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Glossary of Terms

Glossary is usually defined as an alphabetical list of technical terms in some specialized field of knowledge. This knowledge base glossary provides a collection of knowledge base documents that define many technical terms. These terms are arranged alphabetically, but you can quickly jump to a specific term by selecting its first letter from the index of the knowledge base glossary below.

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11 Glossary Terms Found.
CAD
Computer-aided design. Common CAD programs include: AutoCAD, Vectorworks, Microstation. Programs differ greatly in features, complexity, cost, and hardware requirements.
CADD
Computer-aided design and drafting.
center point
The defining point at the exact center of a circle, arc, regular polygon or ellipse.
chamfer
A diagonal line which connects points on two intersecting objects such as an angled corner. The chamfer tool is an editing tool.
class
A category of objects (Vectorworks) to which objects can be assigned and then manipulated as a group.
color
A property of any drawing object which defines the color in which it appears on the screen and (possibly) the color in which it is printed. Color is often associated with an object\’s layer or class assignment and can be used to determines how that object will appear on a printout with regard to line thickness and line type.
constraint
A drawing tool which limits drawing to a particular point, line or angle. Some common constraints are snap to grid and ortho.
control points
Points determining the path and shape of a Bezier curve.
coordinates
A sytem of numbers used to locate a point or object in a drawing. In the Cartesian coordinate system 2 numbers x and y are used to describe the location of a point in the horizontal and vertical dimensions respectively. 3D CAD programs add the z coordinate which describes distance in the third dimension. In the Polar coordinate system a point is described by a distance and an angle where 0° exends horizontally to the right.
cursor
The screen symbol or icon which represents the current mouse location relative to the drawing window or viewport. The cursor may appear as crosshairs or another symbol based on which command is active.
curve
A complex entity created by the definition of endpoints of spline curve sections. Note, the type of curve you use determines the types of editing tools or functions that may be performed on it.

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