Analyzing Generated Dimensions  

This task will show you how to analyze generated dimensions via the Generated Dimension Analysis dialog box. 
Open the GenDrafting_part.CATPart and the GenDrafting_front_view.CATDrawing documents.

Tile your windows horizontally to view both your drawing and the related part by selecting Window > Tile Horizontally.

Go to Tools > Options > Mechanical Design > Drafting > Generation tab. Make sure the Analysis after generation check box is selected. This automatically launches the generated dimensions analysis after dimension generation.

  1. Click Generate Dimensions in the Generation toolbar.

    The dimensions are generated on the view.

    You can select a dimension in the drawing to highlight the corresponding constraint in the 3D, and vice-versa. For example, if you pick this dimension in the drawing, the corresponding constraint is displayed in the 3D.

    The Generated Dimension Analysis dialog box is automatically displayed.

    The Generated Dimension Analysis dialog box displays the number of constraints available in the 3D, as well as the number of dimensions generated on the drawing, for each part or product in the drawing (in this case, there is only one part). You can use the options in this dialog box to highlight the dimensions in the drafting sheet as well as the associated 3D constraints you can visualize in your Part or Product document. Let's describe the dialog box more precisely:

    The options in the Constraint Analysis in 3D area let you display specific constraints on the 3D part.

    • Generated constraints: displays all the constraints which are associated with the dimensions generated on the drawing.

    • Other constraints: displays all the constraints for which dimensions have not been generated on the drawing.

    • Excluded constraints: displays all the constraints which have not been taken into account during the dimension generation (this can be because you previously excluded them using the Not Generated icon  when performing a step by step generation, or because you removed a generated dimension from the drawing).

    The options in the Dimension Analysis in 2D area let you highlight specific dimensions on the drawing.

    • New Generated Dimensions: highlights the dimensions which were generated during the latest dimension generation (this is useful if you generate dimensions several times).

    • Generated Dimensions: highlights all the generated dimensions.

    • Other Dimensions: highlights the dimensions created manually in the Interactive Drafting workbench.

  2. Select the Generated constraints and Generated Dimensions check boxes. The generated dimensions are highlighted on the drawing, and the constraints associated with the generated dimensions are displayed on the 3D part.

  3. Click OK to close the dialog box.

  • The Analysis after generation option automatically displays the Generated Dimension Analysis dialog box after dimension generation, each time you generate dimensions either automatically (using Generating Dimensions ) or semi-automatically (using Generating Dimensions Step by Step ). 
  • By default, the Analysis after generation check box in Tools > Options is selected, and the Generated Dimension Analysis dialog box is automatically displayed at the end of dimension generation. You can deactivate this default by clearing the Analysis after generation option.
  • You can also launch an analysis explicitly when needed. To do this, go to Tools > Dimension Generation > Analysis. The Generated Dimension Analysis dialog box will be displayed immediately.