Parallel

[debenriver]

Reading the post by Mikerosen on the iPocket board – the Parallel command is also a bit confusing in RealCADD.

If you draw a vertical line from top to bottom, then parallel "left" goes to the right. If you draw the line bottom to top, then parallel "left" indeed goes to the left. Similarly with a horizontal line – on a line drawn left-to-right, "left" goes up; on a line drawn right-to-left, "left" goes down. Polylines (as a polygonal line) follow the "in" and "out" pretty well – but once you break the polyline into individual lines it mostly seems to go in the opposite direction to that which you expect!

I usually work with both parallels turned on and simply delete the one I don't want. Some means of telling the program which way the parallel should go would be very useful (clicking on the line and dragging in the desired direction would be good); then perhaps clicking on the line with option held down would go in both directions, as for drawing parallel double lines etc.

What RealCADD does really well is draw parallels to polylines and other complex shapes and constructions – I wouldn't want to lose this!!!

[Eric Pousse]

I usually work with both parallels turned on and simply delete the one I don't want.

I do also like this.

[Mikerosen]

Hi, gentlemen.

I downloaded RealCADD, and I'm trying it out. If it does what I need, I will be paying for it, and using it in place of my long-beloved DrawingBoard.

Parallels still seem to be my biggest complaint. Just as debenriver says, the command is VERY hard to understand. Sometimes, the line goes in the same direction regardless of whether you enter a positive or a negative number. I would love to see a "drag in a direction, and then enter the distance" setup! (That's what DB does.)

I'm also having some issues with the trim tool. Sometimes it works just fine, but other times it either doesn't delete the section I want it to, or it deletes too much, or it deletes nothing at all. Like debenriver's comment about the parallels, maybe it depends on which direction the original line was drawn, or which line was drawn first, or something like that.

In any case, I'm still learning!

[debenriver]

I think the problem with the trim tool is that the cursor is a bit clumsy, so you have to zoom in a bit if there are a lot of lines around, so the cursor can get on to the correct one, and not one you don't want.

With parallels, on earlier versions you used to be able to enter negative numbers – on later version this doesn't seem to work. But in any case it is always a bit of a toss-up which direction a parallel will go, so that wasn't very useful really. With a single line, flipping it horizontally and vertically will change the direction of the parallel – but that's not really very useful either!

So I just stick with specifying both direction and then delete the one I don't want.

I agree with you that it would be good to just select a parallel distance and then use the cursor to drag in the direction you want the parallel to go – or enter the distance on the fly.

George

[Eric Pousse]

I agree with you that it would be good to just select a parallel distance and then use the cursor to drag in the direction you want the parallel to go – or enter the distance on the fly.

Yes that will be a good feature that is now on my to do list.

Thanks.

[Mikerosen]

I think, if it's no different from a programming standpoint, I would prefer to pull the line, then enter the distance.

[Mikerosen]

So I just stick with specifying both direction and then delete the one I don't want.
George

When you do this, you enter the number and distance AND check the boxes for both Parallel in/left and Parallel out/right, correct? And then, delete the extra line? Seems like a lot of extra steps...

And how do in/left and out/right translate to up/down? And I understand that in and out refer to closed units: rectangles, circles, polygons, etc.

Further observations, confirming what George said, above:

If a vertical line is drawn bottom to top, the parallels left and right are correct. If the line is drawn top to bottom, left and right are reversed.

If a horizontal is drawn left to right, parallel in/left goes up, out/right goes down. Draw the line right to left, and again, the commands reverse.

HOWEVER: When you use the Move Points command (thanks, guys!) the positive and negative numbers move the lines in the expected direction, regardless of the way the line was drawn! (Sort of. The Y moves positive down, and negative up, which is contrary to how I learned it, but we've discussed that before!)

Eric, would it be possible to fix that so that the direction the line is drawn is irrelevant? Then, you could program the actions so that the Parallels box would read:

(number fields) Number ___ Distance ___
(checkbox) Left/Up/In ___ Right/Down/Out___

Merci!

[Eric Pousse]

Eric, would it be possible to fix that so that the direction the line is drawn is irrelevant?

Sorry Mike, but I don't understand.

(number fields) Number ___ Distance ___
(checkbox) Left/Up/In ___ Right/Down/Out___

Like this, for example, you can't do 3 parallels left with a distance A and 1 parallel right with a distance B.

[Mikerosen]

Eric, would it be possible to fix that so that the direction the line is drawn is irrelevant?

Sorry Mike, but I don't understand.

As we've said, if you draw the line in one direction, the parallels work one way, but if you draw it in the other direction, the parallels work in reverse. In my opinion, a "parallel left" should go to the left, regardless of whether the original line was drawn top-to-bottom, or bottom-to-top.

[Mikerosen]

(number fields) Number ___ Distance ___
(checkbox) Left/Up/In ___ Right/Down/Out___

Like this, for example, you can't do 3 parallels left with a distance A and 1 parallel right with a distance B.

In the 20 years I've been using CAD, I have never needed to do this. Never.