CAD Software Forum

Anybody having trouble getting the dimension
command continue (DCO) to work properly?
BJ

BJ,

What version are you using?

I am not having any problems with 6.2

------------------
Regards
John Finlay

When I type "DCO" I get the prompt "Select Dimension To Continue", but when I select the dimension, nothing happens except I keep getting the prompt "Select Dimension To Continue".

I have 6.2.36.1

Also John... When I keep getting the prompt
"Select Dimension To Continue" I get "A Linear, Ordinate, or Angular associative dimension is needed" first before the "Select Dimension To Continue" prompt.

Is there a linear, ordinate or angular dimension already in the drawing that you are trying to continue? "Continue" will not work alone.

Yes, I have a dimension already placed in the drawing I put there using 'Insert/Dimensions/Linear' from menu.

I messed around with it and I found I could continue the dimensioning by zooming in very close to the bottom tip of the right tick ( I use Architectural ticks) assuming I am continuing to the right, and clicking on the tip of the tick. It won't work though by clicking on the dimension itself

Otherwords, When I get this:
"Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:"

I can zoom in to the tick and click it and then zoom back out to pick my second extension line, and it will work.

BJ,

Here is my command prompt history:

: _DIMLINEAR
ENTER to select entity/<Origin of first extension line>:
Origin of second extension line:
Angle/Text/Orientation of dimension line: Horizontal/Vertical/Rotated:
: dco
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Select dimension to continue:

: _DIMLINEAR
ENTER to select entity/<Origin of first extension line>:
Origin of second extension line:
Angle/Text/Orientation of dimension line: Horizontal/Vertical/Rotated:
: dco
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Continue: ENTER to select starting dimension/<Origin of next extension line>:
Select dimension to continue:
Cancel

The first set of selections were the standard settings which worked OK.

I changed to Architectural Ticks plus set the comprehensive scale factor and tried this again and as you can see it worked OK.


------------------
Regards
John Finlay

John, I messed around with my settings on and off all day and I finally figured out that I needed the system var "DIMASO" set to 'ON' so that when the dimensions were inserted they were not exploded. What was wrong was that I was trying to 'DCO' by clicking on a 'Line' entity, which it did not recognize as a dimension block.

I have 'DIMASO' set to ON and 'MIRRTEXT' set to 1 so that text mirrors. Except now I find that when I mirror a vertical run of texts, the text is mirrored (like in Acad ) but to move the mirrored text over to the side of the mirrored vertical dimension line, I need to explode the block. When I explode the block, for some reason the text and ticks shrink about 2/3rd ( from 1-1/2" to 1" ) and the 'points' at the end of the extension lines turn into huge X's

( I use IC-Romand.shx font and I use a big font that allows fractions to be inserted without the bar. I run my horz dimensions above the dimension line and I run my vertical dimensions vertically, and above, or to the left side of the vertical dimension line )

BJ,

Yes I also have all my dimension associated i.e. 'DIMASO' is set to ON.

MIRRTEXT is for Text and not for dimsnsions and I set this to 'Off' because when I mirror entities I want any text to remain readable and not to mirror.

Can I suggest you set 'DIMTAD' to 1 and then create a dimsnsion, then mirror the dimension - It should re-aling the dimension text in the correct location as I understand your preferred dimension text location in your post.

------------------
Regards
John Finlay

BJ,

Here is a lisp routine that I setup a long, long time ago to handle all the dimension variables.

It si set for Metric and i'm sure you will be able to set this for imperial as each variable is explained in a short detail.

;;***************************************************************
; This Sets the environment in IntelliCAD for Dimensions
; Created by John Finlay - Finite Pty. Ltd.
; Set for Metric Architectural Dimensions
;****************************************************************
(defun c:ARCHDIM ( )
(Setvar "CMDECHO" 0); Echo Off

;_______________________________________________________________
; Architectural Tick
; Blocks Tick Used
(setvar "DIMBLK" ""); Block to use in place of arrowheads - name of BLOCK
(setvar "DIMBLK1" "ARCHTICK"); Block to replace first arrowhead - name of BLOCK
(setvar "DIMBLK2" "ARCHTICK"); Block to replace second arrowhead - name of BLOCK
(setvar "DIMSAH" 1); Draws user-defined blocks for arrowheads - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMASZ" 1); Specifies size of lines and arrowheads - number > 0
(setvar "DIMDLE" 0); Length of dimension line beyond obliques - number > 0
; Colours
(setvar "DIMCLRD" 1); Color for dimension lines & arrowheads - Colour Number
(setvar "DIMCLRE" 1); Color for extension lines - Colour Number
(setvar "DIMCLRT" 3); Color for dimension text - Colour Number
; Text Location
(setvar "DIMTAD" 1); Specifies position of text - 0=Centre, 1=Top/Left, 2=Outside,3=Bott/Right
; The Correct Setting is 1

