TechDraw: Smart dimension tool

[PaddleStroke]

Implement a smart dimension tool similar to Sketcher_Dimension. Fixes #12370
Please test and feedback.

By default it is set to both smart dimension + old tools. See preference in TechDraw/Dimension. If you select 'single tool' then it looks like this :

• also improve the 'arc length' tool so that it works with any kind of geometries : Arc of ellipse / bspline ... making ExtensionArcLengthAnnotation kind of useless. Though that tool works with multiple edges but as it does not show where it starts and end that wouldn't be very helpful.

• Implement Area dimension. (current tool is balloon not a real dimension)

[maxwxyz]

Does it need a preselection?
You could use the dimension icon from sketcher in yellow for this tool.

[PaddleStroke]

It works like sketcher tool, you activate it then you have a continuous mode. However it actually currently do not work with preselection. Let me fix that.
And yes good idea for the icon I'll do that.

Note @WandererFan , this introduce 'Tool handlers' class in techdraw which are same as the sketcher tools. This is good to handle tools that have "tool->selection" workflow such as the balloon annotation. When I was doing this PR I noticed baloon annotation is hardcoding things in the QGVPage.cpp, such as setting balloon cursor. I think after this PR merges, balloon can be changed to use the new tool handler.

[PaddleStroke]

I have also integrated arc length now.
Could also be added :

• landmark?
• Area ?
• Edge length ?

[WandererFan]

If you mean "landmark dimension", I'm not sure if that is widely used. It was an early attempt to mitigate TNP for dimensions. I'd leave it out for now.

Would like a proper Area Dimension. The one in the Extension tools is a static annotation that doesn't get updated when the face changes. I don't think it handles holes properly either.

I don't have a need for edge length, but some might.

[WandererFan]

Note that the chain & ordinate dimensions in the Extension tools (red icons) have issues with proper alignment and updating. Making a proper "dimension group" for related dims is on my todo list and has been for a long time.

[PaddleStroke]

Ok, I'm creating an area dimension now then.

[PaddleStroke]

[pierreporte]

@PaddleStroke Arrows pointing in an area should end by a bullet by default. Pointed arrows are only for lines and points.

[WandererFan]

Missing an include for QTimer? Also some warnings about unused variables.

[PaddleStroke]

@WandererFan thanks I fixed those. I'll check the CI when its done to make sure there are no more things.

@pierreporte that would need (potentially) a substantial amount of additional work. So can you discuss with DWG to make sure every one agree and offer a mockup for the shape. Thanks

[pierreporte]

@PaddleStroke This is standard drawing practice, not UI/UX. In Guide du dessinateur industriel (A. Chevalier), there is the following example in the common mistakes section. TechDraw already has an acceptable dot terminal available (it could be a bit smaller though to match arrow heads width).

[maxwxyz]

can confirm @pierreporte

[maxwxyz]

@PaddleStroke Point and arrow are defined in ISO 129-1

[PaddleStroke]

Got it its clear enough. Well I'll try to pack this in this PR then.

[PaddleStroke]

Ok it was not too hard to change to point actually.
I also fixed an issue with the US units that were wrong (see above screenshow showing 145 in² instead of 5)

[maxwxyz]

@PaddleStroke I think default to single tool as it is also in sketcher is good, if all tools in the group are possible with the new tool. Saves a lot of toolbar space and you still have all tools in the dropdown.

[PaddleStroke]

The default is very easy to change, it's like 2 lines of code to change. And for early stage of the tool I prefer to let as separate to avoid having to deal with haters. When its confirmed to be stable anyone can change the default by a tiny PR.

[yorikvanhavre]

I'll let @WandererFan press the button ;)

[FEA-eng]

It's a great tool. Will it support thickness in the future (when I press M when adding area annotation, nothing happens)?

[PaddleStroke]

What is thickness? Is there already a thickness dimension tool?
Is it extent? Should a face selection offer the extent as a mode?

