Draft OrthoArray

Description
The tool creates an orthogonal (3-axes) array from a selected object.

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

This command deprecates the previously existing as well as the short lived  tools.



Usage

 * 1) Select the object that you wish to duplicate.
 * 2) Press the  button. If no object is selected, you will be invited to select one.
 * 3) The task panel is launched, where you can select the number of elements in each X, Y, Z direction; and the interval between each created element.
 * 4) You can click on the 3D view to set up all the numbers and intervals, and complete the command. Otherwise, just press  or the  button to complete the operation.

Options
These are the options displayed in the task panel.


 * : the elements in the X, Y, and Z directions. A copy of the original object is always produced, so this number must be at least in every direction.
 * : the values of displacement for the copies in the X direction. To create strictly rectangular arrays, the Y and Z values should be zero.
 * : the values of displacement for the copies in the Y direction. To create strictly rectangular arrays, the X and Z values should be zero.
 * : the values of displacement for the copies in the Z direction. To create strictly rectangular arrays, the X and Y values should be zero.
 * : it resets the interval vectors to a rectangular displacement, that is, , and.
 * : 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
See also: Property editor.

The Draft OrthoArray command, the Draft PolarArray command and the Draft CircularArray command create the same object. This object is derived from a Part Feature object and inherits all its properties (with the exception of some View properties that are not inherited by Link arrays). The following properties are additional unless otherwise stated:

Data
The properties in this group are only available for Link arrays. See Std LinkMake for more information.



The properties in this group are hidden for orthogonal arrays and polar arrays.


 * : specifies the number of circular layers. Must be at least.
 * : specifies the distance between circular layers.
 * : specifies the number of symmetry lines. This number changes the distribution of the elements in the array.
 * : specifies the distance between elements in the same circular layer.


 * : specifies the type of array, which can be, or.
 * : specifies the object and edge to be used instead of the and  properties. Not used for orthogonal arrays.
 * : specifies the object to duplicate in the array.
 * : (read-only) specifies the total number of elements in the array. Only available for Link arrays.
 * : specifies whether to expand the array in the Tree view to enable the selection of its individual elements. Only available for Link arrays.
 * : specifies if overlapping elements in the array are fused or not. Not used for Link arrays.

The properties in this group are hidden for circular arrays and polar arrays.


 * : specifies the interval between elements in the X direction.
 * : specifies the interval between elements in the Y direction.
 * : specifies the interval between elements in the Z direction.
 * : specifies the number of elements in the X direction. Must be at least.
 * : specifies the number of elements in the Y direction. Must be at least.
 * : specifies the number of elements in the Z direction. Must be at least.

The properties in this group are hidden for circular arrays and orthogonal arrays.


 * : specifies the aperture of the circular arc. Use for a full circle.
 * : specifies the interval between elements in the direction.
 * : specifies the number of elements in the polar direction.

The properties in this group are hidden for orthogonal arrays.


 * : specifies the direction of the axis of the array.
 * : specifies the center point of the array. The axis of the array passes through this point. For circular arrays it is an offset from the of the  object.

View
The properties in this group, with the exception of the inherited property, are only available for Link arrays. See Std LinkMake for more information.


 * : this is an inherited property that appears in the Selection group for other arrays
 * : this is an inherited property that appears in the Selection group for other arrays
 * : this is an inherited property that appears in the Selection group for other arrays
 * : this is an inherited property that appears in the Selection group for other arrays
 * : this is an inherited property that appears in the Selection group for other arrays

The properties in this group, with the exception of the inherited property, are only available for Link arrays. See Std LinkMake for more information.


 * : this is an inherited property.
 * : this is an inherited property.
 * : this is an inherited property.
 * : this is an inherited property.
 * : this is an inherited property.

The properties in this group are inherited properties. See Part Feature for more information.


 * : this property is not inherited by Link arrays.
 * : for Link arrays it can be or . For other arrays it can be:, ,  or


 * : not used.
 * : not used.

The properties in this group are not inherited by Link arrays.

Scripting
See also: Autogenerated API documentation and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

Parametric array
To create a parametric orthogonal array use the method  of the Draft module. This method replaces the deprecated method. The method can create Draft OrthoArrays, Draft PolarArrays and Draft CircularArrays. For each array type one or more wrappers are available.

The main method:

The wrappers for orthogonal arrays are:

The wrappers for rectangular arrays are:


 * is the object to be arrayed. It can also be the (string) of an object in the current document.
 * ,, and are the vectors between the base points of the elements in the respective directions.
 * ,, and are the  distances between the base points of the elements in the respective directions.
 * ,, and are the numbers of elements in the respective directions.
 * If is  the created elements are App Links instead of regular copies.
 * is returned with the created array object.

Example:

Non-parametric array
To create a non-parametric orthogonal array use the method of the Draft module. This method returns.

Example: