NX6.0 auto ordinate dimensioning

[soljiang]

Is it possible to do auto ordinate dimensioning in NX6.0 as one can do in ProE? Thank you!

 

[JohnRBaker]

YES. NX support the 'automatic' creation of Ordinate Dimensions.

If you look at the image below, here's an example where all I had to do after placing the view on the drawing, was to define the 'origin' (the 0,0 point), which was a single screen pick, for the Ordinate Dimension Set, define the 'margins' so as to limit the extension of the Dimensions, again requiring only a single pick. Now all I had to do was 'area select' using the cursor, the arc center points, and hit OK:

http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt169/jbakersr/OrdinateDims.jpg

I think that's about as 'automatic' as one would expect it to be.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

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

 

[JohnRBaker]

For some reason E-T in not properly displaying images, therefore I've attached a copy of what I was trying to show above:

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

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

 

[jkcone]

Good morning,
I'm having trouble getting this technique to work. But first, the files I'm wanting to use this technique on already have a ordinate dimension origin in them which was there when it was saved to be a template. Can some one tell me how to delete this origin? I want to remove it from this template.

NX7.5

Thanks,
James

 

[jerry1423]

Do you have you margins set first?

 

[jkcone]

I don't think there are any margins. When I select the ordinate dimension command just this left-over origin appears.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Does the name of the Ordinate dimension set appear near the origin? If so, try selecting it (the name), press MB3 and select the 'Delete'.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

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

 

[jkcone]

There's no origin name. The display style was set to "no name" when it was created. When I turn the name setting back on it doesn't seem to affect the old origin.

 

[JohnRBaker]

When you select the Ordinate Dimension function and the existing origin symbol is displayed, select the symbol origin (you can use QuickPick to select the origin object itself), press MB3, select the 'Style' option and you will see a dialog which will include an option titled 'Display Name Style' showing a status of 'No Display'. Change this status to 'Ordinate Set Name' and hit OK. Now leave the Ordinate Dimension function and you should still see the Ordinate Set Name on the Drawing. Now do as I originally suggested, simply select this 'name' object and delete it.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

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

 

[jkcone]

Mr. Baker why is it that you always make it seem so simple! That worked. Thank you & Jerry for the help.

Now to the original subject of this thread & probably another dumb question. Once I've set the origin & the margins I can't figure out how to area select the objects. I left click, hold & drag but my cursor has the red crossed circle no symbol & no selection box is created by the drag. What am I doing wrong?

 

[jerry1423]

with the point menu visible make sure things like centerpoint and endpoint are toggled on.

 

[jkcone]

Sorry but I still can't get it to work. I tried different scenarios of selection picks turned on & off including including center point & end point on & still am unable to drag a selection box. I still get the no symbol when I try to drag a selection box. What could I be doing wrong? I'd love to be able to speed up this dimensioning process!

 

[JohnRBaker]

You can't use the 'Auto Dimension' option if you're not using Margins or they were not created using the explicit 'Define Margins' tool (3rd icon from the left in the Ordinate Dimension menubar). Once you've defined your margins using the 'Define Margins' tools (after selecting the 3rd icon from the left) the 'Auto Dimension' option (4th icon from the left) will become active and you can select it to set up what you want to dimension. One precaution, before you can proceed the the selection step in the 'Auto Dimension' option, the system will ask that you select the view from which you wish to 'drag select' your points from, so you may have to zoom-in in order to actually select the view boundary before you can proceed with actually area-selecting what it is that you want 'Auto Dimensioned'.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

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

 

[jkcone]

Okay got it. Thanks for the patients guys!