Linear Pattern Properties Dialog Box - SmartSketch - Help

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Smart Engineering Manager Version
11
SmartSketch Version
11.1

Displays specific descriptive information and attributes of the selected linear pattern.

Notes

Type a brief description or other useful information about the linear pattern.

Based on

Displays the name of the pattern on which this linear pattern was based.

Units

Specifies the geometric definition for the linear pattern. World units define the width of the line in geometric space; Paper units define the width of the line on paper. Changing the drawing scale has no effect on styles defined in Paper units; however, it does change styles defined in World units.

When using the Line Style Editor to create new styles, if a linear style uses a linear pattern and/or point style, it is recommended that they all have the same units.

Phasing — Select how dashes will be displayed.

  • Normal — Repeats the stroke sequence without altering the strokes between repetitions.

  • Autophasing — Adjusts the length of stretchable strokes so that the line always starts and ends with a dash.

  • Single Stroke Sequence — Scales the stroke sequence uniformly so that the first stroke sequence begins the line and the last stroke sequence appears at the end of the line.

Fraction of first dash (%)

Set a numeric between 0 and 100 that represents the fraction of the first dash to be used as the last dash of a line when the phasing is set to Autophasing or Single Stroke Sequence.

Display dashes

Indicates whether dashes in this pattern are visible.

Break on change in direction

Indicates that a break in the linear pattern occurs whenever the line changes direction.

Stroke index

Indicates the location within a stroke sequence where each stroke is displayed. Each stroke within a sequence appears as a gap or a dash. Information about the stroke located in a selected index location appears in the remaining fields in this section of the dialog box.

Dash length

Set the length of the current stroke.

Fixed length

Indicates that the length of the stroke is definite and cannot be lengthened or shortened for phasing.

Stretchable

Indicates that the active stroke may be altered for phasing.

Dot

Indicates that the stroke should be displayed as a dot.

SHARED Tip Selecting the Dot option disables the Dash length field, as the length is set by the selection.

Zero length

Indicates that the active stroke has no length. A stoke with no length is often used as a place holder for a point style or as the last stroke if no gap is wanted between cycles.

SHARED Tip Selecting the Zero Length option disables the Dash length field, as the length is set by the selection.

Name

Select a point style from this list box to apply to the active stroke.

Angle

Set the angle by which the point style should be rotated when it is displayed. This value is measured from the selected Orientation. This field is available only when you have selected an option from the Name list box.

  • The angle appears in the default units set in the host application; however, the field accepts any unit of measure applicable to an angle.

  • A positive value in this field rotates the point style in a counter-clockwise direction about its origin, while a negative value results in clockwise rotation.

Orientation

Specifies the reference from which rotation is measured, as specified in the Angle field. This reference may be the sheet or the line to which the point style is applied. This field is available only when you have selected an option from the Name list box.

  • Relative — Indicates rotation should be calculated from the slope of the line.

  • Absolute — Indicates rotation should be calculated relative to the sheet.

  • Always Up — Indicates rotation should be calculated relative to the slope of the line, but that the x-axis of the point style is aligned with the line before the specified rotation is applied. In other words, if a line is horizontal, the top of the point style is aligned toward the top of the page, or if the line is vertical, the point style is aligned toward the left side of the page before the rotation is applied.

SHARED Tip This setting allows you to ensure that text within a pattern is displayed so that it is readable from left to right or from bottom to top. Even if a line is drawn from right to left, the images within the pattern are displayed as if the line was drawn from left to right.

Position along stroke (%)

Using a numeric value between 0 and 100, set the fraction into the stroke from which the X and Y offsets are measured. For example, if you set this value to 50, the offsets will be measured from the middle of the selected stroke. This field is available only when you have selected an option from the Name list box.

X offset

Distance along the stroke, at which the point style's origin is located. This distance is measured from the point specified in the Position along stroke field. This field is available only when you have selected an option from the Name list box.

Y offset

Distance perpendicular to the stroke at which the point style's origin is located. This distance is measured from the point specified in the Position along stroke field. This field is available only when you have selected an option from the Name list box.

Add stroke

Creates a new stroke. A new number will be added to the Stroke index list box, and the new stroke is made active in the dialog box.

Remove stroke

Removes the active stroke from the linear pattern. This button is available only when more than two strokes exist.

  • To create a solid line with superimposed point style images, create dashes and apply the point styles relative to those dashes. Then create gaps with zero length.

  • When you turn off the Display dashes command on this dialog, point styles applied to the linear pattern are still displayed positioned relative to the invisible dashes.

Preview

Displays the linear pattern image.