Making an Existing Annotation Associative

This task explains how, at any time and once an annotation has been created, you can add a link between an annotation and another element. You can add two different types of links:

 
The elements that can be linked to annotations are listed below:
  • Annotations
    • text
    • datum feature
    • datum target
    • balloon
    • geometrical tolerance
    • roughness symbols
    • weld symbols
  • Dimensions
  • 2D elements
    • points
    • circles
    • ellipse
    • parabola
    • hyperbola

And, in a Generative Drafting context:

  • Generative edges

Positional link
You can create positional links for every type of annotation.
Open the Brackets_views03.CATDrawing document. Create a text.

  1. Click the Select icon .

  2. Right-click any part of the text (text itself, frame or leader).

  3. Select Positional Link > Create from the contextual menu.

  4. Select the element to which you want the text's position to be linked.

    The positional link is created. If you now select the linked element and drag it in the drawing, you can notice that the text follows this element.

  5. To remove the positional link, right-click the text again, and select Positional Link > Delete from the contextual menu.

Orientation link
You can create orientation links for texts, texts with leader and roughness symbols.

  1. Right-click the text.

  2. Select Orientation Link > Create from the contextual menu.

  3. Select the element to which you want the text's orientation to be linked.

    The orientation link is created. If you now select the linked element and modify its orientation, you can notice that the text's orientation is modified simultaneously.
  • If you create a link between an annotation and a dimension system, remember that the link can only be made on a single dimension of the system.
  • In a Generative Drafting context, certain types of generated elements (such as Pipe elements) are not associative. For this reason, positional links or orientation links between an annotation and such elements are not taken into account.