TechDraw SectionView

Menu location
TechDraw SectionView
TechDraw → TechDraw Views → Section View
Workbenches
TechDraw
Default shortcut
None
Introduced in version
-
See also
TechDraw ComplexSection, TechDraw View

Description

The TechDraw SectionView tool inserts a cross-section view based on an existing Part View.

Sectioning an already placed view, which shows the internal holes and a hatched cut surface.
The top image shows the ANSI arrow format.
The bottom image shows the ISO arrow format.

Usage

Select a Part View in the 3D View or Tree View.
There are several ways to invoke the tool:
- Press the Section View button.
- Select the TechDraw → TechDraw Views → Section View option from the menu.
A task panel opens which will help calculate the various properties. Reasonable values for the view Direction are calculated, but these can be changed.

Task panel to define the sectional cut of a view

Properties

Data

Appearance

DataSection Line Stretch (FloatConstraint): Adjusts the length of the section line. 1.0 is normal length, 1.1 would be 10% longer, 0.9 would be 10% shorter. introduced in 1.0

Cut Operation

DataFuse Before Cut (Bool): Fuse the source shapes before performing the section cut.
DataTrim After Cut (Bool): Additionally trim the resulting shape after the section cut to remove any unwanted pieces. introduced in 0.21
DataUse Previous Cut (Bool) Use the cut shape from the base view instead of the original object. introduced in 1.0

Cut Surface Format

DataCut Surface Display (Enumeration): Appearance of the cut surface. Options:
- Hide: Hides the cut surface, only the outline will be displayed.
- Color: Colors the cut surface using the setting of Cut Surface Color in the TechDraw preferences.
- SvgHatch: Hatches the section cut using a hatch
- PatHatch: Hatches the section cut using a geometric hatch
DataFile Hatch Pattern (File): Full path to SVG hatch pattern file.
DataFile Geom Pattern (File): Full path to PAT pattern file.
DataSvg Included (FileIncluded): Full path to the included SVG hatch pattern file.
DataPat Included (FileIncluded): Full path to the included PAT pattern file.
DataName Geom Pattern (String): Name of the PAT pattern to use.
DataHatch Scale (Float): Hatch pattern size adjustment.
DataHatch Rotation (Float): Rotation of hatch pattern in degrees counter-clockwise. introduced in 0.21
Data (Hidden)Hatch Offset (Vector): Hatch pattern offset. introduced in 0.21

Section

DataSection Symbol (String): The identifier for this section.
DataBase View (Link): The view on which this section is based.
DataSection Normal (Vector): A vector describing the direction normal to the cutting plane.
DataSection Origin (Vector): A vector describing a point on the cutting plane. Typically the centroid of the original part.
DataSection Direction (Enumeration): The direction in the Base View for this section. Options: Aligned, Right, Left, Up or Down.

View

Cut Surface

ViewCut Surface Color (Color): Solid color for surface highlight. Used if DataCut Surface Display is set to Color.
View (Hidden)Show Cut Surface (Bool): Show/hide the cut surface.

Surface Hatch

ViewGeom Hatch Color (Color): The color of the Geometric hath pattern.
ViewHatch Color (Color): The color of the Svg hatch pattern.
View (Hidden)Hatch Cut Surface (Bool): Hatch the cut surface.
ViewWeight Pattern (Float): Line weight of the Geometric hatch pattern.

Notes

Section Line Format: two section line formats are supported (as depicted above) and controlled by the Preference setting "Line Standard" on the Annotation tab. The ANSI option uses "pulling arrows" (also known as the "traditional format") and the ISO option uses "pushing arrows" (also known as the "reference arrow format").
Fuse Before Cut: the section operation sometimes fails to cut the source shapes. If Fuse Before Cut is true, the source shapes are merged into a single shape before the section operation is attempted. If you encounter problems with the section operation, try flipping this value.
Trim After Cut: the section cut operation sometimes leaves behind a portion of the source shape. If Trim After Cut is true, an additional cut operation is performed on the result of the first cut which should remove any unwanted pieces.
Cut Surface Display: the cut surface can be hidden, painted in a solid color, hatched using an Svg pattern (default) or hatched using a PAT pattern. See Hatching.

Scripting

A SectionView can be created with macros and from the Python Console by using the following functions:

doc = FreeCAD.ActiveDocument
box = doc.Box
page = doc.Page

view = doc.addObject("TechDraw::DrawViewPart", "View")
page.addView(view)
view.Source = box
view.Direction = (0, 0, 1)

section = doc.addObject("TechDraw::DrawViewSection", "Section")
page.addView(section)
section.Source = box
section.BaseView = view
section.Direction = (0, 1, 0)
section.SectionNormal = (-1, 0, 0)

doc.recompute()