MarkLenghts and MarkDivisions are very helpful commands, very similar in concept, but with fundamental differences:

-          The MarkDivisions command places evenly spaced points or Blocks along the length or perimeter of an entity.

The size of the segments is determined by the length to divide and the number of construction points to insert.

-          The MarkLengths command places points or Blocks at measured intervals on an entity.

In contrast to the MarkDivisions command, entities that are not an exact multiple of the length of the segment will have a remainder.

Both command allow you to "divide" Lines, PolyLines, Circles, Arcs, or other entities into segments of a certain length by inserting construction points or Blocks. The entity is not cut or physically divided into different pieces but remains one entity.

If you’re still confused about the difference between them, here’s an example:

As you can see, MarkDivisions divides the entity selected in equal parts, being the value you provide, the number of parts you want the entity to be divided in. On the MarkLengths case, the number you provide corresponds to the distance between divisions, what usually results in one of the segments/divisions being smaller/larger at the end ( in the example above, 5 segments are 5units apart from each other, but the distance from the last point to the end of the entity/line is 3 units.

Why and how to use it

The main gain of using these commands is that saves you time and work, as for example

-          you won’t have to draw multiple construction lines, and / or perform multiple Copy or Offsets, if you need to create multiple divisions, based on a given length /distance.

-          The fact that you can use the commands in multiple types of entities is an added bonus.

-          Since the integrity of the entity is honoured (properties are not changed in any way, means that you can use “consolidated entities/designs”, saving you from drawing construction lines

-          As you can use Points, but also Blocks with both commands, they’re both good tools to distribute information on a given/chosen path.

Example

Here is an example of how you can use the MarkDivisions command. I will also use a Block called “arrowBlock”, that I hope will suggest other applications for this command in your workflow.

We will start with a Polyline

And this is the Block called “arrowBlock”, that was created earlier

So let’s say for example, that the Polyline marks an evacuation path on a building in a construction project, and the Block is meant to show the direction of the path. (I will use aprox measures).

-          In your command line, Type MARKDIVISIONS, and hit Enter

-          The command line will return

Specify entity»

Default: 2

Options: Block or

Specify number of segments»

-          Type B (for block), and hit Enter

-          You will then be prompted to

Specify block name»

-          I’ll use “arrowBlock”, as it’s the name of my Block.( You’ll need to know the name of the Block you are going to use).

-          The next prompt, is

Confirm: Align block with entity?

Specify Yes or No»

As it hints, choosing Yes will align the Block with the Target entity, and No, will retain the Block native orientation. I will choose Yes (Align)

-          Next, you need to provide the number of segments:

Specify number of segments» 20 (As I know that the Length of the Polyline is 300 units, and the Length of the Arrow (Block) is 7.5 Units, to give a “proportionate” appearance, I’ll type 20 for number of segments). Hit Enter.

-          So in the end, I obtain something like this:

And deleting the Polyline I used as construction line,

Note: When using Blocks remember that for the distances/divisions to be used, you need to consider the Block Insertion Point, as it will be the reference.

Tips

- The Block (if used) must be currently defined in the drawing. If you answer Yes to the Align Block? prompt, the Block will be rotated round its insertion point so that it is drawn tangent to the object being divided.

- The Points generated by the commands, might have a different appearance from the ones shown above. In some configurations might seem that the command has failed, as apparently the points were not created. In these cases, If you use a cross selection window with your mouse over the area where the points should be, you’ll see that they will be selected /highlighted. To make them more “visible” at first glance, you might want to change their appearance. You can use the Command Variable POINTFORMAT

-          Type POINTFORMAT in your command line, and hit Enter

or

-          In the DraftSight Menu, Go to Tools> Options.

-          Click the Drawing Settings Tab, and Expand the Points node.

-          Select the Type of Point (appearance), and the size of the point (% relative to display)

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