The Construction Ellipse Edit window ( Drawing Editor )

When both construction circles and construction ellipses are being edited, this window -- Construction Ellipse Edit -- is the window that opens. If only construction circles are being edited, the Construction Circle Edit window opens.

To open this window :

Also see :

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" Copy " " Paste " " Save " " Load " buttons

  • You'll find buttons like these at the top of this window. They apply to all user-editable settings that are on this window. Click here for more information.
  • You can " Copy " ( ) the settings on this window, then change the " Construction circle__of " number you are editing using the VCR buttons, then " Paste " ( ) those settings to the newly selected construction circle.
  • The " Save " ( ) button saves a "form" file to the form/cons-circle folder that is used by your current version of this program. Give the form a name that will help users in other Jobs on your network identify its purpose. " Load " ( ) changes all settings on this window to those settings that are stored in the file that you select.
  • " Paste " and " Load " replace mixed entries to a single field with a single entry. " Copy " and " Save " ignore fields with mixed entries, treating them as if they have no entry or do not exist.

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------ Settings ------

Major axis radius: The distance (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) from the center of the ellipse to either one of the two points where its major axis terminates at the perimeter of the construction ellipse.

 

The major axis of an ellipse is the axis that terminates at the two points that are farthest from one another on the perimeter of the ellipse. In other words, it is the ellipse's largest diameter. The " Major axis radius " is the length of half of the major axis.

When construction circles and construction ellipses are multi-edited, a change made to the " Major axis radius " changes the radius of circles.

Minor axis radius: The distance (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) from the center of the ellipse to either one of the two points where its minor axis terminates at the perimeter of the construction ellipse.

 

The minor axis of an ellipse is perpendicular to the ellipse's major axis and runs through the center of the ellipse.

Rotation of major axis: A positive or negative number ( 90 to -89.9999 ) of degrees. This controls the rotation of the construction ellipse around its Z axis, which runs through the center of the ellipse, perpendicular to the plane of your current drawing.

 

' 0 ' degrees makes the major axis of the construction ellipse horizontal.

A positive number rotates the ellipse counterclockwise.

A negative number rotates the ellipse clockwise.

Pen color: White or red or Yellow or Green or Cyan or Blue or Magenta . Press the button for the display color that you want to apply to the construction circle(s). No button is pressed if you are editing multiple construction circles that have different colors.

Since construction ellipses are not plotted, the choice you make here does not affect the appearance of drawings when they are plotted.

Attached to view: A number designating the view that this construction ellipse is attached to. This applies mainly to member details . For instance, a column detail may have a view of face A, face B and face C. It may also have various section views (Section A-A, Section B-B, Section C-C). All graphical objects that are in a particular view are assigned the same number. The only other type of drawing on which you might find multiple views is a submaterial detail .

Assigning the correct number to an object (line, weld symbol, label, etc.), prevents Shorten and Unshorten problems on submaterial details and member details . Automatically detailed submaterial details and member details are the two Drawing Editor drawing types that can have multiple views.

 

To show a view's number, you can add the X-Y-Z Display to your toolbar. An alternative decoration you can add to display view numbers is the X-Y Dual Show/True Display .

In the Drawing Editor , the X-Y-Z Display shows the view number that the point location target ( ) is over.

Troubleshooting: If you Unshorten a drawing then Shorten , only to find that objects are repositioned in a way that seems wrong, the problem might be that the objects are attached to a view that is not the view that they should be attached to. A good troubleshooting method is to select all of the objects that you believe should be attached to the same view, then right-click ( Menu ) and choose " Edit " on the menu . This will open the Multi-Items Edit window. Look at the " Attached to view " field on that window. If that field is gray (shows no view number), then that field has a mixed entry , indicating that objects in your selection have have two or more different view numbers. Entering the desired view number to the " Attached to view " multi-edit field assigns all objects in your selection that one view number.

View number assignment is fairly random. While view numbers assigned during auto detailing are generally the same as the numbers assigned to views in member isolation (or material isolation's edit views mode ), there are cases where that general one-to-one correspondence will not hold. Also, while the main view of a member detail is almost always view 0, the other views are assigned numbers as they are added, and since the order in which views are added is arbitrary, there is little correspondence between a view's number and its type.

How can objects be assigned wrong view numbers? When a user adds an object to a drawing on which there are multiple views (a member detail or a submaterial detail), it is the responsibility of that user to ensure that the object is attached to the correct view. That sounds like an easy thing to do, but it isn't always so simple. Take, for example, a pointer . When a user adds a pointer using Objects > Pointers > Add , the user does not see the Pointer Edit window and therefore does not see the " Attached to view " entry field. Pointers can also be added using Paste , Paste at Original Location , Paste Repeatedly , Paste Special , Paste to Several , Add Standard Detail , Add Standard Detail to Several , Add Weld Combo , Hole Sym Combo , Label Combo , etc. Each of these tools is a different way for users to add a pointer to a wrong view.

Layer:

Select the drawing layer (any layer given a " Name ") that you want the construction ellipse you are adding or editing to be drawn on after you press " OK " to close this window. If that layer happens to be hidden (not marked " Show "), the construction ellipse will disappear after the first Redraw .

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For switching to a different construction circle or ellipse :

Construction circle _ of __ (not applicable to Add or multiple edit) : The identification number of the one construction circle you are editing and the total count of all construction circles in your current drawing. You can use the VCR buttons to select a different construction circle and edit that construction circle while still on this window. When a construction circle on a shown layer is selected, it is displayed in green (cyan if its actual color is green). The selected construction circle must be on a shown layer for it to be shown.

VCR buttons (first-previous-next-last) for selecting a construction circle to edit.

Note: If you change one construction circle, then select a different construction circle, the first construction circle remains changed even if you press " Cancel " on this window.

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To close this window :

 

"OK" (or the Esc key or the button) closes this window and completes the add or edit operation that was used to open it.

Defaults: When you press " OK ," the settings on this window -- except mixed entries -- become the default settings for the next construction circle you add during this session of the Drawing Editor .

"Cancel" (or the Esc key) closes this window without saving any of the changes you have made. " Cancel " only cancels the changes made to the construction circle whose number is currently selected as the " Construction circle _ of __ ."

Defaults: The settings on this window do not become the defaults for new construction circles if you press " Cancel " to close this window (unless you used " Construction circle _ of __ ").

Tip 1: Although " Cancel " does not cancel changes made to construction circles previously edited on this window, Undo does undo all those changes.

Tip 2: If you double-click a construction ellipse just to review it and don't want to set the defaults for to-be-added construction circles, the best way to close this window is to press " Cancel. "

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