TechDraw, how can you change the appearance of lines?

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Batucada
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TechDraw, how can you change the appearance of lines?

Post by Batucada »

I'm not asking for the tool "Change appearance of lines". I'm familiar with that. There I can only choose between a few line types and also influence the line thickness. The problem is simply that with objects that have a larger dimension, all dashed and dash-dotted lines are no longer recognisable as such at normal screen resolution, and this applies equally to the PDF output of the drawing.

Is there a way to adjust these lines to the size of the object?
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Willem
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Re: TechDraw, how can you change the appearance of lines?

Post by Willem »

In the preferences you can change the standard linetypes and the line width group. The line width group changes the scale of the dashed type lines
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Batucada
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Re: TechDraw, how can you change the appearance of lines?

Post by Batucada »

Willem wrote: Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:15 pm In the preferences you can change the standard linetypes and the line width group. The line width group changes the scale of the dashed type
Thank you. But the hint to the preferences does not answer my question. I am looking for a way to set the distance between the dashes and the length of the dashes. As I wrote before, dashed lines appear as full lines when the objects have large dimensions.
chrisb
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Re: TechDraw, how can you change the appearance of lines?

Post by chrisb »

You have to create a new line line group.
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Batucada
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Re: TechDraw, how can you change the appearance of lines?

Post by Batucada »

chrisb wrote: Fri Sep 30, 2022 8:29 pm You have to create a new line line group.
If I take the standard DIN EN ISO 128-20, then with a line thickness of 0.25 mm for the dashed line, the dash length should be 4 mm and the distance between the dashes 4.5 mm. None of this is adhered to at TechDraw. Even the offer to create a user-defined line group does not solve the problem, because this offer does not allow access to the essential data. In the file LineGroup.csv you can read:

Code: Select all

;FreeCAD LineGroup Definitions
;follows the specifications from DIN EN ISO 128-20
Now one would perhaps have to define what one may understand by follows.
mario52
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Re: TechDraw, how can you change the appearance of lines?

Post by mario52 »

Hi

try Macro_FC_Convert_Lines Image you can save your type of line

Image
Image
Image

mario
Maybe you need a special feature, go into Macros_recipes and Code_snippets, Topological_data_scripting.
My macros on Gist.github here complete macros Wiki and forum.
Batucada
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Re: TechDraw, how can you change the appearance of lines?

Post by Batucada »

mario52 wrote: Sat Oct 01, 2022 9:06 am Hi

try Macro_FC_Convert_Lines Image you can save your type of line
mario
Yeah. Thank you so much for this post.

That looks like exactly what I'm imagining. What I'm looking for. I haven't worked with the macros yet, so I'm not familiar with the procedure. So I'll ask a few questions.

Can I use the macro add-on to create the line groups that @chrisb talked about? And is a line formatted in this way then applicable via the menu (pencil tool)? Or do I have to use the macro on every single line in a drawing that should be formatted according to the intended function?
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Willem
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Re: TechDraw, how can you change the appearance of lines?

Post by Willem »

Linegroup is a CSV file You can add your own line width group to it and select that in the preference settings.
Here a link to the Wiki page https://wiki.freecadweb.org/TechDraw_LineGroup
Batucada
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Re: TechDraw, how can you change the appearance of lines?

Post by Batucada »

Willem wrote: Sat Oct 01, 2022 1:16 pm Linegroup is a CSV file You can add your own line width group to it and select that in the preference settings.
Here a link to the Wiki page https://wiki.freecadweb.org/TechDraw_LineGroup
As far as I have studied the Wiki page, it does not meet the desired. The underlying patterns in the base (standard FreeCAD) do not meet the agreements of DIN EN ISO 128-20, they should comply with the rules, but they do not, at least I have no other knowledge so far.

I think I will have to wait until @mario52 gets back to me, because the macro he developed seems to compensate for the shortcoming described above. For my current project, the train has long since sailed, the drawings are all printed out. But I don't want to make the compromises for the next project.
mario52
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Re: TechDraw, how can you change the appearance of lines?

Post by mario52 »

Hi
Batucada wrote: Sat Oct 01, 2022 11:08 am Can I use the macro add-on to create the line groups that @chrisb talked about?
no the macro is independent of TechDraw
Batucada wrote: Sat Oct 01, 2022 11:08 am And is a line formatted in this way then applicable via the menu (pencil tool)?
no
Batucada wrote: Sat Oct 01, 2022 11:08 am Or do I have to use the macro on every single line in a drawing that should be formatted according to the intended function?
yes

you select the lines, edge, wire ... to convert and use it as one object normal,

the original object is not modified, just new lines hare created

mario
Last edited by mario52 on Sat Oct 01, 2022 3:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Maybe you need a special feature, go into Macros_recipes and Code_snippets, Topological_data_scripting.
My macros on Gist.github here complete macros Wiki and forum.
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