AutoCAD® 2008 and AutoCAD LT® 2008 Bible

Chapter 12. Obtaining Information from Your Drawing

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Obtaining drawing-wide information

• Obtaining information about objects

• Measuring and segmenting objects

• Using AutoCAD's calculator

Your drawing is intelligent in many ways. For example, several commands can give you the details of each object. In addition, you can view listings that provide information about your drawing as a whole. You can also list system variables, which I've mentioned previously in this book, along with their current settings.

You can perform calculations on objects that may assist you in certain drawing tasks. For example, you can divide an object into any number of segments by placing point objects along the object, or you can place point objects at a specified distance along the object. You can use AutoCAD's calculator, which not only does regular numerical calculations but also works with coordinates and geometric points on objects. This chapter shows you how to discover the hidden data in your drawing.

Drawing-Level Information

Some information applies to the drawing as a whole or even to your computer system as a whole, rather than to individual objects. This information can be important when there is a problem or when you simply need to find the status of system variables.

Listing the status of your drawing

The STATUS command is available only in AutoCAD and provides a standard list of information that can be very helpful. To use the STATUS command, choose Tools

Figure 12.1. A sample listing from ...