Hi Shane -
See comments inline...
"B Fry" wrote in message
news:C1242FFC57D1F037004D6BD227F87291@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Jason,
>
> Thanks for the Reply. I'm new to ABS we crossgraded to ABS3 from Autocad
so
> I'm still learning.
>
> 1. I have corrected the location of the part sizes.(Moved to size
> parameter.)
That's better!
>
> 2. "Is it possible to constrain an extrusion to a profile?" I wasn't
asking
> about the original profile used to create the extrusion. For example I'm
> trying to determine if I create a rectangle profile and then extrude it
> vertically can I then add another profile to the top face of the first
> extrusion extrude the second profile and somehow constrain the second
> profile to the first extrusion? Possibly it would have to be the two
> extrusions that are constrained together? (I guess the problem I am having
> is trying to determine how 2 collinear / coplanar lines would be
constrained
> together.)
>
Yes, there are a couple ways that come to mind to do this (I think)
lemme make sure that I understand what you want first. See diagram below
___x___
| |
| |
|______|
First Extrusion (side view), where x is the "center" of the top face of the
rectangular extrusion, that I want to constrain the next extrusion to.
_______
| |
| x |
|______ |
First Extrusion (top view), where x is the location that the extrusion
should be constrained "about"
___
_|___|_
| |
| |
|_____|
First extrusion with second extrusion on the top of it(side view), correct
(yea, I know they aren't the same size but I'm drawing with text).
_______
| ___ |
| |_x_| |
|______ |
Top view of both extrusions
One way that I can think of to do this would be to not use extrusions, but
paths. I could draw 2 lines then extrude two rectangles along the lines. The
lines can easily be constrained so that they are parallel and that their end
points meet (coincedent constraint and parallel constraint).
Another method would be to use multiple workplanes, and use a plane
extrusion to get from one plane to the other, and some reference geometery
on the plane to make the "centers" line up.
> 3. Thanks, on this one I just wanted to make sure we would not lose our
> custom content at the next upgrade. I wasn't sure if the whole catalog
gets
> rewritten during an upgrade or individual parts.
The apc file gets re-written, but it's easily updated with a catalog
regen.
>
> 4. It would be very useful to be able to add associative dimensions that
> would change with the part size and annotations (only show up in certain
> viewports) to the part file. Our company has our own line of hood systems
> for wholesale / retail nationwide and we are a design build contractor
> within Colorado, so being able to produce a single model that we can
extract
> floor plans, cd's, and equipment submittals from would be a plus. Oh well,
> you can't have everything.
Yes, it would be nice to be able to include annotation and dimensions
in the model, I'll add it to the wishlist
>
> 5. There are no connections on this part because I have not added them
yet.
> There will be a 4" high duct connector on the hood top plane in the model
> but, at this point with the problems I have been having I'm trying to
tackle
> it in stages and get each stage to work / documented. We have several
> hundred part families to add loosely based on this first / simplest part.
As
> far as what this part is it is a commercial kitchen hood system. The large
> rectangle in the middle is the hood itself. The narrower rectangles on the
> sides and back are standoff's. The bottom of this part is generally
inserted
> at 6'6" aff against one or more walls. The standoffs are required on any
> side that is against a wall, so the idea was to create the standoffs as
part
> of the same part as the hood at the most common size 3" and then allow a
> wide range of sizes so that the standoffs can be resized at the time of
> insertion. (I have already found one problem with this we are not able to
> use 0" as a size to eliminate the standoff on the sides where there are no
> walls.) Lena and Len A3 are dimensioning the width of the profile for the
> standoffs they are just distance dimensions. Should I be dimensioning the
> extrusions instead of the profiles? It seems to update the model when I
> change the value for the dimension.
>
OK, having an idea of what we are trying to make helps me quite a bit. I
saw the 0 thing last night when I was working on my version of your part. I
can imagine that 0 length items would be hard to deal with from a "model
generation" standpoint, but I'll add a request for this to the wishlist as
well. I think that the placement of your dimensions may have fooled me into
thinking that something strange was happening with them.
> 6. Please see the updated file in customer files under the same subject. I
> have attached a catalog page of what I am trying to model. I have also
> included a new part file. (Your file seems to work however I am not able
to
> reproduce the behavior it produces and I was trying to model it as simply
as
> possible with a minimum of work planes and dimensions.) The new part file
I
> have attached almost works however for some reason I can not seem to get
the
> whole profile to extrude only a part of it extrudes. I am trying to
extrude
> the whole footprint from hood base plane to hood top plane.
The profile that you've created for the Hood Base Profile is fairly
complicated and intersects itself (the intersecting itself portion, is why I
think only part of the profile is extruding). Workplanes seem complicated,
but in many cases they actually simplify other constraints and complicated
profiles. I can repeat the file that I posted last night with one that
doesn't use so many workplanes, but I'm going to have a lot more dimensions
and constraints to do it (at least I think I could do it a different way)
I'll try to check with the developer that created content builder tomorrow
and verify that the "self intersecting profile" is the problem, but it's a
fairly good bet..
>
> Thank you for taking the time to help me with this.
>
Glad to help!