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Avoiding disrupting the Feature Manager Tree....

Question asked by Daniel Cane on Jan 2, 2017
Latest reply on Jan 3, 2017 by Rick Becker

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Hi,

Sometimes when I drag surfacing features up the feature tree, I get this message:

Prior to letting go of the mouse click to drag it, I have the blue arrow

Which I’ve always taken to mean ‘OK to move’

Not the black hazard sign which I’ve taken to mean ‘NOT ok to move’

The two options in the dialogue don't offer me what I want, which is to be able to decide to not move the feature after all if it's going to cause trouble. What you might use 'Cancel' or Ctrl+Z for in other circumstances.

The consequence moving it to the wrong place this can often be this awful cascade of broken and disrupted relations that messes-up the model.

So my question is please: is there a way to not move them higher than is safe to do so, OR a way to undo the damage it causes and prevent the chain-reaction of messed-up relations.

Many thanks!!!

Jim Wilkinson Jan 3, 2017 8:57 AM

Correct Answer

Hi Daniel,

This is a very generic dialog that comes up whenever the FeatureManager tree is rebuilding and encounters a new error. A new error in the tree can be triggered by a large number of different operations. So trying try implement a cancel button on the dialog that would undo the last thing that you did generically would be very difficult to do. Users also don't want us to make the reordering so strict that it will prevent all possible downstream errors; it used to be a lot more strict and you'd simply get the black (re-order) in more cases, but it made modeling very inflexible.

If you choose "Continue (Ignore Error)" can you not then hit undo (Ctrl-Z) to get back to the state before you did the re-order?

Thanks,
Jim

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Rick Becker Jan 3, 2017 8:45 AM

I try to Save before doing anything that has historically caused disruption to the tree or other things.

If my Tree turns into a Christmas Tree (lots of pretty shades of Red and Yellow) I close the file, not saving, exit Solidworks and try something else after restarting/reloading.

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Daniel Cane @ Rick Becker on Jan 3, 2017 9:21 AM

Hi,

Yeah this is what I've been doing so far as well...

It feels like an imperfect solution. :-)

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Dwight Livingston @ Rick Becker on Jan 3, 2017 11:50 AM

Rick Becker wrote:

I try to Save before doing anything that has historically caused disruption to the tree or other things.

If my Tree turns into a Christmas Tree (lots of pretty shades of Red and Yellow) I close the file, not saving, exit Solidworks and try something else after restarting/reloading.

Rick

I would not necessarily back off because a whole tree goes red. The trouble might be a single small conflict. Repair the highest red item and that may fix the whole thing.

Dwight

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Rick Becker @ Dwight Livingston on Jan 3, 2017 2:03 PM

I love the optimism Dwight Livingston.

Been there done that as the saying goes.

I have tried it every which way I can. I have indeed found that sometimes a fixing a single red item works, and sometimes it doesn't.

But the more times I correct the Christmas Tree reminds me of the poisonous M&Ms analogy.

Imagine a bowl of M&Ms. 10% of them are poisoned. Go ahead, eat a handful of them. After all, they are not all poisonous!

Being burned teaches one not to play with fire and to take the safest rout in the future.

Just a couple of months ago I was in the midst of a revision on a large progressive die design. It was late and I was hungry, so I saved and went home for the night. Everything saved correctly with no error messages.

Come back the very next morning and open the assembly. I had to double check the calendar to make sure it wasn't December because I saw the prettiest of Christmas tree.

I carefully rethought my last steps and did my very best to deduce what the culprit could possible be, hoping beyond hope that, this time, it was the highest red item.

Alas! To my great dismay I started down a full two day journey of angst and trepidation is pursuit of the elusive Healed Tree.

I believe that I am not alone.

Thank you for your thoughts Dwight.

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Jim Wilkinson Jan 3, 2017 8:57 AM

Hi Daniel,

If you choose "Continue (Ignore Error)" can you not then hit undo (Ctrl-Z) to get back to the state before you did the re-order?

Thanks,
Jim

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Craig Schultz Jan 3, 2017 8:57 AM

In the second pic it looks like you are going to place it after "Inside 3B" which is one of the parent features. You can tell the parent(s) by the blue spline arrows.

The third pic looks like you are placing it above "Inside 3B", which shows you the back do not enter symbol. And if you do move it above the parent, you will get those feature "trees of blood".

There is no way to avoid moving it. The best you can do is hit the "Stop and Repair" option. Then hit CTRL+Z

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Daniel Cane @ Craig Schultz on Jan 3, 2017 9:23 AM

Hi,

Those screenshots were just to get an example of the icons that appear.

I shall try the "Stop and Repair" then CTRL+Z now...

