As a total amateur I've run into states where I've been "spacebaring" everything I can but it still wont work. I believe you when you say it's possible to fix it, but for people like me that use FreeCAD to do some 3D models to print once a while it's near impossible to change anything and end up in a working state.
If I print a simple electronics case and realize I have to move a hole 1mm in some direction I usually have to rebuild the entire box from the start. When talking to friends they all have the same problem.
I want to love FreeCAD, but I usually end up hating it.
In the part design workbench you can create a sketch, you draw a rectangle and you can extrude your box to its precise dimensions with a precise wall thickness.
Then you can create a sketch with your features on the surfaces of the part, the sketch features such as holes(circles) connector cut outs can be placed based on a dimensional constraint. Extrude and cut your features.
Now you have a 3D box with your holes where you placed them; now need to move a hole change the size of the hole, its as simple as editing the dimension the hole is defined in the sketch, all the other features will update as needed, and you can layer the dependencies forming a feature tree dependency graph.
Should take about 10 min to create a pretty complex case enclosure.
I agree, it only takes 10 min to make a pretty complex box. But to make it nice you usually need fillets, and then you're better off making the design again then to try to move the hole.
Since it goes fast to make a new box it's not a huge issue. Just incredibly annoying.
Fillets should always be the last operations. That means when one wants to add more features like holes/pads etc, one should add those to the object before the fillets. Sometimes the fillet operation fails in odd ways though, usually when the number of edges changes. Then one should re-do that last operation, either by removing the Fillets and adding again. Or in 0.18 edit the Edges that the Fillet operation is using in the Property window.
FreeCAD supports fillets, if your order of operations is set up the fillet will be applied to your features after and it will update the fillet with the changed dimensions, like a parametric cad system should do.
For the record, I'm not pushing FreeCAD in any way, I have no dog in this fight, I'm just a happy user.
But moving a hole should really be the easiest thing. A hole is usually a cylinder that has been cut from another shape. Select the cylinder, change its position, done? (No need to make it visible for that).
Yes, this is how I usually do it and it's not uncommon that it becomes an issue when moving the circle.
To be fair there is usually a fillet or something connected to the hole, but I still don't see why that should be a problem.
Moving the circle doesn't usually present a problem.
Adding new circles presents a problem because then you get different internal names for the edges and the fillet gets attached to the wrong place.
Moving the circle can create a problem if, for example, you specified a 5mm fillet but now the circle is only 3mm from the edge and therefore the fillet doesn't fit.
If I print a simple electronics case and realize I have to move a hole 1mm in some direction I usually have to rebuild the entire box from the start. When talking to friends they all have the same problem. I want to love FreeCAD, but I usually end up hating it.