entrenamiento bricscad.pdf

V13 Basic Training

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Table of content

CONTENT OF THE TRAINING PACKAGE ............................................ 1 1. Documentation ................................................................................................................................. 1 2. Exercises .......................................................................................................................................... 1 3. Software ........................................................................................................................................... 1

MODULE 1: UNDERSTANDING A DWG-DRAWING ............................. 2 1. The BricsCAD application window ................................................................................................... 2

Exercise: toggle the display of line weights ..................................................................................... 3 2. Display of a DWG ............................................................................................................................. 4

Exercise: Modify the layer properties ............................................................................................... 5 3. The Drawing Explorer ....................................................................................................................... 7

Open the Drawing Explorer .............................................................................................................. 7 Check for missing external definitions .............................................................................................. 8 Exercise: Exporting a drawing .......................................................................................................... 9

4. Display commands ......................................................................................................................... 11 Exercise: View manipulation .......................................................................................................... 12 To save a view ............................................................................................................................... 13 Exercise: To restore a saved view ................................................................................................. 13

5. Layer commands ............................................................................................................................ 14 To open the Layers toolbar ............................................................................................................ 14 Switching OFF the display of a layer .............................................................................................. 15 Switching all layers ON .................................................................................................................. 16 Freezing layers ............................................................................................................................... 16 Thaw all layers ............................................................................................................................... 17 Locking layers ................................................................................................................................ 17 Unlocking layers ............................................................................................................................. 17 Isolating layers ............................................................................................................................... 17 Undo the isolation of layers ............................................................................................................ 18

6. Layer States ................................................................................................................................... 18 Saving a layer state ........................................................................................................................ 18 Exercise: To restore a layer state .................................................................................................. 19

7. Paper Space Layouts ..................................................................................................................... 20 Checking the properties of a Layout .............................................................................................. 20 Check the properties of a viewport ................................................................................................. 21

8. External References ....................................................................................................................... 22 Exercise: Check for missing external references ........................................................................... 22

9. Copying between drawings ............................................................................................................ 23 Composing a selection set ............................................................................................................. 23 To set Selection Preview ................................................................................................................ 23 To select overlapping entities ......................................................................................................... 24 Using Copy / Paste to copy entities ............................................................................................... 24 To paste the selection at the original coordinates .......................................................................... 24 To paste the selection using a base point ...................................................................................... 25 To paste a selection as a block ...................................................................................................... 25

BricsCAD Basic Training

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MODULE 2: MEASURING IN A DRAWING ......................................... 26 1. Entity Snaps ................................................................................................................................... 26

To open the Entity Snaps toolbar ................................................................................................... 26 Setting the active Entity Snaps ...................................................................................................... 26

2. Commands ..................................................................................................................................... 27 To open the Inquiry toolbar ............................................................................................................ 27

3. Units in a drawing ........................................................................................................................... 28 To check the INSUNITS system variable ....................................................................................... 28 Define the linear unit precision ....................................................................................................... 28

4. The Prompt History window ........................................................................................................... 29 To copy the content of the Prompt History window ........................................................................ 29

5. Measuring distances and lengths ................................................................................................... 29 Check the length of an entity .......................................................................................................... 29 To measure the perpendicular distance between a point and a line. ............................................ 29 Adding the lengths of different entities together ............................................................................. 30 Measuring the distance between virtual points .............................................................................. 31

6. Measuring areas ............................................................................................................................. 32 Measuring an area by picking points .............................................................................................. 32 Adding areas together .................................................................................................................... 33

7. Boundary Polyline .......................................................................................................................... 35 Creating a boundary polyline ......................................................................................................... 35 Creating a boundary polyline using a selection ............................................................................. 35 The boundary polyline command options ...................................................................................... 36 Boundary Tolerance setting ........................................................................................................... 37

8. Using fields ..................................................................................................................................... 37 9. Reading coordinates ...................................................................................................................... 39

Reading the coordinates of the vertices of a polyline .................................................................... 39 Reading the coordinates of a point ................................................................................................ 39 Coordinate systems ........................................................................................................................ 40 Check the UCS icon variables ....................................................................................................... 40 Moving the origin of the coordinate system.................................................................................... 40 Restoring the WCS ......................................................................................................................... 41 Reading relative coordinates .......................................................................................................... 41

10. Reading the properties of a selection ............................................................................................. 42 11. Creating Dimensions ...................................................................................................................... 43

Terminology .................................................................................................................................... 43 Exercise: Floor levels in a cross section ........................................................................................ 45

MODULE 3: PRINTING ........................................................................ 47 1. General information ........................................................................................................................ 47

General procedure to print a DWG ................................................................................................ 47 Een Page Setup definiren ............................................................................................................ 49 Creating a page setup for Model Space......................................................................................... 50 Een page setup maken voor Paper Space .................................................................................... 51 Printing a layout .............................................................................................................................. 52

2. Pen Assignments ........................................................................................................................... 54 Check the settings in a CTB ........................................................................................................... 54

3. Adding a new layout ....................................................................................................................... 55 4. Adding a viewport in a layout ......................................................................................................... 57 5. Controlling the display in a viewport ............................................................................................... 57

To switch off the display of certain layers in a viewport: ................................................................ 57 To control which layers are frozen in a viewport: ........................................................................... 57 To rotate the display in a Paper Space viewport: .......................................................................... 59

6. To print a series of drawings or layouts. ........................................................................................ 60 Printing a Sheet List ....................................................................................................................... 60

7. Working with Sheet Sets ................................................................................................................ 61 Creating a Sheet Set ...................................................................................................................... 61

Table Of Contents

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MODULE 4: 2D-DRAFTING IN BRICSCAD ......................................... 63 1. System variables and user preferences ......................................................................................... 63

The Settings dialog box .................................................................................................................. 63 User Profile ..................................................................................................................................... 64

2. Creating a new drawing.................................................................................................................. 64 3. Layer managment .......................................................................................................................... 65

To open the layer explorer ............................................................................................................. 65 Creating a new layer ...................................................................................................................... 65 Merge Layers. ................................................................................................................................ 66

4. Drawing entities .............................................................................................................................. 67 2D Entiteiten ................................................................................................................................... 67 Setting the ByLayer property .......................................................................................................... 67 Setting the current layer ................................................................................................................. 67 Drawing 2D entities ........................................................................................................................ 67 General procedure to draw 2D entities .......................................................................................... 68

5. Drawing accurately ......................................................................................................................... 68 Polar Tracking (POLAR)................................................................................................................. 68 Entity Snap (ESNAP) ..................................................................................................................... 69 Snap Tracking (STRACK) .............................................................................................................. 69 Using a UCS (user coordinate system) .......................................................................................... 69 Dynamic Dimensions...................................................................................................................... 69 Drawing Lines ................................................................................................................................. 70 Drawing Circles and Arcs ............................................................................................................... 70 Exercise: Tangram ......................................................................................................................... 71

6. Manipulate commands ................................................................................................................... 72 Moving and copying ....................................................................................................................... 72 Mirroring ......................................................................................................................................... 72 Rotating .......................................................................................................................................... 72 Parallel Copy (Offset) ..................................................................................................................... 72 Arraying .......................................................................................................................................... 72

7. Grip editing ..................................................................................................................................... 75 Exercise: Grip editing ..................................................................................................................... 75

