Restarting a reorder

[itinerant]

Hi,
Is it possible to start a reorder from somewhere other than zero.

I have a drawing with 250 odd lines and polylines, and I want to go round and optimize it for laser cutting. As I go along I spot errors and inefficiencies, lines not quite meeting, polylines needing reversing so the start point follows on from the previous line end etc., I also make mistakes and miss lines out.

It would be good to be able to stop and correct these errors, then continue with the optimization, but so far I have had to start at the beginning each time I make a mistake, if I make a mis-click 1% of the time I may never finish my 250 element drawing.

An suggestions?

OS: Linux Mint
QCAD Ver: 3.25.2

[Husky]

Hi,

a dxf drawing would help to figure out what can be done. Could you post the drawing in a dxf/dwg format?

[itinerant]

Here is a simplified version, these are intended to be cut from card with a laser, with all the elements left attached to the card with small perforations, hence the gaps. I want to set the cut order, but if I lose my place half way through I have to start again from the beginning.

The isolated lines are intended as perforations to assist folding.

Edited to add screenshot

house1.dxf

(118.33 KiB) Downloaded 346 times

Screenshot from 2021-02-27 23-04-19.png (172.76 KiB) Viewed 4591 times

[Husky]

Thanks.

... these are intended to be cut from card with a laser, with all the elements left attached to the card with small perforations, hence the gaps.

I'm not sure that I understand the necessity of those Tabs. I think we are talking about ...

Husky-2021.02.27-01.png (2.11 KiB) Viewed 4603 times

... these gaps. Right?

To my understanding a laser will not move the workpiece. Even if there is a slight chance of moving you could put weights on the cardboard.
If you don't need the gaps I would close the contour and convert it to a polyline,
if your laser can't handle a polyline explode the polyline. That will bring all start and endpoints in the same order,
if you absolutely need these tabs - bring them in afterward you converted to a polyline/exploded the polyline. That will keep the order for start/end points.

[itinerant]

Here is a screenshot of a Sketchup view of the assembled model.

The purpose of the breaks in the tabs are to retain the components within the sheet, and to conceal the breakouts when the model is assembled, although the details of the artwork are not that relevant to my question.

As I add features to the model the number and complexity of elements to be cut increases, and I would like to make that process efficient by setting the order. So far I have had to work through the process of setting the order from start to finish, without making a mistake, and if I make a mistake I have to start from the beginning again; my question is, can I resume reordering from a mid point, or do I have to look for another solution?

Sorry for using a Sketchup model, I haven't yet worked out isometrics in QCAD

[Husky]

So far I have had to work through the process of setting the order from start to finish, without making a mistake, and if I make a mistake I have to start from the beginning again; my question is, can I resume reordering from a mid point, or do I have to look for another solution?

Ok, I tested it and I agree - that tool has room for improvement. To answer your question: No, you can't resume the reordering. At least not to my knowledge.

My conclusion:
- The tool doesn't provides an undo for the last order number,
- QCAD Undo - doesn't works for the last order number,
- Picking up an order number at a certain point/number - impossible,

I think you should file a feature request below: www.qcad.org/bugtracker
I think the tool should have an "Undo previos order number" function like the "Undo previos segment" in the "Draw Polyline" tool,
I think the tool should be able to pick up at a certain Start point. Something like the given "Start" order number is 5 - first reorder click whould set a entity to 5, next to 6 etc. The "Counter" tool has a similar function (Start).

[itinerant]

I couldn't find the "undo previous segment" function in draw polyline, the undo works in drawing sequential point to point lines, but doesn't move the start point of the next line back to the previous end point. Undo in polyline appears to delete the entire polyline.

Found "counter", in misc, and yes that seems the kind of functionality I could use. btw it is not mentioned in the "QCAD reference manual", my source for finding tools I know I have seen, but can't remember where.