TechDraw LeaderLine

Annotation

RichTextAnnotation

TechDraw

Description

The TechDraw LeaderLine tool adds a line to a View. Other annotation objects (such as Rich Text Annotations) can be connected to the leaderline to form complex annotations.

Leaderline added to a View

Usage create

1. Select a View.
2. There are several ways to invoke the tool:
   • Press the Add Leaderline to View button.
   • Select the TechDraw → Add Lines → Add Leaderline to View option from the menu.
3. A task panel opens.
4. Press the Pick points button.
5. Pick the first point on the page to define the start point of the line.
6. Pick the next point on the page. Hold down Ctrl to snap to multiples of 22.5° angles. Optionally use a double-click instead of a single-click to finish entering points.
7. Optionally add more points.
8. If you have not double-clicked a point: press the Save Points button.
9. Optionally change the Start Symbol, End Symbol, Color, Width and Style of the leader. See Properties for more information.
10. Press the OK button.

Usage edit

1. Double-click a Leaderline in the Tree view.
2. A task panel opens.
3. To edit the points:
   1. Press the Edit points button.
   2. The Leaderline is marked with temporary nodes.
   3. Drag one or more of the nodes to a new position.
   4. Press the Save changes button.
4. Optionally change the Start Symbol, End Symbol, Color, Width and Style of the leader. See Properties for more information.
5. Press the OK button.

Notes

• You cannot add or remove points from an existing Leaderline.
• If no points were specified at creation time a short line is placed at the center of the View. There is no way to fix such a line, it should be deleted.
• By default the Leader Line Auto Horizontal preference is checked. This means that the last line segment of new Leaderlines is drawn horizontally. If there is only one segment the result is then a single horizontal line.
• You can turn off this auto horizontal feature for existing Leaderlines by changing their DataAuto Horizontal property.

Properties

Data

Base

• DataStart Symbol (Enumeration): The symbol at the start of the leaderline. Options: Filled Arrow, Open Arrow, Tick, Dot, Open Circle, Fork, Filled Triangle, None.
• DataEnd Symbol (Enumeration): The symbol at the end of the leaderline. Idem.
• DataX (Distance): The X coordinate of the leaderline relative to the View.
• DataY (Distance): The Y coordinate of the leaderline relative to the View.

Leader

• DataLeader Parent (Link): The View the leaderline is attached to.
• DataWay Points (VectorList): The points of the leaderline.
• DataScalable (Bool): Specifies if the leaderline scales with DataLeader Parent.
• DataAuto Horizontal (Bool): Specifies if the last leaderline segment is forced to be horizontal.

View

Base

• ViewKeep Label (Bool): Not used.
• ViewStack Order (Integer): Over or underlap relative to other drawing objects. introduced in version 0.21

Line Format

• ViewColor (Color): The color of the leaderline.
• ViewLine Style (Enumeration): The style of the leaderline. Options: NoLine, Continuous, Dash, Dot, DashDot, DashDotDot.
• ViewLine Width (Length): The width of the leaderline.

Scripting

See also: Autogenerated API documentation and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

The LeaderLine tool can be used in macros and from the Python console by using the following functions:

myPage = FreeCAD.ActiveDocument().Page
myBase = FreeCAD.ActiveDocument().View
leaderObj = FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject('TechDraw::DrawLeaderLine','DrawLeaderLine')
FreeCAD.activeDocument().myPage.addView(leaderObj)
FreeCAD.activeDocument().leaderObj.LeaderParent = myBase
#first waypoint is always (0,0,0)  
#rest of waypoints are positions relative to (0,0,0)
leaderObj.WayPoints = [p0,p1,p2]
leaderObj.X = 5
leaderObj.Y = 5