8. Edit commands ............................................................................................................................... 77 Trim ................................................................................................................................................ 77 Extend ............................................................................................................................................ 77 Stretch ............................................................................................................................................ 77 Fillet and chamfer ........................................................................................................................... 78 Exercise: Edit and manipulate commands ..................................................................................... 78

9. Hatch and gradient ......................................................................................................................... 79 Linear Hatch ................................................................................................................................... 80 Pattern Hatch ................................................................................................................................. 80 Gradient Fill .................................................................................................................................... 81 Creating a hatch or fill .................................................................................................................... 81 Edit a hatch or fill ............................................................................................................................ 82

10. Creating dimensions. ...................................................................................................................... 83 11. Texts ............................................................................................................................................... 84

Text Styles ...................................................................................................................................... 84 Creating texts ................................................................................................................................. 84 Editing texts .................................................................................................................................... 84

12. Using Fields .................................................................................................................................... 85 Setting the document properties .................................................................................................... 85 General procedure to insert a field ................................................................................................. 86 Updating Fields .............................................................................................................................. 87 Fields in Blocks .............................................................................................................................. 87

13. Blocks ............................................................................................................................................. 87 General procedure to create a block .............................................................................................. 87 Attributes in blocks ......................................................................................................................... 89 Define attributes ............................................................................................................................. 89 Editing attributes in a block ............................................................................................................ 90


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14. Placing blocks ................................................................................................................................ 91 15. Inserting blocks from the Drawing Explorer ................................................................................... 92

Inserting blocks from the current drawing ...................................................................................... 92 Inserting blocks from other drawings ............................................................................................. 93

16. Editing blocks ................................................................................................................................. 93 17. Inserting external references .......................................................................................................... 94

Inserting a PDF underlay ............................................................................................................... 94 Inserting an image. ......................................................................................................................... 96

18. Working with 2D Constraints .......................................................................................................... 98 Dimensional Constraints ................................................................................................................ 98 Geometric Constraints.................................................................................................................... 98 Exercise: Using 2D Constraints ..................................................................................................... 98 The 2D Constraint Bars ................................................................................................................ 104

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Content of the training package

1. Documentation

BricsCADBasicTraining_V13.pdf: this training guide

BricsCADV13ForAutoCADusers-en_US.pdf: e-book from upFront.eZine Publishing. It describes the similarities and differences between BricsCAD en AutoCAD.

Pdf version of the BricsCAD Help: BricsCAD.pdf, BricsCAD-UsrGui.pdf, BricsCAD-SysVar.pdf, BricsCAD-CmdRef.pdf

2. Exercises

All dwgs needed to make the exercises in this training guide.

Blocks 2D: a series of drawings containing standard blocks

3. Software

The installer for the latest BricsCAD.


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Module 1: Understanding a DWG-drawing

1. The BricsCAD application window

1. Menu bar

2. Toolbar (docked)

3. Drawing windows

4. Viewports

5. Properties bar

6. Toolbar (floating)

7. Command bar

8. Status Bar

Command Bar

The command bar consists of two fields:

In the lower field you can type the commands and BricsCAD shows prompts, options and other information regarding the execution of commands here. If the command bar is closed, this information shows in the Status Bar.

The command history displays In the upper field of the command bar.

1. Close button

2. Grip: press and hold the left mouse button to drag the command bar.

3. Command History field

4. Command Edit field: type the commands and command options here

5. Scroll Buttons: Click the buttons to scroll the command history


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Status Bar

The Status Bar sits along the bottom edge of the BricsCAD application window. It contains a lot information about the settings in the current drawing. The status bar consists of 16 fields. All of these fields are optional, except the Status field. If you click the small black down arrow button at the right end of the status bar a list of all fields displays. Click a field to toggle its display.

Right click a field to display an option menu for this field.

1. Status

displays the status of the software.

when the cursor is in a menu or on a toolbar: gives a brief description of the tool or menu item.

when the command bar is closed: displays the tool options and keyboard entry.

double click to open / close the command bar

2. Coordinates

3. Current Layer

4. Current Color

5. Current Line type

6. Current Text Style

7. Current Dimension Style

8. Indicates whether the grid is active

9. Indicates whether the reference GRID display

10. Indicates whether the orthogonal setting is active

11. Indicates whether Polar Tracking is active

12. Indicates whether Entity Snaps are active

13. Indicates whether Entity Snap Tracking is active

14. Indicates whether line weights display

15. Current workspace

16. Toggles the digitizing tablet

17. Toggles the dynamic UCS

18. Toggles the display of dynamic dimensions

19. Toggles the selection mode for 3D subentities

20. Toggles the Quad cursor menu

Exercise: toggle the display of line weights

1. Open the drawing Plan_Level0.dwg.

2. Click the Line weight field ( ) in the status bar. Line weights now display and the Line weight field is active ( ).

3. Click the Line weight field ( ) in the status bar again. Line weights do not display and the Line weight field is greyed ( ).


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2. Display of a DWG

When you open a DWG it displays as it was last saved. A DWG has two workspaces: Model Space en Paper Space. Paper space consists of one or more Layouts. Below the drawing area you see a series of tabs: Model and one for each of the layouts. Click a tab to switch between Model Space and one of the layouts. If the bottom edge of the drawing screen cannot hold all layout tabs, you can use the navigation buttons at the left to browse through the layout tabs.

Model Space

Model Space contains the drawing entities. Generally Model Space exists of one single viewport, but you can divide it in multiple viewports if necessary. Each viewport can show different parts of the drawing.

Paper Space

As indicated by its name, Paper Space is used to make layout of the drawing on paper. Each drawing has at least one layout and each layout is composed of one or more viewports. Each viewport can show a different part of the drawing at a different scale.

In each layout you can add title blocks, legends, frames, etc. needed to complete a printed copy of the drawing. Such entities are visible in the layout where you add them only, not in the other layouts or in model space.


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Layers

All graphic information in a DWG sits on one or more layers. Each drawing has at least Layer 0 (zero). The number of layers is not limited. The properties of a layer are user defined.

The current layer is marked ( ).

If the SHOWLAYERUSAGE system variable is ON an icon indicates whether a layer is empty or not:

layer is not empty

layer is empty

The layer properties are:

Layer Name: each layer has a unique name

On/Off: ON ( = visible) of OFF ( = invisible)

Freeze: THAWED ( = visible) of FROZEN ( = invisible)

Locked: UNLOCKED ( = editable) of LOCKED ( = not editable)

Color: each layer has a color

Line type: each layer has a line type

Line weight: each layer has a line weight

Plot Style: defines the default plot style for entities on the layer

Plot: YES ( = printable) of NO ( = not printable)

If you open the Layer Explorer when in paper space additional settings are available:

The VP Freeze, VP Color, VP Linetype, VP Lineweight en VP Plot Style settings allow to override the color, linetype, lineweight and/or plot style of a layer in the current layout or paper space viewport. If the SHOWLAYERUSAGE system variable is ON, the following icons indicate whether overrides exist:

current layer with overrides

not-empty layer with overrides

empty layer with overrides

Exercise: Modify the layer properties

1. Open the drawing Plan_Level0.dwg. If necessary:

Click the Model tab.

Double click the middle mouse button (scroll wheel) to display the extents of the drawing.


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2. In the Entity Properties toolbar, click the button ( ) next to the name of the current layer. The layer list rolls out.

