472 Part II Drawing in Two Dimensions

Using the SOLID command

The SOLID command creates solidly filled areas. (It is not directly related to 3D solids.) In general, BHATCH is much more flexible. However, although the SOLID command is a 2D command, it’s sometimes used in 3D drawing. When you create a 2D solid and give it thickness, it creates surfaces with tops and bottoms. See Chapter 24 for a description of how to use the SOLID command to create 3D models.

SOLID creates straight-edged shapes. If FILL is on, AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT fills in the shape with a solid fill (that’s why it’s called SOLID).

To draw a solid, type solid . The command prompts you for first, second, third, and fourth points. You must specify these points in zigzag order, not around the perimeter of the shape. After the fourth point, the command continues to prompt you for third and fourth points, which you can use to create new adjacent solids. Press Enter to end the command.

Creating and Editing Multilines

Multilines are sets of parallel lines that you draw with one command. You can specify how far apart they are, and each line can have its own color and linetype. Multilines are used for drawing architectural plans where you need to draw an inner and outer wall. To draw a multiline, you first define, save, and load a multiline style. Then you can use the multiline style to draw multilines. There is a separate command for editing multilines that enables you to break multiline intersections, as you would for the doors and windows in a floor plan. Figure 16-27 shows a floor plan for an apartment drawn using multilines.

AutoCAD LT doesn’t have the Multiline feature but has a similar feature called Dlines. I cover dlines in the next section, “Creating Dlines.”

Figure 16-27: A floor plan of an apartment that is drawn using multilines.

Thanks to Bill Wynn of New Windsor, Maryland, for this drawing.

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Creating a multiline style

The first step in drawing multilines is to design the multiline style. To create a multiline style, choose Format Multiline Style to open the Multiline Style dialog box, as shown in Figure 16-28.

Figure 16-28: The Multiline Style dialog box.

Like text styles and dimension styles, multiline styles group a set of properties under one name. The default multiline style, called Standard, defines two lines 1 unit apart. Multiline styles have two parts: element properties and multiline properties. The element properties define each individual line element. The multiline properties define properties that apply to the multiline as a whole.

Defining multiline style properties

To start defining the multiline style, click New. In the Create New Multiline Style dialog box, type a name in the New Style Name text box and click Continue. The New Multiline Style dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 16-29.

The Elements section lists the current elements of the multiline. Elements are simply the lines that make up the multiline. The offset defines the distance of the line from the start point when you start to draw. An offset of zero places the line on the start point. As you can see, the Standard multiline style has two elements, each 0.5 units from the start point. Figure 16-30 shows the Standard multiline style as it appears in relation to the start point that you pick.

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Figure 16-31: The results of choosing the various options in the New Multiline Style dialog box.

Saving a new multiline style

Before you can use the multiline style, you must save it. AutoCAD saves multiline styles in a file with the .mln file name extension. After you click Save, the Save Multiline Style dialog box opens.

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In general, you can save your multiline styles in the default file, which is acad.mln. Click Save to return to the Multiline Style dialog box.

Loading a multiline style

Like linetypes, multiline styles must be loaded before you can use them. Choose Load to open the Load Multiline Styles dialog box. Choose the style that you created from the list and click OK.

You return to the Multiline Styles dialog box. You’re now ready to use the multiline style. Click OK to return to your drawing.

You can also use the Multiline Style dialog box to rename multiline styles and make another multiline style current.

STEPS: Creating a Multiline Style

1.Open ab16-g.dwg from your CD-ROM.

2.Save the file as ab16-07.dwg in your AutoCAD Bible folder. This is a site plan, shown in Figure 16-32.

Figure 16-32: The parallel lines at the bottom of the site plan can be drawn by using a multiline.

3.Choose Format Multiline Style to open the Multiline Style dialog box. Click New. In the text box, type siteplan. Choose Continue.

4.In the Elements section of the dialog box, the top element should be highlighted. Change the offset to 0, the color to black (it may list as white), and the linetype to DASHDOT.

