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DIMLINEAR

CompleteChecked against Musa CAD 0.8.0Verified

Create a horizontal or vertical linear dimension.

Type
DIMLINEAR or DLI
On the ribbon
  • Home › Annotation › Linear
  • Annotate › Dimensions › Linear

What it asks first

Command line
Command: DIMLINEAR
Specify first extension line origin or <select object>:

Read from Musa CAD 0.8.0 itself (musacad --dump-wiki-data), so these facts always match the release this wiki is built for (0.8.0).

DIMLINEAR measures the distance between two points, straight across or straight up. It draws two extension lines, a dimension line with an arrow at each end, and the measured value.

How it works

Section titled “How it works”

Type DLI and press Enter. Click the first point, then the second. These are the extension line origins: the two places you are measuring between. Then move the cursor away and click where the dimension line should go. The dimension is drawn and the command ends.

Where you click decides the direction. Above or below the two points, the dimension runs across and measures the horizontal distance. To the left or right of them, it stands up and measures the vertical distance. The preview turns as you move the cursor round.

Command line
Command: DLI
Specify first extension line origin or <select object>: 0,0
Specify second extension line origin: 80,0
Specify dimension line location or [Mtext/Text/Angle/Horizontal/Vertical/Rotated]: (click below the part)
Dimension placed.
A five-sided plate 80 wide and 45 high, with its top right corner cut off by a slanted edge. Below it, a blue dimension reads 80.00: pick 1 is the bottom left corner, pick 2 the bottom right corner, and pick 3 a point on the dimension line. A vertical dimension on the left side reads 45.00. Above the slanted edge, a horizontal dimension reads 30.00, how far the slant runs across.
Picks 1 and 2 are the points measured. Pick 3 places the dimension line.
Plotted by Musa CAD 0.8.0 from the example drawing cmd-dimlinear.musaDownload the drawing

Dimension an object

Section titled “Dimension an object”

Instead of clicking two points, press Enter at the first prompt and pick an object. Musa CAD finds the two ends for you:

  • a line, or one segment of a polyline: its two ends;
  • an arc: the distance between its two ends;
  • a circle: its diameter, across or up depending on where you place the line.
Command line
Command: DLI
Specify first extension line origin or <select object>: Enter
Select object to dimension: (pick a line)
Specify dimension line location or [Mtext/Text/Angle/Horizontal/Vertical/Rotated]: (click where the dimension line goes)
Dimension placed from object.
Dimension created from object.

Options

Section titled “Options”

These options are offered while you place the dimension line. After you choose one, Musa CAD asks for the dimension line location again.

OptionWhat it does
Mtext (M) or Text (T)Type your own text. Musa CAD shows the measurement as the default, for example Enter dimension text <80.0000>:; after you picked an object it asks Enter dimension text (<> for the measurement):. Type <> where the measured value should go, so <> TYP reads 80.00 TYP. Text without <> replaces the value. Press Enter without typing to use the measurement. Both keywords do the same thing.
Angle (A)Turns the text. At Specify angle of dimension text: type an angle in degrees. 0 or Enter puts it back the normal way.
Horizontal (H)Always measures straight across, wherever you place the line.
Vertical (V)Always measures straight up.
Rotated (R)Measures along a direction you choose. At Specify angle of dimension line <0>: type the angle in degrees, or click two points to show the direction (Musa CAD asks Specify second point:).

Once you choose Horizontal, Vertical or Rotated, the direction is fixed and the prompt offers only [Mtext/Text/Angle].

Good to know

Section titled “Good to know”
  • The value on the dimension follows the current dimension style, not the drawing units. The Standard style shows two decimal places, so 80 reads 80.00. Change this with DIMSTYLE.
  • When you pick an object, Musa CAD checks it as you place the dimension. If there was no line, arc, circle or polyline under the pick, it says Could not dimension that object -- select a line, circle, or arc. and draws nothing.
  • Typing O (or Object) at the first prompt also asks you to select an object, the same as Enter.
  • New dimensions go on the current layer, or on the layer named in DIMLAYER.
  • With DIMASSOC at its default of 2, a dimension follows the objects its points are on when you move or change them.
  • Esc cancels without drawing anything. U removes the whole dimension in one step.

Compared with AutoCAD

Section titled “Compared with AutoCAD”

DIMLINEAR asks the same questions as AutoCAD’s. As in AutoCAD, Enter at the first prompt selects an object, and where you place the line makes the dimension horizontal or vertical.

Next

Section titled “Next”