Quick start

This page covers one run of AFDIM on a part drawing in AutoCAD®. It assumes that AFDIM is installed and activated.

Before you run it

AFDIM does not choose the text size or the number format. It takes them from your drawing.

Text height and decimals come from the current dimension style (DIMSTYLE). AFDIM never overrides them. Before the run, make the dimension style that you want current. Also set DIMSCALE or the annotation scale before the run.
Drawing units can be millimetres or inches. By default, AFDIM reads the unit from the drawing: from INSUNITS and from the size of the dimension text. To choose the unit yourself, go to Settings › General › Dimensioning › Drawing units. Your choice tells AFDIM how to read the coordinates. It does not scale the drawing.
The dimension layer is the layer in AutoCAD’s DIMLAYER variable, or the current layer when DIMLAYER is not set. You can choose another source in Settings.
DIMLFAC should be 1. If it is not, the selection prompt starts with (! DIMLFAC = <value>: measurements will be scaled). <value> is the current DIMLFAC. The warning tells you that the measured values will be multiplied by this factor.

For your first run, use a copy of the drawing.

The four steps

Open the part drawing.
Type AFDIM, or choose Dimension on the AFDIM ribbon tab.
At the prompt, window-select the whole part, including every hole, slot and cutout inside its outline. Press Enter.
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Select the part to dimension or [Setting]
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AFDIM builds the outline, recognises the features and writes the dimensions, callouts, centre marks and centrelines. The command line prints the result. To stop a long run, press Esc. The drawing stays unchanged.

It does no harm if the window also includes existing dimensions, dashed lines or centrelines. See What it ignores.

Select first, then run

If objects are already selected when you start AFDIM, AFDIM uses that selection and starts at once. It does not show the selection prompt.

Change a setting during the command

At the selection prompt, type S and press Enter. The settings dialog opens. When you close it, you return to the selection prompt, and the run uses the new settings.

Work in a Layout

On a Layout tab, you can select objects that are drawn directly on the paper. To dimension a part that is inside a viewport, double-click inside the viewport to activate it. Then run AFDIM and select the part.

Inside an activated viewport, AFDIM works in model space. If DIMSCALE is 0, AFDIM uses the scale of the viewport.

If you select nothing while no viewport is active, the command line prints [AFDIM] Nothing selected. If the part is inside a viewport, double-click inside it and run AFDIM again.

What AFDIM reads

AFDIM accepts LINE, ARC, CIRCLE, ELLIPSE, LWPOLYLINE, POLYLINE, SPLINE, block references (INSERT, including nested and dynamic blocks) and REGION. The geometry must lie on the XY plane. AFDIM ignores Z values.

AFDIM explodes blocks, regions and old-style polylines in memory. It does not change your drawing.

What it detects

the outline of the part and the cutouts inside it
round holes, elliptical holes and slots
notches and protrusions on the outline
fillets and chamfers
bolt-hole patterns and hole systems, including holes on a pitch circle
rotational patterns
repeated copies of the same cutout: AFDIM dimensions the shape once and locates each copy
bend lines
faceted runs, which are arcs that were drawn as many short straight segments: AFDIM reconstructs them as arcs or ellipses when Faceted runs is set to Reconstruct them as arcs / ellipses, which is the default

The output is made of native AutoCAD objects: dimensions, callouts (leaders for holes, slots, chamfers and similar features), centre marks, centrelines, and small V marks at the theoretical corner of a chamfer or fillet. AFDIM puts them in the current space. You can grip-edit, move or erase them like dimensions that you placed by hand.

What it ignores

Non-continuous linetypes. Only curves whose effective linetype is Continuous form the part outline. AFDIM sets dashed, hidden and centre-linetype lines aside. It can recognise such lines as bend lines: see Bend-line detection in Settings.
Open curves. AFDIM dimensions closed outlines only. A stray line, or an outline with a gap between two curves, is not dimensioned. If an area has no dimensions, check that the curves meet. For very small gaps, increase Point tolerance in Settings.
Other parts in the same selection. If the selection holds several separate closed parts, AFDIM dimensions only the largest one. The command line warns you and gives the size of up to three skipped parts. Run AFDIM once for each part.

Read the command line

The command-line messages follow the language of the settings dialog. This page quotes the English messages. Vietnamese messages have no accents, except the selection prompt. A run prints one result line. It prints a warning only when there is something for you to do. These are the messages that you will see most often:

Message	Meaning
`[AFDIM] Wrote <n> dimension(s) + <m> callout(s) on layer "<layer>".`	The result: AFDIM wrote `<n>` dimensions and `<m>` callouts on layer `<layer>`.
`[AFDIM] No dimensions were produced.`	AFDIM dimensioned nothing. See Troubleshooting.
`[AFDIM] WARNING: no CLOSED outline found. Usually some lines do not meet (zoom into the corners, or JOIN/PEDIT them). If you are sure it is closed, send it to support: Settings > About > Support > Export the last run's geometry.`	AFDIM found no closed outline, usually because some curves do not meet.
`[AFDIM] WARNING: <n> separate parts selected; only the LARGEST was dimensioned. Run AFDIM again for: <w>x<h>, <w>x<h>, <w>x<h> (+<more>).`	You selected several separate parts. AFDIM dimensioned only the largest part.
`[AFDIM] WARNING: layer "<layer>" is OFF, so the dimensions just written are NOT VISIBLE. Turn it on with the LAYER command.`	The layer of the new dimensions is off, so you cannot see them.
`[AFDIM] WARNING: <n> analysis step(s) failed, some dimensions may be MISSING. Send the drawing to support: Settings > About > Support > Export the last run's geometry.`	`<n>` analysis steps failed, and some dimensions may be missing.
`[AFDIM] Cancelled (ESC). The drawing is unchanged.`	You pressed `Esc` during the run. AFDIM wrote nothing.

What to do for each warning:

No closed outline. Zoom into the corners, or join the curves with JOIN or PEDIT. If you are sure that the outline is closed, send the part to support: choose Settings › About › Support › Export the last run’s geometry….
Separate parts. <w>x<h> is the width and height of a skipped part. The line lists up to three parts, and (+<more>) is the number of further skipped parts. Run AFDIM once for each part.
Layer is off. When the layer is frozen, the line says FROZEN instead of OFF. AFDIM does not switch your layers on. Turn the layer on, or thaw it, with LAYER.
Analysis steps failed. Send the part to support in the same way as for a missing outline. See Support bundle.
Cancelled. On a large drawing, AFDIM first prints [AFDIM] Large drawing, still working... Press ESC to cancel.

If AFDIM cannot be sure which unit the drawing uses, it prints a line about the unit before the result. For example:

[AFDIM] Drawing unit unclear: dim text <h> high, <h2> after the dim scale; AFDIM is using millimetres. If the part is drawn in inches, select Inches in Settings > Drawing units.

<h> is the text height on paper. <h2> is the text height after DIMSCALE or the annotation scale. If the part is drawn in inches, choose Inches in Settings › General › Dimensioning › Drawing units. AFDIM prints similar lines when the drawing has no declared unit, when its declared unit is not millimetres or inches, or when your Drawing units choice does not match the drawing. It prints each line once for each drawing in an AutoCAD session. When the unit is clear, AFDIM prints no unit line.

Every message is listed on The AFDIM command.

Undo

One AFDIM run writes everything in a single step, so a single U removes all of it: dimensions, callouts, centre marks and centrelines. Change one thing (the dimension style, the selection or a setting) and run AFDIM again.

Settings: standards, layers, callout style, tolerances.
The AFDIM command: the prompt, the windows and every message.
Troubleshooting: what to do when the result is wrong.