PC-DMIS 4.3 Reference Manual

PCDMIS4.
3ReferenceManual
WindowsXPandVistaVersion
ByWilcoxAssociates,Inc.
Copyright19992001,20022008HexagonMetrologyandWilcoxAssociatesIncorporated.All
rightsreserved.
PCDMIS,DirectCAD,TutorforWindows,RemotePanelApplication,DataPage,andMicro
MeasureIVareeitherregisteredtrademarksortrademarksofHexagonMetrologyandWilcox
Associates,Incorporated.
SPCLightisatrademarkofLighthouse.
HyperViewisatrademarkofDundasSoftwareLimitedandHyperCubeIncorporated.
Orbix3isatrademarkofIONATechnologies.
IDEASandUnigraphicsareeithertrademarksorregisteredtrademarksofEDS.
Pro/ENGINEERisaregisteredtrademarkofPTC.
CATIAiseitheratrademarkorregisteredtrademarkofDassaultSystemesandIBMCorporation.
ACISiseitheratrademarkorregisteredtrademarkofSpatialandDassaultSystemes.
3DxWareiseitheratrademarkorregisteredtrademarkof3Dconnexion.
lp_solveisafreesoftwarepackagelicensedandusedundertheGNULGPL.
PCDMISforWindowsversion4.0andbeyondusesafree,opensourcepackagecalledlp_solve
(orlpsolve)thatisdistributedundertheGNUlessergeneralpubliclicense(LGPL).
lpsolvecitationdata
Description:Opensource(MixedInteger)LinearProgrammingsystem
Language:Multiplatform,pureANSIC/POSIXsourcecode,Lex/Yaccbasedparsing
Officialname:lp_solve(alternativelylpsolve)
Releasedata:Version5.1.0.0dated1May2004
Codevelopers:MichelBerkelaar,KjellEikland,PeterNotebaert
Licenseterms:GNULGPL(LesserGeneralPublicLicense)
Citationpolicy:GeneralreferencesasperLGPL
Modulespecificreferencesasspecifiedtherein
Youcangetthispackagefrom:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lp_solve/
WilcoxAssociates,Inc.
TableOfContents
GETTINGSTARTED:AN OVERVIEW.............................................................................................. 1
OVERVIEW: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1
VERSIONENHANCEMENTS.................................................................................................................... 1
ORGANIZATIONOF MANUAL ................................................................................................................. 5
Conventions .................................................................................................................................... 6
CAD LINKS .......................................................................................................................................... 9
USINGA MOUSEORMOTION CONTROLLER........................................................................................... 9
ConfiguringaSpaceBallorSpaceMouseDevice............................................................................ 10
SpaceBall/SpaceMouseModes..................................................................................................... 12
AUTOMATING PCDMIS..................................................................................................................... 13
SOFTWARECONFIGURATIONS............................................................................................................. 13
ComparisonofOffLineandOnLineVersions............................................................................... 15
PCDMISCMM ............................................................................................................................ 17
PCDMISVision............................................................................................................................ 18
PCDMIS/NC ................................................................................................................................ 18
PCDMISLaser............................................................................................................................. 18
PCDMISPortable ........................................................................................................................ 18
PCDMISIP.................................................................................................................................. 19
PCDMISGear ............................................................................................................................. 19
COMMANDLINE INSTALLATION .......................................................................................................... 19
CONNECTINGTO INTERNETSUPPORT ................................................................................................... 20
NAVIGATINGTHEUSERINTERFACE .......................................................................................... 23
NAVIGATINGTHE USER INTERFACE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 23
THE SCREEN APPEARANCE .................................................................................................................. 23
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents iii

THE MENU BAR .................................................................................................................................. 25
File ............................................................................................................................................... 25
Edit ............................................................................................................................................... 25
View.............................................................................................................................................. 25
Insert............................................................................................................................................. 25
Operation...................................................................................................................................... 26
Window......................................................................................................................................... 26
Help.............................................................................................................................................. 26
THE TOOLBAR AREA .......................................................................................................................... 27
THE GRAPHICS DISPLAYWINDOW ...................................................................................................... 27
THE STATUSBAR ............................................................................................................................... 28
DIALOGBOX DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................................. 29
EditBox:....................................................................................................................................... 30
ListBox:........................................................................................................................................ 31
OptionButtons: ............................................................................................................................. 32
CheckBoxes:................................................................................................................................. 32
CommandButtons:........................................................................................................................ 32
DialogBoxTabs: .......................................................................................................................... 35
DropDownListBox...................................................................................................................... 35
AccessingDialogBoxes................................................................................................................. 35
ScrollingtheEditWindow ............................................................................................................. 36
MovingDialogBoxes .................................................................................................................... 36
CUSTOMIZINGTHE USER INTERFACE ................................................................................................... 36
ToRestoretheDefaultUserInterface ............................................................................................ 37
ToCustomizeUserInterfaceFonts ................................................................................................ 37
iv Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

CustomizingMenus ....................................................................................................................... 38
CustomizingToolbars.................................................................................................................... 41
CustomizingShortcutKeys ............................................................................................................ 44
DOCKINGAND UNDOCKING USER INTERFACEELEMENTS ..................................................................... 45
USINGBASICFILEOPTIONS .......................................................................................................... 47
USINGBASIC FILEOPTIONS: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 47
CREATING NEWPARTPROGRAMS ....................................................................................................... 47
OPENINGEXISTING PARTPROGRAMS .................................................................................................. 48
SAVING PARTPROGRAMS................................................................................................................... 51
SaveAs ......................................................................................................................................... 51
PERFORMINGFILE OPERATIONS .......................................................................................................... 52
Mirror........................................................................................................................................... 52
Copy ............................................................................................................................................. 53
Delete ........................................................................................................................................... 54
Rename ......................................................................................................................................... 54
CHANGINGTHE LANGUAGE................................................................................................................. 55
SETTING PRINTER OPTIONS ................................................................................................................. 55
PrintingtheGraphicsDisplayWindow.......................................................................................... 55
PRINTINGTHE GRAPHICSDISPLAY WINDOW........................................................................................ 55
SettingOutputandPrinterOptionsfortheGraphicsDisplayWindow............................................ 56
PreviewingthePrintJob ............................................................................................................... 56
PRINTINGTHE EDITWINDOW .............................................................................................................. 57
PrintingtheInspectionReport ....................................................................................................... 59
PRINTINGTHE INSPECTIONREPORT ..................................................................................................... 59
SettingOutputandPrinterOptionsfortheEditWindow ................................................................ 59
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents v
LAUNCHINGLEGACY APPLICATIONS ................................................................................................... 66
ImportingaCADFile.................................................................................................................... 66
ImportingaCATIAorCATIA5File ............................................................................................... 67
ImportingaDESFile .................................................................................................................... 68
ImportingaDXF/DWGFile .......................................................................................................... 68
ImportinganIGESFile ................................................................................................................. 69
UsingtheIGESDataDialogBox................................................................................................... 70
Make3D ....................................................................................................................................... 70
ImportinganIGES(Alternate)File................................................................................................ 70
ImportingaPro/ENGINEERFile .................................................................................................. 71
ImportingaSTEPFile................................................................................................................... 71
ImportinganSTLFile ................................................................................................................... 72
ImportingaUnigraphicsorParasolidFile .................................................................................... 72
ImportingaVDAFSFile................................................................................................................ 73
ImportinganXYZIJKFile ............................................................................................................. 73
ImportingaChorusNTProgram .................................................................................................... 76
ImportingDMISFiles.................................................................................................................... 81
ImportinganAVAILorMMIVProgram ........................................................................................ 86
ImportingaTutorProgram ........................................................................................................... 88
ImportingaDirectCADFile ......................................................................................................... 91
ImportingaZeissUMESSFile....................................................................................................... 91
ImportingaMeasureMaxProject .................................................................................................. 92
EXPORTING CAD DATAOR PROGRAM DATA ....................................................................................... 92
ExportingtoAIMS......................................................................................................................... 93
ExportingtoaBASICFile ............................................................................................................. 94
vi Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

ExportingtoaDataView(AS3)File............................................................................................... 94
ExportingaDESFile .................................................................................................................... 94
ExportingtoDMIS ........................................................................................................................ 96
ExportingtoanIDEASDCIModelFile........................................................................................ 99
ExportinganIGESFile ............................................................................................................... 101
ExportingaSTEPFile................................................................................................................. 102
ExportingaVDAFSFile.............................................................................................................. 104
ALTERINGTHE IMPORTED/ EXPORTED IMAGE DISPLAY ..................................................................... 106
AlteringDisplayofImportedCAD............................................................................................... 106
AlteringtheDisplayofExportedCAD ......................................................................................... 109
SETTING IMPORTOPTIONS................................................................................................................ 111
EXECUTING PARTPROGRAMS ........................................................................................................... 112
Execute ....................................................................................................................................... 113
ExecuteFeature .......................................................................................................................... 113
ExecuteFrom .............................................................................................................................. 113
ExecuteFromCursor .................................................................................................................. 114
ExecuteBlock.............................................................................................................................. 114
ExecuteFromStartPoints' .......................................................................................................... 114
AnyOrderExecution ................................................................................................................... 114
UsingtheExecutionModeOptionsDialogBox............................................................................ 115
Jump ........................................................................................................................................... 117
ProgressBar ............................................................................................................................... 118
SETTINGYOURPREFERENCES................................................................................................... 121
SETTING YOURPREFERENCES: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 121
SELECTINGPCDMIS SETUPOPTIONS .............................................................................................. 122
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents vii

SetupOptions:Generaltab.......................................................................................................... 122
EditBoxesfortheGeneraltab..................................................................................................... 123
CheckBoxesfortheGeneraltab.................................................................................................. 127
SetupOptions:Part/Machinetab................................................................................................. 144
Machinearea .............................................................................................................................. 145
SetupOptions:Dimensiontab...................................................................................................... 150
DefaultTolerances ...................................................................................................................... 153
SetupOptions:IDSetuptab......................................................................................................... 157
SetupOptions:NC100Setuptab................................................................................................. 161
SetUpOptions:SoundEventstab................................................................................................. 163
MODIFYINGREPORTANDMOTION PARAMETERS ............................................................................... 164
ParameterSettings:Dimensiontab.............................................................................................. 164
ParameterSettings:ClearPlanetab............................................................................................. 167
ParameterSettings:Probingtab.................................................................................................. 172
ParameterSettings:RoTable(RotaryTable)tab .......................................................................... 174
ParameterSettings:Motiontab ................................................................................................... 176
ParameterSettings:Accelerationtab........................................................................................... 180
ParameterSettings:Opt.Probe(OptionalProbe)tab .................................................................. 181
ParameterSettings:ProbeTriggerOptionstab............................................................................ 185
ParameterSettings:NC100Parameterstab................................................................................ 189
ParameterSettings:I/OChannelstab.......................................................................................... 191
SETTING UPTHE EDITWINDOW ........................................................................................................ 193
DefiningEditWindowColors ...................................................................................................... 193
DefiningtheEditwindowLayout ................................................................................................. 196
SETTING UPTHEREADOUTWINDOW................................................................................................. 197
viii Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

FeatureArea ............................................................................................................................... 198
Probe/HitArea............................................................................................................................ 199
CoordinatesArea ........................................................................................................................ 199
Axis toDisplayArea.................................................................................................................... 200
ColorsArea................................................................................................................................. 200
TrackerArea ............................................................................................................................... 200
GraphicalRepresentationArea.................................................................................................... 201
DistanceTargetArea................................................................................................................... 201
PromptHistoryArea ................................................................................................................... 203
AlwaysTrackFOVCenter ........................................................................................................... 203
SETTINGUPMULTIPLE ARMS ............................................................................................................ 203
DEFININGTHEROTARYTABLE .......................................................................................................... 203
CalibrateRotaryTable ................................................................................................................ 205
SETTING UPPROBE CHANGER OPTIONS ............................................................................................. 207
Type ............................................................................................................................................ 208
Comm ......................................................................................................................................... 209
Calibrate..................................................................................................................................... 210
MountPoint ................................................................................................................................ 214
Slots............................................................................................................................................ 216
ManagingMultipleProbeChangers ............................................................................................ 218
MANAGING MULTIPLEPROBECHANGERS ......................................................................................... 218
BACKGROUNDONTP2...................................................................................................................... 218
BACKGROUNDONACR1.................................................................................................................. 219
BACKGROUNDONTP20 ANDTP200.................................................................................................. 219
BACKGROUNDONTHE SP600 ANALOG PROBE................................................................................... 219
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents ix
CONFIGURINGMULTIPLERACKS ....................................................................................................... 219
SP25 PROBE/STYLUS CHANGESYSTEM ............................................................................................. 221
UnderstandingtheARC1Rack..................................................................................................... 221
UnderstandingtheARC1withaTP20StylusChanger ................................................................. 222
UnderstandingtheSP25RackSystem .......................................................................................... 222
LOADINGTHE ACTIVE PROBE ............................................................................................................ 225
SETTING UPTHE MACHINE INTERFACE .............................................................................................. 225
RestoringFactorySettingsfromtheController ............................................................................ 226
AssigningtheMachineAxes......................................................................................................... 226
GeneratingaDebugFile ............................................................................................................. 227
OITCommunication .................................................................................................................... 228
PH9Communication ................................................................................................................... 229
RotaryTableSettings................................................................................................................... 230
SettingtheCommunicationProtocol............................................................................................ 230
SettingtheAxesScaleFactor....................................................................................................... 231
WristConfiguration..................................................................................................................... 232
AxilaInterface............................................................................................................................. 232
BacktalkInterface ....................................................................................................................... 233
BrightInterface ........................................................................................................................... 233
LeicaInterface ............................................................................................................................ 234
DeaInterface .............................................................................................................................. 234
ElmInterface............................................................................................................................... 236
EmbboardInterface..................................................................................................................... 236
FaroInterface ............................................................................................................................. 237
FederalInterface......................................................................................................................... 237
x TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual
GOMInterface ............................................................................................................................ 237
JohanssonInterface..................................................................................................................... 237
LeitzInterface ............................................................................................................................. 238
LKDriverInterface ...................................................................................................................... 241
LKRS232Interface ...................................................................................................................... 243
ManmitiInterface........................................................................................................................ 245
ManmoraInterface...................................................................................................................... 245
Metrocom/MetromecInterface..................................................................................................... 246
MetrologInterface....................................................................................................................... 247
MitutoyoInterface ....................................................................................................................... 248
MoraInterface ............................................................................................................................ 250
MZeizzInterface.......................................................................................................................... 250
NumerexInterface ....................................................................................................................... 251
OmnitechInterface ...................................................................................................................... 253
ReflexInterface ........................................................................................................................... 253
RenishawInterface ...................................................................................................................... 254
RomerInterface........................................................................................................................... 254
SharpeInterface .......................................................................................................................... 254
SheffieldInterface ....................................................................................................................... 256
Tech80Interface.......................................................................................................................... 259
TheodoleInterface....................................................................................................................... 260
WenzelInterface.......................................................................................................................... 260
ZeissInterface ............................................................................................................................. 261
ZssGPIBsInterface...................................................................................................................... 261
COMPENSATINGFOR TEMPERATURE .................................................................................................. 262
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xi
UsingSTPFiles........................................................................................................................... 262
AvailableInputParameters ......................................................................................................... 263
TEMPCOMPCommandintheEditWindow ............................................................................... 268
ControllerSupport ...................................................................................................................... 268
LocalTemperatureSettings ......................................................................................................... 268
SPECIFYINGEXTERNAL DIRECTORIESTO SEARCH .............................................................................. 268
SearchFor .................................................................................................................................. 269
SearchCurrentDirectory ............................................................................................................ 270
SearchCurrentDirectoryFirst.................................................................................................... 270
SearchSpecifiedDirectory .......................................................................................................... 270
BrowseButton............................................................................................................................. 270
CHANGINGOPENGL OPTIONS ........................................................................................................... 271
Options ....................................................................................................................................... 272
Tessellation ................................................................................................................................. 273
DesktopSettings.......................................................................................................................... 273
SETTING IMPORTOPTIONS................................................................................................................ 273
UNDERSTANDINGTHE.DAT FILES .................................................................................................... 275
EDITINGTHECADDISPLAY ........................................................................................................ 279
EDITINGTHE CAD DISPLAY: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 279
SETTING UPTHE SCREENVIEW ......................................................................................................... 279
ChangingLayoutandViews ........................................................................................................ 280
Displaying,Creating,andManipulatingLevels............................................................................ 282
MANAGINGANDPOSITIONINGONSCREEN ELEMENTS ....................................................................... 284
SWITCHINGBETWEEN CURVEANDSURFACE MODES ......................................................................... 285
DRAWINGSURFACES ........................................................................................................................ 286
xii TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

HIGHLIGHTING SURFACESAND CURVESWITHTHE MOUSE ................................................................. 286
REPAINTINGTHE SCREEN .................................................................................................................. 287
CHANGINGSCREEN MODES .............................................................................................................. 287
TranslateMode ........................................................................................................................... 287
2DRotateMode .......................................................................................................................... 289
3DRotateMode .......................................................................................................................... 290
TextBoxMode ............................................................................................................................ 292
ProgramMode ............................................................................................................................ 293
CHANGINGSCREEN COLORS............................................................................................................. 293
Background................................................................................................................................. 294
Highlight..................................................................................................................................... 295
MouseOverHighlight ................................................................................................................. 295
3DGrid....................................................................................................................................... 296
VisionFOV ................................................................................................................................. 296
SCALINGTHEDRAWING .................................................................................................................... 296
ROTATINGTHE DRAWING ................................................................................................................. 297
CHANGINGROTATIONAND OTHERMOTION OPTIONS ........................................................................ 298
SHOWINGANDHIDINGGRAPHICS ..................................................................................................... 302
WORKINGWITH ASSEMBLIESOFPARTS ............................................................................................. 303
MAKINGCAD 3DBYUSINGTHE CREATE LEVELS WINDOW .............................................................. 305
CREATELEVELS FILEMENU ............................................................................................................ 307
CREATELEVELS VIEWMENU .......................................................................................................... 307
View|Change ............................................................................................................................. 307
View|ScaletoFit ....................................................................................................................... 307
View|Rotate ............................................................................................................................... 308
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xiii

View|CADInfo .......................................................................................................................... 308
View|ScreenColor..................................................................................................................... 308
CREATELEVELS LEVELMENU......................................................................................................... 308
Level|New ................................................................................................................................. 309
Level|Select ............................................................................................................................... 309
Level|Deselect ........................................................................................................................... 309
Level|Create.............................................................................................................................. 309
Level|Position............................................................................................................................ 310
AdditionalLevelManipulations ................................................................................................... 312
VIEWINGCAD INFORMATION ........................................................................................................... 313
VERIFYING CAD INFORMATION ........................................................................................................ 313
USING SCREEN CAPTURESOFTHE GRAPHICSDISPLAYWINDOW ........................................................ 317
SendingScreenCapturestotheClipboard ................................................................................... 317
SendingScreenCapturestotheReport ........................................................................................ 317
SendingScreenCapturestoaFile ............................................................................................... 317
EditingScreenCaptures .............................................................................................................. 318
EDITING CAD .................................................................................................................................. 318
FeatureTypes.............................................................................................................................. 319
NumberofSelectedFeatures ....................................................................................................... 319
EditColor ................................................................................................................................... 320
ChangeName.............................................................................................................................. 320
ChangeColor.............................................................................................................................. 320
SetasPriority ............................................................................................................................. 321
ShowName ................................................................................................................................. 321
Deselect ...................................................................................................................................... 322
xiv Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

NameboxforCADElements ....................................................................................................... 322
EDITING CAD VECTORS................................................................................................................... 322
APPLYINGLIGHTINGAND MATERIALSTOTHE CAD DISPLAY............................................................ 323
LightingTab................................................................................................................................ 325
ArchiveTab................................................................................................................................. 328
MaterialTab ............................................................................................................................... 328
ClipPlanesTab........................................................................................................................... 331
SELECTINGFEATURESUSINGTHE GRAPHICS DISPLAYWINDOW ........................................................ 334
SelectingFeaturesusingtheID(s) ............................................................................................... 335
SelectingFeaturesUsingMetaCharacterMatching .................................................................... 336
SelectingtheLastID(s) ............................................................................................................... 338
BoxSelectingID(s)...................................................................................................................... 338
SelectingFeaturesOnLine.......................................................................................................... 339
EditingaFeatureID ................................................................................................................... 339
IDENTIFYINGA FEATUREBYUSING TOOLTIPS ................................................................................... 339
AUTOMATICALLY POSITIONING FEATURE ID LABELS......................................................................... 340
EDITING DIMENSION COLORS ............................................................................................................ 341
EDITING FEATURES ........................................................................................................................... 344
FeaturesOptionsarea ................................................................................................................. 346
TextLabelOptionsarea .............................................................................................................. 347
SHOWINGAND ANIMATING PATH LINES ............................................................................................ 348
AnimatingthePath...................................................................................................................... 348
RegeneratingthePath ................................................................................................................. 349
DetectingCollisions .................................................................................................................... 349
DISPLAYINGA COLLISIONLIST ......................................................................................................... 351
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xv
DELETING CAD................................................................................................................................ 352
FeatureTypes.............................................................................................................................. 353
NumberofSelectedFeatures ....................................................................................................... 353
NumberofDeletedFeatures ........................................................................................................ 353
DeleteCAD................................................................................................................................. 354
UndoDeletedCAD...................................................................................................................... 354
Deselect ...................................................................................................................................... 354
DELETING FEATURES ........................................................................................................................ 354
DeletingusingtheDeleteFeaturesDialogBox ............................................................................ 354
DeletingusingtheDelete[Feature]MenuOption........................................................................ 356
DELETING DIMENSIONS .................................................................................................................... 356
Delete Dimensions....................................................................................................................... 356
UndoDeletedDimensions ........................................................................................................... 357
ClearList .................................................................................................................................... 357
TRANSFORMINGA CAD MODEL ........................................................................................................ 357
WORKINGWITH CAD COORDINATESYSTEMS ................................................................................... 361
CHECKINGANDFIXINGPOINTNOMINAL DEVIATION......................................................................... 362
MODIFYINGDISPLAYSYMBOLS........................................................................................................ 365
EDITINGAPARTPROGRAM ........................................................................................................ 371
EDITINGA PARTPROGRAM: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 371
USING STANDARDEDITCOMMANDS ................................................................................................. 371
Undo........................................................................................................................................... 371
Redo............................................................................................................................................ 371
Cut.............................................................................................................................................. 372
Copy ........................................................................................................................................... 372
xvi Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Paste ........................................................................................................................................... 372
Delete ......................................................................................................................................... 372
SelectAll ..................................................................................................................................... 372
EDITING PATTERNSOF FEATURES...................................................................................................... 373
Pattern........................................................................................................................................ 373
PastewithPattern ....................................................................................................................... 374
FINDINGANDREPLACING TEXT ........................................................................................................ 375
Find ............................................................................................................................................ 375
Replace ....................................................................................................................................... 377
EDITING DATA FIELDS ...................................................................................................................... 380
JUMPINGTO SPECIFIEDLINE NUMBERS ............................................................................................. 381
JUMPINGTOANDFROMREFERENCEDCOMMANDS ............................................................................. 382
EDITING NOMINALANDTARGETVALUES .......................................................................................... 382
OVERRIDINGGUESSED FEATURES ..................................................................................................... 383
OVERRIDINGFOUNDNOMINALS ........................................................................................................ 383
UnderstandingtheFindNomsOverrideDialogBox ..................................................................... 384
UsingtheFindNomsOverrideDialogBoxinLearnmode:........................................................... 386
UsingFindNomsOverrideinExecuteMode: ............................................................................... 388
UsingtheFindNomsOverrideDialogBoxfromtheEditwindow: ................................................ 389
MARKING COMMANDSFOR E XECUTION ............................................................................................ 389
Mark ........................................................................................................................................... 389
MarkAll...................................................................................................................................... 390
ClearAll ..................................................................................................................................... 390
ParentMode ............................................................................................................................... 390
ChildMode ................................................................................................................................. 391
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xvii

NewAlignmentMode................................................................................................................... 391
CREATINGAND EXECUTING MARKED SETS ....................................................................................... 391
USINGBREAKPOINTS ........................................................................................................................ 395
ToggleBreakpoint ....................................................................................................................... 396
InsertDefaults............................................................................................................................. 396
RemoveDefaults.......................................................................................................................... 396
RemoveAll .................................................................................................................................. 397
SETTING STARTPOINTS.................................................................................................................... 397
USINGBOOKMARKS ......................................................................................................................... 397
ToggleBookmark ........................................................................................................................ 398
NextBookmark............................................................................................................................ 398
ClearAllBookmarks ................................................................................................................... 398
CHANGINGFONTSANDCOLORS ........................................................................................................ 398
EDITING EXTERNALOBJECTS ............................................................................................................ 399
USINGTHEEDITWINDOW........................................................................................................... 401
USINGTHE EDITWINDOW: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 401
UNDERSTANDING CORE CONCEPTS ................................................................................................... 402
NavigatingtheEditwindow......................................................................................................... 402
UnderstandingtheDefaultEditWindowColorsandFormatting .................................................. 403
InsertingCommands.................................................................................................................... 406
EditingValues............................................................................................................................. 406
SelectingCommands ................................................................................................................... 407
RepositioningCommands ............................................................................................................ 407
DeletingCommands .................................................................................................................... 407
AccessingDialogBoxes............................................................................................................... 407
xviii Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

ModifyingtheEditWindow'sHeadersandFooters ...................................................................... 408
WORKINGINSUMMARY MODE ......................................................................................................... 411
Layout......................................................................................................................................... 411
EditingaPartProgramfromSummaryMode .............................................................................. 413
SummaryModeKeyboardFunctions............................................................................................ 415
WORKINGINCOMMAND MODE ......................................................................................................... 416
ConstructedFeatures .................................................................................................................. 417
Dimensions ................................................................................................................................. 417
StatisticalData............................................................................................................................ 418
Alignment.................................................................................................................................... 418
MeasuredFeatures...................................................................................................................... 419
Hits ............................................................................................................................................. 419
MotionCommands ...................................................................................................................... 420
MoveCommands......................................................................................................................... 421
SheetMetalMeasurements .......................................................................................................... 421
Probe .......................................................................................................................................... 422
Comments ................................................................................................................................... 423
TraceFields ................................................................................................................................ 425
Expressions ................................................................................................................................. 425
ScreenCaptures .......................................................................................................................... 425
GlobalCommands....................................................................................................................... 425
CommandModeKeyboardFunctions .......................................................................................... 430
WORKINGINDMIS MODE ................................................................................................................ 432
WORKINGWITHUSERDEFINEDGROUPS ........................................................................................... 433
InsertingGroups ......................................................................................................................... 434
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xix

EditingGroups............................................................................................................................ 434
RemovingGroups........................................................................................................................ 435
UsingMultipleArmModewithGroups........................................................................................ 435
PerformingOperationsonGroups............................................................................................... 436
USINGOTHERWINDOWS, EDITORS,ANDTOOLS .................................................................. 439
USING OTHERWINDOWS, EDITORS,AND TOOLS: OVERVIEW.............................................................. 439
USINGTHEREPORTWINDOW ............................................................................................................ 439
USINGTHEBASICSCRIPTEDITOR ..................................................................................................... 440
BasicScriptEditorToolbar ......................................................................................................... 440
FileMenu.................................................................................................................................... 442
EditMenu ................................................................................................................................... 443
ViewMenu .................................................................................................................................. 445
RunMenu.................................................................................................................................... 445
HelpMenu .................................................................................................................................. 445
USINGTHE FORMEDITOR................................................................................................................. 446
VIEWINGAN INSPECTION REPORT ..................................................................................................... 446
USINGTHE QUICK STARTINTERFACE ................................................................................................ 447
QuickStart:MeasureToolbar ..................................................................................................... 453
QuickStart:ConstructToolbar.................................................................................................... 458
QuickStart:DimensionToolbar .................................................................................................. 459
QuickStart:AlignToolbar .......................................................................................................... 463
QuickStart:Calibrate/EditToolbar........................................................................................... 464
USINGTHE SETTINGS WINDOW ......................................................................................................... 465
ChangingSettingsWindowOptions ............................................................................................. 472
USINGTHE PREVIEWWINDOW ........................................................................................................... 472
xx TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual
PreviewWindowOptions............................................................................................................. 473
SizingthePreviewwindow .......................................................................................................... 475
USINGTHE MARKEDSETSWINDOW .................................................................................................. 475
USINGTHE VIRTUAL KEYBOARD ....................................................................................................... 475
USINGTHE PROBEREADOUTWINDOW ............................................................................................... 484
USINGTHE STATUSWINDOW ............................................................................................................ 486
USINGTHE DIMENSIONS COLORSWINDOW (DIMENSIONSCOLOR BAR) .............................................. 487
USINGTHE PROBETOOLBOX ............................................................................................................. 488
VIEWINGPATH LINES ....................................................................................................................... 490
USING TOOLBARS USINGTOOLBARS: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 491
GRAPHICS MODESTOOLBAR ............................................................................................................. 491
GRAPHICVIEW TOOLBAR ................................................................................................................. 494
GRAPHICITEMSTOOLBAR ................................................................................................................ 495
SETTINGS TOOLBAR .......................................................................................................................... 495
PROBE MODE TOOLBAR .................................................................................................................... 498
EDITWINDOW TOOLBAR.................................................................................................................. 500
DIMENSION TOOLBAR ....................................................................................................................... 504
CONSTRUCTEDFEATURES TOOLBAR ................................................................................................. 504
AUTO FEATURES TOOLBAR ............................................................................................................... 505
GuessingAutoFeatures............................................................................................................... 506
MEASURED FEATURESTOOLBAR....................................................................................................... 508
FILE OPERATIONS TOOLBAR ............................................................................................................. 510
MACRO PLAY/RECORD TOOLBAR ...................................................................................................... 510
VIRTUALKEYBOARD TOOLBAR ........................................................................................................ 512
TOUCH SCREEN MODETOOLBAR ...................................................................................................... 513
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xxi

