topic Re: When trying to set a dimension between two lines, it forces angular dimension, although the lines parallel in Inventor Forum

When trying to set a dimension between two lines, it forces angular dimension, although the lines parallel

danielhibner55 — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 09:51:31 GMT

Its happen to me once in a while and I cant get it. Here is an example:

Notice how the two lines are parallel but when I try to make a dimension between them it making an angular dimension of 180 degrees (driven dimension), so I can set the distance between the lines unless I pick points (which isnt what I want).

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

Re: When trying to set a dimension between two lines, it forces angular dimension, although the lines parallel

AEtzkorn — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 12:46:06 GMT

You may need to increase your angle precision in your measurement, at 2 decimal point it may show up zero but if you go out to 4 or 5 it may be non-zero. Or you could add a parallel constraint between the 2 lines you are trying to dimension.

Re: When trying to set a dimension between two lines, it forces angular dimension, although the lines parallel

danielhibner55 — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 14:00:54 GMT

Hey brother thank you. As I said, they ARE parallel:

Re: When trying to set a dimension between two lines, it forces angular dimension, although the lines parallel

dan_inv09 — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 15:55:05 GMT

Just because adding a parallel constraint would "over-constrain" them does not necessarily mean that they are parallel already.

What version of Inventor are you on?

We recently (finally) upgraded from 2023 and I'm trying to remember if it was before or after (or both) where I experienced this and had to resort to dimensioning to points (which is not what I wanted).

Do you have a file and/or could you recreate this so that you could attach something that would let Autodesk see that this is happening and maybe they can get to work trying to fix it? Thanks.

Re: When trying to set a dimension between two lines, it forces angular dimension, although the lines parallel

MKE_Howard — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 16:01:31 GMT

Hi @danielhibner55, strange behaviour. Maybe it's a bug but the more probable cause is that the lines are not parallel. To verify, like @AEtzkorn said, increase the precision in your measurements. Should be all zeros.

If it's not all zeros, I would delete any constraint on that line that could affect the angle. Maybe its the rest of your sketch thats problematic. Then add the angle dimensions at 180degres (it shouldnt be a driven one if you deleted any constraint that affect the angle) Let me know.

Re: When trying to set a dimension between two lines, it forces angular dimension, although the lines parallel

johnsonshiue — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 23:30:17 GMT

Hi Daniel,

It doesn't look right to me. Please share the file with me directly at johnson.shiue@autodesk.com. I would like to understand the sketch dimensioning issue better.

Many thanks!

Re: When trying to set a dimension between two lines, it forces angular dimension, although the lines parallel

danielhibner55 — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 10:45:14 GMT

Thank you. They are parallel, even to the most accurate precision. Its strange, but deleting and sketch the lines again solve it.