Extending detail lines and reference planes beyond screen extents.....

[payingtoomuch]

Sometimes when i drag an endpoint beyond the edge of the screen it "locks" the endpoint so I don't need to keep selecting it as I zoom into the window. Seems like sometimes I can make this work, sometimes I can't and sometimes it's just arbitrary. Is there a way to do this consistently? I frequently need to zoom in to place a line, then zoom out and stretch it.

As an aside.... Is there a way to draw reference planes and or detail lines etc so they extend to infinity? If there was then I probably wouldn't need an answer to this question.

[SteveKStafford]

No, lines extending into infinity would result in views that you can't see anything if you use zoom all to fit. If you need to extend a line further you can use trim/extend as well as clicking or dragging the endpoint. You can also enter a new length for the line, not reference planes though.

If you hover your cursor over the endpoint of a line (not ref plane) and tap the TAB key you can toggle to select the endpoint and then enter or move that point further or closer to your goal. So if your line is not long enough, hover the cursor over the endpoint of the line, TAB until you see the endpoint highlight, choose move and enter a new distance value.

[payingtoomuch]

I think autocad ignores construction lines when you zoom extents. So conceivably could be done in revit as well I would think. Leaning away from concerning myself with this because of your other related posts.

Still would like to know how to lock the end points of detail lines and such on however.... Just so I can be consistent with it.

[SteveKStafford]

You can place a reference plan and align/lock the endpoints of another line (not ref plane) that it. If you want this because you want the line to be longer but entering a length moves both ends...then see my other reply about "tabbing" to select the endpoint and moving just that end of the line.

[payingtoomuch]

I think I'm miscommunicating what I'm trying to accomplish with the plane (and detail line) endpoints.

I want to be able to drag an endpoint of a line off the screen then zoom out of the view and have the endpoint stay selected so I can keep dragging until I get it to the length I want. Otherwise I have to zoom in to grab the endpoint then zoom back out to drag some distance and repeat until I get it to the length I want.

When I say lock what I really mean is keep the endpoint activated.

this happens arbitrarily sometimes when I stretch beyond the limits of my screen.... mainly in the horizontal direction. Vertical direction it never seems to "work".

[ToanDN]

The bigger problem is you are trying to use Revit like AutoCAD, using AutoCAD's workflow and abandoning Revit's.  It will never be productive, nor enjoying, and it will not last because you will be hating Revit to its core, if you haven't been already.

Let's start from what you are doing with detail lines that need stretching and stretching to seemingly some great extent?

[SteveKStafford]

I so very rarely drag or alter things using the endpoints whether a wall or line... I use trim/extend or interact with the dimensions/temporary dimensions... so I don't even know what I'm missing in your workflow. Here's a video of me stretching a detail line.

[payingtoomuch]

What you're doing up until about 45 seconds is what I'm doing basically. Then you change up and do something else with the dimensions.

To be truthful, I don't have a really good handle on dealing with the dimensions and adjusting things in that manner. Kind of hit and miss for me what I do. Sometimes it's intuitive and sometimes not for me.

Anyway, basically, if you were to grab an endpoint and drag it WAAAAAAAYYYYY Off the screen (move your mouse to the wall in your office or something lol while you hold the button down and drag and you MIGHT get the enpoint to stay selected so that when you zoom in you don't have to reselect the endpoint.

I'll be real surprised if this makes sense lol but I'm trying....

[payingtoomuch]

I hear you TOAN. Not really what I'm trying to do. I am pretty darn comfortable with revit now and appreciating it more and more.

But my background is still autoCAD so it's kind of what my brain defaults to when I'm trying to do something "intuitively".

So, until I can figure out some of the subtleties of revit as opposed to cad I'm kind of in stuck position of trying something until it works and asking questions when I run into challenges with the way I'm attempting to do things.

[SteveKStafford]

Once you move your cursor beyond the view window you "lose" control...so I select something and zoom out then if the grip is easy to see/select I might drag it otherwise I might choose to extend it to some other element...last punch in a large number for the length of the element. That's why I made the effort to select the endpoint, because only that end of the line will change when I enter a length.

I suppose the developers could pan a view when you move your cursor beyond the view window with certain commands active like move and copy.

[payingtoomuch]

Steve- Ok. Think I understand your method now for the most part.

Note that as mentioned earlier there is some behavior that allows the end point to stay selected when you drag off the screen just not sure how to get it activted consistently.....

Would still like to find out the rhyme or reason behind that.