Objectively looking at Object Snaps

No one topic seems to cause more consternation than Object Snaps. Here is the what and why of why we do what we do.

We need to have object snaps set for a certain number of commands to ensure that the drawing is connected properly. Many users feel that we willy-nilly overwrite their osnaps, i.e. - don't put them back the way we found them. The following rules should explain how you can keep your osnaps:

1. ALL HydraCAD commands are intended to return your default osnaps to you after you complete the command. The only exceptions are the Line and Main commands because these two commands are 'endless' commands (we don't know when they are done). We are aware that the Riser Nipple command does not return your osnap setting - this has been corrected in a future update. If you find another exception, please let us know and we will lock it down.

2. The Sprinkler, Piping and Hanger toolbars contain their own osnap buttons to be used for the commands found in those toolbars. These effectively give you a second set of osnaps, preserving your basic AutoCAD osnap for when those commands are done. These only need to be set once per drawing.

3. We have been reducing the number of default osnap settings for non-critical commands. These will be entirely up to you to set. The next update will remove the default osnap for Hanger insertion, for example, since some of you wanted to use None instead of the Near we preset.

I realize this is a sensitive topic for some of you but we do need to set some sort of base osnaps so that users (new ones, especially) can 'just draw' and have a reasonable chance of getting a calc or list out without all kinds of drawing errors. Believe me, we've tried it the other way and it hasn't worked.

Comments

[ed t]

hello art,
i think the 'tee' command doesn't reset snaps back to what they were before.

ed
aero

[Arthur Dove]

Thanks Ed. I looked at it and I already have that one fixed for the next update (which should be early Dec)

[JonathanFSDS]

Hello Art,
The Draw Leader commade wipes out the osnaps too. It's a little annoying when I'm doing dims and cleaning up my pipe dims at the same time.
Thanks
Jonathan
FSDS

[Arthur Dove]

Jonathan - The Draw Leader command does not change the osnaps. Are you sure it is that one?