Tutorials CadCraft help Walkthroughs
Construction lines and rays
Draw lines that run on without end (XLINE) or from a point one way (RAY) to line things up, and trim them into ordinary lines.
Written for CadCraft 0.5. The same help is inside the app: press F1.
What you will learn
How to draw construction lines to line things up while you draft: through two points, level or upright, at an angle, halfway between two directions, or a set distance from a line. And how to trim them into ordinary lines when they have done their job.
Two kinds
- A construction line (
XLINE) runs on without end both ways. - A ray (
RAY) starts at a point and runs on without end one way.
Both draw across the whole drawing area whatever the zoom, in split screen and in viewports on a sheet. Extents leaves them out, so zooming to the drawing still fits what you drew.
Draw construction lines
- Click Draw › More › Construction line, or type
XLand press ReturnEnter. - Click a point. Every click after it adds a construction line through the first point and the one you click.
- Press ReturnEnter to finish.
Instead of the first point you can type an option:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
H (Hor) | Level lines, one through each point you click. |
V (Ver) | Upright lines through each point. |
A (Ang) | Lines at an angle you type (degrees, counter-clockwise from the X axis), through each point. R (Reference) measures the angle from a line you pick. |
B (Bisect) | Click the corner, then a point along one side: each point you click along the other side adds the line halfway between the two. |
O (Offset) | Type a distance, pick a line, then click the side: a construction line that far from it, parallel. T (Through) puts it through a point you click instead. The distance is remembered for the next time. |
Draw rays
- Click Draw › More › Ray, or type
RAYand press ReturnEnter. - Click where the rays start.
- Click a point for each ray to pass through. Press ReturnEnter to finish.
Snap to them and trim them
Construction lines and rays take the Nearest, Perpendicular and Intersection snaps. They have no ends and no middle, so Endpoint and Midpoint don't find anything on them.
They cut and get cut like other lines in TRIM and BREAK:
- Trim one end off a construction line and it becomes a ray starting at the cut.
- Trim the far part off a ray and it becomes an ordinary line.
- Break a construction line at one point and you get two rays.
MOVE, COPY, ROTATE, MIRROR, OFFSET and STRETCH work on them too. A window selection never picks them, because no window can hold all of an endless line; a crossing window or a click does.