Draft workbench vs. Sketcher for drawings with dimensions?

[ciantic]

I've been drawing 2D faces with sketcher lately. I need to calculate areas of faces in drawings with specified dimensions. Sketcher is a really great tool for drawing the faces. (I managed to get the area calculation out of Python API, it's not perfect. I would like to get a marker showing the area on the screen, but it works for now.)

However, now I found this gem from the documentation:

The Sketcher is not intended for producing 2D blueprints. Once sketches are used to generate a solid feature, they are automatically hidden. Dimensions are only visible in Sketch edit mode.

If you only need to produce 2D views for print, and don't want to create 3D models, check out the Draft workbench
(Wiki link)

I checked out the Draft workbench, but it is missing all the useful constraint tools from the sketcher. Also the drawing experience is significantly worse than in sketcher. In Sketcher I can see the constraints appear nicely as I draw, nothing of sort is in Draft benchmark. Also adding a dimension constraint in Draft is not a nice operation to do when compared to sketcher.

In programming terms, it seems like Draft workbench and Sketcher workbench does not share the same code, I think the draft (if it's meant for 2D drawings) should 'inherit' from Sketcher and not reimplement everything.

Suggestion: Maybe a new workbench "Draft sketcher" that inherits from sketcher? Which is basically just sketcher with meaning to show the dimensions when going out from editing mode? I don't think reimplementing the sketcher is necessary for 2D.

Thanks.

[NormandC]

Hello ciantic,

I moved your topic from "Developers corner" to "Open discussion" because there is no technical programming talk in your post, it is solely opinion.

I think the draft (if it's meant for 2D drawings) should 'inherit' from Sketcher and not reimplement everything.

The Draft workbench predates the Sketcher by at least 3 years.

They are both DIFFERENT METHODS of creating 2D geometry and each have their purpose.

It is well explained in the Sketcher Workbench wiki page.

[DeepSOIC]

You can put Draft's dimensions onto a sketch. You can put Draft Dimension tool button onto a custom toolbar to avoid switching workbenches (but you'll have to close the sketch to add a dimension).