Auto Build z

Pro/ENGINEER®

Wildfire™ 2.0

AutobuildZ™

Help Topic Collection

Parametric Technology Corporation

Copyright © 2004 Parametric Technology Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

User and training documentation from Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) is subject to the copyright laws of the

United States and other countries and is provided under a license agreement that restricts copying, disclosure, and use

of such documentation. PTC hereby grants to the licensed user the right to make copies in printed form of this

documentation if provided on software media, but only for internal/personal use and in accordance with the license

agreement under which the applicable software is licensed. Any copy made shall include the PTC copyright notice and

any other proprietary notice provided by PTC. This documentation may not be disclosed, transferred, modified, or

reduced to any form, including electronic media, or transmitted or made publicly available by any means without the

prior written consent of PTC and no authorization is granted to make copies for such purposes.

Information described herein is furnished for general information only, is subject to change without notice, and should

not be construed as a warranty or commitment by PTC. PTC assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or

inaccuracies that may appear in this document.

The software described in this document is provided under written license agreement, contains valuable trade secrets

and proprietary information, and is protected by the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. It may not

be copied or distributed in any form or medium, disclosed to third parties, or used in any manner not provided for in the

software licenses agreement except with written prior approval from PTC. UNAUTHORIZED USE OF SOFTWARE

OR ITS DOCUMENTATION CAN RESULT IN CIVIL DAMAGES AND CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

Registered Trademarks of Parametric Technology Corporation or a Subsidiary Advanced Surface Design, Behavioral Modeling, CADDS, Computervision, CounterPart, EPD, EPD.Connect,

Expert Machinist, Flexible Engineering, HARNESSDESIGN, Info*Engine, InPart, MECHANICA, Optegra,

Parametric Technology, Parametric Technology Corporation, PartSpeak, PHOTORENDER, Pro/DESKTOP, Pro/E,

Pro/ENGINEER, Pro/HELP, Pro/INTRALINK, Pro/MECHANICA, Pro/TOOLKIT, Product First, PTC, PT/Products,

Shaping Innovation, and Windchill.

Trademarks of Parametric Technology Corporation or a Subsidiary 3DPAINT, Associative Topology Bus, AutobuildZ, CDRS, Create � Collaborate � Control, CV, CVact, CVaec,

CVdesign, CV-DORS, CVMAC, CVNC, CVToolmaker, DataDoctor, DesignSuite, DIMENSION III, DIVISION,

e/ENGINEER, eNC Explorer, Expert MoldBase, Expert Toolmaker, GRANITE, ISSM, KDiP,

Knowledge Discipline in Practice, Knowledge System Driver, ModelCHECK, MoldShop, NC Builder, Pro/ANIMATE,

Pro/ASSEMBLY, Pro/CABLING, Pro/CASTING, Pro/CDT, Pro/CMM, Pro/COLLABORATE, Pro/COMPOSITE,

Pro/CONCEPT, Pro/CONVERT, Pro/DATA for PDGS, Pro/DESIGNER, Pro/DETAIL, Pro/DIAGRAM,

Pro/DIEFACE, Pro/DRAW, Pro/ECAD, Pro/ENGINE, Pro/FEATURE, Pro/FEM-POST, Pro/FICIENCY,

Pro/FLY-THROUGH, Pro/HARNESS, Pro/INTERFACE, Pro/LANGUAGE, Pro/LEGACY, Pro/LIBRARYACCESS,

Pro/MESH, Pro/Model.View, Pro/MOLDESIGN, Pro/NC-ADVANCED, Pro/NC-CHECK, Pro/NC-MILL,

Pro/NCPOST, Pro/NC-SHEETMETAL, Pro/NC-TURN, Pro/NC-WEDM, Pro/NC-Wire EDM,

Pro/NETWORK ANIMATOR, Pro/NOTEBOOK, Pro/PDM, Pro/PHOTORENDER, Pro/PIPING,

Pro/PLASTIC ADVISOR, Pro/PLOT, Pro/POWER DESIGN, Pro/PROCESS, Pro/REPORT, Pro/REVIEW,

Pro/SCAN-TOOLS, Pro/SHEETMETAL, Pro/SURFACE, Pro/VERIFY, Pro/Web.Link, Pro/Web.Publish,

Pro/WELDING, Product Development Means Business, ProductView, PTC Precision, Shrinkwrap,

Simple � Powerful � Connected, The Product Development Company, The Way to Product First, Wildfire,

Windchill DynamicDesignLink, Windchill PartsLink, Windchill PDMLink, Windchill ProjectLink, and

Windchill SupplyLink.

Patents of Parametric Technology Corporation or a Subsidiary Registration numbers and issue dates follow. Additionally, equivalent patents may be issued or pending outside of the

United States. Contact PTC for further information. 6,665,569 B1 16-December-2003

6,625,607 B1 23-September-2003

6,580,428 B1 17-June-2003

GB2354684B 02-July-2003

GB2384125 15-October-2003

GB2354096 12-November-2003

6,608,623 B1 19 August 2003

GB2353376 05-November-2003

GB2354686 15-October-2003

6,545,671 B1 08-April-2003

GB2354685B 18-June-2003

6,608,623 B1 19 August 2003

6,473,673 B1 29-October-2002

GB2354683B 04-June-2003

6,447,223 B1 10-Sept-2002

6,308,144 23-October-2001

5,680,523 21-October-1997

5,838,331 17-November-1998

4,956,771 11-September-1990

5,058,000 15-October-1991

5,140,321 18-August-1992

5,423,023 05-June-1990

4,310,615 21-December-1998

4,310,614 30-April-1996

4,310,614 22-April-1999

5,297,053 22-March-1994

5,513,316 30-April-1996

5,689,711 18-November-1997

5,506,950 09-April-1996

5,428,772 27-June-1995

5,850,535 15-December-1998

5,557,176 09-November-1996

5,561,747 01-October-1996

Third-Party Trademarks

Adobe is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems. Advanced ClusterProven, ClusterProven, and the ClusterProven

design are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States

and other countries and are used under license. IBM Corporation does not warrant and is not responsible for the

operation of this software product. AIX is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation. Allegro, Cadence, and Concept

are registered trademarks of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. Apple, Mac, Mac OS, and Panther are trademarks or

registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor are registered trademarks of

Autodesk, Inc. Baan is a registered trademark of Baan Company. CADAM and CATIA are registered trademarks of

Dassault Systemes. COACH is a trademark of CADTRAIN, Inc. DOORS is a registered trademark of Telelogic AB.

FLEXlm is a trademark of Macrovision Corporation. Geomagic is a registered trademark of Raindrop Geomagic, Inc.

EVERSYNC, GROOVE, GROOVEFEST, GROOVE.NET, GROOVE NETWORKS, iGROOVE, PEERWARE, and

the interlocking circles logo are trademarks of Groove Networks, Inc. Helix is a trademark of Microcadam, Inc.

HOOPS is a trademark of Tech Soft America, Inc. HP-UX is a registered trademark and Tru64 is a trademark of the

Hewlett-Packard Company. I-DEAS, Metaphase, Parasolid, SHERPA, Solid Edge, and Unigraphics are trademarks or

registered trademarks of Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS). InstallShield is a registered trademark and

service mark of InstallShield Software Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Intel is a registered

trademark of Intel Corporation. IRIX is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. LINUX is a registered

trademark of Linus Torvalds. MatrixOne is a trademark of MatrixOne, Inc. Mentor Graphics and Board Station are

registered trademarks and 3D Design, AMPLE, and Design Manager are trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation.

MEDUSA and STHENO are trademarks of CAD Schroer GmbH. Microsoft, Microsoft Project, Windows, the

Windows logo, Windows NT, Visual Basic, and the Visual Basic logo are registered trademarks of

Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Netscape and the Netscape N and Ship's Wheel

logos are registered trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Oracle is a

registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. OrbixWeb is a registered trademark of IONA Technologies PLC. PDGS is

a registered trademark of Ford Motor Company. RAND is a trademark of RAND Worldwide. Rational Rose is a

registered trademark of Rational Software Corporation. RetrievalWare is a registered trademark of Convera

Corporation. RosettaNet is a trademark and Partner Interface Process and PIP are registered trademarks of

“RosettaNet,” a nonprofit organization. SAP and R/3 are registered trademarks of SAP AG Germany. SolidWorks is a

registered trademark of SolidWorks Corporation. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or

registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. Products bearing

SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the

Sun logo, Solaris, UltraSPARC, Java and all Java based marks, and “The Network is the Computer” are trademarks or

registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. TIBCO, TIBCO Software,

TIBCO ActiveEnterprise, TIBCO Designer, TIBCO Enterprise for JMS, TIBCO Rendezvous, TIBCO Turbo XML,

TIBCO Business Works are the trademarks or registered trademarks of TIBCO Software Inc. in the United States and

other countries. WebEx is a trademark of WebEx Communications, Inc.

Third-Party Technology Information Certain PTC software products contain licensed third-party technology: Rational Rose 2000E is copyrighted software

of Rational Software Corporation. RetrievalWare is copyrighted software of Convera Corporation. VisTools library is

copyrighted software of Visual Kinematics, Inc. (VKI) containing confidential trade secret information belonging to

VKI. HOOPS graphics system is a proprietary software product of, and is copyrighted by, Tech Soft America, Inc.

G-POST is copyrighted software and a registered trademark of Intercim. VERICUT is copyrighted software and a

registered trademark of CGTech. Pro/PLASTIC ADVISOR is powered by Moldflow technology. Moldflow is a

registered trademark of Moldflow Corporation. The JPEG image output in the Pro/Web.Publish module is based in part

on the work of the independent JPEG Group. DFORMD.DLL is copyrighted software from Compaq Computer

Corporation and may not be distributed. METIS, developed by George Karypis and Vipin Kumar at the University of

Minnesota, can be researched at http://www.cs.umn.edu/~karypis/metis. METIS is © 1997 Regents of the University of

Minnesota. LightWork Libraries are copyrighted by LightWork Design 1990–2001. Visual Basic for Applications and

Internet Explorer is copyrighted software of Microsoft Corporation. Parasolid © Electronic Data Systems (EDS).

Windchill Info*Engine Server contains IBM XML Parser for Java Edition and the IBM Lotus XSL Edition. Pop-up

calendar components Copyright © 1998 Netscape Communications Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

TECHNOMATIX is copyrighted software and contains proprietary information of Technomatix Technologies Ltd.

