[BUG] The "Add workplane" does not work consistently with "Add workplane on mesh face"

[raindropsfromsky]

Contact Details

raindrops.fromsky@gmail.com

Description

When we click on the "Add workplane" button, CAD Sketcher shows us three intersecting planes, and when we hover the mouse on any plane, it gets highlighted. We click LMB on any plane to start working in it. This is intuitive.

Well, the "Add workplane on mesh face" button could have behaved in very similar fashion: When we hover the mouse on any face of an existing geometry, a plane should have appeared on that face. The user could have clicked LMB to confirm it.

Instead, CAD Sketcher does not show us any plane at all. We have to click on the face, and then click RMB. Only after that does a plane appears on the face. It is not intuitive for a user to right-click to complete the operation, because the same action actually cancels the current operation in Blender!

These two workflows are totally different and also inconsistent with how Blender itself works.

Therefore, the workflow of CAD Sketcher should be as outlined above.

Addon Version

0.27-3

Blender Version

4.1 (actually, BforArtists 4.0.1)

What platform are you running on?

Windows

[raindropsfromsky]

A related "issue" (not really a bug, but illogical behavior nonetheless):

The Add workplane on mesh face button (tool) is designed to add unlimited planes at a time. You can click on multiple faces, and finally click RMB to add all those planes.

But this feature does not have any practical benefit!

There is no point of attaching multiple workplanes to a mesh:

1. The rest of the workflow of CAD Sketcher is not designed to let the user work on multiple workplanes at a time.
2. The user has to select a particular workplane and add a sketch to it.
3. He can move on to the other workplanes only after existing the sketch.
4. While he is working on a workplane, CAD Sketcher hides that workplane.
   So all the other workplanes only distract him.

So, it is desirable to let this tool add only one workplane at a time, as follows:

1. User selects the Add workplane to mesh face tool
2. He hovers the mouse on a face. Sketcher shows him the face.
   (When the mouse goes out of the boundary of the face, the workplane vanishes.)
3. He can click RMB to abort the tool, and go back to Sketcher's Select tool.
4. He can click LMB to confirm the workplane, and exit the tool.
   (Sketcher goes back to the Select tool)
5. The user clicks on the workplane he just created, and then clicks on Add sketch button in Sketcher's control panel.
6. Alternatively, step#5 can be skipped, because that's the only logical step the user will take anyway!
   (So Sketcher can automatically enter the "Add sketch" mode.)
   But new users may not understand this clever workflow, and get confused about what's going on.

But in short, it is best to add a workplane, and start working on it, rather than adding multiple workplanes at a time.