Toggle Construction Lines a an option on the fly

[threadbuilt]

Toggle between normal lines and Construction lines during sketch (i.e. on the fly) by pressing an appropriate key such as Ctrl / Command or Tab rather than completing a line or shape and then right clicking it to select the option. This will allow for really quick iteration on complex or multiple construction lines in a sketch but would be quicker than right clicking in general.

[carl_bass]

I just checked Saturday's release. I  know it's not quite what you suggested but in the next release, you can toggle back and forth on selected items between normal and construction by pressing "x"

I like your idea better but this should help and doing multiples works well

[threadbuilt]

@carl_bass, thanks for the heads up on this incoming feature. I will be sure to keep an eye out and give it a test drive. I do think my idea at least in terms of elegance might be a little nicer but am not complaining if it is made easier in general.

Do you know if the toggling with keyboard shortcut "x" is going to be an advertised option? In that I mean when you are drawing lines does this come up as a tooltip, or when you have the lines selected will it show Construction/Normal (shortcut = "X") or similar? Otherwise it risks being an obscure feature that most people will remain blissfully unaware of.

Thanks.

[carl_bass]

@threadbuilt in Keqing's blog you can see a description of all the  keyboard shortcuts

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/design-differently/september-update-preview/ba-p/5811642

Most all of the keyboard shortcuts are displayed when you see the corresponding menu item

just  4  more days

[threadbuilt]

So now that I have settled in with the keyboard shortcuts I thought it timely to provide an update on this topic. The ability to toggle these items through the "X" key is something I use regularly and is definitely a time saver but I still think that being able to toggle between construction lines and normal lines during the line command (or other sketch commands) would be a useful feature. When you are sketching something 99% of the time you know before hand whether this would be a construction line or not so why not place this option up front also?

I think this is quicker than completing the command than re-selecting the line and toggling it after the fact. Albeit probably only marginally....... Where I think this really pays off though is if this feature allows for you to 'chain' together construction lines. Being able to 'chain' together more complex construction lines as you sketch rather than revisiting would definitely be of benefit to me as I sometimes outline a common parts' dimensions that I know off by heart but do not have as a reference model in the file I am working with. There might also be a reason why someone wants to alternate between construction and normal without exiting the line command (unsure for what reason currently but I imagine this would be useful for somebody). I should stress that I am not suggesting that this option only be provided for at the time of sketching so you would still be able to change the line's state after the fact.

If anyone thinks that being able to toggle this function on the fly and 'chain' together more complex sketches as construction lines would be of use then please vote for this or add comments as to why it useful for you. I'd love to see this get implemented as I use it a lot. 

[maritza.ga]

@threadbuilt I agree there is a defnite advantage in forward creating construction lines. I have been thinking of an elegant solution for this workflow. I like your idea! I have to do some research on how it will affect the input value for dimensions, but I will look into it. Look forward to seeing something to improve your workflow in an upcoming release. 

Thanks,

Maritza Garcia

User Experience Designer

[threadbuilt]

@maritza.ga Thankyou for accepting this idea and looking at ways to implement this.

I recently had a similarly themed idea archived due to the same concerns you have about using a key that may accidentally result in an input ot the dimensional values associated with the function instead of causing a change in behaviour. See link below:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/ideastation-request-a-feature-or/keyboard-shortcuts-to-toggle-cycle-th...

I have had a little more time to think about this since then and believe that something such as the TAB key could be leveraged as a sort of hot-key to indicate a behavioural change to any function that is called upon. If you have time to look into the archived idea I think you will find it is very similar in what it is trying to achieve and if a hot key is leveraged then potentially the same solution as well. 

[threadbuilt]

@maritza.ga, just curious as to how you are progressing with rationalising how this might work and whether you managed to look into my previous post (as per link above) that was archived? The operation of which I can see as having a similar way of interacting to what we are proposing here either by a hotkey such as TAB or other means. 

Just keen to keep things progressing...

[Anonymous]

@maritza.garcia : Hello, any progress? TAB key would work great for me.

Best regards,

Jan

[threadbuilt]

 @maritza.ga Would be nice to see this closed out...any feedback on how this is progressing would be most welcome!

[maritza.ga]

Hi @threadbuilt,

We now have Construction Geometry on forward create using the sketch palette. Before you create any geometry you can select this button and any geometry you create there after will be construction. It seem like we can likely tie this to the Construction Geometry Hotkey "X." 

I have talked to @promm, the PM on the project. He will bring it up with the team and let you know if there are any updates. 

Cheers,

Maritza