How to Use Entity Snap Tracking

Quick answer: Entity Snap Tracking helps you draw entities positioned relative to other entities, by displaying temporary tracking lines from entity snap points as you hover over them. It requires at least one entity snap mode to be on, and toggles via the STRACK field in the Status Bar.

How Entity Snap Tracking Works

Tracking lines run parallel to the X and Y axis of the current UCS. ANGBASE defines the base angle they’re measured from, relative to the current coordinate system.

Two specific POLARMODE bits affect how this works alongside Polar Tracking:

• Bitcode 2: Polar Tracking’s angle settings, both the interval and any additional angles, also get used for Entity Snap Tracking.
• Bitcode 8: you need to hold Shift to acquire entity tracking points, rather than just hovering over them.

Acquiring and Removing Alignment Points

Hover over a point using an entity snap to acquire it as an alignment point; a small plus sign (+) marks it as active. Hover over it again to remove it, the plus sign disappears.

Once acquired, moving the cursor over an alignment point’s tracking path shows the alignment relative to it. You can then pick a point either directly on an alignment, or at the intersection of two alignments.

Locking a Tracking Line

Press Shift while a tracking line is displayed to lock it. A locked line changes colour to whatever SnapMarkerColor is set to, and any entity snap or specified point you pick afterward gets projected perpendicularly onto it. Press Shift again to unlock it.

Two extra options become available with a tracking line locked:

• If the Intersection entity snap is active, you can snap to where the locked tracking line intersects other entities in the drawing.
• You can acquire additional tracking lines and snap to wherever they intersect the locked one.

Using Entity Snap Tracking

1. Launch a drawing command, LINE, for example.
2. Hover over your first tracking point; a small plus sign (+) shows it’s active.
3. Hover over a second tracking point; it gets the same plus sign marker.
4. Move the cursor toward your intended position. Tracking lines extend from both points, a cross marker (x) shows where they intersect, snap markers appear at the tracking points themselves, and a tooltip at the intersection shows the angles and distances from each tracking point.
5. Click to accept that intersection point.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s needed before I can use Entity Snap Tracking? At least one entity snap mode needs to be turned on first.

Do I need to hold a key to acquire tracking points? Only if bitcode 8 of POLARMODE is set, in which case you need to hold Shift. Otherwise, hovering over a point is enough to acquire it.

Can Entity Snap Tracking use the same angles as Polar Tracking? Yes, if bitcode 2 of POLARMODE is set, Polar Tracking’s angle interval and additional angles also apply to Entity Snap Tracking.

What extra options do I get once a tracking line is locked? You can snap to where it intersects other entities (if the Intersection entity snap is active), and you can acquire further tracking lines and snap to where they cross the locked one.