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Daniel Cane Jan 3, 2017 9:40 AM

Testing both here now, it appears best to:

"Continue Ignore Error" > "Close" the "What's Wrong?" dialogue > CTRL+Z

Choosing "Stop and Repair" leaves it rolled back, meaning I have to roll it forward bit-by-bit and repair all the messed-up relations stepwise.

Thanks for your help guys!!

Daniel

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8 Replies

Rick Becker Jan 3, 2017 8:45 AM
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Correct Answer
I try to Save before doing anything that has historically caused disruption to the tree or other things.

If my Tree turns into a Christmas Tree (lots of pretty shades of Red and Yellow) I close the file, not saving, exit Solidworks and try something else after restarting/reloading.
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- Daniel Cane @ Rick Becker on Jan 3, 2017 9:21 AM
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  Correct Answer
  Hi,
  Yeah this is what I've been doing so far as well...
  It feels like an imperfect solution. :-)
  
  D
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- Dwight Livingston @ Rick Becker on Jan 3, 2017 11:50 AM
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  Rick Becker wrote:
  
  I try to Save before doing anything that has historically caused disruption to the tree or other things.
  
  If my Tree turns into a Christmas Tree (lots of pretty shades of Red and Yellow) I close the file, not saving, exit Solidworks and try something else after restarting/reloading.
  Rick
  
  I would not necessarily back off because a whole tree goes red. The trouble might be a single small conflict. Repair the highest red item and that may fix the whole thing.
  
  Dwight
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  - Rick Becker @ Dwight Livingston on Jan 3, 2017 2:03 PM
    Mark Correct
    Correct Answer
    I love the optimism Dwight Livingston.
    Been there done that as the saying goes.
    
    I have tried it every which way I can. I have indeed found that sometimes a fixing a single red item works, and sometimes it doesn't.
    But the more times I correct the Christmas Tree reminds me of the poisonous M&Ms analogy.
    
    Imagine a bowl of M&Ms. 10% of them are poisoned. Go ahead, eat a handful of them. After all, they are not all poisonous!
    
    Being burned teaches one not to play with fire and to take the safest rout in the future.
    
    Just a couple of months ago I was in the midst of a revision on a large progressive die design. It was late and I was hungry, so I saved and went home for the night. Everything saved correctly with no error messages.
    Come back the very next morning and open the assembly. I had to double check the calendar to make sure it wasn't December because I saw the prettiest of Christmas tree.
    I carefully rethought my last steps and did my very best to deduce what the culprit could possible be, hoping beyond hope that, this time, it was the highest red item.
    Alas! To my great dismay I started down a full two day journey of angst and trepidation is pursuit of the elusive Healed Tree.
    
    I believe that I am not alone.
    Thank you for your thoughts Dwight.
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
    Actions
Jim Wilkinson Jan 3, 2017 8:57 AM
Unmark Correct
Correct Answer
Hi Daniel,

This is a very generic dialog that comes up whenever the FeatureManager tree is rebuilding and encounters a new error. A new error in the tree can be triggered by a large number of different operations. So trying try implement a cancel button on the dialog that would undo the last thing that you did generically would be very difficult to do. Users also don't want us to make the reordering so strict that it will prevent all possible downstream errors; it used to be a lot more strict and you'd simply get the black (re-order) in more cases, but it made modeling very inflexible.

If you choose "Continue (Ignore Error)" can you not then hit undo (Ctrl-Z) to get back to the state before you did the re-order?

Thanks,
Jim
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Craig Schultz Jan 3, 2017 8:57 AM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
In the second pic it looks like you are going to place it after "Inside 3B" which is one of the parent features. You can tell the parent(s) by the blue spline arrows.

The third pic looks like you are placing it above "Inside 3B", which shows you the back do not enter symbol. And if you do move it above the parent, you will get those feature "trees of blood".

There is no way to avoid moving it. The best you can do is hit the "Stop and Repair" option. Then hit CTRL+Z
Like • Show 1 Like1
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- Daniel Cane @ Craig Schultz on Jan 3, 2017 9:23 AM
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  Correct Answer
  Hi,
  Those screenshots were just to get an example of the icons that appear.
  I shall try the "Stop and Repair" then CTRL+Z now...
  D
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
Daniel Cane Jan 3, 2017 9:40 AM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Testing both here now, it appears best to:
"Continue Ignore Error" > "Close" the "What's Wrong?" dialogue > CTRL+Z
Choosing "Stop and Repair" leaves it rolled back, meaning I have to roll it forward bit-by-bit and repair all the messed-up relations stepwise.
Thanks for your help guys!!
Daniel
Like • Show 0 Likes0
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