Feedback on parametric driven dimensions

[GRSnyder]

I was very happy to hear that it's now possible to refer to driven dimensions! I have used this feature quite a bit over the last few days and I can tell that it's going to be a really big deal. I had forgotten (from Inventor) how broadly useful this facility is.

A couple of points of feedback:

1) It used to be that driven dimensions were largely useless unless you were going to write down the value on a piece of paper (or in a parameter) for later use. So it was completely reasonable that every driven dimension came with an "Adding this dimension will over-constrain the sketch. Choose OK to create a Driven Dimension" warning dialog.

But now that driven dimensions are more general participants in the ecosystem, this warning is no longer appropriate. It just gets in the way.

I would imagine there's a concern that new users won't know how to interpret the parentheses around the dimen sion value and will become frustrated by trying to edit it. But there are ways to address this concern that don't involve putting up a dialog box. For example, driven dimensions could be a different color, or when moused over, they could show a tooltip explaining the nature of driven dimensions. Anything that doesn't actively interfere with a normal workflow, which now might involve creating multiple driven dimensions.

2) I notice that driven dimensions have parameter names and that these names are editable if you can find them in the Parameters window. Great! But I really wish there was a facility analogous to the "rail_thickness = 5mm" notations you can now enter en passant for regular dimensions. Naming is even more important for driven dimensions than for regular dimensions because their only purpose is to be referenced in other formulas.

I'm sure this would require some usability testing, but I'd really like driven dimensions to be selected for editing on creation just like other dimensions. Except that of course, you couldn't enter a value, just a name. (I think the auto-edit behavior might be optional, but I'm not sure why someone would turn it off.)

Think of this as a counterpart to issue #1 above. Auto-editing gives you a chance to add in a whole little UI that can clue users in to the fact that they're creating something different from a normal dimension. The editable text area could be explicitly labeled "Name:", and a button for additional disclosure (e.g., question mark or info symbol) could be displayed as long as the name was being edited. If the user attempts to enter a value, you can pop up a "Why can't I set the value?" link below or above without actually interfering with the workflow.

[Phil.E · Accepted solution]

Thanks. I'm passing the feedback to the sketch team.