Create Primitives and Vary Basic Attributes

At NOTE (or VNOT) level, and with a Sheet (or VIEW Layer) in a SHOWn form, the simplest way of creating a circle (for example) can be by giving the commands:

NEW CIRCLE DEF @

The cursor can then be used to mark the centre and a circumference point of the circle, which can be drawn. Hitting a key produces a command line giving the (Sheet) coordinates of the cursor position; such a command line can, of course, be typed in directly.) All the different shapes can be created in a similar way, with a self-explanatory prompt being output in each case.

Note:
Macros driven from forms and menus are particularly useful for 2D drafting.

Attributes common to all primitives (except Markers, Lines, Arcs and Outlines) are orientation (ADEG, relative to a line drawn through the shape’s origin parallel to the x-axis) and origin code (OCOD). The origin code determines the position of a primitive’s origin relative to the primitive itself - for example, a circle’s origin can be placed at its centre or on its circumference. Arcs and Straight Lines have a TCOD (Type Code) attribute instead of OCOD. TCOD can be set to the endpoint or midpoint of a line, and to the endpoint or centre of an arc. The TCOD setting defines how to interpret the other attributes of the primitive. Straight lines also have an ADEG attribute.

Clearly, attributes such as orientation cannot be set using the cursor, so if these require settings other than their defaults they must be set afterwards. (Default orientation is 0 and default origin code is CENTRE. For straights and arcs the default TCODE is ENDPOINT.)

Alternatively, primitives can be created using one-line commands, for example:

NEW CIRC RAD 50 ORIG CIRCUM ADEG 45 AT X900 Y750

NEW RECT XLEN 40 YLEN 20 ANG 45 ORIG CORNER AT @

NEW TABL XLEN 60 YLEN 60 NROW 10 NCOL 5 RPEN 2 CPEN 3

ORIG TS ADEG 45 AT @

The examples illustrate the effects of varying the attributes of different primitives.