Resetting the default WCS in the dialog boxes not to be the ABS WCS 1

[shutchinson]

Is there some way to make the WCS the default choice in the dialog boxes rather than the Absolute WCS?
It makes no sense to default to the ABS WCS when in 999 cases out of 1000 it is the WCS you have all the control over is going to be the reference origin.

 

[JohnRBaker]

NOPE.

John R. Baker, P.E.
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[capnhook]

I agree completely, shutchinson.

ER 6962396 Allow configuration of secondary dialogs to default to WCS instead of ABS

Does anyone also have an ER submitted for this?

Defaulting to ABS WCS in a dialog, and not having a choice of defaulting to WCS, is a major time-waster.


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[capnhook]

Of course, after explaining to GTAC what exactly I wanted, they filtered (dumbed) it down to:


NX: Would like the option to have the Point dialog have memory


That's really NOT what I asked for. I asked to "Allow configuration of secondary dialogs to default to WCS instead of ABS".

I will call them back to clarify this.


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[capnhook]

ER fixed.

ER#6962396 - Option to set WCS as default in Point dialog


o Short Description of desired enhancement:
-->Since the Point dialog always has the default Reference set to 'Absolute', there is no way to have the default Reference be set to 'WCS'. The user requests the ability to change the Point dialog default Reference to 'WCS'.

o What activity in your process is NX not able to currently handle?
-->Currently there is no setting or dialog memory to maintain this setting.

o What result are you trying to achieve?
-->Have 'WCS' be the default Reference in the Point dialog.

o Do you currently have a workaround?
-->Manually set the Reference to 'WCS' each time the user enters the dialog.

o Do you have a proposal for the solution you envision NX providing for this capability?
-->Add dialog memory or a customer default or preference setting so 'WCS' is the default in the Point dialog.

o What is the level of productivity gained from such an enhancement?
-->Medium





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[shutchinson]

To clarify the problem in my view:

It is not only the point dialog box defaulting to the ABS WCS. All the feature creation dialog boxes like sweep and extrude default to the ABS WCS. The Move Object commands all default to the ABS WCS. Again it is 999 times out of 1000 this coordinate system does not apply and the user needs to make 4 additional totally unnessary mouse clicks to set the origin to the WCS and reset it to zero. Over a years time this is thousands of unnecessary mouse clicks.

It would be preferable to set the default in all the cammands to the WCS. This is the one that the user has all the control over and is being constantly manipulated for direction and origin of almost every feature and translation.

 

[capnhook]

I concurr, shutchinson.

If you phone in an ER to GTAC, please reference this one also.

Let's see who can hold his breath for a solution the longest.............

Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community..

[green]To the Toolmaker, your nice little cartoon drawing of your glass looks cool, but your solid model sucks. Do you want me to fix it, or are you going to take all week to get it back to me so I can get some work done?[/green]

 

[shutchinson]

I don't think I can phone in a ER because our company has stopped paying maintenence and I do not have a Keycode. We are hoping that they will pay for at least one licence so that we can use the phone support and make ER.

It is curious as to why the WCS defaults to ABS. My theory is that all the database expressions that can be minipulated along with the model associativity are based on the ABS origin. The programmers may not realize that the modelers are using the WCS almost all the time for their origin and vectors.

On the older versions of Unigraphics there was the GRIP program that may have been able to fix the problem. I was not a GRIP user and may be mistaken. The older versions were able to be set to WCS once and the next time you returned to the command it was still set that way.

I don't think I will be holding my breath for a solution but we can hope...

 

[JohnRBaker]

The reason virtually ALL functions that can create a parametric feature, which can reference a Point, uses as its defaults the 'Absolute WCS', is because you can NOT create an ASSOCIATIVE feature relative to the WCS. This would mean that IF we DID do as you've suggestion, that is defaulting all of these dialogs to the 'WCS' instead of 'Absolute', that every time you went to create a Parametric feature you'd have to change this default to make it Associative, and since NX is DESIGNED to create fully ASSOCIATIVE, PARAMETRIC FEATURE-BASED MODELS, this would defeat the whole purpose of the software.

John R. Baker, P.E.
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[shutchinson]

John_Product Evangelist,

If the whole purpose of the software was to "create fully ASSOCIATIVE, PARAMETRIC FEATURE-BASED MODELS" there would be no option to go into parameter free mode to create the model.

Oh, and here's a few capital letters for you:

As the user I do not want to have to manually change the NEVER WORKS DEFAULT presented to me 50 TIMES a day. The internal database for the features can still reference the ABS just like it will after I get through with the 4 mouse clicks that are necessary to start entering the coordinates and vectors I need to input to create the feature from the WCS.

I am designing tooling for turbine engine fan blades for major manufactures like Rolls Royce and General Electric. I take full advantage of the advanced features of NX 7.5. but do not find that a fully perametric associative model is always necessary. The molds I design require allot of free form surfaces and splitting of blocks along isocline curves for the mold parting lines. I have found that if you want to make changes it is better to use the Syncronus Technology and not depend on associativity.

