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Pulling dimensions into a note

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Jabberwocky

Mechanical
Apr 1, 2005
330
Forgive me if this has been answered before, I couldn't find it if so.

I have a dimension (from a fillet) on a part which I want to show up on a drawing. Solidworks will not pull this dimension automatically (assumably because I do not have an orthogonal view to see it). Since it's a fillet I'm content to have a note pointing to the appropriate area, but how do I callout for the dimension (from the part) so SWx will update if it changes.

I can hardcode the number, but that won't update, and since the dimension isn't present anywhere else on the drawing I can't match the syntax of other dimensions. Also, the syntax for a design table parameter doesn't work either.

Am I missing something obvious?
 
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Try adding a view which does show the fillet, link the dimension in the note, then delete the view (or move it offscreen).

[cheers]
Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091
 
If you follow CBL's path you can't delete the extra view, you must hide it.

Fillet dimension will also sometimes transfer from view-to-view using the ctrl-drag-n-drop method. Then you can delete the extra view.

Remember...
[navy]"If you don't use your head,[/navy] [idea]
[navy]your going to have to use your feet."[/navy]
 
I just drag the view off-screen whenever I need a workaround like that.

Flores
SW06 SP4.1
 
You could do this in a design table. You can create a custom property with this dimension ($prp@R1 for example) within the design table and link it to the cell that calls out this dimension. You can then link the note to that custom property.

SolidWorks 2006 - SP3.0
UG NX3
Pro/Engineer Wildfire 2.0
 
GTCadGuy - beware of not updating design tables with this method. I've been burned before by not updating design tables in which Excel calculates a custom property based on dimensions.

With 2006 you can have custom props that are directly linked to dimension values without using a design table.
 
handleman,
Thanks for the heads-up. I usually edit the design table in a new window within excel to make sure that all my cells calculate correctly.

I was not aware that you could link a custom property directly to a dimension. Now that I did a little searching on the subject, that is what I would do in this case. Pretty simple to do in fact. Create a new custom property, when asked for value/expression, click on the dimension and it adds the link.

SolidWorks 2006 - SP3.0
UG NX3
Pro/Engineer Wildfire 2.0
 
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