QCAD.org Forum

Hi guys,
In some instances I'd like to label all dimensions in the same direction from the zero line, i.e. label 212°and 270° instead of 148°and 90°
any hint?

I can confirm that this is currently not possible. It would require another entity type currently not supported by QCAD (angular dimension from 3 points).

OK thanks, I 'll find a work around for this particular drawing.

@Andrew
What J-J is asking for is an ordinary task in mechanical engineering and I'm often confronted by myself with the same problem.
Without knowing what is really going on underneath the QCAD hood I have the feeling that this tool is based on a calculation which is limited to =/< 180°.

Would it be possible to have an additional tool which works > 180° or a shortcut solution which will tell the existing Angular tool to work with a different calculation (> 180°)?

My "naive" thinking about a shortcut solution (e.g. shift key) would work like:
launch Angular tool
chose first line
chose second line
if I need a < 180° dimension - no further action required
if I need a > 180° dimension - press and hold the shift key ...

Some sort of a manual option with a tick box? that would be perfect for the few cases it's needed

The problem is that the angular dimension based on two lines is defined that way in the DXF/DWG standard (always dimensioning the smallest angle between the two lines). QCAD cannot interpret this differently without braking compatibility. The only way to support this is to support another type of entity (angular dimension from three points) which is a larger project (new entity type with its own properties, needs saving / loading, exporting to various formats, displaying, testing, translation, etc).

Things are hardly ever as easy as they seem.

OK Andrew, maybe in another life then...The "text along" provides a convenient manual way for when that is needed.
Thanks for the explanations.

I've actually experimented with this and added preliminary support for angular dimensions from three points, so angle dimensions for angles > 180° should be supported in the next release unless there are unexpected problems with it.

Thanks Andrew, we will be very happy to experiment with the feature

andrew wrote:I've actually experimented with this and added preliminary support for angular dimensions from three points ...

Yeehaw!
Thank you in advance!

A snapshot release (3.20.1.3) with support for 3 point angular dimensions is now available in the QCAD Professional download area (click the download link in the e-mail received after purchase and scroll to the bottom on the download page).

Change log:
https://qcad.org/changelog

andrew wrote:A snapshot release (3.20.1.3) with support for 3 point angular dimensions is now available ...

Beautiful - works like a charm! Thank you very much!

Option Bar (Label, Tolerance, Scale)? I'm sure that is something for later on your list, correct?

BTW?
Could your tool modification also be helpful to cover this problem?
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=4956&p=18291#p18291

Husky wrote:Option Bar (Label, Tolerance, Scale)? I'm sure that is something for later on your list, correct?

Yes, fixed, thanks.

Husky wrote:BTW?
Could your tool modification also be helpful to cover this problem?
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=4956&p=18291#p18291

No, I would work with an auxiliary line in such a case. Eventually, a second angle dimension tool might emerge which allows you to click three points instead of two lines, but you would still need some kind of auxiliary line to create an orthogonal dimension.

Ok, understood. Thanks for your explanation!

Hi,
The new feature works as expected, well done!
I noticed a different behavior under the interim release when I try to manipulate an already drawn dimension: if I select the handle of a dimension, I cannot manipulate it anymore, and there are two additional circles that do not seem to do anything either. Anyone noticed that?
Win7-64