Inferencing

Inferencing lines work together with pointers, Sketch Snaps, and relations to graphically display how sketch entities affect each other.  

Inferencing Lines

Inferencing lines are dotted lines that appear as you sketch. When your pointer approaches highlighted cues such as midpoints, the inferencing lines guide you relative to existing sketch entities.

Pointers

The pointer display indicates when the pointer is over a geometric relation (an intersection, for example), what tool is active (line or circle), and dimensions (angle and radius of an arc). If the pointer displays a relation such as a horizontal relation, the relation is added automatically to the entity.

Relations are not displayed if Enable snapping is cleared. When you clear Enable snapping, it also clears Automatic Relations .

Sketch Snaps

Sketch Snaps are on by default. As you sketch, Sketch Snaps icons are displayed. To clear Sketch Snaps, click Tools, Options, System Options, Relations/Snaps, and clear Enable snapping.

You can use Quick Snaps to display individual Sketch Snaps even if Enable snapping is cleared. Quick Snaps focus on one particular operation while the current sketch tool is active. To use Quick Snaps, right-click in an active sketch, select Quick Snaps, and chose the appropriate Sketch Snap.

Relations

In addition to Sketch Snaps, you can display icons that represent relations between sketch entities. As you sketch, the entities display icons that represent Sketch Snaps; once you click to indicate a sketch entity is done, relations are displayed. To display relations, select View, Sketch Relations.