| Commands | CAPCAD_REPORT_SUM_AREA (area) and CAPCAD_REPORT_SUM_LENGTH (length) |
| Shortcuts | none |
| Ribbon | CapCad tab › CAD Utilities panel › Tools split button › Entities Area Sum and Entities Linear Sum |
| Category | CAD Utils: Sum |
| Form | none: both ask for the selection on the command line |
| Hosts | AutoCAD and Civil 3D. On ARES Commander both names are registered but only answer with a "coming soon" notice; on BricsCAD, GstarCAD and ZWCAD they are not registered at all |
| Also opened by | none |
The sum the project needs, not the one the CAD computes. On a polyline with width, painted area is length × width — not the area the outline encloses. That is the arithmetic these two commands do.
- Painted area, not geometric area. A 100 m strip 0.15 m wide sums 15 m², whether it is open or closed.
- Each type counted the way it makes sense. Hatch by area, circle by area or by circumference, polyline by length — and whatever does not fit is counted apart instead of being summed wrongly.
- The total goes straight into the drawing. When the sum is done, the command offers a text to receive the value: the quantity-table caption updates without typing.
- It takes the selection you already made. Selected before calling? The command uses it.
- It warns when Z is off the plane. A line with its ends at different elevations is summed by its length in space, and the command says so — the classic error after importing survey data.
- A check in seconds. The fast way to verify one quantity figure without opening any report.
What it does
Two quick quantity checks. Each command asks for a selection, walks it summing according to each entity's type, writes the total on the command line and then offers to store that total inside a text of the drawing.
The selection can be made before calling the command.
CAPCAD_REPORT_SUM_AREA — sum of areas
It announces on the command line what it considers: Considering close or open polylines, hatch and circle.
| Entity type | What is summed |
|---|---|
| Hatch | the hatch area |
| Polyline (lightweight or 2D) | length × constant width |
| Circle | the circle's area |
| anything else | nothing; it goes into the discarded count |
The polyline rule is the one that matters: the command sums the painted area of the strip, not the area the outline encloses. A closed polyline with width therefore gives the area of the painted frame — not of the inside.
A polyline without a constant width contributes zero: either because the width really is zero, or because the widths vary from segment to segment (a tapered strip), in which case the CAD exposes no single width. It does not appear in the discarded count — it simply adds nothing.
At the end, if there were entities of other types: N entities do not fit...
CAPCAD_REPORT_SUM_LENGTH — sum of lengths
It announces Considering lines, polylines 2D, arc and circle.
| Entity type | What is summed |
|---|---|
| Line | the length |
| Arc | the arc length |
| Polyline (lightweight or 2D) | the total length |
| Circle | the circumference |
| anything else | nothing; it goes into the discarded count |
If any line in the selection has its two ends at different Z, a box warns: "Warning, some entities had Z values different than zero". The length summed is the length in 3D space, which is greater than the length in plan — the commonest reason for a quantity coming out too high after importing survey data. The check is made on lines only; arcs and polylines off the plane are not flagged.
At the end, if there were entities of other types: N entities discarded.
Workflow
- Select in the drawing what is to be summed (or run the command and select afterwards).
- Run
CAPCAD_REPORT_SUM_AREAorCAPCAD_REPORT_SUM_LENGTH. - Read the total on the command line:
Soma: N, always with two decimal places and your Windows decimal separator. - The command then asks for a text: Pick text to change its value... (area) or Select text to change value... (length).
- Clicking a text or an mtext replaces its content with the total.
- Pressing Esc changes nothing and the command line answers
Nothing was selected... - Clicking any other entity leaves it unchanged.
Step 4 is what makes these commands practical: the "Total area: 1,234.56 m²" caption of the quantity table is updated with one click, without typing the number.
Remembered between sessions
Nothing. Neither command writes preferences nor keeps the last total.
Notes
- The area of a closed polyline is not the area it encloses. It is the length of the outline multiplied by the constant width — the area of paint. For the geometric area of a closed region, use a hatch or the CAD's own AREA command.
- Variable widths count as zero. A polyline whose segments have different widths contributes zero to the area sum, silently. If the strip is tapered, measure it another way.
- The total is written with two fixed decimals. A very small value can come out as
0.00. - Writing into the text replaces the whole content. An mtext holding "Total area: " and the number loses the written part: only the number is left. Keep the label in a separate text.
Soma:is the one word the answer does not translate. The total line is printed with that Portuguese prefix in every language; the rest of the responses (Considering…,N entities discarded,Nothing was selected...) are English as shown above.- Only the line is checked for Z. An arc or a polyline at an elevation raises no warning, although they too sum their length in space.