USER COORDINATE SYSTEM (UCS) In AutoCAD, there are two coordinate systems: A fixed system called the World

Coordinate System (WCS), and a movable system called the User Coordinate System (UCS). In the WCS, the X axis is horizontal, the Y axis is vertical, and the Z axis is perpendicular to the XY plane. The origin is where the X and Y axes intersect (0, 0) in the lower-left corner of the drawing. You define a UCS in terms of the WCS. Virtually all coordinate entry uses the current UCS. Moving the UCS can make it easier to work on particular sections of your drawing. Rotating the UCS helps you specify points in three-dimensional or rotated views. Snap, Grid, and Ortho modes all rotate in line with the new UCS. You can relocate the user coordinate system using any of these methods:

Move the UCS by defining a new origin. Align the UCS with an existing object or with the current viewing direction. Rotate the current UCS around any of its axes. Restore a saved UCS.

Once you have defined a UCS, you can name it and then restore it when you need to use it again. If you no longer need a named UCS, you can delete it. Also, you can restore the UCS to be coincident with the WCS. Ways to access UCS command:

UCS DETAILS DIALOG BOX Displays information about the origin and axes of the selected UCS. By default, the origin and the values for the X, Y, and Z axes are calculated relative to the world coordinate system. Name: Displays the name of the current named UCS. By default, this is set to World. Origin: Displays the UCS origin relative to the UCS selected in Relative To. X Axis: Displays the values for the X axis relative to the UCS selected in Relative To.

Y Axis: Displays the values for the Y axis relative to the UCS selected in Relative To. Z Axis: Displays the values for the Z axis relative to the UCS selected in Relative To. Relative To: Sets a base coordinate system for calculating the values for Origin, X Axis, Y Axis, and Z Axis. This option resets the UCSBASE system variable. DISPLAY OF THE USER COORDINATE SYSTEM ICON To indicate the location and orientation of the UCS, AutoCAD displays the UCS icon either at the UCS origin point or in the lower-left corner of the current viewport. You can choose one of three styles of icon to represent the UCS.

Use the UCSICON command to choose between displaying the 2D or the 3D UCS icon. Use SHADEMODE to display the shaded UCS icon. To indicate the origin and orientation of the UCS, you can display the UCS icon at the UCS origin point using the UCSICON command. If the icon is displayed at the origin of the current UCS, a cross (+) appears in the icon. If the icon is displayed in the lower-left corner of the viewport, no cross appears in the icon. If you have multiple viewports, each viewport displays its own UCS icon. AutoCAD displays the UCS icon in various ways to help you visualize the orientation of the drawing plane. The following figure shows some of the possible icon displays.

You can use the UCSICON command to switch between the 2D UCS icon and the 3D UCS icon. You can also use the command to change the size, color, arrowhead type, and icon line width of the 3D UCS icon. The UCS broken pencil icon replaces the 2D UCS icon when the viewing direction is in a plane parallel to the UCS XY plane. The broken pencil icon indicates that the edge of the XY plane is almost perpendicular to your viewing direction. This icon warns you not to use your pointing device to specify coordinates.

When you use the pointing device to locate a point, it's normally placed on the XY plane. If the UCS is rotated so that the Z axis lies in a plane parallel to the viewing planethat is, if the XY plane is edge-on to the viewerit may be difficult to visualize where the point will be located. In this case, the point will be located on a plane parallel to your viewing plane that also contains the UCS origin point. For example, if the viewing direction is along the X axis, coordinates specified with a pointing device will be located on the YZ plane, which contains the UCS origin point. Use the 3D UCS icon to help you visualize which plane these coordinates will be projected on; the 3D UCS icon does not use a broken pencil icon.