DBUG> Tip of the day: Using dhText's Arrow tool to do somewhat "freehand" work

[James Horecka, AIA <jhorecka@pe.net>]

386	Using dhText's Arrow tool to do somewhat "freehand" work

The third-party macro dhText has some handy tools in it. One of these is
Arrows. It's similar to DataCAD's Arrow tool in many respects, but with some
enhancements. The important one here is the Fillet toggle. With Fillet On,
the lines that make up an arrow leader with multiple pick points are
filleted together, making for rather graceful curved leaders.

I've found that these simple sweeping "leaders" can be used for other things
as well. They work great for indicating handicap accessible paths on a
retrofit plan, for example (which plan checkers are so keen on these days).
I just use the dhText Arrows tool, picking points for the path as I move
along; experience will give you a feel for how the segments will fillet
together. At the last pick the arrow head will be created. It can be left if
desired. Or a quick ,, will dump those two entities.

The whole thing is a group, so it may be discarded and redone in an instant.
You can't really manipulate it much, like you could with a polyline, but
that's OK as there are other advantages:

1. It's fast and easy.
2. Unlike Freehand, you can change the LineType to Dashed or something and
have it come out nice. (Even Contour is a bit quirky when it comes to
changing LineType.)
3. The curves seem "smoother" in final appearance than those created using
Freehand, which tend to be a bit jerky (too much coffee?).
4. You can clip out or omit chunks along the way, anywhere you desire, for
text or other things that get in the way. Just omit a line or arc via Erase,
or take a chunk out using Erase, Partial or even ClipIt. Can't do any of
that with FreeHand or Contour.
5. No limit to number of points (Contour limits to 36; but Freehand I don't
think has a limit).

James Horecka, AIA, Architect
jhorecka@pe.net  http://www.pe.net/~jhorecka
DataCAD Roundhouse:  http://www.pe.net/~jhorecka/DCADLinks.html

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