This command calculates the area of a closed figure that is defined internally by user-entered point numbers contained within the current job, or by a polyline picked from the screen.



You may specify individual point numbers or type in a range of point numbers to define the area. Individual point numbers can be entered as 142,143,148,149 or each number followed by Enter. This will calculate the area from point 142 to 143 to 148 to 149 back to 142. The area is reported at the bottom of the map screen.  A temporary polyline is also drawn between the points. Results are reported in square feet and acres when units are set to feet, and square meters when units are set to metric.



If the polyline is used to solve the area, the program will bring up the MAP screen after you pick a polyline. When you are certain that you have selected the desired polyline, press OK, and the graphic screen presents the area.  Since the point-defined area is a straight point inverse, the advantage of the pick polyline approach is that the polyline may contain arcs.



At the end of each area calculation, you are asked if you would like to “Write result to raw file?”  This will write a line in the raw file as "Calculate area of polyline 142,143,148,149: Area = 1813.6316SF, 0.0416 acres." For point-defined figures in metric, the raw file record would read "Calculate area of polyline 142,143,148,149: Area = 168.4918 SM".