[FEA-eng]

What is thickness? Is there already a thickness dimension tool? Is it extent? Should a face selection offer the extent as a mode?

I mean what pierreporte showed here: #13525 (comment)

Currently, it has to be added manually as an annotation. It would be nice to have it as a mode for face selection (in addition to area) but the problem is that the value may vary even for a single face and it might be difficult to compute it. But the mode could only consider faces with constant thickness (3rd dimension).

Perhaps I should create a feature request for this.

[pierreporte]

@FEA-eng I think it should show the distance at the selected point. This kind of dimension shouldn’t be used for variable thicknesses anyway. It could change value when the point is modified. The point could be attached to a cosmetic point if a precise location is needed.

[FEA-eng]

@FEA-eng I think it should show the distance at the selected point. This kind of dimension shouldn’t be used for variable thicknesses anyway. It could change value when the point is modified. The point could be attached to a cosmetic point if a precise location is needed.

Right, the thickness where the user clicks will be sufficient. I made a new request to document this: #14012

[belinski-roman]

Теперь я также интегрировал длину дуги. Также можно добавить:

• ориентир?
• Площадь?
• Длина кромки ?

elevation marks for architectural drawings

[belinski-roman]

The default hotkey for this tool should be assigned the same as in Sketcher for the dimensional tool - "D"

[maxwxyz]

please create new issues and describe the problem there. TIA

[Reqrefusion]

@PaddleStroke TechDraw_Dimension_Pointer.svg and TechDraw_Dimension.svg What is the difference? Same icons but sized differently. Is this nuance difference meaningful?

[maxwxyz]

@Reqrefusion pointer is the cursor icon which is shown when the tool is active.

[PaddleStroke]

The cursor has a small white cross that acts as the mouse pointer.

[Cobras62]

The cursor has a small white cross that acts as the mouse pointer.

Hello,
Why a small white cross? Can we change the colour of this cross? On a white background, it's not very visible...
Thank you!

[maxwxyz]

@Cobras62 did you test this, it's fine?
https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD-Bundle/releases/tag/weekly-builds

[Cobras62]

@maxwxyz : yes it is this version that I tested. But the white cross on the white background is difficult to see. Just look at the animation that presents this tool in the 1.0 releases notes and we realize that the white cross is not obvious :)

[PaddleStroke]

It's true the cross is white as in sketcher. Actually it's set by a preference I seem to recall. But yes it should not be white but black as techdraw is white background

…

On Tue, May 21, 2024, 22:20 Cobras62 ***@***.***> wrote: @maxwxyz <https://github.com/maxwxyz> : yes it is this version that I tested. But the white cross on the white background is difficult to see. Just look at the animation that presents this tool in the 1.0 releases notes and we realize that the white cross is not obvious :) — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#13525 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AEYO6MNKPD7FLG6QZ7TZEPLZDOUB7AVCNFSM6AAAAABGNWLDRSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDCMRTGM3TMOJWGA> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[maxwxyz]

Ob my system it looks dark gray.

[Cobras62]

@PaddleStroke : ok thanks for this info :)
In any case, this future v1.0 and these new tools are a great piece of work !
Well done to everyone !

[Cobras62]

@maxwxyz : A friend who works in a design office has tested it and it's white for him too. We're both running Windows 11.

[PaddleStroke]

I just checked and the color is indeed a preference.

    ParameterGrp::handle hGrp =
        App::GetApplication().GetParameterGroupByPath("User parameter:BaseApp/Preferences/View");
    color = hGrp->GetUnsigned("CursorCrosshairColor", color);

It is currently defined in the shared class ToolHandler, which is shared between sketcher and techdraw. So we need to change this to have separate colors. Please open an issue I'll do this later.

[Cobras62]

@PaddleStroke : I've just opened an issue. It's the first time I've done it, I hope I haven't done anything wrong ^^.