TechDraw Balloon

    From FreeCAD Documentation

    TechDraw Balloon.svg TechDraw Balloon

    Menu location
    TechDraw → Annotations → Insert Balloon Annotation
    Workbenches
    TechDraw
    Default shortcut
    None
    Introduced in version
    0.19
    See also
    TechDraw Annotation

    Description

    The TechDraw Balloon tool can add balloons with leader line in a drawing.

    Techdraw balloon.png

    Usage

    1. Select one of the following:
    2. There are several ways to invoke the tool:
      • Press the TechDraw Balloon.svg Insert Balloon Annotation button.
      • Select the TechDraw → Annotations → TechDraw Balloon.svg Insert Balloon Annotation option from the menu.
    3. If a View or a region was selected:
      1. The cursor changes to a balloon icon.
      2. Click a point on the page for the origin of the Balloon.

    To move the bubble of a Balloon, press and hold the left mouse button on its center and drag the mouse.

    To change the properties of a Balloon double-click it on the page or in the Tree view. This will open the Balloon task panel.

    Note: The position of a Balloon is relative to its Source View and uses the same scale factor.

    Using separators

    When using a rectangle shape, separators can be added using "|" in the text. For example "AAA|TEST|111" gives:

    Balloon separator.png

    Properties

    Data

    • DataText: Text to be displayed.
    • DataSource View: Source View for the balloon.
    • DataOrigin X: Balloon origin x-position relative to the View.
    • DataOrigin Y: Balloon origin y-position relative to the View.
    • DataEnd Type: End symbol for the balloon line. Options: Arrowfilled.svg Filled Arrow, Arrowopen.svg Open Arrow, Arrowtick.svg Tick, Arrowdot.svg Dot, Arrowopendot.svg Open Circle, Arrowfork.svg Fork, Arrowpyramid.svg Filled Triangle, None.
    • DataEnd Type Scale: Scale factor for the End Type.
    • DataBubble Shape: Shape of the balloon bubble. Options: Circular.svg Circular, None, Triangle.svg Triangle, Inspection.svg Inspection, Hexagon.svg Hexagon, TechDraw Square.svg Square, Rectangle.svg Rectangle.
    • DataShape Scale: Scale factor for the Shape.
    • DataText Wrap: Text wrap length; -1 means the text will never be wrapped and the result is in every case a single line.
    • DataKink Length: Distance from the Shape to the leader line kink.
    • DataX: Horizontal position of the balloon bubble relative to the View.
    • DataY: Vertical position of the balloon bubble relative to the View.

    View

    • ViewColor: Color of the balloon text.
    • ViewFont: The name of the font to use for the balloon bubble.
    • ViewFontsize: Dimension text size in mm.
    • ViewLine Visible: Whether the balloon line is visible.
    • ViewLine Width: Balloon line width

    Scripting

    See also: Autogenerated API documentation and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

    The Balloon tool can be used in macros and from the Python console by using the following functions:

    bal1 = FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject('TechDraw::DrawViewBalloon','Balloon')
    rc = page.addView(bal1)