Technology "Powered by Groove" is provided by Groove Networks, Inc. Technology "Powered by WebEx" is provided

by WebEx Communications, Inc. Oracle 8i run-time and Oracle 9i run-time, Copyright © 2002–2003 Oracle

Corporation. Oracle programs provided herein are subject to a restricted use license and can only be used in

conjunction with the PTC software they are provided with. Apache Server, Tomcat, Xalan, and Xerces are technologies

developed by, and are copyrighted software of, the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org) – their use is

subject to the terms and limitations at: http://www.apache.org/LICENSE.txt. Acrobat Reader is copyrighted software of

Adobe Systems Inc. and is subject to the Adobe End-User License Agreement as provided by Adobe with those

products. UnZip (© 1990-2001 Info-ZIP, All Rights Reserved) is provided “AS IS” and WITHOUT WARRANTY OF

ANY KIND. For the complete Info-ZIP license see ftp://ftp.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/license.html. Gecko and Mozilla

components are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1 at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL. Software distributed

under the MPL is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either expressed or

implied. See the MPL for the specific language governing rights and limitations. The Java™ Telnet Applet

(StatusPeer.java, TelnetIO.java, TelnetWrapper.java, TimedOutException.java), Copyright © 1996, 97 Mattias L.

Jugel, Marcus Meißner, is redistributed under the GNU General Public License. This license is from the original

copyright holder and the Applet is provided WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. You may obtain a copy of the

source code for the Applet at http://www.mud.de/se/jta (for a charge of no more than the cost of physically performing

the source distribution), by sending e-mail to [email protected] or [email protected]—you are allowed to choose either

distribution method. The source code is likewise provided under the GNU General Public License. GTK+The GIMP

Toolkit are licensed under the GNU LGPL. You may obtain a copy of the source code at http://www.gtk.org, which is

likewise provided under the GNU LGPL. zlib software Copyright © 1995-2002 Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler.

OmniORB is distributed under the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License and GNU Library General

Public License. The Java Getopt.jar, copyright 1987-1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc.; Java Port copyright 1998 by

Aaron M. Renn ([email protected]), is redistributed under the GNU LGPL. You may obtain a copy of the

source code at http://www.urbanophile.com/arenn/hacking/download.html. The source code is likewise provided under

the GNU LGPL. Mozilla Japanese localization components are subject to the Netscape Public License Version 1.1 (at

http://www.mozilla.org/NPL). Software distributed under NPL is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT

WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either expressed or implied (see the NPL for the specific language governing rights and

limitations). The Original Code is Mozilla Communicator client code, released March 31, 1998 and the Initial

Developer of the Original Code is Netscape Communications Corporation. Portions created by Netscape are Copyright

© 1998 Netscape Communications Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Contributors: Kazu Yamamoto

([email protected]), Ryoichi Furukawa ([email protected]), Tsukasa Maruyama ([email protected]), Teiji Matsuba

([email protected]).

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND

This document and the software described herein are Commercial Computer Documentation and Software, pursuant to

FAR 12.212(a)-(b) (OCT’95) or DFARS 227.7202-1(a) and 227.7202-3(a) (JUN’95), is provided to the US

Government under a limited commercial license only. For procurements predating the above clauses, use, duplication,

or disclosure by the Government is subject to the restrictions set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in

Technical Data and Computer Software Clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 (OCT’88) or Commercial Computer

Software-Restricted Rights at FAR 52.227-19(c)(1)-(2) (JUN’87), as applicable. 012304

Parametric Technology Corporation, 140 Kendrick Street, Needham, MA 02494 USA

v

Table Of Contents AutobuildZ..................................................................................................... 1

Using AutobuildZ ......................................................................................... 1

About AutobuildZ ...................................................................................... 1

About a Work Session in AutobuildZ ............................................................ 1

To Access AutobuildZ Functions in Pro/ENGINEER.......................................... 2

About Saving and Retrieving Work .............................................................. 3

Setting Preferences for AutobuildZ ................................................................. 4

About Specifying Preferences...................................................................... 4

To Set Preferences for AutobuildZ Operations ............................................... 4

Selecting Entities on a Drawing...................................................................... 5

About Selecting Multiple Entities on a Drawing .............................................. 5

Methods of Selecting Multiple Entities .......................................................... 6

To Select Multiple Entities by Defining a Rectangular Box ............................... 7

To Select a Chain of Connected Entities........................................................ 7

To Add or Remove Entities from the Selection ............................................... 7

To List Details of Selected Entities and Remove Entities.................................. 8

Cleaning Up Imported Drawings..................................................................... 8

About Cleaning Up Imported Drawings......................................................... 8

To Clean Up an Imported Drawing Automatically ........................................... 9

To Clean Up an Imported Drawing Manually.................................................10

Defining Views............................................................................................11

About Defining Views on the Current Drawing ..............................................11

To Define an Orthographic View .................................................................11

To Define a Section View...........................................................................12

To Define an Auxiliary View .......................................................................14

To Define a Detailed View..........................................................................15

About Drawing and View Scales .................................................................16

About Calculating a Drawing Scale Value for an Orthographic View .................17

To Specify a Drawing Scale Value for an Orthographic View ...........................17

Table Of Contents

vi

Creating Parts and Mapping Views.................................................................18

About Creating a Part and Associating It with the Current Drawing .................18

About Mapping and Associating the Drawing Views and the Datum Planes of a

Part........................................................................................................19

Setting Preferences for a New Part .............................................................19

To Create a Part with Datum Planes Automatically Mapped to the Drawing Views

.............................................................................................................20

To Manually Map Drawing Views to Datum Planes of a Part ............................21

To Set a Part Model as the Active Part.........................................................21

Creating Features in the Current Part ............................................................22

About Creating Features in the Current Part.................................................22

About Defining Elements of Pro/ENGINEER Features from Drawing Entities ......22

Using Feature Creation Wizards..................................................................23

Applying a Scale Factor to Models When Creating Features ............................24

To Specify Feature Type and Define the Section Profile and Sketch Plane.........24

Automatic Selection of the Sketching Plane..................................................26

To Create a Feature of Type Extrude...........................................................26

Specifying Depth for Extrusions and Holes ...................................................28

To Create a Feature of Type Revolve ..........................................................29

Specifying the Angle of Revolution for Revolved Features ..............................30

To Create a Simple Straight Hole................................................................30

To Create a Datum Plane ..........................................................................32

To Create a Sketched Datum Curve ............................................................32

To Create a Sketched Datum Point .............................................................33

Validating Section Profiles ............................................................................34

About Automatically Validating Section Profiles ............................................34

Identifying Reasons for Validation Failure ....................................................34

About Fixing Section Profiles That Fail Validation ..........................................35

Performing Operations as Part of the Section Profile Fix.................................35

To View Validation Results and Fix the Section Profile ...................................36

Creating 2D Drawing Views Automatically from 3D Models................................38

About Automatically Creating Drawing Views of the Part................................38

Table Of Contents

vii

Index...........................................................................................................41

1

AutobuildZ

Using AutobuildZ

About AutobuildZ

AutobuildZ creates 3D, parametric, feature-based models from 2D drawing data. The

2D drawing data can be imported to Pro/ENGINEER from any of the supported file

formats, such as DXF, DWG, and IGES.

AutobuildZ provides the following capabilities:

• Clean up 2D data by moving unnecessary and unwanted data to blanked layers.

• Organize and logically group the geometric entities on the drawing into

orthographic, sectional, auxiliary, and detailed views.

• Create parts using a start part template.

• Map the views of the drawing to datum planes in the parts.

• Associate the parts with the active drawing in session.

• Set up a part as the active part.

• Create features in the active part by selecting geometric entities on the drawing

in session.

• Automatically regenerate the drawing views of the active part on a separate

drawing sheet when features are added to the active part.

About a Work Session in AutobuildZ

With AutobuildZ, you can select drafting entities on a drawing in session to convert

the drawing to a 3D part and create 3D parametric features on it. A session in

AutobuildZ consists of the following steps:

• Import of drawings from file formats such as DXF, DWG, or IGES. You can also

use the sketching capability in Pro/DETAIL to create 2D views that can be

converted to 3D models using AutobuildZ.

• Cleanup of data that is not required for the conversion of the drawing to a 3D

model.

• Creation of views on the drawing by the selection of drafting entities and their

logical grouping on the drawing in session.

• Creation of the part.

• Mapping of the datum planes of the part to the views on the drawing.

• Definition of a part as the active part in which features are created and added.

• Definition of the feature elements as part of feature creation.

• Validation of the section profile during feature creation.

AutobuildZ - Help Topic Collection

2

• Creation and addition of features to the active part.

• Regeneration of a drawing of the part on a separate drawing sheet.

• Saving of the drawing and the associated parts to retrieve the drawing and the

associated parts at a later time and continue the feature creation process.

Many of these operations, such as cleaning up unnecessary entities on a drawing,

mapping datum planes to drawing views, and validating section profiles, are

automated if you set up preference options before you create the part.

Selection of multiple entities is required by some of the AutobuildZ operations such

as cleaning up of the imported drawing of entities that are not required and the

definition of feature elements. The Selection dialog box opens automatically

enabling you to select multiple entities on the drawing.

Refer to the online Help Pro/ENGINEER Interface for information on how to import

drawings from different file formats to Pro/ENGINEER.

To Access AutobuildZ Functions in Pro/ENGINEER

1. Set the autobuildz_enabled configuration option as follows in the config.pro

configuration file in the Pro/ENGINEER working directory:

autobuildz_enabled yes

You can also start the current version of Pro/ENGINEER and click Tools >

Options and use the Options dialog box to set autobuildz_enabled.

2. Start the current version of Pro/ENGINEER.

Note: Make sure that you have started the current version of Pro/ENGINEER and

not Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire or an earlier version of Pro/ENGINEER. AutobuildZ is a

plug-in application for Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire and is not available in the earlier

versions of Pro/ENGINEER.

3. Click File > Open. The File Open dialog box opens.

4. Select a drawing file.

5. Click Open. The drawing opens in the Pro/ENGINEER graphics window.

6. Click Tools > AutobuildZ and select any of the following AutobuildZ functions.

These functions are also available as iconic representations on the toolbar to the

right of the graphics window.

o Preferences or —Opens the Preferences dialog box that enables you

to specify preference values for different AutobuildZ operations.

o Clean Up or —Opens the Cleanup dialog box that enables you to

automatically or manually clean up imported drawings of nongeometric

entities.

