s, and Enter at Select continued dimension ends it, as in AutoCAD.

Next

• Stack dimensions from one base line instead with DIMBASELINE.
• Dimension a whole row in one go with QDIM.
• Even out the gaps between rows of dimensions with DIMSPACE.