3. Click the Display icon ( ) of the, then click in the drawing. The dimensions do not display anymore.

4. Click the Display icon ( ) again to switch the Dimensions layer on again.

5. Repeat step 2, scroll to layer Walls First Floor.

Click the colored tile in front of the layer name. The Select Color dialog window displays.

Click on of the colors on the color palette. The selected color appears in the large color field at the bottom of the Select Color dialog window.

Click the OK button. The lines on the Walls First Floor layer display in the selected color.

Repeat the previous steps to set the color back to Index 1 (Red).


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3. The Drawing Explorer

Apart from the graphic information a DWG contains a number of definitions and settings to control the appearance of the drawing. All these definitions can be found in the Drawing Explorer.

Layers: all layers in the drawing

Layer States: saves the settings of a layer at a certain moment in order to restore these settings later on.

Line types: A list of line types that can be used in the drawing. If a line type is not available yet, you can add it.

Text Styles: A list of text styles that can be used in the drawing. If a text style is not

available yet, you can add it.

Dimension Styles: A list of dimension styles that can be used in the drawing. If a dimension style is not available yet, you can add it.

Table Styles: A list of table styles to create tables in the drawing.

Coordinate Systems: In each drawing you can define your own coordinate systems.

Views: If you zoom in on a detail you can save the display to a Saved View, which can be restored afterwards.

Visual Styles: A visual style controls the display of a drawing. Visual styles are important for 3D drawings only. The default visual style is 2dWireframe.

Lights: A list of lights in the current drawing and their properties.

Materials: A list of materials in the current drawing and their properties.

Blocks: A block is a compound entity which can be manipulated as a whole.

External References: A list of external drawings which are attached to the current

drawing.

Images: A list of images which are attached to the current drawing.

PDF Underlays: A list of PDF documents which are attached to the current drawing.

Dependencies: A list of external files and definitions the current drawing depends on. Missing definitions are marked.

Page Setups: All print settings (printer, paper size, ) can be saved in a page setup.

Section Planes: Section planes are used to make a cross section in 3D models. The result can either be viewed in the drawing or saved to a block or a drawing.

Open the Drawing Explorer

1. Do one of the following:

Choose one of the setting categories in the Tools > Drawing Explorer menu. The Drawing Explorer opens with the details of the of the selected category.

Click the Drawing Explorer icon ( ) on the Standard toolbar. The Drawing Explorer opens with the details of most recently used category.


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Drawings: A list of all drawings that are currently open.

Open Drawings:

Click a category to see the details of this category in the Details pane.

Click a drawing to switch between drawings.

Click the expand icon (+) to display the category list in the selected drawing.

Folders: A list of your favorite drawing folders. All blocks in the drawings in these folders can be inserted in the current drawing.

Sheets: Manages Sheet Sets.

Details: Definitions in the selected category.

Preview: An image of the selected definition (if available).

2. Select a different view mode for the selected category.

3. Click the Detail View icon ( ) to see the details of the definitions.

Click the Icon View icon ( ) to see each definition as an icon.

Click the Tree View icon ( ) to see the definitions as a tree structure.

Check for missing external definitions

Choose Dependencies in the Tools > Drawing Explorer menu. A list of all external definitions and files the drawing depends on displays.


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The Not Found icon ( ) indicates a definition is not found.

Exercise: Exporting a drawing

If a drawing is copied from one computer to another all dependencies need to be copied along with the parent drawing. The eTransmit function in the Drawing - Explorer Dependencies toolbar leads you through the procedure to compose the export package.

1. Open drawing Plan_Level0.dwg.

2. Choose eTransmit/eBridge in the File menu. The Drawing - Explorer - Dependencies dialog displays.

3. Click the eTransmit icon ( ) in the Details toolbar. The eTransmit dialog displays showing a list of all files the drawing depends on.. All files are selected to be included in the export.

4. (option) Click the selection box of the files you want to exclude.

5. Click the Transmit button. The dialog displays, showing the various export options.

Destination folder: Accept the C:\BricsCAD\Output\ default export folder: If this folder does not exist yet, it will be created automatically.

Save format: Choose No conversion.

Output: Choose ZIP-file.

Select: All files in one folder.


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6. Click the Transmit button. A message box reports the export. The Plan_Nivo0.zip file is created in the C:\BricsCAD\Output\folder.


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4. Display commands

All display commands can be found in the View toolbar.

The main view commands are:

Icon Name Description

Redraw/Regen Redraw/Regen flyout to redraw and regenerate the drawing.

Zoom In Zooms in by 50% (0.5)

Zoom Out Zooms out by 50% (0.5)

Zoom Zoom flyout, holding zoom and pan tools.

Zoom Previous Restores the previous view.

Real-Time

Constrained Sphere Real-Time Motion flyout.

Set Viewpoint Sets the viewpoint through a dialog box.

Plan View Restores the plan view of the drawing.

Perspective Sets the Perspective mode: Off = isometric; On = perspective

Define View Launches the DView command.

Save/Restore View Launches the View command to save the current view or to restore a saved view.

Viewports

Divides the drawing screen into two or more viewports. Choose the Single option to join all viewports.

Paper Space Views Creates layout viewports.

2D Context Restores the 2D context mode in the current viewport.

3D Context Restores the 3D context mode in the current viewport.


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Display manipulation using the mouse:

Key/ Mouse Button Action Result

Scroll wheel Scroll Zoom in/out (1)

Middle button (2) Press and hold while moving the mouse.

Pan dynamically

Middle button (2) Double click Zoom extents

Ctrl + Shift + Left button Press and hold while moving the mouse.

Zoom in/out

Ctrl + Shift + Right button Press and hold while moving the mouse.

Pan dynamically

Ctrl + Shift + Middle button Press and hold while moving the mouse.

Rotate dynamically in 3D (3)

Shift + Middle button Press and hold while moving the mouse

Rotate dynamically in 3D around the screen X- and Y-axis

Ctrl + Right button Press and hold while moving the mouse.

Rotate dynamically around the screen Z-axis.(3)

(1) The incremental change with each mouse wheel click is defined by the Zoom Factor system

variable. Type ZOOMFACTOR in the command bar to change the variable.

(2) On condition the Middle Button Pan system variable is ON. Type MBUTTONPAN in the command bar to modify this variable. If Middle Button Pan is OFF, pressing the scroll wheel displays a context menu with all Entity Snaps (see Module 2: Measuring in a drawing - 1. Entity Snaps).

(3) Use the Plan View ( ) tool to restore the plan view of the drawing.

Exercise: View manipulation

1. Open the drawing car_door.dwg.

2. Open the Look From toolbar.

3. Use the tools on the Look From toolbar to restore the various standard views and the four default isometric views.

4. Use the mouse/keyboard shortcuts..

5. Click the Plan View ( ) tool on the View toolbar to restore top view.


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Saved Views

You can save the view in the current window as a named view. Saved views can be restored at any time..

To save a view

1. Choose Views in the Tools > Drawing Explorer menu. The Drawing Explorer - Views dialog displays.

2. Click the New icon ( ) in the Details toolbar. The Drawing Explorer window closes. A prompt menu displays:

The command bar reads: View: ? to list saved views/Save/Window:

3. Choose Save in the prompt menu or type S in the command bar, followed by Enter.

The Drawing Explorer - Views dialog reopens.

