Midpoint not showing

sam_one

note: I am really really new to onshape

I am trying to place a line from the midpoint of a line section, like this:
notice the orange square?

well, when I try to do this elsewhere in my document, it doesn't show up, even though I am hovering where it SHOULD appear.
screenshot of the problem:


heres a link in case you need it beginner | Part Studio 1 (onshape.com)

UPDATE: this seems to be because in the first case, I am using a rectange, whereas in the second case it's just two lines, so there is technically not a line segment in between them, so onshape doesn't have any line segment to use the middle of. 

Is this a bug, or is this intended behaviour? If the latter is the case, what should I have done differently to have this work with lines? I can't always use rectangles right

rick_randall

I believe you have answered the question yourself.

 In the 2nd example, only the mid-point of the entire line will show, not the line segment between points. As a workaround you could draw a construction line between the two points - and this will give you a usable mid-point snap. Or better yet, draw a line close to the mid-point (assuming you want a line) and use the symmetric constraint to force equal distance between lines.

Hope this helps, good luck

rick_randall

I believe you have answered the question yourself.

 In the 2nd example, only the mid-point of the entire line will show, not the line segment between points. As a workaround you could draw a construction line between the two points - and this will give you a usable mid-point snap. Or better yet, draw a line close to the mid-point (assuming you want a line) and use the symmetric constraint to force equal distance between lines.

Hope this helps, good luck

sam_one

Cool! I did answer my question myself, but I wasn't satisfied: it felt like it wasn't the intended way to do it, since it seemes a little cumbersome for such a basic operation.

Your "better yet" solution seems real nice. I personally could have never thought of it because I didn't know you could constrain the "mirror" based on the "images", but it makes total sense now. It's the same thing as what I was doing with the symmetric constrain elsewhere, just the other way round.

Thanks!