WIZARDS TOOLBAR .......................................................................................................................... 513
PortableToolbar......................................................................................................................... 515
ACTIVEARMS TOOLBAR ................................................................................................................... 517
ACTIVEROTARY T ABLE TOOLBAR .................................................................................................... 518
WINDOWLAYOUTS TOOLBAR ........................................................................................................... 518
DEFININGHARDWARE.................................................................................................................. 521
DEFINING HARDWARE: INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 521
DEFININGPROBES ............................................................................................................................ 521
UNDERSTANDINGTHEPROBEUTILITIESDIALOGBOX ......................................................................... 521
ProbeFileName ......................................................................................................................... 522
UseWristMapIfAvailablecheckbox.......................................................................................... 522
UserDefinedCalibrationOrdercheckbox .................................................................................. 524
ActiveTipList ............................................................................................................................. 524
ProbeDescription ....................................................................................................................... 527
AddTool ..................................................................................................................................... 529
Measure ...................................................................................................................................... 532
EditTool ..................................................................................................................................... 532
DeleteTool.................................................................................................................................. 532
ListofAvailableTools................................................................................................................. 533
Edit ............................................................................................................................................. 533
AddAngles.................................................................................................................................. 536
Results ........................................................................................................................................ 540
MarkUsed .................................................................................................................................. 541
GlobalUsed ................................................................................................................................ 541
FileFormat ................................................................................................................................. 541
xxii TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

UseUnitCalibrationData........................................................................................................... 542
AvailableTipTypes ..................................................................................................................... 542
CollisionTolerance ..................................................................................................................... 543
ProbeSetup................................................................................................................................. 544
PrintList..................................................................................................................................... 545
AutoCalibrateProbe ................................................................................................................... 546
DEFININGMACHINES ........................................................................................................................ 547
CreatingaNewMachineforDisplay ........................................................................................... 548
DisplayingExistingMachinesintheGraphicsDisplayWindow ................................................... 550
RemovingtheAnimatedMachinefromtheGraphicsDisplayWindow .......................................... 551
INSERTING QUICK FIXTURES ............................................................................................................. 551
UsingExistingQuickFixtures ..................................................................................................... 553
DEFININGPROBE CHANGERS............................................................................................................. 554
CalibratingtheFCR25ProbeChanger........................................................................................ 555
Step9 ReviewCalibrationResults ............................................................................................. 571
CalibratingtheCW43ProbeChanger ......................................................................................... 571
SHOWINGANANIMATED PROBE CHANGER ........................................................................................ 578
WORKINGWITH ROTARY T ABLES...................................................................................................... 580
CREATINGAUTOFEATURES....................................................................................................... 583
CREATING AUTO FEATURES: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 583
QUICK WAYSTO CREATEAUTO FEATURES....................................................................................... 583
'SINGLE CLICKING' AUTO FEATURE CREATION................................................................................... 584
TheAutoFeatureDialogBox ...................................................................................................... 589
AutoFeatureDialogBoxNotes ................................................................................................... 589
IDbox......................................................................................................................................... 590
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xxiii

FeaturePropertiesarea............................................................................................................... 590
MeasurementPropertiesarea...................................................................................................... 601
CORNERRAD (RADIUS) BOX ............................................................................................................. 613
AutoFeatureToggleBar ............................................................................................................. 613
ExtendedSheetMetalOptionsarea.............................................................................................. 620
EXTENDED SHEETMETAL VECTOR DIAGRAMS .................................................................................. 622
AdvancedMeasurementOptionsarea.......................................................................................... 625
AnalysisArea .............................................................................................................................. 629
INSERTING AUTO FEATURES ............................................................................................................. 630
AUTO FEATURE FIELD DEFINITIONS .................................................................................................. 631
SETTING UP RELATIVEMEASURE(RMEAS) ..................................................................................... 648
Default(I,J,K,Z)RMEASMode................................................................................................... 649
Legacy(I,J,K,X,Y,Z) RMEASMode............................................................................................. 649
CREATINGMEASUREDFEATURES ............................................................................................ 651
CREATING MEASUREDFEATURES: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 651
UNDERSTANDINGTHECOMMAND FORMAT ........................................................................................ 651
BasicMeasurementFormatforaPoint........................................................................................ 653
BasicMeasurementFormatforaLine ......................................................................................... 653
BasicMeasurementFormatforaPlane ....................................................................................... 654
BasicMeasurementFormatforaCircle ...................................................................................... 654
BasicMeasurementFormatforaSphere ..................................................................................... 655
BasicMeasurementFormatforaCone........................................................................................ 655
BasicMeasurementFormatforaCylinder................................................................................... 656
BasicMeasurementFormatforaRoundSlot ............................................................................... 656
BasicMeasurementFormatforaSquareSlot .............................................................................. 657
xxiv Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

INSERTINGA MEASUREDFEATURE .................................................................................................... 658
ToForcetheInsertionofaCertainMeasuredFeatureType......................................................... 658
GuessingaMeasuredFeatureType ............................................................................................. 658
EDITINGA MEASURED FEATURE....................................................................................................... 660
MeasuredFeatureDialogBoxDescription .................................................................................. 661
MeasuredHitsDialogBoxDescription........................................................................................ 665
OVERRIDINGA GUESSED MEASUREDFEATURE .................................................................................. 666
CREATING MEASUREDFEATURESETS ............................................................................................... 667
CONSTRUCTINGNEWFEATURESFROMEXISTINGFEATURES ......................................... 669
CONSTRUCTING NEWFEATURESFROMEXISTING FEATURES: INTRODUCTION..................................... 669
UNDERSTANDINGTHEGENERAL COMMAND FORMAT ........................................................................ 670
AccessingtheDialogBox ............................................................................................................ 671
DecimalPlacementConventions.................................................................................................. 671
SPECIFYINGFEATURETHEORETICALS ............................................................................................... 672
CONSTRUCTINGA POINTFEATURE .................................................................................................... 674
ConstructingaCastPoint............................................................................................................ 676
ConstructingaCornerPoint........................................................................................................ 677
ConstructingaDropPoint........................................................................................................... 678
ConstructinganIntersectPoint.................................................................................................... 678
ConstructingaMidPoint............................................................................................................. 680
ConstructinganOffsetPoint........................................................................................................ 681
ConstructingaPointattheOrigin ............................................................................................... 681
ConstructingaPiercePoint......................................................................................................... 682
ConstructingaVectorDistancePoint .......................................................................................... 683
ConstructingaProjectedPoint.................................................................................................... 684
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xxv

AutoPointConstruction .............................................................................................................. 684
CONSTRUCTINGA CIRCLE FEATURE .................................................................................................. 685
AutoCircleConstruction ............................................................................................................. 689
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateCircle.............................................................. 690
ConstructinganIntersectCircle .................................................................................................. 693
ConstructingaCastCircle .......................................................................................................... 694
ConstructingaProjectedCircle................................................................................................... 694
ChangingtheDirectionofaCircle .............................................................................................. 695
ConstructingaTangentCircle ..................................................................................................... 696
ConstructinganArcfromPartofaScan...................................................................................... 699
ConstructingaCircleataScan'sMinimumPoint ........................................................................ 700
ConstructingaCirclefromaCone .............................................................................................. 705
CONSTRUCTINGANELLIPSEFEATURE ............................................................................................... 706
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateEllipse ............................................................ 709
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateEllipse ............................................................ 709
ConstructinganIntersectEllipse ................................................................................................. 710
ConstructingaCastEllipse ......................................................................................................... 710
ConstructingaProjectedEllipse.................................................................................................. 711
ChangingtheDirectionofanEllipse ........................................................................................... 711
AutoEllipseConstruction............................................................................................................ 712
CONSTRUCTINGA SPHEREFEATURE .................................................................................................. 712
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateSphere ............................................................ 715
ConstructingaCastSphere ......................................................................................................... 716
ConstructingaProjectedSphere.................................................................................................. 716
ChangingtheDirectionofaSphere ............................................................................................. 717
xxvi Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

AutoSphereConstruction............................................................................................................ 717
CONSTRUCTINGA LINE FEATURE ...................................................................................................... 717
Variations ................................................................................................................................... 721
AutoLineConstruction................................................................................................................ 721
ConstructinganAlignmentLine................................................................................................... 723
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateLine ................................................................ 723
ConstructingaCastLine ............................................................................................................. 725
ConstructinganIntersectLine ..................................................................................................... 726
ConstructingaMidLine .............................................................................................................. 727
ConstructingaParallelLine........................................................................................................ 728
ConstructingaPerpendicularLine .............................................................................................. 729
ConstructingaProjectedLine ..................................................................................................... 729
ChangingtheDirectionofaLine ................................................................................................. 730
ConstructingaLinefromPartofaScan ...................................................................................... 730
ConstructinganOffsetLine ......................................................................................................... 732
CONSTRUCTINGA CONE FEATURE ..................................................................................................... 735
Variations ................................................................................................................................... 737
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateCone ............................................................... 738
ConstructingaCastCone............................................................................................................ 739
ConstructingaProjectedCone .................................................................................................... 739
ChangingtheDirectionofaCone................................................................................................ 740
AutoConeConstruction............................................................................................................... 740
CONSTRUCTINGA CYLINDER FEATURE .............................................................................................. 741
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateCylinder.......................................................... 743
ConstructingaCastCylinder....................................................................................................... 745
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xxvii

ConstructingaProjectedCylinder............................................................................................... 746
ChangingtheDirectionofaCylinder .......................................................................................... 746
AutoCylinderConstruction ......................................................................................................... 747
CONSTRUCTINGA PLANE FEATURE................................................................................................... 747
ConstructingaPlanefromanAlignment...................................................................................... 751
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensatePlane .............................................................. 751
ConstructingaCastPlane ........................................................................................................... 753
ConstructingaHighPointPlane ................................................................................................. 753
ConstructingaMidPlane............................................................................................................ 754
ConstructinganOffsetPlane ....................................................................................................... 755
ConstructingaParallelPlane...................................................................................................... 758
ConstructingaPerpendicularPlane ............................................................................................ 759
ChangingtheDirectionofaPlane............................................................................................... 760
AutoPlaneConstruction.............................................................................................................. 761
CONSTRUCTINGA SLOTFEATURE ..................................................................................................... 761
ConstructingaCircleSlot ........................................................................................................... 763
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateSlot ................................................................. 764
CONSTRUCTINGA CURVE.................................................................................................................. 764
ConstructingaDependent/IndependentCurve............................................................................ 766
DeterminingtheLengthBetweenTwoPointsonaScan ............................................................... 768
CONSTRUCTINGA SURFACE.............................................................................................................. 768
ConstructingaDependent/IndependentSurface ........................................................................... 770
CONSTRUCTINGA SETOFFEATURES ................................................................................................. 773
UsingaRangeofHitsfromaScanasInputs................................................................................ 774
CONSTRUCTINGA FILTERSET ........................................................................................................... 775
xxviii TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Linearoption............................................................................................................................... 776
Polaroption ................................................................................................................................ 777
FilterTypelist............................................................................................................................. 777
Filter Widthbox .......................................................................................................................... 779
CutoffWavelengthbox................................................................................................................. 780
CutoffFrequencybox .................................................................................................................. 780
SmoothingParameterbox............................................................................................................ 780
RemoveOutlierscheckbox .......................................................................................................... 780
StandardDeviationMultiplebox ................................................................................................. 780
CONSTRUCTINGANADJUSTEDFILTER ............................................................................................... 781
CREATINGGENERICFEATURES ................................................................................................ 785
CREATING GENERIC FEATURES: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 785
DescriptionofGenericFeatures .................................................................................................. 785
PurposeofGenericFeatures ....................................................................................................... 785
GENERICFEATURECOMMANDFORMAT............................................................................................ 785
CREATINGA GENERICFEATURE ........................................................................................................ 786
ToAddaGenericFeature ........................................................................................................... 786
DescriptionoftheConstructGenericFeatureDialogBox............................................................ 786
CREATINGAREADPOINTFROMTHE PROBE'SPOSITION ...................................................................... 789
CREATINGANDUSINGALIGNMENTS ....................................................................................... 791
CREATINGANDUSING ALIGNMENTS: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 791
ALIGNMENTOVERVIEW .................................................................................................................... 791
ALIGNMENTCOMMAND FORMAT ...................................................................................................... 793
DESCRIPTIONOFTHE ALIGNMENT UTILITIES DIALOGBOX ................................................................. 794
AlignmentID............................................................................................................................... 796
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xxix

ActiveAlignmentList................................................................................................................... 796
DropDownAxes ......................................................................................................................... 797
Level ........................................................................................................................................... 797
Rotate ......................................................................................................................................... 798
SetOriginOffsetDistance ........................................................................................................... 799
Origin ......................................................................................................................................... 800
Recall.......................................................................................................................................... 800
Iterative....................................................................................................................................... 801
BestFit ....................................................................................................................................... 801
AutoAlign ................................................................................................................................... 801
CADEqualsPart......................................................................................................................... 802
CREATINGA 321 ALIGNMENT ......................................................................................................... 802
Step1:MeasuretheAlignmentFeatures ...................................................................................... 802
Step2:Level,Rotate,andTranslatetotheFeatures..................................................................... 803
Step3:CompletingtheAlignment ................................................................................................ 803
CREATINGAN ITERATIVE ALIGNMENT ............................................................................................... 804
UnderstandingIterativeAlignments............................................................................................. 805
ToCreateanIterativeAlignment ................................................................................................. 807
DescriptionoftheIterativeAlignmentDialogBox ....................................................................... 808
CREATINGABESTFITALIGNMENT ................................................................................................... 812
ToCreateaBestFitAlignment.................................................................................................... 813
UnderstandingBestFitAlignments.............................................................................................. 813
DescriptionoftheBestFitAlignmentDialogBox ........................................................................ 819
SAVINGAN ALIGNMENT .................................................................................................................... 824
ToSaveanAlignment .................................................................................................................. 824
xxx TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

DescriptionoftheSaveAlignmentDialogBox ............................................................................. 826
RecallinganExistingAlignment .................................................................................................. 827
RECALLINGAN E XISTING ALIGNMENT ............................................................................................... 827
ToRecallanAlignment ............................................................................................................... 828
USINGANALIGNMENTINSIDELOOPS ................................................................................................ 829
EQUATINGAN ALIGNMENT ............................................................................................................... 829
DescriptionoftheEquateAlignmentDialogBox.......................................................................... 831
EQUATING CAD TO MEASUREDPARTDATA...................................................................................... 831
PERFORMINGA LEAPFROG OPERATION .............................................................................................. 831
MeasureOptions ......................................................................................................................... 833
NumberofHits............................................................................................................................ 833
HalfRelocation ........................................................................................................................... 834
DatumProgramFile ................................................................................................................... 834
AvailableandUsedLists ............................................................................................................. 834
MeasureMarked ......................................................................................................................... 835
MeasureAll................................................................................................................................. 835
Resultsarea................................................................................................................................. 836
Accept ......................................................................................................................................... 836
Reset ........................................................................................................................................... 836
OK .............................................................................................................................................. 836
CHANGINGALIGNMENTNOMINALVALUES ....................................................................................... 836
CREATINGABUNDLEALIGNMENT.................................................................................................... 837
AddingandRemovingStations..................................................................................................... 837
SettingFitOptions....................................................................................................................... 838
BundleAlignmentSetup............................................................................................................... 839
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xxxi

BundleAlignmentResults ............................................................................................................ 840
BundleAlignmentCommandText ................................................................................................ 842
DIMENSIONINGFEATURES.......................................................................................................... 843
DIMENSIONINGFEATURES: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................ 843
DIMENSION COMMAND FORMAT ....................................................................................................... 844
Conventions ................................................................................................................................ 845
AccessingtheDialogBox ............................................................................................................ 845
PRINTING DIMENSIONSTOTHE INSPECTIONREPORT .......................................................................... 846
COMMONDIMENSION DIALOGBOX OPTIONS .................................................................................... 847
MaterialConditions..................................................................................................................... 847
DisplayDimensionInfo ............................................................................................................... 848
EditDefaultDimensionInfo ........................................................................................................ 849
Units ........................................................................................................................................... 850
AnalysisSettings.......................................................................................................................... 850
OutputTo.................................................................................................................................... 853
DIMENSIONINGLOCATION................................................................................................................ 853
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheLOCATIONOption:............................................................... 854
DefaultAxesforLocationDimensions ......................................................................................... 856
SheetMetalAxes ......................................................................................................................... 857
LocationOptions......................................................................................................................... 858
TolerancesforLocationDimensions............................................................................................ 859
ISOLimitsandFits...................................................................................................................... 861
DIMENSIONINGTRUE POSITION ......................................................................................................... 862
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheTRUEPOSITIONOption:...................................................... 863
ToApplyTruePositiononaGroupofCirclesorCylinders.......................................................... 864
xxxii TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

UsingDatums.............................................................................................................................. 864
DefaultAxesforTruePositionDimensions .................................................................................. 870
Deviation .................................................................................................................................... 871
AxialFeatures............................................................................................................................. 872
TolerancesforTruePositionDimensions..................................................................................... 873
DIMENSIONINGDISTANCE ................................................................................................................. 874
ToDimensionaDistanceUsingtheDISTANCEoption:............................................................... 875
TolerancesforDistanceDimensions............................................................................................ 876
GeneralRulesfor2Dand3DDistanceDimensions ..................................................................... 876
RelationshipforDistanceDimensions.......................................................................................... 878
OrientationforDistanceDimensions ........................................................................................... 879
CircleOptions............................................................................................................................. 880
DIMENSIONINGANGLE ..................................................................................................................... 880
ToDimensiontheAngleBetweenTwoFeatures:.......................................................................... 882
TolerancesforAngleDimensions................................................................................................. 883
AngleType .................................................................................................................................. 883
RelationshipforAngleBetweenDimensions ................................................................................ 884
DIMENSIONINGCONCENTRICITY....................................................................................................... 884
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheCONCENTRICITYOption: .................................................... 885
ToleranceforConcentricityDimensions ...................................................................................... 886
DIMENSIONINGCOAXIALITY ............................................................................................................. 886
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheCOAXIALITYOption:............................................................ 886
PlusToleranceforCoaxialityDimensions ................................................................................... 887
ProjectedDistanceforCoaxiality ................................................................................................ 887
DIMENSIONINGCIRCULARITY........................................................................................................... 888
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xxxiii

ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheCIRCULARITYOption: ......................................................... 888
PlusToleranceforCircularityDimensions .................................................................................. 889
DIMENSIONINGCYLINDRICITY .......................................................................................................... 889
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheCYLINDRICITYOption ......................................................... 890
DIMENSIONINGSTRAIGHTNESS ......................................................................................................... 890
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheSTRAIGHTNESSOption:....................................................... 891
PlusToleranceforStraightnessDimensions ................................................................................ 891
DIMENSIONINGFLATNESS ................................................................................................................. 892
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheFLATNESSOption:................................................................ 892
PlusToleranceforFlatness ......................................................................................................... 893
DIMENSIONINGPERPENDICULARITY .................................................................................................. 893
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingthePERPENDICULARITYOption: ............................................. 893
PlusToleranceforPerpendicularityDimensions.......................................................................... 894
ProjectedDistanceforPerpendicularityDimensions ................................................................... 894
DIMENSIONINGPARALLELISM ........................................................................................................... 894
ToPerforma DimensionUsingPARALLELISM: ......................................................................... 895
PlusToleranceforParallelismDimensions.................................................................................. 896
ProjectedDistanceforParallelismDimensions ........................................................................... 896
DIMENSIONINGTOTALOR CIRCULARRUNOUT .................................................................................. 898
UnderstandingRunout................................................................................................................. 898
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheRUNOUTOption:.................................................................. 900
PlusToleranceforRunoutDimensions ........................................................................................ 900
DIMENSIONINGSURFACEORLINEPROFILE ........................................................................................ 901
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheSurfaceProfileOption:.......................................................... 901
ToDimensiona2DFeatureUsingtheLinePROFILEOption: .................................................... 903
xxxiv TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

TolerancesforSurfaceProfileDimensions .................................................................................. 904
TolerancesforLineProfileDimensions ....................................................................................... 905
ControlOptionsforSurfaceProfileDimensions .......................................................................... 905
ControlOptionsforLineProfileDimensions ............................................................................... 906
BestFitOptionsforSurfaceProfileDimensions .......................................................................... 906
BestFitOptionsforLineProfileDimensions ............................................................................... 907
DIMENSIONINGANGULARITY ............................................................................................................ 908
ToComputetheAngularityErrorbyUsingtheANGULARITYOption: ........................................ 908
ReferenceAngle .......................................................................................................................... 909
PlusToleranceforAngularityDimensions................................................................................... 909
ProjectedDistanceforAngularityDimensions............................................................................. 910
DIMENSIONINGSYMMETRY ............................................................................................................... 910
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheSYMMETRYOption:.............................................................. 911
PlusToleranceforSymmetry ....................................................................................................... 912
DIMENSIONINGTHROUGH KEYBOARD INPUT ..................................................................................... 912
ToAddDimensionsUsingtheKEYINOption:............................................................................. 913
Nominal ...................................................................................................................................... 913
Actual ......................................................................................................................................... 913
TolerancesforKeyboardCreatedDimensions ............................................................................. 913
DIMENSIONINGVARIABLES ............................................................................................................... 914
DIMENSIONINGTRUE POSITION INBETWEEN .................................................................................... 915
USINGFEATURECONTROLFRAMES ........................................................................................ 917
USING FEATURE CONTROLFRAMES: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 917
WHATISA FEATURE CONTROLFRAME? ............................................................................................ 918
RULESFOR USINGFEATURECONTROL FRAMEDIMENSIONS ............................................................... 919
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xxxv

CREATINGA FEATURECONTROL FRAMEDIMENSION ......................................................................... 921
DEFININGDATUMS ........................................................................................................................... 922
THE GD&T DIALOGBOX ................................................................................................................. 924
GD&TDialogBox FeatureControlFrametab.......................................................................... 925
GD&TDialogBox Advancedtab............................................................................................... 929
UsingFlatnessPerUnitArea ...................................................................................................... 932
FEATURE CONTROL FRAME COMMANDBLOCK .................................................................................. 934
FeatureControlFrameTrihedron ............................................................................................... 937
SIMULTANEOUSLYEVALUATING FEATURECONTROL FRAMES........................................................... 938
ReportingTruePositionFeatureControlFrames ........................................................................ 940
CREATINGA SYMMETRY FEATURECONTROL FRAMEDIMENSION....................................................... 940
FEATURE CONTROL FRAMEREPORTING TABLES ................................................................................ 945
SCANNINGYOURPART................................................................................................................. 947
SCANNINGYOUR PART: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 947
WORKINGWITH CAD SURFACES ....................................................................................................... 948
LOCATING POINTSINA SCAN ............................................................................................................ 949
COMMONFUNCTIONSOFTHE SCANDIALOGBOX .............................................................................. 950
ScanType.................................................................................................................................... 950
Basic/Advancedbuttons............................................................................................................. 951
BoundaryPointsarea.................................................................................................................. 952
DirectionTechniqueareas........................................................................................................... 957
BodyAxisTechnique ................................................................................................................... 958
Variable Technique ..................................................................................................................... 959
NullfilterTechnique..................................................................................................................... 960
Max/Minboxes.......................................................................................................................... 960
xxxvi TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Scan Constructionarea(forPerimeterScan) ............................................................................... 961
SectionLocationarea(forSectionScan)...................................................................................... 963
InitialVectorsarea...................................................................................................................... 964
SelectCenter(forRotaryScan).................................................................................................... 967
CenterPointandRadius(forRotaryScan) .................................................................................. 967
IJK(forRotaryScan) .................................................................................................................. 967
UVScanSettingsarea ................................................................................................................. 968
ExecutionTab ............................................................................................................................. 969
GraphicsTab .............................................................................................................................. 979
ControlPointsTab ...................................................................................................................... 981
PathDefinitionTab ..................................................................................................................... 983
SplinePatharea.......................................................................................................................... 987
SettingsTab................................................................................................................................. 988
CommonFunctionsoftheBasicScanDialogBox ........................................................................ 989
COMMONFUNCTIONSOFTHE BASICSCAN DIALOGBOX................................................................. 989
AdditionalManualScanOptions ................................................................................................. 997
INSERTINGMOVECOMMANDS .................................................................................................. 999
INSERTING MOVE COMMANDS: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 999
INSERTINGA MOVE POINTCOMMAND ............................................................................................... 999
OffsetMove ............................................................................................................................... 1001
INSERTINGA MOVE INCREMENTCOMMAND.................................................................................... 1002
INSERTINGA CLEARANCE PLANE .................................................................................................... 1004
INSERTINGA MOVE CLEARPLANECOMMAND ................................................................................. 1004
INSERTINGA MOVE CIRCULARCOMMAND ...................................................................................... 1005
INSERTINGA MOVE SYNC COMMAND .............................................................................................. 1005
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xxxvii

INSERTINGA MOVE SWEEP COMMAND ............................................................................................ 1006
INSERTINGA MOVE ALL COMMAND ................................................................................................ 1007
INSERTINGA MOVEROTARY T ABLE COMMAND.............................................................................. 1007
INSERTINGAN E XCLUSIONZONE COMMAND ................................................................................... 1008
DefiningtheExclusionZone ...................................................................................................... 1009
ExclusionZoneswithIterativeAlignments ................................................................................. 1010
BRANCHINGBYUSINGFLOWCONTROL ............................................................................... 1013
BRANCHINGBY USING FLOW CONTROL: INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1013
USING CONTROLPAIRS ................................................................................................................... 1013
If/End If................................................................................................................................... 1013
ElseIf/EndElseIf.................................................................................................................... 1014
Else/EndElse .......................................................................................................................... 1016
While/EndWhile...................................................................................................................... 1017
Do/Until .................................................................................................................................. 1019
Select/EndSelect ..................................................................................................................... 1020
Case/EndCase ........................................................................................................................ 1022
DefaultCase/EndDefaultCase................................................................................................ 1023
CREATING GENERICLOOPS ............................................................................................................. 1023
EndNumber .............................................................................................................................. 1024
StartNumber............................................................................................................................. 1025
SkipNumber.............................................................................................................................. 1025
AxesandAngleOffset................................................................................................................ 1025
LoopIds.................................................................................................................................... 1026
VariableID ............................................................................................................................... 1026
EndLoop................................................................................................................................... 1026
xxxviii TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

ENDING GENERIC LOOPS................................................................................................................. 1027
CREATINGLABELS ......................................................................................................................... 1027
JUMPINGTOA LABEL ...................................................................................................................... 1027
JUMPINGTOA LABELBASEDONCONDITIONS .................................................................................. 1029
BranchingonanError .............................................................................................................. 1030
BRANCHING ONAN ERROR............................................................................................................. 1030
SupportedInterfaces.................................................................................................................. 1032
ENDINGA PARTPROGRAM .............................................................................................................. 1032
BRANCHINGWITH SUBROUTINES ..................................................................................................... 1033
CreatingaNewSubroutine........................................................................................................ 1033
EditinganExistingSubroutine................................................................................................... 1037
UnderstandingtheArgumentEditDialogBox............................................................................ 1037
CallingaSubroutine.................................................................................................................. 1039
UnderstandingtheCallSubroutineDialogBox.......................................................................... 1041
SubroutineExamples ................................................................................................................. 1044
CodeSampleofaSubroutine ..................................................................................................... 1047
TRACKINGSTATISTICALDATA................................................................................................ 1049
TRACKINGSTATISTICALDATA: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1049
USING TRACE FIELDS...................................................................................................................... 1049
Options ..................................................................................................................................... 1050
SENDING CURRENTSTATSTOA FILE ............................................................................................... 1050
USINGTHE STATISTICSOPTIONSDIALOGBOX ................................................................................. 1051
StatsOptions ............................................................................................................................. 1051
DatabaseOptions...................................................................................................................... 1053
UpdateDatabaseNow............................................................................................................... 1058
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xxxix

