dimensions not visible in front view

[bleonard]

i have a problem of net being able to view dimensions in the model space in the current view. i was not paying attention to what view i started the 2d drawing in, but right now it is in the front view. the dimensions lines gets put on a plane that the program has decided and wheather i try to dimension above or below it, it goes to that line. i have also noticed that for some unknown reason the 2d drawing gave itself depth. it is a very large drawing and i have tried to clip parts of it to put on a new drawing it defalts to the front view and i still cannot dimension on it. i am using arch 2009, and the program did get corrupt during my work and had to reinstall. i have reinstalled several time with the same result. i have tried arch 2011 also with the same result. i think there is a setting that somehow changed and i can't figure out what it is, or should i chalk this up to a program malfunction and start from scratch in a top view (which works fine).

[RobDraw]

2D drawings should be done in the top view. You can rotate your work from the left or right views to get your work on the X,Y plane.

[Patrick Hughes]

The absolute first thing you must do is turn your UCS icon on. Try to always leave it on. I say this because it serves as a very valuable indicator of where in space you are. There are some other settings you should familiarize yourself with such as UCSFOLLOW and dynamic UCS (perhaps best to turn off if you are not familiar with it).

Now, you must remember that dimensions are placed on the XY plane of the current UCS and on the Z level of 0.00

Keeping these in mind if your dimensions are only showing as lines when you are placing them then it would indicate that the UCS is not aligned with the view you are in.

[ReMark]

Not sure how a 2D drawing "accidentally" gives itself depth. Do you have a value for THICKNESS of something other than "0"?

How familiar are you with AutoCAD Architecture? How long have you been using it?

Personally, I am inclined to think this is not a case of program malfunction. Seems more like 'operator error'.

[bleonard]

i have tried rotating in different views, and it will not allow me to rotate it to the top view. i am almost positive that when i started the drawing i was in the top view and everything worked just fine. i have been dimensioning in this file for months now with no problem. the program issues had certain functions locked on or off and even though it said it was off it was on. correct me if i am wrong, but i was told that the 2009 version does have some bugs like this to it. after i reinstalled i noticed i was in the front view and now the dimensioning does not work in that view. i am not very proficient with the arch. program, but know enough to throw some lines out there and make it look like something. is the dimensions line suppose to be in top view only? i know there is some operator error, but i need more help.

[Patrick Hughes]

Have you tried any of the suggestions I made?

Get your bearings to see what you are dealing with. Put youself into an isometric view point (maybe use the view cube) and post a screen shot of what you see when in a 3D isometric view.

I can't stress enough the importance of the UCS in this case.

[ReMark]

Did you download and install all service packs/updates for your program?

How many model space viewports do you have at the moment?

[nestly]

Type UCS > World, then PLAN > World to make sure the UCS and view are at default. If you're not looking at the "Top" view after using those two commands, then the UCS was probably rotated before you began. No biggie, either rotate your model, or rotate the UCS, then place your dimensions.

[bleonard]

mr hughes, it is what you said, the dimension line is being drawn on the z axis of 0. the drawing has different layers along the z axis that i didn't realize i was doing at the time. the ucs is on i just haven't really paid attention to it. mr nestly, when i do the ucs world and plan world it goes to top view but the drawing is still in front view. i tried rotating again and it will only rotate on the z axis.
i appreciate all the advice, its quite frustrating when i have been working on this for so long and now all these problems. oh yea, i am up to date on all software, and i'll try a post a screenshot.

thanks everyone

[Patrick Hughes]

bleonard,

Just as dimensions are placed on the XY plane at Z of 0.0 so too will a 2D rotation ocurr only on the XY plane with the axis of rotation being the Z axis. In order to rotate in another plane you need to adjust your UCS by rotating it to achieve the geometry rotation required.

It takes a little playing around to understand the whole thing but the exercise is very much worth the trouble. Especially if you are going to make a move to 3D.

So try entering the UCS command - examine the command line for its options. One of the options will be X/Y/Z - these allow you to rotate the UCS along the chosen axis. Do this while in an ISO view so you can get a handle on what is happening.

After you have rotated a UCS now select some of the geometry and perform a rotation to see what happens. Before long you'll see what is needed to get your geometry and views corrected.

Again, play around with it so you build a comfort zone. You could also try the 3D rotate or look at the ALIGN commnd. But I encourage you to work with the UCS.

Good luck.