AutobuildZ

3

o View Setup or —Opens the View Setup dialog box that enables you to

select drafting entities on the drawing and logically group them to represent

different views.

o Part Setup or —The Part Setup or the New Part dialog box opens.

The Part Setup dialog box enables you to define an existing part as the

active part. If an active part already exists, the Part Setup dialog box

allows you to select another part as the active part.

The New Part dialog box allows you to create a new part.

o Feature and one of the following feature-creation options:

Protrusion or >

Revolve or >

Straight Hole or >

Datum Plane or >

Datum Curve or >

Datum Point or >

About Saving and Retrieving Work

You can save the current drawing and the associated parts in AutobuildZ. The

information in the drawing is saved when you click File > Save or File > Save a

Copy. The Pro/ENGINEER drawing stores the following information when you save

work in an AutobuildZ session:

• IDs of entities that define the views

• Reference points of views

• Information specific to the views

• Name of the last active part, if there is more than one part associated with the

drawing

• View-mapping information of all parts associated with the drawing

You can retrieve the Pro/ENGINEER drawing in a new session of AutobuildZ, resume

the conversion of the 2D drawing to the 3D parts, and continue with feature creation

in a new session of AutobuildZ and Pro/ENGINEER.

Open the Pro/ENGINEER drawing by clicking File > Open. The part associated with

the drawing is also retrieved when you open the Pro/ENGINEER drawing and start

work in AutobuildZ.


4

Setting Preferences for AutobuildZ

About Specifying Preferences

You can specify preference values for different operations before you perform

AutobuildZ operations. You must use Tools > AutobuildZ > Preferences >

Preferences to set the preference values.

You can also save the current preference options and their values in an ASCII text

file, config.abz, for reuse. The config.abz file is stored in the Pro/ENGINEER

working directory.

If the config.abz file exists in the Pro/ENGINEER working directory, AutobuildZ

loads the preference options and their values from the config.abz file when you

open the Preferences dialog box. The Preferences dialog box displays the default

preference values when the config.abz file does not exist in the Pro/ENGINEER

working directory.

To Set Preferences for AutobuildZ Operations

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > Preferences, or click on the AutobuildZ

toolbar. The Preferences dialog box opens.

2. Under Clean Up, type a prefix for the layer names in the Layer Name Prefix

box. The default prefix for the layer names is ABZ_.

3. Under View Setup and Projection System, select one of the following to

specify a projection for the logical views:

o —Specifies third-angle projection. This is the default.

o —Specifies first-angle projection.

If you change the projection system after creating views in a drawing, a message

prompts you to clear all the existing orthographic views.

4. Under Part Setup, select the required preferences for the new part and the

generation of the drawing views of the current model.

Note: Each of the following options is selected by default.

o Automatic View Mapping—Automatically maps the datum planes of the

new part to the views of the drawing in session.

o Set new part as Active Model—Automatically sets the new part as the

active model. The active model is the 3D part in session in which you can

create features.

o Create Automatic Drawings—Automatically generates a drawing sheet

with the views of the 3D part or feature and updates the drawings when

you create features in the associated parts.

AutobuildZ

5

o Use Drawing Name—Displays the name of the drawing in session as the

name of the part in the Name box of the New Part dialog box.

o Use Drawing Units—Selects the default start part template in the New

Part dialog box, based on the current drawing units.

Note: Verify that the Use Drawing Units option is not selected when you

want to manually select a start part template in the New Part dialog box.

5. Under Feature Wizard, click the following options to set preferences for feature

creation:

o Automatic Forward—Automatically guides you to the next step of the

feature creation process in the feature creation wizard after you have made

valid entries on the current screen. You do not have to click Next on the

feature creation wizard. Automatic Forward is not selected by default.

o Create Detail Entities in Section Profile Fix—Automatically creates

detail entities for section profiles as part of the section profile fix. These

entities are added to the drawing views.

If you do not click Create Detail Entities in Section Profile Fix, one or

more detail entities are created and are temporarily added to the section

profile as part of the section profile fix. They are not added to the drawing

views that are generated after feature creation.

6. Under Selection, type a tolerance value in the Chaining Tolerance box to

select a chain of continuous entities on a drawing.

7. Click Defaults to set preferences to their default values.

8. Click to accept changes made in the Preferences dialog box. Preference

options and their values that you have set are saved in the config.abz file.

Selecting Entities on a Drawing

About Selecting Multiple Entities on a Drawing

AutobuildZ allows you to select multiple geometric entities on a drawing using the

following methods:

• Defining a rectangular box

• Selecting a chain of connected entities

• Using CTRL

AutobuildZ operations, such as cleaning up an imported drawing of unnecessary and

nonrelevant entities, require a careful selection of entities. The Selection dialog box

opens when a specific AutobuildZ operation requires the multiple selection of drawing

entities. It enables you to select one of the methods of multiple selection of entities.


6

The dialog box that allows you to select a single item opens when an AutobuildZ

operation requires the selection of a single entity. You must graphically select the

entity in the graphics window.

You can select multiple entities to add or remove them from the drawing any number

of times. The entities appear highlighted on the drawing to indicate selection. You

can also list the number of entities selected with their details and remove them from

the drawing after viewing their details.

Selecting Entities by Defining a Rectangular Box

You can define a rectangular box to select entities on a drawing. The entities are

selected according to one of the following methods:

• The entities inside the box are selected.

• The entities inside the box and intersecting the borders of the rectangular box

are selected.

Note: You cannot select entities and objects that are on blanked layers.

Selecting a Chain of Multiple Entities

When you select an entity or object on the drawing, continuous or connected entities

that lie to the left and right of the selected entity are automatically selected.

You can set Chaining Tolerance to the appropriate tolerance value in the

Preferences dialog box before you start selecting the entities by this method. The

connecting and continuous loop of entities are then automatically identified.

Selecting Individual Entities

You can use CTRL to select individual entities one at a time. When you have selected

the required entities, middle-click to quit the selection mode.

Note: Selecting multiple entities individually using CTRL is tedious. You may also

miss some entities on the drawing.

Methods of Selecting Multiple Entities

In the Selection dialog box, under Selection Filter, choose a method of selecting

multiple entities on a drawing from the following options:

• —Selects multiple entities that exist within the specified rectangular box.

• —Selects multiple entities that exist within the specified rectangular box and

those intersecting the borders of the rectangular box.

• —Selects a chain or loop of connected entities when you select one of the

entities.

• —Selects entities individually, a single entity at a time.

AutobuildZ

7

To Select Multiple Entities by Defining a Rectangular Box

1. In the Selection dialog box, under Selection Filter, click one of the following to

select multiple entities on a drawing by defining a rectangular box:

o —Selects multiple entities that exist within the defined box.

o —Selects multiple entities that exist within the defined rectangular box

and those intersecting the borders of the rectangular box.

2. Click in the graphics window to specify the top-left corner of the rectangular box.

3. Drag the pointer diagonally on the drawing to the bottom-right corner to define

the diagonal coordinates of the rectangular box.

4. Click again. An expanding rectangular box is displayed.

The entities that you want to select lie within the rectangular box or within and

across the borders of the rectangular box, depending on the method of selection

you chose in the Selection dialog box.

To Select a Chain of Connected Entities

1. Set Chaining Tolerance to the appropriate tolerance value in the Preferences

dialog box.

2. In the Selection dialog box, under Selection Filter, click .

3. Select an entity or object in the graphics window.

4. Click Close. Continuous or connected entities of the selected entity are

automatically selected.

To Add or Remove Entities from the Selection

1. Select entities on a drawing using the Selection dialog box.

2. Under Selected Entities, click one of the following:

o —Adds entities to the existing selection of entities.

o —Removes entities from the existing selection of entities.

3. Select one of the selection methods under Selection Filter to select an entity or

entities to add or remove from the already selected entities.

Note: The option to remove entities is available only when valid entities are

selected. You can select entities to delete only from an already existing selection

of entities.

4. Click Close. The entities that are added to the selection are highlighted in the

secondary selected color.


8

To List Details of Selected Entities and Remove Entities

1. Select multiple drawing entities using the Selection dialog box.

2. Click 0 selected under Selected Entities in the Selection dialog box. The

Selected Entities dialog box opens listing the selected entities by their type and

ID.

3. To delete entities from the list, select an entity or hold down SHIFT + CTRL and

select entities from the Selected Entities dialog box. The entities selected for

deletion are highlighted in the selected system color in the graphics window.

4. Click Remove.

5. Click Close on the Selected Entities dialog box.

6. Click Close on the Selection dialog box.

Cleaning Up Imported Drawings

About Cleaning Up Imported Drawings

Drawings that are imported to Pro/ENGINEER from different file formats can consist

of geometric and nongeometric entities. Geometric entities are lines, arcs, circles,

and so on. Nongeometric entities consist of dimensions, notes, and symbols.

You can clean up imported drawings of nongeometric entities to avoid clutter and to

facilitate easy identification and selection of entities that represent the geometry.

You must set up a filter criteria using Tools > AutobuildZ > CleanUp > Cleanup

to move entities, automatically or manually, to layers based on their types and color.

Automatic Cleanup Method

When you select the automatic method of cleanup (the default), entities on the

current drawing sheet are scanned and identified by their type and color and are

automatically moved to layers based on the following types:

• Dimensions

• Notes

• Symbols

In addition, you can select entities based on the following predefined colors:

• Blue

• Red

• Yellow

• Green

• Magenta

• Purple

AutobuildZ

9

You can blank the layers to which the entities are moved by type and color so that

these entities are not visible. A layer is automatically created if it does not already

exist for all entities or the specific entity type.

Manual Cleanup Method

With the manual cleanup method, you must first set up the filter criteria and then

select the entities individually and move them to the specified blanked layer or layers

specific to the entity types.

When you select a single entity, all entities of the same type by color are also

selected and moved to the respective layer. If a specific layer does not exist, it is

created.

Note: You cannot manually move dimensions to layers based on color.

To Clean Up an Imported Drawing Automatically

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > Clean Up, or click on the AutobuildZ toolbar.

The Cleanup dialog box opens. Automatic is the default method of cleanup.

2. Under Filter By Type, click the following options to set up a filter criteria for the

specific and valid entity types:

o Dimensions

o Notes

o Symbols

3. Click one of the following options. They are selected by default.

o —Selects all the entity types.

o —Clears the selection.

