Draft Ellipse

Description
The Ellipse tool creates an ellipse in the current work plane by entering two points, defining the corners of a rectangular box in which the ellipse will fit. It uses the Draft Linestyle set on the Draft Tray.

This tool can also be used to create elliptical arcs by specifying the start and end angles. To create circles and circular arcs use the Draft Circle and Draft Arc tools. You can also approximate an elliptical or circular arc using the Draft BSpline and Draft BezCurve tools.



How to use

 * 1) Press the  button, or press  then  keys.
 * 2) Click a first point on the 3D view, or type a coordinate and press the  button.
 * 3) Click a second point on the 3D view, or type a coordinate and press the  button.

The ellipse can be turned into an elliptical arc after creation, by setting its first angle and last angle properties to different values.

Options

 * To enter coordinates manually, simply enter the numbers, then press between each X, Y and Z component. You can press the  button when you have the desired values to insert the point.
 * Press or click the checkbox to toggle relative mode. If relative mode is on, the coordinates of the second point are relative to the first one; if not, they are absolute, taken from the origin (0,0,0).
 * Press or click the checkbox to toggle continue mode. If continue mode is on, the Ellipse tool will restart after you finish the shape, allowing you to draw another one without pressing the tool button again.
 * Press or click the checkbox to toggle filled mode. If filled mode is on, the ellipse will create a filled face ; if not, the ellipse will not make a face.
 * Press while drawing to force snapping your point to the nearest snap location, independently of the distance.
 * Press while drawing to constrain your second point horizontally or vertically in relation to the first one.
 * Press or the  button to abort the current command.

Properties
An Ellipse object shares many properties with a Draft Circle, but some properties only make sense for the ellipse.

Data

 * : specifies the angle of the first point of the ellipse; normally 0&#176;.
 * : specifies the angle of the last point of the ellipse; normally 0&#176;.
 * : specifies the major radius of the ellipse.
 * : specifies the minor radius of the ellipse.
 * If the both radius have the same value, the ellipse looks the same as a Draft Circle.


 * : specifies if the Ellipse makes a face or not. If it is a face is created, otherwise only the perimeter is considered part of the object. This property only works if the shape is a full ellipse.
 * For it to be a full ellipse and  should have the same value; otherwise, an elliptical arc is displayed. The values 0&#176; and 360&#176; are considered the same.

View

 * : specifies a Draft Pattern with which to fill the face of the shape. This property only works if is, and if  is "Flat Lines".
 * : specifies the size of the Draft Pattern.

Scripting
FreeCAD Scripting Basics, Draft API, and the autogenerated API documentation.

The Ellipse tool can by used in macros and from the Python console by using the following function:


 * Creates an object with given major  and minor  radius in millimeters.
 * The bigger value will be used for the major radius (X axis) if no other placement is given.
 * If a is given, it is used; otherwise the shape is created at the origin.
 * If is, the ellipse will make a face, that is, it will appear filled.

Example: