Toolbar icons inexplicably greyed out

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fcv
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 15, 2016 10:59 pm

Toolbar icons inexplicably greyed out

Post by fcv »

I completed the tutorial at
http://freecadweb.org/wiki/index.php?ti ... r_tutorial

Now I'm trying
http://freecadweb.org/wiki/index.php?ti ... n_tutorial

I did the first #1 step (Switch to the PartDesign Workbench) and first #2 step (Select the sketch that was created in the Sketcher tutorial), so I have that sketch open and on screen.

I'm stuck at the first #3 step (Select Pad). I can't select Pad, because it's greyed out (as are all the other icons in that section of the tool bar too). I have no idea why.

Help?

OS: Ubuntu Xenial Xerus (development branch)
Word size of OS: 32-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 32-bit
Version: 0.16.6453 (Git)
Build type: None
Branch: master
Hash: a3209e1aee00730d13359eeed595cb93b6b127f9
Python version: 2.7.11
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 6.8.0.oce-0.17
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DeepSOIC
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Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:45 am
Location: used to be Saint-Petersburg, Russia

Re: Toolbar icons inexplicably greyed out

Post by DeepSOIC »

Hi!
Pad is greyed out, because you are still editing the sketch. This is typical in FreeCAD: if you see most buttons are inactive, it is likely you haven't dismissed a dialog on task panel. Locate it (it's usually on the left part of screen, combined with model tree and property editor), and click Close button.
fcv
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun May 15, 2016 10:59 pm

Re: Toolbar icons inexplicably greyed out

Post by fcv »

That was it. Thank you!

This problem stumped not just me, but also other people I asked, including people who had experience with other CAD programs. Maybe it would be a good idea for popup tooltips for greyed-out buttons to show why they're greyed out, and what to do to un-grey them.
degarb
Posts: 58
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 7:49 pm

Re: Toolbar icons inexplicably greyed out

Post by degarb »

Same here , however there are no dialogs open.

Image

https://ibb.co/BqB0jCY
chrisb
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Posts: 53924
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:14 am

Re: Toolbar icons inexplicably greyed out

Post by chrisb »

degarb wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 12:48 am Same here , however there are no dialogs open.
You are not editing a sketch, there is nothing the icon's functions can be applied to. Please work through the PartDesign Tutorials to learn about the most basic handling of FreeCAD.
A Sketcher Lecture with in-depth information is available in English, auf Deutsch, en français, en español.
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