Perhaps a solution can be found with a more open mind.

 

[RUGmechanic]

Interesting.

@John: What is wrong with a customer defaults setting to enable the wcs being the default coordinate system for some dialogs ?

Isn't it up to the user to decide if the features involved are positioned associatively or not ?



Older budweiser
NX8.5 64bit, hp z820

 

[JohnRBaker]

The system was designed to default to a state where Associative Feature can be created as the normal way of working, since you can always remove the parametrics later on if you really wish to. However, you can't make something parametric (exept to the extent that you can create Synchronous features which can mimic/impose parametric behavior) which wasn't created that way if you change your mind later on.

As for the so-called 'History-Free' approach, while that is an option, it's not the primary purpose that NX was designed for. But if you really don't care about creating fully associative, parametric models, then please, go ahead and do all your work in History-Free mode.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
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Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[filbbb]

I actually hate the idea of clicking twice to change the wcs. Old ug had a button to click, not all these pulldowns. Isn't that why windows has buttons everywhere now instead of pull down menus? ug really went backwards on this one. It is double the clicks every time!!!

As for some previous comments the dialog should remain in the state it was left in every every time. If i am subtracting something from another component the subtraction should remain "entire part" (selection scope) at lest until i exit the subtract dialog. I go from solid to solid & i have to click entire part everytime because it reverts back to "within work part". By the way "entire part is a pulldown!!!! really....3 choices & i have to click twice to get what i want!!!!

 

[cowski]

I agree that adding the WCS as an option to be the default would be an improvement. Even if you keep the current behavior and just let dialog memory retain the last selection. The extrude command is a good example of this - specifically the extrusion direction vector. If I select the ZC as the extrusion vector (or XC or YC), it is retained in dialog memory for the next time I use the command. The vector direction for each extrude is chosen correctly even if I have moved the WCS since the last extrude. When I later go to edit the extrude, I see a "fixed" vector direction has been created (the vector direction that was chosen at the time of the command, in terms of the ACS). I can later change the direction vector or even choose to pick something associative for the direction vector as my needs change.

Taking it a step further, if you want the feature relative (and associative) to the "current WCS"; NX could create a datum csys on the fly and reference that. This way the feature is associated to a csys (one that saves the position of the WCS at the time the feature was created). The user could later move that datum csys as needed or associate that datum csys to other geometry. The datum csys could even be made internal to the feature as is currently possible with sketches.

I realize that the WCS is just a convenience for the user and isn't saved in a way that allows it to drive associative geometry (nor do we want it to - I'd hate for my model to change/update every time I moved the WCS). But, it seems that NX already has the groundwork in place to allow us the illusion of using the WCS, it just needs to be expanded to more commands.

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[JohnRBaker]

I have NO problem whatsoever with the WCS option being remembered using 'Dialog Memory', just that I absolutely do NOT want a Customer Default which would set the default behavior a dialog to be such that an unsuspecting user could end up creating a non-associative object simply because they didn't realize that he was in a mode where it was not going to be possible to do so.

As to what to do next, I suggest that you open an ER (Enhancement Request) to that effect, that is, enabling Dialog Memory for this setting.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[capnhook]

Let me get this straight.....we are all being inconvenienced because a new unsuspecting user might create something un-associative.

OK, I get it now.

Sorry for bothering all you new users.

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[green]To the Toolmaker, your nice little cartoon drawing of your glass looks cool, but your solid model sucks. Do you want me to fix it, or are you going to take all week to get it back to me so I can get some work done?[/green]

 

[JohnRBaker]

If that's how you want to think of it, YES. After all, we spend a lot of our resources to assure that the system is as capable as possible when it comes to creating feature-based, associative models and anything which potentially could interfere with that needs to be addressed in some manner.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[capnhook]

Yes, that is exactly how I want to think of it.

We are all being inconvenienced because a new unsuspecting user might create something un-associative.

Thanks for making NX so effortless to use.

Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community..

[green]To the Toolmaker, your nice little cartoon drawing of your glass looks cool, but your solid model sucks. Do you want me to fix it, or are you going to take all week to get it back to me so I can get some work done?[/green]

 

[JohnRBaker]

As I've stated before, if you would like to have this class of dialog utilizing 'Dialog Memory', I have no problem with that. Simply contact GTAC and have them open an ER to that effect. However, I do NOT agree with the idea that we need to have a Customer Default which presets (and which could be potentially LOCKED-out at a Site/Group level) this behavior since that would allow anyone with access to Customer Defaults to potentially force THEIR preference onto other users who may be unaware of the fact that someone else has overridden the OOTB settings.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[capnhook]

....and hold your breath.

Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community..

[green]To the Toolmaker, your nice little cartoon drawing of your glass looks cool, but your solid model sucks. Do you want me to fix it, or are you going to take all week to get it back to me so I can get some work done?[/green]