edit line measurements 1

[sukhjeetgrewal]

hello all,

im new to designing. i have used catia before and now im using draftsight. my questions is IS IT POSSIBLE TO EDIT A LINE OR RADIUS JUST LIKE WE DO IN CATIA JUST BY CLICKING ON THE MEASUREMENT TEXT OF THE DIMENSION. lets say i wanna draw a rectangle 20mm x 15mm whats the easiest way to do that.
kind regards
gary

 

[mikestl]

No, in Draftsight, you cannot "edit" a line by retyping a length like you would in most 3D cad apps. As usual there are many ways of doing anything, but an important feature is the function keys, particularly F8. F8 restricts lines to vertical and horizontal lines. For what you want to do, I would enable F8, then start a line (type "L" then enter for a shortcut). Click once, then move your mouse horizontally or vertically. You can then type in the length of the line you would like. If you drew the horizontal line first, you can then move your mouse vertically to point the new line in the vertical direction. Type in the length of the vertical line. Continue that way.

To change the length of a line you can trim and extend, usually trimming to another line, or extending to another line.

 

[sukhjeetgrewal]

Thanks a lot Mike. I think what you suggested is the best thing to do.
but i still wish there was a way i could set constrains.

thanks a lot again . i will definitely have a go the way you suggested.

kind regards
gary

 

[mikestl]

*Clarification*
You CAN edit a line by clicking on it and viewing it's properties. You can type in the X-Y coordinates of it's endpoints but this is not the way you would want to start a new project.

 

[tr1ntx]

Or use the RECTANGLE command, RECT, or the rectangular box icon on the draw toolbar.

My habit is to generally start at the lower left corner. I click where I want the lower left corner to be, then move the cursor up and right, then I manually enter the dim's. In this case, type:

@20,15

then press ENTER or the space bar, and you'll have your 20 horiz x 15 vert rectangle. It will be a polyline object, meaning it stays together. It is a rectangle object, not a set of lines.

There are many ways to change lengths of the sides. You can use the STRETCH command, or GRIP EDIT by clicking on the rectangle and then grabbing on one of the GRIP POINTS (GRAVITY POINTS) and dragging it.

Like mikestl said, you probably should experiment with ORTHOGONAL MODE, toggled on & off with the F8 key or by clicking on the "ORTHO" button on the bottom toolbar.