Posted by ctalwalkar on
URL: https://forum.librecad.org/Basic-Dimensioning-Functionality-tp5716062p5716068.html

Hi Folks,

I'm a nOOb to LibreCAD, so please forgive me if this discussion is a rehash of known issues/features.  I am running version 2.1.3 downloaded 27May2018 on WindowsXP, SP3.  

While LibreCAD overall is an excellent and useful tool that I was thrilled to find, there are a number of behaviors that strike me as counterintuitive.  I am raising them here in the spirit of continued improvement.  I have tried to find information on this forum about these issues but without luck so far, so if they have already been raised, please point me to the right thread.

1. Radial and angular dimensions always seem to be aligned with the leader and arrow rather than to the Text Alignment preference shown in the Dimensions tab of the Current Drawing Preferences dialogue box.  

Diametric and linear dimensions do follow the Text Alignment preference and change accordingly as that preference is changed.  The latter behavior is preferable.


2. Radial and diametric dimensions and their leaders by default are always located inside the arc/circle.  The text can be moved by the user, but the location of the leader and arrow is fixed to the default location.

It would be better if the user could generally select the location of each measurement and the leader for all dimensions, e.g., specify the side of the arc where radial dimensions appear, or the side of the extension lines where linear dimensions (leaders, arrows and text) appear.  The current behavior is often a problem, e.g., when dimensions inside a span are obscured by other dimensions, text, hatching, etc., or when dimensions are clearer when placed outside the span, or when dimensioning large-radius arcs, since the center of the arc can be far away from the rest of the objects in the drawing, causing the leader to run off the desired printing area of the drawing.


3. Though radial or diametric dimensions' text can be put wherever the user wants, if any property of a radial or diametric dimension is changed after the text is relocated, the text reverts to the default position instead of the location previously chosen by the user.  Linear dimensions stay put when their properties are changed.  The latter behavior is better, since it saves the frustration of having to reset the location of the text after each modification when you are experimenting to find the best way to show the dimension.


4. The position of angular dimensions cannot be readjusted once created, nor can the associated text be relocated.  This is inconsistent with the other dimensioning methods.  Also, it would be good if the measurement text's alignment and location could both be adjusted in the same manner as those of the other types of dimensions.


5. The following steps do not produce the expected behavior.  They assume that drawings are stored in the Drawings folder on the desktop, while templates are stored in c:\Windows\Program Files\LibreCAD\resources\library\templates\, which is the setting for the templates path in Application Preferences.

a. Start LibreCAD and create a new drawing.  Save it to the Drawings folder.  

b. Invoke the "Open" command.  The Open Drawing dialogue box opens and points to the templates folder instead of the Drawings folder.  Navigate in the dialogue box to the Drawings folder and open a file.

c. Invoke the "New From Template" command.  The Open Drawing dialogue box opens pointed at the Drawings folder instead of the Templates folder.  Navigate in the box to the Templates folder and open a template.

d. Invoke the "Open" command.  The Open Drawing dialogue box opens pointed at the Templates folder instead of the Drawings folder.  Hmmm...

It would seem more intuitive to have the "Open" and "Save As" commands pointing to the same directory (Drawings) and the "New From Templates" command pointing at the Templates directory, independent of where the other File commands are pulling data.


I could go on, but this message is too long already, so I'll finish by recognizing resource limitations and that one person's bug may be another's essential feature.  If the behaviors above are necessary for other functionality, then I guess I'll live with it, but if they can be changed in the suggested ways, it would be a useful refinement to LC (for me, anyway).

Thanks!
Chetan