REPORTINGMEASUREMENTRESULTS .................................................................................. 1061
REPORTING MEASUREMENTRESULTS: OVERVIEW ........................................................................... 1061
REPORTING CHANGES ..................................................................................................................... 1061
MIGRATING LEGACY (HYPERVIEW) REPORTS .................................................................................. 1064
REPORTGENERATION SEQUENCE .................................................................................................... 1064
ABOUTTHEREPORTWINDOW ......................................................................................................... 1065
REPORTING TOOLBAR ..................................................................................................................... 1066
ChangingtheReportWindow'sContents.................................................................................... 1067
USING TOOLTIPSINTHEREPORTWINDOW ...................................................................................... 1073
USING STANDARDREPORTS ............................................................................................................ 1074
VIEWINGA LEGACYTEXTONLYREPORT ........................................................................................ 1076
REARRANGINGREPORTPAGES ........................................................................................................ 1077
MODIFYINGSTANDARD TEMPLATES ............................................................................................... 1078
MODIFYINGTHEREPORT'S HEADER ................................................................................................ 1080
CHANGINGTHEREPORT'S TEXTCOLORS ......................................................................................... 1082
ABOUTTHEREPORTINGANDFORM EDITORS ................................................................................... 1083
MenuBarfortheFormandReportingEditors........................................................................... 1083
TheFontBar............................................................................................................................. 1086
TheObjectBar.......................................................................................................................... 1087
ActiveXObject........................................................................................................................... 1089
ArcObject................................................................................................................................. 1091
AnalysisObject ......................................................................................................................... 1092
BorderObject............................................................................................................................ 1094
BitmapObject ........................................................................................................................... 1095
ButtonObject ............................................................................................................................ 1096
xl Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

CADImageObject ...................................................................................................................... 1098
CadReportObject....................................................................................................................... 1101
TheLabelLayoutWizard........................................................................................................... 1104
CommandTextObject ................................................................................................................. 1110
CheckbuttonObject ................................................................................................................... 1111
ComboBoxObject ..................................................................................................................... 1113
DimensionColorKeyObject ..................................................................................................... 1114
EditBoxObject .......................................................................................................................... 1114
EditDblBoxObject .................................................................................................................... 1115
EditLongBoxObject .................................................................................................................. 1116
EllipseObject............................................................................................................................ 1116
FrameObject ............................................................................................................................ 1117
GaugeObject ............................................................................................................................ 1118
GraphObject ............................................................................................................................ 1122
HistogramObject ...................................................................................................................... 1124
GridControlObject .................................................................................................................... 1125
LabelObject.............................................................................................................................. 1131
LeaderLineObject.................................................................................................................... 1133
LineObject................................................................................................................................ 1134
ListBoxObject........................................................................................................................... 1135
MultiEditBoxObject.................................................................................................................. 1136
OLEObject ............................................................................................................................... 1137
PointerObject ........................................................................................................................... 1144
PolylineObject.......................................................................................................................... 1145
RadiobuttonObject.................................................................................................................... 1146
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xli

SelectObject ............................................................................................................................. 1147
SliderObject ............................................................................................................................. 1153
SpinnerObject........................................................................................................................... 1155
TextReportObject ...................................................................................................................... 1157
TextObject................................................................................................................................ 1159
TextVarObject .......................................................................................................................... 1159
TheLayoutBar.......................................................................................................................... 1160
WORKINGWITHTHE GRID............................................................................................................... 1165
ABOUTOBJECTPROPERTIES ........................................................................................................... 1166
WorkingwithUserAssignedProperties..................................................................................... 1176
ClearingTemplateAssociatedData........................................................................................... 1179
ABOUTE VENTSAND VISUALBASIC CODE ....................................................................................... 1179
EventExample1:CallingCodeonanEventClickEvent............................................................. 1181
EventExample2:ModifyObjectPropertiesonTriggeredEvent ................................................ 1183
AccessObjectMethods .............................................................................................................. 1183
UnderstandingtheReportTemplateEditor ................................................................................ 1185
AboutSections........................................................................................................................... 1186
AbouttheLabelTemplateEditor................................................................................................ 1188
AbouttheCustomReportEditor ................................................................................................ 1189
UnderstandingtheFormEditor ................................................................................................. 1190
CREATING TEMPLATES ................................................................................................................... 1192
AboutReportsandReportTemplates ......................................................................................... 1192
Tutorial CreatingaReportTemplate ....................................................................................... 1192
ApplyingorRemovingaReportTemplate .................................................................................. 1202
SharingReportTemplates.......................................................................................................... 1204
xlii Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

AboutLabelsandLabelTemplates............................................................................................. 1204
Tutorial CreatingLabelTemplates .......................................................................................... 1204
UsingLabelswithReports ......................................................................................................... 1213
ArrangingLabelsintheReportWindow .................................................................................... 1214
UsingtheTableFormatCommand ............................................................................................ 1215
ABOUTTHERULE TREE EDITOR ...................................................................................................... 1215
DefiningaRuleintheRuleTreeEditor...................................................................................... 1216
ImportingandExportingRules .................................................................................................. 1219
COPYINGANDPASTINGRULES ........................................................................................................ 1220
CLEARINGRULES........................................................................................................................... 1221
UsingtheTableFormatPropertiesDialogBox.......................................................................... 1222
CHANGINGA TEMPLATE'SPREVIEWTHUMBNAIL ICON .................................................................... 1225
CreatingForms ......................................................................................................................... 1226
ABOUTFORMS ............................................................................................................................... 1226
UnderstandingtheFormEditor ................................................................................................. 1227
Tutorial CreatingForms ......................................................................................................... 1228
UsingFormswithReports ......................................................................................................... 1237
CREATING CUSTOMREPORTS .......................................................................................................... 1237
Tutorial CreatingaCustomReport.......................................................................................... 1238
CustomReportGeneration ........................................................................................................ 1245
PositioningReportObjects ........................................................................................................ 1245
DraggingandDroppingInformationintoaCustomReport........................................................ 1246
UsingRules............................................................................................................................... 1252
WorkingwithMultiplePages..................................................................................................... 1253
ViewingandPrintingCustomReports........................................................................................ 1253
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xliii

DeletingCustomReports ........................................................................................................... 1254
UsingaCustomReportfromanotherPartProgram................................................................... 1254
ABOUT REPORTEXPRESSIONS ......................................................................................................... 1254
FunctionsandOperators ........................................................................................................... 1255
SomeReportingExpressionsExamples ...................................................................................... 1263
ChangingaString'sTextColor.................................................................................................. 1266
UsingDataTypestoFindaReportExpression .......................................................................... 1268
AListofAvailableDataTypes................................................................................................... 1269
UsingaTypeIndextoDisplaySpecificData.............................................................................. 1298
PredefinedConstants................................................................................................................. 1300
ExpressionsUsedinStandardTemplates ................................................................................... 1301
EMBEDDINGREPORTSOR TEMPLATESINTOA PARTPROGRAM ......................................................... 1303
USING PCDMIS ACTIVEX CONTROLS ............................................................................................ 1305
INSERTINGREPORTCOMMANDS ............................................................................................ 1311
INSERTINGREPORTCOMMANDS: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1311
INSERTING COMMANDSRELATEDTOTHE ANALYSIS WINDOW ......................................................... 1311
Analysis..................................................................................................................................... 1312
ShowAllArrows........................................................................................................................ 1313
ViewWindow ............................................................................................................................ 1313
FileMenu.................................................................................................................................. 1314
ViewMenu ................................................................................................................................ 1314
ShowMenu................................................................................................................................ 1315
OptionsMenu............................................................................................................................ 1316
INSERTING DIMENSION INFOBOXES ................................................................................................ 1321
DisplayOptions......................................................................................................................... 1323
xliv TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

GraphOptions........................................................................................................................... 1324
GraphicOptions........................................................................................................................ 1325
DimensionInfoFormat.............................................................................................................. 1325
LocationAxes............................................................................................................................ 1327
TruePositionAxes..................................................................................................................... 1328
DeleteInfos............................................................................................................................... 1329
DIMINFOCommand................................................................................................................. 1329
INSERTING POINTINFOBOXES........................................................................................................ 1330
PointInfoFormat...................................................................................................................... 1332
HitList...................................................................................................................................... 1333
FeatureListArea ...................................................................................................................... 1334
DimensionListArea.................................................................................................................. 1334
DeleteInfos............................................................................................................................... 1334
POINTINFOCommand ............................................................................................................. 1335
GraphicOptions........................................................................................................................ 1336
Filters ....................................................................................................................................... 1336
INSERTING PROGRAMMER COMMENTS............................................................................................. 1337
Operator ................................................................................................................................... 1338
Report ....................................................................................................................................... 1339
Document.................................................................................................................................. 1340
Input ......................................................................................................................................... 1340
Yes/No..................................................................................................................................... 1341
Readout..................................................................................................................................... 1342
CommentText ........................................................................................................................... 1343
EMBEDDINGREPORTSOR TEMPLATES ............................................................................................. 1344
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xlv

INSERTING E XTERNAL OBJECTS ...................................................................................................... 1344
INSERTINGA PRINTCOMMAND ....................................................................................................... 1344
INSERTINGA FORMFEED COMMAND ............................................................................................... 1348
WORKINGWITH VIEWSETS .............................................................................................................. 1348
INSERTINGA FORM COMMAND ...................................................................................................... 1349
InsertingScreenCaptures.......................................................................................................... 1351
USINGFILEINPUT/OUTPUT ..................................................................................................... 1353
USING FILEINPUT/ OUTPUT: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1353
UNDERSTANDINGBASICFILE I/O CONCEPTS ................................................................................... 1353
USINGTHE FILEI/O DIALOGBOX.................................................................................................... 1354
OPENINGA FILEFORREADINGOR WRITING .................................................................................... 1355
CLOSINGANOPENEDFILEAFTERREADINGORWRITING ................................................................. 1356
READINGA CHARACTERFROMA FILE ............................................................................................. 1357
READINGA LINEFROMA FILE ......................................................................................................... 1359
READINGA BLOCKOF TEXTFROMA FILE ........................................................................................ 1362
READING TEXTUPTOA DELIMITER ................................................................................................. 1365
WRITINGA CHARACTERTOA FILE .................................................................................................. 1367
WRITINGA LINETOA FILE .............................................................................................................. 1369
WRITINGA BLOCKOFTEXTTOA FILE ............................................................................................. 1370
POSITIONINGA FILEPOINTERATTHEBEGINNINGOFA FILE ............................................................. 1372
SAVINGA FILEPOINTER'S CURRENTPOSITION ................................................................................. 1374
RECALLINGA SAVED FILEPOINTER'S POSITION ............................................................................... 1375
COPYINGA FILE ............................................................................................................................. 1377
MOVINGA FILE.............................................................................................................................. 1379
DELETINGA FILE ............................................................................................................................ 1380
xlvi TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

CHECKINGFORA FILE'S E XISTENCE ................................................................................................ 1382
DISPLAYINGA FILE DIALOGBOX .................................................................................................... 1383
CHECKINGFORTHE ENDOFA FILEORTHE ENDOFA LINE ............................................................... 1384
USINGEXPRESSIONSANDVARIABLES................................................................................... 1387
USING E XPRESSIONSANDVARIABLES: INTRODUCTION.................................................................... 1387
USING E XPRESSIONSINA PARTPROGRAM ....................................................................................... 1387
ViewingExpressionValues........................................................................................................ 1387
KeepingExpressionValuesOnly ............................................................................................... 1387
UsingExpressionswithBranching............................................................................................. 1388
UsingExpressionswithFileInput/Output ................................................................................ 1388
CREATING E XPRESSIONSWITHTHE EXPRESSIONBUILDER................................................................ 1388
USING VARIABLESWITH EXPRESSIONS ............................................................................................ 1392
AssigningValuestoVariablesbyUsingtheAssignmentDialogBox........................................... 1392
UNDERSTANDING E XPRESSIONCOMPONENTS .................................................................................. 1393
Literals...................................................................................................................................... 1393
References................................................................................................................................. 1394
Variables................................................................................................................................... 1399
Structures.................................................................................................................................. 1402
Pointers..................................................................................................................................... 1403
Arrays ....................................................................................................................................... 1405
OperatorsforExpressions ......................................................................................................... 1411
Precedence................................................................................................................................ 1412
Functions .................................................................................................................................. 1413
FunctionsList............................................................................................................................ 1413
FunctionExamples.................................................................................................................... 1434
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xlvii

ExampleofaLineFeatureCreatedfromaScanSegment........................................................... 1437
OperandCoercion..................................................................................................................... 1438
IDExpressions .......................................................................................................................... 1440
ACCESSINGA REPORT'S OBJECTPROPERTIES ................................................................................... 1442
ADDINGEXTERNALELEMENTS ............................................................................................... 1445
ADDING EXTERNAL ELEMENTS: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1445
INSERTINGAN E XTERNALCOMMAND .............................................................................................. 1445
INSERTINGBASIC SCRIPTS ............................................................................................................. 1448
PassingVariablesToandFromBASICScripts .......................................................................... 1449
ATTACHINGAN E XTERNALPARTPROGRAM.................................................................................... 1450
UsingaPointertoReferenceData............................................................................................. 1451
INSERTING E XTERNAL OBJECTS ...................................................................................................... 1452
CreateNew ............................................................................................................................... 1453
CreatefromFile........................................................................................................................ 1453
DisplayasIcon.......................................................................................................................... 1454
ObjectTypeList ........................................................................................................................ 1455
MarkingExternalObjectsforExecution .................................................................................... 1455
DisplayingFilesinaDifferentWay ........................................................................................... 1457
USINGMULTIPLEARMMODE................................................................................................... 1459
USING MULTIPLEARM MODE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1459
SETTINGUPA MULTIPLEARM CMM............................................................................................... 1459
Step1:InstallPCDMISonAllComputers ................................................................................ 1459
Step2:DeterminetheMasterSystem ......................................................................................... 1460
Step3:MatchtheCMMAxesforEachArm ............................................................................... 1460
Step4:ConfigureProbeHeadMountOrientation...................................................................... 1460
xlviii TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Step5:SetuptheMasterandSlave ............................................................................................ 1461
Step6:ConnecttheComputers .................................................................................................. 1463
Step7:EnterMultipleArmMode............................................................................................... 1463
Step8:Calibratethe MultipleArmSystem................................................................................. 1464
Step9:CalibratetheMultipleArmProbeFiles.......................................................................... 1471
Step10:SettheMultipleArmOrigin ......................................................................................... 1472
CREATINGA PARTPROGRAM USING MULTIPLEARMMODE............................................................. 1473
AssigningaCommandtoAnArm............................................................................................... 1473
MultipleArmProgramExecution .............................................................................................. 1475
SettingStartPointsforMultipleArms........................................................................................ 1475
CausinganArmtoWaittoPreventCollision ............................................................................. 1476
UsingTemperatureCompensationwithMultipleArmCalibration.............................................. 1477
RUNNINGA MASTER PARTPROGRAMONTHESLAVEARM ............................................................... 1478
DIALOGANDMESSAGEBOXESINMULTIPLE ARM MODE ................................................................. 1478
NAVIGATINGANDDISPLAYINGMULTIPLEWINDOWS...................................................... 1481
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1481
SWITCHINGBETWEEN OPENPARTPROGRAMS ................................................................................. 1481
ARRANGING OPENWINDOWS.......................................................................................................... 1481
GIVINGOPENWINDOWSTHE PROGRAM FOCUS ............................................................................... 1482
WORKINGINOFFLINEMODE.................................................................................................. 1483
WORKINGINOFFLINE MODE: INTRODUCTION................................................................................ 1483
PREREQUISITES ............................................................................................................................... 1484
IGESEntitiesSupported ............................................................................................................ 1484
DXFInput ................................................................................................................................. 1485
DESInput ................................................................................................................................. 1485
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents xlix

XYZASCIIFile.......................................................................................................................... 1485
OFFLINE PROBES ........................................................................................................................... 1485
SETTING PROBE DEPTH ................................................................................................................... 1486
SettingApproximateProbeDepth.............................................................................................. 1486
SettingProbeDepthonaFeature.............................................................................................. 1486
KeyinginProbeDepth .............................................................................................................. 1488
MEASURING FEATURES OFFLINE .................................................................................................... 1489
AutomaticMeasurements........................................................................................................... 1489
DiscreteMeasurements ............................................................................................................. 1490
EndingaMeasurement .............................................................................................................. 1491
EXECUTINGANDDEBUGGING PARTPROGRAMSOFFLINE ............................................................... 1491
Path .......................................................................................................................................... 1491
TRANSLATINGDOS/AVAILINTOPCDMIS............................................................................. 1493
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1493
TRANSLATEA PARTPROGRAM FILE ................................................................................................ 1493
DOStoWindows ....................................................................................................................... 1493
Avail/MMIVtoWindows............................................................................................................ 1493
IMPORTINGA PARTPROGRAMFILE ................................................................................................. 1494
DOS,AvailandMMIVFiles ...................................................................................................... 1494
USINGAWRISTDEVICE.............................................................................................................. 1497
USINGA WRISTDEVICE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1497
INSTALLATION ................................................................................................................................ 1497
TIP CALIBRATION ........................................................................................................................... 1497
NewProbeFile ......................................................................................................................... 1498
CALIBRATETHEUNITFOR INFINITE WRISTDEVICES ........................................................................ 1498
l TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual
WristCalibration....................................................................................................................... 1500
QUALIFICATION CHECK .................................................................................................................. 1501
HOMETHE UNIT............................................................................................................................. 1501
USINGTHEWRISTINA PARTPROGRAM........................................................................................... 1502
Option1.................................................................................................................................... 1503
Option2.................................................................................................................................... 1503
Option3.................................................................................................................................... 1503
Option4.................................................................................................................................... 1503
CalibratingandUsingaCJointDevice...................................................................................... 1504
CALIBRATINGANDUSINGA CJOINTDEVICE .................................................................................... 1504
TipCalibrationInformation....................................................................................................... 1504
CJointCalibrationProcedureforInfiniteThirdAxisWristDevices............................................ 1504
WORKINGINOPERATOR MODE............................................................................................... 1507
WORKINGINOPERATOR MODE: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1507
FILE OPENOPTIONS ........................................................................................................................ 1507
OPERATOR MODE MENU OPTIONS................................................................................................... 1508
File ........................................................................................................................................... 1508
Edit ........................................................................................................................................... 1509
View.......................................................................................................................................... 1509
Window..................................................................................................................................... 1509
Help.......................................................................................................................................... 1510
USINGTHE MARKEDSETSWINDOWIN OPERATOR MODE................................................................ 1510
ExittoFileManager ................................................................................................................. 1510
PrintFullReport ....................................................................................................................... 1510
CalibrateTips ........................................................................................................................... 1511
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents li
PredefinedMarkedSets............................................................................................................. 1511
USINGSHORTCUTKEYS ANDSHORTCUTMENUS ............................................................... 1513
SHORTCUTKEYSREFERENCE .......................................................................................................... 1513
USING SHORTCUTKEYSAND SHORTCUTMENUS: INTRODUCTION .................................................... 1516
SHORTCUTMENUSREFERENCE ....................................................................................................... 1516
ShortcutMenusinStandardWindowsDialogBoxes .................................................................. 1516
ShortcutMenusontheToolbarArea.......................................................................................... 1517
ShortcutMenusintheGraphicsDisplayWindow....................................................................... 1519
AutoFeaturePathLinesShortcutMenu..................................................................................... 1529
ShortcutMenusintheEditWindow ........................................................................................... 1530
SHORTCUTMENUSINTHEREPORTWINDOW ................................................................................... 1538
ERROR CODESINTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1541
MLB ERROR INFORMATION ............................................................................................................ 1541
MLB001MPInternalsyntaxerror............................................................................................ 1542
MLB003Communicationserror ............................................................................................... 1542
MLB004Numericerror............................................................................................................ 1543
MLB005Communicationserror ............................................................................................... 1543
MLB006Outputmasklogicaltranslationerror......................................................................... 1543
MLB007Outputunavailable..................................................................................................... 1544
MLB010UnidentifiedFCS ....................................................................................................... 1544
MLB011Firstrecordinskipfileisinvalid................................................................................ 1544
MLB012Invalidrecordinskipfile ........................................................................................... 1545
MLB013Skipfileaccesserror.................................................................................................. 1545
MLB014Nestedcodeblocks..................................................................................................... 1545
MLB015Missingbeginblock ................................................................................................... 1546
lii Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

MLB016Nestedskipsequence.................................................................................................. 1546
MLB017Invalidendskipblockfunction ................................................................................... 1546
MLB018Impropertolerancingmode ........................................................................................ 1547
MLB019Improperparameter................................................................................................... 1547
MLB020Noparameterpermitted ............................................................................................. 1547
MLB022Secondparameterinvalid........................................................................................... 1548
MLB023Thirdparameterinvalid ............................................................................................. 1548
MLB024Fourthparameterinvalid ........................................................................................... 1548
MLB025Invalidparameterspecified........................................................................................ 1549
MLB026Invalidtipspecified.................................................................................................... 1549
MLB027Excessiveangulardeviation ....................................................................................... 1549
MLB028Insufficientnumberofparameters .............................................................................. 1549
MLB029Dimensionalarrayvaluesoutofrange ....................................................................... 1550
MLB030Featurestackdoesnot containrequiredfeatures ........................................................ 1550
MLB031Firstparameterspecifiesinvalidtype ......................................................................... 1551
MLB032Secondparameterspecifiesinvalidtype...................................................................... 1551
MLB033Planeisinvalidtype................................................................................................... 1551
MLB034Cannotintersectconcentriccircles............................................................................. 1552
MLB035Lineperpendiculartoworkingplane .......................................................................... 1552
MLB036Invalid(null)featureaddressed.................................................................................. 1552
MLB037Invalidfeaturetype .................................................................................................... 1552
MLB038Cannotintersectlineparallelwithcylinderaxis ......................................................... 1553
MLB040Summationarraydoesnotcontainenoughfeatures .................................................... 1553
MLB041Pointsdonotdefinethefeature .................................................................................. 1553
MLB042Summationsinvalid.................................................................................................... 1554
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents liii

MLB043Segmentationinprogress ........................................................................................... 1554
MLB044Segmentationnotinitialized ....................................................................................... 1555
MLB045 Commandcannotbeskipped...................................................................................... 1555
MLB050RCUnotavailable ..................................................................................................... 1555
MLB060Rotarytablenotavailable .......................................................................................... 1555
MLB061Rotarytablecounternotavailable.............................................................................. 1556
MLB062Notallowedonrotarytablewithcounter.................................................................... 1556
MLB063Notallowedonerrorcorrectedrotarytable ............................................................... 1556
MLB064 NotallowedonaHirthcouplingtable ...................................................................... 1557
MLB070Referencenotsaved ................................................................................................... 1557
MLB071Featurestorageoverflow ........................................................................................... 1557
MLB072Featurenotfound....................................................................................................... 1557
MLB080Improperprobeinstalled............................................................................................ 1558
MLB088RCUDrivebuttonusedwithQU ................................................................................ 1558
MLB089RCUReturntoscreenbuttonusedwithQU ............................................................... 1558
MLB090DCCnotavailable ..................................................................................................... 1558
MLB091Contactnotmadewithpart ........................................................................................ 1559
MLB092Insufficientclearance ................................................................................................. 1559
MLB093Remoteautonotconfigured........................................................................................ 1559
MLB094Remoteautointerlocknotengaged............................................................................. 1560
MLB095Servopowerfailedtoengage...................................................................................... 1560
MLB096UnabletoselectAutomode ........................................................................................ 1560
MLB100Probeheaddatumerror............................................................................................. 1561
MLB101Probeheadobstructionerror ..................................................................................... 1561
MLB110Tip0notcalibrated.................................................................................................... 1561
liv TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

MLB111Sphericalcalibrationfixturerequired......................................................................... 1562
MLB112Temperaturechangeinvalidatedtip0calibration....................................................... 1562
MLB113Negativeprobediameterinvalidatedcalibration ........................................................ 1562
MLB114Excessiveprobeoffsetsinvalidatedcalibration........................................................... 1563
MLB115Fileerroronfeatureorprobestorageoperation ........................................................ 1563
MLB116Notoncircleatbeginningofcircularmove ................................................................ 1563
MLB120Partimproperlyalignedorscaled .............................................................................. 1564
MLB130Operatorabort........................................................................................................... 1564
MLB131Electroniclevelnotavailable ..................................................................................... 1564
MLB132Electroniclevelinterfacetimeout ............................................................................... 1565
MLB140Pointnotavailable..................................................................................................... 1565
MLB150APCracknotconnected............................................................................................. 1565
MLB151APCfirmwareorinterfacenotpresent ....................................................................... 1566
MLB152APCracknotcalibrated............................................................................................. 1566
MLB153APC/MPcommunicationerror................................................................................... 1566
MLB154APCracktimeoutorlockfailure ................................................................................ 1567
MLB155APCrackovertravel................................................................................................... 1567
MLB156Safepositionnotdefined ............................................................................................ 1567
MLB157Noextensionsloaded.................................................................................................. 1567
MLB158Toomanyextensionsloaded....................................................................................... 1568
MLB160Firmwareentitynotfound.......................................................................................... 1568
MLB161APCrackcouldnotbelowered .................................................................................. 1568
MLB162APCrackcouldnotberaised..................................................................................... 1569
MLB164Insufficientanalogprobedeflection............................................................................ 1569
MLB166Notacircle ................................................................................................................ 1569
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents lv
MLB168Unexpectedtouch....................................................................................................... 1570
MLB169Unexpectedendoftravel ........................................................................................... 1570
MLB170Touchprobewillnotrearm ........................................................................................ 1571
MLB173PH9probeoverload................................................................................................... 1571
MLB190Toomuchprobedeflection ......................................................................................... 1571
MLB191Cameoffsurface ........................................................................................................ 1572
MLB505UserKeyUnknown .................................................................................................... 1572
MP ERROR INFORMATION ............................................................................................................... 1572
MP001Badcommandmessagesyntaxerror............................................................................. 1575
MP002DestinationnotpresentorMPruntimesystemerror ..................................................... 1576
MP003Resourceshortage........................................................................................................ 1576
MP004Numericerror .............................................................................................................. 1576
MP007CPUEPROMchecksumerror ...................................................................................... 1577
MP008CPUEPROMchecksumerror ...................................................................................... 1577
MP013MPtoHostbufferoverflow.......................................................................................... 1577
MP015MPforegroundtobackgroundbufferoverflow............................................................. 1577
MP018MPinternalcountererror ............................................................................................ 1578
MP019MPandDCCfirmwareincompatibility ........................................................................ 1578
MP021AtlasY2counterfault................................................................................................... 1578
MP022AtlasY3counterfault................................................................................................... 1579
MP023AtlasY2beamblockerror ............................................................................................ 1579
MP024AtlasY3beamblockerror ............................................................................................ 1579
MP025AuxiliaryXaxisA/Dconversionerror.......................................................................... 1580
MP026AuxiliaryYaxisA/Dconversionerror.......................................................................... 1580
MP027AuxiliaryZaxisA/Dconversionerror.......................................................................... 1580
lvi TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

MP028SP600+12voltfuseblown ........................................................................................... 1580
MP029SP600 12voltfuseblown ............................................................................................ 1581
MP030SP600+5voltfuseblown............................................................................................. 1581
MP031Probeovertravelfault .................................................................................................. 1581
MP032Counterhardware/configurationmismatch................................................................... 1582
MP033Waxiscounterfault ..................................................................................................... 1582
MP034Xaxiscounterfault...................................................................................................... 1582
MP035Yaxiscounterfault ...................................................................................................... 1583
MP036Zaxiscounterfault ...................................................................................................... 1584
MP042TemperatureCompensationhardwareabsent ............................................................... 1584
MP043TemperatureCompensationhardwarefailure............................................................... 1585
MP045ExcessiveMPhardwaretemperatures .......................................................................... 1585
MP046TemperatureCompensationorDigitalI/Oboardfailure............................................... 1585
MP047TemperatureCompensationD/Afailure........................................................................ 1586
MP048TempComp orLasersystemconfigurationerror ........................................................... 1586
MP055SP600interfacecardA/Dconversionfailure ................................................................ 1586
MP059Renishawemergencystop error.................................................................................... 1587
MP060DCCtoMPacknowledgetimeout................................................................................. 1587
MP064APLchecksumerror..................................................................................................... 1587
MP077Waxisbeamblockerror .............................................................................................. 1588
MP078Xaxisbeamblockerror ............................................................................................... 1588
MP079Yaxisbeamblockerror ............................................................................................... 1588
MP080Zaxisbeamblockerror ............................................................................................... 1589
MP081Laseroffortotalbeamblockerror............................................................................... 1589
MP082Laserlockerror ........................................................................................................... 1589
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents lvii