4. Under Select By Entity Color, click the required color options to filter entities

according to color. The valid colors are blue, red, yellow, green, magenta, and

purple.

5. Click to select entities of all color types, or click to clear the selection of

entities of all color types.

6. Under Action, click the following:

o —Previews the entities selected according to type and color.

o —Blanks the selected entities according to type and color.

If layers do not exist for specific entity types, new layers are created

according to type and color. Layer names are prefixed with the preference

value entered in the Layer Name Prefix box of the Preferences dialog

box.


10

Entities are moved to the specific layers.

Layers are blanked.

7. Click Close or switch to the Manual method of cleanup.

To Clean Up an Imported Drawing Manually

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > CleanUp, or click on the AutobuildZ toolbar.

The Cleanup dialog box opens.

2. Click Manual as the method of cleanup.

3. Select Create New Layer from the Layer Selection list to create a blanked

layer or select an existing blanked layer from the list. Selecting an existing

blanked layer from the list allows you to add or remove entities from the selected

layer.

Note: Name and Select by Entity Color are available only when you select

Create New Layer from the Layer Selection list.

4. Type a name for the new layer in the Name box under Layer Properties. This

layer name is validated against the existing layer names and is prefixed with the

preference value entered in the Layer Name Prefix box of the Preferences

dialog box.

5. Click . The Selection dialog box opens.

o Select entities. The number of selected entities is displayed in the adjacent

box.

o Click to remove the selected entities. The entity count is set to zero in

the adjacent box.

6. Click Select by Entity Color to select entities by color. The dialog box for the

selection of a single item opens.

Note: You cannot manually move dimensions to layers based on color.

7. Select an entity in the graphics window.

o All entities on the drawing sheet that are of the same color as the selected

entity are moved to the new or existing layer.

o The number of entities moved to the new or existing layer according to

color is displayed in the adjacent box.

8. Click Close.

AutobuildZ

11

Defining Views

About Defining Views on the Current Drawing

Drawing data imported to Pro/ENGINEER may or may not contain views. You can

select drafting and detailing entities of the imported drawing and logically group

them to represent views in AutobuildZ. Entities you have selected to form a logical

view cannot be selected again to represent another view. Views store data, such as

the ID of entities in the view and the extents of the view, and facilitate the

construction of 3D features.

The existing and new views of a drawing belong to one of the following types:

• Orthographic

• Sectional

• Auxiliary

• Detailed

The Orthographic view is the default. Orthographic views are automatically mapped

to datum planes when they are created or defined, depending on whether you have

selected Automatic View Mapping in the Preferences dialog box.

Sectional, auxiliary, and detailed views are secondary views. You can define a

sectional, auxiliary, or detailed view only if an orthographic view exists. You can

delete any of the existing views.

An auxiliary view projects the view perpendicular to a selected surface or axis.

A detailed view is an enlarged view of a portion of the current view on the drawing.

To Define an Orthographic View

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > View Setup, or click on the AutobuildZ toolbar.

The View Setup dialog box opens. Orthographic front view is the default.

2. Accept the default drawing scale value displayed in the Drawing Scale box or

click Compute to override the default drawing scale value. The Calculate Scale

dialog box opens.

3. Use the Calculate Scale dialog box to calculate a drawing scale value and

update the Drawing Scale box with this value.

4. Under Views on the View Setup dialog box, click any one of the following

options to select an orthogonal view:

o —Specifies the top view.

o —Specifies the front view. This is the default.

o —Specifies the right view.

o —Specifies the bottom view.


12

o —Specifies the rear view.

o —Specifies the left view.

Current View—Displays the view that you select in a dashed rectangular

box in the Pro/ENGINEER edge highlight color. The view name is also

displayed.

Projection—Displays the selected view projected according to the

projection system you have selected in the Preferences dialog box. Third-

angle projection is the default.

5. Under View Definition, click to select entities. The Selection dialog box

opens. Drawing entities in the current view are highlighted in the secondary

color.

6. Select a single entity or multiple entities. The number of selected entities is

displayed in the adjacent box. The selected entities are not highlighted.

7. Add or remove the selected entities from the view using the Selection dialog

box.

8. Click to remove all the entities from the selected view and create a blank

view.

9. Click Close in the View Setup dialog box.

To Define a Section View


The View Setup dialog box opens.

2. Click Section.

3. Select an existing sectional view from the View Selection list if you want to

modify or delete an existing view, or select Create New View to create a

sectional view. The selected view is highlighted in the graphics window in a

dashed rectangular box in the Pro/ENGINEER edge highlight color.

4. Under View Definition,

o Name—Specifies the view name if you select an existing view. Type a

name for a new view. The name for the new view is validated against the

names of existing views.

o View Scale—Specifies a scale for the existing view. Type a value for the

new view.

o —Deletes a sectional view if you have selected an existing view in the

View Selection list.

5. Click under View Extents. The Selection dialog box opens. The drawing

entities in the current view are highlighted in the Pro/ENGINEER secondary color.

AutobuildZ

13


displayed in the adjacent box. The view is highlighted in the rectangular box.

7. Click to remove all the entities from the view and create a blank view.

8. Click under Cutting Plane Reference to select a line entity from the

existing orthographic or auxiliary views to define the cutting plane. The adjacent

box displays the ID of the line entity.

9. Click under View Reference Point to select a line entity in the current

sectional view to define a location for the reference point of the view.

o The location of the reference point of the view is displayed as a highlighted

red circle on the drawing.

o The adjacent box displays the ID of the selected entity.

o under View Positioning Reference (Parent View) is available.

10. Click under View Positioning Reference (Parent View) to select a line

entity from the parent view from which you had selected the line entity to define

the cutting plane reference. This line entity must be normal to the line entity

selected to define the cutting plane.

o The intersection of this entity with the line entity selected to define the

cutting plane reference is displayed as a highlighted red circle on the

drawing.


o under View Positioning Reference (Secondary View) is available.

11. Click under View Positioning Reference (Secondary View) to select a

line entity from the existing orthographic or auxiliary view to define the reference

for view positioning in that view.

o The location of the view positioning reference in the secondary view is

displayed as a highlighted red circle.


o When you have defined the view extents, scale, cutting plane reference, the

view reference point, and the view positioning references in the parent and

secondary views, the references entities are highlighted in green. The

location of the reference point for the view that was displayed as a

highlighted red circle is replaced by a highlighted green circle.

o The sectional view is positioned on the cutting plane.

12. Click Close.


14

To Define an Auxiliary View



2. Click Auxiliary.

3. Select an existing auxiliary view from the View Selection list if you want to

modify or delete an existing view, or select Create New View to create an

auxiliary view. The selected view is highlighted in the graphics window in a

dashed rectangular box in the Pro/ENGINEER edge highlight color.


o Name—Displays the view name if you select an existing view. Type a name

for a new view.

o View Scale—Displays the default view scale value of the parent view

selected. You cannot edit this value. The view scale is the same as the

drawing scale for orthographic views.

o —Deletes an existing auxiliary view if you have selected it from the


5. Click under View Extents. The Selection dialog box opens. The drawing

entities in the current view are highlighted in the Pro/ENGINEER secondary color.




8. Click under Projection Plane Reference to select a line entity to define

the projection plane for the auxiliary view.


sectional view to define a location for the reference point of the view.

o The location of the reference point of the view is displayed as a highlighted


o The adjacent box displays the ID of the selected line entity.

o under View Positioning Reference (Parent View) is available.

10. Click under View Positioning Reference (Parent View) to select a line

entity from the same view from which you had selected the line entity to define

the projection plane reference.

o The location of the view positioning reference in the parent view is

displayed as a highlighted red circle on the drawing.

o The adjacent box displays the ID of the selected line entity.

AutobuildZ

15

o under View Positioning Reference (Secondary View) is available.

11. Click under View Positioning Reference (Secondary View) to select a

line entity from another view.

o The location of the view positioning reference in the secondary view is

displayed as a highlighted red circle.


o When you have defined the view extents, the projection plane reference,

the view reference point, and the view positioning references in the parent

and secondary views, the references entities are highlighted in green. The

location of the reference point for the view that was displayed as a

highlighted red circle is replaced by a highlighted green circle.

12. Click Close.

To Define a Detailed View



2. Click Detail.

3. Select an existing detailed view from the View Selection list or select Create

New View to create a detailed view. The selected view is highlighted in the

graphics window in a dashed rectangular box in the Pro/ENGINEER edge highlight

color.


o Name—Displays the view name if you select an existing view. Type a name

for a new view.

o View Scale—Specifies a view scale value that represents the magnification

factor for that view.

o —Deletes a detailed view if you have selected an existing view in the


5. Click under View Extents to select entities. The Selection dialog box

opens. The drawing entities in the current view are highlighted in the

Pro/ENGINEER secondary color.





detailed view as a reference to specify a location for the view point.


16

o The location of the reference point for the view is displayed as a highlighted



9. Click under View Positioning Reference to select a line entity from the

parent view of the current detailed view.

o The selected line entity is parallel to the line entity selected to define the

view point reference.


o The location of the view positioning reference is displayed as a highlighted

green circle on the drawing.

o The location of the reference point for the view that was displayed as a

highlighted red circle on the drawing is replaced by a highlighted green

circle.

o The extents of the detailed view is shown by a border. The name and scale

of the view is also displayed.

Note: Compute is available only when you have defined the view reference

point and the view positioning reference.

10. Click Compute. A view scale for the detailed view is automatically calculated

based on the entities selected to define the view reference point and the view

positioning reference in the detailed and the parent views, respectively.

View Scale displays the computed view scale value. This computed view scale

overrides the view scale value displayed in View Scale.

11. Click Close.

About Drawing and View Scales

When you import a 2D drawing, one or more drawing sheets are created in

Pro/ENGINEER. The drawing sheet size is determined by the imported drawing or by

the default drawing sheet size in Pro/ENGINEER. Draft entities that represent

geometry are created on these drawing sheets. In addition, dimensions, notes, and

symbols are also created.

Entities on the drawing are measured with respect to the graphics area. However,

this measured value of entities may not be the actual value to be used for the entity

during feature creation. The actual design intent is captured in the dimensions and

notes on the drawing. Dimensions and notes represent the actual value that is used

when building features in the model.

However, you must specify a scaling factor to be used when creating features. The

following scales are defined during the definition of views:

• Drawing Scale—The overall scaling factor for orthographic, sectional, and

auxiliary views.

