2012

specbyte A shape specification byte. Each specification byte is a code that
defines either a vector length and direction or one of a number of special
codes. A specification byte can be expressed in the shape definition file as
either a decimal or hexadecimal value. This section uses both decimal and
hexadecimal specification byte values for its examples (as do many of the
shape definition files). If the first character of a specification byte is a 0 (zero),
the two characters that follow are interpreted as hexadecimal values.
Vector Length and Direction Code
A simple shape specification byte contains vector length and direction encoded
into one specification byte.
A simple shape specification byte contains vector length and direction encoded
into one specification byte (one specbyte field). Each vector length and direction
code is a string of three characters. The first character must be a 0, which
indicates to AutoCAD for Mac that the next two characters are interpreted as
hexadecimal values. The second character specifies the length of the vector
in units. Valid hexadecimal values range from 1 (one unit long) through F (15
units long). The third character specifies the direction of the vector. The
following figure illustrates the direction codes.
Vector direction codes
All the vectors in the preceding figure were drawn with the same length
specification. Diagonal vectors stretch to match the X or Y displacement of
108 | Chapter 8 Shapes and Shape Fonts