4. Type a name in the View Name field.

Exercise: To restore a saved view


2. Choose Views in the Tools > Drawing Explorer menu. The Drawing Explorer - Views dialog displays.

If necessary click the Detail View icon ( ).

3. Click the empty column in front of the saved view Dining.

The current view is General.

4. (option) Click the empty column in front of one of the other saved views.

5. Close the Drawing Explorer - Views dialog.


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5. Layer commands

In the Layers toolbars you can find a series of tools to quickly switch layers off, freeze or isolate layers without knowing the name of the layers..

To open the Layers toolbar

If the Layers toolbar is not open yet, do the following:

1. Move the cursor over a toolbar, then right click..

A context menu displays.

2. Move the cursor to BricsCAD.

A list with all available toolbars displays.

Toolbars which are already open are marked.

3. Click Layers in this list.

The Layers toolbar displays. Drag the toolbar to an appropriate place in the BricsCAD application window.


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Command Icon Description

LAYON

Sets the display of all layers ON.

LAYOFF

Sets the display of the layers of the selected entities OFF.

LAYLCK

LOCKS the layers of the selected entities.

LAYULK

UNLOCKS the layers of the selected entities.

LAYFRZ

FREEZES the layers of the selected entities.

LAYTHW

THAWS all layers.

LAYISO

Sets the layers of unselected entities OFF or LOCK. Choose SETTINGS, then OFF or LOCK to set your preference.

LAYUNISO

Undoes the actions of the LAYISO command.

Note:

The entities in a block can sit on different layers. Whether Layer commands apply to a block as a whole or to each layer separately depends on the settings of the Layer commands. The same counts for Xrefs (external references).

Special settings apply to Paper Space viewports.

Switching OFF the display of a layer

1. Click the Layers Off icon ( ) in the Layers toolbar.

The LAYOFF prompt menu displays.

The command bar reads: Select an entity on the layer to be turned off or [Settings]:

2. (option) Choose Settings in the prompt menu to adjust the settings for the LAYOFF command.

3. Click an entity in the drawing. The layer of the entity is switched off.

4. (option) Repeat the previous step to switch off more layers.

5. Right click or press Enter to conclude the command.


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Settings of the LAYOFF command

Viewports:

Vpfreeze: Freezes the layers of the selected entities in the current viewport. This action can only be undone in the Drawing Explorer/Layers.

Off: Switches the display of the layers of the selected entities off. This counts for model

space and all viewports in all layouts.

Blocks (including external references):

Block: Switches the display of the layer of the block off. Entities in the block which are not on this layer remain visible..

Entity: Switches the display of layer(s) of the selected entities in blocks off.

None: No layers are switched off if an entity in a block is selected.

Switching all layers ON

Click the Layers On icon ( ) in the Layers toolbar.

The display of all layers is switched ON.

Note: FROZEN layers are not affected by the LAYON command. Click the Thaw Layers icon

( ) in the Layers toolbar bring back such layers.

Freezing layers

1. Click the Freeze Layer icon ( ) in the Layers toolbar.

The LAYFRZ prompt menu displays.

The command bar reads: Select an entity on the layer to be frozen or [Settings]:

2. (option) Choose Settings in the prompt menu to adjust the settings of the LAYFRZ command.

Settings of the LAYFRZ command

Viewports:

Vpfreeze: Freezes the layers of the selected entities in the current viewport. This action can only be undone in the Drawing Explorer/Layers.

Freeze: Freezes the layers of the selected entities. This counts for model space and all

viewports in all layouts.

Blocks (including external references):

Block: Freezes the layer of the block. Entities in the block which are not on this layer remain visible.

Entity: Freezes the layer(s) of the selected entities in blocks.

None: No layers are frozen if an entity in a block is selected.

3. Click an entity in the drawing. The layer of the selected entity is frozen. All entities on this layer no longer display.

4. (option) Repeat the previous step to freeze more layers.

5. Right click or press Enter to conclude the command.


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Thaw all layers

Click the Thaw Layers icon ( ) in the Layers toolbar.

All layers are THAWED.

Note: Layers which are switched OFF are not affected by the LAYTHW command. Click the

Layers On icon ( ) in the Layers toolbar bring back such layers.

Locking layers

Entities on a LOCKED layer remain visible, but they cannot be modified anymore.

6. Click the Lock Layer icon ( ) in the Layers toolbar.

The command bar reads: Select an entity on the layer to be locked:

7. Click an entity in the drawing.

The layer of the entity is LOCKED. The display does not change.

8. (option) Right click to repeat the command.

Unlocking layers

9. Click the Unlock Layer icon ( ) in the Layers toolbar.

The command bar reads: Select an entity on the layer to be unlocked:

10. Click an entity on the locked layer.

The layer is UNLOCKED. The display does not change.


Isolating layers

12. Click the Isolate Layer icon ( ) in the Layers toolbar.

The LAYISO prompt menu displays.

The command bar reads: Select entities on the layer(s) to be isolated or [Settings]:

13. (option) Choose Settings in the prompt menu to adjust the settings of the LAYISO command.

Settings of the LAYISO command

Off: Switches the display of the layers of the other entities OFF.

Lock: Locks the layers of the other entities.

14. Click an entity on a layer you want to isolate. The selected entity displays in dashed lines.

15. Repeat the previous step to select more entities.

16. Right click to conclude the command.

Depending on the settings (see step 2):

Only the layers of the selected entities display.

All layers of the other entities are LOCKED.


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Undo the isolation of layers

Click the Unisolate Layer icon ( ) in the Layers toolbar.

The layer state that was active before the execution of the LAYISO command is restored.

6. Layer States

Depending on the complexity of a drawing it might take some time and effort to adjust the display of a drawing for a specific job. Which layers must be visible? Which layers need to be locked? Maybe you temporarily want to apply a different color to some layers, In order to quickly restore these changes, you can save them in a Layer State, then restore the layer state.

Layer states can be copied between drawings and can be saved to a file, which can then be imported in another drawing on a different computer.

Saving a layer state

1. Choose Layer States in the Tools > Drawing Explorer menu.

2. Click the New icon ( ) in the Details toolbar.

The current settings of the layers are saved to a new Layer State.

If necessary click the Tree View icon ( ) to see the layout below.

3. Click the Name field and type a new name to replace the NewLayerState1 default name.

4. (option) Type description in the Description field.

5. (option) Check the properties you want to be restored by this layer state.

Click the All Off icon ( ) in the Details toolbar to unselect all properties.

Click the Al On icon ( ) in the Details to select all properties.

Click a checkbox to select/unselect the property.


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Exercise: To restore a layer state


2. Choose Layer States in the Tools > Drawing Explorer menu.

3. Click the Icon View icon ( ) in the Details toolbar.

4. Double click the layer state NoDim_NoTexts. Texts and dimensions are not displayed anymore.

5. Click the Tree View icon ( ) in the Details toolbar.

6. Select the layer state Walls, then click the Restore icon ( ) in the Details toolbar. Interior and exterior walls only display.

7. Select the layer state Black, the Restore icon ( ) in the Details toolbar. The walls now display in black.

The layer state Black restores the Color property only. Click the expand icon (+) in front of layer state name, then click the expand icon in front of Layer Properties to restore to see which properties are restored.

Click the collapse icon (-) to hide the properties list.