AutobuildZ

17

• View Scale—The scale applied to a detailed or sectional view of the drawing in

addition to the drawing scale.

About Calculating a Drawing Scale Value for an Orthographic View

You can either accept the default drawing scale value or select entities and

dimensions on the drawing so that a drawing scale value is automatically calculated

based on the selected entities and dimensions.

When you select a dimension on the drawing, other dimension entities attached to

this dimension entity, of type linear, radius, or diameter, are automatically selected

as reference entities. The drawing scale value is automatically calculated based on

the dimension entity that you select, the reference entities attached, and the

distance measured.

If dimension entities are not attached to the selected dimension, you must select

entities on the drawing to represent the dimension entities that are attached to the

selected dimension. These dimension entities are used as references for measuring

distance as part of the drawing scale calculation. The distances measured are for the

dimensions linear, radius, and diameter.

The drawing scale value that you specify is applied to the orthographic and auxiliary

views. If you modify the selected reference dimension entities, the drawing scale

value also changes automatically. The changed scale value is propagated to all the

views.

Use the Calculate Scale dialog box that opens when you click Compute on the

View Setup dialog box, to select reference dimension entities, calculate drawing

scale value, and update the Drawing Scale box in the View Setup dialog box with

the calculated drawing scale value.

To Specify a Drawing Scale Value for an Orthographic View



2. Click Compute, adjacent to the Drawing Scale box, to override the default

drawing scale value displayed in the Drawing Scale box with a calculated value.

o The Calculate Scale dialog box opens.

o The dimension and notes layers are visible.

3. Under Reference Dimension, click to select a dimension on the drawing as

a reference entity for the drawing scale calculation.

o Type—Displays the type of dimension that the selected dimension entity

references. The dimension type is linear, radius, or diameter.

o Value—Displays the dimension value which is automatically calculated

based on the reference entities that are attached to the selected dimension.

Note: You can specify a dimension value in Value without selecting the

reference dimension entity or edit the value displayed.


18

o If entities are not attached to the selected dimension, a message in the

Pro/ENGINEER window prompts you to select the reference entity.

4. If a message prompts you to select the reference entities, under Reference

Entities and From, click to select a dimension on the drawing as a

reference to measure distance for the calculation of the drawing scale value. The

dimension type as radius, diameter, or linear, and entity ID are displayed.

5. If the selected dimension is of type radius or diameter, click under Radius

or Diameter and select an arc or circle on the drawing. The ID of the entity is

displayed in the adjacent box.

Note: under To is available only if the selected dimension is of type linear.

6. If the selected dimension is of type linear, under To, click and select

another entity on the drawing.

o Measured Value—Displays the distance measured for the selected

reference dimension type.

Note: You can specify a value without selecting the reference dimension

entity or edit the value displayed.

o Scale—Displays the drawing scale value calculated automatically after

validating the dimension and measured values.

7. Click either of the following choices:

o —Updates the Drawing Scale box in the View Setup dialog box with

the automatically calculated drawing scale value.

o —Discards the drawing scale value that is automatically calculated. The

Drawing Scale box displays the default drawing scale value.

You are returned to the View Setup dialog box. The dimension and notes layers

that were temporarily visible are blanked.

Creating Parts and Mapping Views

About Creating a Part and Associating It with the Current Drawing

You can create parts or select existing part models and associate them with the

active drawing. If many parts are associated with a drawing, you can use the Part

Setup dialog box to define a part as the active part. You can subsequently add new

features to the active part. If an active part already exists, you can select another

part as the active part in the Part Setup dialog box. If only a single part is

associated with the drawing, this part is the active part.

You can create a new part using Tools > AutobuildZ > Part Setup > New Part

only if no new parts were created previously and associated with the active drawing.

Use a start part template with default attributes to create new parts. After creating a

AutobuildZ

19

new part or selecting an existing part, you can map its datum planes, automatically

or manually, to the drawing views and associate the part with the active drawing.

You can also break the association between a part and the active drawing.

Set preference options in the Preferences dialog box for automatically mapping

views, setting up the new model as the active model, and using the drawing name

and units.

About Mapping and Associating the Drawing Views and the Datum Planes of a Part

You can automatically or manually map and associate the logical views of a drawing

with the datum planes of the part that you create or select. You can also break the

association between the logical views of a drawing and the datum planes of a part

and remap the views and the datum planes. However, the mapping of the views to

the datum planes is one-to-one, and mapped views and datum planes are not

available for further mapping.

Orthographic views of the drawing are mapped to the datum planes of the part.

Sectional, auxiliary, and detailed views are secondary and can be defined only if an

orthographic view exists.

If you select Automatic View Mapping in the Preferences dialog box, views of the

drawing are automatically mapped to the default datum planes of the part according

to the following factors:

• The initial drawing view and datum plane that is mapped according to their

names.

• Subsequent mappings based on this first mapping.

If the drawing views do not automatically map to the datum planes, the View

Mapping dialog box opens. You must select an existing view name in the drawing

view name list and a datum plane in the part name list to manually map the drawing

view to the datum plane of the part. Subsequent mappings of datum planes to

drawing views are based on this first mapping.

Setting Preferences for a New Part

Set the following preferences for a new part using Tools > AutobuildZ >

Preferences > Preferences:

• Set new part as Active Model—Sets the new part as the active part to which you

can add features.

• Automatic View Mapping—Automatically maps the views of the drawing to the

datum planes of the new part.

• Use Drawing Name—Names the part by the same name as the active drawing, by

default. If you select this option, the drawing name is displayed automatically in the

Name box of the New Part dialog box.

• Use Drawing Units—Selects the default start part template based on the current

drawing units. Use Drawing Units is selected by default.


20

To Create a Part with Datum Planes Automatically Mapped to the Drawing Views

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > Part Setup, or click on the AutobuildZ toolbar.

The New Part dialog box opens.

Note: The New Part dialog box is available only if you have not created parts

and associated them with the current drawing.

2. Type a name for the part in the Name box or accept the name of the drawing in

session that is displayed in the Name box as the name of the part.

Note: The name of the active drawing is displayed in the Name box when you

select Use Drawing Name in the Preferences dialog box. The part name must

not exceed 25 characters.

3. Under Template, select a valid start part in either of the standard units from the

list:

o Inch

o Millimeter

Note: Verify that Use Drawing Units is not selected when you select a start

part in either of these units. Use Drawing Units is selected by default.

4. Click Use Drawing Units to select the default start part template based on the

current drawing units.

5. Under Parameters, specify values for the following model parameters in the

relevant boxes:

o DESCRIPTION—Describes the part.

o MODELED_BY—Specifies the name of the designer.

6. Click Set as Active part model if you want to set the new part as the active

part to which you can add new features. If you select Set new part as Active

Model in the Preferences dialog box, Set as Active part model is checked by

default on the New Part dialog box.

7. Click .

o The new part is created and associated with the current drawing.

Note: If a part already exists with the part name that you have specified,

an error message is displayed and the part creation process terminates.

o The datum planes of the new part are automatically mapped to the views of

the active drawing. For example, if you define top and bottom views in the

drawing, both these views are automatically mapped to the TOP datum

plane. The top view in the drawing is automatically mapped to Side 1 of the

TOP datum plane while the bottom view in the drawing is automatically

mapped to Side 2 of the TOP datum plane.

AutobuildZ

21

o If the automatic mapping of datum planes to drawing views fails or if you

have not selected Automatic View Mapping in the Preferences dialog

box, the View Mapping dialog box opens.

To Manually Map Drawing Views to Datum Planes of a Part

When the views on a drawing do not automatically map to the datum planes of the

3D part or when Automatic View Mapping is not selected in the Preferences

dialog box, the View Mapping dialog box opens with the part name displayed as the

Part Model Name.

1. Under Select Combination, select a drawing view and a datum plane from the

orthographic views listed in the 2D View Name box and the datum planes listed

in the 3D Datum Plane box.

Note: The 2D View Name box does not list the sectional, detailed, and auxiliary

views of the part because these views are secondary views that are defined only

when an orthographic view exists.

Map Selections is available only when you select a drawing view and a datum

plane for mapping.

2. Click Map Selections to first map the selected drawing view and the datum

plane and subsequently map all drawing views and datum planes of the new part

model based on the first mapping. The View - Plane Mapping table lists the

mapping.

3. Click Remove Mapping if you want to clear the current mappings and remap the

drawing views and the datum planes.

4. Click .

To Set a Part Model as the Active Part

When more than one part is associated with the active drawing, the Part Setup

dialog box opens.

The Associated Part Models table lists the active part, the existing parts

associated with the active drawing by name, and the views of the current drawing by

number in the Active, Part Name, and Views Mapped columns, respectively. The

current active part appears checked in the Active column.

1. In the Active column, click the button adjacent to a part name that you want to

make the active part.

2. Select the relevant row with the part name.

3. Click New Part if you want to create a part and associate the datum planes of

the part with the views of the drawing. The New Part dialog box opens.

4. Click View Mapping. The View Mapping dialog box opens with the selected row

consisting of the relevant part name for view mapping.


22

5. Use the View Mapping dialog box to map the drawing views to the datum

planes of the selected part.

6. Click in the Part Setup dialog box. The selected part is the active part with

its datum planes mapped to the views of the active drawing. You can create

features on this active part.

Creating Features in the Current Part

About Creating Features in the Current Part

You can select entities on the active drawing to create the following features in the

current part:

• Extruded features

• Revolved features

• Simple straight holes

• Datum features, such as sketched curves and points

• Datum planes that are offset from the default datum planes in the part model

Extruded and revolved features are of the types protrusion and cut. Protrusion

features are created by default. If the extruded or the revolved feature is the first

solid feature on the part, you can create only a protrusion, not a cut.

Feature creation on the active part involves the following steps:

• Setting up the part as the active part

• Selecting the feature and the feature type to be created

• Selecting entities on the drawing to define the section profile

• Selecting a line entity to define the sketching plane

• Automatically validating the sketch at every step of the feature creation process

• Fixing the section profile when validation fails, based on the errors processed

• Defining depth options for extruded features or angle options for revolved

features

• Previewing the feature in 3D model space

About Defining Elements of Pro/ENGINEER Features from Drawing Entities

You can define basic elements of a Pro/ENGINEER feature, such as section profiles,

sketching planes, extents, and so on, based on the entities that you select on the

active drawing.

