Access QuickCalc and Understand Its Behavior
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Use QuickCalc directly as you would with a desktop calculator, or use it transparently within a command or the Properties palette.

There are three ways to work with QuickCalc within the program:

The method that you choose depends on how you are using QuickCalc.

Use QuickCalc Directly

When you work directly with QuickCalc, you can perform calculations and unit conversions just as you would with a desktop calculator. You can use the Windows clipboard (CTRL+C, CTRL+V) to transfer the results of your calculations to other parts of the program or to external programs. Calculations that you perform directly do not affect or change anything in your drawing.

You can access QuickCalc directly in the following ways:

Use QuickCalc Transparently from Within a Command

During a command, you can access QuickCalc transparently in the following ways:

Calculations that you transfer to the command prompt affect the drawing. For example, if you are drawing a line with the LINE command and you pass an expression to the command prompt from the calculator, the next point of the line uses the results, which might be a distance or coordinate value. In QuickCalc, you click the Apply button to pass the value to the drawing based on that expression.

NoteWhen using QuickCalc transparently to calculate a value for direct distance entry, Apply transfers the value to the command prompt. To use the value, position the crosshairs to determine the direction and then press ENTER.

Use QuickCalc Transparently from the Properties Palette

When you want to modify properties and apply evaluated expressions to objects in your drawing, you can access QuickCalc transparently from the Properties palette. Use the following method:

The object or drawing property is modified and the changes are displayed in the drawing.

Calculate Mathematical Expressions in a Dialog Box

You can also enter and evaluate mathematical expressions in a dialog box using the following format: =expression<ALT+ENTER>.

NoteTo evaluate expressions in a dialog box, make sure the system variable, CALCINPUT, is set to 1.