Erasure

[BadBrad]

I know I have messed up some setting. Whenever I try to erase I get this (see diagram)

Any and all help appreciated.

Bad Brad

[handrawn]

if you mean the round caps [ends] you can select the line and then change these in the line gallery from the dropdown menu top right

[Acorn]

Sadly, I've come back to this three times and I am still guessing.

What were you erasing?
What were you expecting to happen?
What actually happened?

If it was a Line, as from @handrawn, change to Square or Butt Cap (almost said End there).
My confusion is your lines won't be a Line if it is White Fill with Black Line colour.
Or is it the Yellow shape with some unwanted artefacts?

To nuance a Line more, change Line to Shape and then use the Erase Tool with a a non-0% Softness or drag across at an angle or cut through and then attack each end from a different direction.

Xara doesn't really mention Line cutting with this Tool.
You can get very interesting effects when used with an Arrowhead, a Dash and even a Scatter Brush.
Each part of the Line becomes its own mini-line with the same attributes.

Acorn

[gwpriester]

What tool/method are you using to erase?

I just reproduced what you posted using the Eraser Tool.

As Acorn asked, what are you expecting the result to be?

[handrawn]

My confusion is your lines won't be a Line if it is White Fill with Black Line colour

good point - I overlooked that

it maybe that the eraser is being used to cut into a shape that has an outline, and BB was not expecting the outline to be present in the cutout ?

since xara does not do partially outlined shapes there are some hoops to go through to get that effect...

[gwpriester]

it maybe that the eraser is being used to cut into a shape that has an outline, and BB was not expecting the outline to be present in the cutout ?

That is what I got when I used the Eraser Tool on a rectangle with an outline.

[BadBrad]

I'm a little confused. I simply want to erase. It appears I'm moving the line, not actually erasing anything.

Bad Brad

[handrawn]

what tool are you using - the erase tool ? - or are you trying to do it another way ?

[BadBrad]

That was the problem. I was trying to make a border with a transparent background. I went in and just made a square and it erased perfectly. I never knew borders wouldn't/couldn't be erased like a regular object.
Thanks for the replies gentlemen

Bad Brad

[handrawn]

glad you sorted it