8. Select the layer state General, then click the Restore icon ( ) in the Details toolbar in order to restore all layers using their original colors. A Regen might be necessary to restore the General layer state.

Remarks:

Before modifying the color setting of layers it is recommended to save the original color settings in a layer state.

Use saved views to quickly zoom in on a specific area in the drawing.


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7. Paper Space Layouts

In a DWG-drawing the drawing itself sits in Model Space. To print the drawing on a sheet of paper, a layout is composed in Paper Space. You can create multiple layouts in a drawing

Checking the properties of a Layout

1. Open the drawing House.dwg.

2. Click the layout tab A2_Level0.

3. Choose Print in the File menu.

The Print dialog displays.

To print a layout as designed by the author of the drawing it is necessary that the Printer / Plotter Configuration and the Plot Style Table refer to the appropriate settings.

If the Printer / Plotter Configuration is not found, a warning displays when you open the Page Setup dialog:

When you click the OK button the Print dialog opens.

Under Printer / Plotter Configuration the default printer settings are selected:


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Because the selected printer determines which paper sizes are available it is important that the default printer supports all of the paper size that are used in the various layouts. Otherwise the drawing cannot be printed properly.

A missing Plot Style Table is indicated as follows:

In case no Plot Style Table is attached, the plot style table setting reads:

Apart from colors, also line weights are defined in a plot style table (along with a series of other line properties such as line type, end style, join style ). Without the original plot style table it is often impossible to print a drawing correctly. In such case it is good practice to set all colors to black and all line weights to 0.2 mm.

Paper Space Viewports

A Layout contains one or more Viewports. Each viewport can show a different part of the drawing in Model Space, on a different scale and using a different layer visibility.

Check the properties of a viewport

Click viewport border. The properties of the viewport display in the Properties Bar.


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8. External References

Using an external reference or Xref a drawing can be inserted in another drawing. Instead of copying the drawing, only a reference to the source drawing is saved in the parent drawing. You can attach multiple drawings to a single parent drawing.

The advantages of Xrefs are:

You limit the size of the parent drawing.

The source drawings can be edited simultaneously.

The parent drawing always shows the latest version of each of the source drawings.

Exercise: Check for missing external references

1. Open the drawing _Plotsheet.dwg in the House folder.

2. Choose Xrefs in the Tools > Drawing Explorer menu.

3. (option) Click the Detail View icon ( ).

In the Saved Path column you can see where the various Xrefs were saved at the moment of their attachment to the parent drawing.

When you open a drawing with Xrefs, BricsCAD searches for the attached drawings in the current folder of the parent drawing. If an Xref is found here it is shown in the Found Path column.

If the Xrefs are not found in this folder, BricsCAD searches for the folder which is defined in the Saved Path of the Xref. If an Xref is found here, the content of the Saved Path column and the Found Path column is identical.

If the Xref is not found, the Found Path column reads: (!Not Found).

4. (option) Click the Icon View icon ( ).

Xrefs which cannot be found display with the Not Found icon ( ).

5. (option) Click the Tree View icon ( ).

Xrefs which cannot be found are preceded by the Not Found icon ( ) in the tree structure.


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9. Copying between drawings

To copy entities between drawings the following commands are available:

COPYCLIP, COPYBASE, PASTECLIP, PASTEORIG en PASTEBLOCK

Copyclip and Pasteclip: to paste the selection using a default base point.

Copyclip and Pasteorig: to paste the selection using the coordinates of the source drawing.

Copybase and Pasteclip: to paste the selection using a user defined base point.

Copybase or Copyclip and Pasteblock to paste the selection as a block.

Composing a selection set

The first step to copy entities between drawings is to compose a selection set. The fastest method to select entities are the Window Inside and Window Overlap methods. When no command is active a selection window is drawn if you click the left mouse button, then move the mouse. When moving the mouse to the left, the selection window is dashed; click again to select all entities that are inside or overlapped by the selection window. When moving to the right the selection window is continuous; click again to select all entities that are completely within the boundary of the selection window. Apart from the selection window boundary (dashed or continuous) an icon next to the cursor arrow indicates the selection method: Window Overlap or Window Inside.

Window Overlap Window Inside

You can select entities separately just by clicking.

If the Shift key is pressed when clicking an entity or using a selection window method, already

selected entities are removed from the selection set.

Press the Esc key to clear the selection set.

When you click on overlapping entities, only the top (most recently drawn) entity can be selected. In order to select the overlapped entity we need to use Selection Preview.

To set Selection Preview

Do one of the following:

Type selectionpreview in the command bar, followed by Enter then type 3 + Enter.

Choose Settings in the Settings menu, then expand the Selection settings group under Program Options as indicated in the image below.

Entities now highlight when the pick box moves over them.

The PREVIEWEFFECT system variable lets you choose between dashed lines or thickened lines.


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To select overlapping entities

1. Open the drawing SelectionPreview.dwg.

2. Make sure SELECTIONPREVIEW system variable is set to 3 (see above).

3. Move the cursor to the intersection point in the center of the square (1). The vertical line highlights.

4. Press and hold the Shift key, then repeatedly press the space bar. All overlapping entities highlight one by one.

5. When the entity you want to select highlights, release the Shift key, then click to select the entity. Green handles display to indicate the entity is selected.

6. Repeat the previous steps to select more entities.

Using Copy / Paste to copy entities


2. Click the Qnew icon ( ) in the Standard toolbar. A new drawing opens. This drawing is a copy of the default Template Drawing as defined by the BaseFile user preference. If this user preference is not defined, a window opens where you can select a template drawing. The default template folder is defined by the TemplatePath user preference (e.g. C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Bricsys\BricsCAD\V10\en_US\templates\). Select a template drawing, then press the Open button.

3. Make sure you are working in Model Space and the drawing is zoomed out completely (zoom extents).

4. Select the garage: move the cursor above the top left corner of the garage, then click and move the cursor until the garage is within the boundary of the selection window and click again. All selected entities display in dashed lines with green grips.

5. Press Ctrl + C (press and hold the Ctrl key then press the C key).

The selection is now copied to the clipboard. The selection set is cleared.

6. Go to the empty drawing: press and hold the Ctrl key, then press the TAB key.

7. Press Ctrl + V (press and hold the Ctrl key then press the V key).

The selection is now attached to the cursor. The base point is the lower left corner of the bounding box of the selection.

8. Click to paste the selection in the drawing.

9. Choose Save As in the File menu and save the drawing as: CopyAndPaste.dwg.

To paste the selection at the original coordinates

1. Continue working in the drawings Plan_Level0.dwg and CopyAndPaste.dwg.

2. Go to drawing Plan_Level0.dwg.

3. Select the kitchen (method: see step 4 in the previous exercise).

4. Press Ctrl + C to copy the selection to the clipboard.

5. Go to the drawing CopyAndPaste.dwg (see step 6 in the previous exercise).


Choose Paste to original coordinates in the Edit menu.

Press Ctrl + V then press Enter.


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To paste the selection using a base point



3. Select the hall (method: see step 4 in the previous exercise).

4. Right click and choose Copy with basepoint in the context menu. The command bar reads: Select base point:

5. Identify the base point.

6. Go to the drawing CopyAndPaste.dwg.

7. Press Ctrl + V (press and hold the Ctrl key, then press V). The selection set is attached to the cursor at the base point (see step 5)


To paste a selection as a block



3. Select the bathroom (method: see step 4 in the previous exercise).


Press Ctrl + C (press and hold the Ctrl key, then press C). The bottom left corner of the bounding rectangle of the selection will be the origin of the block.

