Reference Section > Shape Library > Rectangular Shapes

The Rectangle with Rectangular Hole is a rectangular plate with a rectangular hole cut through it – a frame, window or gasket. The hole is set in from every outside edge by the same wall Thickness, and can then be moved off centre with the two hole offsets. All corners are sharp. This shape was formerly called Rectangle 2; searching for the old name still finds it.

It appears in the shapes library under Rectangular Shapes.

Insert point and orientation

The insert point is the bottom left corner of the outside rectangle. Width is built to the right along X and Height upwards along Y. With both offsets at 0 the hole is centred: its bottom left corner is Thickness in from the left and bottom edges, and it measures (Width − 2 × Thickness) by (Height − 2 × Thickness).

The outside outline and the hole outline are each one closed polyline of four straight lines, with sharp corners. Both are built from the same insert point, so Base X and Base Y in the Transform group move the whole part, outline and hole together.

Properties

Lengths are in the current units (mm or inches). The defaults shown are for a new shape; the inch defaults are used when the program is set to inches.

Property	Description	Default
Thickness	Wall thickness: the distance from each outside edge to the matching edge of the hole, before any offset is applied. The same value is used on all four sides. Length, in the current units.	25 mm (1 in)
Hole Offset X	Moves the hole along X from its centred position. Positive moves it right, negative moves it left. The hole size does not change, so the right wall becomes Thickness − offset and the left wall Thickness + offset. Length, in the current units.	0
Hole Offset Y	Moves the hole along Y from its centred position. Positive moves it up, negative moves it down. The hole size does not change, so the top wall becomes Thickness − offset and the bottom wall Thickness + offset. Length, in the current units.	0
Width	Overall width of the outside rectangle, along X, from the insert point to the right side. Length, in the current units.	70 mm (3 in)
Height	Overall height of the outside rectangle, along Y, from the insert point to the top side. Length, in the current units.	120 mm (5 in)

The Thickness dimension is drawn at the top left corner, and the Width and Height dimensions are drawn against the bottom and left sides. The two hole offset dimensions run from the centre of the outside rectangle to the offset position.

Limits

The shape does not check that the hole fits inside the outside rectangle. Keep these conditions yourself:

•Thickness must be less than half the Width and less than half the Height. At exactly half the hole has zero width or height. Above half, the hole's two side edges cross over, so the hole is no longer Thickness from each outside edge. No error is raised.

•Each Hole Offset must be between −Thickness and +Thickness. The wall on one side is Thickness + offset and on the opposite side Thickness − offset, so an offset equal to Thickness puts the hole edge on the outside edge (zero wall), and a larger offset pushes the hole through the outside edge.

Check the part outline after changing Thickness or the offsets. No error is shown if the hole touches or crosses the outside edge; both outlines are still drawn, but there is no wall left at that point.

Thickness, Width and Height have a minimum of 0. A negative entry is refused with a message that the value must be between 0 and the upper limit, and the previous value is kept. The upper limit is the largest integer the field holds, so it is not a practical limit. The two Hole Offset fields accept negative and positive values; the geometric limits above apply to them.

Cannot build shape

The shape has no build checks of its own. If building the outline raises an error, the property page shows a red bar reading Warning: Cannot build shape from these parameters.

Every 2D shape also has the Transform properties (Base X, Base Y, Rotation, Scale, Mirroring X) and the Polar Array properties, listed after the shape's own properties.