How to Use Grip Editing in BricsCAD

Quick answer: Grips are small colored squares displayed at key points on selected entities, draggable to stretch, move, rotate, scale, or mirror them. Grip display and appearance settings live in the Settings dialog, under Drawing > Drafting > Display/Viewing > Grips.

Grip Display Settings

In complex drawings, too many grips can clutter the display. GRIPOBJECTLIMIT suppresses grip display once the number of selected entities exceeds a set limit; at 0, every grip always displays regardless of count.

Geometric Relations While Editing

With GEOMRELATIONS set, BricsCAD indicates a geometric relation, perpendicular or tangent, between the entity you’re editing and other lines, polylines, arcs, or circles nearby. This ties to a dedicated Geometric Relations article not otherwise covered in this hub yet.

Selecting a Grip

Move the cursor over a grip and click to select it; selected grips display in a different colour, set by HOTGRIP (red by default), and a selected grip is called a hot grip.

With DRAGSNAP on, dragged entities display at the current entity snap location.

Quick-Move Grips by Entity Type

Certain grips let you move an entity quickly by dragging just that one point: the midpoint grip on lines and infinite lines, the startpoint grip on rays, the centre grip on circles, arcs, ellipses, and elliptical arcs, the grip on points, and the insertion point grip on text, MText, blocks, and Xrefs.

Selecting Multiple Grips

Select all the entities you want to edit.
Hold Shift and click the first grip; it displays in red.
Keep holding Shift and click more grips; each one displays in red as you select it.
Release Shift, then click the hot grip you want to use as the base point. Every selected grip moves simultaneously, with Stretch mode selected by default.

Grip Editing Mode Options

Once a grip is selected, BricsCAD prompts: “Enter new point [Base point/Copy/Undo/eXit].” Choose an option via keyboard or the Prompt menu:

Keyboard	Prompt Menu	Description
B	Base Point	Prompts for a new base point, other than the selected grip
C	Copy	Copies the selected entities, keeping the originals; multiple copies can be created by default, press Enter to stop
U	Undo	With Copy active, deletes the most recent copy
R	Reference	Rotate mode only: specify a reference angle, either typed or via two points
X	Exit	Aborts the grip edit

Right-clicking a selected grip opens a context menu with Stretch, Move, Rotate, Scale, and Mirror, Stretch being the default.

Multifunctional Grip Displays

If HOTKEYASSISTANT is on and GRIPMULTIFUNCTIONAL includes bitflag 1, the Hotkey Assistant widget displays when you select a grip, with options depending on the entity type; press Ctrl to cycle through them.

If QUADDISPLAY is set to 0 and GRIPMULTIFUNCTIONAL includes bitflag 2, a list of options displays instead when you hover over a grip, again depending on entity type.

Editing Entities with Grips

Every manipulation shares the same setup: select the entity or entities, select the grip(s) you want to manipulate, then click the grip to use as the base point (this launches Stretch mode by default). From there, either right-click and choose the mode from the context menu, or press the Space bar or Enter repeatedly to cycle through modes, then follow the mode-specific steps below. In every mode, optionally choose Base point first if you want to define displacement from a point other than the selected grip.

Stretch (the default mode): specify a displacement point, or type an angle and distance into the dynamic entry fields.
Move: cycle to Move mode, then specify a displacement point or type an angle and distance.
Copy: cycle to Move mode, choose Copy (type C and press Enter, or choose it from the context menu) to keep the originals, then specify a displacement point or type an angle and distance; repeat to create more copies, or press Space/Enter to stop.
Mirror: cycle to Mirror mode, optionally choose Copy to keep the originals, then specify a second point to define the mirror axis; the selection mirrors across it.
Rotate: cycle to Rotate mode, optionally choose Copy, then either specify a point to define the rotation angle or type the angle directly and press Enter.
Scale: cycle to Scale mode, optionally choose Copy, then type a scale factor and press Enter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why don’t grips display on my current selection? Check GRIPOBJECTLIMIT, grips get suppressed once your selection exceeds its threshold; set it to 0 to always show every grip.

How do I move several grips at the same time? Hold Shift and click each grip you want to include, then release Shift and click the hot grip to use as the base point; all selected grips move together.

What’s the difference between the Hotkey Assistant widget and the hover-list display for grips? The Hotkey Assistant needs HOTKEYASSISTANT on and bitflag 1 of GRIPMULTIFUNCTIONAL set, and appears on grip selection. The hover-list instead needs QUADDISPLAY at 0 and bitflag 2 of GRIPMULTIFUNCTIONAL set, appearing on hover instead.

Can I create multiple copies while grip-editing without repeating the whole command? Yes, choose Copy, then keep specifying displacement points for each new copy, pressing Space or Enter when you’re done.