Is there a way to relocate a diameter’s dimension line to somewhere outside the circle that it measures?

[Shalmeneser]

Solution :
* You create a sketch with a line of the dimension you want to show (a future reference, but visible)
* You show the sketch (space bar)
* You create a Draft Dimension about a line of the sketch
* You un-show the sketch (space bar)

[heda]

one can do just fine without helplines.

was already using Draft-Snaps while trying to add a linear dimension to the outer circle, but because of the odd number of segments representing the circle, I wasn’t able to choose two opposite points that would give me the exact dimension of the circle’s diameter but in a linear dimension format.

not sure how you come to the above conclusion.
geometry description for the "math model" of the shape is simply not the same as what is rendered on the screen (with tessellation).
for stl or other mesh formats, it is generally the same though (give or take some settings here and there).

with exaggerated settings on tessellation, with a circle created with sketch/pad in pd wb.

tess_vs_snap.png (65.2 KiB) Viewed 536 times

[wisecad]

Hello!

By decreasing that number, I was able to get an even number of segments (48 to be exact), which allowed me to choose two opposite points to add a linear dimension to show the circle’s diameter.

It is just a visual effect. The edges and vertexes are not clickable or an object. You just hit it randomly precise enough.

Greetings
user1234

Hi User 1234,
You are absolutely right. Thank you for pointing that out.
I zoomed in to see the details of the dimension lines I have added, at what I thought were "contact points" and realized they were not accurate.
Sorry if I misled anyone. This is why sometimes is worthwhile to read through the entire thread.
Ultimately, I modified the dimension lines to use expressions referring to the exact values needed to get the accuracy I want.

[wisecad]

Solution :
* You create a sketch with a line of the dimension you want to show (a future reference, but visible)
* You show the sketch (space bar)
* You create a Draft Dimension about a line of the sketch
* You un-show the sketch (space bar)

Hello Shalmeneser,
Thank you for sharing your step-by-step solution. Truly appreciate it.
Certainly one of the simplest and most robust one yet.

[wisecad]

one can do just fine without helplines.

was already using Draft-Snaps while trying to add a linear dimension to the outer circle, but because of the odd number of segments representing the circle, I wasn’t able to choose two opposite points that would give me the exact dimension of the circle’s diameter but in a linear dimension format.

not sure how you come to the above conclusion.
geometry description for the "math model" of the shape is simply not the same as what is rendered on the screen (with tessellation).
for stl or other mesh formats, it is generally the same though (give or take some settings here and there).

with exaggerated settings on tessellation, with a circle created with sketch/pad in pd wb.

tess_vs_snap.png

Hello Heda,
I jumped to a false and foolish conclusion. Thank you for challenging it. You see, I my previous experience was developed using polygonal-editors, specifically SketchUp and Blender, so I am still cursed with the tendency to try to click on vertices and edges everywhere, thinking I am interacting with the actual geometry instead of the tessellated representation that it really is in FreeCAD’s case.
Thank you as well for the illustration you posted regarding the use of Draft-Snaps’s angle-snapping option.