Entity Data Access Symbols Overview | All Symbol List | Component & Ref Set Symbol List

Geometry

This section covers the Entity (Object) Data Access Symbols (EDAs) for Geometry. The EDAs are listed alphabetically by their purpose to help you find the specific EDA you want as quickly as possible.

EDAs fall into two categories, object dependent and object independent. Object dependent EDAs contain data specific to the individual object specified. For example, &RADIUS extracts the radius value from an arc only. Therefore, the &RADIUS EDA is object dependent. The object dependent EDAs are grouped together in the first half of this chapter. The object independent EDAs are grouped following the object dependent EDAs.

Object independent EDAs contain data which includes object type, layer, font, etc., which would be valid no matter what type of object you specified.

There are several terms associated with each EDA which define the way the symbol can be used.

ACCESS TYPE defines the READ/WRITE status of the EDA. EDAs contain data which is either object or number valued and which can be extracted (READ) for use in your program. Some symbols allow you to alter the data directly (WRITE) by assigning the properly valued data to the EDA.

DATA TYPE defines whether a particular EDA is object, number, or string valued. The data associated with an EDA, if object valued, must be treated like an object as it is assigned or extracted. If you READ an object valued EDA and assign the data to a variable, it must be declared as an ENTITY. Number valued EDAs, when assigned to a variable, do not need to be declared. String valued EDAs, when assigned to a variable, must be declared as a STRING.

RANGE defines the value which can be assigned to, or extracted from, an EDA. The RANGE of string valued EDAs is defined in the number of characters allowed in the string which is extracted or assigned. Some EDAs have a Number Data Type which is an array. The specified range value would then apply to each member of the array. For example, &ORIGIN returns the location in X, Y, and Z of the origin of a coordinate system. Since three values are expected, the receiving variable must be a three position array (e.g. NUM(3)). The range specified is plus or minus infinity since either X, Y, or Z could be any positive or negative number.