arc height for circuitry

[mciarrocca]

When adding arc style circuitry, keying in the arc height is not user friendly. It would be nice to be able to select the midpoint location of the arc for a height reference. We find ourselves constantly adjusting the arc height after circuitry has been drawn to minimize interference with other objects.

[Anonymous]

Yes, adjusting the "arc height" of arc wiring isn't the easiest thing
ever... but would a easer way to adjust the arc height be better, or would
having a 3 point arc be a better solutions (the three point arc would allow
you to pick the "midpoint" of the arc, as well as the two endpoints)?

jason

"mciarrocca" wrote in message
news:f16e4d8.-1@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> When adding arc style circuitry, keying in the arc height is not user
friendly. It would be nice to be able to select the midpoint location of the
arc for a height reference. We find ourselves constantly adjusting the arc
height after circuitry has been drawn to minimize interference with other
objects.

[mciarrocca]

I'd prefer the 3-point arc. The ends typically connect to devices; the midpoint selection by mouse is what I meant by the original request.

[Anonymous]

I also would prefer a three point arc. This would allow for adjustment of
the circuit arc to avoid such things as other objects and room tags.
It may also negate the need for circuit flipping or mirroring.

"mciarrocca" wrote in message
news:f16e4d8.1@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> I'd prefer the 3-point arc. The ends typically connect to devices; the
midpoint selection by mouse is what I meant by the original request.

[jgillespie]

I hate to keep flogging a dead horse, but has Autodesk ever decided to act on this wish? Jason asked this question years ago, all of the responses indicate users want a 3 point arc capability to avoid conflicts within the drawing. The spline command added a few updates back does not yield the desired result, and the homerun cannot be controlled as it needs to be. I just installed 2008 MEP (notice the name change from BS...), and still no 3 point arc add wire command. Please, please, PLEASE Autodesk, please give us the 3 point arc add wire command, and make sure that you include this feature for the homerun. This is how it was before in the Softdesk days........

[tobysmith]

A three-point wire arc has been in the product for quite some time, but it was not documented and not easily discoverable. As part of the 2007.1 updates, the Command Line and Help files were updated. In addition, three-point circuiting was added for Snake and the new Spline segment.

To use three-point circuiting, start the WireAdd command and select the first device. Then select the mid-point location then the next device (Note: If you just pick first device and then the next device, the height settings in the Properties Palette will be used).

Also, 2007.1 added functionality to easily grip edit wires once they are placed - separate grips for wires and tickmarks and tickmark grips only appear when tickmarks are visible.

Thanks,

Toby Smith, PE, LEED AP
MEP Content Specifier / Product Designer

[jgillespie]

Thanks Toby, it actually works! Any reason the 3 point feature was not made available for the homerun? Having it available for connecting devices is a big improvement, and I like the feature of having the default 2 point feature still available for times when you are not having to avoid other objects.

[vewright]

Nice tip.

However, I would like to see 100% reliability placing home runs. About 5% of the time, in my experience, AutoCAD scatters the home run symbols across the drawing. It places the dot on the tick mark at 0,0, the tick mark off the arc, and the arrowhead some distance away from the end of the arc. Edting this "exploded" symbol with grips does no good. The dot stays at 0,0, and the other parts move in different directions.

I can find no correlation between this behavior and any known parameter. So far, the only remedy seems to be undo or erase the home run, then repeat the command, maybe five to ten times before AutoCAD decides to do it right.

Then, it may not misbehave for hours.