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Hi @ts2.cad3. I'm not 100% sure what your goal was there, but I'm pretty sure you want a way to specify a stationary component, then constrain one (or more) other components to that stationary component, by the proxies of their origin planes, while deleting any existing constraints that may have already been on the component that you want to move. If that sounds accurate, then this rule should work for that task fairly well. I chose not to label the WorkPlanes, because I often rename my origin WorkPlanes anyways to more useful useful names, and some folks may have their UCS & ViewCube system set-up differently than standard. The code below is not currently set-up with a loop, but I believe it could be, if needed/wanted. I placed a couple comments in key places that would likely be good places for beginning/ending a loop, if you were to use one. Or it could be converted to get rid of the second Pick function, and just loop all other top level components (other than the stationary one).
Sub Main
Dim oBaseComponent As ComponentOccurrence = PickComponent("Pick Base Component.")
If IsNothing(oBaseComponent) Then Exit Sub
Dim oADef As AssemblyComponentDefinition = oBaseComponent.Parent
Dim oConsts As AssemblyConstraints = oADef.Constraints
oTrans = ThisApplication.TransactionManager.StartTransaction(oADef.Document, "Constrain Components (API)")
Dim oBaseWPPs As List(Of WorkPlaneProxy) = GetComponentOriginPlaneProxies(oBaseComponent)
If IsNothing(oBaseWPPs) OrElse (Not oBaseWPPs.Count = 3) Then
MsgBox("Failed to get 3 WorkPlaneProxy objects from Base component. Exiting.", vbCritical, "")
oTrans.Abort
Exit Sub
End If
Dim oBaseTrans As Matrix = oBaseComponent.Transformation
'<<<< Good Point For Loop Of Remaining Code >>>>
Dim oCompToMove As ComponentOccurrence = PickComponent("Pick Component To Move.")
If IsNothing(oCompToMove) Then oTrans.Abort : Exit Sub
Dim oCompToMoveWPPs As List(Of WorkPlaneProxy) = GetComponentOriginPlaneProxies(oCompToMove)
If IsNothing(oCompToMoveWPPs) OrElse (Not oCompToMoveWPPs.Count = 3) Then
MsgBox("Failed to get 3 WorkPlaneProxy objects from component to move. Exiting.", vbCritical, "")
oTrans.Abort
Exit Sub
End If
DeleteConstraints(oCompToMove)
oCompToMove.Transformation = oBaseTrans
For i As Integer = 0 To 2
oConst = oConsts.AddFlushConstraint(oBaseWPPs.Item(i), oCompToMoveWPPs.Item(i), 0)
Next
'<<<< End Loop Here, If Using One >>>>
oTrans.End
End Sub
Function PickComponent(oPrompt As String) As ComponentOccurrence
oObj = ThisApplication.CommandManager.Pick(SelectionFilterEnum.kAssemblyOccurrenceFilter, oPrompt)
If IsNothing(oObj) OrElse (TypeOf oObj Is ComponentOccurrence = False) Then Return Nothing
Dim oOcc As ComponentOccurrence = oObj
Return oOcc
End Function
Function GetComponentOriginPlaneProxies(oComp As ComponentOccurrence) As List(Of WorkPlaneProxy)
If IsNothing(oComp) Then Return Nothing
Dim oWPs As WorkPlanes = Nothing
Dim oWPPs As New List(Of WorkPlaneProxy)
If TypeOf oComp.Definition Is PartComponentDefinition Or _
TypeOf oComp.Definition Is AssemblyComponentDefinition Then
oWPs = oComp.Definition.WorkPlanes
Else
Return Nothing
End If
For i As Integer = 1 To 3
Dim oWPP As WorkPlaneProxy = Nothing
oWP = oWPs.Item(i)
oComp.CreateGeometryProxy(oWP, oWPP)
oWPPs.Add(oWPP)
Next
Return oWPPs
End Function
Sub DeleteConstraints(oComp As ComponentOccurrence)
If IsNothing(oComp) Then Exit Sub
If oComp.Constraints.Count = 0 Then Exit Sub
For Each oConst As AssemblyConstraint In oComp.Constraints
oConst.Delete
Next
End SubIf this solved your problem, or answered your question, please click ACCEPT SOLUTION.
