AREA — Area

Calculates area and perimeter.

• Command: AREA · Global name: _AREA · Alias: AA
• Ribbon: Home › Utilities
• Menu: Tools

Calculates the area and perimeter of a boundary defined by points or of a closed object. With the Add area and Subtract area modes it keeps a running total, for example to subtract openings from a surface. The drawing does not change.

Usage

1. Enter AREA (or AA) or click its button.

Specify first corner point or [Object/Add area/Subtract area] <Object>:

2. To measure by points, specify the corners of the boundary one after another. The figure closes by itself: there is no need to go back to the first point.

Specify next point or [Undo]:
Specify next point or [Undo/Total] <Total>:

3. Press Enter (or type T) to calculate. The command line shows the area and the perimeter.
4. To measure an object, press Enter at the first prompt (or type O) and select the object.

Select objects:

Options

• Object (O): measures a circle, arc, ellipse, polyline, spline or hatch. For an open object the area is closed by the chord between its endpoints and its length is given instead of the perimeter.
• Add area (A): switches to add mode. Every boundary or object you measure is added to the total, which is shown after each measurement.

Specify first corner point or [Object/Subtract area]:
(ADD mode) Select objects:

• Subtract area (S): switches to subtract mode. Every measurement is subtracted from the total.

Specify first corner point or [Object/Add area]:
(SUBTRACT mode) Select objects:

• Undo (U): removes the last point of the boundary.
• Total (T): closes the boundary and calculates.

In add and subtract modes, Enter at the object prompt goes back to the mode prompt; Enter at the mode prompt ends the command and shows the total.

Notes

• In a hatch, the inner boundaries (islands) subtract their area.
• Regions and 2D solids cannot be measured yet.
• Results are written with the units and precision of the drawing (UNITS).

See also

MEASUREGEOM · DIST · LIST · HATCH · BOUNDARY