mid-command tracking

Does anyone know how mid-command tracking works in DraftSight?  I used to use it in that other software as a way to avoid drawing and then erasing construction entities.  The way it worked there was: during the command, you type "TRA" and then you can click entity snaps, move in orthogonal directions for a typed-in dimension or series of dimensions, and get to a point that doesn't actually exist in the drawing yet.  Handy in a million ways.

Draftsight does seem to have a version of tracking: it activates something when you type "TRA" in-command.  But I can't figure out how it's parsing the inputs.  Any tips?

Thanks!