MP083Lasernotstableafterwarmuptimelimit...................................................................... 1589
MP090APCUARTinputerror................................................................................................. 1590
MP091APCdatainputbufferoverflow .................................................................................... 1590
MP092APCGOmessagetimeout ............................................................................................ 1590
MP093APClockerror............................................................................................................. 1590
MP094APClidtimeouterror................................................................................................... 1591
MP095APCexcessiveentryspeed............................................................................................ 1591
MP105HosttoMPcommunicationinterrupted ........................................................................ 1591
MP108MPtoRCUcommunicationserror ............................................................................... 1592
MP109RCUtoMPcommunicationserror ............................................................................... 1592
MP111HosttoMPcommunicationerror ................................................................................. 1592
MP117Waxisservoamplifieroverheat ................................................................................... 1593
MP118Xaxisservoamplifieroverheat .................................................................................... 1593
MP119Yaxisservoamplifieroverheat .................................................................................... 1594
MP120Zaxisservoamplifieroverheat .................................................................................... 1594
MP121Waxisservoamplifierfault.......................................................................................... 1594
MP122Xaxisservoamplifierfault .......................................................................................... 1595
MP123Yaxisservoamplifierfault........................................................................................... 1595
MP124Zaxisservoamplifierfault........................................................................................... 1596
MP127Piezotoucherror ......................................................................................................... 1596
MP129WaxisHirthcouplinglockfailure................................................................................ 1597
MP130Operatorabort............................................................................................................. 1597
MP131WaxisHirthcouplingunlockfailure ............................................................................ 1597
MP142Waxisisbound............................................................................................................ 1597
MP143Servochassispowersupplyfault .................................................................................. 1597
lviii TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

MP146Waxisrunaway ........................................................................................................... 1597
MP147Xaxisrunaway ............................................................................................................ 1597
MP148Yaxisrunaway ............................................................................................................ 1597
MP149Zaxisrunaway ............................................................................................................ 1597
MP151D/Aupdateswerelateormissing ................................................................................. 1597
MP158Xaxisexcessivebias .................................................................................................... 1597
MP159Xaxisboundup ........................................................................................................... 1597
MP160DCCboardinoperative ................................................................................................ 1597
MP161RCUinoperative .......................................................................................................... 1597
MP162Yaxisexcessivebias .................................................................................................... 1597
MP163Yaxisboundup ........................................................................................................... 1597
MP164Waxisoverspeed ......................................................................................................... 1597
MP165Xaxisoverspeed.......................................................................................................... 1597
MP166Yaxisoverspeed .......................................................................................................... 1597
MP167Zaxisoverspeed .......................................................................................................... 1597
MP168Unexpectedtouch......................................................................................................... 1597
MP169Unexpectedendoftravel ............................................................................................. 1597
MP170Touchprobewillnotrearm .......................................................................................... 1597
MP171MPtoPH9/PH10communicationerror........................................................................ 1597
MP172PH9/PH10toMPcommunicationerror........................................................................ 1597
MP173PH9probeoverload..................................................................................................... 1597
MP174PH9/PH10toMPbufferoverflow................................................................................. 1597
MP175Zaxisexcessivebias .................................................................................................... 1597
MP176Zaxisboundup ........................................................................................................... 1597
MP177MPfrontpanelkeyboarderror..................................................................................... 1597
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents lix

MP178MPconfigurationdatachecksumerror......................................................................... 1597
MP179Probechecksumerror .................................................................................................. 1597
MP180MicroprocessorEnhancedAccuracy(MEA)checksumerror......................................... 1597
MP181InvalidMEAdata......................................................................................................... 1597
MP182Optionalinterfaceerror ............................................................................................... 1597
MP183Probechangerrackdisconnected................................................................................. 1597
MP184Probechangerovertravelerror.................................................................................... 1597
MP186InvalidWaxisMEAdata ............................................................................................. 1597
MP310Invalidfrontpanelkeystrokecombination .................................................................... 1597
MP320Invalidfunction selected............................................................................................... 1597
MP330Keystrokebufferoverflow............................................................................................. 1597
MP340Offsetangleerror......................................................................................................... 1597
MP501MPCPUBoardRAMfailure........................................................................................ 1597
MP502CPUInterruptchipfailure ........................................................................................... 1597
MP503NonexistentI/OdeviceorRAMfailure ........................................................................ 1597
MP504Realtimeclockfailure.................................................................................................. 1597
MP505Twomillisecondclockinterruptfailure......................................................................... 1597
MP506Controlboardread/writefailure .................................................................................. 1597
MP507ControlboardRCUinterfaceUARTfailure.................................................................. 1597
MP508ControlboardRCUinterfaceUARTinterruptfailure ................................................... 1597
MP510Interruptsnotoperating ............................................................................................... 1597
MP511ControlboardRCUinterfaceinterruptfail................................................................... 1597
MP512Interruptpriorityfail.................................................................................................... 1597
MP515IEEE488initializationfailure...................................................................................... 1597
MP516Frontpaneldecodefail ................................................................................................ 1597
lx Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

MP517MPpanelswitchstuck.................................................................................................. 1597
MP519EPROMchecksumerror............................................................................................... 1597
MP521EPROMdirectoryerror ............................................................................................... 1597
MP522D/Aboardconversionfailure ....................................................................................... 1597
MP523RS232hostinterfacefailure ........................................................................................ 1597
MP524RS232PH9/PH10interfacefailure.............................................................................. 1597
MP525RS232Probechangerinterfacefailure........................................................................ 1597
MP526RS232electroniclevelinterfacefailure ....................................................................... 1597
MP527SMP400FLASHmemoryerror ................................................................................... 1597
MP531SMP400RAMmemoryerror....................................................................................... 1597
MP532SMP400RAMmemoryerror....................................................................................... 1597
MP533Noamp/check/divideboardpresent .............................................................................. 1597
MP534Amp/check/divideboardfailure .................................................................................... 1597
MP535NoDCCboardpresent................................................................................................. 1597
MP536DCCboardfailure ....................................................................................................... 1597
MP540NoTempCompboardpresent ....................................................................................... 1597
MP541TempCompboardfailure.............................................................................................. 1597
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents lxi

MP547Processorboardfailure................................................................................................ 1597
MP550InsufficientRAM .......................................................................................................... 1597
MP551Toomanysoftrategroups ............................................................................................ 1597
MP561UARTinterruptfailure ................................................................................................. 1597
MP601DCCRAMfailure ........................................................................................................ 1597
MP619DCCEPROMchecksumerror...................................................................................... 1597
MP621DCCEPROMdirectoryerror....................................................................................... 1597
MP650InsufficientDCCRAM.................................................................................................. 1597
MP651ToomanyDCCsoftwarerategroupspresent................................................................ 1597
MP697Servooffpushbuttonstuck............................................................................................ 1597
MP698Estopcircuitopen....................................................................................................... 1597
DCC ERROR INFORMATION ............................................................................................................. 1597
DCC132millisecondssincelastD/Aupdate ............................................................................ 1597
DCC232millisecondssincelastMPupdate ............................................................................. 1597
DCC3DCCtoMPinterruptnotacknowledgedfor32milliseconds........................................... 1597
lxii Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

RCUErrorInformation ............................................................................................................. 1597
RCU ERRORINFORMATION ............................................................................................................. 1597
RCU003Resourceshortage...................................................................................................... 1597
RCU700RCURAMfailure....................................................................................................... 1597
RCU701RCU6802RAMaddressfailure ................................................................................. 1597
RCU702RCU2114RAMfailure .............................................................................................. 1597
RCU703RCU2114RAMaddressfailure ................................................................................. 1597
RCU704RCUEPROMchecksumorversion#error................................................................. 1597
RCU705Stuckkeyerror........................................................................................................... 1597
RCU706 RCUEPROMAchecksumerror................................................................................. 1597
RCU707RCUEPROMBchecksumerror................................................................................. 1597
RCU708RCUEPROMCchecksumerror ................................................................................ 1597
TEMPCOMP ERROR INFORMATION ................................................................................................... 1597
TempComp200TempCompnotavailable.................................................................................. 1597
TempComp201Absolutetemperaturelimitexceeded................................................................. 1597
TempComp202Gradienttemperaturelimitexceeded ................................................................ 1597
TempComp203Transienttemperaturelimitexceeded ............................................................... 1597
TempComp204Lasercompensationisinactive ......................................................................... 1597
TempComp205Probecalibrationdatamaybeinvalid .............................................................. 1597
TempComp206Rotarytablecalibrationmaybeinvalid ............................................................ 1597
MiscellaneousTopics ................................................................................................................ 1597
AK AutomaticTracking ........................................................................................................... 1597
AS AutomaticScanning ........................................................................................................... 1597
BB BeginBlock ....................................................................................................................... 1597
BeginBlock................................................................................................................................ 1597
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents lxiii

BF TurnSoftProbeOff ........................................................................................................... 1597
BR TurnSoftProbeOn............................................................................................................ 1597
EB EndBlock.......................................................................................................................... 1597
EndBlock................................................................................................................................... 1597
ILInitializeLibrary................................................................................................................. 1597
KD Setnominalsoftprobedeflection....................................................................................... 1597
KS SetTracking/ScanningSpeed............................................................................................ 1597
RN ReturnScanData .............................................................................................................. 1597
SB ScanTarget........................................................................................................................ 1597
SN Scan .................................................................................................................................. 1597
TF TouchModeOff ................................................................................................................. 1597
TN EnableTouchProbe .......................................................................................................... 1597
MODIFYINGREGISTRYENTRIES ............................................................................................. 1597
GLOSSARY...................................................................................................................................... 1597
INDEX .............................................................................................................................................. 1597
lxiv TableOfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

GettingStarted:AnOverview
Overview:Introduction
Theterm"PCDMIS"is PCDMISforWindowsisafullfeatured,geometricmeasurement
derivedfromtheacronym package.Ittranslatesthehighlevelcommandsrequiredto
"DMIS"whichstandsfor: measurepartsintothedetailedstepsnecessarytodrivea
DimensionalMeasuring CoordinateMeasuringMachine(CMM).PCDMISforWindows
InterfaceStandard. incorporatesMicrosoft'sWindowsinterfacetocreate,aswellas
executepartprograms.Theusercaneasilybeginthe
measurementprocessbytakingadvantageofthedropdown
menus,dialogboxes,andicons.TheversatilityofPCDMIS's
interfacealsoprovidesaneasywaytocustomizethesoftwareto
meetindividualspecifications.
TheprimarygoalsdrivingthedesignofPCDMISforWindowswereflexibilityanduser
friendliness.Tomeetthesegoals,PCDMISprovidesaflexibleenvironmentallowingforrealtime
errorcorrectionasopposedtothelong,tediousdebuggingprocesscharacteristicofother
geometricsoftwarepackages.Itisdimensionorientedtoreducetheneedtoanalyzeandinterpret
theresultsofCMM measurements.ThetechniquesusedforpartprogrammingonaCMMare
straightforwardand,withpractice,systematic.This manualdoesnotattempttocompletely
describethedimensionalinspectionprocess.Ifadditionalinformationisneededonthe
fundamentalsofdimensionalinspections,pleasecontactyoursoftwarerepresentative.
Themaintopicsinthischapterinclude:
VersionEnhancements
OrganizationofManual
CADLinks
UsingaMouseorMotionController
AutomatingPCDMIS
SoftwareConfigurations
Note:This manualcontainsthecoredocumentationneededtooperatePCDMISforWindows.
However,duetoPCDMIS'smodularnature,additionalmanuals maybeinstalledonyour
computersystem.ClicktheContentstabonyourhelpfiletoviewtheotherfilesinstalled.
VersionEnhancements
Thereadme.txtfileinyourPCDMISinstallationdirectorylistsallthebugfixesandenhancements
madeinthisversion.Themajorenhancementsfromthattextfilearelistedherewithlinkstothe
topicsthatdescribethemwhereapplicable:
MainEnhancements
Probes
NewalgorithmforSP25Probes(nowusesCoScanning.dllfileinsteadofolder
CALRSP.dll)
AbilitytoeasilyswitchbetweenTRAXandPMMcalibrationtypes
SupportforDiskStylionSP25probes
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual GettingStarted:An Overview 1

NewPartialCalibrationprocedureavailableforanSP25thathasbeenfullycalibratedat
leastonce
SupportforLSPX1familyofanalogscanningprobes
Seethe"DefiningHardware"section.
AutoFeatures
Abilitytotogglecircularmovesforaplanefeature
AbilitytoinsertMOVE/CLEARPLANEorStoredMovesinbetweenanAutoFeature's
basichits
AbilitytoturnonGapOnlybydefault
Abilitytouse"ReadVectorfromMachine"iconforallAutoFeatures
Seethe"CreatingAutoFeatures"and"InsertingMoveCommands"sections.
Dimensioning
Selectingthe"Auto"optionintheLocationDimensiondialogbox,willindicatethe
automaticchoiceswithgrayedoutcheckboxes.
NewdimensionforLengthofspline
NewTruePositionInBetween
Supportfor'A'AxesandAnglePointFeature
Seethe"DimensioningFeatures"and"ConstructingNewFeaturesfromExistingFeatures"
sections.
GraphicsDisplay
AbilitytoshowthedistancebetweentwofeaturesusingtheCADInfodialog
NewDCIconnectionstatusindicator
Abilitytotogglethedisplayoftransparency
Abilitytoalterparametersfordisplayelements(radius,sizeofpathlinesandsoforth)
fromanewDisplaySymbolsdialogbox.
OptiontoAutoArrangeLabelsCADWindowLabel
Tooltipsfunctionalityforfeaturesinthegraphicsdisplaywindow
Seethe"EditingtheCADDisplay","UsingToolbars",and"UsingShortcutKeysandShortcut
Menus"sections.
Languages
PCDMISnowsupportsthefollowingadditionallanguages:Polish,Russian,andTurkish
Reporting
AbilitytoperformautomationtaskswithnewpropertiesofReportandSectionobjects
AbilitytoperformautomationtasksonCustomReports
Abilitytoreportifafeaturehasbeenskippedduringexecution
AbilitytohaveLabelLayoutWizard'scolorballtoshowdimensioncolorforselected
rangeofaxes
AbilitytousemousewheeltozoominandoutonaCADReportObjectinsidetheReport
Window.
Abilitytoshowdimensionlabelsforapointcloudonthereport
AbilityforAudiDrawConvertertogeneratePPMandPLT(HPGL)files
AbilitytoshowCADlayersontheCadReportObject
2 GettingStarted:AnOverview PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual
AbilitytoMirrortheCadReportingObject
LeaderLinesnowterminateattwofeaturesforDistanceandAngledimensionsinsidea
CustomReport'sCadReportObject
AbilitytocontrolthesizeoftextintheGridControlObject
Abilitytoscalethesectioncutobject
AbilitytotogglebetweenshadedandwireframeviewsofaCustomReportObject
AbilitytotoggletransparencyforaGridControlObject
NewreportexpressionfunctionsallowingtheusertoseethereportlevelOOTstatistics
Newdatfilecontrolcanbeusedtointerpret.datfiles
AbilitytoduplicatepagesinaCustomReport
Abilitytoeditleaderlinesinthereport
AbilitytochangefontandsizefortheDimensionColorKeyobject
AbilitytoreorderpagesontheReportWindow
Seethe"ReportingMeasurementResults"and"InsertingReportCommands"sections.For
automation,seethe"PCDBASIC"documentation.
InspectionPlanner
PathOptimizationnowaccountsforthemachinevolume
Seethe"PCDMISIP"documentation.
Laser
Abilitytofilterdatainalaserstripe
Abilitytoscanpointsinlearnmodefromanarmorlasertracker
Abilitytoplaysoundeventsforlaserevents
Abilitytodorealtimeshadingoflaserscanneddata
AbilitytoextractmeasurementdatafromlaserscansforlaserAutoFeatures
LaserAutoFeaturesnowshowmeasuredstripedatainCAD
Greysummateriallistwithassociatedminandmaxpixelintensityvalues
NewCylinderLaserAutoFeature
Seethe"PCDMISLaser"documentation.
Portable
Abilitytoindicateiftheyarebuildingorinspectingtopoints
Measuredpointsnowdisplaylocationforallaxes
AbilitytoconstructaHiddenPoint
ProbeReadoutswindowimprovementscannowreportthecurrentfeaturebasedonthe
locationoftheprobe/reflectorwhenexecuting
Abilitytocontrolifthedataisdisplayedasprobecompensatedornot
DeviationsintheProbeReadoutwindowarenowcoloredaccordingtothedimension
tolerancecolor
NewstablepointprobingforLeicatrackers
NewAlignmentallowsyoutospecifywhichaxesoftheinputfeaturetouseduringthe
alignment
NewEdgePointModeallowsforwalkupmeasurementofsheetmetalfeatureswithout
usingtheautofeaturesdialogbox
NewAutoInspectmodeprovidesautomatedinspectionofasequenceofpointsusinga
Leicatracker

Seethe"PCDMISPortable"documentation.
VisionMeasurements
NewPolygon,Notch,Ellipse,andAnglePointVisionAutoFeatures
NewAutoFeatureGuessmodeforVision
NewQuickStartsupportforVision
Fullscanningsupportforcontactandlaserprobes
Speedimprovementsinedgedetection
Speedimprovementsinfocus
Abilitytodoselectivesampling(e.g.measure30%offeature)forspeed
Newautosensingforfocusautomaticallyperformsafocuswhentheedgeisblurred
(CAD++)
AbilitytodrawGagearcsasarcs,notfullcircles
AbilitytochangeProtractorGagelengthwithoutchangingtheangle
NewAutoFeaturebuttontoadjustsurfacevectortocurrentprobevector
Seethe"PCDMISVision"documentation.
VisionLiveView
Newquickaccesstoolbarbuttons(SnapToEdge,AutoShutterOn/Off,CompassOn/Off,
ShowTarget)
AdditionalusercontroladdedwhenAutoShutterandCompassfeaturesareused
Neweasyaccessrightclickmenuitemsletyouquicklyeditormovetonearest10
programmedfeatures
Neweasyaccessrightclickmenuitemsletyousetadditionaledgedetectionparameters
VisionIllumination
Intensityvalueforcurrentmousepositionnowshownonliveviewoverlay
SensiLightautoilluminationadjustmentnowtakesplacepriortoedgedetection
Abilityaddedtoswitchoffilluminationonvisionmachinesatendofexecution
AbilityaddedtorestoreilluminationtoprevioussettingsatPCDMISstartup
VisionHardware
TESAVISIO500support
Newfunctionalityaddedtooptionallyuseaprojectedgridduringfocus
AbilitytodoTempCompforVisionmachinesthatsupportthis(Visio500&Mycrona)
AddedsupportforVISIO300redLEDringlight
StackedRotaryTablesupport
DualCamerasupport
MatroxSoliossupport
MatroxMIL8imaginglibrarysupport
OrganizationofManual
Thisreferencemanualisdividedintonumerousmainchaptersandsomesupplemental
appendices.
Togiveyouanideaofthemanual'slayout,thefollowinglistprovidesabriefdescriptionofeach
chapter.
"GettingStarted:AnOverview"isthechapteryouarecurrentlyreading.Itgivesa
briefoverviewofthecontentsofthePCDMISmanual.
"NavigatingtheUserInterface"describesthePCDMISuserinterfaceandhowit
canbecustomizedtosuityourneeds.
"UsingBasicFileOptions"discussesthebasicfileoperationsyoucanperform
usingPCDMIS,suchasstartinganewpartprogram,saving,andexitingPC
DMIS.
"UsingAdvancedFileOptions"discussesthemoreadvancedfileoperations
suchasimportingandexportingCADfilesandexecutingyourpartprogram.
"SettingyourPreferences"describeshowyoucanusethesetupoptionsinthe
Edit menutosetyourdesiredpreferences.Italsodescribeshowtoinsertand
modifypartprogramparameters.
"EditingtheCADDisplay"describeshowyoucanusetheoptionsinthe
GraphicsmenuwiththeGraphicsDisplaywindowtoeditthedisplayofyour
CADfile.
"EditingaPartProgram"describeshowyoucanusetheoptionsintheEdit
menuwiththeEditwindowtoedityourpartprogram.
"UsingtheEditwindow"describeshowtousePCDMIS'sbuiltineditortocreate,
debug,edit,andexecuteyourpart
"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools"discussessomeadditionalwindows,
editors,andtoolsavailablefromtheViewmenu.
"UsingToolbars"discussesthetoolbarsavailabletotheGraphicsDisplay
windowandhoweachtoolbariconcanaidyouinthevariousaspectsofcreating
oreditingyourpartprograms.
"DefiningHardware"coverstheHardwareDefinitionsubmenufoundonthe
Insertmenu.UsingtheHardwareDefinitionsubmenuyoucandefineProbes,
Machines,orQuickFixturestousewithPCDMIS.Thischapteralsodescribes
tipcalibration.
"CreatingAutoFeatures"describeshowtousetheInsert|Feature|Autooption
tocreateAutoFeaturesandthenmeasurethoseautofeaturesinyourpart
program.
"CreatingMeasuredFeatures"describeshowtousetheInsert|Feature|
Measuredoptiontocreatemeasuredfeaturesintoyourpartprogram.
"ConstructingNewFeaturesfromOtherFeatures"describeshowtoconstruct
featuresandputthemintothepartprogrambyusingtheInsert|Feature|
Constructedoption.
"CreatingGenericFeatures"describeshowtoinsertaReadPointcommandand
howtocreateGenericFeaturesbyusingtheInsert|Feature|Readpointand
Insert|Feature|Genericoptions.
"CreatingandUsingAlignments"describeshowtocreateandsavealignments
byusingtheInsert|Alignmentsubmenu.
"DimensioningFeatures"describeshowtodimensionyourfeaturesbyusingthe
Insert|Dimensionsubmenu.
"UsingFeatureControlFrames"describeshowtodimensionyourfeaturesusing
FeatureControlFramesandsymbolsfromtheGD&Tstandard.
"ScanningYourPart"describesscanningandhowtocreatebasicoradvanced
scansbyusingtheInsert|Scansubmenu.

"InsertingMoveCommands"discussesvariousmovecommandsthatcanbe
placedinyourpartprogrambyusingtheInsert|Movesubmenu.
"BranchingbyUsingFlowControl"discussesamyriadofcommandsthatcanbe
usedtocontroltheflowofyourpartprogrambyusingtheInsert|FlowControl
submenu.
"TrackingStatisticalData"explainshowtotrackandusestatisticsinyourpart
program.
"ReportingMeasurementsResults"walksyouthroughthecreationofReportand
LabelTemplates,CustomReports,andtheusageofForms.
"InsertingReportCommands"discussesthereportcommandsyoucaninsert
intoyourpartprogrambyusingtheInsert|ReportCommandsubmenu.
"UsingFileInput/Output"explainshowtoworkwithfileinput/outputinyour
partprogram,allowingyoutoopenfilesforeitherreading,writing,andother
operationsbyusingtheInsert|FileI/OCommandsubmenu.
"UsingExpressionsandVariables"describeshowtocreateexpressionsandhow
toassignexpressionresultstovariables.
"AddingExternalElements"coversusingexternalapplications,scripts,part
programs,andotherobjectsinyourpartprogramtofurtherenhanceits
capability.
"UsingMultipleArmMode"describeshowtousePCDMISwithdualarmCMMs.
"NavigatingandDisplayingMultipleWindows"describeshowtoeasilynavigate
betweenandviewtheopenwindowsbyusingtheWindowmenu.
"UsingtheOnlineHelp"describeshowtofindthehelpyouneedbyusingthe
Helpmenu.
Inadditiontotheabovesections,PCDMISprovidesseveralsupplementalappendices
documentingthefollowing:
"WorkinginOfflineMode"
"TranslatingaPartProgramintoPCDMIS"
"UsingaWristDevice"
"WorkinginOperatorMode"
"UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus"
"ErrorCodes"
ThereisalsocontextsensitiveonlineHelpavailable.
Conventions
Thefollowingconventionshavebeenusedthroughoutthereferencemanual:
MouseTerminology
ClickingtheMouseThroughoutthismanual,thephrase"clickthemousebutton"isused.
Thisreferstodepressingandquicklyreleasingthemousebutton.Forexample,ifyouare
instructedtoclickonamenuchoice,usethemousetomovethemousepointer(arrow
shape)tothedesiredmenuchoice,thendepressandquicklyrelease(click)theleftmouse
button. Clickingtheleftmousebuttonactivatesmostoptions.Therefore,wheneverthereis
aninstructionto"clickon"anitem(withoutreferencetoaspecificbutton),assumetheleft
mousebuttonistobeusedunlessinstructedotherwise.
HoldingDowntheMouseButtonThroughoutthismanual,thephrase"Holddownthe
mousebutton"isused.Thisphrasereferstopressingandholdingdownthemousebutton
whileperforminganotheraction.Unlessitspecifiesotherwise,thisreferstotheleftmouse
button.Notethatsomefunctionsrequireyoutoholddownbothleftandrightmousebuttons.
Inthesecases,ifyourpointingdeviceutilizesamiddlemousebuttonormousewheel,you
canholdthatbuttoninsteadofholdingdownbothmousebuttons.
BoldfaceText
Boldfaceisusedprimarilywhenreferringto:
Dialogboxelements.
Dialogboxtitles
Commandbuttons
Icons
Menusandmenuitems
Toolbars
Forexample:
1. SelecttheFile|Newmenuitem.
2. AccesstheOpendialogbox.
3. ClicktheSavebutton
BoldfacemayalsobeusedonNotes,Warnings,Hints,andExamples.
Whenreferringtomenusandmenuitemsinsideproceduresandothertopics,thedocumentation
willdirectyoutoamenuinthisfashion:
Menu|SubmenuorMenuItem|MenuItem
However,sinceyoucancustomizeyourmenulocationsandnames,thisdocumentationonly
displaysthedefault locationsformenuitems.
Theonlinehelpfile,however,hasamenuroadmapiconwithinseveraltopics.Clickingthisicon
willdisplaythepathwaytothemenuitem(oritems)discussedinthattopic.
ItalicizedText

Italicizedtextisprimarilyusedforemphasis.Forexample,"If...theprobehitsanobstruction,it
willnotautomaticallystop".
Italicizedtextmayalsobeusedfor:
BookorManualtitles
PredefinedArguments(inprogramming)
Parameters(inprogramming)
Placeholders(inprogramming)
UserInput(inprogramming)
UppercaseText
Uppercasetextisgenerallyusedwhenreferringto:
Acronyms(suchasVDAFS,DMIS)
Time(suchasA.M.andP.M.)
Devicenames(suchasLPT1,orCOMMPORT2)
Inthoseinstanceswhereelementsofcomputerprogrammingaredisplayed,thefollowingitems
alsouseuppercase:
Controlclasses
Dataformats
Environmentvariables
Handles
Hooks
Indexes
Macros
Statements
Structures
SystemCommands
Values
UnderlinedText
Underlineisusedforemphasiswhenappropriate,butusuallyemphasisusesitalicizedtext.
BulletedText
Bullets""areusedtoshowalistofoptions,orcommands,availabletoacertainprogram
featuresoritemsdiscussedinatopicorchapter.
NumberedLists
Numberedlistsshowaseriesofstepsininstructionsandprocedures.Forexample,
1. ChooseFile.
2. SelectNew.
3. FillintheNewPartProgramdialogbox.
CADLinks
PCDMISprovidesseveralmethodsfortransmittingCADgeometry,partprograms,and
measurementdatafromand/ortoCADsystems.WorkingwithCADdataisoneofPCDMIS's
strengths.
CADgeometrycanbeimportedinto,andmeasurementresultsexportedfrom,PCDMISvia:
IGES5.3
STEPAP203&AP214
VDAFS
DES(2/78)
XYZIJKformat
PCDMISallowsyoutoimportthefollowingforuseingeneratingpartprogramsandasaguidein
programexecution:
Twodimensionalwireframe
Twoandonehalfdimensionalwireframe
Threedimensionalwireframe
BsplinecurvesandsurfacesCADmodels
Seethe"WorkinginOfflineMode"appendixforalistofsupportedIGESentities.
PartprogramscreatedinCADsystemscanbeimportedintoPCDMISbywayofDMIS3.0.PC
DMISpartprogramscanbeexportedintoDMISforrunninginotherCMMsoftware.
PCDMISmeasurementresultscanalsobeexportedasaDMISresultsfile.
UsingaMouseorMotionController
OneoftheobjectivesofPCDMISistobeflexibleanduserfriendly.Tomeetthisobjective,PC
DMISallowsyoutousepointingdevicesandmotioncontrollers.Thespeedandaccuracyofa
mouse,forexample,makeitanindispensablepartofthePCDMISworkenvironment.Witha
mouseyoucanexecuteallPCDMISfunctions.(Keyboardcommandscanalsobeusedto
accessmostPCDMISfunctions.)
ConfiguringaZMouse
CertainsystemsofferatrackballstyleofmousereferredtoasaZMouse.Thisenablestheuser
tocontrolthemovementofthemousepointerfromthezrail.
Thelastlineoftheparameterfile(DOWNLOAD)shouldread:
N1000ZMOUSE2
or
N500ZMOUSE2

