T-FLEX Parametric CAD. Fundamentals. 2D Design

Fundamentals. Two-Dimensional Design
SKETCH. CREATING A NON-PARAMETRIC DRAWING.
AUTOMATIC PARAMETERIZATION MODE
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T-FLEX CAD allows creating a drawing similar to most well-known CAD systems, using standard
functionalities for creating various primitives, such as: line segments, arcs, circles, ellipses, splines. Sketcher
functionalities, including object snapping and dynamic tooltips, significantly simplify and speed up the
process of creating a non-parametric drawing. Such drawings do not share the advantage of parametric
drawings in the effective usage of modifiable parameters (dimensions). However, in certain cases,
development of such drawings is faster and can bring certain benefits, when large modifications are not
expected.
Quick creation of graphic lines in a drawing is done with the “Sketch” command. This command can work in
two modes: in the sketching mode and in the automatic parameterization mode.
Creating Lines in a Drawing
To quickly create graphic lines use the command “SK: Create Sketch”:
Keyboard Textual Menu Icon
“Draw|Sketch”
Upon calling the command, the options appear in the automenu that allow creating various lines in a
drawing. You can use all object snaps available in the system to make your constructions.
Two working modes of the command “SK: Create Sketch”
The "SK: Create Sketch" command can work in one of the two modes: in the sketching mode and in the
automatic parameterization mode. Switching between the modes is done with the icon on the “View”
panel. When the icon is switched off, a plain sketch is created. When the icon is On, the automatic
parameterization mode is at work.
In the sketching mode, only the graphic lines based on free nodes are created. To create graphic lines, the
user selects the desired type (a line segment, an arc, circle, etc.) and defines the position of the line defining
points using or by entering coordinates/parameters in the command's properties window. When specifying
the positions of the defining points of the lines being created, one can use object snaps to existing drawing
elements (a vertical/horizontal relation, tangency, perpendicularity, etc.). As a result, you get a
nonparametric drawing without construction lines (a “sketch”).
In the automatic parameterization mode the user also builds up a drawing as a sketch, using all available
command tools. Instead of the free nodes, the system automatically creates construction elements beneath the
graphic lines, that are tied by parametric relations.
The types of relations introduced by the system depend on:
• the options of the command that was used to create a graphic line;
• the object snaps used when creating the line;
• parameters defined in the command's properties window.