The Rectangle Command

Toolbar	Draw
Pull-down	DrawRectangle
Keyboard	RECTANGLE	short-cuts	REC, RECTANG

The Rectangle command is used to draw a rectangle whose sides are vertical and horizontal. The position and size of the rectangle are defined by picking two diagonal corners. The rectangle isn't really an AutoCAD object at all. It is, in fact, just a closed polyline which is automatically drawn for you.

Command Sequence

Command: RECTANG

Specify first corner point or [Chamfer/Elevation/Fillet/Thickness/Width]: (pick P1)
Specify other corner point or [Dimensions]: (pick P2)

The Rectangle command also has a number of options. Width works in the same way as for the Polyline command. The Chamfer and Fillet options have the same effect as the Chamfer and Fillet commands, see the Modifying Objects tutorial for details. Elevation and Thickness are 3D options.

Notice that, instead of picking a second point to draw the rectangle, you have the option of entering dimensions. Say you wanted to draw a rectangle 20 drawing units long and 10 drawing units wide. The command sequence would look like this:

Command Sequence

Command: RECTANG
Specify first corner point or [Chamfer/Elevation/Fillet/Thickness/Width]: (pick a point)
Specify other corner point or [Dimensions]: D
Specify length for rectangles <0.0000>: 20
Specify width for rectangles <0.0000>: 10
Specify other corner point or [Dimensions]: (pick a point to fix the orientation)

This method provides a good alternative to using relative cartesian co-ordinates for determining length and width. See the Using Co-ordinates tutorial for more details.