Automatic drawing text

[NXMold]

I found in a previous post some attributes that can be used in a drawing (quoted below), and then I found quite by accident that you can reference file attributes. I could not find any of this in the documentation, are there other "automatic attributes"?

ALSO, I modified our company title block with these attributes (a part file that is imported into drawing sheets), and the sheet number note turned blank. Problem is, I have an extra sheet number note that needs to be deleted, but I cannot select it! Once the title block is imported it shows up with a sheet number and can be deleted, but I'd like to remove it from the template.

For NX 5, we have added the following 'automatic text' items:

Number of the current sheet: <W@$SH_SHEET_NUMBER>

Total number of sheets: <W@$SH_NUMBER_OF_SHEETS>

Numerator of the sheet scale: <W@$SH_SHEET_SCALE_NUMERATOR>

Denominator of the sheet scale: <W@$SH_SHEET_SCALE_DENOMINATOR>

Size of the current sheet: <W@$SH_SHEET_SIZE>

Units of the current sheet: <W@$SH_SHEET_UNITS>

Projection angle of the current sheet: <W@$SH_SHEET_PROJECTION_ANGLE>

Master Model drawing sheet part name: <W@$SH_MASTER_PART_NAME>

Sheet part name: <W@$SH_PART_NAME>

Note that we may add additional items in the future.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
UGS NX Product Line
SIEMENS PLM Software
Cypress, CA

 

[hudson888]

There are a few different classes of attributes so YES, and some are more or less what you may describe as automatic. There are a attributes that in Native NX draw on part specific information as listed above, and it should be in the documentation. Some of these attributes have existed in earlier versions where the syntax was slightly different. If you have NX-5 then it should be only a matter of trying by typing these text strings into the annotation editor.

There are other attributes that are user defined, and in teamcenter some attributes which are linked to the database and therefore locked but can still be referenced to create text in drafting.

In drafting you can reference part attributes but also object attributes and expressions. It is provided for in a panel of it's own using the full version of the attribute editor. Once you find it of course you'll use F1 to check out the documentation

Now your problem with the extra sheet number may not have a great deal to do with the attributes. You need to be able to experiment and come to terms with what is driving those text strings. If at all possible post the information about them if you need further help.

Ultimately it sounds like you could just have a problem with part templates. What do you mean by importing the title block? Are you saying that the part template contains something which your part does not. This is not normally the case. My guess that I'm getting around to is that the part template may be from an earlier version of NX and the syntax has changed slightly from NX-? to NX-5.

Hope this helps

Hudson

 

[NXMold]

Our title block was created quite some time ago, its not a proper 'template' but rather just a .prt file that we add to drawings be using file->import. When I was editing that title block, I added the sheet number attributes (was done manually before) but accidentally created two notes for sheet number. The notes, however, are invisible since the sheet number attribute does not exist. Therefore I cannot see, select, or delete the extraneous note. I know that its there, because when I import the title block into a drawing where the sheet number attribute is present, the notes appear.

 

[ewh]

Add the attribute, delete the note, delete the attribute.

Believe it if you need it or leave it if you dare. - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]

 

[hudson888]

What ewh is saying is the when you import a part the attributes don't come with it. If your part already has similarly named attributes then they will be used that their string values referenced by substituting the appropriate text on the drawing. It would appear that one of the attributes used in your master drawing sheet does not occur in the file to which is being imported, so that it creates for you a problem. His instructions would in that case work. I thought you might like to know why....

Why I posted was to add that you should have a look at setting up these master drawing files as templates. With templates you'll be drawing in the master model concept. If you're not using that now then I'd urge you to change to it for a plethora of reasons that will make things work better and faster for you. Anyway it is quite easy to set up and should take more than a few hours first time around. The beauty of it is that you're actually adding your model to a copy of the master drawing file which you use for and henceforth can refer to as the drawing template. What happens is that the template file used and renamed rather than imported so that any attributes are always present and you'll never have that problem again.

Cheers

Hudson

 

[NXMold]

Ah but I tried that, which should logically work, except that the assigned attribute is <W@$SH_SHEET_NUMBER> which I cannot duplicate.

I like the idea of making a template and doing all the 'right' steps, but as of right now its not an option.

 

[cowski]

Have you tried adding a sheet to the template to see if the note shows up? If it does, then you can delete the note and the sheet.

 

[hudson888]

What is happening then is that due to the attribute that you're quoting I think it is trying to use the internal sheet count attribute from another file. This is a system defined attribute as opposed to a user defined one.

Now using proper templates will overcome this but in your case use may just want to define another user defined attribute and reference that or even replace the note with manual text. I suspect that once you do so you'll be able to either delete the note or carry on using another method.

I'm not sure why the reference you quoted doesn't work are you on NX-5?

Regards

Hudson

 

[NXMold]

NX 5.0.3.2
Yes, I'd like to replace the the contents of the note with manual text so that I may delete it, but the note cannot be seen or selected. The note does not appear since the attribute it references does not exist, and it cannot be created since its an 'automatic' attribute.

The title block and text are created in drafting mode, but not in a drawing. There are no drawing sheets in the file.
If I add a sheet, I can add the title block as a view (as if it were 3d geometry) but then everything including lines and text appear as a non-editable group.

I will look into converting it into a proper template when I get the time, I guess I'll live with it until then.

 

[hudson888]

Ah ha,

Firstly how do you know that it is there if you can neither see or select it?

I thought that maybe you could select all the other entities in the title block, and either copy them to the clipboard or maybe export them to a scratch file, then delete all of type notes, and the rest of the title block. Maybe then it will be gone so that you just paste back the title block or re-import the version without the offending automatic note, and you have your result.

If indeed that note contained <W@$SH_SHEET_NUMBER> then just by adding a blank sheet to the drawing that may cause it to work. So that when you go back into modeling you'll be able to delete the note. Then you can delete the sheet if you're not going to use it.

Best regards

Hudson

 

[cowski]

Does the note add to the layer's object count? If so, maybe you can 'delete' -> select everything you can select, then change the selection to 'all but selected' (invert selection). I can't guarantee it will work (i can't test it right now) but it is worth a try.

 

[hudson888]

I have duplicated the problem based on the information provided and I can't get rid of that feature either. I suspect some sort of grip or NX open program may be able to select it as I have seen similar in the past, but for the moment even part cleanup will not work.

I can duplicate it by copying and pasting the note based on <W@$SH_SHEET_NUMBER> from drafting into modeling even within a single part.

If you create that note as "SHEET <W@$SH_SHEET_NUMBER>" then the conventional text portion saves that day making the note accessible for deletion or editing.

Sorry I couldn't help more

Hudson

 

[NXMold]

Well I'm glad its not me, anyway. One of the previous posts gave me the idea to copy the title block (ctl+c) and then paste it into a new file. The errant note is not copied, and it seems to have worked. Thanks.

NX 5.0.3.2 MoldWizard

 

[hudson888]

Yes I would think that it did work having seen the problem that is entirely consistent with how the note works.

Cheers

Hudson