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Greg
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 216
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
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 Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:00 pm Post subject: Arc by chord tool |
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I'm finding some funny behaviour with a tool I seldom use, the WildTools Arc by Chord tool. After clicking on the first 2 points then pulling out the arc, when I hit tab and enter a value for "height", it is completely ignored and leaves the object with the properties it had when it froze.
I then tried the similar PC Arc, Chord tool, and hitting tab following the first 2 points and pulling outwards does nothing! It doesn't freeze and let you enter numbers in the edit box.
I don't use these tools very often, but these both seem like unusual behaviours.
I find that the problems with the WT tool seems to depend on size – if I do a large arc it appears to work, but a small one it doesn't... |
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pbacot
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Posts: 837
Location: Northern California
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 12:27 am Post subject: |
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Greg are you sure you are entering a number larger than the chord? Just checking. Mine works (WT 7). But the PC tool doesn't allow input.
I use the PowerCADD tool a lot. Neither tool provides the option that I usually want--how high the arc is from the chord. This is the natural tool for drawing arches, except full half-circle arches, and the general dimension of interest is the height from the spring line to the peak. You have to draw a construction line first to aim for.
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Peter B |
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Greg
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 216
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:03 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the reply Peter.
Maybe I'm not understanding the terminology, but shouldn't "height" be able to be any number, even less than the chord? Before you hit tab, the WT tool does seem to be calculating this height properly in the edit box. Seem that you should be able to enter it... |
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Derek
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 565
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:58 am Post subject: |
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Greg,
Tabbing during the WT8 Arc by Chord process works fine here. I can enter any number in the height value and it is drawn correctly, large or small. There must be something else going on...
Derek
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PowerCADD Preference Utility |
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patrickm
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 306
Location: santa barbara, ca
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:07 am Post subject: |
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This doesn't answer your question, but the way I use the tool is to draw a temporary line that I can snap the arc's height to. (I frequently use temporary objects that I delete after I've used them.)
Say I want an arc that is 24" wide x 6" tall, I'll draw a 24" line, use the parallel offset tool to duplicate it 6" away, draw the arc snapping to the ends/center of the lines, delete the lines. It took way longer to write this than it does to actually do it...
regards,
patrick |
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pbacot
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Posts: 837
Location: Northern California
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:23 am Post subject: |
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Greg,
I have WT 7. Maybe Alfred added the height box in 8. I only have circle length.
I do what patrick does but still that's four more operations.
Peter
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Peter B |
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Derek
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 565
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 3:45 pm Post subject: |
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That's correct Peter,
The height parameter box is not available in WT7 however, as Greg says he can see it I'm assuming he's using WT8. I don't know why it isn't working on his set-up though.
In both PC7 and PC8 the behaviour is as Greg explained, IE that you can see the height of the arc in the Edit box (shown as Length) but you cannot tab into it during the process. That's something for E.S. to consider.
Derek
_________________
Tool Palette Guide
PowerCADD Preference Utility |
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Greg
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 216
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:46 pm Post subject: |
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In playing around more with the WT Arc by Chord tool, it does seem to be effected by the size of the object.
I was using a 1:50 scale with millimetres. When I draw a line of less than about 100 mm long, then use the WT Arc by Chord tool, click the 2 ends of the line and pull up the height and tab in to the edit box, it will not register the value I enter. If my original line is say 2,000 mm long, it works fine. I was using the tool for some steel rail details which were only 50 mm diameter.
I'm surprised that the size of the object would influence the workings of the tool... |
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Derek
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 565
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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OK, I can duplicate the problem with those settings.
Alfred is usually watching this forum so I'm sure he'll put it on the list of things to look at.
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Tool Palette Guide
PowerCADD Preference Utility |
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Alfred Scott
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Posts: 632
Location: Richmond, VA
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| Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:24 am Post subject: |
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Okay, just fixed this. This tool depends on finding the intersection of two lines and I had a fixed-size height check in there.
Alfred |
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