How to check and set the system variables?

The value for system variables can be changed through different commands. For example, when using the DIST command to search the distance, the value for the read-only system value DISTANCE will automatically keep the last search result. Most people won’t remember those system variables themselves, instead, they’ll set these system variables in the Options and Drafting Settings dialog box.

Besides, users can check and set the system variables using the following methods:

1.When prompted, enter system variable name and press Enter/Space Bar to confirm. For read-only system variables, the system will display the variable values. For non-read-only system variables, the system will display the variable values as well as a new value to set the system value.

2. Use the SETVAR command to specify system variables. For read-only variables, the system displays the variable values. For non-read-only variables, the system will display the variable values as well as a new value to set the system value.

SETVAR command cannot only check and set certain variables but also check all the system variables using “?”. For variables that have the same name for commands such as AREA, we can only use SETVAR to check.

To start SETVAR:

Menu > Tools > Inquiry > Set Variable, as shown in the following picture,

How to search related setups or system variable when having a problem?

If we are having a problem with our CAD or our drawing, how to find the problem? Does this have anything to do with settings or system variables?

1.Go to related setup dialog box to look for the related options

The setup options for CAD such as Display are mainly in the Options, Draft Settings dialog box, we can go to these dialog boxes to see what we can do. For example, if the hatch doesn’t display, we can to the Options dialog box and find Display tab, as shown in the following picture,

As beginners, we can take some time to check all the options in the Options, Draft Settings, Layer and Unit dialog box just to get familiar with some commonly used options, and this helps a lot when it comes to fixing a real problem in a drawing.

2. Check the system variables through Help

The Help in CAD has listed all the system variables, we can check the system variable by index. The following is an example of how we check HATCH,

3. Using dynamic input and the prompts in the command line

Using dynamic input to enter the first one or two character(s), and we can see if the list includes what we are looking for, as shown in the following picture,