After sketching the geometry of a problem, constrain it with measurements, coordinates and implicit equations in real or symbolic terms. The drawing responds automatically to the assigned input constraints. Mechanical Expressions will automatically add any constraints you leave out.
Since annotations may look identical to constraints, use the icon, 
, to Distinguish Constraints / Annotations. The icon is a toggle; to turn off the marks, click it again.
Initially, all the constraints in the toolbox are inactive. You must first select the parts for your drawing that will be constrained. Constraint choices are listed below along with the drawing elements that must be preselected. Be careful when selecting geometry objects, if extra things are selected that are not related to the constraint (like other constraints) the constraints will remain inactive. This can happen by mistake, especially when using the selection box tool.
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Constraint |
Preselected Objects |
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Two of any combination of points, lines, line segments, vectors, or polygon sides. |
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A circle |
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Two of any lines, segments, vectors, or polygon sides. |
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Two of any lines, segments, vectors, or polygon sides. |
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A line, segment, vector, or polygon side. |
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A line, segment, vector, or polygon side. |
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A point |
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A vector |
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A circle or locus and a line, segment, vector, or polygon side. |
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A point and a line, segment, vector, polygon side, circle or locus. |
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Two or three of any line segment, vector, or polygon side. |
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Two or three of any line segment, vector, or polygon side. |
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A circle, line, segment, vector, or polygon side. |
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A point and a line, segment, vector, polygon side, or locus |
Occasionally you may try to add too many constraints to the geometry, causing a conflict. The system will help you correct this problem in the Resolve Constraint Conflict dialog.