; Dimensioning command: status
(setvar "DIMADEC" 0 ); Sets precision for angular dimension - 1 to 8
(setvar "DIMALT" 0 ); Sets dimesions to alternate units - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMALTD" 2) ; Decimal places in alternate dimensions - 0 to 8
(setvar "DIMALTF" 25.4); Scale factor for alternate units - number > 0
(setvar "DIMALTTD" 2); Decimal places for alternate tolerances - 0 to 8
(setvar "DIMALTTZ" 0); Suppresses zeros on alternate tolerances - 0 to 15
(setvar "DIMALTU" 2); Alternate linear units format - 1 to 8
(setvar "DIMALTZ" 0); Suppresses zeros on alternate dimensions - 0 to 15
(setvar "DIMAPOST" ""); Alternate prefix or suffix - Any text
(setvar "DIMASO" 1); Create associative dimensions - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMAUNIT" 0); Units format for angular dimensions -0 to 4
(setvar "DIMCEN" 0); Sets display of center marks or lines - any number
(setvar "DIMDEC" 0); Decimal places for dimension units - 0 to 8
(setvar "DIMDLI" 0); Distance between baseline dimensions - number > 0
(setvar "DIMEXE" 1); Length of extension line past dimension - number > 0
(setvar "DIMEXO" 1); Extension line distance from entity - number > 0 * program to select required
(setvar "DIMFIT" 0); Specifies placement of text and arrows - 0 to 5
(setvar "DIMGAP" 1); Gap between text and dimension lines - number > 0
(setvar "DIMJUST" 0); Specifies horizontal placement of text - 0 to 4
(setvar "DIMLFAC" 1); Scale factor for linear dimensions - any number
(setvar "DIMLIM" 0); Sets dimensions to display as limits - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMPOST" "" ); Prefix or suffix for dimension text - any text
(setvar "DIMRND" 1); Rounding factor for linear dimensions - number > 0

(setvar "DIMSCALE" 100); Scale factor for dimension graphics - any number
(setvar "DIMSD1" 0); Suppresses first dimension line - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMSD2" 0); Suppresses second dimension line - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMSE1" 0); Suppresses first extension line - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMSE2" 0); Suppresses second extension line - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMSHO" 1); Update dimension while dragging - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMSOXD" 0); Suppresses outside dimension lines - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON

(setvar "DIMTDEC" 0); Decimal places for tolerance values - 0 to 8
(setvar "DIMTFAC" 1); Scale factor for tolerance text height - Not supported by IntelliCAD
(setvar "DIMTIH" 0); Sets inside text aligned or horizontal - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMTIX" 1); Forces text between extension lines - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMTM" 0); Value for lower tolerance - any number

(setvar "DIMTOFL" 1); Draws dimension line with outside text - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON ******
(setvar "DIMTOH" 0); Sets outside text aligned or horizontal - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMTOL" 0); Sets tolerance display on or off - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMTOLJ" 1); Sets vertical position of tolerance text - 0 to 2 Not supported by IntelliCAD
(setvar "DIMTP" 0); Value for upper tolerance - any number
(setvar "DIMTSZ" 0); Size of oblique lines in place of arrows - number > 0
(setvar "DIMTVP" 2); Vertical position adjustment for text - any number *****

(setvar "DIMTXT" 1.5); Default height of dimension text - number > 0 ******
(setvar "DIMTZIN" ; Suppresses leading zeros on tolerances - 0 to 15
(setvar "DIMUNIT" 7); Linear units format - 1 to 8 *****
(setvar "DIMUPT" 0); Sets cursor mode on user-positioned text - 0 = OFF or 1 = ON
(setvar "DIMZIN" 0); Specifies display of inches - 0 to 15
;-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

; name the Dimension Style if it is not named "ARCH"
;(IF (/= (Getvar "Dimstyle") "ARCH")
; (Command "DIMSTYLE" "save" "Arch")
; end IF
;-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
; insert Text Style ARCHS in the Standard Textname if it is not in the drawing
;(IF(= (tblsearch "STYLE" "ARCHS") nil)
;(command "STYLE" "" "ARCHS.SHX" "" "" "" "" "")
; end IF
; (setvar "DIMTXSTY" "ARCHS"); Text Style for dimension text - *****
(princ)
); end Defun



------------------
Regards
John Finlay

Thanks John for the lisp file. I will study those and try to use a lisp file to set the dimension settings.

I have DIMTAD set to 1, DIMASO set to 1, and MIRRTEXT set to 0 and I notice something that may or may not be a bug:

( My text height is set to 1-1/2", and I use a bigfont with ic-romandc.shx . I run my vertical dimension text vertical, or parallel with the vertical dimension line, and offset about 1/2" from the dimension line. I use archticks for my arrows )

Start with "DLI' and do a vertical dimension.
Then use 'DCO' for 2 more. Then do a left to right mirror on these three dimensions. I get the text mirrored ok, but for some reason, the two mirrored texts that were placed using 'DCO' are smaller than the texts placed using the beginning 'DLI'.
Also, the ticks are mirrored (as they should be) but I find that there is an added tick at the second to last tick position placed using the 'DCO' command and this added tick apprears as not mirrored, giving a 'X' appearance at this position.
I noticed that if I edit the 'DCO' placed middle text in the original text( not the mirrored text ) by double clicking on it and using the entity properties box for editing, then this extra tick appears in this same position, rotated, giving a 'X' appearance here, just like in the mirrored texts.

BJ,

When you make changes to the dimension variables from the command line i.e. 'DIMTAD' = 1 for example.
The current dimension style is overridden for only the dimensions that follow.

Look in Settings-->Dimsneion Settings from the pull-down menu and you will see in the dimension style pull-down list ***Overrides instead of your dimension style name.

To save these changes select the Save button along side the dimension style pull-down list.

I think the changes you are making i.e. Text Height etc. are reverting back to the default text style when the dimensions are mirrored as you may not have saved these changes.

As far at the crosses in the architectural tick goes; I think this is a bug and it has been in play for a long time.

------------------
Regards
John Finlay

Thanks John

That solved the problem. I was going to the dimension settings from the pull down each time, and I was seeing the overrides, but didn't know enough that I should save them.
I saved each tab and now have no overrides and the texts mirror same height now.

BJ