ToenabletheZMouse pleaseverifythatthelastlineoftheDOWNLOADfilereflectstheabove
statement.Modifytheline,ifnecessary.
ConfiguringaSpaceBallorSpaceMouseDevice
PCDMIS3.7andabovesupportsthesemotioncontrollersfrom3DConnexion:
SpaceBall
SpaceMouse
ThesedevicescommunicatewithPCDMISviathe3DxWareinterface.Thisinterfaceusesa
configurationfilethatmayshipwithPCDMISorwithyour3DConnexionCD.Thisconfiguration
filedefinestheavailablePCDMISapplicationfunctionsthatyoucanassigntothevarious
buttonsonthesedevices.Italsodefinesthedefaultconfigurationandbuttonassignments.
Togetthelatestconfigurationfile,youcandownloaditfromtheWilcoxAssociates,Inc.FTPsite
here:
ftp://files.wilcoxassoc.com/AfterMarket/3rdPartyDrivers/SpaceBall/3DConnexion%20PCDMIS%20
400/Install_PCDMIS_400_3Dconnexion.exe
AvailablePCDMISFunctionsforSpaceMouseorSpaceBall
ThistopicdescribesthefunctionsthatyoucanassigntobuttonsonyourSpaceMouseor
SpaceBalldevices.Thesefunctionsinclude:
>IgnoremotionIgnoresalltranslationandrotationinformationfromthemotioncontroller.
>NextviewForcesthefocusofthemotioncontrollertothenextviewwhenmultipleviews
areavailable.
>Hide/ShowIDsTogglesthedisplayoffeaturetextboxlabelIDs.
>ScaletofitPerformsthestandardPCDMISscaletofitoperation.
>ShowcursorDisplaysanAuxiliaryCursoronthescreen.UsedwithCenterbycursor,
PCDMISzoom,PCDMISrotate2D,andPCDMISrotate3D.
>CenterbycursorMakestheShowcursoractiveifitisn'talready.Otherwise,wherever
theAuxiliaryCursorislocated,thatwillbecomethecenterofthescreen.
>PCDMISpanPanstheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Youcanslidethedeviceleftorrightto
PANLEFTorPANRIGHTandslideitupordowntoPANUPorPANDOWN,thereby
matchingthePANconfigurationinthe>CADPZRsetting.Themotiondeviceemulatesa
joysticktypedevicewiththissetting.
>PCDMISzoomIfyouhaveanAuxiliaryCursoractive,thenthecenterpointofthezoom
willbefixedattheAuxiliaryCursorlocation.Ifnot,PCDMISperformsastandardzoom
operation.Youcanslidethedeviceforwardorbackward.Movingthedeviceforwardzooms
outandmovingitbackwardzoomsin.Thismatchesthezoomconfigurationinthe>CAD
PZRsetting.
>PCDMISrotate2DIfyouhaveanAuxiliaryCursoractive,thenthepointusedtocalculate
therotationanglewillbefixedattheAuxiliaryCursorlocation(similartoarightmousebutton
2Drotate).Otherwise,thepointusedtocalculatetherotationanglewillbejusttothetopright
ofthescreencenter.Ineithercase,PCDMISperformsastandardPCDMIS2Drotation.
>PCDMISrotate3DIfyouhaveanAuxiliaryCursoractive,thenthepointusedasthe
centerofrotationwillbefixedattheAuxiliaryCursorlocation(similartoarightmousebutton
3Drotate).Otherwise,thecenterofrotationwillbethescreencenter.Ineithercase,PC
DMISperformsastandard3Drotation.
>CADPZRPan,zooms,androtates(PZR)thepartimageintheGraphicsDisplaywindow
allatthesametime.ThecenterofrotationisalwaystheCADmodel,andthezoomreference
pointisthecenteroftheCADmodel.Whenyoustartapartprogram,PCDMISturnsthis
functiononbydefault.
>CADPZRDominantTogglesthedominantfunctionofCADPZRbasedonthegreatest
deflectionoftheSpaceBallaxes.Thisletsyouhavebettercontrolbecauseitfiltersoutless
dominantfunctions.Forexample,inthismode,ifyourotatetheaxesandasmallamountof
deflectionoccursinpanorzoom,onlythedominantfunction,rotationinthiscase,willtake
place.Whenyoustartapartprogram,PCDMISturnsthisfunctionoffbydefault.
>PZR2sidedlightingToggles2sidedlightingwhendoingapan,zoom,orrotate(PZR).
ThisattributeisalsopartofthePZROptionsdialogbox.
>PZR1/5th ofobjectsTogglesthestateofdisplayingonly1/5th (20%)oftheobjectswhen

doingaPZR.ThisattributeisalsopartofthePZROptionsdialogbox.
>PZRinwireframeToggleswireframemodewhendoingaPZR.Thisattributeisalsopart
ofthePZROptionsdialogbox.
>Dialog:PZRoptionsDisplaysthePZROptionsdialogbox.
>Dialog:CadinfoDisplaystheCadInformationdialogbox.
>Dialog:ViewsetupDisplaystheViewSetupdialogbox.
ForinformationonthePZRdialogboxseethe"ChangingRotationandotherMotionOptions"
topicinthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter.
AssigningPCDMISFunctionstobuttonsontheSpaceMouseorSpaceBall
Usethe3DconnexionControlPaneltodefineviewsassociatedwithbuttonactionsandtoassign
PCDMISfunctionstoyourdevice.
1. Doubleclickonthe3DxWaresymbollocatedinyourSystemTray. The
3DxWareconfigurationapplication,3DconnexionControlPanel,appears.

3DconnexionControlPanelshowingtheSpaceBallDevice
2. SelectPCDMISfromtheConfigurationfor:list.PCDMISshowsthedefault
functionsforthevariousbuttons.
3. Inthebuttonlistboxes,selectthePCDMISfunctionsyouwanttoassign.
4. Makeanyotherchangesasneeded.
5. ClickClosetoacceptyourconfigurationandclosethecontrolpanel.
Consultthe3DconnexionControlPanelhelpfileifyourunintoproblems.
SpaceBall/SpaceMouseModes
Thesedevicesarealwaysinacertainmode.Asymbolappearsinthelowerrightcornerofthe
GraphicsDisplaywindowtoindicatethecurrentmodeforCADPZR,PCDMISpan,orPCDMIS
Zoom.
StandardModes
Showcursor
CADPZR
PCDMISrotate
PCDMISpan
PCDMISzoom
CADPZRdominantTheimageinthelowerrightcorneroftheGraphicsDisplaywindow
displaysa1tosignifythatonly1ofthethreefunctions(Pan,Zoom,orRotate)willbe
usedatatime.
DemoMode
ThesedevicescanalsoplacetheGraphicsDisplaywindowintoademomode.Thismodecauses
theGraphicsDisplaywindowtorotateautomaticallyseveraltimesasecond.Toenterorexitthe
demomode,presstheCTRLkeyandpresstheprogrammedScaletoFitbuttononthedevice.
AutomatingPCDMIS
PCDMIScomesfullysupportedofbeingcontrolledbyanythirdpartysoftware.Forexampleyou
cancreateyourowncustomizedapplicationandusingautomationcommands,youcanlaunch
andusePCDMISviathatapplication.
ForcompleteinformationontheautomationcommandsthatcontrolPCDMIS,andonsupported
BASIClanguagecommands,seeyourPCDMISBasicLanguagemanualforadditional
information.
SoftwareConfigurations
Assumingyouhavepurchasedthenecessarymodules,andyourportlockisproperlyconfigured,
youcanlaunchPCDMISindifferentconfigurations.Todothis,youcanaddtheseswitchesto
theshortcutcommandlinethatlaunchestheapplication.
AvailableSoftwareConfigurationSwitches
/fforofflinemode
/uforuserprivilegelevelwhenyouareloggedontothesystemasanadministrator
/oforoperatormode
/rforreverseaxesmodeontheslavearmofadualarmsystem
/pforpromode(cannotusewith/cswitch)
/cforcadmode(cannotusewith/pswitch)
/dfordebugmodeforthissession
/nc0torunPCDMISwithouttheCNCfunctionality
/5uniquetorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/cmt torunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/dccscanning torunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/displaycadtorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/laserprobetorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/masterslavetorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality

/nocontactprobetorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/remotepanel torunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/rotarytabletorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/sheetmetal torunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/statsoutputtorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/systemvtorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/toolchangertorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/valisystorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/visiontorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
/wristtorunPCDMISwithoutthisfunctionality
RoutineofShortcutModificationwithSwitches
1. AccessthedirectorywherethePCDMISexecutableshortcutislocated
(generallythisislocatedatC:\DocumentsandSettings\AllUsers\Start
Menu\Programs\PCDMISforWindows).
2. RightclickinthedirectoryandselectNew|Shortcut.
3. FollowtheonscreeninstructionstohavetheshortcutpointtowherethePC
DMISexecutable,pcdlrn.exe,islocated(whereveryouinstalledit).
4. Addanyofthecommandlineswitches(orarguments),followingtheshortcut's
fullpathtotheexecutable:
SoifyouwanttorunPCDMISproinofflinemode,thetargetlocationwouldlook
somethinglikethis:
"C:\ProgramFiles\pcdmisw\PCDLRN.exe"/p/f
YoucanalsotellPCDMIStoautomaticallyopenaspecificpartprogram(orpart
programs)byappendingapathwaystringpointingtoapartprogramasacommandline
argument.
Whenspecifyingapartprogramtoload,however,youdonotneedthe/
characterrequiredfortheotherargumentsdiscussedabove.
Toopenmorethanonepartprogram,typeaspacebetweeneachadditional
pathway.
Ifyourfilenamecontainsspaces,putthepathwaywithinquotationmarks.
Forexample,ifyouwantedtolaunchtwopartprogramsnamedtest.prgandtest2.prg
inofflinemodefromadirectorycalled"MyPartPrograms",thetargetlocationsmight
looksomethinglikethis:
"C:\ProgramFiles\PCDLRN.exe"/f "d:\mypartprograms\test.prg""d:\mypart
programs\test2.prg"
ThemostcommonmodesareOfflineandOnlinemodes.Thesetwodistinctproductsare
designedtomeetparticularneeds.Theycanbeusedtogethertocreateacompletepartprogram,
measurementanalysisandreverseengineeringsystem.
Theseandotherconfigurationsareexplainedbelowingreaterdetail.
ComparisonofOffLineandOnLineVersions
Sinceboththeonlineandofflineversionssharethesamefeaturesandfunctions,thismanual
describestheuseofbothproducts.However,insomeinstancesaparticularfeatureoftheonline
softwaredoesnotapplytotheofflinesoftware.Thesecaseshavebeennotedwhere
appropriate.
OnLinePartProgramming
UsingonlinePCDMIS,theusercanexecuteexistingpartprograms,quicklyinspectparts(or
sectionsofparts),anddeveloppartprogramsdirectlyontheCMM.OnlinePCDMISwillnot
functionunlessitisconnectedtoaCMM.Offlineprogrammingtechniqueswillworkwhileonline.
CMMStartupandHomingProcedureforPCDMISOnline:
1. TurnontheairtotheCMM.
2. Poweronthecontroller.
o Dependingonthemachinemodelthismaybealargerotaryswitch,anon/offkey,
orasmallrockerswitchonthecontrollermountedonthebackofthemachineor
workstation.
o AlloftheLEDsonthehandcontrol(jogbox)willbeilluminatedforabout45
seconds.Afterthattime,severalLEDswillturnoff.
3. Turnthepowerontoyourcomputerandallitsperipheralsandlogontoyourcomputer.
4. StartPCDMISOnlinebydoubleclickingwiththeleftmousebuttonontheONLINEicon
inPCDMIS'sProgramGroup.

5. HometheCMM.OncePCDMISopensamessagewillappearonthescreen:
o PresstheMachStartbuttononyourjogboxforseveralseconds.ItsLEDwill
illuminate.
o TheCMMneedstobehomedtoproperlysetthemachinezeroandenablethe
machineparameters(speeds,sizelimits,etc.).PresstheOKbuttonfromthePC
DMISmessagementionedabove.TheCMMwillslowlytraveltothehomeposition
andestablishthispositionaszeroforalltheaxes.
6. UsePCDMIStoprogramandexecuteyourpartmeasurementroutines.Seethe"Getting
StartedwithaSimpleTutorial"sectionifyouarenewtoPCDMIS.
OffLinePartProgramming
UsingofflinePCDMIS,youcandevelopanddebugpartprogramsawayfromtheCMMby
editingapartcreatedonline,byimportingaCADinputfile,orthroughaDMIS,orAVAILpart
program.ThepartprogramthencanbedirectlyexecutedusingonlinePCDMIS,orexported
(postprocessed)intoeitherDMISoroneofseveralvendorspecificformats.OfflinePCDMIS
cannotbeusedtodirectlydriveaCMM.
The"WorkinginOfflineMode"appendix,describestheparticularsoftheofflineversion.
PCDMISStartupinOfflineMode
1. Turnthepowerontoyourcomputerandallitsperipheralsandlogontoyourcomputer.
2. StartPCDMISOfflinebydoubleclickingwiththeleftmousebuttonontheOFFLINEicon
inPCDMIS'sProgramGroup.
3. UsePCDMIStoprogramyourpart'smeasurementroutines.Seethe"GettingStarted
withaSimpleTutorial"sectionifyouarenewtoPCDMIS.
PCDMISCMM
PCDMISCMMworkswithyourCoordinateMeasuringMachine(CMM)toinspectyourparts.It
wasthefirstCMMsoftwareto:
UseCADmodelsintheinspectionprocess.
DirectlylinkCADsystemsandmeasurementsoftwarethroughitsDirectCADinterface
(DCI)technology.
Implementafullsetofsheetmetalmeasurementroutinestailoredfortheautomotive
industry.
DigitallysimulatemeasurementinanofflinevirtualCMMenvironment.
Easilyaligncomplex,contouredpartsusingourbreakthroughiterativealignment
technology.
Andmany,manymore.
PCDMISCMMcomesinvariousstandardconfigurations.Eachiscarefullytailoredtomeetthe
needsofaspecificgroupofcustomers. Also,PCDMISoffersawiderangeofoptionalmodules
fordoingspecifictasks.Thismeansthatuserscanfinetunethesoftwaretomeetspecificneeds.
PCDMISProThebaselinePCDMISCMMpackageofferscustomerswhodontneedto
integrateCADintotheirinspectionprocessapowerful,easytousemetrologysoftware
package. PCDMISPro,withitsbuiltinQuickStartroutines,letsusersgetupand
runningontheirCMMswithaminimumoffuss.
PCDMISCADBringsCADtotheinspectionprocess.PCDMISCADletscustomers
createinspectionprogramsandevaluatemeasurementresultstakingfulladvantageof
theirCADmodels.ThesoftwareprovidesthetoolsneedtoworkwithCADfilesranging
fromsimple2Ddrawingsthroughcomplex3Dsolidmodels.
PCDMISCAD++ EnhancesthecapabilitiesofPCDMISCADwithsophisticatedtools
forhighspeedscanning,sheetmetalmeasurement,partalignmentandthelike.PCDMIS
CAD++makesmeasuringcomplexshapeseasy.
MostofthePCDMISCMMitemsarediscussedinthe"PCDMISCore"documentation.Items
thatarespecifictocontactprobesandCMMsarediscussedinthe"PCDMISCMM"
documentation.
PCDMISVision
ThisspecialversionofPCDMISallowsyoutousecertainopticalprobingdevicestomeasure
features.Ifyou'vepurchasedthismodule,seeyour"PCDMISVision"manualforadditional
information.
PCDMIS/NC

ThisspecialversionofPCDMISallowsyoutoperformpartmeasurementsusingNCmachine
tools.ThesemachinetoolsarealsoreferredtoasCNC(ComputerNumericalControl)machines.
Ifyou'vepurchasedthismodule,seeyour"PCDMIS/NC"manualforadditionalinformation.
PCDMISLaser
ThismoduleofPCDMISletsyouusealaserprobetoeasilymeasureyourpartsbypassinga
laserstripeovertheparttocollectlargeamountsofpointswhicharetheninterpretedanddefined
intofeatures.Ifyou'vepurchasedthismodule,seeyour"PCDMISLaser"manualforadditional
information.
PCDMISPortable
ThePCDMISPortableconfigurationworkswithportablemeasuringdevicestoinspectyour
parts.Portabledevicesaremanuallyoperatedmeasuringmachinesthatarerelativelyeasyto
movetonewlocationsduetotheirsizeanddesign.Seethe"PCDMISPortable"documentation
formoreinformation.
PCDMISIP
PCDMISInspectionPlanner(IP)isanaddinmodulethatworksinconjunctionwithasupported
CADpackageandPCDMIStoaidtheDesignEngineerorQualityEngineerindesigningaplan
thatdetermineswhichfeaturesofthegeometryandGD&T/dimensiontouseintheinspection
process.SinceIPrunsinsideyourCADpackage,itcutsyourlearningcurvesinceyouwillonly
needtouseasmallportionofPCDMISforWindowstogeneratethepartprogram.
Ifyou'vepurchasedthismodule,seeyour"PCDMISIP"manualforadditionalinformation.
PCDMISGear
PCDMISGearisasoftwareproductthatworksinconjunctionwithPCDMIStoallowyouto
quicklyandeasilymeasureanygearpartsyouhave.Ifyou'vepurchasedthismodule,seethe
"PCDMISGear"helpfilethatgetsinstalledwiththePCDMISGearapplicationformore
information.
WehopeyouwillenjoyusingPCDMISandfinditausefulandpowerfultool.Ifyouhaveany
suggestionsorcomments,pleaseletusknow.Wearealwayslookingforwaystoimproveour
product.
CommandLineInstallation
YoucaninstallPCDMISfromthecommandlineratherthansimplydoubleclickingonthe
Setup.exeicon.Thecommandlineapproachcanspeeduptheinstallprocessbyallowingyouto
turndifferentoptionsonandoff.
CommandlineInstallSwitches
/InstallDir:"<DRIVE>:\PATH\"specifythetargetinstallationdriveandpath
/NoBackupdonotmakeabackupcopy,justinstalloverthetop
/ProgramGroup:"ProgramGroupName"specifytheprogramgroupnamewherethe
iconsforPCDMISwillbecreated
/Language:<n>specifythelanguagetoinstall. Currentlythenumbersare:
0English
1Italian
2French
3German
4Spanish
5Portuguese
6Japanese
7Chinese
/NoStartupDonotautomaticallyrunstartup.exe. Ifthisisenabledthenthe"LaunchPC
DMISaftertheinstallexists"checkboxwillbedisabled,sinceitneedstorunafterstartup.exe
isexecuted.
/NoPCDMISDonotcheckthe"LaunchPCDMISaftertheinstallexits"checkbox. Thisis
ignoredif/B isspecified.
/BRuninbatchmode. Usethiswiththeotheroptionsaboveandyoucanhaveacompletely
unattendedinstall,suitableforrunningviaabatchfileorotherscript. PCDMISisnot
automaticallylaunchedif/Bisspecified.
Theseoptionsareallcasesensitive.
UnattendedInstallationExample
So, todotoafullyunattendedinstallinEnglish,forexample,youwouldusesomethinglikethis
inyourcommandline:
setup.exe/B/Language:0/InstallDir:"C:\PCDMISW"/ProgramGroup:"PCDMISfor
Windows"
Youcouldalsoeasilyaddthe/NoBackupor/NoPCDMISoptionstothistospeeduptheoptions.
ConnectingtoInternetSupport
PCDMISv4.0andlaterletsyouconnecttoaninternetsupportsession,poweredbyWebEx,
whereyouandalivetechniciancanuseabrowserbasedinterface,todiscussproblems,transfer
files,viewapplications,orevenshareapplicationcontroltomoreeasilylocateandsolveyour
specificproblemallinrealtime.

Important:Beforeyoucanjoinaremoteinternetsupportsession,youmustobtaintheunique
supportsessionnumberfromthesupporttechnician.
Tojoinaremoteinternetsupportsession:
1. SelectHelp|InternetSupport.TheInternetSupportdialogboxappears.
2. Filloutthefieldsinthedialogbox:FirstName,LastName,EmailAddress,and
SupportSessionNumber.
3. ClickOK.PCDMISwilllaunchyourinternetbrowser.Ifyouarenotalreadyconnectedto
theinternet,yourbrowserwillpromptyoutoconnect.
4. Onceconnected,theWebExinterfacelauncheswhereyouandthetechniciancan
proceedtosolveyourspecificproblem.
NavigatingtheUserInterface
NavigatingtheUserInterface:Introduction
ThissectionprovidesanintroductiontousingPCDMISforWindows.Itdocumentsthe
fundamentalactionsneededtooperatethesoftware.TofullyexercisethecapabilitiesofPC
DMISandmakeyourpartprogrammingaseasyaspossible,pleasereadthroughthisentire
sectionandfollowalongonyourcomputer.
ThissectionalsohighlightswaystocustomizesomeofPCDMIS'sgraphicaloptionstobestmeet
individualneeds.(Additionalinformationontheseavailableoptionscanbefoundinthe"Editing
theCADDisplay"section.)
Eachtopiclistedbelowillustratesaspecificfeatureoftheinterface.Thefollowingarecoveredin
thissection:
TheScreenAppearance
TheMenuBar
TheToolbarArea
TheGraphicsDisplayWindow
TheStatusBar
DialogBoxDescription
CustomizingtheUserInterface
PCDMISprovidestheflexibilityofusingthemouseorkeyboardtoentercommandsorselect
options.Shortcutmenusandshortcutkeyshavebeenassignedtofrequentlyusedcommands.
Seethe"UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus"section.
TheScreenAppearance
PCDMISpresentsaconsistentscreenappearancetotheuser.
Thescreenisdividedintoseveraldistinctareas,eachofwhichfulfillsaspecificfunctionor
suppliesneededinformation.Abriefdescriptionofeachscreenareacanbefoundbelow.
(Additionalinformationislocatedthroughoutthemanualasindicated.)
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual NavigatingtheUserInterface 21
ScreenAppearanceofPCDMIS'sGraphicalUserInterface
1. TheTitlebardisplaysthetitleofthecurrentpartprogram.Italsocontainsthe
maximizeandminimizebuttons.
2. TheMenubarcontainsthemenuselectionsavailablefromthemainPCDLRN
application.See"TheMenuBar".
3. TheToolbarareacontainstoolbarswithfrequentlyusedcommands.These
toolbarsareeasilyaccessiblebyrightclickingontheToolbararea.See"The
ToolbarArea".
4. TheGraphicsDisplaywindow(see"TheGraphicsDisplayWindow")presents
graphicrepresentationsofthepart(thetopviewisshownintheillustration).Thesize
ofthisarearemainsconstant.However,thedisplayareacanbedividedintoasmany
asfourdifferentviewsofthepart.
5. DialogboxesarethemaincommunicationchannelsbetweenPCDMISandthe
user.Availablefeaturesappearinthedialogbox,andmostinputdataisentered
throughit.See"DialogBoxDescription.
6. TheEditwindowdisplaysthepartprogram.Thiswindowallowsyoutoaccess
specificcommandswithinthepartprogramandmakechangestomeetindividual
specifications.Seethe"EditingaPartProgram"and"UsingtheEditWindow"
chaptersforfullydocumentedoperationsoftheEditwindow.
7. TheStatusBardisplaysinformationimportanttothecurrentoperation(i.e.,
currentprobecalibrationdata,standarddeviationofthelastfeaturemeasured)and
numberofhits.Italsocontainsamessageboxthatdisplayspertinentinformation
abouttheoperationinprogress.See"TheStatusBar"formoreinformation.
22 NavigatingtheUserInterface PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual
TheMenuBar
Toopenamenuandbrowsethroughtheoptionsusingthekeyboard,presstheALTkeyfollowed
bytheunderlinedletterinthenameofthemenutobeopened.(Themousecanalsobeused,as
describedin"SelectingOptionsfromtheMenuBarwiththeMouse".)Thisdocumenthasbeen
createdtoprovideinformationforeachmenuoption.Seetheappropriatechapterasneeded.
Thissectiongivesabriefdescriptionofeachoftheothermenuoptions.
PCDMISalsoprovidesavarietyofshortcutmenus.Thesearediscussedinthe"UsingShortcut
KeysandShortcutMenus"appendix.
File
TheFilemenuletsyouopen,save,andprintfiles,accesstheEditwindow,runpartprograms
withtheExecuteMode,andexitoutofcurrentpartprograms.Seethe"UsingBasicFileOptions"
and"UsingAdvancedFileOptions"chaptersformoreinformation.
Edit
TheEditmenuallowsyoutoedityourprogrampreferences,yourpartprogram,ortheCAD
display.
Toedityourpreferences,seethe"SettingYourPreferences"chapterfor
completeinformation.
ToedityourpartprogramviatheEditwindow,seethe"EditingaPartProgram"
and"UsingtheEditWindow"chaptersforcompleteinformation.
ToeditthedisplayoftheCADdrawing,seethe"EditingtheCADDisplay"
chapterforcompleteinformation.
View
Theviewmenuallowsyoutoaccessallthewindows,editors,andtoolbarsavailabletoPCDMIS.
Seethe"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools"chapterforcompleteinformation.
Insert
Thebulkofapartprogram'scommandscanbeaccessedfromtheInsertmenu.
Mostofthechapterscomprisingthismanualcomefromtheoptionsandsubmenusdisplayedon
thismenu.
OptionsontheHardwareDefinitionsubmenuarediscussedinthe"Defining
Hardware"chapter.
OptionsontheFeaturesubmenuarediscussedinthesechapters:"Creating
AutoFeatures","CreatingMeasuredFeatures","ConstructingNewFeaturesfrom
ExistingFeatures","CreatingGenericFeatures".
OptionsontheAlignmentsubmenuarediscussedinthe"CreatingandUsing
Alignments"chapter.
OptionsontheDimensionsubmenuarediscussedinthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter.
OptionsontheScansubmenuarediscussedinthe"ScanningyourPart"
chapter.
OptionsontheMovesubmenuarediscussedinthe"InsertingMoveCommands"
chapter.
OptionsontheFlowControlCommandsubmenuarediscussedinthe
"BranchingbyUsingFlowControl"chapter.
OptionsontheStatisticsCommandsubmenuarediscussedinthe"Tracking
StatisticalData"chapter.
OptionsontheReportCommandsubmenu,includingtheabilitytoaddDiminfo
andPointinfoboxesontoyourCADdisplayandintoyourpartprogram,arediscussed
inthe"InsertingReportCommands"chapter.
OptionsontheFileI/OCommandsubmenuarediscussedinthe"UsingFile
Input/Output"chapter.
TheremainingoptionsontheInsertmenuarediscussedinthe"Using
ExpressionsandVariables"chapterandthe"AddingExternalElements"chapter.
Operation
TheitemsontheOperation menuarediscussedinvarioustopicsofthedocumentation.
Window
TheWindowmenuallowsyoutomanagethedisplayofallopenpartprograms.See"Navigating
andDisplayingMultipleWindows"chapter.
Help
TheitemsontheHelpmenuarediscussedinthe"UsingtheOnlineHelp"chapter.
TheHelp menuprovidesinformationaboutPCDMIScommands,dialogboxes,messages,and
keys.
ToactivatePCDMIS'sonlinehelp,selectanyoftheitemsontheHelpmenuorpressF1atany
time.PCDMISwilllaunchthePCDMISonlineHelpfile.
SelectingOptionsfromtheMenuBarwiththeMouse
Optionscanbeselected Toopenamenuandbrowsethroughtheoptionsusingthemouse:
fromanydropdownmenuin
thesamemannerasthe 1. Movethepointertothedesiredmenuname.
menubar. 2. Clicktheleftmousebutton.
Whenanellipsisfollowsanoptionname,choosingthefunctionwilldisplayadialogbox.For
example"File|Open..."letsyouknowthatthereisanOpenFiledialogbox.Dialogboxes
displayvariousoptions,boxes,andbuttons(calledcontrols)forspecifyingcommandsthatwillbe
carriedoutbyPCDMIS.Sometimesadialogboxwillshowdefaultsettingsalreadyselected,
whichifsatisfactory,canbeleftastheyare.Ingeneral,afterallthecontrolsinthedialogbox
havebeenset,clicktheOKbuttontocarryoutthecommand.Tocancelthecommandandclose
thedialogbox,clicktheCancelbutton.
SelectingOptionsfromtheMenuBarwiththeKeyboard
Toopenamenuandbrowsethroughtheoptionsusingthekeyboard,presstheALTkey followed
bytheunderlinedletterinthenameofthemenutobeopened.
Forexample:toopentheView menuusingthekeyboard,pressALTandV(theunderlined
letter).Optionscanbeselectedfromthemenuinasimilarmanner.Simplypresstheunderlined
lettertothecorrespondingoption(i.e.,Cut: presstheTkey).
Menusalsocanbeopenedusingthearrowkeys.
Todothis:
1. PresstheALTkeytoswitchtothemenubar.
2. UsetheLEFT/RIGHTARROWkeystomovetothedesiredmenu.
3. UsetheUP/DOWNARROWkeystoselectanoption.
4. Whenthedesiredoptionishighlighted,presstheENTERkey.
Shortcutkeysalsohavebeenassignedtomanyoftheoptions.Theshortcutkeyisshowntothe
rightofthecommandoroption.
Seethe"UsingShortcutKeysandMenus"chapterformoreinformation.
TheToolbarArea
PCDMISprovidesyouavarietyoftoolbarscomposedoffrequentlyusedcommands.These
toolbarscanbeaccessedinoneofthesetwoways.
1. SelecttheView|Toolbarssubmenuandselectatoolbarfromthemenu
provided.
2. RightclickonPCDMIS's Toolbarareaandselectatoolbarfromtheshortcut
menuprovided.
Onceyouhaveatoolbarinthetoolbararea,youcaneasilymovethetoolbarbyfirstclickingon
thespacebetweentheleftorrightedgeandabuttonandthendraggingthetoolbartoadifferent
location.
ForindepthinformationonallofPCDMIStoolbars,seethe"UsingToolbars"chapter.
TheGraphicsDisplayWindow
TheGraphicsDisplaywindow,quitesimply,displaysgraphics.Thiswindowisopenedbydefault
whenyoucreateoraccessapartprogram.Tohideorviewthiswindow,selecttheView|
GraphicsDisplayWindow menuoption.
ItdisplaysamultipanedgraphicalrepresentationofanimportedCADpart,the
probe,andanysimulatedmachinesorfixtures.
Itshowsmeasured,auto,andconstructedfeaturesandtheirIDlabels.
Itdisplaysscans,dimensions,textboxdisplays.
TheGraphicsDisplaywindowisanintegralpartofPCDMIS.ForinformationonEditingthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow,andalteringthescreendisplay,see"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter.
TheStatusBar
Thestatusbardisplaysthefollowing:
1SD:Thisshowsthestandarddeviationofthelastfeaturemeasured.
2Line:Thisboxdisplaysanumberthatindicatesthecurrentlinewherethecursorislocatedin
theEditreport.Col:Thisboxdisplaysanumberthatindicatesthecurrentcolumnwherethe
cursorislocatedintheEditreport.
3W:AngleofRotaryTable:
4MessageBox:Theleftmostboxdisplaysinstructionsandotherinformationregardingthe
currentprocedureorcommand.
5X,Y,andZboxes:TheseboxesshowtheX,Y,andZpositionoftheprobe.Clickingonany
ofthethreecoordinatedisplayswithinthestatusbarwillcausetheAutoMovePointdialogbox
toappear.(See"InsertingaMovePointCommand"inthe"InsertingMoveCommands"chapter
foradditionalinformationregardingDCCMovePoint.)
6#ofHits:Thisshowsthenumberofhitscurrentlytaken.
7IN/MM:Thisshowsthecurrentunitofmeasurementusedforthepartprogram.
8INS/OVR:ThisboxindicatesthecurrenteditingfunctionoftheEditreport.ItwilldisplayINS
(forINSERT,meaningitinsertstextatthecursor)orOVR(forOVERWRITE,meaningit
overwritesanytextencounteredbythecursor).
StatusBarManipulations
Toincreasethesizeofthestatusbar,selectView|Statusbar|Large.Duetoits
increasedsize,thislargestatusbarwillonlydisplaytheMessageandtheXYZ
boxes.
Toputthestatusbarbacktoitsnormalsize,selectView|Statusbar|Normal.
ToshoworhidetheStatusbar,selectView|Statusbar|None.
Adialogboxprovidesvariousboxesandbuttons(calledcontrols)thatcanbeselectedtotellPC
DMIShowtocarryoutacommand.Sometimesadialogboxwillshowdefaultsettingsalready
selected,whichifsatisfactorycanbeleftastheyare.Afterallthecontrolsinthedialogboxhave
beenset,selectOKtocarryoutthecommand.Tocancelthecommandandclosethedialogbox,
clicktheCancelbutton.
ThegraphicsillustratesomefeaturescommontomostdialogboxesinPCDMIS.
AEditBoxesorFields
BListBox
COptionsButtons
DCheckBoxes
ECommandButtons
FTabs
GDropDownListBox
EditBox:
Aneditboxallowsyoutotypeinadesiredvalueorname.Inthismanualeditboxesaresimply
referredtoas"boxes".EditboxescommontomanyofPCDMIS'sdialogboxesarelistedhere:
ID=[Feature]
ThisboxshowstheFeatureorDimensionIDforthefeaturesordimensionstobecreated.
TochangetheID:
1. SelectthepreviousID.
2. TypeanewID.
3. PresstheTABkey.
ForaDimensionID:
YoucanchangeonlythenumberportionoftheIDandresetthedimension
countertoadesiredcount.
YoucanchangethetextportionoftheIDandsetitasthedefaulttextfor
subsequentdimensions.(SeetheIDSetuptaboftheSetupOptionsdialogboxin
the"SettingYourPreferences"chapter.)
SearchID
IntheSearchIDboxyoucankeyinfeature(ordimension)IDstobeusedinthecurrent
operation.Youcanusethisboxtosearchusingmetacharactersearchoptions.Thefeatureor
dimensionIDswillbehighlightedintheappropriateFeatureListbox(orDimensionListbox).
SelectLast#
IntheSelectLast#boxyoucanselectthelastofacertainnumberoffeatures(ordimensions).
Forexample,ifyouwantedtoselectthelastfourfeaturesthatwerecreated,simplytype4and
presstheTABkey.PCDMISwillhighlightthefeaturesselectedintheFeatureListbox.
ListBox:
Alistboxissimilartoaneditboxhoweverchangescannotbemadetothelistedvalues.This
manualreferstoeither"list"or"box"forthelistbox.ListscommontomanyofPCDMIS'sdialog
boxesarelistedhere:
FeatureListbox
TheFeatureListboxcontainsalistoftheavailablefeatureswithinapartprogram.PCDMIS
usesselectedfeaturestodefinealignments,constructnewfeatures,createdimensions,and
othersuchtasks.Youcanselectfeaturesbyfollowingtheinstructionsgiveninthe"Selecting
FeaturesUsingtheGraphicsDisplayWindow"topicinthe"EditingtheCADdisplay"chapter.
Selected(highlighted)featurescanbedeselectedusingtheClearorClearListbutton.
Ifyouareattachinganexternalpartprogram(see"AttachinganExternalPartProgram"inthe
"AddingExternalElements"chapter),PCDMISalsoliststhevariable(orpointer)usedto
referencetheattachedpartprogram.Aplussign(+)appearstotheleftofthepointer.Clicking
thisplussignexpandsorcollapsesaviewofallthefeaturesintheattachedpartprogram.
DimensionListbox
TheDimensionListboxcontainsalistofallthedimensionsthatwerecreatedwithinapart
program.Youcaneasilyselectthedimension(s)youwouldliketoeditoranalyzebysimply
selectingthedesireddimension(s)inthelistboxandselectingthedesiredchangesoroptionsin
theassociateddialogbox.
InsidetheEditDimensionInfodialogbox,ifthedimensionalreadyhasaDimensionInfobox
associatedwithit,PCDMISshowsanasterisk(*)symbolnexttothedimensionIDinthelist.If
thedimensioninfoishiddeninallcurrentviews,itaddsanumbersign(#)symbolnexttotheID.
Forexample,supposeyouhavearoundnessdimensionnamedRND1foracirclenamedCIR4.If
theroundnessdimensionalreadyhadaDIMINFOboxassociatedwithit,yetthatDIMINFObox
washiddenfromallviewsintheGraphicsDisplaywindow,theIDinthelistwouldlooklikethis:
Exampleofasteriskandnumbersignsymbols
OptionButtons:
Theareacontainingoptionbuttonsdisplaysavailablechoicesforthedialogbox.Switchbetween
availablechoicesbyclickingonthedesiredbutton.Whenanoptionischosen,ablackdot
appearstotheleftoftheselectedoptionandallotheroptionsarecleared.Youcanonlyselect
oneoptionbutton.
CheckBoxes:
Clickoncheckboxestoturnoptionsonoroff.Theoptionisconsidered"on"whenacheckmark
appearsinsidethebox.Youcanselect multiplecheckboxes.
CommandButtons:
Acommandbuttoncarriesoutanaction.Thecommandbuttonscommontomostdialogboxesin
PCDMISarelistedhere:
Apply
TheApplybuttonappliesyourselectionstothedialogboxbutkeepsthedialogboxopenfor
furtherchanges.
OK
TheOKbuttonsavesandappliesthechangesandclosesthedialogbox.Onsomedialogboxes,
clickingtheOKbuttoninsertscommandsintotheEditwindow.
Cancel
TheCancelbuttonignoresanychangesandclosesthedialogbox.
Delete
TheDeletebuttonremovesitems(suchascreatedfeatures,dimensions,probefiles,alignment
informationetc.)fromcertainlistboxes.
IntheDeleteCADdialogbox,theDeletecommandbuttondeletesselectednominalfeatures.
Last
TheLastbuttonselectsthelastitemintheassociatedlistbox.
LastTwo
TheLastTwobuttonselectsthelasttwoitemsintheassociatedlistbox.
SelectAll
TheSelectAllbuttonselectsalltheitemsintheassociatedlistbox.
Default
TheDefaultbuttonallowsyoutoupdatethedefaultsettingsofseveralparameters.Whenanew
partprogramiscreated,itwillreflectanychangesstoredasthedefault.
Thedefaultvaluesarestoredinthesystemregistry.Theseparameterscanbeupdatedthrough
theappropriatedialogboxorbyeditingtheregistryitselfbyusingthePCDMISSettingsEditor.
ThisapplicationisincludedwithyourPCDMISinstallset.Seethe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"
appendixformoreinformation.
IftheOKbuttonisselected(withouttheDefaultbuttonbeingpressed)the
definedparameterswillonlyapplytotheactivepartprogramandwillnotaffect
theregistryentries.
IfanyoftheparametersarechangedandtheDefaultbuttonispressed,PC
DMISwillupdatetheregistryentries,redefiningthedefaulttothecurrententry.
TheDefaultbuttonallowsyoutostoreandapplynewdefaultvaluestonewpartprograms
createdlateron.
Recall
TheRecallbuttonallowsyoutocallbackoriginalfactorysettingsaslongastheoriginalvalues
haven'tchangedthroughclickingtheDefaultbutton.Inthatcase,PCDMISwillreturnthestored
valuesintheregistry.
ForinformationonusingtheMachineOptionsdialogboxtorestoreoriginalfactorysettingsby
readingthemfromthecontroller,seethe"SettingUptheMachineInterface"topicinthe"Setting
yourPreferences"chapter.
Create
TheCreatebuttonapplieschangesmadeincertaindialogboxesandcreatesconstructed
features,dimensions,autofeatures,scansetc.andplacesthecreateditemintotheEditwindow
andtheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
TheCreatebuttonwon'tclosethedialogbox.OnlyclickingtheClosebuttonclosesthedialog
box.
Close
TheClosebuttonclosesthedialogbox.Withsomedialogboxes(whereyoumaywanttoselect
furtheroptions)justpressingtheOK,Apply,ortheCreatebuttondoesn'tautomaticallyclosethe
dialogbox.
Clear
TheClearcommandbuttonallowsyoutoclearthehighlightofanyselecteditemfromlistboxes.
Insomecases,theClearbuttonremovesitemscompletelyfromcertainlistboxes(suchasAB
positions fromtheNewAnglesListbox).
Insomedialogboxesandtabs,theClearbuttonclearsanyvaluesthatwereenteredorchanged
beforeeithertheApplyortheOKbuttonisclickedandrestoresthe"builtin"valuespresentin
PCDMIS.IfyouhaveusedtheDefaultbuttontostoredefaultvalues,thenPCDMISrestores
thosevalues.
Undo
TheUndobuttonreverseschangesmadeusingtheApplybutton(ortheGeneratebuttonin
DCCscans).ItcannotreversechangesmadeoncetheOKbuttonisclicked.
Help
TheHelpbuttonopenstheonlinehelptopicassociatedwiththecurrentdialogbox.
DialogBoxTabs:
Somedialogboxescontaintabs.Thesetabsactasidentifyingmarkersmuchlikeafolder'sname
inafilingcabinetwould.Simplyclickonatabtobringadesiredwindoworoptionsinfrontofthe
othertabs.Anyoptionsorcommandsassociatedwiththattabwillthenbedisplayed.
DropDownListBox
Adropdownlistboxworkslikemenus.Clickonthedropdownarrowicon totherightofthe
currentchoice,orpressALTandtheUPARROWorDOWNARROWkeyonthekeyboard
consecutively.PressingF4willalsodisplaytheavailableoptions.Pressthekey(s)againtoclose
thelist.Thecurrentchoiceisshowninthehighlightedbox.
AccessingDialogBoxes
Themouseorkeyboardcanbeusedtoaccessoptionswithinthedialogbox.Toaccessanoption
usingthemouse,simplypointtothedesiredoptionandclick.Thekeyboardoffersavarietyof
waystomovebetweenavailableoptions.
PRESS: TO
TAB: Movetothenextavailableoption.
SHIFT+TAB: Movetothepreviousavailableoption.
ARROWkey: Displayacurrentdropdownlist.
ENTER: Selectthecurrentcommand.
SPACEBAR: Selectthecurrentcheckboxorbutton.
ScrollingtheEditWindow
TheEditwindowcanbe TheEditwindowhasscrollbarsforviewingadditionaldatainthe
movedinthesamemanner window.
asadialogbox.See
"MovingDialogBoxes" Toscroll:
1. Placethemousepointerononeofthescrollarrows.
2. Clickorholdtheleftmousebutton.
PCDMISwillscrollthetextinthescrollarrow'spointeddirection.
Forexample,toscrolldown,selectthedownscrollarrowwiththe
pointerandclicktheleftmousebutton.
Seethechapters"EditingaPartProgram"and"UsingtheEditWindow"forcompleteinformation
regardingtheEditwindow.
MovingDialogBoxes
ThemousecanbeusedtocontrolwindowanddialogboxplacementwithintheGraphicsDisplay
window.
Tomoveadialogboxorwindow:
1. Placethemousepointeroverthetitle.
2. Holddowntheleftmousebutton.
3. DragthedialogorwindowtothepositionintheGraphicsDisplaywindowwhere
desired.
4. Releasethemousebutton.
PCDMISredrawsthedialogboxorwindowinitsnewlocation.
Somedialogboxesmaybedockedinsidetherestoftheuserinterface.Youmayneedtoundock
theseitemsbeforemovingthem.See"DockingandUndockingUserInterfaceElements".
CustomizingtheUserInterface
Inversion3.5theuserinterfaceusedinpreviousversionswasimprovedwithamoreorganized
approachtothevariousoptionsavailable.Inaddition,youcannowcustomizethisuserinterface
tomeetyourspecificneeds.
Nowyoucaneasilyreorganizemenus,addyourownprogramstomenus,orsimplycreatenew
menusandoptionsaltogether.PCDMISalsoallowsyoutolinkcommandsnativetoPCDMIS
andcustomizedcommandstotoolbars.Instructionsonhowtomodifytheuserinterfacearegiven
inthefollowingtopics:
ToRestoretheDefaultUserInterface
ToCustomizeUserInterfaceFonts
CustomizingMenus
CustomizingToolbars
CustomizingShortcutKeys
Note:Theorganizationofthismanualisbasedonthedefaultuserinterfaceshippedwiththis
versionPCDMIS,beawarethatcustomizingtheuserinterfacemaymakeexisting
documentationdifficulttofollow.
ToRestoretheDefaultUserInterface
IfyouwanttorestorePCDMIS'sappearancetothedefaultuserinterfaceshippedwiththis
versionofPCDMIS,followthisprocedure:
1. ClosePCDMIS.
2. NavigatetothedirectorywhereyouinstalledPCDMIS.
3. AccessthedirectorythatcorrespondstoyourWindowsuserprofile.
4. Deletethefilenamedmenu_xxx.datwherexxxreferstothethreelettercodefor
thelanguageyou'rerunning.ForEnglish,deletemenu_eng.dat.
5. RestartPCDMIS.Itwillusethedefaultuserinterface.
ToCustomizeUserInterfaceFonts
Changeallthefontsdialogbox
Tomodifyfontattributes,accesstheChangesallthefontsdialogboxbyselectingtheEdit|
Preferences|Fonts menuoption.Usingthisdialogboxyoucanchangefont
attributesincludingfont,size,andstyleforthemainuserinterface,fortheGraphicsDisplay
windowandfortheEditwindow.
Tochangethefont:
1. SelectoneoftheseoptionbuttonsandthestandardFontdialogboxappears:
EditApplicationFontThischangesthefontofthelistsontheSettings
toolbar,thePreviewwindow,theReadoutwindow,thestatusbar,andany
messageboxesetc.
EditGraphicFontThischangesthefontoftextdisplayedontheGraphics
Displaywindow,mainlyaffectingfeaturelabels,DimensionInfoandPointInfo
textboxes,etc.
EditEditWindowFontThischangesthefontontheEditwindow.Seethe
notebelow.
2. Selectyourfontchangesfromtheavailablelists.
3. ClickOKtoclosetheFontdialogbox.
4. ClickOKattheChangesallthefontsdialogboxtoacceptyourchange.
Important:Youcanuseanyfontavailableonyourcomputersystem,howeverbeawarethat
somefontsdon'thaveauniformspacingandmaymakesomecomponentsmoredifficulttoread.
WhenviewingorprintingtheEditwindowtext,forexample,werecommendthatyouusea
monospace(orfixedwidth)font(suchastheCourierNewfont),otherwisecharacters,lines,and
headingsmaynotlineupasexpected.
CustomizingMenus
Tocustomizethemenusonthemenubar:
1. AccesstheCustomizedialogboxbyselectingtheView|Toolbars|Customize
menuoption.
2. SelecttheMenutab.
CustomizedialogboxMenutab
Youcanusethistabtoaddnewmenuitems,moveexistingmenuitems,orremovemenuitems
fromthemenubaraltogether.
ToMoveAMenuItem
Tomoveamenuitemtoanewlocationonthemenubar:
1. WiththeCustomizedialogboxopenandtheMenutabselected,navigatetothe
menuitemyouwanttomoveonPCDMIS'sactualmenubar(notthetreeviewmenu
listintheMenutab).
2. Selectthedesiredmenuitem.
3. Dragittothenewposition.Asyoudragtheitemthroughthemenustructure,a
smallredarrow willappearindicatingwheretheitemwillbeadded.
4. Releasethemousebutton,andthemenuitemiscopiedfromitsoriginallocation
tothenewlocation.
5. ClickOKtoacceptyourchangesandclosetheCustomizedialogbox.
ToRemove/RestoreAMenuItem
ToRemoveaMenuItemfromtheMenuBar:
1. WiththeCustomizedialogboxopenandtheMenutabselected,navigatetothe
menuitemyouwanttoremoveonPCDMIS'sactualmenubar(notthetreeview
menulistintheMenutab).
2. Selectthedesiredmenuitem.
3. Dragitoffofthemenubararea.
4. Releasethemousebutton,andthemenuitemisremovedfromthemenu.
5. ClickOKtoacceptyourchangesandclosetheCustomizedialogbox.
ToRestoreaRemovedMenuItem:
1. WiththeCustomizedialogboxopenandtheMenutabselected,navigateintheMenu
treeviewlisttothemenuitemyouwanttorestore.
2. SelectthemenuitemanddragitupontoPCDMIS'sactualmenubar.Asyoudragthe
itemthroughthemenustructure,asmallredarrow willappearindicatingwherethe
itemwillbeaddedwhenyoureleasethemousebutton.
3. Releasethemousebuttontoinsertthemenuitem.
ToEditanExistingMenuItem
Youcaneditexistingmenuitems,includingmenuitemnames,descriptions,andToolTips.Todo
this:
menuoption.
2. Withthedialogboxopen,clickonPCDMIS'smenubar.
3. SelectamenuandthenrightclickonthemenuitemyouwanttochangeonPC
DMIS'sactualmenubar(notthetreeviewmenulistintheMenutab).TheEdit
MenuItemdialogboxappears.
EditMenuItemdialogbox
4. ModifythemenuitemusingthisdialogboxandthenclickOK.
5. ClickOKontheCustomizedialogbox.
6. Verifyyourchange.
Note:IntheMenuTextbox,theletterthatfollowstheampersandsign(&)indicatesthattheletter
isusedwiththeALTkeytoquicklyselectthatmenuitem(forexampleselectingALT+F+Nwill
accesstheNewmenuitemfromtheFilemenu).
ToAddaNewMenuItem
Youcancreateyourowncustommenuitemandtieanexternalprogramorbatchfiletoit.Todo
this:
menuoption,andselecttheMenutab.
2. ClicktheCreateItembutton.TheCustomWizard/Script/Tooldialogbox
appears.
3. Clickthe...button.AnOpendialogboxappears.
4. FromtheFilesofTypelist,selectthetypeoffileyouwillbeinserting.
5. Navigatetothedirectorycontainingthecustomapplication,batchfile,BASIC
script,Macrofile,etc.
6. Selectthefiletoinsert,andclickOpen.TheOpendialogboxclosesandthe
CustomWizard/Script/Tooldialogboxdisplaysthedefaultinformation
associatedwiththecustomprogramyouselected.
CustomWizard/Script/Tooldialogboxshowingasampleapplication
CommandFile:
Thisboxshowsthepathwaytothecommand.
MenuText:
Thisboxallowsyoutospecifythenameusedonthemenuforthisitem.
HelpDesc:
ThisboxallowsyoutodefineinformationthatPCDMISdisplaysinthestatusbar
whenyoumoveyourmouseovertheitem.
ToolTip:
Thisboxallowsyoutospecifythetooltiptextdisplayedforthisitemwhenyou
hoveryourmouseoverit.Thisonlyworksifthecustomitemisaddedtoatoolbar,
notamenu.
Function:
ThisboxremainsunavailableforselectionunlessyouareusingacustomBASIC
script.Oncetheboxbecomesenabled,youcanuseittodefinethefunctionor
subroutinethatwillrunfromtheloaded.basfile.Simplytypetheroutinename
withoutparenthesis.Forexample,typing"TestFunction"wouldlaunchthe
TestFunctionroutinewhentheBASICscriptwasexecuted.
ChangeIcon:
Thisbuttonallowsyoutochangetheiconsdisplayedforthismenuitem.
7. Makeanyadditionalchangestothisdialogbox.
8. ClickOKtoacceptyourchanges.PCDMISinsertsthenewlycreatedcommand
intotheUserDefinedCommandstreeviewlistinthe MenutaboftheCustomize
dialogbox.
9. ExpandUserDefinedCommandstreeviewlist.
10. SelectnewlycreatedcommandanddragitupontoPCDMIS'sactualmenubar.
Asyoudragtheitemthroughthemenustructure,asmallredarrow willappear
indicatingwheretheitemwillbeaddedwhenyoureleasethemousebutton.
11. Releasethemousebuttontoinsertthecommand.
12. ClosetheCustomizedialogbox.Thenewlyinsertedmenuitemnowresidesin
yourmenubar.
CustomizingToolbars
Tocustomizethetoolbarsthatappearonthetoolbarmenu:
menuoption.
2. SelecttheToolbarstab.
CustomizedialogboxToolbartab
Youcanusethistabtoaddnewtoolbars,andnewtoolbaricons,removecustomtoolbars,
removetoolbaricons,andreordertoolbariconsonexistingtoolbars.
ToModifyanExistingToolbar
ThistableshowshowtousetheCustomizedialogbox's,Toolbartabtomodifyexistingtoolbars.
DesiredModification Procedure
Addamenuitemtoatoolbar. 1. SelectthetoolbarfromtheToolbarDefinitionlist.
2. FindtheitemyouwanttoaddintheAvailableItemslist.
3. Selectit,andpresstheAddbutton.Theitemappearson
thedesiredtoolbar.
4. ClickApplyandthenOKtoacceptyourchanges.
Removeatoolbaricon. 1. SelectthetoolbarfromtheToolbarDefinition list.

2. Findtheiteminthelisttoremove(rightsideofdialog).
3. SelectitandpresstheRemovebutton.
4. ClickApplyandthenOKtoacceptyourchanges.
Note:Existingtoolbarsmusthaveatleastoneicononthem.Ifyou
removethelasticonandclickApplyorOK,theiconstillremains
onthetoolbar.
Eraseanychanges. ClicktheResetbutton.AslongastheOKorApplybuttons
haven'tbeenclicked,thetoolbarwillreverttoitspreviousstate.
Removeallcustomized ClicktheDefaultbutton.
toolbarsandrestorethe
layoutshippedwiththis
version.
Createanewtoolbaritem. ClickNew.TheCustomWizard/Script/Tooldialogbox
appears.Selectitemtoadd.Thismanualcoverstheprocessof
addingcustomitemsinthe"ToAddaNewMenuItem"topic
above.
Rearrangeitemorderona 1. SelectthetoolbarfromtheToolbarDefinition list.
toolbar. 2. Selecttheitemyouwishtomove.
3. Clicktheseuparrow ordownarrow buttonsto
movetheitemupordownrespectivelyamongtheother
toolbariconsinthelist.
Renameatoolbar 1. SelectthetoolbarfromtheToolbarDefinition list.

2. ClickRename.ANewToolbarNameboxappears.
3. TypeanameintheboxandclickOK.
PCDMISalsoallowsanotherwaytorearrangeordeleteitemsfromanycustomtoolbaronthe
fly.ThisisbyusingtheSHIFTkey.Considerthefollowing:
Todeleteorrearrangeatoolbar'sicons:
1. AccesstheCustomizedialogbox.
2. PressandholdtheSHIFTkey.
3. Clickandholdthemouseovertheicon.Theiconbecomesmovable.
4. Ifrearrangingtheicon,dragittoanewspotonthetoolbar.
5. Ifdeletingtheicon,dragitoutsideofthetoolbar'sboundaries.
6. Releasethemousebutton.Thechangeismade.
Note:Sinceexistingtoolbarsmusthaveatleastoneicononthem,ifyouremovethelasticonin
thisfashion,itwillonlyremainremoveduntilyourestartPCDMIS.Afterrestarting,theiconwill
reappear.
Toaddaseparator:
3. Clickandholdthemouseovertheicon.Theiconbecomesmovable.
4. Dragitasmalldistancetotheright(notfarenoughtorearrangeitsposition).
5. Releasethemousebutton.Theseparatorappearsatitsleft.
Todeleteaseparator:
3. Clickandholdthemouseovertheicontotherightoftheseparator.Theicon
becomesmovable.
4. Dragitontopoftheseparatortoitsleft.
ToCreateaCustomToolbar
1. AccesstheCustomizedialogboxandselecttheToolbarstab.
2. ClickNewandselectToolbar.Aninputboxappearsrequestingatoolbarname.
3. TypethenameofthetoolbarandclickOK.Yournewtoolbarnowappearsinthe
ToolbarDefinitionlist.Youcannowmodifythetoolbartoacceptnewtoolbaricons
(see"ToModifyanExistingToolbar").
ToDeleteaCustomToolbar
1. AccesstheCustomizedialogboxandselecttheToolbarstab.
2. SelectthetoolbarfromtheToolbarDefinition list.
3. ClicktheDeletebutton.
4. ClickApplytoapplyyourchanges.
CustomizingShortcutKeys
TocustomizetheshortcutkeysusedformenuitemsandcommandsinPCDMIS:
1. AccesstheCustomizedialogboxbyselectingtheView|Toolbars|Customize menu
option.
2. SelecttheKeyboardtab.
CustomizedialogboxKeyboardtab
YoucanusethistabtomodifytheshortcutkeysusedtocallcommandswithinPCDMISandadd
newshortcutkeysforcustommenuandtoolbaritems.
ToAddShortcutKeystoaCommand
1. AccesstheCustomizedialogbox,andselecttheKeyboardtab.
2. SelectthecommandyouwishtomodifybyusingtheCategoryandMenu
Selectionlists.OnceyouhaveselectedacommandintheCommandslist,the
currentshortcutkey(s),ifanyareassignedtothatcommand,willbedisplayedinthe
CurrentShortcutsbox.
3. Highlightthecommandforwhichyouwillassignnewshortcutkeys.
4. ClickintheNewShortcutbox.
5. Typethekeysyouwanttoassigntothiscommand.Thekeysyoupressedwill
appearasyoutypethem.
6. ClicktheAssignbutton,andthenewshortcutkeyswillappearintheCurrent
Shortcutsboxwithanyothershortcutkeyscurrentlyassignedtothecommand.
7. ClickApplytoacceptyourchanges.
Note:Asintheothertabs,youcanusetheCreatebuttontofirstcreateacommandandtieittoa
customprogram.YoucanthenselectthiscommandbyclickingonUserDefined fromtheMenu
Selectionlist.AlluserdefinedcommandswillappearintheCommandslist.
ToRemoveShortcutKeysfromaCommand
1. AccesstheCustomizedialogbox,andselecttheKeyboardtab.
2. SelectthecommandyouwishtomodifybyusingtheCategoryandMenu
Selectionlists.OnceyouhaveselectedacommandintheCommandslist,the
currentshortcutkey(s),ifanyareassignedtothatcommand,willbedisplayedin
CurrentShortcutsbox.
3. Selectthecommandforwhichyouwillassignnewshortcutkeys.
4. Selecttheshortcutkeytoremove.
5. ClicktheRemovebutton.
6. ClickApplytoacceptyourchanges.
DockingandUndockingUserInterfaceElements
Someuserinterfaceelements(suchastoolbarandsomedialogboxes)willdockthemselvesinto
theEditwindoworthetoolbarareawhendraganddroptheitemontopofoneofthoseareas.If
youdon'twantthis,holddowntheCTRLkeywhileyoureleasethemousebutton.Thedialogbox
willthenhoveroverthedockablebackgroundinstead.
Someitems,suchastheEditwindow,containarightclickmenuitemthatallowsyoutodockor
undockthatitem.
UsingBasicFileOptions
UsingBasicFileOptions:Introduction
PCDMISprovidesyouwithmanyoptionstomanipulatepartprogramsandmanageyour
essentialfiles.AswithmostWindowsbasedprograms,youcanperformbasicfilemanagement
usingstandardWindowsdialogboxestheseincludecreating,opening,copying,renaming,and
deletingfiles.Additionally,throughPCDMISyoucanperformmoreadvancedoperations,such
asimportingandexportingCADdata,orexecutingcompletedpartprograms.
ThischapterspecificallydealswithBasicFileOptions.Formoreadvancedoptions,seethe
"UsingAdvancedFileOptions"chapter.
Theoptionsdiscussedinthischapterinclude:
CreatingNewPartPrograms
OpeningExistingPartPrograms
SavingPartPrograms
PerformingFileOperations
ChangingtheLanguage
PrintingtheGraphicsDisplaywindow
PrintingtheInspectionReport
ClosingorQuittingPartPrograms
ExitingPCDMIS
CreatingNewPartPrograms
Ifyoudon'thaveanyexistingpartprogramstoopen,thenyoumustcreateanewpartprogram
usingtheNewPartProgramdialogbox,accessiblebyselectingtheFile|Newmenuoption.
NewPartProgramdialogbox
Hereyoucancreateanewpart.Youwillbepromptedtoenterapartname,serial
number,revisionnumber,interfacetype,andunitsofmeasurementtype.Thepartisonlyin
memoryuntilyousavethepart.TheCMMinterfacetypeisalsochosenhere.
Note:PCDMISonlyrequiresthePartNameboxtohaveavalueinordertocreateanewpart
program.InformationenteredintheRevisionNumberandSerialNumberboxesisoptional.
OpeningExistingPartPrograms
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual UsingBasicFile Options 45

IfyouhavepreviouslycreatedapartprogramusingtheNewPartProgramdialogbox(see
"CreatingNewPartPrograms"),youcanopenitbyselectingitfromtheOpendialogboxby
selectingFile|Open.
Important:Beawarethatifyouopenaprogramcreatedinaversionpriortoversion3.2itwillno
longerbeuseableintheoldversionusedtocreateit.
Opendialogbox
ThisisastandardWindowsOpendialogboxwiththefollowingadditions:
ThereisanInterfacelist.IfPCDMISisrunningONLINE,youcanselectwhich
CMM(ifyouhavemultipleCMMs)touseforthispartprogram,oryoucanrunoffline
byselectingtheOFFLINEmachine.
APreviewareaofthedialogboxshowstheCADimageforthelastviewofyour
partintheGraphicsDisplaywindow(withoutlabels).Ifyourpartdoesn'thaveCAD
data,theimagewilldisplaymeasuredgeometry.Thisareaalsodisplaysthenameof
thepartprogramandthedateitwaslastmodified.
Youcanimportdatatoorexportdatafromapartprogrambyrightclickingonthe
partprogramsfilenameandselectingImportorExport,respectively(see
"ImportingCADorProgramData"and"ExportingCADorProgramData"fromthe
"UsingAdvancedFileOptions"chapterifyouwantmoreinformation).
Youcanalsoexamineandmodifyapartsname,serialnumber,orrevision
numberandchangethefilesnametoonemadefromthefile'sproperties.
Todothis:
1. Rightclickonthepartprogramsfilename.Ashortcutmenuwillappear.
2. SelectthePropertiescommand.
3. SelectthePCDMIStab.
46 UsingBasicFileOptions PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual
ThesesamerightmousefeaturesarealsoavailablefromwithinWindows
Explorer.
Note:TheOpendialogboxautomaticallyopenseachtimeyoustartPCDMIS,allowingyouto
openexistingpartprograms.However,ifyouwantthisfeaturedisabled,simplycleartheShow
StartupDialogcheckboxfoundintheSetupOptionsdialogbox,ontheGeneraltab.
ProbeConversionMessagesWhenOpening:
Whenopeningapartprogramfromapreviousversion,youmayreceiveawarningmessagethat
asksyouifyouwanttoconvertprobefilesforanyprobesusedinthepartprogramtothelatest
format.
Warningdialogboxaskingtoconvertaprobefile
IfyouplanonusingtheprobewitholderversionsofPCDMIS,youmaynotwanttoupdatethe
probefile.However,notethatuntilyouupdatetheprobefiletothelatestformat,somenewer
functionalityforthatprobemaynotbeavailableinthisversionofPCDMIS.
Ifyoucontinuetoreceivethismessagewheneveryouopenyourpartprogram,evenafterclicking
Yes,youshouldperformaFile|SaveAsoperation,andsavethepartprogramsothatitis
compatiblewiththisversionofPCDMIS.Seethe"SaveAs"topicformoreinformation.
ViewingProgramFilesInanExplorerWindow:
WhenviewingpartprogramandcadfilesinsideofWindow'sExplorer,youhavetheseviewing
options:
Explorer'sView|List,View|Details,andView|Iconmenuitemswilldisplayiconsfor
partprogramandCADfiles(.PRGand.CADfiles).Notethattheunderlyingcodefor
thesefilespointstodifferenticonsforeachPCDMISversion,so,ifyouhavetheproper
tools,youcouldmodifytheseiconstodisplaysomethingdifferentforeachversion,if
desired.

View|Iconsexample
Explorer'sView|TilesmenuitemshowsanicondisplayingthePCDMISversionin
whichthe.PRGor.CADfilewaslastused.Youcanalsomodifytheseiconsforeach
versionaswell.
View|TilesexampleshowingV4.0andV3.6partprograms
View|ThumbnailsshowsnonV4.0partprogramswithiconssimilartohowView|Tiles
displaysthem.However,forpartprogramfileslastusedinv4.0andabove,View|
ThumbnailsdisplaysanimageofthelastGraphicsDisplaywindowforthat.PRGfile.
View|TilesexampleshowingV4.0PartPrograms
SavingPartPrograms
SelectingtheFile|Saveoptionwillsaveanyworkthathasbeendoneinthecurrentprogram.
ThefirsttimeyousaveafiletheSaveAsdialogboxappears.Thisdialogboxallowsyouto
choosewheretosaveyourpartprogram(see"SaveAs"belowforadditionalinformation).
IfyouhavealreadysavedapartprogramtoapreviousversionofPCDMIS(fromtheSaveAs
dialogbox),PCDMISwilldisplayamessageonsubsequentsavesaskingifyouwanttosavethe
partprogramtotheoldversionselectedpreviously.Ifyouclick,
Yes,PCDMISsavesthepartprogramtotheoldversion.
No,PCDMISsavesthepartprogramtothecurrentversion.
Cancel,PCDMISendsthesaveprocesseswithoutsaving.
Ifyouwanttostopdisplayingthismessage,see"Warnings"inthe"SettingYourPreferences"
chapter.
SaveAs
SelectingtheFile|SaveAsoptionwilldisplaytheSaveAsdialogbox.

SaveAsDialogbox
Thisallowsyoutostorethecurrentpartprogramunderanewfilenameorunderaprevious
version.
UsingthePCDMISpartprogramlistyoucanchoosetosavethepartprograminaformat
usablebythecurrentversionandpreviousversionsofPCDMIS.Availableformatsinclude
version3.202andabove.IfyouaresavingthepartprogramtoapreviousversionofPCDMIS
thatdoesn'tsupportnewercommandsinthecurrentversion,PCDMISwillstoreunsupported
commandsinsideofDOCUMENTcomments.See"Document"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"
chapter.
ClicktheSavebuttontosavethepartprogram.TheCancelbuttonclosesthedialogboxwithout
saving.
SaveCADasReferenceThischeckboxletsyousavetheCADfileasareferencetothe
originalCADfile.UsethischeckboxtoreferenceyourCADmodelinsteadofcopyinganewone.
Thishelpssavediskspace.Thisoptionbecomesavailableforselectionwheneveryouhavea
CADmodelloadedforyourpartprogramandaccesstheSaveAsdialogbox.IftheoriginalCAD
filethatisbeingreferencediseverdeleted,moved,orrenamed,PCDMISwillpromptyouto
locateit.
PerformingFileOperations
UsingPCDMIS'sfileoperations,youcanmirror,copy,delete,andrenamepartprogramfiles.
Mirror
TheMirrorcommandallowstheusertocreateamirrorimagecopyintheX,Y,orZaxisofapart
program.
Tomirrorapartprogram:
1. SelecttheFile|Operations|Mirroroption.ThefollowingChoosePartto
Mirrordialogboxwillappear:
ChooseParttoMirrordialogbox
2. Selectthepartprogramfiletomirror.
3. Selecttheaxis(MirrorinX,Y,orZoptionbuttons)inwhichyouwanttomirror.
4. ClicktheOpenbutton.TheSaveMirroredPartAsdialogboxwillappearwith
thefilenameofthepartprogramyouselectedtomirror:
Savemirroredpartasdialogbox
5. ClicktheSavebutton.Thepartprogramwillbemirroredtowhicheverdirectory
youspecify.
Important:PCDMISalsoattemptstomirroryourprobe'sABtipangles.Ifyourprobedoesnot
havetheexactmirroredtipanglesalreadydefinedandcalibrated,PCDMISmaychoosethe
closestcalibratedtipangles.Itchoosescloselycalibratedtipanglesifthecalibratedtipangles
exist,andarewithinthewristangleamountspecifiedintheWristWarningDeltaboxonthe
Part/MachinetaboftheSetUpOptionsdialogbox.IfnocloselycalibratedABtipanglesexist,
thenPCDMISwillcreateperfectlymirroredyetnoncalibratedABtipangles.Seethe"Setup
Options:Part/Machinetab"topicinthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapter.
Copy

TheCopycommandallowstheusertocopyallthefilesassociatedwithagivenpartprogram.
Tocopyapartprogram:
1. SelecttheFile|Operations|Copymenuitem.TheCopyPartFilesFrom
dialogboxappearsaskingwhichfileyouwishtocopyandfromwhichfolder.
2. Navigatethroughthedirectorystructureandselectapartprogram.
3. ClicktheOpenbutton.TheCopyPartFilesTodialogboxappearsnext.
4. Clickonthepartprogramyouwanttocopysothatitsfilenameandextension
appearsintheFilenamebox.
5. Navigatetothefoldertowhichyouwanttocopytheprogram.
6. ClicktheOpenbutton.
Thefilesthatwillbecopiedarethe".PRG"file,the".CAD"file,andanyfilewiththesamebase
nameandanextensionintherange.001,.002,...,.999.
Delete
TheDeletecommandallowstheusertodeleteallthefilesassociatedwithagivenpartprogram.
Todeleteapartprogram:
1. SelecttheFile|Operations|Deletemenuitem.ADeletePartfilesdialogbox
willappear
2. Choosewhichpartprogramtodelete.
3. ClicktheOpenbutton.PCDMISwillbringupanotherbox,askingifyouaresure
thatyouwanttosendthefilestotheRecycleBin.
4. ClicktheYesbutton.
Thefilesthatwillbedeletedarethe".PRG"file,the".CAD"file,andanyfilewiththesamebase
nameandanextensionintherange.001,.002,...,.999.Anydeletedfileswillbesenttothe
RecycleBin.
Rename
TheRenamecommandallowstheusertorenameallthefilesassociatedwithagivenpart
program.
Torenameapartprogram:
1. SelecttheFile|Operations|Renamemenuitem.TheRenamePartFiles
Fromdialogboxwillappear,askingyouwhichfileyouwanttorename.
2. Selectwhichpartprogramtorename.
3. ClicktheOpenbutton.TheRenamePartFilesTodialogboxwillappear,asking
youforthenewnameofthefile.
4. TypeinthenewnameforthefileintheFilenamebox.
5. ClicktheOpenbutton.Thenamechangewillimmediatelybeapplied.
Thefilesthatwillberenamedarethe".PRG"file,the".CAD"file,andanyfilewiththesamebase
nameandanextensionintherange.001,.002,...,.999.
ChangingtheLanguage
SelectingFile|LanguagedisplaysthelanguagesthatareavailabletoPCDMISusers.Acheck
markindicatesthelanguagethatiscurrentlybeingused.Toswitchtoanewlanguage,simply
selectthedesiredlanguage.PCDMISwillautomaticallysaveyourpartprogram,exitfromPC
DMISandthenrestartit.Oncerestarted,PCDMISwillruninthenewlyselectedlanguage.
Grayedoutlanguagescannotbeselected.Agivenlanguagemaybeavailablebutnotinstalled
onyourcurrentsystem.
SettingPrinterOptions
ThePrinterSetupbuttonandmenuitemallowyouaccessthestandardWindowsPrintSetup
dialogbox.Thisdialogboxletsyouswitchbetweenavailableprinters,choosepapersize,page
orientation,andaccessotherprinterproperties.PCDMISwillthenusetheseoptionswhen
printingtheEditwindow,theInspectionReport,ortheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
ASamplePrintSetupDialogBox
Forinformationonthisdialogboxandtheoptionsavailable,consultthehelpfilethatcamewith
yourWindowsoperatingsystem.Foranyadvancedprinterspecificproperties,youmayneedto
consultdocumentationspecifictoyourprinter.
PrintingtheGraphicsDisplayWindow
PrintingtheGraphicsDisplayWindow
PCDMISletsyousendthecurrentcontentsoftheGraphicsDisplaywindowtoyourprinter.
SelecttheFile|Printing|GraphicsWindowPrint menuoptiontodothis.PCDMISwilldisplay
aWindowsPrintSetupdialogbox.ClickOKtosendthereporttotheprintershowninthedialog
box.
Beforeprinting,youcansettheoutputoptions,andpreviewyourprintjob.
SettingOutputandPrinterOptionsfortheGraphicsDisplayWindow
SelectingtheFile|Printing|GraphicsWindowPrintSetup menuoptionwilldisplaythe
PrinterSetupandOutputOptionsdialogbox.

PrinterSetupandOptionsdialogbox
Thisdialogboxisusedtosetupyourprinteranddeterminevariousdisplayoption.Theoptions
availableinthePrinterOptionsarea,allowyoutoselectthetypeofgraphicalviewthatwillbe
printed.Theseinclude:
ScaletoFitonaSinglePageThisoptionscalesanygraphicalimagetofitonasingle
page.
PrintVisibleScreenAreaThisoptionprintsonlythecurrentvisiblescreenarea.Ifyou're
zoomedinonafeature,itwillprintonlywhat'sonthescreenandnottheentirepart.
PrintCompleteViewsThisoptionprintseachviewyouhavedefinedusingtheView
LayoutareaoftheViewSetupdialogboxonitsownpage.Forexample,ifyou'reshowing
theZ+viewandtheY viewofapartinyourGraphicsDisplaywindow,PCDMISwillprint
twoseparatepages,onewiththeZ+viewandonewiththeY view.
PrintCompleteViewsw/CurrentScaleThisoptionactslikethePrintCompleteViews
option,exceptthatitprintsatthecurrentscale.Ifyouhavezoomedinontheimage,PC
DMISwillstillprinttheentireview,butwillsplittheimageamongvariouspages.
TheDrawRulerscheckboxwillalsoprintanyrulersyoumayhavedisplayedonthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.Todisplayrulers,usetheViewSetupdialogbox(Edit|Graphics
DisplayWindow|ViewSetup).See"SettinguptheScreenView"inthe"EditingtheCAD
Display"chapter.
ClicktheOKbuttontosaveanychanges.
PreviewingthePrintJob
YoucaneasilypreviewwhatwillbeprintedfromtheGraphicsDisplaywindowbyselectingthe
File|Printing|GraphicsWindowPrintPreviewmenuoption.APrintPreviewwindowappears.
PrintPreviewwindowshowingcontentsofGraphicsDisplaywindow
Thebuttonsatthetopofthewindowperformthesefunctions:
ThePrintbuttonopensupastandardPrintSetupdialogboxthatwillallowyoutosendthe
printjobtotheprinter.
TheNextPageandPrevPagebuttonscyclethroughaprintjobthathasmultiplepages.
TheOnePageorTwoPagestogglebuttondetermineshowmanypagesaredisplayedat
onetimeinthepreviewwindow.
TheZoomInandZoomOutbuttonsallowyoutotakeaquickcloserlookatapageinthe
previewwindow.Itdoesn'taffectthedisplayofwhat'ssenttotheprinter.
TheClosebuttonclosesthepreviewwindow.
PrintingtheEditWindow
PCDMISletsyoueasilyandquicklyprintthecontentsofyourEditwindow.Youcansendthe
contentsoftheEditwindowtoyourprinterintheseways:
SelectFile|Printing|EditWindowPrint.
ClickthePrinticonfromtheEditWindowtoolbar.
PressF4.
PreviewingthePrintJob
Topreviewwhattheprintoutwilllooklike,selectFile|Printing|EditWindowPrintPreview.
APrintPreviewwindowappears:

PrintPreviewwindowshowingcontentsoftheEditwindow
Thebuttonsatthetopofthewindow,performthesefunctions:
ThePrintbuttonopensupastandardPrintSetupdialogboxthatwillallowyou
tosendtheprintjobtotheprinter.
TheNextPageandPrevPagebuttonscyclethroughaprintjobthathasmultiple
pages.
TheOnePageorTwoPagestogglebuttondetermineshowmanypagesare
displayedatonetimeinthepreviewwindow.
TheZoomInandZoomOutbuttonsallowyoutotakeaquickcloserlookata
pageinthepreviewwindow.Itdoesn'taffectthedisplayofwhat'ssenttotheprinter.
TheClosebuttonclosesthepreviewwindow.
Important: WhenprintingtheEditwindow'scontents,youshoulduseaTrueTypefont(suchas
CourierNew),otherwisecharactersorlinesmaynotlineupasexpected.Tochangethefonts
usedintheEditwindowandinyourreports,seethe"ToCustomizeUserInterfaceFonts"topicin
the"NavigatingtheUserInterface"chapter.
SettingOutputOptions
YoucansettheoutputoptionsforEditwindowprinttasksbyusingthesamePrintOptions
dialogboxusedfortheoutputofyourInspectionReport.See"PrintingtheInspectionReport"for
information.Tochangeprinters,setpageorientation,ormodifyotherprinteroptionsusetheFile|
PrinterSetup menuitem.
PCDMISletsyousendyourtextbasedinspectionreporttoavarietyofoutputdevicesortoafile.
PCDMISsupportsawidevarietyofprintersandplotters.PleasecontactyourPCDMISsales
representativeifyouhaveanyquestionsconcerninghardwarecompatibility.
Usethiscapabilitytoprintinspectionreportsthatincludeagraphicalrepresentationofthepart.
Todothis,selecttheFile|Printing|PrintReportmenuoption.Beforeprinting,youcansetthe
outputoptionsforyourprintjob.
Important: WhenprintingtheInspectionReport,youshoulduseaTrueTypefont(suchas
CourierNew),otherwisecharactersorlinesmaynotlineupasexpected.Tochangethefonts
usedintheEditwindowandinyourreports,seethe"ToCustomizeUserInterfaceFonts"topicin
the"NavigatingtheUserInterface"chapter.
SettingOutputandPrinterOptions
SettingOutputandPrinterOptionsfortheEditWindow
SelectingtheFile|Printing|ReportPrintSetupmenuoptionwilldisplaytheReportPrint
Optionsdialogbox.
ReportPrintOptionsdialogbox
YoucanusethisdialogboxtotellPCDMISwhereyouwanttosendtheinspectionreport.You
cansendittoafile,theprinter,oroutputitasaDMISfileoranycombinationofthethree.Todo
this:
1. SelecttheFilecheckbox,thePrintercheckbox,theDMISOutputcheckbox,or
anycombinationofthethree.
2. Nexttoeachcheckboxcertainoptionswillbecomeavailabledependingonwhat
youselectedinthepreviousstep.

3. ClicktheOKbutton(orpressENTER).ThePrintOptionsdialogboxcloses.
SettingPrintingOptionsforMarkedSets
PCDMISalsodisplaysaninstanceoftheReportPrintOptionsdialogboxwheneveraMarked
Setiscreated.(See"CreatingandExecutingMarkedSets"in"EditingaPartProgram".)This
allowsyoutodefineprintingoptionsspecificonlytothenewlycreatedMarkedSet.Alternately,if
youwouldratherusealreadydefinedprintsettingsusedbyyourpartprogramatlarge,youcan
selecttheUseGlobalPrintSettingscheckbox.
TodefineprintingoptionsforexistingMarkedSets,selectthesetintheMarkedSetswindowthen
selectFile|Printing|ReportWindowPrintSetup.
OutputtoaFileUsingExpressions
PCDMIS3.6andhigherallowsyoutouseexpressionsintheFileboxofthePrintOptions
dialogbox.Withthisfunctionality,youcanuseyourpartprogramcodealongwiththePrint
Optionsdialogboxtodynamicallychangethedestinationdirectoryfortheoutputfile.
Forexample,supposetwousers,JohnandAmy,wanttosendthesamepartprogram's
inspectionreporttoanexistingsubdirectorybasedoffoftheusername.Insteadofopeningthe
PrintOptionsdialogboxforeachuser,andchangingthedestinationdirectoryandthenameof
thereport,youcansimplyhavetheusertypetheirnameintoaCommentandthenuse
assignmentandflowcontrolcommandstostorethedifferentdestinationdirectoriesandreport
namesinavariable,likethis:
C1 =COMMENT/INPUT,YES,Typeyourname:
IF/C1.INPUT=="John"
ASSIGN/VAR_FILENAME="C:\\inspectionreports\\John\\John.rtf"
COMMENT/OPER,NO,VAR_FILENAME
END_IF/
ELSE_IF/C1.INPUT=="Amy"
ASSIGN/VAR_FILENAME="C:\\inpectionreports\\Amy\\Amy.rtf"
END_ELSEIF/
ELSE/
ASSIGN/VAR_FILENAME="C:\\inspectionreports\\"+C1.INPUT+".rtf"
END_ELSE/
TheninsidetheFileboxofthePrintOptionsdialogbox,youcantypetheVAR_FILENAME variable
asshownhere:
VAR_FILENAMEinFilebox
Thereafter,wheneveryouexecutethepartprogram,ifJohnistheuser,thereport,John.rtfwill
getsavedtohisdirectoryifAmyistheuser,Amy.rtfwillgetsavedtoherdirectoryifsomeother
usertypeshisname,itwillgotothedefaultC:\Inspectionreports\directory.
Forinformationoncomments,seethe"InsertingProgrammerComments"topic
inthe"InsertingReportCommands"chapter
Forinformationonexpressionsandvariables,seethe"UsingExpressionsand
Variables"chapter.
Forinformationonflowcontrolstatements,seethe"BranchingbyUsingFlow
Control"chapter
OutputtoaFile:
Iftheoutputissenttoafile,itcanbesavedineitheraRichTextFormat(.rtf)orPortable
DocumentFormat(.pdf)file.Thefilenameisinitiallygeneratedandformattedtohavethesame
nameasthepartprogramplusanappendednumericalindexbeforetheextension.AlthoughPC
DMISgeneratesthisinitialfilename,thenamedoesnotneedtofollowthedefaultformatand
maybechanged.
AppendingaFile:
IfAppendisselected,PCDMISaddsthecurrentdatafromtheinspectionreporttothe
selectedfile.Notethatthecompletepathmustbespecifiedotherwise,PCDMISwillassume
thesamedirectoryasthepartprogram.Also,ifthefiledoesnotexist,itwillbecreatedwhen
generatingthereport.
RTFLimitations:DuetoalimitationwithhowtheRTFdriverworkswithPCDMIS'stemplate
approachtoreporting,whenappendingtoanRTFfile,PCDMISonlysendsthecontentsof
theTextReportingobject,regardlessofanyotherobjectsthatmayexistinyourcurrent
reporttemplate.
Additionally,ifyouchoosetoappendtoanRTFfile,itmustbetoafilethatyouhavealways

