Ok, so I've got a 4 beat pattern that I want to "paint" but it created a single new long pattern instead of separate linked patterns of 4 beats following each other.
 
If it only drags out the midi, then the whole concept is totally flawed!!!
 
What is the quick way of "painting"64 bars of 4-beat-linked-patterns?  The reason it needs to be linked is so that if I need to change something subtle in the pattern, ALL the copies need to change as well...
 
I find the workflow of the MIDI extremely limiting...

Copy the 4 beat clip with CTRL-C.  Paste "Special" with CTRL-ALT-V
 
Enter the number of repetitions you want.  It has to be more than one to reveal "Linked Repetitions" in the next step.
 
Click advanced in the dialog to reveal "Linked Repetitions".  Check that along with "Link to Original Clip(s)" and click OK.  The linked clips will have a frame that distinguishes them from regular and Groove Clip clips.
 
Now when you edit the original, the changes follow in the linked copies.
 

Pattern painting does what it's supposed to do; it's not the right tool for what you want. BobF describes how to do what you want. Also note that when you view linked clips in the PRV, you can see how changing one note makes the same changes in the entire set of linked clips. 

the tool works you just needs to be precise when making selections.
select the content in PRV/TV then start painting exactly where you want the notes to start.
See this section (1 minute and 44 seconds) of the video:
https://youtu.be/Xfl_NfGMoS0?t=1m44s
 
but with this being explained.... using the paint tool for 64 bars is like using a paint brush to paint the Empire state building. it can be done but will take a long time.
 
Bob laid out in detail the same way I use tools when approaching such editing.
 

Conclusion : It's not gonna happen by selecting the clip and dragging the mouse from left to right to get separate patterns?

BobF
Copy the 4 beat clip with CTRL-C.  Paste "Special" with CTRL-ALT-V
 
Enter the number of repetitions you want.  It has to be more than one to reveal "Linked Repetitions" in the next step.
 
Click advanced in the dialog to reveal "Linked Repetitions".  Check that along with "Link to Original Clip(s)" and click OK.  The linked clips will have a frame that distinguishes them from regular and Groove Clip clips.
 
Now when you edit the original, the changes follow in the linked copies.
 

This is not what I want to do...

chuckebaby
the tool works you just needs to be precise when making selections.
select the content in PRV/TV then start painting exactly where you want the notes to start.
See this section (1 minute and 44 seconds) of the video:
https://youtu.be/Xfl_NfGMoS0?t=1m44s
 
but with this being explained.... using the paint tool for 64 bars is like using a paint brush to paint the Empire state building. it can be done but will take a long time.
 
Bob laid out in detail the same way I use tools when approaching such editing.
 

If I want to lay down a kick, hats, or clap pattern, "painting" the patterns from left to right with a single stroke is the logical way to do this.  I'm just used to the superior MIDI workflow of FL Studio. SONAR is completely focused on live recording artists, and not EDM producers that work exclusively with MIDI and VST

im sorry I disagree. copy/paste is the logical way.
if it were 8 bars...maybe even 16 bars I would agree.
but not 64. The method Bob posted above really is the best way to approach this,
even more its a very handy feature.
 
long time ago I used to just copy/paste and drag.
when I found out about paste "Special" it was like a light shined threw my window.
I hope that same lights shines threw yours.
 

RedSkyRoad
I'm just used to the superior MIDI workflow of FL Studio. SONAR is completely focused on live recording artists, and not EDM producers that work exclusively with MIDI and VST

If FL studio was that Awesome, you wouldn't be here using Sonar
Been there done that with Pro Tools.

RedSkyRoad
Conclusion : It's not gonna happen by selecting the clip and dragging the mouse from left to right to get separate patterns?

BobF
Copy the 4 beat clip with CTRL-C.  Paste "Special" with CTRL-ALT-V
 
Enter the number of repetitions you want.  It has to be more than one to reveal "Linked Repetitions" in the next step.
 
Click advanced in the dialog to reveal "Linked Repetitions".  Check that along with "Link to Original Clip(s)" and click OK.  The linked clips will have a frame that distinguishes them from regular and Groove Clip clips.
 
Now when you edit the original, the changes follow in the linked copies.
 

This is not what I want to do...

Hate to disagree, but this is EXACTLY what you want to do.
 
The paint tool is not for this type of work, as has already been explained earlier.
 
This method will do what you want 100%

Sonar doesn't care what kind of music you are doing, even EDM. You have to use the tools that are provided, make feature requests for enhancements with detailed "how it should work", and/or use another DAW that works the way you want to. That's really about it.
 
I've never found Sonar to limit my creativity.
 
Regards,
Dan

Personally, I could see the utility of allowing the creation of linked patterns by using the pattern tool with some modifier key... but I'm pretty sure the reason the pattern tool doesn't paint linked clips right now is because you aren't actually painting repetitions, you're painting the pattern. We allow that pattern to be transposed with the shift modifier, but a transposed pattern can't be linked to the original because they contain different notes. 
 
What we'd have to do is link the interval s between successive notes in the pattern, which doesn't seem impossible...