Coordinates and input

When a command asks for a point, you can specify it by clicking in the drawing, with an object snap, or by typing its coordinates on the command line. Coordinates are Cartesian, in drawing units, in the current User Coordinate System (UCS), which at first is the World Coordinate System (WCS).

Ways to type a point

Form	Example	Meaning
Absolute	`100,50`	X = 100, Y = 50 from the origin
Relative	`@20,-10`	20 to the right and 10 down from the last point
Relative polar	`@50<30`	50 units from the last point, at 30°
Absolute polar	`80<45`	80 units from the origin, at 45°
Direct distance	`35`	35 units from the last point, in the direction of the cursor
World	`100,50` or `@20,0`	In the WCS even if there is a UCS

Input is always typed as in AutoCAD: decimal point and comma between X and Y (10.5,20), whatever number format is chosen in OPTIONS.
Angles are typed in degrees and measured from the X axis, counterclockwise.
Direct distance entry is very handy with Ortho (F8) or polar tracking (F10): point with the mouse and type only the length.
When the command expects a number (a radius, a height, a factor), what you type is that number, not a point.

Dynamic input (F12)

With DYN on (it is on at startup), the command prompt appears next to the cursor and, when a point is requested, two fields with live values:

for the first point, X and Y;
for the following ones, the distance and the angle from the last point.

What you type goes to the active field. Tab locks that value (the cursor is constrained to it and a padlock appears) and moves to the other field; Enter sends the point. Without Tab, what you type is read exactly as on the command line. F12 or the DYN button on the status bar turns it on and off.

Coordinates on the status bar

The left end of the status bar shows the cursor position (or that of the point it snaps to, if there is an object snap or grid snap). It uses the units and precision set with UNITS and the number format from OPTIONS: with a decimal comma, X and Y are separated by a semicolon (12,5; 30). If the drawing has a coordinate system (GEOGRAPHICLOCATION), clicking the coordinates adds latitude and longitude.

Drawing units

UNITS sets how lengths and angles are displayed (decimal, feet and inches, degrees-minutes-seconds, bearings...) and their precision. The variables LUNITS, LUPREC, AUNITS, AUPREC and INSUNITS store these settings in the drawing.

Querying coordinates and distances

ID shows the coordinates of a point.
DIST measures the distance and angle between two points.
LIST shows the data of the selected objects, including their coordinates.
MEASUREGEOM measures distances, radii and areas.

User coordinate systems (UCS)

A UCS is an origin and axes of your own, moved or rotated with respect to the WCS: for example, aligned with a building that does not follow the axes of the plan. LinceCAD has UCSs in the plane, like AutoCAD in 2D:

UCS defines the current UCS (by origin and X axis, aligned with an object, rotated with Z...), saves it with a name and goes back to the previous one or to the world system. UCSMAN manages named UCSs.
With a UCS, the coordinates you type and those shown in the status bar are in the UCS; an asterisk in front (*x,y) gives them in the world system.
Ortho, the grid, snap and the crosshairs are aligned with the UCS, and so are RECTANG and the rotation of TEXT. Polar tracking, dynamic input and the angles of other commands stay on the world axes.
The UCS icon, at the lower left or at the origin, is set up with UCSICON (variable UCSICON).
PLAN rotates the view so that the UCS X axis is horizontal.
The UCS is saved in the drawing as in AutoCAD. In AutoLISP, trans converts points between the WCS and the UCS.

For georeferenced drawings, see Geolocation.