ANNOTATE(nged)

Creates text anchored at --at, or at the model origin if --at is omitted. The text lies in the xy plane by default. --plane selects another principal model plane and --frame draws a rectangular border around the text.

Creates text connected to a target by a leader with an arrowhead at the target. With --for object and no explicit --target, the arrow ends where the ray from the label toward the center of the object’s fast oriented bounding box first intersects that box. This keeps the leader out of the object’s interior and is the default form for labeling geometry. --target overrides the calculated endpoint when a specific point is required.

--at fixes the label position. If it is omitted, the command places the label beyond the oriented box with a text-sized margin. A leader must specify either --for object or --target. In an active view, the text plane is oriented for front-facing readability: the baseline follows the projected leader in the readable direction and the lettering’s up direction follows the view rather than a fixed model axis.

--screen-space is the alternate presentation mode for callouts that should remain in the display plane. It keeps the text horizontal and the leader’s offset relative to its model target as the view changes. This is useful for interactive view labels, but ordinary model-space leaders are preferred for drafting annotations that must retain a physical 3D plane. Its default text height is 3 mm in the display plane; an explicit --text-height still uses the current database units. --dpi sets the physical display density used to scale screen-space text; it defaults to 96 and is stored with the annotation so annotate update reproduces the same result.

Creates one of the following measurement annotations:

For linear and ordinate dimensions, --offset moves the dimension line away from the measured points. A suitable offset is selected when it is omitted.

Creates overall X, Y, and Z dimensions on edges of the combined bounding box of the supplied objects. The box may be axis-aligned or oriented. This is deliberately a subcommand of annotate: its result is ordinary persistent annotation data, not a special view axis through the middle of the model.

The command creates a combination named name and one annotation member per selected axis, named name.x, name.y, and name.z. The combination records the source objects, so annotate show and annotate hide can toggle the annotations using either their own name or an associated geometry tree.

If no objects are supplied, autodim uses the database objects currently drawn in the active view. With the default --corner auto, each requested dimension is independently assigned to a projected box edge. The layout favors readable text orientation, outward placement, clear separation, and uncrossed dimension lines. Consequently, the dimensions need not meet at one corner. Collision checks use the projected selected bounding box as a fast, deterministic proxy for the object silhouette. This avoids most avoidable label-box overlap, but does not yet perform exact rendered-silhouette collision testing.

The default axis-aligned box uses model X, Y, and Z. For an oriented box, the X, Y, and Z names refer to the box’s local orthogonal basis. Thus --axes, --corner, the member suffixes, and the optional X:, Y:, and Z: labels all describe box-local axes when --bounds obb is selected.

annotate show draws annotations and annotate hide removes them from the display without deleting them. Each operand may be an annotation name or a geometry tree. For a geometry tree, the command finds annotations contained in the tree and annotation groups associated with any object below that root. This permits independently associated annotation layers to remain out of ordinary geometry drawing until explicitly requested, avoiding clutter in large assemblies.

--all selects all top-level annotation objects. It must be used by itself.

annotate update regenerates each named autodim group or leader from its recorded creation settings. For an autodim group, it recomputes the selected AABB or OBB, dimension values, units, and labels from the current database geometry. If the group records --corner auto, placement is optimized again for the active view. An explicit corner remains fixed. Styling, precision, air handling, and tight-bound policy are preserved. For an automatically targeted leader, the endpoint is recomputed against the associated object’s current fast OBB and its lettering is reoriented for the active view.

--view-only skips the bounds query and reuses the box and measurements stored by the last full creation or update. It recomputes view-dependent edge placement and text orientation, making it suitable for responsive interactive view changes. It deliberately assumes the source geometry has not changed; use plain annotate update to verify the current geometry and refresh both the measurements and view presentation. For a leader, it preserves the recorded target and label positions while updating only the view-facing lettering plane.

The replacement geometry is built under temporary names first. A bounds or annotation-generation failure therefore leaves the existing annotation in place.

Ordinary annotations are model-space objects and therefore use the display manager’s ordinary depth handling. They may be occluded by model geometry; annotate deliberately does not silently draw them as foreground overlays. Screen-space leaders are the explicit exception: their geometry is in the display plane. View-facing model-space labels can be refreshed with update --view-only when the active view changes.

Lists persistent annotations. With no pattern, all are listed. One or more shell-style patterns limit the result. Quote patterns in command interpreters which would otherwise expand them.

Reports an annotation’s kind and persisted placement. Leaders report their target, label location, and display-plane settings. For an autodim group it also reports the source objects, member annotations, bounds type, axes, and corner policy.