Right click and choose Copy with basepoint in the context menu. The command bar reads: Select base point:

Identify the base point.

5. Go to the drawing CopyAndPaste.dwg.

6. Choose Paste as block in the Edit menu. The selection set is attached to the cursor at the base point (see step 4)


8. (option) The block is created in the target drawing with a automatically generated name. Choose Blocks in the Tools > Drawing Explorer menu, then select the block to give it an appropriate name.

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Module 2: Measuring in a drawing

1. Entity Snaps

In order to measure accurately you need to click points in the drawing exactly. The drawing aid for this purpose is called Entity Snaps.

When using Entity Snaps the following attributes help you to exactly select the desired point:

SNAP MARKER (1): displays at the selected point, showing the current entity snap mode.

APERTURE BOX (2): a square box which is attached to the crosshairs. All entities which are overlapped by the Aperture Box are processed for potential snap points.

TOOLTIP (3): Identifies the current Entity Snap mode.

The appearance of the snap marker is controlled through 3 user preference settings, which can be found in the Settings dialog under Program Options > Display.

To open the Entity Snaps toolbar

To open the Entity Snaps toolbar do the following:

1. Position the cursor on top of a toolbar, then right click. A context menu displays.

2. In the context menu, position the cursor on BricsCAD. A list with all available toolbars displays. All open toolbars are marked in the list.

3. Click Entity Snaps in the list.

Setting the active Entity Snaps

The icons of active entity snaps are pressed in the Entity Snaps toolbar.

To activate an entity snap click the icon in the Entity Snaps toolbar. A pressed icon indicates the entity snap is active.

Click a pressed icon to deactivate an entity snap..

Click the Clear Entity Snaps icon ( ) to deactivate all Entity Snaps.

If you activate an entity snap while executing a command, all other active entity snaps are temporarily deactivated until the next mouse click.

Alternatively you can set the entity snaps as follows:

Press and hold the Shift key, then right click.

If the MBUTTONPAN system variable is OFF the entity snaps list displays if the middle mouse button (scroll wheel) is pressed.


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Entity Snap methods:

Name Icon Mark Description

Nearest

Snaps to the nearest point on an entity.

Endpoint

Snaps to the nearest endpoint of an entity or polyline segment.

Midpoint

Snaps to the midpoint of an entity or polyline segment.

Center

Snaps to the center point of an arc, circle, polygon, ellipse or elliptical arc.

Snaps to the center of gravity of a closed polyline.

Perpendicular

Snaps to the perpendicular point of another entity. You can snap to an arc, circle, ellipse, line, polyline, infinite line, ray, spline or edge of a plane to form a perpendicular alignment with that entity or with an extension of that entity.

Tangent

Snaps to the point on an arc, ellipse, spline or circle that, when connected to the previous point, forms a line tangent to that entity.

Quadrant

Snaps to the closest quadrant (0, 90, 180 of 270) of an arc, circle, ellipse, or elliptical arc.

Insertion

Snaps to the insertion point of an attribute, block or text entity.

Point

Snaps to a point entity.

Intersection

Snaps to the intersection of any combination of entities.

Apparent Intersection

Snaps to the apparent intersection in the current view of two entities that do not intersect in three-dimensional space..

Extension

Snaps to the extension of an entity or to the intersection of the extension of two entities..

Clear

Turns off all entity snap modes.

From Allows to start drawing at a specified distance from a specified point.

Middle of 2 Points

Snaps to the middle of two specified points.

2. Commands

All measuring commands are grouped on the Inquiry toolbar.

To open the Inquiry toolbar

1. Position the cursor on top of a toolbar, then right click. A context menu displays.

2. In the context menu, position the cursor on BricsCAD. A list with all available toolbars displays. All open toolbars are marked in the list.

3. Click Inquiry in the list.


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3. Units in a drawing

The measuring unit in a DWG is the DRAWING UNIT (DU). The length of one DU is defined by the user. In a typical building plan in France or Belgium 1 DU = 1 cm, while in the Netherlands 1 DU = 1 mm en in Germany 1 DU = 1 m. In the US 1 DU = 1 inch.

The results of all measuring commands are expressed in drawing units.

The Insertion Units (INSUNITS) controls the automatic scaling when a drawing is inserted as a block

or Xref in another drawing, which uses a different DU.

To check the INSUNITS system variable

1. Choose Settings in the Settings menu.

2. Go to Drawing > Drafting > Drawing Units in the Settings dialog.

Define the linear unit precision

The Linear Unit Precision (LUPREC) system variable defines the display precision of coordinates, distances, areas an volumes. You can choose between 0 to 8 decimal places. The LUPREC system variable does not influence the internal precision of a drawing..

If 1 DU = 1 cm and you set LUCPREC = 2, then the accuracy of the measurement is 0.1 mm.


2. Go to Drawing > Drafting > Drawing Units > Linear Units in the Settings dialog.

Command Icon Description

DIST

Distance between two points.

AREA

Depending on the option chosen:

The area and perimeter of a zone defined by points.

The total area and perimeter of multiple closed polylines, circles or ellipses.

The total length of multiple linear entities (lines, polylines, arcs, splines, )

ID

The coordinates of a point.

LIST

All geometric information of one or more entities.

Press F2 to open the Prompt History window.


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3. Type the precision of your choice in the Linear unit precision field.

4. The Prompt History window

The results of all measurement show in the command bar of which the display is usually limited to 3 lines: 1 command line and 2 history lines. Measurement results might take more than 3 lines to display. In such case, press the F2 function key to open the Prompt History window. Press F2 again

to close the window.

To copy the content of the Prompt History window

If you want to copy some of the measurement results in a text document or a spreadsheet you can copy the content of the Prompt History window to the clipboard and paste it in your text or spreadsheet document.

1. Click where you want to start copying.

2. Scroll down to the end of the part you want to copy, then press and hold the Shift key and click..

3. Right click and choose Copy in the context menu; or press Ctrl+C (press and hold the Ctrl-key then type C).

4. Go to the target document and press Ctrl+V (press and hold the Ctrl-key then type V).

5. Measuring distances and lengths

The length of an entity shows in the Properties Bar.

The DIST command measures the distance between two points.

The AREA command can add the lengths of different entities together

Check the length of an entity

The length of a line, polyline, arc or spline shows in the Properties Bar. Select the entity, then go to Geometry > Length.

To measure the perpendicular distance between a point and a line.


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1. Set Endpoint and Perpendicular the Entity Snaps.

2. Click the Distance icon ( ) in the Inquiry toolbar. The command bar reads: Starting point for distance:

3. Select the punt from which you want to measure. The command bar reads: Endpoint:

4. Move the cursor to the line you want to measure the perpendicular distance to.

The Perpendicular ( ) snap marker displays.

5. Click to accept the perpendicular entity snap.. The measured distance shows in the command bar.

Distance: the measured distance

Angle in XY Plane: the angle between the measured line and the X-axis.

Angle from XY Plane: the angle between the measured line and the XY-plane.

Delta X: the difference between the X-coordinates of the start point and the endpoint.

