Reference Section > Shape Library > Rectangular Shapes

The Rectangle shape is a plain rectangular part with square corners, set by its width and height. Set Width and Height equal to make a square. Use it for rectangular blanks, plates and pads, or as the starting outline for a part you will add holes to.

It appears in the shapes library under Basic Shapes and Rectangular Shapes.

Insert point and direction

The insert point is the bottom left corner, which is the shape's base point (Base X and Base Y in the Transform group). With positive Width and Height the rectangle is built up and to the right of it: Width runs along +X and Height along +Y.

The outline is one closed polyline of four straight lines. It starts at the bottom left corner and runs up the left side, across the top, down the right side and back along the bottom, which is clockwise as drawn.

The Height dimension is drawn against the left side and the Width dimension against the bottom side.

Properties

Property	Description	Default
Height	The size of the rectangle along Y, from the bottom side to the top side (mm or inch). A positive value builds the top side above the insert point. The shape sets no minimum or maximum; see Limits.	120 mm (5 in)
Width	The size of the rectangle along X, from the left side to the right side (mm or inch). A positive value builds the right side to the right of the insert point. The shape sets no minimum or maximum; see Limits.	70 mm (3 in)

The metric defaults are 70 mm wide and 120 mm high. The inch defaults are 3 in wide and 5 in high, and are used when the default units are inches.

Limits

Width and Height have no minimum or maximum in the shape code, and the property page does not check them. A negative Width builds the rectangle to the left of the insert point, and a negative Height builds it below the insert point. Use Rotation or Mirroring X in the Transform group to turn or flip the finished rectangle.

A value of 0 is accepted. With Width 0 the outline is a single line along the left side; with Height 0 it is a single line along the bottom. Neither is a usable part.

The shape's code has no range check of its own. If building the shape raises an error, the property page shows a red bar reading "Warning: Cannot build shape from these parameters".

Every 2D shape also has the Transform properties (Base X, Base Y, Rotation, Scale, Mirroring X) and the Polar Array properties, listed after the shape's own properties.