JimBrown Wrote:Here's a real example- look at the sample DC drawing ENGINE, where the cross section of the block, head and the conrod are hatched. Each hatch line is an indivudual line, which must have taken hours to do. If DC could have "seen" the conrod- whose outline is lines and circle segments- as a closed shape, the hatching would have been simple.
I see what you mean, but keep in mind that that sample drawing is a file created with a very early, if not first, version of DeltaCad (before the fill & crosshatching features were available). I have actually done that myself. Yes, it was a real PIA. Although, you just draw one line at 45 degrees, then use the Draw Parallel Line feature and duplicate as needed. Then you have to adjust (snap) the ends of each line to the shape's lines.
The fill feature has only been available in the most recent versions (v6 & up, I believe), which now virtually eliminates that whole process. Granted, one should "think ahead" so that the fill option can be applied to the shape later, if desired. Otherwise it must be over-drawn using the Polygon Shape or the the Continuous Spline option.
Alternately, those could be selected and converted, also a fairly new feature, but the original hash-lines would have to be removed first or it will convert those too, which could make them very messy and almost impossible to deal with after conversion. Of course our friend, the "Undo" feature, is always there to rescue us from such a 'messy' situation.