Places formatted, paragraph text in a bounding box that limits the extent of the text; uses the command bar to enter and format the text.
Note: The text does not appear in the drawing until you end the command (by pressing Enter at the 'Mtext' prompt.
Accessing the Command
command bar: -mtext
: -mtext
Prompts you in the command bar:
Multiline Text: First corner for block of text: (Pick the first point for the bounding box, or else enter x,y coordinates)
Select Opposite corner for block of text or [Justification/Rotation angle/text Style/text Height/Direction/Width]: (Pick another corner for the bounding box, or enter an option)
Mtext: (Enter text)
Mtext: (Enter more text, or press Enter to exit the command)
Command Options
Option |
Description |
|
First corner for block of text |
Specifies one corner of the rectangle that bounds the text block. |
|
Opposite corner for block of text |
Specifies the other corner. |
|
Justification |
Specifies the justification (horizontal alignment) of the text inside the bounding box; prompts you: Specify text block justification [Top-Left/Top-Center/Top-Right/MiddLe-left/Middle-Center/Middle-Right/Bottom-Left/Bottom-Center/Bottom-Right] <Top Left> - enter a justification mode. |
|
Rotation |
Specifies the rotation angle of the text block; prompts you: Rotation angle for block of text <0> - enter an angle. Positive angles rotate the text block counter-clockwise. |
|
Style |
Specifies the text style to use for the mtext; prompts you: Text style to use or [? to list] <Standard> - enter the name of a text style. Enter ? for a list of styles defined in the current drawing. See Style command. |
|
Height |
Specifies the height of the text; prompts you: Height of text <0.2000> - enter a number. This option is unavailable when the style specifies the text height. |
|
Direction |
Specifies the direction in which the bounding box is expanded; prompts you: Specify drawing direction [Left-to-right/Top-to-bottom/by-Style] <Left-to-Right> - enter an option:
|
|
Width |
Specifies the width of the bounding box; prompts you: Width of text box - enter a value. When set to 0, the box has "infinite" width. |
|
Mtext |
Specifies the text; prompts you: Mtext - specifies the text to be placed in the drawing. This prompt repeats until you press Enter to end the command. |
Grips Editing
Mtext bounding boxes can be edited directly through grips:
-
Select the mtext. Notice that it has two grips.
-
Drag the grips to perform the following actions:
- Drag one grip to move the mtext.
- Drag the other grip to stretch the width of the bounding box (make it wider or narrower; the text reflows automatically to accommodate the change in width).
Procedures
- To create single line text
- To create multiline text
- Including special text characters and symbols
- To add a background mask
- General procedure to create fields
- Defining text system variables
Related Commands
Text - places single-lines of text in drawings.
-Text - places text and evaluates LISP expressions.
MText - places paragraph text.
AttDef - defines attribute text.
DdEdit - edits text.
Style - creates and modifies text styles through the Drawing Explorer.
-Style - creates and modifies text styles through the command bar.
Change - changes the position of text.
QText - toggles between text and rectangular representations.
TxtExp - explodes text into polylines.
Spell - checks the spelling of text in drawings.
Find - finds and replaces text.
Properties - modifies the properties of text.