AutobuildZ

23

For example, you can select a line entity on the drawing to define a sketching plane.

This entity on the drawing represents a surface or datum plane in the part.

AutobuildZ searches for the relevant surface or datum plane in the 3D part to be

used as the sketching plane. It creates a surface or datum plane when no relevant

surface or datum plane is found.

For a section profile, the entities that you select must belong to the same drawing

view. You cannot use these entities to define any other element. The entities that

you select for the section profile are validated depending on the type of feature you

want to create. If validation fails, you must first correct the error in the section

profile or reselect entities before proceeding with feature creation. AutobuildZ

provides a number of automatic section profile fix options that allows you to correct

errors in the section profile.

You can preview or highlight the feature elements in 3D model space in a secondary

Pro/ENGINEER window each time you select entities to define the feature elements,

such as section profiles, sketching planes, depth up to reference surfaces for

extruded features and holes, and just before creating the feature. In addition, these

entities remain highlighted in the graphics window during feature creation.

Using Feature Creation Wizards

AutobuildZ includes feature creation wizards specific to the feature type that you

want to create. The wizards guide you through each step of the feature creation

process when you specify the details on the current screen of the wizard.

The appropriate selection tools are provided by default in the feature creation

wizards. For example, when you select entities to define the section profile, the chain

method of multiple selection of entities is automatically enabled as the default

selection method.

The feature creation wizards display relevant information about the entities selected

on the drawing, such as the IDs of entities and the view in which they are defined on

the drawing. When you select entities on the drawing to define section profiles of

extruded and revolved features, the relevant feature creation wizards display the

results of the automatic validation of the entities.

When the selected drawing entities represent existing surfaces or datum planes in

the current part, in addition to displaying the name of the datum plane and the ID of

the surface, you can also highlight these surfaces and datum planes. You can

preview the feature elements or the 3D model in the secondary Pro/ENGINEER

window at any time during feature creation.

To automatically move to the next screen of the feature creation wizard without

clicking Next on the current screen, you must select Automatic Forward in the

Preferences dialog box. You can also move back to the previous steps of the

feature creation process, that is, the previous screens of the feature creation wizard,

to change details that you had entered earlier.

You can exit the feature creation wizard at any time during the feature creation

process. Geometry, such as an offset datum plane, that is created during the feature

creation process, is deleted when you exit the wizard.


24

Applying a Scale Factor to Models When Creating Features

A scale factor is automatically applied to all elements when you use the feature

creation wizards to define features. The features that you create on the active part

are scaled according to the drawing and view scale values that you specify when

defining the views. In this manner, the design intent is propagated from the drawing

to the part model.

Drawing scale is applied to entities that you select from the orthographic or auxiliary

views during feature creation. When you create features using entities from the

sectional or detailed views, the view scale is applied before the drawing scale.

If the drawing scale for a view is 2.00, the entities in that view are only half the

actual size. The scaling factor of 2.00 is applied to the feature that is created when

entities from that view are selected.

If the length of an entity selected on the drawing is 2 units and the dimension value

is 20, the drawing scale value is 10. The selected entity is scaled by this scale factor

of 10 in the part.

If the calculated drawing scale value is 10.00, and if you enter a view scale of 2.00

for a detailed view, then the actual scale used for entities selected in the detailed

views during feature creation is 5.00.

To Specify Feature Type and Define the Section Profile and Sketch Plane

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > Feature.

2. Select one of the following feature types on the menu that appears:

o Extrude

o Revolve

o Straight Hole

o Datum Plane

o Sketched Datum Curve

o Sketched Datum Point

You can also click the relevant icon on the AutobuildZ toolbar. The feature

creation wizard specific to the feature type opens. The wizard indicates the

number of steps required for the creation of the feature.

Note: If you have not defined a view, a warning appears stating that no views

are defined for the drawing. It prompts you to use the View Setup dialog box to

define a view for the drawing. A warning also states that parts are not defined

when you have not set up a part model as the active part on which to create

features.

3. Type a name for the feature in the Name box. If you do not specify a name for

the feature, the default Pro/ENGINEER feature name is used.

AutobuildZ

25

4. Under Type, click to switch to Cut. (Protrusion is the default.) Click to

switch between Side1 and Side2 to indicate the direction of the cut.

is available only on the Extrude Feature and the Revolve Feature wizards.

It is enabled only when the active 3D part has at least one protrusion feature.

5. Click to move to the next screen of the feature creation wizard.

6. Under Section Profile, click . The Selection dialog box opens.

7. Use one of the selection methods to select entities to define the section profile.

The chain method of multiple selection of entities is the default.

8. Click Close to close the Selection dialog box. The box next to displays the

ID and the drawing view of the selected entities.

9. Click if you want to clear the selection and select entities again.

o The section profile is automatically validated.

o The result of the validation is displayed under Section Profile Validation

as Successful or Failed.

o If the result of the validation is displayed as Failed under Section Profile

Validation, view the list of the validation checks and their results in the

Section Profile Validation dialog box, and fix the section profile

appropriately.

o You are automatically guided to the next screen of the feature creation

wizard if you have selected Automatic Forward in the Preferences dialog

box and if the validation of the section profile is successful. The feature

creation wizard indicates that you are in the next step of the feature

creation process.

10. Click to move to the next screen of the feature creation wizard if you did not

select Automatic Forward in the Preferences dialog box.

11. Under Sketch Plane, click to select a line entity to define the sketching

plane.

o The box next to displays the ID of the line entity on the drawing.

o The 3D Info box displays the name of the datum plane or surface that the

selected line entity represents if the datum plane or surface exists in the 3D

model. If the datum plane does not exist, a new datum plane is created and

its name displayed in the 3D Info box.

12. Click Flip if you want to change the sketch view direction. The section profile and

the feature that is created in the secondary Pro/ENGINEER window for preview

are updated.


26

13. Click to preview the active 3D model any time during feature creation or

highlight the feature elements in a secondary Pro/ENGINEER window. You can

preview the following feature elements in the Pro/ENGINEER window during the

relevant step of the feature creation process:

o A reference surface or datum plane that represents the sketching plane is

highlighted in cyan after you have defined the sketching plane.

o A reference surface or datum plane that represents the "Through Until"

depth is highlighted in cyan after you have defined the extent of depth for

an extruded feature.

o The section profile on the sketching plane is highlighted in blue after you

have defined the section profile and the sketching plane.

o The 3D feature is highlighted in red when all feature elements are defined.

14. Click again to close the secondary Pro/ENGINEER window.

15. Click either of the following:

o —Completes the feature creation process and is available only when you

have defined all the relevant feature elements.

o —Cancels the feature creation process. The Confirm Cancel dialog box

opens. Click Yes to confirm the termination of the feature creation process.

Automatic Selection of the Sketching Plane

During feature creation, you must select a line entity on the drawing to represent the

sketching plane. The sketching plane is automatically selected in the following cases:

• The drawing consists of a single orthographic view.

The default datum plane referencing the orthographic view is automatically used

as the sketching plane.

The Through Until depth and the To Selected angle of revolution for extruded

and revolved features, respectively, are not valid because there are no other

views from which to pick the reference entities for these options.

• The entities that you select to define the section profile are from a sectional or

auxiliary view of the drawing.

If a datum plane or surface that the line entity (selected from the sectional or

auxiliary view) references does not exist, an offset datum plane is created during

feature creation and is automatically used as the sketching plane.

To Create a Feature of Type Extrude

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > Feature > Extrude, or click on the AutobuildZ

toolbar. The Extrude Feature wizard opens.

AutobuildZ

27

2. Specify a name for the extruded feature and specify whether you want to create

an extruded feature of type Protrusion or Cut on screen Step 1 of 4 on the

Extrude Feature wizard.

3. Click to switch between Side1 and Side2 to indicate the direction of the cut

if you are creating an extruded feature of type cut.

4. Select entities to define the section profile on screen Step 2 of 4 of the Extrude

Feature wizard. The section profile is automatically validated.

5. Select a line entity to define the sketching plane on screen Step 3 of 4 of the

Extrude Feature wizard.

6. Click Flip if you want to change the sketch view direction.

7. On screen Step 4 of 4 of the Extrude Feature wizard, under Depth

Reference, click to select a draft entity as reference to define the extent of

depth for the extruded feature.

o The box next to displays the ID and drawing view of the selected

entity.

o If a surface or datum plane exists in the part, by default, Through Until is

selected, and this surface is used as a reference.

o Click if you want to clear the selection and select the entity again.

8. Under Depth Options, select one of the following options to specify the depth of

the extruded feature:

o Blind—Specifies the required depth for the extruded feature. Type a value

in the box. A default depth value is calculated automatically based on the

reference entity selected and displayed.

Note: is not available. You cannot select an entity.

o Through Until—Specifies an existing surface on the part that is used as

the "upto" reference. This is the default.

o Through All—Specifies that the depth of the extruded feature extends

through all the surfaces in the model. You can use this option only for an

extrude feature of type cut.

9. Click to flip the direction of depth of the extruded feature.

10. Click to preview the following feature elements in a Pro/ENGINEER window

during the relevant step of the extrude feature creation process:

o The reference surface or datum plane that represents the sketching plane

o The reference surface or datum plane that represents the "Through Until"

depth


28

o The section profile on the sketching plane

o The 3D extrude feature when all feature elements are defined

11. Click .

Specifying Depth for Extrusions and Holes

You can specify one of the following depths for an extruded feature of type

protrusion or cut and a straight hole:

• Blind

• Up to a reference surface or through until

• Through all surfaces in the active part

Specifying Depth upto a Reference Surface

You can specify depth up to a surface on the part, by default. Depth for the extruded

or hole feature is calculated "upto" or "Through Until" this surface on the part.

When you select an entity on the drawing, the part is searched for an existing

surface up to which depth is calculated after confirming that the selected entity does

not represent blind depth.

Specifying Blind Depth

You can specify a value as the blind depth for the extrusion or the hole. If you do not

specify a value, the selected drawing entity represents the blind depth of the feature

in the following instances:

• The selected entity is perpendicular to the entity that you select to define the sketch

plane, and both entities exist on the same drawing view.

• The selected entity is not perpendicular or parallel to the entity that you select to

define the sketch plane, and a surface does not exist on the part to represent depth

up to this surface. The length of the entity is the extent of the blind depth.

• The selected entity is parallel to the entity that you select to define the sketch plane,

and a surface does not exist on the part to represent depth up to this surface. The

distance between the two parallel entities is the extent of the blind depth.

The direction for the feature is the default direction specified by Pro/ENGINEER.

Specifying Depth through All Surfaces

When you create an extruded feature on the active part that already consists of solid

features, you can specify a depth that extends through all the surfaces in the model

to remove material and create a cut on the part.

AutobuildZ

29

To Create a Feature of Type Revolve

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > Feature > Revolve, or click on the AutobuildZ

toolbar. The Revolve Feature wizard opens.

2. Specify the name and type of the revolved feature that you want to create on

screen Step 1 of 5 of the Revolve Feature wizard. You can switch between

Protrusion and Cut.

3. Under Revolve Axis on screen Step 2 of 5, click to select a line entity that

defines the axis of revolution.

4. Click if you want to clear the selection and select the line entity again.

5. On screen Step 3 of 5, under Section Profile, click to select entities to

define the section profile. The section profile is automatically validated.

Note: Entities that you select to define the section profile and the axis of

revolution must be from the same view.

6. Click if you want to clear the selection and select the entity again.

7. Under Sketch Plane, on screen Step 4 of 5, click to select a line entity to

define a sketch plane.

The 3D Info box displays the name of the datum plane or surface that the

selected line entity represents, if it exists in the 3D model. If the datum plane or

surface does not exist, then a new datum plane is created and its name displayed

in the 3D Info box.

8. Click if you want to clear the selection and select the entity again.


10. On screen Step 5 of 5, specify the angle of revolution by one of the following

methods:

o Under Angle Reference, select a line entity. The angle between the

selected line and the line selected to represent the sketch plane is used as

the angle of the revolve feature.

o Under Variable in Angle Options, select one of the following:

Variable—Specify an angle between 0 and 360 degrees in the adjacent

box, or select one of the angles of revolution from the list. This is the

default.

To Selected—Is available when you select a line entity of the drawing.

The ID of the surface or datum plane that the line entity represents is

displayed in the adjacent box.


30

11. Click to flip the direction of revolution of the feature.


during the relevant step of the revolve feature creation process:

o The reference surface or datum plane that represents the sketch plane

o The section profile on the sketch plane

o The 3D revolve feature when all feature elements are defined

13. Click .

Specifying the Angle of Revolution for Revolved Features

You can specify one of the following angles of revolution for a revolved feature:

• Variable

• To a selected entity

Specifying a Variable Angle of Revolution

You can specify an angle of revolution ranging between 0 and 360 degrees or select

one of the following angles of revolution:

• 360 degrees

• 270 degrees

• 180 degrees

• 90 degrees

A revolved feature with one of the angles of revolution is created in the default

Pro/ENGINEER direction.

Specifying Angle of Revolution to a Selected Entity

You can select a line entity on the drawing to represent the angle of revolution if the

surface or datum plane that is represented by the line entity exists on the part.

If the surface or datum plane that the selected line entity references does not exist

on the part, and if the line entities selected to define the sketch plane and the angle

of revolution lie in the same view and intersect each other, the angle between the

two line entities is the angle of revolution for the revolved feature.

The revolved feature is created in the default direction selected by Pro/ENGINEER.

To Create a Simple Straight Hole

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > Feature > Straight Hole, or click on the

AutobuildZ toolbar. The Hole Feature wizard opens.

AutobuildZ

31

2. Type a name for the straight hole in the Name box. Under Type, Hole Type

displays to create a simple straight hole.

Note: AutobuildZ does not support the creation of sketched straight holes.

3. Under Hole Profile on screen Step 2 of 4 of the Hole Feature wizard, select a

circle entity to define the diameter of the hole. The box next to displays the

ID of the selected entity.

4. Accept the diameter value displayed in the Hole Diameter box, or type a value

as the diameter of the hole.

5. On screen Step 3 of 4, select a line entity to define a surface for the hole.


selected line entity represents if the datum plane or surface exists in the 3D

model.

6. Click if you want to clear the selection.

7. On screen Step 4 of 4, under Depth Reference, select a draft entity as the

reference to define a depth for the hole.

o If a surface exists on the part, depth is calculated, by default, and the hole

feature is created "upto" this surface that is used as a reference.

o Click if you want to clear the selection.

8. Under Depth Options, select one of the following options to specify the depth of

the hole:

o Blind—Specifies the required depth for the hole. Type a value in the box. If

you do not specify a value, the reference entity is used to calculate depth.

Note: is not available. You cannot select an entity.

o Through Until—Specifies an existing surface on the part that is used as

the reference "upto" which depth is calculated. This is the default.

o Through All—Specifies that the depth of the hole extends through all the

surfaces in the model.

9. Click to flip the direction of the hole.


during the relevant step of the hole creation process:

o The reference surface or datum plane that represents the hole surface

o The reference surface that represents the "Through Until" depth

o The straight hole feature when all feature elements are defined

11. Click .


32

To Create a Datum Plane

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > Feature > Datum Plane, or click on the

AutobuildZ toolbar. The Datum Plane wizard opens.

2. Type a name for the datum plane in the Name box.

3. Under Offset Reference on screen Step 2 of 2 of the Datum Plane wizard,

click to select a line entity that is horizontal or vertical in an orthographic

view to locate the new datum plane. This new datum plane is offset from one of

the default datum planes in the part model, based on the orientation of the

selected line entity.


o Click if you want to clear the selection.

o The Translation box under Offset Options displays the offset value of the

line entity offset from the relevant datum plane in the part model. You can

modify the offset value if required.

o The adjacent box displays the name of the selected default datum plane of

the part model.

4. Click to flip the positive direction of the datum plane.


during the relevant step of the datum plane creation process:

o The default datum plane in the part model that is parallel to the line entity

selected to represent the offset reference is highlighted in cyan.

o The new datum plane feature is highlighted in red when all feature

elements are defined.

6. Click .

To Create a Sketched Datum Curve

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > Feature > Sketched Datum Curve, or click

on the AutobuildZ toolbar. The Sketched Datum Curve wizard opens.

2. Type a name for the sketched datum curve in the Name box.

3. Under Datum Curves on screen Step 2 of 3, select entities to define the section

profile.

Note: The section profile is not validated.


5. Under Sketch Plane on screen Step 3 of 3, select a line entity to define a

sketch plane.

AutobuildZ

33


selected line entity represents when the datum plane or surface exists in the 3D

model. If the datum plane or surface does not exist, a new datum plane is

created and its name displayed in the 3D Info box.




during the relevant step of the datum curve creation process:

o The datum plane or surface that the selected line entity represents is

highlighted in cyan after you have defined the sketch plane.

o The datum curve is highlighted in red when all feature elements are

defined.

9. Click .

To Create a Sketched Datum Point

1. Click Tools > AutobuildZ > Feature > Sketched Datum Point, or click on

the AutobuildZ toolbar. The Sketched Datum Point wizard opens.

2. Type a name for the datum point in the Name box.

3. Under Datum Points, on screen Step 2 of 3 of the Sketched Datum Point

wizard, select a line, arc, circle, or point to define the datum point. Use CTRL to

select more than one entity.

Depending on the drawing entity that you select, the datum points are created as

follows:

o Line—Creates datum points at both ends of the line.

o Arc—Creates datum points at the open ends and the center of the arc.

o Circle—Creates datum points at the center of the circle.

o Point—Creates a datum point for the point.

The datum points are highlighted by yellow circles on the drawing.


5. Under Sketch Plane, on screen Step 3 of 3, select a line entity to define a

sketch plane.


selected line entity represents when the datum plane or surface exists in the 3D

model. If the datum plane or the surface does not exist, a new datum plane is

created and its name displayed in the 3D Info box.


34



during the relevant step of the datum point creation process:

o The datum plane or surface that the selected line entity represents is

highlighted in cyan after you have defined the sketch plane.

o The datum point is highlighted in red when all feature elements are defined.

8. Click .

Validating Section Profiles

About Automatically Validating Section Profiles

Section profiles of extruded and revolved features are automatically validated when

you select entities on the drawing to define them. Automatic validation is part of the

feature creation process.

A section profile is checked for all of the following:

• Single or multiple closed loops

• Intersecting and overlapping entities

• Entities on both sides of the axis of revolution for revolved features

Feature creation wizards for extruded and revolved features display the results of

validation for each check. All relevant checks for the feature being created must be

successful to continue with feature creation. You can view the individual validation

checks performed. In addition, you can use the available section profile fix options to

fix the failed checks. The profile is automatically validated after any fix is made, and

validation results are updated.

If validation is successful, you can proceed to the next step of the feature creation

process.

Identifying Reasons for Validation Failure

A section profile can fail validation for one or more of the following reasons:

• Single open loop

• Multiple loops with one or more of them open

• Intersecting entities

• Overlapping entities

• Entities on either side of the axis of revolution

The following items are highlighted by yellow circles when validation fails:

• The end points of single or multiple open loops

AutobuildZ

35

• The points of intersection of intersecting entities

• The end points of overlapping entities

Entities on either side of the axis of revolution are highlighted in different colors.

About Fixing Section Profiles That Fail Validation

When validation of the section profile fails, you must fix the drafting entities selected

for the creation of the section profile that has failed validation before proceeding to

the next step of the feature creation process. You can add, delete, divide, and edit

entities to close loops, remove intersecting and overlapping entities, retain entities

as part of the section profile fix, and so on.

You can display a list of the checks performed as part of the section profile validation

by using under Section Profile Validation in the feature creation wizard. Each

validation check reports success or failure. For example, the Single Closed Loop

check reports Failed after validation if a single loop is open. The end points of the

open loop are highlighted in yellow on the drawing.

You can fix the section profile based on the checks that have failed validation. For

example, to close open loops, you must first select and highlight the Single Closed

Loop or the Multiple Closed Loops validation check that has failed validation in the

list. Then select one of the following operations that is most suitable as the section

profile fix:

• Close

• Trim

• Divide

• Remove

• Revolve

Performing Operations as Part of the Section Profile Fix

You can use Pro/ENGINEER functions to fix section profiles in AutobuildZ. You can

close one or more open loops, divide intersecting entities, remove entities from

section profiles, cut or extend entities to form one or more closed loops, and retain

entities as part of the fix when section profile validation fails.

Closing One or More Open Loops

You can close single or multiple open loops. If the section profile consists of a single

open loop, the end points of the open loop are joined by a straight line to form a

single, valid closed loop.

If the section profile consists of multiple loops, and one or more of the loops are

open, the end points of the open loops that are highlighted as yellow circles are

joined and closed by straight lines. Each of the multiple open loops are closed. You

can also form a single closed loop from all the multiple open loops.


36

Trimming Entities

You can trim (cut or extend) entities of the section profile that consists of multiple

open loops. The Single Closed Loop and the Multiple Closed Loops validation

checks report failure.

If you select the Single Closed Loop validation check and the Trim option, the

entities are cut or extended to form a single closed loop.

If you select Multiple Closed Loops and the Trim option, entities are cut or

extended and combined to form one or more closed loops.

Dividing Intersecting Entities at the Point of Intersection

You can divide intersecting entities at the point of intersection as part of the section

profile fix. Entities are created, and you may or may not retain the new entities.

The intersecting entities are replaced by the new entities on the drawing when you

choose to retain the new entities.

If you choose not to retain the new entities on the drawing, the old entity is retained

on the drawing while the new entities are temporarily added to the drawing. These

new entities are deleted after feature creation or deleted when you define a new

section profile for the same feature.

Note: Do not attempt to divide entities that must be extended to determine their

point of intersection. Instead, use Trim.

Removing Entities from the Section Profile

You can directly remove overlapping entities or remove entities from the group of

entities that define the section profile as part of the section profile fix. Select entities

to be removed from the group of entities that define the section profile on the

drawing. The entities marked for removal are highlighted in the graphics window.

You can also select the section profile entities to be removed from a list. Click

Remove under Section Profile Fix Options in the Section Profile Validation

dialog box to remove the entities from the list.

Retaining Entities on Either Side of the Axis of Revolution

For revolved features, when entities are on both sides of the axis of revolution, you

can retain entities on one of the sides of the axis of revolution.

To View Validation Results and Fix the Section Profile

1. In the feature creation wizard, under Section Profile, select entities to define

the section profile.

o The section profile is automatically validated.

o The results of the validation are displayed under Section Profile

Validation as Successful or Failed. The validation success or failure is

represented as follows:

AutobuildZ

37

—Successful

—Failed

Note: If you do not select entities to define the section profile, the

validation result displayed under Section Profile Validation is No Section

Profile Selected. is displayed and the forward button ( ) is not

available.

o The following options are available:

—Displays the Section Profile Validation dialog box with the list of

validation checks and their individual validation results. Also provides

options that enable the fix of the section profile that has failed validation.

—Guides you to the next screen of the feature creation wizard.

Note: This button is not available when validation fails.

2. Click . The Section Profile Validation dialog box opens and displays the list

of validation checks performed on the section profile in the Validation Check

column. The result of each check, whether success or failure, is displayed in the

Result column.

3. If Section Profile Validation displays the results of the validation as Failed

and also displays , select the validation check that has failed in the

Validation Check column.

o The section profile on the drawing is highlighted in red.

o The error condition, based on the failed validation check that you have

selected, such as the end points of loops for single or multiple open loops,

is highlighted in yellow.

o The Retain New Entities option is available

4. Select one of the following options under Section Profile Fix Options which is

appropriate to the error condition and provides the relevant fix:

o Close—Closes open loops to form one or more closed valid loops.

o Trim—Extends or cuts entities to close loops

o .Divide—Divides entities that intersect at their point of intersection.

o Remove—Removes entities from the section profile. You can select entities

to be removed either from the drawing or from a list.

o Revolve—Retains entities on both sides of the axis of revolution. Side1,

Side2, and Fix are available.


38

Click Side1 or Side2 to specify the side of the axis of revolution on which

you want to retain entities. Entities on the side of the axis of revolution that

you select are highlighted in yellow.

Retain New Entities is available only if you had previously selected Create

Detail Entities in Section Profile Fix in the Preferences dialog box.

5. Click Retain New Entities to permanently retain the new entities, especially

those created when using the Divide option, in the views of the drawing, on the

drawing sheet, and in the section profile.

If you do not select Retain New Entities, the entities created are only retained

temporarily on the section profile as part of the section profile fix and then

discarded. They are not retained permanently in the views or on the drawing

sheet after the section profile fix.

o The section profile is automatically revalidated.

o The status of the results in the Result column against the checks in the

Validation Check column is updated from Failure to Success, if the

revalidation is successful.

6. Click Fix to accept the results of the section profile fix and the revalidation of the

section profile.

7. Click Close. You are returned to the feature creation wizard. is available,

and you can proceed with feature creation. The section profile is highlighted

yellow.

Creating 2D Drawing Views Automatically from 3D Models

About Automatically Creating Drawing Views of the Part

AutobuildZ has the ability to automatically create drawing views based on the 3D

part created from the 2D imported drawing. You must make sure that Create

Automatic Drawings in the Preferences dialog box is selected.

The drawing view of the 3D model that is created on the new drawing sheet is

identical to the orthographic view that you have defined on the original drawing

sheet using Tools > AutobuildZ > View Setup. AutobuildZ also maintains the

same location and scale in the view it creates on the new drawing sheet to match the

view defined on the original drawing sheet. If you remove a view on the original

drawing sheet using Tools > AutobuildZ > View Setup, the corresponding view or

views are removed from the new drawing sheet containing drawing views of the 3D

model. If you define new views on the original drawing sheet, the identical view is

also created on the new drawing sheet with the appropriate location and scale.

If you set up a new part using Tools > AutobuildZ > View Setup, and Create

Automatic Drawings is not selected in the Preferences dialog box, a dialog box is

displayed with options to have AutobuildZ automatically create the drawing views for

this new part. If you choose to have AutobuildZ automatically generate the drawing

AutobuildZ

39

views, Create Automatic Drawings is checked and saved, and the new drawing

sheet is created. No new drawing sheet with the views of the 3D part is created if

you choose not to have AutobuildZ automatically create the drawing views. However,

you can manually create a drawing sheet with the views of the 3D part using the

tools provided in Pro/DETAIL.

Index

A

AutobuildZ

accessing functions ...................... 2

automatic creation of drawing views

of part ................................... 38

automatic validation of section

profile....................22, 34, 35, 36

capabilities 1, 4, 5, 8, 11, 18, 19, 22,

34, 38

cleanup of imported drawings... 8, 9,

10

configuring and enabling............... 2

conversion from 2D to 3D ............. 1

creation of features on active part22,

26, 29, 30, 32, 33

creation of parts ........................ 18

creation of views .......11, 12, 14, 15

entity selection ............... 5, 6, 7, 22

introduction ................................ 1

mapping of views to datum planes

.......................................18, 19

retrieving saved drawing........... 1, 3

saving work ............................ 1, 3

setting preferences ...................... 4

work session ........................... 1, 3

AutobuildZ..................................... 1

C

cleaning up drawings

automatically .......................4, 8, 9

by color .............................8, 9, 10

by entity types ...................... 9, 10

manually .............................. 8, 10

cleaning up drawings ......... 4, 8, 9, 10

creating features on active part

applying scale factor to features ..16,

24

creating a datum plane ....22, 24, 32

creating a revolved feature ... 22, 24,

29, 34, 35

creating a sketched datum curve .22,

24, 32

creating a sketched datum point..22,

24, 33

creating a straight hole ....22, 24, 30

creating an extruded feature. 22, 24,

26, 34, 35

creating cut or protrusion 24, 26, 28,

29

creating drawing views of parts ....38

defining angle of revolution.... 29, 30

defining axis of revolution............29

defining extents ...22, 24, 26, 28, 30

defining feature elements 22, 26, 29,

30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36

defining hole profile .............. 22, 30

defining section profile ....22, 24, 26,

29, 34, 35, 36

defining sketching plane..22, 24, 26,

29, 32, 33

fixing section profile.. 24, 26, 29, 34,

35, 36

previewing features .. 22, 23, 26, 29,

30, 32, 33

sketch validation conditions .. 34, 35,

36

steps in feature creation process .. 1,

22, 34, 35, 36


42

types of features...................22, 24

using wizards 22, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30,

32, 33, 34, 36

validating section profile . 24, 26, 29,

32, 34, 35, 36

creating features on active part . 4, 22,

24, 26, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 36

creating new part

associating with active drawing.... 18

mapping views to datum planes

automatically.....................19, 20

mapping views to datum planes

manually...........................19, 21

setting a part as the active model18,

21

setting preferences ........... 4, 18, 19

using template .....................18, 20

creating new part ....................18, 20

D

defining views

computing drawing scale........11, 17

creating auxiliary views ... 11, 14, 16

creating detailed views .... 11, 15, 16

creating orthographic views...11, 16,

17

creating sectional views ... 11, 12, 16

defining cutting plane reference... 12

defining projection plane reference

............................................ 14

defining view extents ................. 15

defining view positioning reference

................................. 12, 14, 15

defining view reference point.12, 14,

15

mapping to datum planes ......19, 20

projecting views ..................... 4, 11

defining views.............. 11, 12, 14, 15

S

selecting entities

adding and removing entities ....7, 8,

35, 36

defining a rectangular box ..... 5, 6, 7

listing details .............................. 8

methods of selection.................... 6

selecting a chain of entities 4, 5, 6, 7

selecting a single entity................ 5

using CTRL key ........................... 5

selecting entities ............ 5, 10, 11, 22

specifying angle of revolution

upto an entity ...................... 29, 30

variable............................... 29, 30

specifying angle of revolution... 22, 29,

30

specifying depth

blind........................ 22, 26, 28, 30

through all surfaces .........26, 28, 30

upto a surface.................26, 28, 30

specifying depth........... 22, 26, 28, 30

specifying preferences

creating config.abz file ................. 4

for cleaning up drawings .............. 4

for feature creation wizards .......... 4

for generating drawings of features 4

for mapping views .................. 4, 19

for part setup ........................ 4, 19

for section profile fix ............... 4, 36

for selecting multiple entities ........ 4

Index

43

for setting views .................... 4, 19

for using start part template.... 4, 19

specifying preferences..................... 4

specifying scaling factor

calculating drawing scale ............ 17

measuring distance .................... 17

specifying drawing scale . 11, 16, 17,

24

specifying view scale ..12, 14, 15, 16

specifying scaling factor ......16, 17, 24

V

view types

auxiliary.............................. 11, 14

detailed............................... 11, 15

orthographic ..............................11

sectional ............................. 11, 12

view types ...................................11

Auto Build z

Documents

tech soft

proengineer

fixing section

sketched datum

preferences

dashed rectangular

feature creation

parametric