Annotation

RichTextAnnotation

TechDraw

TechDraw

• Pages: Insert Default Page, Insert Page using Template, Update template fields, Redraw Page, Print All Pages, Export Page as SVG, Export Page as DXF
• Views:
  • TechDraw views: Insert View, Insert Broken View, Insert Section View, Insert Complex Section View, Insert Detail View, Insert Projection Group, Insert Clip Group, Insert SVG Symbol, Insert Bitmap Image, Share View, Turn View Frames On/Off, Project Shape
  • Views from other workbenches: Insert Active View, Insert Draft Workbench Object, Insert BIM Workbench Object, Insert Spreadsheet View
• Stacking: Move view to top of stack, Move view to bottom of stack, Move view up one level, Move view down one level

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• Dimensions: Insert Dimension, Insert Length Dimension, Insert Horizontal Dimension, Insert Vertical Dimension, Insert Radius Dimension, Insert Diameter Dimension, Insert Angle Dimension, Insert 3-Point Angle Dimension, Insert Area Annotation, Create Arc Length Dimension, Insert Horizontal Extent Dimension, Insert Vertical Extent Dimension, Create Horizontal Chain Dimensions, Create Vertical Chain Dimensions, Create Oblique Chain Dimensions, Create Horizontal Coordinate Dimensions, Create Vertical Coordinate Dimensions, Create Oblique Coordinate Dimensions, Create Horizontal Chamfer Dimension, Create Vertical Chamfer Dimension, Insert Balloon Annotation, Insert Axonometric Length Dimension, Insert Landmark Dimension, Dimension Repair, Link Dimension to 3D Geometry

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• Hatching: Hatch Face using Image File, Apply Geometric Hatch to Face,
• Annotations: Insert Annotation, Add Leaderline to View, Insert Rich Text Annotation, Add Cosmetic Vertex, Add Midpoint Vertices, Add Quadrant Vertices, Add Centerline to Faces, Add Centerline between 2 Lines, Add Centerline between 2 Points, Add Cosmetic Line Through 2 points, Add Cosmetic Circle, Change Appearance of Lines, Show/Hide Invisible Edges, Add Welding Information to Leader, Add Surface Finish Symbol, Add Hole or Shaft Tolerances

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• Extensions:
  • Attributes and modifications: Select Line Attributes, Cascade Spacing and Delta Distance, Change Line Attributes, Extend Line, Shorten Line, Lock/Unlock View, Position Section View, Position Horizontal Chain Dimensions, Position Vertical Chain Dimensions, Position Oblique Chain Dimensions, Cascade Horizontal Dimensions, Cascade Vertical Dimensions, Cascade Oblique Dimensions, Calculate the area of selected faces, Calculate the arc length of selected edges, Customize format label
  • Centerlines and threading: Add Circle Centerlines, Add Bolt Circle Centerlines, Add Cosmetic Thread Hole Side View, Add Cosmetic Thread Hole Bottom View, Add Cosmetic Thread Bolt Side View, Add Cosmetic Thread Bolt Bottom View, Add Cosmetic Intersection Vertex(es), Add an offset vertex, Add Cosmetic Circle, Add Cosmetic Arc, Add Cosmetic Circle 3 Points, Add Cosmetic Parallel Line, Add Cosmetic Perpendicular Line
  • Dimensions: Insert '⌀' Prefix, Insert '□' Prefix, Insert 'n×' Prefix, Remove Prefix, Increase Decimal Places, Decrease Decimal Places

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• Miscellaneous: Remove Cosmetic Object

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• Additional: Line Groups, Templates, Hatching, Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, Preferences

User documentation

• Getting started
• Installation: Download, Windows, Linux, Mac, Additional components, Docker, AppImage, Ubuntu Snap
• Basics: About FreeCAD, Interface, Mouse navigation, Selection methods, Object name, Preferences, Workbenches, Document structure, Properties, Help FreeCAD, Donate

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• Help: Tutorials, Video tutorials
• Workbenches: Std Base, Assembly, BIM, CAM, Draft, FEM, Inspection, Material, Mesh, OpenSCAD, Part, PartDesign, Points, Reverse Engineering, Robot, Sketcher, Spreadsheet, Surface, TechDraw, Test Framework

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• Addons: Addon Manager, External workbenches, Scripting and macros

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• Hubs: User hub, Power users hub, Developer hub