The Chain dimension tool makes it easier to rapidly measure several successive distances and display a running total of the distance.

To use the Chain dimension tool, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Tools component tab and select the Chain dimension tool:
   
   
   
2. Move the cursor to the 2D drawing view. In the quick properties box in the top left corner of the view, the Associative checkbox is activated and the object you snap the dimension to is highlighted in blue. Click once to set the starting point for the first section of the chain dimension:
   
   
   
3. Move the cursor and click to set the ending point for the first section of the chain dimension:
   
   
   
4. Move the cursor vertically to determine the height/placement of the dimension line:
   
   
   
5. Continue to click until you have all the sections that you want to measure.
   
   
6. Move the cursor off the drawing area or press the Esc key to release the chain dimension tool.
   
   
7. The chain dimension is now complete:
   

Editing a chain dimension

When a dimension is selected in the drawing, the yellow stretch nodes can be used to adjust the dimension or the placement of the text.

1. Click and drag to adjust the sections of the chain dimension. The small, blue dots at the end of the dimension legs indicate that the dimension is associative.
2. Click and drag to place the text above, below, or on the dimension line.
3. Click and drag to adjust the height of the dimension.

Chain dimension properties

For each dimension you can change its properties from the property box. Each dimension type has different sets of properties. To change them, select the dimension in 2D or 3D to bring up the quick properties box. This one is for a chain dimension:

• Text display: Lets you decide how the dimension and/or text should be displayed.
• Line length: Increase or decrease the line height of the dimension line.
• Text rotated: Rotate the text showing the segment dimensions by 90 degrees.
• Auto-rotate Dimension: Keep this checkbox selected to make an associative dimension auto-rotate along with the object it is attached to, for accuracy and readability.
• Text Style: Define the appearance of the text or customize by expanding Edit.
• Dimension Style: Define the appearance  of your dimension or customize by expanding Edit.
• Fill background: Check this box to make the background a solid color.
  • Background color: Click this box to change the color of the fill.
• Line Style: Define the appearance of your line or customize by expanding Edit.
• Display dimensions: Select which dimension texts to show in your chain dimension:
  
  • All = each segment's individual dimension (horizontally) and the running total of all segments (vertically):
    
    
  • Main = only each segment's individual dimension:
    
    
    
  • Side = only the running total:
    
    
    
  • None = no dimension text shown at all:
    

General behavior of associative chain dimensions

If your chain dimension is an associative dimension, do note that:

• During placement, you can decide for each dimension leg whether or not it should be associative by checking/unchecking the option in the quick properties box.