Editing a 2D Component Instance  

This task shows you how to edit a 2D component instance. This includes:
Open the Disk4.CATPart document. Select Start > Mechanical Design > 2D Layout for 3D Design to open the layout in the 2D window. Instantiate a 2D component (in the Front view, for example) as described in Instantiating a 2D Component.
 

Adding a leader to a 2D component instance

  1. Right-click the 2D component instance and select Add Leader.

  2. Select the element to which you want the 2D component instance to be associated, or click in empty space if you do not want the 2D component to be associated with an element.

 

Modifying text in 2D component instances

In your layout, double-click the 2D component reference from the specification tree (2D component.1). This activates the detail sheet and the view which contains the 2D component reference. Add a text to the 2D component reference.
  1. Right-click the 2D component reference text.

  2. From the contextual menu, select Modifiable in instance. This makes the text modifiable in existing instances as well as in newly-created instances.

  3. Create a 2D component instance (in the Front view, for example). There should now be two instances in your Front view.

  4. If you now double-click the text in the first 2D component instance, you are able to modify it. You can then repeat this operation for the text in the 2D component instance you have just created.

More about texts in 2D components

  • Attribute links may be added in the text content.
  • Once a text becomes modifiable, it is not possible to make it non-modifiable.
  • For 2D component instances created with a catalog, if a text becomes modifiable in the catalog, you have to synchronize the external reference to make the 2D component instance text modifiable too (refer to Creating and Editing a Catalog in the Component Catalog Editor User's Guide).
  • If you create a 2D component reference (called MYREF for example) containing a 2D component instance with a modifiable text, the text will not be modifiable in instances of MYREF. 
  • If you want to use as symbols 2D components with text, activate both the Apply Scale property for the text (in Edit > Properties > Text tab) and the Create with a constant size setting (in Tools > Options > Mechanical Design > Drafting > Annotation and Dress-up tab): the size of both the 2D component and its text will then be independent from the view scale.
  • Remember that if the Allow direct manipulation check box is cleared in Tools > Options > Mechanical Design > Drafting > Annotation and Dress-up tab, you cannot manipulate the component. In particular, you cannot modify the text strings in 2D component instances.
 

Replacing the reference of a 2D component instance

Create a 2D component reference (this time defining two rectangles, for example) so that your detail sheet now contains two 2D component references.
  1. Activate Sheet.1.

  2. Right-click the existing 2D component instance in the Front view, and select 2D component.X (instance) object > Replace Reference.

  3. From the specification tree, select the 2D component reference you just created (2D component.2).

    You could also select another instance in order to take its reference into account.

    The reference of the 2D component instance is replaced, and the instance is modified accordingly.

More about replacing references

  • You cannot use a catalog to replace a 2D component instance reference. To bypass this, use an instance created with this catalog.
  • When replacing the reference of a 2D component instance, any existing text in the original 2D component instance is also replaced, even if this existing text had been previously modified (see Modifying text in 2D Component Instances for more information on this point).