How come exploding multiline text generates a solid around the border of the text when solids are not support in TBC. Shouldn’t this be a linestring?
Solids are supported to a degree in TBC. The Text functions in TBC from imported cad uses some cad management toolkit - this will convert the data into standard cad objects that are in the original object so if that was a solid that is what it generates in TBC
Alan
Gotcha. Wasn’t sure if this was avoidable. Thanks for the insight!
So I just exploded text that was created via TBC via the label by contours (great trick and thanks for the refresher) and I was left with a solid around the text. I noticed this was set to white out. I created a standard piece of text and set this to white out and saw the same thing.
I have concluded that it is caused when white out is set to yes and you explode multiline text. If you turn this off no solid. This would appear to be a TBC quirk.
I think you will find that AutoCAD does the same thing - you often see Solids around Text after you Explode a DWG - A White Out is a polygon filled with White - It sits on top of other objects and blanks them. When in the Text Object it is just a White Out, but if you explode the Multiline Text to make rows of Single Line Text then the White Out is treated as Solids so that it can still white out the single line text that is created by exploding multiline text.
If we dont make it into a solid what do you want it to do? and how do you make the white out persist? You could I guess make the Exploded Single Line Text have White Out property I suppose?
Would have to test that
Alan
I guess a line would be fine because when you explode it you get a transparent solid which isn’t much use.
Honestly the option to delete these out when exploding would be great because it is just another object to work around.
Pat
The TBC components that work with CAD data / objects (Blocks, Solids, 3D Faces, Text etc.) are a “black box” component where we send the request and data to the component and it hands us back the result.
The challenge appears to be this
CAD Text (not Multiline Text) does not have a Whiteout capability (at least not in TBC) - so you cannot Explode a Multiline Text into a set of CAD Text objects and leave them with Whiteout.
This is why the Whiteout area is returned as a CAD Solid.
I assume that CAD Soilds in CAD can normally have a Fill and Transparency property, but because TBC has limited support for Solids - it doesn’t have those properties (at least not exposed) on a CAD Soild - which means that you get a clear rectangle rather than a filled rectangle that is not transparent which would leave you the whiteout effect.
You see this same issue when you import PDF data generated by CAD in that you get the shape of the whiteout as a line and then you get the text - and the line for the shape is sometimes filled with crappy PDF fills - this is what the CAD systems send out to PDF so they are doing the exact same thing as we are.
I have asked some CAD people that I know what AutoCAD does natively for this and will post again shortly when I hear back from them
Alan
I just demoed this in C3D and when you explode text you are not left with a line or a solid, just the text. It looks like this is a TBC thing.
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The only purpose behind having the line or solid left behind would be for drafting and whiting out text but if this is the case, why explode the mtext. One would just keep it as is.