Basic Snapping
Most components in CET have snap points. These snap points allow components to automatically attach to each other. Snapping works in various ways. Some components snap together at their edges. Others snap together leaving space in between, and still others snap along a line. The snapping behavior is rule-based.
Snap points look different in the 2D view and the 3D view and whether they are snapped or not:
- The yellow square (in the 3D view the square appears as a cylinder) identifies that the component is selected and not snapped to another component at that connection point.
- The yellow triangle (in the 3D view the triangle appears as a cone) identifies that the component is selected and snapped to another component at that connection point.
Deactivating snapping
There may be times when you want to disable the snapping function. Snapping can be temporarily disabled by pressing and holding the Shift key while a component is being placed in the drawing area.
To deactivate the snapping function over a period of time, click the Disable snapping icon on the 2D view or the 3D view toolbar:
This tool is also used for disabling snapping for components that are already in the drawing. Select a component and click the Disable snapping icon to disable snapping until you enable it again.
Or hold down Shift on your keyboard to temporarily disable snapping. Once you release the key, components will resume snapping.
Changing snapping locations
To take manual control over basic surface snapping, you can use the Graphical snapping feature. This way you can control if you would like components to snap only to the ends of other components but not the middle, edges, etc. Note that manipulating the graphical snapping does not override the yellow snap points on products, i.e. rules-based snapping.
- From the 2D or 3D view toolbar, select the black arrow next to the Graphical snapping tool. If the icon is grayed out, you'll need to click it to activate it which will give you access to the Graphical Snapping toolbox:
- From the toolbox, select how you want new components to snap to existing objects in the drawing. Select individual types of snap points, or use the drop-down inside of the toolbox to select All, Basic points, or just one individual type so that all others are greyed out together.
- Now, when a new component is brought into the drawing view, it will only snap to selected Snapping locations.
- The snapping location that you picked will be used until you reset it or pick a different location.
- The Graphical snapping tool can also be accessed from the Edit menu, or through its keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+F.
- Graphical snapping is always available as a feature in CET core extensions (i.e. walls, lines, rectangles, etc.). It is up to each Extension owner whether or not to implement this feature.
Below are what each Graphical snapping option represents:
End
Snaps onto any end of a symbol or 2D line.
Middle
Snaps onto the middle of a symbol or a 2D line.
Center
Snaps onto the center point of any circular symbol.
Intersection
Snaps onto an intersection of two symbols or lines.
On curve
Snaps onto the outlines of any surface or line.
On face
Snaps CET symbols onto the surfaces of walls. Only in 3D Views.
Perpendicular
Snaps perpendicularly onto another surface or 2D line.
Tangent
Snaps onto the outlines of curved or circular symbols.
Extension
Snaps walls/lines extending horizontally or vertically from another wall/line.
Changing the snap size
The size of a component’s yellow snap points can be adjusted.
Follow these steps:
- Go to the File menu and select Control Panel.
- On the General tab, there is a drop-down menu for the Snap Point Size.
- Select the desired size. For components in the drawing area, you will see the results instantly.
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