(I currently do some pretty fun design with off-center gears and as such there are several features I realized could benefit the software. So this is one of several post I’ll create of new feature I think may benefit the software)
Note that I’m using the software in French, so hopefully my translation of the existing windows and features make sense.
I’d like to have an asset library in the scope of the file.
I realize there is a drawing library, but I don’t find it very useful in its current form.
I often have multiple shapes which are identical and as my design evolve, I need to edit a shape that now exist many time in my file.
Currently I find myself having to modify 100 identical shapes, or copy and paste the modified shape and have to reposition, rotate and resize 100 instances of that shape.
A good example of that would be the teeth of a gear after I “circle-copied” them. It’s all the same shape, but their position and rotation is now very precisely set. Or the actual gear which I have many instances of after it has been joined as a single shape.
How I see the feature implemented:
- Add an hardcoded category “File Asset” in the drawing library window. This would be saved to the file, not as an external library.
- An extra checkbox in the Circular Table and Matrix Table windows “Create Asset Group for new shapes” along with a textbox to define the asset name,
- A new option in the right click menu under “Group shape” that would be “Make an Asset”, this would prompt for an asset name.
For coding simplification, assets would internally have IDs, naming them is simply an optional label.
Asset would be saved within the scope of the file, not as a library.
The difference between a shape from the library and an asset is that when you modify an asset it will modify all other instance of that same asset in the current file, but keep the positioning, size and rotation unchanged.
The drawing library allow you to save shapes, but does not apply a change to every instances of that shape throughout the file.
Edit:
Created the suggestion here: