Is Draft Offset disabled or disfunctional in sketcher?

[oldestfox]

FC downloaded from SourceForge.net

OS: Windows XP
Platform: 32-bit
Version: 0.14.2192 (Git)
Branch: master
Hash: b63f9d7a2b440e1363508976ec105dac31d7f698
Python version: 2.6.2
Qt version: 4.5.2
Coin version: 3.1.0
SoQt version: 1.4.1
OCC version: 6.5.1

I'm working in the sketcher workbench. From what I have read in the man pages is that I can change workbenches while working on one object. I have drawn 2 lines in sketcher which I want to offset. When I change to Draft Workbench, all of the icons are greyed out. What do I have to do to be able to offset lines, circles, arcs etc.?

Part 007.FCStd

(43.67 KiB) Downloaded 41 times

Thank you.

[NormandC]

The Sketcher is not compatible with Draft objects. When in Sketch edit mode, you can only use the sketcher tools. I would say the Sketcher is the exception to the rule that you can switch workbenches at any time.

The Sketcher is still young so there are tools missing, like an offset tool. So you need to draw them by hand.

[oldestfox]

The Sketcher is still young so there are tools missing, like an offset tool. So you need to draw them by hand.

Thanks Norman. Ref: "TrimEx" Would your quote also hold true for the "Extend" half of Trimex? (in sketcher)

[NormandC]

Yes.

Draft tools and Sketcher have very different behaviors.

The Sketcher trim tool only trims. Traditionally in constraint-based sketching, extend and trim are separate functions so there may be a Sketcher Extend tool added in the future. I don't know the developers' idea on that. Mostly FreeCAD developers or groups of developers are responsible for specific workbenches and they may or not consult with each other.

You are of course free to ask for an enhancement request and this will be debated. Have you looked at the Mantis bug tracker? https://sourceforge.net/apps/mantisbt/f ... g_page.php

[oldestfox]

Thanks. And yes, I have even entered a "feature" in Mantis. (#1178) That was on the 13th of July and it still has a status of "new". What group of folks monitor and/or update the BT? Admins, developers, anyone, etc. ?

In my other CAD work, the tools I use most, are by far, trim, extend, offset and, of course, extrude and cut.

That's going to be a big "missing" if it remains that way. Therefore I will concentrate on the BT way. I hope it works.

If it sounds like it, I'm not hammering on anyone. I just want to expand my overall understanding of FC. Trying and asking questions is the only way I know to accomplish that. (the curse of a detail oriented brain)

btw: Is there a *public* list of the developer's responsibilities and/or areas of work?

Thanks again.

[oldestfox]

Mostly FreeCAD developers or groups of developers are responsible for specific workbenches and they may or not consult with each other.

So who has the final word on what gets into the next stable release?

[NormandC]

jriegel who's the project lead has the final word, but it's more like a consensus is reached at some point as to when to branch a final release.

[oldestfox]

Thanks Norman.

[NormandC]

No problem.

Forgot to answer that one:

What group of folks monitor and/or update the BT? Admins, developers, anyone, etc. ?

The forum admins are the 3 main developers. They monitor the BT along with other developers. But since they work on FreeCAD in their spare time, it may take time before a bug or feature request is processed. When it's a bug easy to fix it can be quick, but features will take more time. Some of the developers have not worked on the code over the past few months... Life gets in the way.

btw: Is there a *public* list of the developer's responsibilities and/or areas of work?

There's no ready list available. I know who works on what because I follow the developers forums closely. As for areas of work, there are the development pages on the wiki which are sometimes used to coordinate the work. You can find the access point to specific project pages on the main development roadmap page: http://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/index.ph ... nt_roadmap

There's also a roadmap page on Mantis to follow the current development status: https://sourceforge.net/apps/mantisbt/f ... p_page.php

[yorik]

A note about the sketcher and the draft workbench: The draft workbench was developed much earlier, at a time when there were much less functionality in freecad. The general concepts are also much older. The sketchup makes "finished objects", where all the functionality happens inside the object. The draft tools on the other hand treat the objects "from outside". So, even as what Normand says is true, you can sometimes get some things work between the two. For example the offset tool works with any object where it can recognize a closed wire. But it is unable to modify the inner geometry of a sketch (which could be a daunting task because of the possible constraints). But if you downgrade the sketch into a dumb wire, then offset works.

Just to say there are usually several ways to accomplish what you need, even if at the moment the right easy convenient tool is not there. You can make feature requests on mantis of course, but there is not enough manpower behind freecad to respond all requests quickly, so don't expect to see things done so soon, unless you are ready to try to do it yourself