Trouble getting section view to activate

cameron_stoker

Is there a tutorial or public file where it is easy to get to a section view?  I am not having luck following the manual description of how to initiate a section view. I never get "section view" in the context menu.

Have tried on the woodworking vise and private models.

Thanks

john_f_carr

Some chromebooks do not support section view.   Support varies with chrome OS software version as well as hardware.  Lou Gallo might be able to add details.

The technical reason is, section view uses the webgl floating point texture extension.  This is a mainstream feature, but not universal.

andrew_troup

Cameron

If you click on the smaller (RH) of the two viewcubes at the far right, the appropriate menu should drop down

3dcad

First select plane or other reference (mate connectors should work also) and then click section view on dropdown menu



then you can control section angle etc from triad

cameron_stoker

Thanks for the suggestions - I've been trying that and my dropdown menu doesn't have section view. See attached.  Tried on the plane of the vise, and on a mating connector added to it. I've got only one plane (or mate connector) selected when activating the drop down from the small view cube.


I also don't seem to have an option for translucent view.

This is in a  chromebook (chrome) browser.

john_f_carr

Some chromebooks do not support section view.   Support varies with chrome OS software version as well as hardware.  Lou Gallo might be able to add details.

The technical reason is, section view uses the webgl floating point texture extension.  This is a mainstream feature, but not universal.

cameron_stoker

Yep, works just fine on another machine.  Thanks

lougallo

Section view requires float textures, as @john_f_carr has mentioned, which for some reason is missing from the current builds of ChromeOS.  About 6 months ago this was not a problem but in the Dev channel of Chrome I started seeing it on my Pixel... it would render this black and odd color prism effect that would pop up.  Development added a check for this and removed the option when this required module is not present.  We have logged an issue with Chromium and are on top of it.
I use my Pixel about 50-60% of the time so I am very interested when they get this fixed.  There really is no reason this model should be missing.  I installed crouton on my Pixel and ran Firefox and it works so it is a ChomeOS issue.

cameron_stoker

I'm using a toshiba chromebook2 running the beta channel (43.0.2357.65).  Glad to hear that it may get resolved.
I'll try putting firefox on my crouton instance if I have time.
Thanks

andrew_troup

I  use a Chromebook Acer C710, and section view (and translucent) seem to work fine.

Version 42.0.2311.153 (64-bit)

Platform 6812.88.0 (Official Build) stable-channel parrot_ivb

Firmware Google_Parrot.2685.54.0

lougallo

According to the thread on Chromium the drivers for the graphics that are used on some builds of CrOS are out of date.  Google is aware of this.

3dcad

Acer CB5-311 working fine.

Version 42.0.2311.153

Platform 6812.88.0 (Official Build) stable-channel nyan_big

Firmware Google_Nyan_Big.5771.63.0

andrew_troup

I was going to post a new observation, namely this: If you pick a plane from the Feature List which is not currently visible (ie "hidden") the Section View option does not appear on the menu.

However I am no longer confident of this, because when I go back to the model and double check, I now find my "Section View"  is not coming up on the usual RMB menu from the smaller viewcube, regardless of how I select the (visible) plane I need.

 (this is on the same Chromebook, system and build I reported above)

I have tried reloading the browser tab (which should always be the first diagnostic step) to no avail.

This sort of capricious, productivity sapping glitch does tarnish the silver lining of the Cloud a little. I'm undertaking a test project of real, paying-type work, and I happen to be in the thick of a design phase which will be somewhat difficult without "Section view"

andrew_troup

The workaround (which I recall using in Solidworks in the very early days before Section View) is to roll back to the beginning, draw a large rectangle on the desired construction plane, roll to end, make an Extrude (Cut) using that rectangle, drag it where you want it in the model, and suppress it when not needed.

3dcad

I tried to repeat your observation, but my section view doesn't go anywhere no matter what I have selected.

andrew_troup

Sorry, @3dcad, I don't quite understand. I am presently unable to access the command "Section View"

 I'm not sure if you are saying that you are able to access it, or that you are unable to?

3dcad

To be more clear:

andrew_troup said:

I was going to post a new observation, namely this: If you pick a plane from the Feature List which is not currently visible (ie "hidden") the Section View option does not appear on the menu...

I tried to pick invisible plane from feature list and it does NOT affect to 'Section View' appearance ie. I can access section view all the time in the small cube menu no matter what I have selected.

andrew_troup

Thanks for the clarification, @3dcad

I'm now unable to bring up the Section View capability on another machine (a Windows 7 laptop running Google Chrome browser) so I probably need to raise a ticket.

It's not just a Chrome browser issue. It may conceivably be an Andrew Troup Ignorance Issue.... given that I'm a common factor, so I'll try to eliminate that possibility first.

3dcad

@andrew_troup Maybe you have used all your section views for this month? Try again in few days when they bill you for new set..

This might be joke today, but if you think it could be also true with software like onshape.. Or that you get billed as much as you have used the tools they provide.. Terrible idea..

andrew_troup

My problem was in fact (as I suspected) user ignorance.

At some point since I earlier posted the correct procedure on this selfsame thread, I  (incorrectly) switched from using LMB on the smaller viewcube, to RMB

I did briefly wonder if there was any merit in RMB on the cube raising a different set of options than LMB, but that was probably just an attempt to shift blame...  the options raised are the same as for RMB on white space, and I can see the logic in that. On small screens, for instance, it might be hard to find unoccupied white space.

As you were, move along, nothing to see, and apologies to the Onshape team.

lougallo

I have just patched my Google Pixel today and the support for Float Textures is working for me now.  As you can see, I have section views back on my Chromebook..



This is on the dev channel of ChromeOS so it might be a few weeks before it gets into Beta or Stable channels.