Ruler (Screen Elements)

Usually each drawing window has a ruler, which runs along the left and upper edge of the window. It fulfils several purposes. Above all, it serves the purpose of orientation when working with coordinates. You can read from the ruler the current position of the origin and the coordinates of the crosshairs.

When working with more than one drawing window, the ruler also shows which window is "active". The ruler of the active window is displayed normally, but the ruler of an inactive window is shown, like unavailable buttons, in a different color. In the upper left corner of each window at the rulers' intersection, the number of the window is shown. A drawing window can be activated by clicking on its ruler with the left mouse button. Clicking with the right mouse button calls the context menu (see Drawing Window).

At the lower end of the left ruler, some buttons for direct element selection (layers, pens, coordinate systems, hatchings, and pages) are displayed unless they were deactivated. Clicking them with the left mouse button displays the corresponding selection menu. The same elements may also be displayed at another location within the drawing area: right to the corresponding buttons in the Panel.

If ruler display is turned off using Options > Windows, a small field in the upper left corner of the window remains active. This field shows which window is active. Clicking on this field with the left or right mouse button has the same effect as clicking on the ruler. The window number is shown in this field.