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How can I keep my selection after using offset?

ChaosCrafterChaosCrafter Member Posts: 3 ✭✭
I'm trying to do a complex design that requires 4 lines to be offset from a master line.  
Because the master line crosses itself many times, I can't select the entire line and even using the make selection options isn't helpful.
Once I select the set of line segments (usually 10-12 segments including some that require zooming to even find them) I want to use next, I can offset happily, but as soon as I do the lines are unselected.
Is there any way to automagically reselect the lines I previously had selected?
Alternately, is there any way to do multiple parallel offsets (for example, putting comma separated offset values as in  offset by 7,5,-5,-5) or to select a line to the last selectable link before offset isn't viable (offset won't run through crossovers)

Answers

  • NeilCookeNeilCooke Moderator, Onshape Employees Posts: 5,308
    With the sketch offset command, click&drag will select the entire chain of elements. This does sound like your sketch may be getting too complex. If you share the URL to your doc we can take a look and perhaps suggest a better way?
    Senior Director, Technical Services, EMEAI
  • ChaosCrafterChaosCrafter Member Posts: 3 ✭✭
    Many thanks for the quick response.
    I'm not sure simplification is viable.  The pattern is a celtic-knotwork rose (currently, it's not quite right and I need to be redo it as I've lost some freedoms and locked it in ways I don't want)
    Here's the link.
    https://cad.onshape.com/documents/0e684e8330725a73e3280e62/w/151820cd2ddbe6a83033c8c9/e/176f8bcfae4bf43bcae5ef50
    Sketch 1 is the construction lines that provide all the mid-way line I'm expanding
    Sketch 2 is the basic construct completed, but I've limited ability to modify it because of the work involved in setting it up
    Sketch 3 is sketch 2 copied where I've started breaking line segments and pinning to complete the knot-like aspects of the final product.
    The approach I'm using is to define the centre line for the paths, then extend them by #width/2 on each side to provide a channel of #width, then to add further construction lines at #width*0.75 to provide the cutting lines that make the segments go over/under each other.
    Comparing Sketch2 and sketch3 will help that make more sense.
    If I could, I'd have the ability to group lines into named groups, and the ability to produce offsets that crossed themselves.
    Even just offsets that crossed themselves would be enough for some of it, and alternately, multiple parallel offsets would be good.
    Finally, as a least good option would be a key combo that recalled either the last selected set of objects or the last saved set (with the assumption then that another combo saved them.)
    BTW, is there any way to do the equivalent of trim, but to convert segments to/from construction lines?  Otherwise my changes have to be destructive (cf sketch 3 vs sketch 2) - I'd like to keep the final sketch version bound from the initial parameters so I can adjust the layout to my satisfaction.

    P.S. Count me as another vote for being able to choose the colour and width of construction lines and of final lines - preferably also letting groups of construction lines be coloured differently
  • romeograhamromeograham Member Posts: 656 PRO
    Another point about this method: Now that you have a "solid" model that represents all the bodies and edges you want, you can use the faces of the parts to Extrude from or do other operations (rather than needing to extrude from a complex sketch).
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