modifying line length in draftsight 2016

These settings will ensure that the circle remains at the geometrical center of the rectangle (see Figure 5).įigure 5: Circle at the geometric center of the rectangle Testing the Geometry Now change the value of dimension d4 to d2/2. Again click on Linear and click on the center of the longer line of the rectangle and click on the circle. This will ensure the radius of the circle always remains one fourth the length of the rectangle.Ĭlick on Linear on the Dimensions panel and click at a point close to the center of the vertical line on the left of the rectangle, and then click on the circle. Place the dimension in the drawing area and change rad1 value thus formed to d1/4. Now click on Radius on the Dimensions panel of Parametric tab and click on the green circle. This will ensure that width of the rectangle always remains half its length. Double-click dimension d2 thus formed and change its value to d1/2. Click on the drawing area to place this dimension.Īgain select linear from the Dimensions panel and click close to the end points of any shorter lines. A dimension d1 with length of rectangle will appear. Now click close to the left top left vertex of this rectangle and then close to the top right vertex of this rectangle. Go to the Dimensional panel of Parametric tab and select linear. Now exit this command and repeat this process again on the shorter lines of rectangle. From the Geometric panel of Parametric tab, select Equal Constraint and click on both longer lines of the rectangle. Let’s first start with geometric constraints. The circle should always remain in the geometrical center of the rectangle. Radius of the green circle should be one fourth the length of the rectangle. Length of the outer rectangle should always remain twice its width.

Let’s assume that we want to apply the following constraints on this geometry Let’s use an example of this very simple geometry (see Figure 3). In this case, orientation of an object is not at all controlled. In this scenario, the length of both lines does not matter-only their orientation in plane is restricted.ĭimensional constraint is used to restrict dimensional values of geometries such as length, radius, and angle. For example, a perpendicular constraint will restrict a line to remain at an angle of 90 degrees with respect to another line. Geometric constraints are designed to specifically restrict degrees of freedom of geometry according to some defined set of restrictions. Figures 1 and 2 are snapshots of the Parametric tab and Infer Constraints Status toggle, respectively, from AutoCAD 2016.įigure 1: The Parametric tab in AutoCAD 2016įigure 2: Constraints Status toggle Types of Constraintsīroadly, constraints have been divided in two types-geometric and dimensional. A dedicated status toggle is also provided with the sole purpose of creating geometric constraints automatically. Parametric dimensioning is a smart alternative in these situations.Īutodesk considers parametric tools so important that it dedicated an entire ribbon tab to it. In a simple, non-parametric drawing, if you change dimension or orientation of any feature it will not affect other related geometries, which can result in serious errors for these kinds of assembly drawings. When making assembly drawings it is often required that one feature of a drawing remains related to other features with certain parameters, hence making the complete drawing a single unit. I surely want to encourage users to use these parametric tools and in this article I will try to introduce you to simple yet powerful features of AutoCAD parametric tools.

To some extent that is true, but AutoCAD can make intelligent geometries that can retain design intent and some veteran users avoid using these parametric tools. Some designers think that AutoCAD® is simple “Stone Age” software, which makes drawings based upon user inputs with no relation between corresponding features of geometry. Back October 12th, 2015 Parametric Dimensioning in AutoCAD

Modifying line length in draftsight 2016