Straight Construction Line Parallel to Other Line, Using Distance

1. Call the Line command.

2. Select a straight line for the new line to be parallel to. You can select a construction line or a graphic one. A line can be selected in one of the following ways:

•Move the cursor over the desired line, using object snappings, and press or <Enter>. In case of selecting a graphic line, a coinciding straight construction line is created automatically, and the current line is based on such construction line.

•Use the following automenu option:

This option is active by default, upon calling the command, so in order to select a construction line nearest to the cursor, you just have to click within drawing window or press <L> or <Enter>.

Upon selection, the preview of the resulting line follows the cursor.

After selecting a line, you can create axes of symmetry, if necessary, and then continue the parallel line creation.

3. Specify a distance between the line selected on the first step and the resulting line. While the preview of the line follows the cursor, the distance value is indicated in the parameters window, as well as in the right side of the status bar. The distance may be specified in one of the following ways:

•Place the cursor at an arbitrary point of drawing window without snapping to existing elements and then press or <Enter>. The distance will be calculated so, that the line passes through the specified point.

•Type a value via keyboard into the input box of the parameters window. You may also input a variable name instead of a numerical value. In order to finish the input, press <Enter> or click anywhere within drawing window.

Distance value is saved in line parameters and can be edited later. Distance may be positive or negative depending on the direction of offset. For horizontal and sloped lines, positive values are applied upward in relation to the source line, negative - downward. For vertical lines, positive values are applied to the left, negative - to the right. If the cursor is placed in the negative values zone, then the minus sign is automatically added in front of the distance input box. In such case, in order to type in a positive value, you should either move the cursor into the positive values zone, or type in a minus before the value (minus times minus equals plus).

The relation mark connects the resulting line with the initial one and indicates their parallelism and the distance value.

After creating a line, the command stays in the mode of creating lines parallel to the same selected line. In order to return to the initial state of the command, press or <Esc>, or use the following automenu option: