Felix RiestraandClaude Sonnet 5
7cddf31bcb
Named parameters (docs/named_parameters_design.md, stages 3-4): - ParameterTable (src/scene/named_parameters.rs): a document-wide table of named formulas, each resolved through a shared expression evaluator with cross-parameter references, cycle detection, and division-by-zero/parse error reporting. SketchConstraint::driving_param becomes DrivingValue (Literal | Named) instead of a bare f64, resolved at solve time by sketch_solve::build_constraint via Scene::named_parameters. - Persistence (src/scene/named_parameters_persist.rs): same lazy XRecord model sketch_persist.rs already established, synced around open/save. Bumps the sketch-constraint XRecord's own format version (1 -> 2) since DrivingValue's shape doesn't line up with a version-1 blob's bytes. - PARAMETERS command and its editor (src/ui/window/named_parameters.rs): add/remove/edit rows, live validation, duplicate-name detection: Apply defines the table and re-solves every constraint scope with a named-parameter-driven constraint (command_driver.rs). Distance/Angle constraint prompts (modules/draw/constrain/value.rs) now accept either a literal or an existing parameter's name, mirroring how the constraint's own value prompt already worked. - Undo scope-down carried over from this project's own established pattern (constraint-system stage 9): the geometry an Apply moves is one undo step, but the parameter table edit itself has no undo entry yet — a documented follow-up, not a silent gap. UI scale setting (src/app/settings.rs, app/mod.rs, ui/window/options.rs): a whole-interface scale percentage (50-200%), wired directly into iced's own per-window scale_factor hook rather than per-panel font-size plumbing, so it applies immediately to every panel, dialog, and the ribbon at once. Persisted alongside the existing lineweight-display-scale setting. OPTIONS/OP command dispatch (app/commands/view.rs, app/commands/mod.rs): OPTIONS was registered for autocomplete but had no dispatch arm — the Start-tab welcome screen's own button was the only way to reach it. Found live-testing the UI-scale setting, unrelated to that feature itself. "OP" is AutoCAD's own short alias. help/: a new self-contained static user-help manual (manual.md as the authored source, tools/build_help.py splits it into the committed static HTML pages plus search index) — not yet wired into the application. 64 new/updated tests across the named-parameters and constraint-prompt changes. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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OpenCAD Studio User Manual
This manual describes the user-facing workflows of OpenCAD Studio. The initial version establishes the help structure and high-level guidance; individual commands should be expanded and verified against released behavior before the manual is published as complete.
Getting Started
What OpenCAD Studio does
OpenCAD Studio is a desktop and web CAD application for opening, creating, editing, visualizing, and saving two- and three-dimensional drawings. It works with DWG and DXF drawings and provides command-line, ribbon, automation, and plugin-oriented workflows.
A first drawing
- Create a new drawing or open an existing DWG or DXF file.
- Confirm the active workspace, units, layer, and object-snap settings.
- Create geometry with a drawing command such as Line, Circle, or Polyline.
- Edit the result with grips or a modification command.
- Save the drawing under a new name until its compatibility has been verified.
Data safety: Keep an untouched copy of important third-party drawings. Confirm geometry, layouts, external references, and plotted output before replacing the original file.
How to use this manual
Use the chapter navigation for broad workflows, the search box for a command or
concept, and the previous/next links for sequential reading. Command names,
system variables, keys, and file extensions appear in monospaced text.
Files and Drawings
Create and open drawings
Use New for a blank document and Open for an existing DWG, DXF, backup, or autosave drawing. After opening a file from another CAD system, inspect its units, layers, blocks, fonts, raster references, layouts, and model extents.
Save and Save As
Save updates the current drawing. Save As changes its path, format, or version. Prefer Save As when validating interoperability or recovering an older drawing. A successful write does not replace visual inspection of a reopened copy.
Recovery and backups
OpenCAD Studio recognizes drawing backups and autosave-style files where the underlying data is DWG or DXF. If strict loading rejects malformed entities, use the recovery workflow and review what was discarded before continuing work.
External resources
Raster images, underlays, fonts, materials, and external references may depend on paths outside the drawing. Keep referenced files together when moving a project and verify that relative paths still resolve.
Workspace and Navigation
Model space and paper space
Model space is the primary drawing environment. Paper-space layouts arrange views for plotting through layout viewports. Always confirm the active space before drawing or editing.
Pan, zoom, and orbit
Use pan and zoom to navigate without changing drawing geometry. Use orbit and view controls for three-dimensional inspection. Zoom Extents is useful when the drawing appears empty or geometry is far from the expected location.
Multiple model viewports
Model viewports can show different views of the same document. Grid, snap, camera, and render mode may vary by viewport; confirm which viewport is active before entering coordinates.
Selection and object snaps
Selection identifies the objects a command will modify. Object snaps target precise geometric locations such as endpoints, midpoints, centers, and intersections. Zoom in and verify the snap marker when precision matters.
Create and Edit Geometry
Basic drawing commands
Create lines, arcs, circles, ellipses, polylines, splines, points, text, hatches, and other supported entities from the ribbon or command line. Follow the active prompt: multi-step commands remain active until they complete or are cancelled.
Modify geometry
Common modification workflows include move, copy, rotate, scale, mirror, offset, trim, extend, fillet, chamfer, stretch, join, explode, and erase. Locked layers can prevent modification.
Grips and direct manipulation
Select an entity to expose its grips. Dragging a grip previews and then commits a geometric change. Constrained neighboring geometry may update with it.
Undo, redo, and OOPS
Undo reverses recorded document operations and Redo reapplies them. OOPS restores the most recently erased entities without reversing later commands. Save before a risky sequence and verify that associated dimensions, hatches, groups, and constraints were restored with their geometry.
Layers and Properties
Layers
Layers organize geometry and control visibility, locking, color, line type, line weight, and plot behavior. Set the intended active layer before creating objects. Avoid editing objects on locked layers.
Object properties
Properties can be assigned explicitly or inherited ByLayer or ByBlock.
Use the Properties surface or commands such as CHPROP to inspect and change
selected objects.
Styles
Text, dimension, multiline, table, and visual styles centralize presentation. Changing a shared style can update many objects, so inspect affected layouts before saving.
Blocks and References
Create and insert blocks
A block definition groups reusable drawing content; an INSERT places an instance with its own position, rotation, scale, attributes, and optional array settings. Editing a definition affects every reference to it.
Array inserts
Array inserts place multiple block instances with row and column counts and spacing. Large counts can generate substantial geometry. Validate scaled and rotated arrays when exchanging drawings with another CAD system.
Attributes and external references
Attributes attach editable values to block references. External references and underlays retain links to other files; preserve their paths when sharing or archiving a project.
Annotation and Dimensions
Text and annotation
Single-line text, multiline text, leaders, multileaders, tables, tolerances, center marks, and centerlines communicate design intent. Missing fonts can change layout or substitute glyphs, especially in the web build.
Dimensions
Dimensions combine measured geometry with a dimension style. Associative dimensions update when their source geometry changes; non-associative or partially associated dimensions require manual verification.
Annotation scale
Annotative objects can display differently at different viewport scales. Confirm the active annotation scale before creating annotations and inspect all paper-space viewports before plotting.
Layouts and Plotting
Layouts and viewports
Layouts represent sheets. Paper-space viewports expose model-space views at controlled scales. Lock finished viewports to avoid accidental view changes.
Page setup and plot preview
Choose the target device or file format, paper size, orientation, plot area, scale, style behavior, and output quality. Use preview to catch clipping, incorrect line weights, hidden layers, or an unintended plot area.
Export checks
Before distributing a PDF or plotted file, compare it with the drawing at the intended sheet size and verify text, dimensions, raster content, transparency, line types, and viewport scales.
3D Modeling and Visualization
Solids and surfaces
OpenCAD Studio can create and display solid primitives and modeled features such as extrusions and revolutions. Imported ACIS-backed bodies are tessellated for display while exact body data is retained where supported.
Visual styles and lighting
Wireframe, shaded, hidden-line, materials, lights, and shadows affect display, not the underlying object geometry. Switch to wireframe when diagnosing missing faces or material problems.
Tessellation quality
Curves and analytic surfaces are converted into display geometry according to view and tolerance settings. A coarse display does not necessarily mean the stored curve or solid is coarse.
Parametric Constraints
Geometric constraints
Constraints capture relationships such as coincident, horizontal, vertical, parallel, perpendicular, equal, tangent, distance, angle, and radius. Use the degree-of-freedom and conflict indicators to understand the sketch state.
Editing constrained geometry
Moving or grip-editing constrained geometry can move neighboring objects. If a solve fails or becomes redundant, inspect the constraint glyphs and conflict status before deleting geometry.
Persistence and history limitations
Constraint data is stored as OpenCAD Studio extension data inside DWG and DXF. Other applications may preserve it without interpreting it. Constraint edits and geometry changes may currently occupy adjacent history entries; verify the result after undo, redo, erase, copy, and reopen operations.
Commands and Shortcuts
Command line
Enter a command name or alias, then respond to its prompts. Press Escape to
cancel the active command and Return to accept an available default. Exact
prompt options vary by command and current selection.
Discover commands
Use command autocomplete and the ribbon to discover available operations. Some commands are one-shot actions; others maintain state across several point, number, keyword, or object-selection inputs.
Shortcut conventions
Application and operating-system shortcuts can differ between native and web builds. Avoid assigning browser-reserved shortcuts to web-only workflows.
Automation and Plugins
Automation interface
The automation interface can inspect documents, run commands, query geometry, capture the viewport, and perform batches. Callers should use request IDs and document revisions to avoid repeating or applying work to stale state.
Plugins
Native plugins can contribute commands and ribbon surfaces through the plugin host. Install only trusted packages that match the host API, compiler, and CAD model compatibility requirements.
Native and web differences
The browser build uses in-memory file workflows and cannot load native plugin libraries. Some rendering, font, windowing, and parallel-processing behavior also differs from the desktop build.
Troubleshooting and Recovery
A drawing opens incorrectly
Check units, extents, layers, layouts, block placement, missing references, and fonts. Reopen a copy after saving to detect serialization problems early. Keep the original file available for comparison.
Geometry is missing or distorted
Try Zoom Extents, enable relevant layers, switch to wireframe, and inspect block scale, array settings, clipping boundaries, object normals, and coordinates far from the origin.
Rendering is incomplete
Reduce unusually large images or material textures, simplify extreme hatch or array inputs, and compare another visual style. Record the graphics backend and the smallest drawing that reproduces the issue.
Undo did not restore the expected state
Stop editing and save a diagnostic copy. Try the next adjacent undo entry only when you understand what it represents. Compare the result with autosave or backup data before overwriting the original drawing.
Report a reproducible problem
Include the OpenCAD Studio version, platform, native or web build, exact steps, expected and observed results, and a minimal sanitized drawing when possible. Do not publish confidential drawings or external-reference paths.