Assembly constraints in NX7

[eex23]

Is it possible to see assembly constraints for the only component (to see constraints certain component only is mated to other components)? now if i select component, RMB->Assembly constraints, i get all the constraints for this component, i.e i can see both constraints this component IS MATED TO, and constraints other components ARE MATED TO this component. And if I need to reposition component it is difficult to pick appropriate constraint in the list.

In mating contitions it was very simple: select component you want to replace -> RMB -> mating conditions, and in the list you will see only contitions, which were used only for positioning this component.

Thanks.

NX7.0.1.7 mp2
winxp 32bit+sp3

 

[PSI-CAD]

Try using assembly/component/show and hide constraints


Regards
Didier Psaltopoulos

http://www.psi-cad.com

 

[JohnRBaker]

Actually the path is...

Assemblies -> Component Position -> Show and Hide Constraints...

...from which you can either select 2 or more Components and see any Constraints between them, or select a single Component and see any Constraints between it and any other Component.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[eex23]

I'm trying, but:
1. it seems not working if assembly constraints are placed in different layer than component (even in filter navigator).
2. if i make option "change component visibility" on, how to make visible other components back (to get previous viewof my assembly before turning on this option?)
3. if component is suppresed, why I still can see assembly constraints for this component (they all are in red color and in font like this "- - - - - -"
4."show and hide constraints" dialog has option "show constraints between two selected components (its ok, but sometimes i even do not know which component is in "higher" level of the assembly, which component was added to assembly firstly, and which component WAS MATED TO this first component later, so there is some kind of dependency). Option "between components" are usefull, but as i mentioned above i mus remember to which component is my desirable component IS MATED TO, so i need do some extra clicking finding appropriate pair for my component.
5.actually after finding constraints (using "show and hide constraints") these constraints become visible, so after editing them i must do "show/hide". again extra cliks.

 

[JohnRBaker]

With the old Mating Conditions, the order was important, however with Assembly Constraints they are irrelevant since the constraints are solved simultaneously, not serially as in the past. With Mating Conditions we spoke of 'From/To', but with Assembly Constraints it's 'Between'.

As for layers, considering how the product has evolved it's almost better to work on a single layer.

As for getting back to your previous view, try using Undo.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[eex23]

"As for getting back to your previous view, try using Undo. "
What's the point of undo, if I am going to make changes in constraints. Undo will undo these changes too.

"As for layers, considering how the product has evolved it's almost better to work on a single layer."
so the only way is to use "show/hide"? because in hidden view there lots of usefull things, and constraints are making total mess there (see attached). Placing them (constraints) to separate layer its useful, because usualy you do not need to see them all in work view (but it is useful to see them in navigator).

What about suppressed components?

 

[eex23]

one more thing. may it be an enhancment?
I think it should be very handy to have ant option to filter constraints in assembly navigator in real time. yes, it is possible, but only then the dialog "show and hide constraints" is open (and it is impossible to edit filtered constraints then this dialog is opened).
my idea is then you select two or more components, in assembly navigator you will get a list of constraints between selected components automaticaly. then there is no need to click "show and hide constraints"->apply->cancel and again...

 

[Toost]

I don't know if i'm on the wrong track here, but it sounds to me as if you are trying to understand the constraints by their graphical display. I always turn off the display of constraints completely in the graphics because it more creates confusion than clarity.
The method i use and recommend is using the dependencies panel ( in the bottom of the ANT) select the component, tick the magnification glass icon and click in the dependencies panel the different objects to see and understand the relations. It will highlight the faces etc involved.

See the attached image. ( the image slightly strange because it shows constraints created by the Routing Application, which in some aspects are different.)

Regards,
Tomas

 

[eex23]

yes, it useful, then there are some components....

 

[JohnRBaker]

Note that significant changes are being proposed for the Assembly Navigator for the next release of NX and many issues which we've been getting feedback on, including accessing constraints, are being looked at for inclusion in this project. As we get closer to the release, we'll be able to provide more information about what the users will see in the way of changes and how we expect them to use the new options and tools which we hope to have implemented.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[eex23]

if it was on me, i will install the latest release as soon as possible. actualy i started in this company in 2005 with nx2, then we jumped to nx4 and now we are on nx7. so i believe next two years we will use nx7....
fankfuly i found, that it is possible to switch to the old mating contitions....

thanks everybody for the answers.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Note that starting with NX 7.5 the old Mating Conditions will no longer be available. Existing pre-NX 7.5 assemblies with Mating Conditions will still be valid models and their 'constraints' will be honored, but you will no longer be able to edit existing nor create new Mating Conditions.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[RML1]

Thanks for that, good to know there are others also struggling with visibility of the new constraints. The screen view of constraints is a mess and not useful, I can see us only using the dependencies panel, just wish you could remove the parent/child folders and rename easier to help make it clearer. Despite the usability issues, I think the concept of between constraints rather than from/to is a good step forward that we wanted. I am still not sure about the constraints Navigator; so will definitely spend more time testing before committing to the next update!

Had I know you could still use the old constraints in NX7 but not NX7.5 we might have gone to that, but we are committed now.

 

[wecurb]

John, does the simultaneous solution eliminate the old issue (V4 and prior) of, after 300 or so mating conditions, the "loading solver" subroutine kicking in? Thanks

 

[JohnRBaker]

Sorry, I'm not familiar with what that would have been.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.