Is there a standard that requires that the R.25 dimension not touch the radius that it is dimensioning or is this just a mistake?
Is there a standard that requires that the R.25 dimension not touch the radius that it is dimensioning or is this just a mistake?
Matt, I used to be a user too, for many moons. It's not "wrongly" "EVERY SINGLE TIME". But I did find the initial choices to be quirky at times. Making the behavior less quirky (or not quirky at all) was on my hit list. See my other posting here.
Select the dimension. Click at the front or the back of the arrow to see how it display differently.
I can't find a way to get the arrow to touch the part. Terrible drafting.
Drag the whole dimension until the arrow flips to the opposite side of the material like the circled dim. Then click on the "X" dot and it will flip to the other side.
Walter,
Usually, when the arrow comes to the outside like that, there's an extension line (or arc) that connects the arrow with the radial element. There might be something going on here that's hiding your extension arc.
However, something you may wish to consider is changing your drawing templates to use setting that employs a different arrow behavior, at Tools>Options...>Document Properties>Drafting Standard>Dimensions>Radius> in the Arrow placement area. Change the setting from "Smart arrows follow position of text" to "Smart arrows attach to arcs and point away from dimension"
With "Smart arrows attach to arcs and point away from dimension" active, the arrows are forced to be attached to the radial element unless there is no possibility for attachment.
[EDIT: Also, you can change the local attachment of a radius arrow by selecting the dimension and going to the Leader tab within the PropertyManager. The Witness/Leader Display groupbox allows you to control arrow placement. Once you place it, you can flip the side of the arrow by LMB clicking the node at its base.]
Matthew Lorono wrote:
Walter,
Usually, when the arrow comes to the outside like that, there's an extension line (or arc) that connects the arrow with the radial element. There might be something going on here that's hiding your extension arc.
However, something you may wish to consider is changing your drawing templates to use setting that employees a different arrow behavior, at Tools>Options...>Document Properties>Drafting Standard>Dimensions>Radius> in the Arrow placement area. Change the setting from "Smart arrows follow position of text" to "Smart arrows attach to arcs and point away from dimension"
With "Smart arrows attach to arcs and point away from dimension" active, the arrows are forced to be attached to the radial element unless there is no possibility for attachment.
[EDIT: Also, you can change the local attachment of a radius arrow by selecting the dimension and going to the Leader tab within the PropertyManager. The Witness/Leader Display groupbox allows you to control arrow placement. Once you place it, you can flip the side of the arrow by LMB clicking the node at its base.]
THANK YOU! Why is that the default setting? Jeez, I've been manually fixing that for the past 8 years...How did I not know about that setting?!
Matt, the What's New article back in 2013 was a little obscure, for sure. 2013 What's New in SOLIDWORKS - Improved Arrows on Radius Dimensions
That said, when a new option is introduced, it's typically not made the new default unless there's a very compelling reason. In this case, the old behavior was familiar to many users, so forcing a change may've disrupted many users' workflows.
Very helpful, Matthew. One question, though. Your suggestion to edit the template to "Smart arrows attach to arcs and point away from dimension" works perfectly with Smart Dimensions, but not at all when inserting model items. Is there a separate setting to make the model dimensions work correctly?
Try using this same setting in your parts too. It won't change existing dimensions or on parts you haven't changed yet, but it should work on new ones.
Youda' man! Thanks very much!
Walter Fetsch wrote:
Youda' man! Thanks very much!
Yep, looks like a setting to add to my templates going forward!
Thanks again Matthew!
Just did it to all my templates.
That's typical SW behavior...It's annoying as can be but for whatever reason SW seems to choose to add arrows wrongly to radii EVERY SINGLE TIME...I have to fix them manually. It's like the programmers hate me or something.