CVEV 118/698

AutoCAD 2000
Lecture 1
Prof. Mounir Mabsout
Elsa Sulukdjian
Walid El Asmar
 AutoCAD Generalities
 Design software developed by AutoDesk.
 First released in 1982 under the name
‘MicroCAD’.
 Revolutionary drafting and design tool.
 Translated into 18 languages.
 AutoCAD Environment
Menu

Drawing
ToolBars Area

Command Status
Window Bar
 AutoCAD Environment
 Menu: Contains all commands needed to run and design
in AutoCAD.
 Toolbars: Quick access to some commands. According
to his need, the user can customize the AutoCAD
environment by adding/removing toolbars.
 Command Window: Displays prompts and messages.
 Drawing Area: Area where you draw (How surprising)
 Status Bar: Displays the cursor coordinates in the lower-
left corner. Also contains buttons to turn on common
drawing aids (Snap, Grid, Ortho, Polar, Osnap, etc…).
 Drawing Coordinates
 Drawing Units: Go to Format Menu, Units
option.

 Absolute Coordinates
– Rectangular: x , y
– Polar:  < 
 Relative Coordinates
– Rectangular: @ x , y
– Polar: @  < 
 Drawing Aids
Grid and Snap Grid
 Grid: Area of the graphic covered with regularly spaced
dots, acting as visual reference.
 Snap Grid: Invisible grid that locks the pointer into
alignment with the grid points according to the spacing set
by Snap.
Note:
 Both options can be turned On/Off from the Status Bar.
 Grid and Snap Grid are independent options; and grids
spacing do not have to coincide.
 Grids shape and spacing can be specified from ‘Tools’
menu, choosing ‘Drafting Settings’; or with command
line ‘Dsettings’; or by right-clicking on the Status Bar
 Drawing Aids (cont’d)
Object Snap
 Object Snap: Option used to snap the cursor to
particular points on objects, i.e. end points, centers, etc…
The option can be turned On/Off from the Status Bar.
Three Object Snap methods:
 From the Standard Toolbar, by clicking on a button of
the Object Snap flyout.
 Press SHIFT and Right-Click near the point intended
to snap to; and then choose an object snap from the
shortcut menu.
 Enter an object snap abbreviation on the command line
(END, MID, INT, etc…).
 Drawing Aids (cont’d)
Grips and Ortho
 Grips: Small squares that appear on selected objects. By
selecting a grip and dragging the mouse, you can stretch or
move the object.
Use Esc key twice to deselect grips.

 Ortho: Option that locks the cursor’s movement along the

x,y directions on the screen.
The option can be turned On/Off from the Status Bar.
 Selection Modes

 Selection Modes:
– All.
– Window.
– Last/Previous.
– Crossing.
– Box (Equivalent to ‘Crossing’ if selection from right to
left; otherwise equivalent to ‘Window’).
– Fence (Selects all crossing objects).
– WPolygon (Selects all objects completely inside
polygon).
– CPolygon (Equivalent to a closed fence).
 Zooming

 Zooming Modes (Zoom Command):

– Zoom Window (W).
– Zoom Dynamic (D).
– Zoom Scale (S).
– Zoom Center (C) (Specify center point and height).
– Zoom In/Out (2X / .5X).
– Zoom All (ALL).
– Zoom Extents (E).
 Draw Objects

 Draw Objects:
– Line
– Polyline
– Rectangle
– Arc
– Circle
– Polygon
– Ellipse
– Etc.
 Objects Editing Methods
 Modifying and Editing Commands:
– Trim
– Stretch
– Break (Erases parts of objects or splits an object in two)
– Fillet (Rounds and fillets the edges of objects)
– Chamfer (Equivalent to Fillet with a straight edge)
– Extend (Extends an object to meet another object)
– Mirror
– Array (Creates multiple copies of objects in a pattern)
– Offset
– Explode (Breaks a compound object into its component objects)
– Etc.
 Layers
 Layers properties:
– Color
– Linetype
– Lineweight
– PlotStyle
 Layers control methods:
– Freeze (Freezes layers, making them
invisible and excluding them from
regeneration and plotting)
– Lock/Unlock (Locks layers, preventing
selection and editing of objects on those
layers)
– On (Makes selected layers visible and
available for plotting) /Off
– Plot
 Blocks
 Blocks: association of multiple objects into a single entity
(e.g. door, window, etc.)
 Blocks Methods:
– BLOCK: creates block definitions on the command line
– Insert Block: specify the insertion point, scale, and rotation angle
– Explode Block: breaks a block instance for modification, I.e. to add
or delete objects that define the block
– Oops: restores objects erased by the last ERASE command
– Wblock: Writes objects or a block to a new drawing file
 What’s New in AutoCAD 2000
 Design Environment:
– Multiple document environment (Work with multiple drawings in a
single environment)
– New object snaps (Parallel and Extension object snaps)
– Real-time 3D rotation
– Toolbars (Use AutoCAD toolbars that are enhanced to conform to
Microsoft® Office 98 standards)
 Improved Access and Usability:
– Properties window
– Shortcut menus (Right-click your pointing device to display new
shortcut menus to access AutoCAD commands)
– Text editing (Use the new text-control capabilities of the Multiline
Text Editor to edit text more quickly)
– Load/Unload applications (The new Load/Unload Applications
dialog box makes loading and unloading applications easier and
more intuitive)
– VBA
 What’s Next
 Thursday’s lab session
 AutoCAD VBA