Draft PolarArray

Description
The tool creates an array from a selected object placing the copies along a circumference.

This tool can be used on any object that has a Part TopoShape, meaning 2D shapes created with the Draft Workbench, but also 3D solids created with other workbenches, for example, Part, PartDesign, or Arch. It can also create App Links instead of simple copies.


 * To create orthogonal or circular arrays, use the corresponding and  tools.
 * To position copies along a path use or.
 * To position copies at specified points use.
 * To create copies and manually place them use or.
 * To create exact copies and manually place or scale them, use or.



Usage

 * 1) Select the object that you wish to array.
 * 2) Press the  button. If no object is selected, you will be invited to select one before proceeding.
 * 3) The task panel is launched where you can select the polar angle, the number of elements, and the center of the axis of rotation.
 * 4) You can click on the 3D view to simultaneously set the position of the center of rotation, and complete the command. Otherwise, just press  or the  button to complete the operation.

Notes:
 * By default, the axis of rotation is the positive Z axis . This can be changed in the property editor after the object is created.
 * Each element in the array is an exact clone of the original object, but the entire array is considered a single unit in terms of properties and appearance.
 * This command creates the same parametric "Array" object as the one created with the and  tools. Therefore, the array can be converted to orthogonal, polar, or circular by changing its  property.

Options
These are the options displayed in the task panel.


 * : the angle which determines where the last element of the array will be placed in the polar arrangement. The angle is positive in the counter-clockwise direction, and negative in the clockwise direction.
 * : the number of elements in the array. Minimum of 2, maximum of 99.
 * : the coordinates through which the axis of rotation goes through.
 * : it resets the center of rotation to the origin.
 * : if it is checked, the resulting objects in the array will fuse together if they touch each other. This only works if is unchecked.
 * : if it is checked, the resulting array will be a "Link array". This array internally uses App Link objects, so it is more efficient when handling many copies of complex shapes. However, in this case, the objects cannot be fused together.
 * Press or the  button to abort the current command.

if a Link array is created, this object cannot be converted to a regular array. And similarly, a regular array cannot be converted to a Link array. Therefore, you must choose the type of array that you want at creation time.

Properties
A PolarArray object internally is the same object produced with the tool. It is based on Part Feature ( class), and thus shares all properties of the latter.

See the tool for the complete description of the properties. All properties apply, except for those under the and  groups.

Scripting
Draft API and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

The PolarArray tool can be used in macros and from the Python console by using the following function.

Older call:

New call:


 * Creates an object from the.
 * is the number of copies in the polar pattern, including the original object.
 * is the angle of the polar arc in degrees.
 * is a vector that defines the center of the array pattern.
 * If is  the created copies will be App Links and not regular copies.

Example:

Scripting, non-parametric array
When using the tool, a parametric  object is created. This can be scripted as described in the previous section.

However, to obtain standalone copies of the base object, the simple function can be used. This will create simple copies, not a new parametric object.

To create a polar array, use it like this:


 * Creates an array from the objects contained in, which can be a single object or a list of objects.
 * In case of a polar array, defines the center of the array circle,  is the angle of the arc in degrees to cover with copies, and  is the number of copies to arrange on the circular arc, not including the original object.
 * is returned with the new copies. It is either a single object or a list of objects, depending on the input.

This function internally uses with.

Example: