Draft Wire
Draft Wire |
Menu location |
---|
Draft → Wire |
Workbenches |
Draft, Arch |
Default shortcut |
W I |
Introduced in version |
0.7 |
See also |
Draft Line, Draft BSpline |
Description
The Wire tool creates a polyline (a sequence of several line segments). It uses the Draft Linestyle set on the Draft Tray. The Wire tool behaves exactly like the Draft Line tool, except that it allows you to enter more than two points.
The Draft BSpline tool behaves like the Wire tool, except that each of its segments is curved instead of being a straight line.
How to use
- Press the Draft Wire button, or press W then I keys.
- Click a first point on the 3D view, or type a coordinate and press the add point button.
- Click additional points on the 3D view, or type a coordinate and press the add point button.
- Press Esc or the Close button to complete the edition.
The wire can be edited by double clicking on the element in the tree view, or by pressing the Draft Edit button. Move the points around to a new position, or click add point or remove point and then click on the wire to add or remove points.
Fuse single lines
If several connected Draft Lines are selected when pressing the Draft Wire button, they will be turned into a wire and the command will exit. introduced in version 0.17
Note: the end points of the lines must be exactly touching or they won't merge. If necessary, manually adjust the Draft Coordinates of the start and end points of the lines, or use Draft Snap with the Draft Endpoint mode to make the nodes coincident.
Options
- Press A or the Finish button to finish the wire, leaving it open.
- Press O or the Close button to close the wire, that is, a segment will be added from the last point to the first one to form a face. At least three points are required to form a face.
- Press W or the Wipe button to remove the line segments already placed, but keep editing the wire from the last point.
- Press U or the Set WP button to adjust the current working plane in the orientation of the last point.
- Press X, Y or Z after a point to constrain the next point on the given axis.
- To enter coordinates manually, simply enter the numbers, then press Enter between each X, Y and Z component. You can press the add point button when you have the desired values to insert the point.
- Press R or click the checkbox to toggle relative mode. If relative mode is on, the coordinates of the next point are relative to the last one; if not, they are absolute, taken from the origin (0,0,0).
- Press T or click the checkbox to toggle continue mode. If continue mode is on, the Wire tool will restart after you finish the wire, allowing you to draw another one without pressing the tool button again.
- Press L or click the checkbox to toggle filled mode. If filled mode is on, a closed wire will create a filled face (DataMake Face
true
); if not, the closed wire will not make a face (DataMake Facefalse
).
- Note: the wire should not be filled if it intersects itself, as it won't create a proper face. If the wire is filled but no shape is visible, manually set DataMake Face to
false
to see the wire.
- Press Ctrl while drawing to force snapping your point to the nearest snap location, independently of the distance.
- Press Shift while drawing to constrain your next point horizontally or vertically in relation to the last one.
- Press Ctrl+Z or press the Undo button to undo the last point.
- Press Esc or the Close button to abort the current command; line segments already placed will remain.
Properties
A Wire object shares all properties from a Draft Line, however, most properties only make sense for a Wire.
Data
- DataStart: specifies the first point in the wire.
- DataEnd: specifies the last point in the wire, not counting the initial point if the wire is closed.
- DataClosed: specifies if the wire is closed or not. If the wire is initially open, this value is
false
; setting it totrue
will draw a line segment to close the wire. If the wire is initially closed, this value istrue
; setting it tofalse
will remove the last line segment, and make the wire open. - DataChamfer Size: specifies the size of the chamfers (straight segments) created on the corners of the wire.
- DataFillet Radius: specifies the radius of the fillets (arc segments) created on the corners of the wire.
- DataMake Face: specifies if the wire makes a face or not. If it is
true
a face is created, otherwise only the edges are considered part of the object. This property only works if DataClosed istrue
.
- Note: do not set DataMake Face to
true
if the wire intersects itself, as it won't create a proper face.
- DataSubdivisions: specifies the number of interior nodes in each segment of the wire. introduced in version 0.16
- DataLength: (read-only) specifies the length of the entire wire.
View
- ViewEnd Arrow: if it is
true
it will display a symbol at the last point of the wire, so it can be used as an annotation line. - ViewArrow Size: specifies the size of the symbol displayed at the end of the wire.
- ViewArrow Type: specifies the type of symbol displayed at the end of the wire, which can be "Dot", "Circle", "Arrow", or "Tick".
- ViewPattern: specifies a Draft Pattern with which to fill the face of the closed wire. This property only works if DataMake Face is
true
, and if ViewDisplay Mode is "Flat Lines". - ViewPattern Size: specifies the size of the Draft Pattern.
Scripting
See also: FreeCAD Scripting Basics, Draft API, and the autogenerated API documentation.
The Wire tool can be used in macros and from the Python console by using the following function:
Wire = makeWire(pointslist, closed=False, placement=None, face=None, support=None)
Wire = makeWire(Part.Wire, closed=False, placement=None, face=None, support=None)
- Creates a
Wire
object with the given list of points,pointslist
.- Each point in the list is defined by its
FreeCAD.Vector
, with units in millimeters. - Alternatively, the input can be a
Part.Wire
, from which points are extracted.
- Each point in the list is defined by its
- If
closed
isTrue
, or if the first and last points are identical, the wire is closed. - If a
placement
is given, it is used; otherwise the shape is created at the origin. - If
face
isTrue
, and the wire is closed, the wire will make a face, that is, it will appear filled.
Example:
import FreeCAD, Draft
p1 = FreeCAD.Vector(0, 0, 0)
p2 = FreeCAD.Vector(1000, 1000, 0)
p3 = FreeCAD.Vector(2000, 0, 0)
Wire1 = Draft.makeWire([p1, p2, p3], closed=True)
Wire2 = Draft.makeWire([p1, 2*p3, 1.3*p2], closed=True)
Wire3 = Draft.makeWire([1.3*p3, p1, -1.7*p2], closed=True)
- Drafting: Line, Polyline, Fillet, Arc, Arc by 3 points, Circle, Ellipse, Rectangle, Polygon, B-spline, Cubic Bézier curve, Bézier curve, Point, Facebinder, ShapeString, Hatch
- Annotation: Text, Dimension, Label, Annotation styles, Annotation scale
- Modification: Move, Rotate, Scale, Mirror, Offset, Trimex, Stretch, Clone, Array, Polar array, Circular array, Path array, Path link array, Point array, Point link array, Edit, Subelement highlight, Join, Split, Upgrade, Downgrade, Wire to B-spline, Draft to sketch, Set slope, Flip dimension, Shape 2D view
- Draft Tray: Select plane, Set style, Toggle construction mode, AutoGroup
- Snapping: Snap lock, Snap endpoint, Snap midpoint, Snap center, Snap angle, Snap intersection, Snap perpendicular, Snap extension, Snap parallel, Snap special, Snap near, Snap ortho, Snap grid, Snap working plane, Snap dimensions, Toggle grid
- Miscellaneous: Apply current style, Layer, Manage layers, Add a new named group, Move to group, Select group, Add to construction group, Toggle normal/wireframe display, Create working plane proxy, Heal, Show snap toolbar
- Additional: Constraining, Pattern, Preferences, Import Export Preferences, DXF/DWG, SVG, OCA, DAT
- Context menu:
- Layer container: Merge layer duplicates, Add new layer
- Layer: Activate this layer, Select layer contents
- Text: Open hyperlinks
- Wire: Flatten
- Working plane proxy: Write camera position, Write objects state
- Getting started
- Installation: Download, Windows, Linux, Mac, Additional components, Docker, AppImage, Ubuntu Snap
- Basics: About FreeCAD, Interface, Mouse navigation, Selection methods, Object name, Preferences, Workbenches, Document structure, Properties, Help FreeCAD, Donate
- Help: Tutorials, Video tutorials
- Workbenches: Std Base, Assembly, BIM, CAM, Draft, FEM, Inspection, Material, Mesh, OpenSCAD, Part, PartDesign, Points, Reverse Engineering, Robot, Sketcher, Spreadsheet, Surface, TechDraw, Test Framework
- Hubs: User hub, Power users hub, Developer hub