In a recent discussion about the new fillet command, @GJM asked for a “fillet all” option, which has potential for some implementation and support options. He viewed filleting every corner as a way to smooth a curve. (apologies if I’m mischaracterizing your POV)
We knocked together the first test of a different command that rounds every corner in a vector by a series of offsets in, out, and then back in. Here’s a preview:
Gary thought of it as “smoothing”. I’d call it a Straight Inlay command because it converts the vectors to a path that can be used for simple straight inlays, although that pigeon-holes it into one use.
What would you expect for this command to be called?
I would go with “Apply To All” - because you indicated that “Fillet”-ing isn’t the only thing the command will be used for. You indicated dog-bone, flipped fillet, etc.
EDIT: In fact, since you are going to use it for all types of corners - I would call the tool itself “Corner Tool” or something like that. Then, in the dialog, if you have a “Corner Type” pulldown, you could have an “apply to all corners” button
This is fundamentally different code than the true fillet command, even if the effects seem similar, so it will need to be a separate command.
It will only work with rounded corners, not any other types of corner treatments. It will, however, handle all of the degenerate cases where fillets may overlap or where there are non-adjacent segments that end up running into each other.
Are you thinking that “Fillet All” is on the dialog of the Corner Tool? I think that’s best…not a stand-alone tool, right? I mean, you’ll want to see what CC thinks are the corners before hitting Fillet All.
And then, if you’re doing one of the other corner treatments, is Fillet All still a valid name?
Is it fundamentally “Inlay-ready”… or at least that for sure is what I would end up using it for
but I suppose that’s ambiguous in language
“Fit to endmill” is maybe more natural way of thinking about it (and I’m sure it’s a triple layer violation if this would even let you select an actual endmill out of your library)
It’s not just for inlays…I’d use this tool to help me fit lids of boxes onto bodies of boxes…or to create cams that fit into sockets in break-down furniture. So, while inlays are one use, it would be (maybe) confusing to label it that way. You’re modifying the corners…that’s what you’re doing. That’s how I see it, anyway.
