Distance

The distance command measures the straight-line (Euclidean) distance between two clicked points and prints the result in the terminal to 4 decimal places. It is one of two measurement commands — Angle measures the angular opening at a vertex instead.

Anatomy of a distance measurement

  ● first point
   \
    \  preview line (live)
     \
      ● second point    →  terminal: "Distance: 12.3456"

• First point — origin of the measurement.
• Second point — endpoint; placing it prints the result immediately.
• Result — displayed in the terminal, not placed on the canvas.

Measuring a distance

1. Type distance in the terminal or click the Distance toolbar button.
2. Click the first point, or type X,Y and press Enter for an exact coordinate.
3. Click the second point — the measured distance appears in the terminal. Coordinate entry works here too.
4. Click again (optional) to start a new measurement. The command stays active.

Press Escape at any time to reset to step 2.

Chaining measurements

After the result is shown, clicking immediately starts the next measurement — the clicked point becomes the new first point. This lets you measure a sequence of distances without reactivating the command.

Distance vs Angle

	Distance	Angle
What it measures	Straight-line length	Interior angle at a vertex
Number of clicks	2	3
Result format	12.3456 (units)	45.0000°
Canvas preview	Line from first point to cursor	Two lines from vertex to cursor
Best for	Length of a gap or segment	Opening angle between two features

Coordinate entry

Instead of clicking, type an exact position for either point:

1. Type the X value.
2. Press , — the terminal shows [X], [Y{cursor}].
3. Type the Y value.
4. Press Enter to confirm.

Keyboard reference

Key	Action
0–9, ., -	Start X coordinate entry
,	Lock X and move to Y entry
Backspace	Delete last typed character
Enter	Confirm typed coordinate
Escape	Cancel and reset to step 2

Notes

• Results are shown in the terminal only — nothing is added to the drawing.
• The result is expressed in the same units as the drawing coordinates (no unit conversion).
• Precision is always 4 decimal places.