This microcomputer-aided drafting system (MADS) is easily learned and used. Most of the communication with the user is done through menus and ample opportunity is provided for recovery from mistakes. It provides the user with a facility for generating high quality electronic schematics which can be easily changed or updated and scaled to fit various sizes of paper. A user who is familiar with electronic drafting can produce a usable drawing within an hour or two of his first introduction to the system. The general principle of operation for this system is to enter a schematic into the system with the keyboard and the graphic controls while the drawing is displayed on a video screen at various scale factors.