CST2013: Arc Creation Mode

Modeling: CurvesCurvesArc

In this mode, you may interactively define an arc by double clicking its center, its start point and its end point in the currently active coordinate system.

You may change the view at any time by using the standard view changing options.

Creation steps

When you first enter the mode, you will be asked to double-click to mark the center point of the arc. The cursor’s location will be projected onto the currently active working plane to define the center (always remember to release the mouse button after double clicking, before dragging to the next point).

After the first point has been set, you may specify the start point by again double-clicking on a location on the working plane. During this operation, a rubber-band circle will be displayed indicating the current radius of the arc.

In the third step, you may specify the end point of the arc by again double-clicking a point on the drawing plane. During this operation, a clockwise rubber band arc will be displayed indicating the current shape of the arc.

Finally an arc dialog box appears where you can check your settings and specify a name and a curve for the new arc.

Display of locations

Throughout this mode the current mouse location will be displayed in the lower right corner of the main plot window .

Snap mode

All positions will be adjusted to the snap grid when active.

Cancel interactive mode

You may cancel this mode at any time by pressing the ESC key. Pressing ESC again in the following dialog box will terminate the arc creation.

Undo last double-click

You may go back to the last step by pressing the BACKSPACE key. Pressing this key in the interactive mode will undo the last double-click.

Numerical specification of coordinates (TAB key and SHIFT+TAB key)

To precisely specify the shape coordinates, you may press the TAB key whenever a point has to be double-clicked. A small coordinate dialog box will open in which you may specify the shape coordinates numerically.

The dialog entries take over the coordinates at the cursor position on the working plane. However, if the SHIFT+TAB key is pressed, the coordinates are always set to zero.

Pick tools to specify coordinates

You can snap the location to a previously defined shape’s corner, cylinder radius etc., by activating a point pick tool, at the moment when the next point has to be specified. The double-click will be processed by the pick functionality to specify the location of a point. The picked point will then be taken as the selected location.