Adjusting Walls and Lines (Relative vrs. Absolute) [I think]

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

Has anyone run into the option to change the length of walls and lines in a relative distance rather than an absolute distance. By this I mean that if I select a wall that is 3 feet long grab a hotspot and start dragging the end and enter the new distance as 2 feet, I would like that wall to become 5 feet in length, not 2 feet. The only solution I have at the moment is to use [alt] + [shift] to place the user origin at the opposite end of the wall from the hotspot and stretch from there. While this is acceptable it is not the greatest in my opinion. Does anyone know of a global option to control this that I am just not seeing?

Thanks,

[Anonymous]

Rob,
Drawing a wall by hitting "R" and then entering the length then hitting enter has always worked for me. If you then grab the end node and start
stretching, hit "R" again and enter a length, then hit enter, the wall is
lengthened by that amount and the total length is now the old
length plus the added length.
This does not work when stretching library parts. Library parts
work like you describe.
Do you have the relative coordinates triangle highlighted
in the coordinates palette ?
Peter Devlin

[Link]

I think that's just the default behaviour of the Edit Origin when stretching via the pet palette and it's opposite than when performing any other edit. It's the same for Walls, Beams, Lines, Labels and S/E's and AFAIK there is no switch as such to change it.

An alternative is to hit R2+=, and while it's easier using the Numerical keypad, it's still not much easier than manually repositioning the Edit Origin the way they are.

Would be nice though - and could even move towards a kind of Nudge command.

Cheers,
Link.

[Anonymous]

Hello Link,
You have me confused.
Are you saying that the method I suggested does not work ?
When you say "edit origin" are you referring to creating a
"user origin" ?
When I use the method I describe I do not have to
create a user origin.
Please explain if you would.
Thanks,
Peter Devlin

[Link]

Peter said:

You have me confused.

Uh-oh, I've done that to you before...

Are you saying that the method I suggested does not work ?

Not for me mate. Never has AFAIR. My wall is not lengthened by that amount - it's lengthened to that amount.

When you say "edit origin" are you referring to creating a
"user origin" ? When I use the method I describe I do not have to
create a user origin.

No I am talking about the Edit Origin that overrides the User Origin when you are editing/creating something.

Please explain if you would.

Sounds like you know something we don't!

Cheers,
Link.

[Barry Kelly]

Peter wrote:
Hello Link,
You have me confused.
Are you saying that the method I suggested does not work ?
When you say "edit origin" are you referring to creating a
"user origin" ?
When I use the method I describe I do not have to
create a user origin.
Please explain if you would.
Thanks,
Peter Devlin

Seems to be a new feature in V10?
The origin is always the opposite end of the wall.
So R 2 will set the length to 2 and R 2 + = will add 2 to the length.

In V8.1 (can't say for V9) the origin for the stretch would snap to the end of the wall that was closest to the cursor when you press the shift key.
So you could control whether 2 was added to the length or used as the overall length by simply positioning your cursor appropriately.

Barry.

[Link]

Of course you are right Barry - it's relative to the nearest node.

My memory is obviously FAILING ME!

I gotta get more sleep.

Cheers,
Link.

[Anonymous]

Hello Link,
We have a mystery here.
You say that the method I described does not work for you.
Ever since I started using AC starting with AC 4.5
I have always used the method I described and it always worked.
I have always had the relative coordinate triangle highlighted
and I don't use any other key commands other than "R" and "shift"
if that makes a difference.
Barry, can you get my method to work ?
Thanks,
Peter Devlin

[Barry Kelly]

Peter wrote:
Barry, can you get my method to work ?
Thanks,
Peter Devlin

Peter,
Not in V10.
Not unless I place the cursor at the end of the wall and type R 2 + enter.
Relative coordinate triangle are on.

Just turned the guidelines off and then using SHIFT it works as you describe (same as earlier versions).
I guess you are not using the guidelines?

Barry.

[Stephen Dolbee]

I've noticed with Tracker on, it prefers "D" for distance rather than "R".