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draw toolbar

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Here is our listing of typical train wreck issues while learning QCad on your own.
Written descriptions of cad training concepts are very difficult to write and also difficult to read. If you don't like to read, then you may want to consider "The Cad Training CD".

Drawing setup requirements to get started
    (this is the longest topic and has its own webpage)
Object Snap Modes
Object Snap User Issues
Scan Your Instruments
Importance of CommandLine Usage
Modify>Move-Copy Issues
Modify>Divide Issues
Properties & Attributes

Modify>Move-Copy Issues
If you are experiencing some difficulty using those modify tools, here is some insight that may be helpful.

If you have an entity selected before you click on the Modify>Move-Copy tool, then the left-hand toolbar changes to the <object snap> toolbar. Once you select the snap or no-snap tool, then the rest of the help instructions work as advertised. If you don't have the entity selected when you click on the Modify>Move-Copy tool, then the left-hand toolbar first offers the method of selection. After you pick a method of selection and select the desired entity, then you MUST click the bottom right-hand arrow of the selection toolbar to get to the <object snap> toolbar. Until you click on that right-hand arrow, you will never get the <object snap> toolbar, and you can't get anything to work.

I can not call this a help file problem. The help file does point out that you must click on the right-arrow. Its just human nature to get confused because the program behaves differently when you have the entity pre-selected versus when the entity is not pre-selected. I believe there is some inconsistency here because I think that other tools auto switch to <object snap> when needed. With more experience I will be able to clarify if this inconsistency is real or just my imagination.

Modify>Divide Issues
Here is another glitch in the help system. The help for using the Modify>Divide tool indicates in step #2 that you can click the mouse to set the divide point. It further misleads by stating that the divide point is usually the intersection of some other entity. Absolutely wrong! The divide point HAS TO BE another entity and the Object Snap tool has to be used to establish this intersection point before the mouse click will work. You can tell when the mouse click took effect because the status line changes from "specify cutting point" to "specify entity to cut".

So if you want to divide a line segment you must first place a temporary cross line or use some other entity that already intersects with the line that you want to divide. Then Modify, select the Cut scissors on the edit toolbar, then roll over to the entity to be cut and click on it, now select the <object snap> snap-to-intersection tool, then place the mouse near the intersection and left click the mouse to effect the divide function. Then delete the temporary cross line.

Same is true with the Modify>Divide2 tool. This tool removes a chunk from the line and must have two intersecting lines to establish the chunk size.

Properties and Attributes
The difference between properties and attributes for a selected entity vary by the type of entity selected. Lets use a line for one example. When you select a line entity, and you have the property window docked on the right window pane, then you can see the editing functions available for the line. Notice that you can change the endpoint (x,y) locations, and which layer it resides on (if more than one layer is available). Just click on the <Value Column> of the Property Window and you can type over of use up/down arrows to change that property value for this entity. You can't change anything else about this entity. Now with the same line selected, click on <Edit> <Modify attributes> and an attributes window pops up. Within this attribute window, you can change the entity layer, pen color, pen width, and pen line type

Lets look at another entity, an ellipse. Notice that the Property window has many more options for the ellipse than for the line. This is because many more considerations are required to draw an ellipse versus a line. If you now use <Edit> <Modify attributes> you will see that the attributes options are the same for the ellipse as they were for the line.

In conclusion, properties of an entity have to do with the layer location, positioning and shape of the selected entity, while the attributes have to do with the layer location and pen qualities for that entity.

"DryStacked Construction Handbook" explains how to build with dry stacked block and surface bonded cement.

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