Direct Distance Entry

Direct Distance Entry (DDE) means that you can type the length of lines, polyline segments, circle radii and diameters, movement vectors in commands such as Move, Copy and Stretch, etc. in the command bar.

When combined with either Orthogonal Mode or Polar Tracking, Direct Distance Entry is a particularly efficient  method  to draw lines of a specified length and direction, and to move or copy objects over a specified distance.

To help you keep track of the position of the cursor it is recommended to set the readout of the coordinate field in the Status Bar to Relative.

To define the Coordinates setting

Do one of the following:

• Right click the  then choose Relative in the context menu.

• Click the Coordinates field in the status bar to cycle the Coordinate setting. The sequence is Off, Relative, Absolute.

• Type coords in the command bar, then press Enter.
  Type 2 and press Enter.

• Open the Settings dialog and expand the Display/Viewing settings sub-category under Drafting in the Drawing settings class.
  Set the Coordinates setting to Coordinates in polar form for point, distance and angle selection.