Inserting 2D Fragments into a Drawing

Calling the command:

There are several ways of inserting a fragment into an assembly drawing:

1. By using the command Create Fragment.

2. Within the Library Explorer or library window.

3. By creating a fragment directly in the assembly context.

The following description relates to the first two techniques of inserting a fragment into a drawing. The third technique is described in the dedicated section «Top-Down» Design.

To insert a fragment into an assembly drawing, call the command Create Fragment:

The following options will appear in the automenu:

The controls for customizing parameters of the fragment will appear in the parameters window. They are put into several sections, their number and structure depend on the fragment creation approach. The sections of the parameters window allow selecting the file of the fragment being inserted, a way of attaching the fragment, specifying external variables of the fragment, etc.

Before selecting the fragment file the parameters window contains only three sections: Basic parameters, Fragment parameters, Options. The values of the parameters, defined in the parameters window before file selection, are automatically stored as default values for all subsequently inserted fragments.

The first step when inserting the fragment is the selection of the file of a fragment. Methods of selection are described in the Selecting 2D Fragment for Insertion into Drawing section. After selecting the file, a dynamic image of the inserted fragment attached to the cursor will appear in the drawing window. The contents of the automenu will be changed. The new state of the automenu will depend on the fragment attachment approach specified in the parameters window: by fixing points or by fixing vector.

The fragment attachment approach is specified in the section Insert Fragment, with the help of the parameter Fixing. In case the fragment is attached by the fixing vector, the required fixing vector can be chosen from the drop down list of this parameter. The required page of the fragment document can be selected here as well (in case of multi-page document).

In the section Fragment parameters of the command dialog it is possible to specify various settings for fragment insertion. A detailed description of these parameters is presented in the section Fragment parameters.

The values of the fragment external variables are specified in the section Variables of the parameters window. This section is present in the dialog of the command's parameters window if the fragment being inserted has external variables.

In the section Preview of the command dialog the inserted fragment is dynamically displayed in accordance with the specified values of the external variables, fixing elements (fixing points and fixing vectors) are indicated.

When defining fragment insertion parameters, you need to specify the placement points of the fixing vector or fixing point in the drawing area. The coordinates of the specified points are shown in the section Coordinates of the command's parameters window.

After attaching the fragment on the current drawing, it is necessary to finish creating the fragment by pressing in the automenu or in the command's parameters window. Before that a series of additional operations can be performed with the help of the options appearing in the automenu of the command at this stage of the fragment insertion:

The option starts the mode of respecifying the fixing point of the fragment.

The option allows assigning the name for the inserted fragment. The fragment name can be used, for example, for search, for automatic creation of nodes of the fragment in the assembly, for obtaining the values of the fragment variables in the assembly drawing with the help of the function get:

get("Fragment name","Variable name"),

where Fragment name – the name that was specified for the fragment, and Variable name - the name of the variable from the fragment drawing the value of which has to be obtained in the assembly drawing.

To explode the fragment automatically the options and are used (see the section Exploding Fragments). The options and allow opening the file of the inserted fragment straightway for editing, after its creation has been finished automatically.

If necessary, for example, for fast insertion of several fragments in a row, it is possible, by setting on the flag Auto Create in the section Options of the command's parameters window, to turn on the mode of finishing fragment insertion automatically after specifying its fixing points. In this case, the fragment insertion will be finished automatically right away after specifying all fragment fixing points or its fixing vector.

Detailed description of all steps of inserting a fragment (selecting the fragment file, defining external variable values and placement, attachment of the fragment to the assembly drawing) can be found in the respective topics of this section.

For a description of the Open Part option, see the Specifics of working with assembly drawings section.

Option Inner Fragment Variables allows you to view and, if necessary, change the values of the external variables of the nested fragment. After calling the option, you need to select one of the nested fragments of the edited fragment, after which a window will appear in which its external variables will be displayed.

Option Change Fixing Vector sequentially switches the fragment vectors according to their list.

Option Select Clipping Hatch you to trim the part of the fragment that does not intersect with the hatching.

Topics in this section:

•Selecting 2D Fragment for Insertion into Drawing

•Values of 2D Fragment's External Variables

•Positioning of 2D Fragment

•Parameters of 2D Fragment

See Also:

•Inserting 2D Fragment by 3D Fragment