Delta Y: the difference between the Y-coordinates of the start point and the endpoint.

Delta Z: the difference between the Z-coordinates of the start point and the endpoint.

Adding the lengths of different entities together

1. Click the Area icon ( ) on the Inquiry toolbar. The command bar reads: Entity/Add/Subtract/:

A prompt menu displays:


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2. Choose Add areas together in the prompt menu or Type A followed by Enter.

The command bar reads: Adding: Entity/Subtract/:


3. Choose Add entities to area in the prompt menu of Type E followed by Enter.

The command bar reads: Adding area:

Click the first entity. The length of the entity displays in the command bar: Total length = The command bar reads: Adding area:

4. Repeat the previous step to add more entities. The total length displays in the command bar. Right click twice to stop.

5. (option) Press the F2 function key to open the Prompt History window.

Measuring the distance between virtual points

Using Polar Tracking and Snap Tracking you can measure distances between virtual points.

1. Open the Distance_Virtual.dwg drawing.

We will measure the distance between points 1 and 2.

2. Set the Endpoint entity snap. Make sure both Polar Tracking ( ) and Entity Snap Tracking ( ) are active. If necessary click the POLAR and STRACK fields in the status bar.

3. Click the Distance icon ( ) in the Inquiry toolbar.

4. Hover the cursor above point a until a small +-sign in the snap marker color displays.

5. Hover the cursor above point b until a small +-sign displays, then move the cursor vertically away from point b. A tracking line displays. When at the height of point a, a second tracking line displays. The intersection of the tracking lines is marked by an X.

6. Click to accept the point.

7. Hover the cursor above point c until a small +-sign displays.


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Hover the cursor above point d until a small +-sign displays then move the cursor horizontally to the left. A tracking line displays. When right below point a, , a second tracking line displays. The intersection of the tracking lines is marked by an X.

8. Click to accept the point.

The measurement results of the Distance command display in the command bar.

6. Measuring areas

The AREA command measures areas. You can choose between the following methods:

Pick points to define the area to be measured.

Find the area of a single closed entity.

Adding areas together.

Adding and subtracting areas.

Measuring an area by picking points

1. Set the appropriate Entity snap modes (e.g. Endpoint and Midpoint).

2. Click the Area icon ( ) in the Inquiry toolbar. The command bar reads: Entity/Add/Subtract/:

3. Subsequently pick the points that define the area. BricsCAD previews the area with a dashed polygon.

4. Right click to stop picking points.

The area and perimeter displays in the history field of the command bar:


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Exercise:

In the Plan_Level0.dwg drawing measure the area and perimeter of the living/dining room.

The command bar should read:

The area is: 46.74 m; the perimeter is: 30.16 m.

Adding areas together

1. Click the Area icon ( ) in the Inquiry toolbar. The command bar reads: Entity/Add/Subtract/:


2. Choose Add areas together in the prompt menu or Type A followed by Enter.

The command bar reads: Adding: Entity/Subtract/:


3. Choose Add entities to area in the prompt menu or Type E followed by Enter.

The command bar reads: Adding area:

Pick a closed polyline, circle or ellipse. The area and perimeter of the selected entity displays in the command bar:

The command bar reads: Adding area :

4. Repeat the previous step to add more entities.

or

Right click to stop adding entities..



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5. (option) Choose Subtract areas in the prompt menu or Type S followed by Enter.

The command bar reads: Subtracting: Entity/Add/:


6. Choose Subtract entities from area in the prompt menu or Type E followed by Enter.

The command bar reads: Subtracting area:

Pick a closed polyline, circle or ellipse. The area and perimeter of the selected entity is subtracted from the total length and total area.

The command bar reads: Subtracting area :

7. Repeat the previous step to pick more entities or Right click to stop subtracting entities.



Go back to step 3 to add entities.

Go back to step 6 to subtract entities.

Right click to stop.

9. (option) Press the F2 function key to open the Prompt History window.

Exercise:

Open drawing Area.dwg and add the areas of the black entities together, then subtract the areas of

the red entities.

The total area is 264.59 m.

In this case the result of total length does not make sense.


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7. Boundary Polyline

The Boundary (or Bpoly) command creates a closed polyline by detecting an area that is defined by linear entities. You can either select the enclosing entities yourself or click in the enclosed area to let BricsCAD detect the boundary entities.

The creation of boundary polylines can be used to calculate the perimeter and area of complex shapes.

Creating a boundary polyline

1. Open the drawing Boundary.dwg.

2. Click the Boundary Polyline icon ( ) in the flyout of the Draw 2D toolbar

The Boundary dialog displays.

3. Click the Pick points in boundaries button ( ). The Boundary dialog closes temporarily. The command bar reads: Select a point to define a boundary or hatch area:

4. Click in the drawing at position 1. The polyline displays in dashed lines.

5. Click in the drawing at position 2. A second polyline displays in dashed lines.

6. Click in the drawing at position 3. 4 new polylines display in dashed lines.

7. Right click to stop defining boundaries. The Boundary dialog reopens.

8. Click the OK button. The polylines are created.

Creating a boundary polyline using a selection

1. Continue working in the drawing Boundary.dwg.

2. Start the Boundary Polyline command (see step 2 in the previous exercise).

3. Click the New Boundary Set button ( ). The Boundary dialog closes temporarily. The command bar reads: Select entities:

4. Select the entities which define area 4, except the blue line and the blue circle.

5. Right click to stop selecting entities. The Boundary dialog reopens.

6. Click Pick points in boundaries button ( ). The Boundary dialog closes temporarily. The command bar reads: Select a point to define a boundary or hatch area:

7. Click in the drawing at position 4. The polyline displays in dashed lines. Notice that the blue line and the blue circle are ignored.


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9. Click the OK button. The polyline is created.

The boundary polyline command options


2. Start the Boundary Polyline command.

3. Click the Pick points in boundaries button ( ). The Boundary dialog closes temporarily.

4. Click in the drawing at position 5. 4 polylines display in dashed lines.

5. Press the Esc key or choose Cancel in the prompt menu. The Boundary dialog reopens.

6. Choose the Outer option under Islands.


8. Only 3, instead of 4, polylines now display in dashed lines. The islands within another island are ignored now.

9. Press the Esc key or choose Cancel in the prompt menu. The Boundary dialog reopens.

10. Choose the Ignore option under Islands.


12. Only one single polyline displays in dashed lines. All islands are ignored.




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Boundary Tolerance setting

In case of small gaps between the boundary entities the Boundary Tolerance setting defines the

maximal gap to be bridged automatically. The default value of this setting is 0.1 drawing units.


2. Start the Boundary Polyline command.


4. Click in the drawing at position 6. No polyline can be created because the top right vertex is no closed.

5. Right click. The Boundary dialog reopens.

6. Type 10 in the Tolerance field.


8. Click in the drawing at position 6. The Close Gaps question box displays: Detected gaps can be closed. Do you want to proceed?

9. Click the OK button. The polyline displays in dashed lines.

10. Right click. The Boundary dialog reopens.


8. Using fields

In the next exercise we will use fields to the display the area and perimeter of a polyline.

