Offset of Many Objects

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Plugin AVC_OffsetMany for AutoCAD and BricsCAD

A thousand displaced curves in 1 click. Repeated and bilateral offset. Layer change. Removing the source.

To do offset with the usual _Offset command, you need to specify the distance, select one curve and specify the offset direction by clicking in an empty drawing field. And so with every curve. If you have a thousand objects, then you are forced to make 2 thousand exact clicks ... or go crazy halfway. The OMO (Offset of Many Objects) command can do all this in 1 (one !!!) click. Just select all the objects and call the OMO command. Done. If everything is set up correctly, then you don’t have to do anything else.

The features of the program:

    • Instant offset of any number of various curves. Lines, Polylines, Polylin2d, Rays, Splines, Arcs, Circles, Ellipses. Curves can even be in different planes.

    • Offset of closed curves without specifying a guide point. It is enough to configure the program in advance - offset inward or outward.

    • Offset many open curves, indicating a guide point only once.

    • You can offset immediately in both directions.

    • You can change the offset direction for the internal contours of the part, if the contour layers were assigned by the Outside Loop (OSL) or by NC Prepare (NCP).

    • You can repeat the offset as many times as necessary (MultyOffset)

    • You can immediately delete the original curves.

    • You can assign a layer to new curves.

    • Filtering excess objects. Choose a lot of curves with a frame. Annotations, solid, blocks and other garbage will simply be silently ignored.

    • You can enable ignore open curves.

    • Slightly open curves turn into closed ones.

    • The program does not stop on errors, but does all of the offset, which will turn out. It can select and highlight curves whose offset has failed.

    • You can enter the distance when you call the command or use the distance from the settings without unnecessary queries.

    • You can configure up to nine offset styles with different settings and then quickly switch styles directly from the command line. Or from a macro on a homemade button.


Limitations:

    • The program only works with flat curves. Doesn’t work with Polyline3D. 3D objects need to be projected onto XY before offset. Use Flat to prepare objects for offset.

    • The program will cope with offset only in those cases when the usual _Offset is triggered. Unfortunately, very often the offset does not work for unknown reasons. You can try to simplify the contours before offset using the Outside Loop (OSL) command.

    • The guide point does not always adequately set the offset direction. When working with a regular _offset, this problem manifests itself in the same way, but it is easier to notice and fix. Be careful, check every result. Please note that if the arc describes more than half of the circle, then you can offset it inward only by clicking inside the circle. Same thing with elliptical arcs.

    • All changes made by the program are undone by a single _Undo command.


Read about downloading and installing the program here.

The OMO command is also included in the package A>V>C> Pro.

To run the plugin, you will have to register account and top up your account balance by making a donation or receiving bonuses.

Then you can activate one of the licenses:

OMO command. Operating procedure

    • You can select curves in advance or after calling OMO.

    • Call the "Offset of Many Objects" command.

    • A prompt to enter the distance appears. You can specify a number or set the distance at two points. The request can be disabled in the settings. In this case, the distance from the settings of the current offset style will be used.

    • The program will write on the command line what style of settings is used and at what distance offset will be done.

    • If no suitable curve is selected, the program will ask you to select them. It will not be a problem if extra objects (texts, leadrs, solids, blocks) fall into the selection. The program will ignore them. Any objects of the Annotations layer can also be ignored - just check the "Not Annotations" checkbox in the settings.

    • Also, the program can ignore all open curves - uncheck the "Open curves" in the settings.

    • Requests for distance and selection of objects contains command line options:

      • SwitchStyle - Quickly switch between nine sets of settings.

      • TUNE - call the configuration dialog.

      • Distance - offset offset request.

      • Inward / Outward - switch the offset direction for closed curves.

    • The program will calculate and write to the command line how many objects are left for offset.

    • The program will try to close open polylines if its ends almost coincide. Accuracy is set in Common Options.

    • If at least one open curve is left, and if two-sided offset is not set, then the program will request a guide point. This one point will be used for all curves. The point will be projected on the plane of all the curves, and projected points will determine the offset directions.

    • The program will start offset curves. If the process is long, a progress bar is displayed.

    • If among the closed curves there are objects of the layers NC_Inside, NC_Drill, NC_Pocket, NC_Island, the program will change the offset direction for them to the opposite, not inward but outward. This option is enabled in the settings. Layer names are set in the settings of the NC Prepare program.

    • If layer replacement is enabled, the program will assign the specified layer to all new curves. If there is no layer in the drawing, then the program will try to copy it from the template or create a new one.

    • The original curves can be deleted if there is such a checkbox in the settings.

    • At the end, the program will show how many offsets are done.

    • If there are errors, a window with the number of failed objects will be displayed. These objects can be selected and highlighted, so that it would be more convenient to modify them separately later.

Setup dialog

There are many settings and for your convenience, you can use ready-made sets of settings, which I call Offset Style. You can create up to 9 styles. You can switch the current style in the header of the settings window. And you can call the SwitchStyle option and select the style by its number directly during the operation of the command.

All options in dialog window have tooltips.

Style Name

The name for this style. Not used in the program. Only for convenience of choice.

Distance Request

Display offset distance request before selecting objects. If you disable this option, the command will use the distance from the current style.

Not Annotations

Ignore curves in the Annotations layer.

Open Curves

Offset open curves. Typically, a command only works with closed curves, while open ones are ignored. For open curves you need to specify the point in the direction of which offset will be done.

Distance

The distance from the original curve at which the new curve will be drawn.

Repeat

Offset for offseted contour again and again.

Set Layer

Assign layer to all offseted curves. If you enter the name of a nonexistent layer, the program will create a new layer.

Direction

  • Inward - Offset all closed curves inward. The setting does not apply to open curves.

  • Outward - Offset all closed curves outward. The setting does not apply to open curves

  • Both - All curves (both closed and open) will be offseted in both directions. A direction request (for open curves) will not be displayed.

By NC layer

The program will take into account the NC layers assigned by the OSL and NCP commands. Inside contours (dadoes, windows, holes) will be offset in the opposite direction.

Delete Sources

At the end of the command, all successfully processed source curves will be deleted. If the offset failed, then the deletion will not be done.

Select Errors

After the work of the command, all the curves that caused the offset errors will remain selected and highlighted.