Orthographic Balloons

[debodine]

I did a search but was unsuccessful. I found one thread that addressed my exact question, but the answer was not what I needed, and that thread is closed so I opened this new one.

I very rarely use balloons on a Solidworks drawing. However, when I do, I need the leader line to be orthographic, either vertical or horizontal. However, I cannot find any property of the balloon I can choose or any way to constrain the balloon and its leader line to be either vertical or horizontal.

The text is properly constrained to horizontal, but I need control over the leader line as well.

I have tried things like holding down the CTRL, ALT or SHIFT key while attempting to place the balloon, no luck.

Looking forward to a response from someone who knows how to do this in Solidworks.

debodine

 

[ctopher]

I don't know of a way to make them snap to horiz or vert.
It's not common practice to make them that way because the leaders would blend with the detail of the drawing.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks 06 4.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 06-21-06)

 

[debodine]

Ok, thanks for the info. We like to use them in a manner similar to Boeing, to call out aircraft Station, Water Line and Butt Line locations. We prefer that the leaders be precisely horizontal or vertical for this application, but so far it seems there is no simple way to insure this.

debodine

 

[ctopher]

If you are doing drawings for aircraft, and for Boeing, ask for their drawing/drafting standards. If not, go by ASME/ANSI standards, no need to make them the same as Boeing.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks 06 4.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 06-21-06)

 

[EEnd]

It should possible to create an API program which, for a selected balloon, would examine the leader line, determine if it was close to horizontal or vertical, and if it was move the bend point of the leader to make it exactly horizontal or vertical. If this is something that you do often, it might be worth looking into.