Using the Points number Input Box

FlashPoints comes with a "Points Number Input Box" that lets you respond to AutoCAD commands with a point Number or a sequence of points Numbers rather than with a click or coordinates. This dialog box activates whenever you pass the mouse cursor over it. (See Settings)

You can for example issue the POLYLINE command, then enter in the box "100-200,205,207" : this will create a polyline passing through points 100 to 200, then 205, then 207

Other example : multiple copy of entities: issue the COPY command, select objects to be copied, select the "Multiple" option of the command, indicate the base point, then put the mouse cursor on the "FlashPoints" input box. It activates, enter " 100-125" in the edit-box, then [RETURN], the selected objects are copied at points 100 to 125.

If you enter a point number in the box while there is no active command, the point number and its coordinates will be shown on the command line as follow : >> Coordinates of point 125 : X=906.124, Y=519.413, Z=10.000

The points numbers accessible in this way are those of the current group. If you have several groups, it can be interesting to have a “global” group which contains all the points.

The Input box has 3 areas :

Increment value : change here the increment value. For example, if the increment is 2, then if you enter "100-110" in the input box when creating a polyline, it will pass through points number 100, 102, 104, 106, 108, 110.

Points number Input box : enter here the points number in response to AutoCAD command. You can enter several Numbers separated whether by a comma, whether by a hyphen. For example, "1-100" would mean "from point 1 to point 100", "22,23,55" would mean "point 22, then point 23, then point 55", and "1-100,22,23,25,110-120" would mean "from point 1 to point 100, then point 22, then point 23, then point 55, then from point 110 to point 120"

Points number Input with the mouse : these buttons let you enter the point Numbers with the mouse instead of the keyboard. Click the Numbers or ", -" buttons, then right-click any number or the in edit-box to validate.

Adjusting the Points number Input box - Important

For the Input Box to work correctly, you may need to adjust a "timeout" value, depending on your configuration. To do so, first create a Point Group and add points to it (from 1 to 10 for example), then :

1. issue the POLYLINE command, and in the Input Box enter 1-10 and validate. A polyline passing through points 1 to 10 should be drawn.

2. If yes, the "timeout" is correctly adjusted, you have nothing to change.

3. In the opposite case, in the Input Box click to show the "Timeout setting" dialog, then move slightly the cursor to the right (increase the current value by approximatively 10), then close the dialog. Repeat step 1 and 3 until the Input Box works correctly. Also try other commands (COPY for example) and make sure the Input Box works, otherwise repeat step 1 to 3.

Remarks : None.