1. Open the drawing Fields.dwg.

2. Choose Insert Field in the Insert menu.

3. On the Field dialog, choose Object under Objects.

4. Click the Select button. The Field dialog closes. The command bar reads: Select entity:

5. Select the polyline. The Field dialog reopens.

6. In the Property list select Area.

7. In the Format options list, select Decimal. The Precision options list button displays.

8. Click the Precision options list button and choose 0.


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9. Click the OK button. The Field dialog closes. An Mtext entity (Multiline Text) displays dynamically.

10. Click the place the Mtext entity.

11. Double click the Mtext entity. The Text Formatting toolbar displays.

12. Modify the width of the Mtext entity by dragging green double arrow field.

13. Type Area: in front of the field.

14. Click the Insert Field button ( ) on the Text Formatting toolbar. The Field dialog opens.

15. Add a field to display the Length (perimeter) of the polyline.

16. Select the polyline, then move one or more grips.

17. Regenerate the drawing: type Regen in the command bar or click the Regen tool ( ) on the Redraw/Regen flyout of the View toolbar. The fields are recalculated.


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9. Reading coordinates

The XYZ-coordinates of the start point and end point of a line, the vertices of a polyline and the midpoints of arcs, circles and ellipses display in the Properties bar when such entity is selected.

The ID command reads the coordinates of point.

Reading the coordinates of the vertices of a polyline

1. Select the polyline.

The properties of the polyline display in the Properties Bar.

The X and Y-coordinates of the start point (or the first vertex in case of a closed polyline) show under Position.

You can read the Z-coordinate in the Elevation field.

2. Click the Vertex field, then click the arrow buttons on the right hand side of the field to read the coordinates of the next or previous vertex.

Reading the coordinates of a point

1. Set the appropriate Entity Snap (e.g. Endpoint).

2. Click the ID icon ( ) in the Inquiry toolbar. The command bar reads: Select point to identify coordinates:

3. Pick the point you want to read the coordinates from.

The coordinates of the selected point display in the history field of the command bar..



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Coordinate systems

In a DWG drawing by default coordinates display in the World Coordinate System (WCS). The nature of the current coordinate system shows in the ucs icon. If the WCS is active, a W shows in the ucs icon. If a User Coordinate System (UCS) is the current coordinate system, no W displays.

WCS icon UCS icon

The display of the icon is controlled through the UCS icon (UCSICON) system variable. The position of the ucs icon is defined by the Ucs icon position (UCSICONPOS) system variable.

Check the UCS icon variables


2. Go to Drawing > Drafting > Drawing Units > User coordinate system in the Settings dialog window.

3. The settings of the UCS icon system variable are:

Show icon: defines whether the icon shows or not

at origin: defines whether the ucs icon shows at the origin of the coordinate system or in a corner of the drawing window. If the origin of the coordinate system is not within the current zoom area, the icon shows in the a corner of the drawing window, as defined by the UCSICONPOS system variable.

4. The UCS icon position system variable defines the corner to display the ucs icon in case the at origin option of UCS icon system variable is OFF or if the origin of the coordinate system is not within the current zoom area.

Moving the origin of the coordinate system

1. Set the appropriate entity snap (e.g. Endpoint).

2. Type UCS followed by Enter.

The command bar reads: Specify origin of UCS :

3. Pick the point you want to use as the origin of the new coordinate system.

The command bar reads: Point on X-axis or :

4. Right click to accept the new ucs. If the at origin option of the UCS icon system variable is ON, the ucs icon jumps to the new origin point.

All coordinates now display with respect to the new coordinate system.


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Restoring the WCS

Type UCS then hit Enter twice.

Reading relative coordinates

1. Open drawing Walls_0.dwg.

We want to read relative coordinates with respect to the bottom left corner of the house, which we will therefore define as the origin of a new ucs first.

2. Make sure Endpoint entity snap on.

3. Execute the Moving the origin of the coordinate system procedure (see above)

In step 3, pick the bottom left corner of the house as indicated in the image below.

.

4. Click the ID icon ( ) in the Inquiry toolbar. The command bar reads: Select point to identify coordinates:

5. Pick the top right corner of the house. The (relative) coordinates display in the command bar.

6. Right click to repeat the ID command and read the coordinates of other key points of the house.


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10. Reading the properties of a selection

The LIST command displays the properties of one or more entities in the Prompt History window.

1. Click the List entity info icon ( ) in the Inquiry toolbar.

The command bar reads: Sort/Tracking/:

2. Pick the entities you want to list the properties of.

Right click to stop picking entities.

The Prompt History window opens.

3. Press the F2 function key to close the Prompt History window.


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11. Creating Dimensions

Terminology

In BricsCAD there are 5 dimension entity types: linear, arc, angular, radial, diametric and ordinate.

When creating dimensions you can either identify an entity or click points.

Dimensions toolbar

1. Stacked baseline dimension +

2. Radial dimension

3. Angular dimension

4. Aligned linear dimension

5. Ordinate dimension

6. Center mark

7. Vertical linear dimension

8. Diametric dimension

9. Rotated linear dimension

10. Leader with text

11. Stacked horizontal linear dimension +

12. Arc Length dimension


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Dimension Style

Dimension entities are created on the current layer using the current dimension style, which defines the appearance of the dimension block. A dimension style is a collection of settings and definitions for all parts of the dimension block: dimension line, extension lines, arrows, dimension text, etc. Each drawing can have multiple dimension styles of which only one can be the current dimension style.

See the BricsCAD Help for more information about dimension styles.

Dimension block

Dimension entities are created as a dynamic block composed of a dimension line, arrows, extension lines and dimension text.

1. Dimension text prefix (d=)

2. Dimension text (258)

3. Tolerance (1)

4. Dimension text suffix (cm)

5. First arrowhead

6. Second arrowhead

7. Dimension line

8. First extension line

9. Second extension line

10. Extension line extend

11. Extension line offset

12. Arrow size

13. Text offset


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Associative Dimensions

BricsCAD creates associative dimension entities which will be updated automatically if the dimensioned entity is modified or moved. If necessary you can force associative dimensions to update using the DIMREGEN command.

Exercise: Floor levels in a cross section

1. Open the drawing Section.dwg.

2. Zoom in on the blue circle.

3. Click the ID Coordinates icon ( ) in the Inquiry toolbar. The command bar reads: Select point to identify coordinates

4. Snap to the finished floor level of the ground floor. The command bar reads: X=3140.79 Y=1713.31 Z=0.00

Since this is a 2D drawing, the Z-value is of no importance. Vertical distances are measured along the Y-axis. We will therefore define a user coordinate system (UCS) of which the origin is on the finished floor level of the ground floor..

5. Type ucs in the command bar, followed by Enter.

6. Snap to the finished floor level of the ground floor. The command bar reads: Point on X-axis or :

7. Right click or press Enter to accept the new ucs. Only the origin point of the coordinate system has been redefined..


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8. Right click the dimension style field in the Status Bar, then choose LEVEL in the context menu to make it the current dimension style.

In this dimension style Dim scale linear is set to 0.01. As a result of this the dimension text is expressed in meters, while the drawing unit equals 1 cm in this drawing. The prefix of the primary units is a plus-sign (+).

Click the Ordinate icon ( ) in the Dimensions toolbar. The command bar reads: Select point for ordinate dimension.

9. Snap to the finished floor level of the ground floor. The ordinate dimension is attached to the cursor.

10. Move the cursor, then click to place the ordinate dimension. Make sure no point is snapped when placing the dimension.

11. Ri

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display commands

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freezing layers

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display of line weights

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