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Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
Hi @ts2.cad3. This has been an interesting task to tackle. I originally did not realize you needed to maintain relative distances and relative orientations between base component and the other component. But the resulting code I created is probably useful to some folks with a slightly different task to tackle. And I also was not sure if you really intended to constrain 'all' other components to the base component, or just one, or just a select few. So, I altered my code to get rid of the second Pick function, and instead just loop through all other components in the assembly, to constrain them all to the one selected base component. Then streamlined the rest of the code a bit, and incorporated the parallel and direction difference checks into it, but did the offset calculation a bit simpler.
Also, out of interest I continued looking into this task, and threw in a potential stumbling block into it as a test. What about if you have an OccurrencePattern in your assembly? So, in a test assembly file, I created a simple RectangularOccurrencePattern and attempted to update my code to deal with that situation, which would definitely trip up a simpler code. The position of an OccurrencePatternElement object is set/controlled by the pattern, and often do not have any constraints on them to keep them in place. Only the original input component(s) that you specified to create the pattern of will usually be constrained, and attempting to constrain any of the pattern elements will result in errors, due to becoming over constrained. So, I created a custom Function to use as a sort of a 'filter' or 'checker' in this situation, to avoid that potential problem. I also left most of my comment lines in that Function code, because it can be hard to follow/understand what's going on (the train of thought).
Here is the resulting code, just in case you guys may find it helpful. I attached it as a Text file, because of how long it is, but if you can't download it, I can post it directly.
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
OK. My code worked just fine for me. None of the components moved any at all, and it even constrained the component that I had created a component pattern of, so that the whole pattern would also maintain its position & orientation with the base component. I did notice however, that your code includes lines of code for grounding every component it encounters, including the base component, but then still utilizing the Sub to delete all other constraints on each 'other' component. But then there are two lines of code at the very end of your Sub Main area to turn off the 'ground' setting for the Base component, and the other component. But it seems to me that the line to turn off the ground setting for the other component would only effect the very last 'other' component, because it is after all of the loops, not within the loops. So...are all the 'other' components remaining 'grounded' in your results?
I just had no need to ground anything in my testing scenarios, because I had already fully constrained my base component (and sometimes the other components too) ahead of time, knowing my plans for it, and I was confident that none of the others would move, because I am measuring the offsets before applying the constraints. However, this type of code still is not all encompassing, because it does not address any components that may not be perfectly aligned parallel/perpendicular to the origin planes of the base component. I also considered using the UCS to UCS type constraints, while looking into this case. It seemed like more work was involved, and you have to create a UCS for each component (within the main assembly) to use ahead of time, which is similar to a work feature. It's fairly easy to create them though, using the components transformation matrix, and you end up with an object with a lot of useful properties.
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
hI WCrihfield, I have done various tests with your code and it works perfectly even in case there are in the set of series. You did a great job, thank you very much!
there would be only one case that should be further inspected, that is the case in which the origin planes of a component are not "aligned" with those of the base component. Probably a way could be found to constrain in this case, the point of origin of the component not "aligned" with the origin planes of the base component. It would still remain "rotatable" on its point of origin but at least it would keep the relative maximum position.
Hi guys. I also did a bit more work on this project the other day, but chose not to publish my code yet at that time, because it was still a work in progress, and still needs more R&D. I was attempting to solve the issue of when the 'other' component's origin planes are not parallel with the 'base' component's origin planes. I also incorporated the 'grounding' steps suggested by @SevInventor, figuring that it probably wouldn't hurt anything. I further developed the routine for creating the constraints between the origin planes, out in its own Sub, by incorporating measuring angles and using angle constraints. Then, after seeing that was still not enough to fully constrain everything, I created an additional, but similar Sub routine for constraining the origin WorkAxes. This still was not fully constraining those certain few components that were deliberately not aligned in any way with the 'base' component, and left a lot of 'Redundant' constraints in place. It is also still set-up to loop through all other components, other than the one selected 'base' component, to constrain them all relatively to that base component, rather than selecting multiple components up front to process. For what its worth, I have pasted the code I had developed so far into a Text File, and attached it to this post for others to revue, and possibly further develop if they want.
I don't think that re-considering using the UCS to UCS constraint system will help here either, because the documentation about it says that it essentially creates a 'constraints set' consisting of 'three flush constraints' between either UCS's, component origins, or assembly origin. That doesn't sound any better than what we've already developed here. Plus, the other odd thing about that route, is that there does not appear to be an Inventor API method for creating them directly...just an iLogic only snippet, which returns an 'IManagedConstraint', instead of a regular AssemblyConstraint. I think there just needs to be a new or better constraint type, just for this specific purpose...constraining one component to another, while maintaining exact existing offsets, angles, and orientations, even if they are not aligned with each other in any way.
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
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