I am detailing a molded part and would like to call out dimensions as 2 -1° DFT or 2 +1° DFT to make it more clear which end of a feature my dimension is really pointing at for inspection. I haven't used dimension styles much, but this seems like a useful way to put this in multiple places. However, that would only let the length dimension (2 in the example above) be driven by the model, and require the value 1° to be manually entered, introducing some risk as I'm still tweaking my models a bit. Some of my draft angles are critical, so I can't just leave them all generic with a note to reference the model. So, what I'd really like is to set the style to +DFT or -DFT, select my two edges, and have solidworks spit back out the distance and angle between them, giving the maximum distance if I select -DFT and the minimum distance if I select +DFT, able to update automatically if I (or other EPDM users) change either the size or angle, and with all my other normal dimension leader, line, and text settings. Some of the angled faces are created by the draft command, others by extruding with draft, others are in the sketch and extruded perpendicular to my pull plane.
I'm not sure if this is possible. I am running Solidworks 2017 and do not have much experience with macros. Any help or advice is much appreciated!
detailing_drawings molded drawings macro draft angle dimension display multiple dimensions dimension relations #dimension dimension_styles
I don't know if this will work for you or not, but you can insert separate dimensions, then start a Note. If you'll click on a dimension while your cursor is active in the Note text box it will insert the dimension into the Note. Link to whichever dimensions you want in the Note, add other text as needed, and then right-click on the dimensions and Hide them. The text in the Note will still change if the model is edited.