Problem with Formula Editor

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rparry
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2022 12:32 am

Problem with Formula Editor

Post by rparry »

I am very new to FreeCad, however before I retired, I did design with ProE so I am coming back
to get back in the game. I have just installed 0.19-24366 on my M1 Mac and have been doing some tutorials.

The problem:

I am using Formula Editor to move a Pad from a sketch. The Tutorial says to use
<<Pad>>.Length/2. I enter this and it gives the correct result but does not enter it into "X" Position.
If I manually enter the correct value than the sketched object moves along the X axis as expected.

I searched for a similar problem but all I found was about a year old and not quite the same.

On ProE I would have setup the sketch on the end surface of the Base Object rather than offset it from
the main XY plane. I have since seen that that can be done, but I want to be able to have these formula
working as that can save a lot of redesign.

Bob Parry
openBrain
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Re: Problem with Formula Editor

Post by openBrain »

Hi, please attach your file to post.
jmaustpc
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Location: Australia

Re: Problem with Formula Editor

Post by jmaustpc »

I am assuming that you are talking about working in the PartDesign workbench.
rparry wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 5:53 am On ProE I would have setup the sketch on the end surface of the Base Object rather than offset it from
the main XY plane. I have since seen that that can be done, b
Yes, can be done, but best not to. TopologicalNaming limitation, talked about here millions of times, that face would be recreated if a previous feature was edited and there is no current way to guarantee that any face or edge etc. (topology) will be regenerated with the same name or may not even exist at all on the new solid generated after that edit.
rparry wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 5:53 am but I want to be able to have these formula
working as that can save a lot of redesign.
They mostly work as expected, of course there are always improvements in the next version of FreeCAD in current "master".
rparry wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 5:53 am I am using Formula Editor to move a Pad from a sketch. The Tutorial says to use
<<Pad>>.Length/2. I enter this and it gives the correct result but does not enter it into "X" Position.
If I manually enter the correct value than the sketched object moves along the X axis as expected.
You first attach the sketch to something, anything, then if you want to move it in some way you adjust the "offset" values so that the sketch will be attached to that original location plus an offset. Hence the placement XYZ will be generated but you as the user will have adjusted the "offset" XYZ with either a value or an expression.

The other thing that often confuses people is that the XYZ offset values relate to the XYZ of the sketch itself, not the object to which it is attached and not the global XYZ. When you look at a sketch in edit mode, X is left to right, Y is up and down your screen and Z is in and out of your screen.
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