5.Highlight the second element. Change the offset to –132 (11' × 12"), the color to magenta, and the linetype to continuous.

6.Click Add. Change the offset to –180 (15' × 12"), the color to red, and the linetype to center.

7.Click Add. Change the offset to –228 (19' × 12"), the color to magenta, and the linetype to continuous.

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8.Click Add. Change the offset to –360 (30' × 12"), the color to black, and the linetype to dashdot.

9.Click Add. Change the offset to –480 (40' × 12"), the color to red, and the linetype to center.

10.Click OK. In the Multiline Style dialog box, click Save.

11.In the Save Multiline Style dialog box, you should see acad.mln in the File Name text box. You can also type a new MLN file name. Choose Save.

12.Choose Load in the Multiline Style dialog box. In the Load Multiline Styles dialog box, highlight the SITEPLAN multiline style, and choose OK. With the new multiline style selected, choose Set Current, and click OK again to return to your drawing.

13.Save your drawing. If you’re continuing on to the next exercise, keep the drawing open.

Drawing multilines

Defining a multiline style is the hard part. As soon as the style is defined, saved, loaded, and made current, you can draw with it. You may find that you need some practice to get the hang of it because you’re drawing more than one line at once. To draw a multiline, choose Draw Multiline to start the MLINE command. The command responds with the Specify start point or [Justification/Scale/STyle]: prompt. The prompt also displays the current justification, scale, and style. The default is to pick a point. From there you get the Specify next point: prompt. After the first segment, you get the Specify next point or [Undo]: prompt, and after the second segment, the Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: prompt. Here is how to use the options:

Justification: You can choose Zero, Top, or Bottom.

•Zero places the element that has a zero offset in the multiline definition at the pick point. You do not need to have a line at zero offset, as is the case with the Standard multiline style. The top example in Figure 16-33 shows the Standard multiline style with zero justification.

•Top places the line with the highest positive offset at the pick point. The middle example in Figure 16-33 shows the Standard multiline style with top justification.

•Bottom places the line with the highest negative offset at the pick point. The bottom example in Figure 16-33 shows the Standard multiline style with bottom justification.

Scale: Multiplies the offset values in the multiline definition by the scale. The Standard multiline style places two lines 1 unit apart. A scale of 6 would place them 6 units apart.

Style: Enables you to specify the current multiline style. Type ? to get a list of the available multiline styles.

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Figure 16-33: Drawing a multiline using the Standard multiline style in zero, top, and bottom justification.

As you draw a multiline, whenever you create a corner by changing direction, the command creates a clean corner.

STEPS: Drawing Multilines

1.Continue from the previous exercise. (If you didn’t do the previous exercise, you should do it to create the multiline style.) Set a running object snap for intersection.

2.Choose Draw Multiline. The prompt displays the following message:

Justification = Top, Scale = 1.00, Style = SITEPLAN

3.At the Specify start point or [Justification/Scale/STyle]: prompt, choose the From object snap. At the Base point: prompt, choose 1 in Figure 16-35. (If necessary,

press Tab until you get the Intersection object snap.) At the <Offset>: prompt, type

@0,–10' .

4.At the Specify next point: prompt, move the cursor to the right and type 255' . If you want, you can experiment by drawing other line segments. Press Enter to end the command. The drawing should look like Figure 16-34.

5.Save your drawing.

1

Figure 16-34: The completed multiline.

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Editing multilines

No matter how many segments it contains, the entire multiline is one object. Many editing commands simply do not work with multilines. Table 16-1 shows the editing commands and whether they work with multilines.

Table 16-1: Using Editing Commands with Multilines

You can use grips to stretch, move, copy, mirror, and rotate multilines.

To edit multilines, you use the MLEDIT command. To start MLEDIT, double-click the multiline (or choose Modify Object Multiline) to open the Multilines Edit Tools dialog box, shown in Figure 16-35.

Figure 16-35: The Multilines Edit Tools dialog box.