Keep Parameters window open all the time

[BrienKing]

It would be nice to have the ability to have the parameters window open all the time instead of having to keep opening it everytime I need to change something.  Would also be nice if you could have it just show User Parameters as that's what I would primarily need to be changing.

[Anonymous]

It's time to move on folks...

I fixed this shortly after my post here years ago by ditching Fusion and going to OnShape.

Screw autodesk.  This is how you lose customers, by not giving a rats about them, even regarding the little things like this.  Also, at the time this issue was raised, Fusion had unlimited public documents, just like OnShape.   But have recently literally gone backwards in their competive strategy to limit this to 10.

Bubye Fusion 360! And best of luck with your freeze in feature development, as is plentifully evident here.

[lichtzeichenanlage]

10 concurrently editable documents. You can still have unlimited documents
in your data panel / cloud. You just can't edit them concurrently.

[Anonymous]

tomayto, tomahto. 

The bottom line is, Autodesk only seems interested in feature tweaks for themselves and their business model changes, and not actual features for actual users actually trying to do basic things, as is painfully evident by this entire thread.

[lichtzeichenanlage]

Since you can name the variables directly when creating the dimensions, I
move much less in the parameter editor. This doesn't only work in the
sketch editor but also in all fields where you can define a value. Simply
type

myVarName = 100 mm

This will automatically rename the model parameter and make it a favorite
so you can reuse those variables easily in all other situations.

I agree that this isn't perfect, but I can understand why it is so
complicated for AD to implement this request. The UI doesn't have a
mechanism for this kind of interaction right now. This could end up in a
complete UI rework. But that's only my opinion.

[hoegge]

Yes, of course it is an improvement. But still why not fix the other things. It used to work on either Mac or PC - don't remember which. And it should be easy to fix. And it also helps you can now assign your own keyboard shortcut. But again, this request is years old, and also ability to rearrange and sort parameters has been wished for this for years, and it is all minor things. It is really incredibly (not in a positive way) that this has been neglected for so long.

[forgejax]

Very distressing to see this unaddressed for so long, current parameter behavior makes using them at all so unpleasant I rarely use it, and incredibly annoying to implement in the cases where it is needed.

[graham.wideman]

I soooo agree with you. It's crazy that 3D CAD modeling software that touts its parametric capabilities makes parameters gratuitously aggravating to use.  For what it's worth, I resort to two things to make it less painful:

1. Assign a shortcut key to Change Parameters so at least I don't have to find the menu item to open the parameters dialog.  (But even that is made more difficult than necessary, as F360 seems to have no way to show the existing shortcut keys, so you could avoid overwriting one.)

2. After making significant additions to the parameters list, I take a screen cap of that window that I can paste into an image viewer elsewhere on screen, so I can keep track of parameter names.

[lichtzeichenanlage]

I've added it to the the shortcut menu (like many other things):

[mnoreke]

2720 days and counting... At 3000 we might even get into that special feature request club!

[firefish1]

I've wrote up an addon that does this, though its still a little rough around the edges. As someone who can dev who has looked at this now, let me tell you what I have and what I know is possible with the addon api.

Current features of the addon I am developing:

1. All local, no websites, completely offline. All in a dockable fusion360 panel
2. Auto sync. No need to navigate through a menu to press a sync button. Changes are synced the moment you finish editing a value or adding a new one (unless you disable "Auto sync").
3. Parameter is validated in the UI with color coded status (grey = no changes. green=changes are valid. red=changed and invalid). Validation is done real time as you edit it. Checks both the value and the name
4. Always visible, never closing.

Todo:

1. Open on startup.
2. Auto Refresh on document change. 
3. Undo/Redo integration.
4. Styling to be presentable.

Possible features:

1. Rich value formatting. Numbers, operators, referenced parameters, and units can be formatted to be distinct from one another; Autocompletion of parameter names. Both these features depend on the same technology and developing one inherently creates all the code for the other. (I often code these types of systems but I don't use fusion often enough to justify the time sink. My draft impl does not have it as it was just a POC to confirm bidirectional user parameter sync was possible)

I may continue to work on it but I have a hard time justifying spending more time developing this into something worthy of being published. Getting to where I am at took several hrs and I do not have a proper addon development environment setup and am still learning their api. But after seeing that it is possible with my quick POC, I have to question why the dev of both of the current param editor addons who has experience with deving several other fusion addons has not. Perhaps this isn't in their use cases

[jeremy.taylor.chch]

I appreciate the helpfulness of community members in trying to address this issue that has not been addressed by Autodesk in eleventy years, but we should not have to rely on community efforts for something so intrinsic as being able to keep the parameters window up and in a fixed place so it is immediately available when using a parametric modelling tool. Come on, Autodesk! This is a quality-of-life issue. It isn't a huge feature. It is literally just changing the type of window used for the Change Parameters window. The dev will spend more time updating the test suite.

[graham.wideman]

@jeremy.taylor.chch 

I've commented before how ridiculous it is that this is still not a feature, considering that parameters are a key selling point for F360.

That said:

> It is literally just changing the type of window used for the Change Parameters window.

> The dev will spend more time updating the test suite.

I think it's a little more difficult, because the Change Parameters window needs to synchronize in two directions with the model, since parameters in the model don't just receive new values from the Params window. New params can be created in the main model window, and there may be other changes to parameters that don't originate with the Params window, and all of those need to synchronize.

Still not rocket science, but not as easy as just changing the window from modal to non-modal.

[hoegge]

@keqingsong No it will not solve the essential problem. This request is SO old (7 years) and should be an easy fix

Why don't you just do it?

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-design-validate/keep-parameters-window-open-all-the-time/m... 

[dilshad328p]

I am normally a FreeCAd user but am looking to see in Fusion360 will meet my growing needs. One thing I really like is having a spreadsheet for the parameters. I can see it all the time - in fact it is one of the main places where I do my work. I am quite surprised that FreeCAD is better in this regard. 

FreeCAD in my experience has not behaved well for me with multiple monitors and what I saw that I could put the parameters on my second screen I was overjoyed - albeit briefly, upon realisation they had to be closed to continue work. 

Please consider

• having the parameters able to be constantly open
• enabling the parameters to be displayed on a second monitor
• empowering the parameters with full spreadsheet powers

[terry_fusion]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

For the changes you have made, they have had a huge impact on productivity.

Looking forward to seeing many more.

Also

THANK YOU!!!

[jhackney1972]

---

@dilshad328p wrote:

Please consider

• having the parameters able to be constantly open
• enabling the parameters to be displayed on a second monitor
• empowering the parameters with full spreadsheet powers

---

In regards to your last two points, the Parameters dialog box can already be moved to a second monitor once open and will reopen on the monitor where it was closed the next time you call it up.  The last point can be accomplished by loading an free Add-In from the Autodesk App Store. 

[Noah_Katz]

Not to be snarky, but what are you so thankful for?

As far as I know, the solution mentioned in the 2nd post in 2015 is still not available.

[graham.wideman]

And joining the not-to-be-snarky-but party....

>the Parameters dialog box can already be moved to a second monitor once open 

...but having the Parameters dialog box on a second monitor is pretty much pointless since the objective of moving it to the second monitor is to get it out of the way while you're using the main F360 model window -- which you can't do because while the Params window is open since it's modal and thus prevents using the main F360 window.

[jhackney1972]

Just responding to the poster that asked if the parameter dialog could be moved to a second screen.

[scottnewman]

I originally posted this as a suggestion for Inventor back in 2015. So far, we have gone through 7 new versions of Inventor…and probably many more versions of Fusion 360 since then. It is certainly not something that you should rush into 😊