Functionality to create detached fences with /fill removed?

You used to be able to exercise a lot of control over the appearance of fences and walls by using /fill and designating tags with cardinal directions, such that adjacent fences/walls wouldn't connect to each other. This is no longer the case, as /fill totally ignores these tags and just autoconnects everything. This is really limiting for creative builds, and I see no reason why this should've been removed. Please advise. T H A N K S ! :~)