Most important fundamental limitations of freecad

[Renato]

At this point, working with Freecad, i have found the following most important limitations (that are basically functions to well work)
1) possibility of relative cartesian axes.
(possibility, for example, of a polar array around an axis that is not one of the primary axes)
2) velocity of work with different complex objects
3) possibility of equations tool (that allows you to set relations between the geometric dimensions).

Freecad is a very good thing, but these possibilities are really basic for a professional work

post edit - point 1) - see this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTmglzlz2vQ

I must have the possibility of setting the axis of rotation directly on the screen, and i must have the possibility to set the relative coordinates.
This is very important. Only in this way i can do a lot of quick operations on the drawing
(Saying professional work, i mean that Freecad should work for that is been done)

[triplus]

but these possibilities are really basic for a professional work

It's important to state this is your opinion and this is what you need to be able to use FreeCAD for professional work. I would imagine not all FreeCAD users need this to use FreeCAD for professional work. This actually was already provided in FreeCAD but as things evolve it will be re-introduced again over time as more mature version.

[Renato]

Saying professional work, i mean that Freecad should work for that is been done. Is not possible to do rotation of an object only on principal axes. And if i have to have parameters it should be possible give constraints related at other dimensions.
This is not a personal preference, it is a natural consequence of the formulation of the program.
But i repeat that freecad is a very good thing, and i understand the big work that is been done.

[triplus]

Actually yes i should make it more clear what i was referring to:

possibility of equations tool

About other two points i am sure other users will explain more in depth where we are ATM and what will new Assembly WB bring but as for:

1.)

Polar array around an axis that is not one of the primary axes.

You can already do that. Axis -> Select reference.

Is not possible to do rotation of an object only on principal axes.

http://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/index.ph ... =Placement

2.)

velocity of work with different complex objects

You can hit performance limit that much is true but then again you can do much before you get there. Share .fcstd file and we will see if different approach could be used to get to the same goal if you are hitting current FreeCAD performance limit.

[Renato]

1) possibility of relative cartesian axes.
(possibility, for example, of a polar array around an axis that is not one of the primary axes)

I cant do the array of the solid which intersects the cone around the yellow axis (see the image). I would like to click on the yellow axis to set the center of the rotation

2) velocity of work with different complex objects

You make a complex work and you test

3) possibility of equations tool (that allows you to set relations between the geometric dimensions).

For example make a radius of a circle equal at the distance between its center and the border of a plate

[triplus]

About point 2 it doesn't work like that. You made the claim therefore it's up to you to provide .fcstd file for others to observe and give opinion. Sure i could create something in FreeCAD that would max out FreeCAD performance vise but i could do that if it FreeCAD would be 10 times faster or 10 times slower. No point in me doing something i already know i can achieve easily.

As for the rest it would help if you would provide .fcstd file instead of the image and describe what you are trying to achieve. Looking at the image i see 2 parts and you trying to create axial constraint between them. That will be the job for future planed Assembly WB or you could use 3rd party Assembly WB at this moment to do that:

https://github.com/hamish2014/FreeCAD_assembly2

The way i see it you are after creating single part in the first place. If that is correct you should be able to achieve what you are after with mentioned Axis -> Select reference option or defaults provided in Polar Pattern dialogue from Part Design. Therefore solution would be to use Polar Pattern tool from Part Design instead of Draft Array tool from Draft for this task in the first place.

For example make a radius of a circle equal at the distance between its center and the border of a plate

Yes this was already possible in FreeCAD but as things evolve it was removed for FreeCAD 0.15 release and it will be re-introduced again in more mature version at some time in the future.

http://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/index.ph ... Controller

[triplus]

will be re-introduced again in more mature version at some time in the future

Well i will correct myself and say more/less mature version is not the way this should be described. I used Python based PropertyController and it did the job just fine. New Spreadsheet WB will be coded in C++ and therefore is not compatible with the old Spreadsheet WB and that is the main reason you can not use PropertyController ATM.

But it is true Eivind is putting a lot of effort and thought into C++ version of Spreadsheet WB and by observing this is where my conclusion of expected maturity came to be!

[Renato]

"Placement is how FreeCAD specifies the location and attitude (orientation) of an object in space. Placement can be specified in multiple forms and manipulated via scripting, the Properties pane or the Placement dialog (Edit menu)." ecc...

This way is not appropriate for doing a quick drawing. You can see other program.

I must have the possibility of setting the axis o rotation directly on the screen, and i must have the possibility to set the relative coordinates

See this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTmglzlz2vQ

This is very important. Only in this way i can do a lot of quick operations on the drawing

[triplus]

This way is not appropriate for doing a quick drawing.

There are few options Placement is only one of them. Sometimes you are really after Alignment for example.

I must have the possibility of setting the axis o rotation directly on the screen

If you are after quick rotation/translation directly on the screen right click on feature in Tree View and select Transform in context menu. About changing feature coordinate system just to rotate it, that is not needed. Use set of Draft modification tools instead. For example rotating a Cube will let you specify rotation center before the actual rotation. For example one of the Cube edges. No need to move coordinate system of the Cube to that point (edge) before rotating it!

and i must have the possibility to set the relative coordinates

You can already switch to relative coordinates in Draft workbench by pressing space key when for example inserting DraftWire.

P.S. The only "limitation" i see from your example is Draft Polar Array feature doesn't have "reference" center point. User could easily move or rotate it by using set of Draft modification tools if there would be one. ATM it makes sense to crate draft polar array with center at origin and to select origin as start point before for example move or rotate operation. Or if we want to align the created draft polar array with some other part like the example on the image you provided.

[Renato]

At the beginning i want say: Thanks.

But i already knew these possibilities that you say, and these are not sufficient for a good work.

For example. In one rotation, the selection of the center is not sufficient to define the 3d rotation. The position of the 3d relative coordinates defines all the variables.
In draft array i can't even define the center (by clicK on the screen)!