Annotation

Annotation is everything that explains a drawing: notes, sizes, labels, tables and tolerances. This chapter shows which tool to use for each.

Text

Musa CAD has two kinds of text:

• Single-line text (DT for TEXT). Each line is its own object. Good for labels and short notes. Press Enter at the end of a line to start the next one below it.
• Multiline text (MT for MTEXT). One object holding a whole paragraph, which wraps to a width you set. Good for longer notes. It keeps formatting such as heights, colours, fonts, underlines and stacked fractions.

Double-click a text, or type ED, to change its words.

Symbols

Type these codes in any text and Musa CAD draws the symbol:

Type	To get
%%d	° (degrees)
%%p	± (plus or minus)
%%c	⌀ (diameter)
%%%	a single %
\U+ and four hex digits, such as \U+2300	any Unicode character

The codes are kept as you typed them, so the text saves and exchanges with other CAD programs unchanged.

Text styles and fonts

A text style names a font, a height, a width factor and a slant. Every text uses a style. The Standard style uses Musa CAD’s own single-stroke font, which looks like classic CAD lettering and plots crisply. A style can also use any TrueType or OpenType font on your computer.

Command	Type	What it does
TEXT	DT, DTEXT	Create a single-line text object.
MTEXT	T, MT	Create a multiline (paragraph) text object.
TEXTEDIT	ED, DDEDIT	Edit the contents of an existing text object.
STYLE	ST	Create or change a named text style and make it current.
FIND	FIND	Find text in the drawing and replace it.
SCALETEXT	SCALETEXT	Scale the selected text, each about a point of its own.
JUSTIFYTEXT	JUSTIFYTEXT	Change the justification of the selected text without moving it.
TXT2MTXT	TXT2MTXT	Convert the selected single-line text to one multiline text.
TCASE	TCASE	Change the case of the selected text: Sentence, lower, UPPER, Title or tOGGLE.
TEXTMASK	TEXTMASK	Put a wipeout behind the selected text.
FIELD	FIELD	Place text showing the date, time, file name or login, refreshed on regen.

Dimensions

Dimensions show sizes. Musa CAD measures each one from the points it is attached to, so the number is always right. When you move or stretch what a dimension measures, the dimension follows.

The quickest way: type DIM, then click an object. Musa CAD picks a suitable kind for it, such as a linear dimension for a line or a radius for an arc. For full control, use a command for each kind:

Command	Type	What it does
DIM	DIM	Create a dimension suited to the selected object.
DIMLINEAR	DLI	Create a horizontal or vertical linear dimension.
DIMALIGNED	DAL	Create a dimension aligned with two points.
DIMANGULAR	DAN	Create an angular dimension between two lines.
DIMRADIUS	DRA	Create a radius dimension for a circle or arc.
DIMDIAMETER	DDI	Create a diameter dimension for a circle or arc.
DIMARC	DAR	Create an arc length dimension.
DIMJOGGED	DJO	Create a jogged radius dimension for a large arc.
DIMORDINATE	DOR	Create an ordinate (X or Y datum) dimension.
DIMCONTINUE	DCO	Continue a dimension chain from the last dimension's second extension line.
DIMBASELINE	DBA	Stack dimensions from a common first extension line.
QDIM	QDIM	Dimension the selected geometry at once: a chain, staggered, from a baseline, ordinates, radii or diameters.
DIMCENTER	DCE	Mark the centre of an arc or circle, with centre lines if asked.

DIMCONTINUE carries on a chain from the last dimension. DIMBASELINE stacks dimensions that all start from the same line. QDIM dimensions a whole selection at once.

Dimension styles

A dimension style sets how dimensions look: text height, arrow size and shape, units, decimal places, tolerances and colours. Change a style and every dimension using it updates. Open the Dimension Style Manager with D.

Typing a dimension variable’s name, such as DIMTXT for the text height, changes the current style directly. To give one dimension a setting of its own, use DIMOVERRIDE or the Properties palette.

Command	Type	What it does
DIMSTYLE	D, DST, DDIM	Create and change dimension styles: text, arrows, units and colours, and the current style.
DIMEDIT	DED	Put dimensions' text home, replace or rotate it, or slant their extension lines (Oblique).
DIMTEDIT	DIMTED	Move or rotate a dimension's text, or slide it Left, Right or to the Center.
DIMSPACE	DIMSPACE	Space parallel dimensions evenly from a base dimension, or line them up with it.
DIMBREAK	DIMBREAK	Break a dimension's lines where objects cross them, or take the breaks away.
DIMJOGLINE	DJL	Add a jog to a linear or aligned dimension's line, or take one away.
DIMINSPECT	DIMINSPECT	Make the selected dimensions inspection dimensions: a frame, a label and an inspection rate.
DIMOVERRIDE	DOV	Give dimensions settings of their own (DIMTXT, DIMASZ ...), or clear theirs.
DIMDISASSOCIATE	DDA	Dimensions no longer follow the objects they measure.
DIMREASSOCIATE	DRE	Dimensions follow the objects they measure again.

Leaders

A leader is an arrow pointing at something, with a note at its other end.

• Multileaders (MLD for MLEADER) are the modern kind: the arrow, line, landing and text are one object, and their look comes from a multileader style. One multileader can have several arrows.
• LEADER and QLEADER (LE) draw the classic kind.

Command	Type	What it does
MLEADER	MLD	Draw a multileader: an arrowhead, a leader line and a landing, and its text.
MLEADERSTYLE	MLS	Open the Multileader Style Manager: the styles new multileaders take.
MLEADEREDIT	MLE	Add leaders to a multileader, or take leaders away from it.
MLEADERALIGN	MLA	Line up the text of the selected multileaders along a direction.
QLEADER	LE, QL	Draw a quick leader with an arrowhead and annotation.
LEADER	LEADER	Draw a leader line with an arrowhead and annotation.

Tables

Tables hold rows and columns of text, such as a parts list, a bill of materials or a revision block. Their borders and text sizes come from a table style, and cells can be merged.

Command	Type	What it does
TABLE	TB	Insert a table of rows and columns for a BOM, revision block or parts list.
TABLESTYLE	TS	Create, change and set the current table style.
TABLEEDIT	TABLEEDIT	Edit the text of a table cell.
TABLEEXPORT	TABLEEXPORT	Write a table's cells to a CSV file.
DATAEXTRACTION	DX, EATTEXT	Count the block references by name and attribute values into a table or a CSV file.

Geometric tolerances (GD&T)

A feature control frame shows a geometric tolerance: the symbol, the tolerance value and up to three datum references. TOLERANCE opens a window to build one, with two rows for a composite frame. DATUM places a datum feature symbol.

Command	Type	What it does
TOLERANCE	TOL	Create a feature control frame with geometric tolerance symbols.
DATUM	DIMDATUM	Place a datum feature symbol with its leader triangle.

Sizes on paper

Text heights, arrow sizes and dimension sizes are in drawing units. Plan them for the scale you will plot at: text 2.5 high on paper is 25 high in a drawing plotted at 1:10. Annotative objects, which resize themselves for each viewport scale, are not in Musa CAD 0.8.0 yet.

Next

• Group and control annotation with layers in Organising a drawing.
• Put it all on a sheet in Layouts, viewports and plotting.