Feature request : In sketcher be able to enter dimensions

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paddle
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Feature request : In sketcher be able to enter dimensions

Post by paddle »

For rectangle, circle, fillet, polygon, slot, arc, line...

Instead of just clicking to make the object, then having to enter manually the constraints, it would be great if a widget appears in task window where we can enter some dimensions. And that the constraints are made automatically if values have been typed.

I mean for the rectangle for example. Instead of :
- Click 1 set one corner of rectangle
- Click 2 set the other corner of rectangle and create rectangle.
- Then having to manually create all constraints.

Instead:
- While Keeping the possibility to use click 1 to set point of first corner of rectangle. Also :
- A widget appears on the combo view prompting user for X coordinate of the point of the first corner or rectangle (preselected text so we can directly type number).
- Pressing enter prompt then for the Y coordinate of the point.

Then when first corner point is set by either method (clicking or typing) :

- A context appear on the side prompting user for width.
- Pressing enter prompt then for height of the rectangle.
- Pressing enter draw the rectangle with the constraints.
- While still keeping possibility to use Click 2 to set the other corner of rectangle and create rectangle.
Last edited by paddle on Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:46 am, edited 5 times in total.
chrisb
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Re: Feature request : In sketcher be able to enter dimensions

Post by chrisb »

Half of your posts here are feature requests. That gives the impression that you dont want FreeCAD but rather another system you probably already know. Please note that FreeCAD is not a clone of some other system. And hopefully will not be.
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paddle
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Re: Feature request : In sketcher be able to enter dimensions

Post by paddle »

chrisb wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 12:56 am Half of your posts here are feature requests. That gives the impression that you dont want FreeCAD but rather another system you probably already know. Please note that FreeCAD is not a clone of some other system. And hopefully will not be.
I just don't understand. Of course half my post are feature ideas in order to improve the user experience and make it better. What do you want people to post about? I think feature ideas should be much more appreciated than "How can I do that" posts. I'm kind of disappointed that no one replied to any feature ideas I posted there... I even wanted to make them myself, but now I wonder if they would even be integrated or if that would be a total waste of time...

I don't want FreeCAD to be a clone of whatever as you say. I just try to make it better on some points. You should value new user feedback because they help to see what is not so user friendly and could be improved. Of course once you get used to the way things are and know all shortcuts. the optimization I present may not seem so usefull. But from a new user it does make sens. And even for experienced user I think they will cut time.

- Drawing first adding constraints after makes a lot of steps. Entering dimensions while drawing make things much faster. Ok if you learned all shortcuts for the constraints it can be OK-fast, but the new user does not know all shortcuts and it take ages to add all constraints by clicking. And even if you know all shortcuts, it's still faster to be able to type the dimensions. I don't say to make this mandatory as kisolre seem to have understood, but to make that an option to have either way of doing.

- About the sketcher chamfer tool, ok other CAD software have it. Does that mean FreeCAD will become a "clone" of them if it integrates this very basic feature? Why having a fillet tool and not a chamfer tool in the sketcher? Can you tell me why it would be bad to have it and why it's somehow a bad feature idea?

- About the cut tool : Sorry but that's not becoming a clone of another CAD, it's just a missing feature. Just how do you do the thing I tried to do in my video? Currently you just can't. I tried work-around by making a pocket to remove all material behind my plane. And the answer is that it does not work because it would create two solids. Sorry but that's not an answer. The design I was trying to make is currently not possible to make with current features. It's not about becoming a clone of whatever.

- About the injection-molded case shell tool : I never seen this feature in another CAD software. It's just what I claimed to describe, a feature idea that would make FreeCAD much superior to other CAD to design product cases. Though I understand this can be difficult to make and low priority, this is still a good idea and should be kept in store.

- Round corner rectangle : I have not seen this feature idea in another CAD before. I think it would be kind of cool feature because often when you use fillet tool, it's just to round the 4 corners of a rectangle. Of course not always, but having an additional small tool like this make the software more powerfull.

Overall I'm a bit sad. I came here thinking "FreeCAD looks awesome let's try to get involved!". I started to learn, and thought "that's great as a new user I can see lot of things that could be improved or missing features. Let's make some nice feedback about it, with nice mockups to get people interested, see what they think of them! That can be a start to learn the code architecture and start contributing".

I don't think features idea should be taken as criticism but rather as opportunity to make things better. I don't want FreeCAD to be a clone of whatever software or I would just use that software. I just want to make the open source version better because I think open-source is the way things should be. You don't have to agree with all my ideas, but then just say why you think this or this is not a good idea in order to get the discussion on.

And again please dont see my post as criticism, I know FreeCAD is a lot of work from a lot of people and that it's awesome. I just want to bring a small stone to the building.
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Re: Feature request : In sketcher be able to enter dimensions

Post by chrisb »

I did not want to stop you from discussing improvements for FreeCAD. And I know it is a narrow ridge between missing things desperately and being satisfied just with the way it is and it has always been. But I would perhaps have liked to see what you are working on, how you model, and so on. I have seen here recently so many feature requests for things that are well known and have been discussed before, that I got a bit tired about it. We are not really lacking of feature requests or ideas what to improve. We need developers who do it.

