Creating an Area Fill

An area fill is a closed area on which you then apply graphical dress-up element called patterns (these can be hatching, dotting or coloring). You can create area fills on the following elements:

	sketched elements,
	generated elements
	part-sketched, part-generated elements

In this task, you will learn how to create an area fill on a drawing containing a mix of sketched and generated elements.

Open the GenDrafting_Area_Fill.CATDrawing document. This drawing is a generated one.

Define boundaries for your area fill by creating lines so that your drawing looks like the figure shown here. In this example, sketched elements (the ones you create) are selected (they are shown in red), and generated elements are shown in black.

The boundaries for your area fill will therefore consist of both sketched and generated elements.

You do not need to activate the view in which you are going to create an area fill.

1. In the Graphic Properties toolbar, click the down arrow besides the Pattern icon.

tbgraphicproperties02.gif (4576 bytes)

2. In the Pattern dialog box, select a pattern for your area fill and click OK.

3. Click Insert -> Dress Up -> Area Fill.

Click the Area Fill icon from the Dress Up toolbar. tbdressupNLS.gif (3884 bytes)

The Area Detection dialog box appears.

4. Click the Automatic option (the other option is described in the remarks section below) and then click inside the area for which you just defined boundaries, under the line which represents the fillet edge.

The software automatically detects the area to fill based on where you clicked and fills this area with the selected pattern. The Areas to Fill dialog box disappears.

A few remarks

Area to Fill dialog box

The two options available in the Area to Fill dialog box are described below. You can specify the area you want to fill before or after choosing the option in the Area to Fill dialog box.

For each option, examples illustrate what kind of area fill you will get depending on where you click. Note where the cursor is located on the figures.

Automatic automatically detects the area to fill based on where you click: just click inside the area you want to fill.

If you click in this area:

You get this area fill:

With profile selection lets you specify the area to fill: select all the 2D elements that make up the boundary of the area you want to fill, and then click inside this area.

As you select elements on a view, intersection symbols (stars) appear where elements intersect. This enables you to know where the profile is open: in this case, intersection symbols do not appear. As you cannot apply an area fill to an open profile, make sure all elements intersect.

If you select these elements:

You get this area fill:

Miscellaneous remarks about applying area fills

	Whichever option you choose in the Areas to Fill dialog box, make sure the profile you select is closed, i.e. that all elements that make up its boundary intersect. An error message will appear if you select a profile which is not closed.
	When you create an area fill on sketched elements, or on part-sketched, part-generated elements, extra sketched elements are added over the generated elements which make up the boundaries of the area fill. Also, coincidence constraints are created between the original generated elements and the added sketched elements.
	On generated drawings, the area fill is not associative with the 3D part. If you modify the original 3D part and then update the generated drawing, the area fill will not be changed.
	Select elements carefully: the area will be filled according to the elements you selected.
	If you apply modifications to the filled area, the pattern will be modified accordingly.
	If you create text in a filled area, the background of the text will be blanked as shown here.
	With hatching or dotting patterns, the spacing between each hatch or dot is sometimes larger than the area to fill. This makes it impossible to display the pattern properly. In such a case, the area fill contour is made bold and is turned into the same color as the pattern color. This enables you to identify items with area fills even if the pattern is not visible. The figures below illustrate what the sketched element will look like in such a case.

What you have before applying the pattern:

What you get if the pattern cannot be displayed: