Why can I pick sketch points only if I want to dimension sketch block entities outside "edit block" environment. Huge Bummer!!! I.e. I cannot add an angle dimension between two straigh lines.
If you pick entities it will stop you with a friendly "cannot add a constraint on this entity"
Maybe someone at SW can tell me why that is. I would be interested to know?
Hi Dan,
I am talking strictly sketch blocks used in drawings. No surfaces, no body just sketch lines, arcs and Points.
I am curious to know why SW can't handle to add driven dimensions to sketch entities within a block.
I can dimension them when editing the block. I cannot add dimensions to entities placed inside blocks,
when the block itself is not being edited.
Hope that clarifies my Question.
Elmar Klammer wrote:
Hi Dan,
I am talking strictly sketch blocks used in drawings. No surfaces, no body just sketch lines, arcs and Points.
I am curious to know why SW can't handle to add driven dimensions to sketch entities within a block.
I can dimension them when editing the block. I cannot add dimensions to entities placed inside blocks,
when the block itself is not being edited.Hope that clarifies my Question.
Interestingly, you can change it after the fact by dragging the dimension witness line connection points like you would to reattach a dangling dimension. Here's the before:
And here is the after:
The geometry of the block itself can only be modified in the edit block environment, or you would have to explode the block & then edit the sketch entities that way.
I'd have to guess because it has to do with something like scales.
Blocks have their units incorporated and scales are often used to make them more noticeable or have them take less place. Why don't you incorporate the dim inside the block?
Hi,
I can still pick points and add dimensions. So scale is not the issue. Neither can it be rotation.
I use sketch blocks in large asm drawings and add Ref dim's where applicable only. That's why I don't
add them to the block itself. I am merely wondering why it is so difficult to add dimensions by
picking sketch entities in blocks. It limits the current functionlity big time.
Do the dimensions picked from blocks correspond to the ones you desire or do they follow the paperscale?
I have a hard time understanding why sometimes you would need a block without dimensions and other times a block with dimensions. A work-around could also be to have 2 blocks, one with dimensions and one without.
I suggest seeing if there's an SPR in the knowledge base about this, if not send an E.R.
If there is an SPR, post it up here so we can vote on it!
not sure what is so hard to understand.
I want to pick sketch elements and add dimensions. that's it.
And you cannot do that if the sketch elements belong to a block.
Basically you can make sketch blocks and dimension them inside the block.
Outside the block edit environment they are useless if you need to add dimensions.
Angle dimensions are completely missing and linear dimensions are limited to picking points.
I am not looking for workarounds. It baffles my why SW can't handle such a simple Task.
Elmar Klammer wrote:
not sure what is so hard to understand.
I want to pick sketch elements and add dimensions. that's it.
And you cannot do that if the sketch elements belong to a block.Basically you can make sketch blocks and dimension them inside the block.
Outside the block edit environment they are useless if you need to add dimensions.
Angle dimensions are completely missing and linear dimensions are limited to picking points.I am not looking for workarounds. It baffles my why SW can't handle such a simple Task.
Incidentally, the drag trick I mentioned above works for angle dimensions as well:
As workarounds go, it's not too much work.
Nice Job...not taking away from your effort, but it is still not efficient..Looking at your solution makes really wonder why I cannot do that by picking entities…
I believe that it is like trying to put an angle mate between 2 surfaces from the same component in the assembly environment. You just can't do it. That angle is defined and controlled from inside the component part file itself.
Inside your block, you should already have some sort of angle constraint (horizontal/vertical, perpendicular, angle dimension, etc..) between those 2 lines.
So then the work around here would be to add a phantom line, and dimension to that.