If you want to implement all your proposals yourself it becomes a different story. So you should tell us about your plans and I'm sure you will get more feedback, even if features have been discussed before.
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paddle
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Re: Feature request : In sketcher be able to enter dimensions

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chrisb wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 9:25 am But I would perhaps have liked to see what you are working on, how you model, and so on.
To tell you more about me, I'm Pierre from France, I make game consoles called Raspiboy, RetroStone and RetroStone2 (www.8bcraft.com). I do the whole product design : 3D models, PCB...
I worked on a keyboard project too, but it has not launched successfully yet : https://www.oreason.io/home/
And I'm also working on a smartphone project now called OneDevice (www.onedevice.eu)

So most of my 3D modeling is to make product cases (hence my suggestion about injection case shell tool).

I was interested to learn FreeCAD and KiCAD in order to release my project as open-hardware. That's why I started replicating the RetroStone1 shell on FreeCAD. But I got stopped by the shell tool not working on this case.

I also do a bit of software development but that's not my main speciality. I know C/C++ correctly and have worked on a wxwidget program. Also know a bit linux architecture/driver for the game consoles.
chrisb wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 9:25 am I have seen here recently so many feature requests for things that are well known and have been discussed before, that I got a bit tired about it. We are not really lacking of feature requests or ideas what to improve.
Is there a page on the wiki where the features ideas are listed with current status like "WIP" "waiting developper"... I think it can be great because it would help keeping the good ideas in store.
chrisb wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 9:25 am If you want to implement all your proposals yourself it becomes a different story. So you should tell us about your plans and I'm sure you will get more feedback, even if features have been discussed before.
I could start by the chamfer tool. I think this one should be the easier to implement as it will be very similar to fillet. My main problem is that the source code is so big it feels overwhelming. I don't know where to start, how to understand the structure.

If you can comment my different feature ideas to let me know if they already have been discussed, if they are interesting, where to start looking.

Btw have you considered making a tutorial on how to contribute? I think I will make a video tutorial to show how to implement the features. This way it can help other people to want to commit.
Also I actually planed to make a video tutorial of the making of the RetroStone1 shell on FreeCAD. I think it can be a nice tutorial for those who want to make injection molded products. But as I got stuck by the shell tool it will be for later.
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adrianinsaval
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Re: Feature request : In sketcher be able to enter dimensions

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paddle wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 10:15 am Is there a page on the wiki where the features ideas are listed with current status like "WIP" "waiting developper"... I think it can be great because it would help keeping the good ideas in store.
I believe there was somewhere in the forum a proposal and a github repo was created were to keep track of things like this. I can't remember the title to search for it unfortunately, maybe someone else can provide a Link
paddle wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 10:15 am I could start by the chamfer tool. I think this one should be the easier to implement as it will be very similar to fillet. My main problem is that the source code is so big it feels overwhelming. I don't know where to start, how to understand the structure.
That would be nice, I feel the same like you about the code, currently I don't have the time to dig deep into it but it seems this has some interesting links Developer_hub. Hope I would some day learn python properly and some C++ to make some contributions.
paddle wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 10:15 am Btw have you considered making a tutorial on how to contribute? I think I will make a video tutorial to show how to implement the features. This way it can help other people to want to commit.
There is: Developing_FreeCAD_with_GitKraken
chrisb
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Re: Feature request : In sketcher be able to enter dimensions

Post by chrisb »

I use the FreeCAD style for the forum, and it provides a button to the bug tracker at http://www.freecadweb.org/tracker/. The feature requests there have already been discussed - or let's say they should have been discussed, because we always want to have a discussion prior to all bug reports or feature requests.
Then there are well known things which may not have a ticket yet, either because it is useless, which holds e.g. for the OCC issues with thickness or fillets, or it is otherwise well known, e.g. the fact that tangents are not possible in the middle of a B-spline. These are of course harder to find for newbies, but you should always do a forum search prior to opening a new feature request. If you find an old matching topic it is usually a good idea to open a new one and link the old instead of necrobumping.
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Re: Feature request : In sketcher be able to enter dimensions

Post by chrisb »

I forgot: I think it would be great if you can make a video of the development process.
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Re: Feature request : In sketcher be able to enter dimensions

Post by adrianinsaval »

chrisb wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 12:51 pm the fact that tangents are not possible in the middle of a B-spline.
Sorry for the off-topic, can you elaborate on this or provide some links? Why is this the case?
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paddle
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Re: Feature request : In sketcher be able to enter dimensions

Post by paddle »

chrisb wrote: Fri Feb 07, 2020 12:51 pm I use the FreeCAD style for the forum, and it provides a button to the bug tracker at http://www.freecadweb.org/tracker/. The feature requests there have already been discussed - or let's say they should have been discussed, because we always want to have a discussion prior to all bug reports or feature requests.
Ok so the wiki has nice documentation about how to contribute :
https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/Developer_hub

Ok so I read that I need to make sure my features ideas are interesting to be sure they will be integrated. So how does one do that? I posted here but I did not got any feedback.
How to get the feature on the bugtracker list?
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