Trimming with arcs/circles

[Donald Wardlaw]

One of the neat features of the much loved trim command was that we could trim a set of lines with an arc or circle. Very useful.

I must be missing something, becuase I don't see how to trim a set of lines with an arc anymore. How is it done?

Thanks,

Donald

[arthur&l?on]

Hello,

Something worked (and still works) well : use the Clip Area command. Arcs or lines that are on top will cut others.

Regards.

[P Retondo]

With the old trim command <Ctrl+T> we were able to clip a large number of lines at once using a line, arc or polygon. Then you could remove unwanted line segments en masse. This capability was very useful editing hatches and multiple lines representing siding, tile patterns, etc. It was also useful when you wanted to trim a wall at an angle. This has often been the only way to create a Y intersection of walls.

[Donald Wardlaw]

<<use the Clip Area command. Arcs or lines that are on top will cut others>>

Thanks for the tip, it is a workaround I can use. Like many tool and interface changes in the current version, though, it takes two or more steps (select cliping surface, and lines to be clipped), where former version took one (select circle/arc).

Regards,

Donald

[P Retondo]

Arthur, Donald,

Sorry, I didn't realize that by "Clip Area" you meant "Clip Surface!" I thought you might be referring to the "Trim" (scissors) tool.

I never imagined that Clip Surface would do something similar to what <Ctrl + T> used to do, but it does. I find that it works using arcs as the clipping object, but automatically deletes those line segments that fall substantially within the arc "surface;" it also works using lines as the clipping object in a way very similar to the old <Ctrl +T>, with the added advantage that you must select the lines to be clipped - an advantage over <Ctrl +T>, because you can choose what gets clipped (i.e., broken, since automatic deletion does not take place using a line), and what doesn't. Using polygons, it deletes the line segments inside the polygon.

So, besides the fact that it may require more keystrokes, "Clip Surface" does not allow us to remove lines OUTSIDE the perimeter of a bounded object, and doesn't substitute for the loss of <Ctrl + T>.

To the extent that "Clip Surface" can clip lines and using lines, it would be helpful if the Manual were to point out that objects other than "surfaces" can be modified by this tool. It looks like a really handy way to split a polygon or polyline into two parts along a line at any angle.

[Noidge]

quote:

---

Originally posted by P Retondo:

"Clip Surface" does not allow us to remove lines OUTSIDE the perimeter of a bounded object.

---

The "Intersect Surface" tool will remove lines outside the perimeter. However, I have noted that when using an arc to "clip", the lines are completely removed when they do not end within the arc "surface".

[P Retondo]

Noidge,

Thanks for the suggestion! I find it works great with polygons and circles. The glitch with an arc doesn't seem to me to be much of a problem.

This has been a very useful discussion - I wonder if everyone involved agrees that <Ctrl + T> is replaced by the Clip and Intersect Surface tools. It seems to me that we lose a little time in having to select everything to be trimmed, but gain a little control.

My one complaint is that NNA apparently didn't understand the usefulness of <Ctrl + T>, and also doesn't understand (doesn't care to explain?) the capability of the Clip/Intersect Surface tools. If you read the manual carefully, they do refer to "objects" rather than "surfaces" when explaining the operation of these tools, but given the circumstances, an explanation of the workaround would have been helpful.

[Donald Wardlaw]

I agree this topic has been useful. At this point my view is that I can get by on the workarounds, more tool options are better than fewer and, NNA should restore the commands tools that were removed in v.9. That is, trim, nudge, and extend to object.

I agree also that some of the new tools offer new functionality (the new trim tool, for example) and I like to see that. But we all have our own methods of using this program, and that flexibility has been one of the strong advantages of this software, in my opinion.

It is also my opinion that NNA maybe should have a better understanding of how the tools are being used before they remove them. I would like to see the same rigor of intellectual effort and design skill applied to the parts of the software that users experience directly, as seems to be applied to the underlying code that we do not experience.

One of the innovations in this product that I have long praised is the structure for customizing the interface, the menus and tool palettes. I think that as people move from being beginning users to advanced users, they see the power of this. Advanced users build interfaces that feature the tools and commands they like and they toss the rest.

The program itself is like a carpenter's toolbox. Each tool is carefully chosen, some are very specialized and the capabilities of each tool are understood. Tools that claim to do everything usually do nothing especially well and are left at home. I want to see the same care in the creation of tools, that we take in selecting and using them.

These are my thoughts on the tool issue, and I hope they are seen as constructive. There is much to like in this software and the people who create it.

Donald