Dimension the bottom of a groove with iLogic

[harvey_craig2RCUH]

I wish to dimension the bottom of a groove (90) with iLogic like so:

I have got the face intent but I must require to place a nearPoint parameter in the Intents. Is there an appropriate one for this? Where can I find the list of available nearPoint's I can place as this parameter if I wish to experiment myself? I couldn't find anything in the documentation. Attached the files with my rule included.

Many thanks,

Harvey

[WCrihfield]

Hi @harvey_craig2RCUH.  When using the Inventor API method Sheet.CreateGeometryIntent, the second input is optional, but is likely needed in a case like this.  One of the things it mentions that we can specify there is a variation of the PointIntentEnum.  That Enum does have variations that sound appropriate for this situation, such as its 'kCircularBottomPointIntent' (or 57864), and its 'kCircularTopPointIntent' (or 57863), and possibly even the 'kMidPointIntent' (or 57859).  It also mentions several other possibilities for what could be specified there.  A piece of geometry that crosses the main geometry, to specify the intersection of the two.  A transient Point2d (in Sheet space, not DrawingView space or 'model' space), which specified where on the main geometry.  A Double value between zero and one, which would be similar to a percentage along that entity, from its start point to its end point, if it has those.

[Curtis_Waguespack · Accepted solution]

@harvey_craig2RCUH , think of your circular face as having 4 points, that we specify by enumerator. Left, Right, Top, Bottom.

You want to tell it to go from the top (pointEnum) to the bottom (pointEnum), but since it wraps around the shape, we need to tell it to use the bottom point of the face at the top of the view ( nearPoint). So the green dot. And the top point of the face at the bottom of the view ( nearPoint). So the blue dot.

Hope that helps,

Curtis

Dim BottomGroove1 = VIEW1.GetIntent("Face1", PointIntentEnum.kCircularTopPointIntent, nearPoint := VIEW1.SheetPoint(0.5, 0))'WHAT DO I PUT IN HERE AS MY NEAR POINT?
Dim BottomGroove2 = VIEW1.GetIntent("Face1",PointIntentEnum.kCircularBottomPointIntent,  nearPoint := VIEW1.SheetPoint(0.5, 1))'WHAT DO I PUT IN HERE AS MY NEAR POINT?
Dim BottomGroove_X_Pos = VIEW1.GetIntent("Face1", PointIntentEnum.kCircularLeftPointIntent).PointOnSheet.X * 10

[harvey_craig2RCUH]

Thank you Curtis, very helpful. My main takeaway from this, is you can use a PointIntentEnum at the same time as a nearPoint. Before this I thought it was one or the other. 

Many thanks,

Harvey

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Yeah I think this part of iLogic dimensioning is not at all intuitive ( in my opinion at least). As new users to this workflow we have to employ a bit of ESP, "use the force" or ask someone that is familiar with it.

I wish this was more discoverable to new users, but I suspect that many of your posts over the last few months will help others in the future. So I really appreciate your contributions here and the clear examples you provide demonstrating your questions.

p.s. you should try working with straight edge geometry sometime and not all of these curves 😆   jk, I've done some tank design in the past and understand the extra challenges that working with round/curved geometry can present