Dual Dimensioning Options 1

[SarahD]

Hi All,

My company is moving towards using dual dimensioning on some products due to our products being made by both US-based companies and EU-based companies. The traditional way of dual dimensioning would be to have both dimensions (with the secondary dimension in []) on the same view on a drawing. Is there a way to show one set of dimensions on the first few sheets of a drawing and then duplicate the views with the secondary set of dimensions on later sheets?

I'm envisioning something like the manuals received by companies where the first x pages are in English, and then the next is Spanish, the next French, etc. I'd like to see if there's a way to have the first few sheets in the primary units, then the last few sheets are duplicated from the first, but showing the secondary units.

Is this possible to do without having to physically dimension the component twice and merge files?

Thanks!

 

[Toost]

I would guess that you would need to write some kind of program for this. Either creating copies of all sheets and on these change the dimension units ( and the tolerances which I think is much more difficult) Or, on the same sheets replicate all dimensions and tolerances but on different layer(-s). Thereby you could toggle on layer x to see metric dimensions and toggle on layer Y for imperial.


Regards,
Tomas

Never try to teach a pig to sing. I wastes your time and it annoys the pig.

 

[PSI-CAD]

You can also use suppress annotation by expression.
Regards
Didier

Regards
Didier Psaltopoulos

http://www.psi-cad.fr

 

[jerry1423]

What I would do is create a complete set of drawings in one of the units.
Then copy the drawings by selecting them all at the same time and copy them with a right mouse click, then paste the three new sheets into the drawing.
Everything will be copied including the views and notes.
I would then manually change all the dimensions from one of the units to the other, then adjust the tolerances and decimal places. It will take some time but I don't think it will be too bad.

 

[Toost]

The problem with duplicates is that whenever one thinks one is finished , one will... see/find things to change/add/edit.
and then to manually try keep the duplicates in sync is a nightmare.
And then the versions / revisions, "- did I do that change on that version , in that Unit which is currently invisible? ...."
In my view , this would speak for some program assistance to keep the synchronization.
With program assistance one can add a timestamp that can help keep track , or , plug the program such that you must have run prior to release, or execute at each save or...

Regards,
Tomas

Never try to teach a pig to sing. I wastes your time and it annoys the pig.

 

[SarahD]

Thanks all for the comments. I agree with quite a few sentiments that if you have duplicated sheets, it could be a nightmare to keep in synch. My team creates ~15,000 drawings per year and while some are simple 1-sheet drawings, there are many that are 10+ sheets of detailed views.

Going the programmatic route is probably going to be my best course to have individuals dimension the first "set" in the primary units and then use a program to copy those sheets and swap the dimensions to the secondary units.

 

[jerry1423]

All you need to do to swap the dimensions to different units is change the primary units in the dimension settings.

Jerry J.
UGV5-NX1884

 

[ewh]

To the original question...
If you give them separate part identifers, or make one version with only reference dimensions.
Unit conversions are never exact which means that you are defining two distinct parts, however obscure that distinction is. This is why the second value is considered reference.

"Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively."
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