# A Element

Represents different information depending on its parent element. The following table describes the A element based on its parent element.

Parent element | Description of A element | Default unit
--- | --- | ---
Scratch | A general-purpose element. | NUM
ArcTo | The distance from the arc's midpoint to the midpoint of its chord. | DL
EllipticalArcTo | The x-coordinate of the arc's control point— a point on the arc. The control point is best located about halfway between the beginning and ending vertices of the arc. Otherwise, the arc may grow to an extreme size in order to pass through the control point, with unpredictable results. | DL
PolylineTo | The polyline formula. | POLYLINE
NURBSTo | The second-to-last knot of the nonuniform rational B-spline (NURBS). | NUM
SplineStart | The second knot of the spline. | NUM
SplineKnot | One of the spline's knots (other than the last one or the first two). | NUM
InfiniteLine | An x-coordinate of a point on the infinite line; paired with the y-coordinate represented by the B element. | DL
Ellipse | An x-coordinate of a point on the ellipse; paired with the y-coordinate represented by the B element. | DL
ConnectionABCD | A general-purpose element. | NUM

## Syntax

    <A
        [Unit]
        [F]
        [Err]
        [V]>
    </A>

## Attributes

Unit

Optional string. Represents a unit of measure. Default values are described in the preceding table. For details about a particular unit of measure, see Units of measure.

F

Optional string. Represents the element's formula. This attribute can contain one of the following strings: "someFormula" if the formula exists locally, "No Formula" if the formula is locally deleted or blocked, or "Inh" if the formula is inherited.

If the attribute is not present, the element's formula is a simple constant, for example, <element>5</element>.

Err

Optional string. Indicates that the formula evaluates to an error. The value of Err is the current value (an error message string); the value of the element is the last valid value.

V

Optional string. Represents the null string condition for a string cell value. In some cases it is helpful to distinguish between an empty string cell null and a null string cell value. This attribute is used to distinguish between these forms of an empty value.

## Element properties

Property | Value
--- | ---
Name | A
Minimum Occurrences | 0
Maximum Occurrences | 1

## Element information

Parent elements

Scratch

ConnectionABCD

ArcTo

InfiniteLine

Ellipse

EllipticalArcTo

SplineStart

SplineKnot

PolylineTo

NURBSTo

Child elements

SolutionXML

## Remarks

The A element is relevant only when contained in a DocumentSheet, PageSheet, or Shape element. It is ignored when contained in a StyleSheet element.

The SolutionXML element should be present only in an A element contained in a Scratch element. If it is contained within other elements, it is ignored and a warning is written to the warning log file.

## See also

A cell (Geometry section)

Geom element

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