usedwiththeAppendoption.YoucannotappendtoanRTFfilethatyoufirstusedwith
OverwriteorAuto.
OverwritingaFile:
PCDMISoverwritestheselectedfilewiththecurrentinspectionreportdata.Notethatthe
completepathmustbespecifiedotherwise,PCDMISwillassumethesamedirectoryasthe
partprogram.Also,ifthefiledoesnotexist,itwillbecreatedwhengeneratingthereport.
PromptingforaDestination:
IfPrompt isselected,PCDMISwilldisplayaSaveAsdialogboxthroughwhichyoucan
choosethedestinationfileforthereport.
UsingtheAutoOption:
PCDMISgeneratesthereportfilenameautomaticallyusingthenumberintheIndexbox.
Thenameofthegeneratedfilenamewillhavethesamenameasthepartprogram
appendedbythenumericalindexandextension.Also,thegeneratedfilewillbelocatedinthe
samedirectoryasthepartprogram.Ifafileexistswiththesamenameasthegenerated
filename,theAutooptionwillincrementtheindexvalueuntilauniquefilenameisfound.
Note:Afterthereportprints,PCDMISinternallyupdatesthevalueinIndextothenext
number.ItalsochangesthefilenameinthePrintOptionsdialogbox,sothatitshowsthe
newlyincrementedfilename.
RichTextFormat(RTF):
IftheRichTextFormat(RTF)optionisselected,PCDMISgeneratesthereportusingthe
MicrosoftRichTextFormat(.rtffile)forinterchangingdocuments.ImagesinRTFreportswill
havealightborderaroundthem.
Bydefault,PCDMISgeneratesRTFreportsusinganAmyuniRTFconverter.Thisessentially
ordersinformationinsideseveraltextboxesinsidetheRTFfile.Thisisneededforaccurate
positioningofreporttemplateelementsinsidetheRTFreport.Toproperlyviewthereport,
youshoulduseMicrosoftWordandsetthedocument'sviewtoPrintLayout.Ifyoufind
editingthereportinthisformatdifficulttoworkwith,youmightwanttoconsidergeneratingan
oldstyleRTFreport.
GeneratinganOldStyleRTFReport
PCDMISprovidesawaytogenerateanoldstyleRTFreport,suchasusedinversion
3.7andearlier.Todothis,followthisprocedure:
1. ClosedownPCDMIS.
2. LaunchthePCDMISSettingsEditor.
3. InsidetheSettingsEditor,expandthePrintingsection,andfindthe
DoNotUseAmyuniRTFsetting.
4. SettheCurrentValueto1,clickSaveSetting,andclickOK.
Note:ThissettingonlyworksiftheRTFoutputisdoneusingtheFile|
Printing|ReportWindowPrintSetupmenuoption.Ifyouhaveinserteda
PRINT/REPORTcommand(Insert|ReportCommand|PrintCommand)
andyouwantthatcommandtogenerateyourRTFoutput,setthevalueto2.
5. RestartPCDMIS.
6. MakesuretheReportwindowissettoprintthereportinatextonly
format.Todothis,rightclickonthewhitespaceattheendoftheReport
windowandselecttheUseTextModeDimensionReportingcheckbox.
See"ChangingtheReportWindow'sContents"inthe"Reporting
MeasurementResults"chapterformoreinformation.
PortableDocumentFormat(PDF):
IfthePortableDocumentFormat(PDF)optionisselected,PCDMISgeneratesthereportusing
theAdobePortableDocumentFormat(.pdffile)forelectronicfilesharing.DimensionsinPDF
formatwillnothavethedefaultbluebackgroundcolorordisplaythedimensionsymbol.
Note:Ifnotalreadyinstalledonyourcomputer,youwillneedtoinstallthefreeAdobe
AcrobatReaderinordertoview.pdffiles.YoucandownloaditfromAdobe'sWebsite
at:http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
UseGlobalPrintSettings:
ThischeckboxbecomesavailableifyoufirstselectamarkedsetfromtheMarkedSets
windowandthenaccessthisdialogbox.TheUseGlobalPrintSettingscheckbox
determineswhetherornotPCDMISusesglobaloutputfileparametersforthemarkedset.
Selectingthischeckboxoverridestheveryspecificdefaultprintingoptionsusedformarked
sets,withthepartprogram'sglobalsettings,givingyougreatercontrolovertheoutput.
Selectingthischeckboxwillgiveyoumorecontrolovertheprinttofilenamingschemes
usedwithmarkedsets.
Note:TheHyperReportsInlinecheckboxhasbeenremovedfromthisdialogboxbecausethe
abilitytocreateHyperViewreportsinlinewasafunctionoftheoldReportmodethatexistedprior
toversion4.0.WhileyoucanstillexecuteHyperViewreportsbyinsertingthemintoyourpart
program,youcannotedittheminversionslaterthan4.0.Formoreinformation,seethe
"ReportingMeasurementResults"chapter.
ControllingFileSizebyChangingthePrintResolution
Inversion4.2andhigherifyourreportcontainsimagesofyourpartmodel,PCDMISbydefault
printstheseimagesatyourprinter'shighestresolutioncapacity.Thismeansreportsshowingpart
modelsandsenttoafilemayhavealargerfilesizethanexpected.
Youcancontroltheresolution,andinturncontrolthereport'sfilesize,bychangingthevalueof
theMaxPrintResoution entryinthePrintingsectionofthePCDMISSettingsEditor.See
ModifyingRegistryEntries"forinformationonhowtochangeregistryentries.
MaxPrintResolution definesthedotsperinch(dpi)thatyourprintingdevicewillgeneratewhen
printingCADimages.Youcanchangethisvaluetodefinetheproperbalancebetweenfilesize
andimagequalitytosuityourneeds.Thedefaultvalueis1,000,000dpitherebyeffectivelyusing
anyprinter'smaximumprintresolutioncapacity.Ifyoudefineavaluelessthanyourprinter's
maximumprintresolutionyouwillseeadecreaseinfilesize.Forexample,ifyourprintercanprint
upto500dpibutyouchangetheentrytoasmallervalue,like70dpi,youwillnoticeadecrease
infilesize.NotethatolderversionsofPCDMIS(beforeversion4.2)usedthescreenresolutionof
96dpi."
OutputasaDMISOutputFile:
IftheDMISOutputcheckboxisselected,PCDMISallowsyoutosavetheinspectionreport's
informationasaDMISOutputfile.Threecheckboxes(OverwriteOutputFile,Output
TheoreticalValues,andOutputFeatureswithDimensions)andaSaveAsbuttonbecome

available.BydefaultPCDMISwillautomaticallygeneratetheoutputfilewheneveryouexecute
thepartprogram,incrementingthenumberonthefilenameeachtimeitisexecuted.
SaveAs
ClickingtheSaveAsbuttonopensaSaveAsdialogbox.Thisallowsyouto
savetheinspectionreportorEditwindowinformationtoafileanddirectoryofyour
choiceinaDMISoutputformat.Availablefileformatsusethe.dmo,.dms,.dmi,and
.dmisextensions.PCDMISdoesnotsavethefileonceyouclickSavefromtheSave
Asdialogbox.Instead,itwillcreatetheoutputfilewiththespecifiednamethenext
timeyouexecutethepartprogram.
Note:Itdoesn'tmatterwhatfileformatyouchoosesincetheyallproduceidentical
outputsanyway.Thesedifferentextensionsmerelyprovidecustomersthatwork
withDMISfiles,afiletypewithwhichtheyarefamiliar.
However,donotconfusea.dmsor.dmimeasurementreportfromthisdialogbox
witha.dmsor.dmifilecreatedfromtheDMISExportfunctionality.Exportingan
entirepartprogramsothatitrunsinaDMISenabledsoftwareisquitedifferentfrom
viewinganinspectionreportsavedintheDMISOutputstandard.
OverwriteOutputFile
IfyouselectOverwriteOutputFile,PCDMISwillsimplyoverwritetheold
outputfilewiththenewone.Ifyoudon'tselectthischeckbox,PCDMIS
automaticallyincrementsthefilenamespecifiedintheSaveAsdialogboxwithout
overwritinganypreviousfile.
Forexample,ifyouhadpreviouslyselected"test.dmo"asyouroutputfileand
OverwriteOutputFilewasnotselected,thenexttimethepartprogramwas
executed,PCDMISwouldsaveanewfileas"test1.dmo".Newexecutionsofthepart
programwouldbesavedasfilesincrementedinthismanner.
IfyouplaceOverwriteOutputFileinitsthirdstate(lightgraycheckmark),PC
DMISwillopenthespecifiedfileinappendmode.ThisfollowstheDMISconvention
thatallowsyoutoenable,disable,andenableagaintheoutputtothesamefile.In
PCDMIS,thiswillfunctioncorrectlyonlyifthefilewasinitiallyopenedwith
OverwriteOutputFileselected.
OutputTheoreticalValues
IfyouselectOutputTheoreticalValues,PCDMISoutputsalltheoreticalvalues
alongwiththemeasuredvaluestotheoutputDMIS file.Ifyoudon'tselectthischeck
box,notheoreticalvaluesareincludedinthereport.
IfyouplacetheOutputTheoreticalValuescheckboxinitsthirdstate(lightgray
checkmark),onlythosetheoreticalvaluesexplicitlyoutputbytheoriginal DMIS
programareoutputinthereport.Thisthirdstateisusefulwhenthepartprogramis
createdbyaDMISimportprocess,andyouneedtomaintainthesameDMISoutput
format.
OutputFeatureswithDimensions
IfyouselectOutputFeatureswithDimensions,PCDMISwillkeepthe
measuredfeaturesandassociatedtolerancestogetherintheoutputfile.PCDMIS
willwritethemeasurementresultsimmediatelybeforetheirassociatedtolerance
resultsforeachdimensionassociatedtothefeatureitself.
Ifafeatureisnotassociatedwithanytolerance,PCDMISwillnotgenerateany
output.
Ifyoudon'tselectOutputFeatureswithDimensions,themeasurementresults
arewrittenexactlywhenthefeatureismeasuredandnotlaterwhenPCDMIS
executestheassociateddimensions.
Note:Thenumericportionofthefilenameshouldnotexceedmorethan10digits.Otherwise,
youruntheriskofoverwritingolderoutputfiles.
OutputtothePrinter:
Thissendstheoutputtoyourcurrentdefaultprinter.
ThePrintBackgroundColorscheckboxletsyoudeterminewhetherornotthereportprints
backgroundcolors.Bydefault,PCDMISselectsthischeckboxandprintsthebackgroundcolors.
Ifyouclearthischeckbox,PCDMISwillnotprintanybackgroundcolors.Ifyouwanttoclearor
displaythebackgroundcolorfromareportalreadyintheReportwindow,makesureyouclickthe
RedrawtheReporticonfromtheReportingtoolbar.
SampleReportwithBackgroundColorsPrinted
SampleReportwithoutBackgroundColorsPrinted

Note:Incertaincasesyoumaycontinuetoseesomebackgroundcolorsinyourreportevenif
you'veturnedoffthedisplayofbackgroundcolorshere.Thisisduetoaspecialbackgroundcolor
settingthatexistsinsidecertainreporttemplateobjectsandisnotcontrolledbythischeckbox.
Bydefault,theTextReportObjectandtheReportobjectthatexistinPCDMISreporttemplates
haveafaintlightgreenbackgroundcolorintheircolorscheme.FortheTextReportObjectthis
existstohelpshowthelimitsoftheobjectinsidethetemplate.Ifthisbackgroundcolorposesa
problem,accesstheColorpropertyfortheseobjectsinsidethereporttemplate,andchange
theseobjects'backgroundcolorstowhite.See"ChangingtheReport'sTextColors"inthe
"ReportingMeasurementResults".
LaunchingLegacyApplications
PCDMISallowsyoutolaunchexistingLegacyapplicationsfromwithinPCDMIS.Simplyselect
theappropriatemenuoptionfromtheFile:'|'Launch'sub''menu.
''
ImportingaCADFile
1. SelecttheFile|Import|CAD... menuoption.AnOpendialogboxappears.
2. Navigatetothedirectorycontainingthefiletoimport.
3. ClickImportwhenreadytoimportthefile.PCDMISwillimporttheCADfile.
YoureferenceoneCADfilefrommultiplePartPrograms.Seethe"ReferencingOneCADfilefor
MultiplePartPrograms"sectionformoreinformationonhowtodothis.
ReferencingOneCADfileforMultiplePartPrograms
InpreviousversionsofPCDMIS,creatinganewpartprogramthatusedthesameIGESfileas
otherpartprogramsautomaticallycreatedanew.CADfile.Inversion3.5andaboveyoucan
havemultiplepartsreferenceasingle.CADfile.Thisisespeciallyusefulformultiplepart
programsthatusethesameCADmodel.IfyouareusinglargeCADmodels,youcansavea
substantialamountofdiskspacebyreferencingjustoneCADfileformultiplepartprograms.
Toreferencea.CADfileusedinanotherpartprogram:
1. SelecttheFile|Import|CADByReference... menuoption.AnOpendialog
boxappears.
3. ClickImportwhenreadytoimportthefile.PCDMISwillimporttheCADfile.
4. Followtheinstructionsinthe"ToImportaDataFileintoaPartProgram"topicin
thischapter,andwhentheImportDatadialogboxappears,selectCADReferenceas
thedatatypeforimportation,thencontinuewiththeimportationprocess.
Note:Circularreferencesto.CADfilesaren'tpossibleandwillalwaysdisplayanerrormessage.
Anerrorwouldoccur,forexample,ifyoucreatedanewpartprogram,importedanIGESfile,
savedthepartprogram,andthenlaterattemptedtoimportitsown.CADfile.
Onceimported,usingtheView|CADInfomenuoptiontoviewinformationaboutaCADelement
willdisplaythefilepathforthereferencedCADfile(see"ViewingCADInformation"inthe"Editing
theCADDisplay"chapter).
Note:BeawarethatmodificationsmadetotheCADmodeleithertheoriginalCADmodelora
referencedCADmodelwillbemadetoallotherpartprogramsbasedonthatCADmodel.For
example,ifyoumakechangestotheoriginalCADmodel,anymodelsreferencedfromthe
originalwillhavethesamechangesmade.Conversely,ifyoumakechangestoareferenced
model,thentheoriginalmodelalsohasthesamechangesmade.
ImportingaCATIAorCATIA5File
PCDMISallowsyoutotranslateaCATIAorCATIA5fileandimportitintoaPCDMISpart
program.ThistypeofimportationdiffersfrominterfacingdirectlywiththeCATIACADfileas
describedin"InstallingandUsingCATIADirectCADInterface"inthe"DirectlyInterfacingaCAD
File"chapter.
ToimportaCATIAfile:
1. OpenthepartprograminPCDMISintowhichyouaregoingtoimporttheCATIAfile.
2. SelecttheFile|Import|CATIAorCATIA5menuoption.AnOpendialogboxwill
appear.
3. ChooseCATIA4FilesorCATIA5FilesfromtheFilesofTypelistatthebottomofthe
dialogbox.PCDMISlistsprogramfilesendingwithextensionsaccordingtowhatyou
selected.
IfyouselectedCATIA4Files,thenPCDMISlistsfileswith.mod,.exp,.iso,and
.catfilenameextensions.

IfyouselectedCATIA5Files,thenPCDMISlistsfileswith.CATPartand
.CATProductfilenameextensions.
4. Navigatethroughtheavailabledirectoriesuntilyoufindthedirectorycontainingthe
desiredCATIAfileandselectthatfilefromthelist.
5. ClicktheImportbutton. PCDMISimportstheCADfile,andaprogressbarappears
indicatingitsprogress.
ImportingaDESFile
1. SelecttheFile|Import|DES...menuoption. TheFileOpendialogbox
appears.
2. Browsethroughyourharddrive,andselectaDES(DataFileExchange)file.
3. ClicktheImportbutton. TheDesFiledialogboxappears.
DESFiledialogbox
4. SelecteitherFeatureorFixturetospecifywhattypeofdataisimported.Ifyou
selectFeatureyoucanselecttheUseSymbolscheckboxtousefeaturelabels.
5. SelecttheXYZ(LWH)orXZY(LHW)optiontospecifytheorientationforthe
importeddata.
6. SelecttheMetricoptioniftheneededunitsarenotspecifiedintheDESfile.
7. SelecttheExplodepolylinestopointsoptiontoconvertimportedlinesinto
points.Additionally,youcanchoosetokeeptheimportedpolylinesbyselectingthe
Keeppolylinesoption.
8. ClickProcesstoimporttheDESfile.
9. ClickOKtoaccepttheprocessedfile.
ImportingaDXF/DWGFile
1. SelecttheFile|Import|DXF... menuoption.AnOpendialogboxappears.
2. SelectthedatatypeyouwanttoimportfromtheFilesofTypelist.
4. ClickImportwhenreadytoimportthefile.PCDMISwilldisplaytheDXF/DWG
ImportStatusdialogbox.
DXF/DWGImportStatusdialogbox
5. ClickOKwhentheDXForDWGfilehasbeentranslated.Ifthetranslationfails,theOK
buttonwillnotbeavailable.ClickCanceltodeclinetheadditionoftheimportedfile.
ImportinganIGESFile
1. SelecttheFile|Import|IGESmenuoption.AnOpendialogboxappears.
2. Navigatethroughtheavailabledirectoriestothedirectorycontainingyourpart
file.
3. Selectthefile.
4. ClicktheImportbutton.PCDMISnextdisplaystheIGESFiledialogbox.The
IGESFiledialogboxdisplaysallofthepertinentinformationregardingtheindicateddata
file.
IGESFiledialogbox
5. IfyouwanttodeterminewhatCADdatagetsprocessedanddisplayed,clickthe
Setupbutton(see"AlteringtheImported/ExportedImageDisplay").
6. ToviewspecificIGESfeaturedata,clicktheDatabutton(see"UsingtheIGES
DataDialogBox").
7. Toattachthisfiletotheselectedpartprogram,simplyclicktheProcess
commandbutton.PCDMISwillindicatewhenthefileis100%processed.
8. Ifyouwanttomanipulatea2DCADdrawingthreedimensionally,thereby
creatingdesired3Dlevels,clicktheMake3Dbutton.Ifyoudothis,youroriginaldata
shouldbedefinedinasingleplaneparalleltotheZ(=0)plane.Forcompleteinformation
onthisoption,seethe"MakingCAD3DbyusingtheCreateLevelswindow"topicinthe
"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter.
9. Tocompletetheaction,clicktheOKbutton,andPCDMISwillreturnopenthe
partprogram.

SelectingtheCancelbuttonwillterminatetheentireoperationandclosetheIGESFiledialog
box.
Seetheappendix,"WorkinginOfflineMode"forinformationregardingthedifferentinputfile
formats.
UsingtheIGESDataDialogBox
TheIGESDatadialogboxallowsyoutoclickonaspecificfeatureinthelistboxtodisplay
informationregardingthatfeature'sdiameter,XYZnominal,etc.
IGESDatadialogbox
ToviewinformationabouttheCADdatayou'reimportinginsidetheIGESDatadialogbox,follow
thisprocedure:
1. BeginimportingaCADorIGESfile(see"ImportinganIGESFile").
2. OncetheIGESFiledialogboxappears,clickProcesstoimportthedata.
3. Onceit'scomplete,clicktheDatabutton.TheIGESDatadialogboxappears.
Make3D
TheMake3DbuttontellsPCDMIStomanipulatea2DCADdrawingthreedimensionally,
creatingdesired3Dlevels.TheoriginaldatashouldbedefinedinasingleplaneparalleltotheZ
(=0)plane.
Forcompleteinformationonthisoption,seethe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter.
ImportinganIGES(Alternate)File
PCDMISprovidesanalternatemethodforimportinganIGESfileasidefromthestandardIGES
importoption.FilesareprocessedsimilarmethodusedforGDX,DXF,etc.
ToimportanIGESfile:
1. SelecttheFile|Import|IGES(Alternate)...menuoption.AnOpendialogbox
appears.
4. ClickImportwhenreadytoimportthefile.PCDMISwilldisplaytheIGESImport
Statusdialogbox.
IGESImportStatusdialogbox
5. ClickOKwhentheIGESfilehasbeentranslated.Ifthetranslationfails,theOKbutton
willnotbeavailable.ClickCanceltodeclinetheadditionoftheimportedfile.
ImportingaPro/ENGINEERFile
PCDMISallowsyoutotranslateaPro/ENGINEERfileandimportitintoaPCDMISpart
program.ThistypeofimportationdiffersfrominterfacingdirectlywiththePro/ENGINEERCAD
fileasdescribedinthe"InstallingandUsingPro/ENGINEERDirectCADInterface"inthe"Directly
InterfacingwithaCADFile"appendix.
ToimportaPro/ENGINEERfile:
1. OpenthepartprograminPCDMISintowhichyouaregoingtoimportthe
Pro/ENGINEERfile.
2. SelecttheFile|Import|ProEngineermenuoption.AnOpendialogboxwillappear.
3. ChoosePro/ENGINEERFilesfromtheFilesofTypelistatthebottomofthedialogbox.
PCDMISlistsprogramfilesendingwiththeseextensions:.prtand.asm.
4. Navigatethroughtheavailabledirectoriesuntilyoufindthedirectorycontainingthe
desiredPro/ENGINEERfileandselectthatfilefromthelist.
5. ClicktheImportbutton.PCDMISimportstheCADfile,andaprogressbarappears
indicatingitsprogress.
ImportingaSTEPFile
1. SelecttheFile|Import|STEP...menuoption.AnOpendialogboxappears.
4. ClickImportwhenreadytoimportthefile.PCDMISwilldisplaytheSTEP

STEPImportStatusdialogbox
5. ClickOKwhentheSTEPfilehasbeentranslated.Ifthetranslationfails,theOKbutton
ImportinganSTLFile
Thestereolithography(STL)format,anASCIIorbinaryfileusedinmanufacturing,providesalist
ofthetriangularfacetsthatdescribeacomputergeneratedsolidmodel.Thisformatisthe
standardinputformostrapidprototypingmachines.
SampleImportedSTLFile
ToimportanSTLfile,
1. OpenthepartprograminPCDMISintowhichyouaregoingtoimporttheDMIS
programfile.
2. SelecttheFile|Import|STL...menuoption.AnOpendialogboxwillappear.
3. Navigatethroughtheavailabledirectoriesuntilyoufindthedirectorycontaining
thedesiredSTLfileandselectthatfilefromthelist.TheSTLfilecanbeinASCIIor
binaryformat.
4. ClicktheImportbutton.PCDMISimportsthedataasalistoffacetsthatforma
solidmodel.
ImportingaUnigraphicsorParasolidFile
PCDMISallowsyoutotranslateaUnigraphicsorParasolidfileandimportitintoaPCDMISpart
program.ThistypeofimportationdiffersfrominterfacingdirectlywiththeUnigraphicsCADfile
describedintheDirectCADInterfaceshelpfile.
ToimportaUnigraphicsorParsolidfile:
1. ToimportaUnigraphicsorParasolidfile:
UnigraphicsorParasolidfile.Yourhardwarekey(portlock)mustbeprogrammedwith
theUnigraphicsoptiontoimportParasolidfiles.
3. SelectFile|Import|UnigraphicsorFile|Import|Parasolid.AnOpendialog
boxwillappear.
thedesiredUnigraphicsorParasolidfileandselectthatfilefromthelist.
5. ClicktheImportbutton.PCDMISimportstheCADfile,andaprogressbar
appearsindicatingitsprogress.
ImportingaVDAFSFile
1. SelecttheFile|Import|VADFS... menuoption.AnOpendialogboxappears.
4. ClickImportwhenreadytoimportthefile.PCDMISwilldisplaytheVDAFS
VDAFSImportStatusdialogbox
5. ClickOKwhentheVDAFSfilehasbeentranslated.Ifthetranslationfails,theOKbutton
ImportinganXYZIJKFile
XYZIJKFileshavea.xyz XYZIJKfiletypesaresimplefileswithfeatureinformationintheform
extension.Youcanviewthe ofxyzcoordinateswithorwithoutavector.
valuescontainedina.xyzfile
byusinganystandardtext
editor.
ToimportanXYZIJKfile:
1. SelecttheFile|Import|XYZ... menuoption.AnOpendialogboxappears.
3. ClickImportwhenreadytoimportthefile.PCDMISinterpretsandimportsthe
selectedXYZIJKfile.
Howmanynumbersthereareoneachlinedeterminewhatfeatureiscreated.PCDMISreadsthe
rowsofthe.xyzdatafileandconvertsthepointstothefollowingfeaturedependingonthe
amountofnumbersperrow:
NumbersperRowDescription CADFeatureGenerated
st
3 1 number=Xvalue Pointwithnovector
nd
2 number=Yvalue

rd
3 number=Zvalue
st
4 1
nd
number=Xvalue CADcirclewithaworkplanebasedvector
2 number=Yvalue
rd
3 number=Zvalue
th
4 number=diameter
5 1st number=Xvalue Pointwithnovector
2nd number=Yvalue
3rd number=Zvalue
th
4 number=nothing
th
5 number=nothing
6 1st number=Xvalue Pointwithavector
2nd number=Yvalue
3rd number=Zvalue
4th number=Ivalue
th
5 number=Jvalue
th
6 number=Kvalue
7 1st number=Xvalue Circlewithvector
2nd number=Yvalue
3rd number=Zvalue
4th number=Ivalue
5th number=Jvalue
6th number=Kvalue
7th number=diameter
8+ 1st number=Xvalue Pointwithavector
2nd number=Yvalue
3rd number=Zvalue
4th number=Ivalue
5th number=Jvalue
6th number=Kvalue
7th number=nothing
8th number=nothing
Example:IfyourXYZfilecontainedalinewith25,280,750,25 PCDMISwouldcreateacircle
withthecenteredatx=25,y=280,andz=750withadiameterof25.
Afterselectingthefiletoimport,PCDMISdisplaysthefeaturesconstructedfromtheXYZfilein
theXYZFiledialogbox.
XYZFiledialogbox
Note:Beawarethattheorderinwhichthefeaturesarecreatedinthe.xyzfileandtheorderin
whichtheyaregeneratedinsidePCDMISmaynotbethesame.
AfterclickingOK,PCDMISdisplaysthecreatedCADfeaturesintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
NotesonXYZIJKFiles
PCDMISwillreadinanytextfilethatcontainsXYZ(andpossiblyIJK)data.Thefileshould
containthenominal(theoretical)inspectionpointsthatneedtobemeasured.Thefilemustfollow
theserules:
1. Columns16inthefirstlineofthefilemustcontainthecharacters"XYZIJK".
ThisisthekeywordthatletsPCDMISdistinguishthisfiletypefromDESandIGESfiles.
Itmustbeincapitalletters.
Inthefirstlineofthefile:
Col.1=X
Col.2=Y
Col.3=Z
Col.4=I
Col.5=J
Col.6=K
2. Ifthefilecontainsmetricdata,columns1116ofthefirstlinemustcontaintheword
METRIC.Thatis:
Col.11=M
Col.12=E
Col.13=T
Col.14=R
Col.15=I
Col.16=C
Thedefault,iftheMETRICkeywordisnotpresent,isINCH.
Therestofthefirstlineshouldbeblank
3. Eachlinethereaftermustcontainthreetoeightfloatingpointnumbersseparated
byacomma.
Forexample,supposeyourXYZIJKfilelookedlikethissample:
SampleXYZIJKfileinatexteditor

Line1containstheXYZIJKkeyword,andsincethekeywordMETRICisn'ton
columns11through16,thisdefaultstoINCH.
Line2producesapointwithavector.
Line5producesacirclewithavectorandadiameter.
Onceimported,itwillproducethisresultintheGraphicsDisplaywindow:
GraphicalDisplaywindowshowingthesampleXYZIJKfileimportedintoPCDMIS.
ImportingaChorusNTProgram
ThemigrationpathfromChorusNTtoPCDMISisbasedonPCDMIS'sabilitytoimportaChorus
DMISpartprogram,convertingtheoriginalDMISprogramintoequivalentPCDMIScommands
thatmakeupaPCDMISpartprogramfile,afilewitha.prgfilenameextension.
PCDMISalreadyconvertsmostDMIScommandsintoPCDMIScommands,andWilcox
Associates,Inc.isworkingtofullysupportthemanyChorusextensions,tomaximizethe
automaticconversionandminimizethemanualmodificationsneededaftertheautomaticimport.
InPCDMIS3.6andabovebegintheimportprocessofChorusNTextensionsby:
1. SelecttheFile|Import|ChorusDMIS...menuoption.AnOpendialogboxappears.
2. SelecttheappropriateDMISfileandclickOpen.
3. PCDMISdisplaystheDmisImportSetupdialogbox.
Youcanusethisdialogboxtosetthefollowingneededinformationduringimportphase:
Specifytheprobefilenameusedforeacharm.
Enablethewarningdialogattheendoftheimportphase.
Enablesomeoptionsrelatingtospecificcustomersandhardwareconfigurations.
Inthefollowingtopicstakingthefollowingbasicstepswillhelpyoucorrectlyimportandtranslate
yourDMISfileintoaPCDMISpartprogramfile:
Step1:ConfigurePCDMIS
VerifyPCDMIS'ssetup,andcheckifthestandardsettingsinPCDMIScorrespondtoChorusNT
settings.ForexampleverifytheCMMaxisconventionsandprobeheadOrientationand
TopSpeed(CMMmaxmovespeed)value.
UseSettingsEditortosetthefollowingoptionsintheDMISsection:
DMISMaxMeasurementVelocityMMPS =maximummeasurespeed
DMISFedratPcntOfMaxMachineSpeed= 0
Step2:CreateandCalibratetheProbeFileinsidePCDMIS
Createanewpartprogramand,whenprompted,defineanewprobe.Nameit
MYPROBE.PRBandspecifyintheProbeUtilitydialogboxthecomponentsaccording
toyourspecificneeds.
ImporttheChorusqualificationpartprogramusingasyourprobe,thepreviously
createdMYPROBE.PRBfile.PCDMISimportseachSNSDEFstatementandaddsthe
correspondingTIPangles.NotethatChorusidentifieseachtipwiththeDMISlabelthat
lookssomethinglikethis.Atipwithroll=0andpitch=0isnamedS(R000P000T1).PC
DMIS,namesthisasT1A0B0.
IfinChorusNTyouusedaselfcalibratedprobe,importintoPCDMISasimple
DMISpartprogramcontainingthedefinitionoftheChiefprobe,havingtherightlabel
(thesameusedintheSNSLCT/S(label),90,90forexample)andPitchandRollequalto
0.
AfteryouimporttheDMISfile,yourMYPROBE.PRBprobefilewillcontainallthe
neededtips.InPCDMIStheseABtipangleswillshowanasterisksymbol*meaning
theyarenotyetcalibrated.
Calibratethetips.Dothisinoneoftwoways:1)Executethepartprogram.2)
ClicktheMeasurebuttonfromtheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.
Step3:CreatethePCDMISProgramFileandImporttheDMISfile
CreateanewPCDMISpartprogram.
ImportthemeasuringChorusNTpartprogram,specifyingtheMYRPOBE.PRB
probefilecreatedinthepreviousstep.
UsuallyChorusmeasuringprogramscontainSNSLCT/S(label)or
SNSLCT/SA(label)statements.Forselfcalibratedwrists,youcanexplicitlyspecifyroll
andpitchanglesintheSNSLCTlabel.
AfterPCDMISimportstheDMISfile,thefinalPCDMISpartprogramwillhaveatthebeginning
theLOADPROBE/MYPROBE.PRBcommand,and foreachSNSLCTstatementthecorresponding
TIP commandwillappearwiththecorrectAandBangles.
Step4:EndofautomaticImportPhase
PCDMIScompletestheImportphase,showingyouareportintheWarningwindow.
Forexampleyoumightseesomethinglikethis:
L42::DECL/CHAR,O_D_L[11]
L56::DECL/REAL,TX,TY,TZ,MISX,MISY,MISZ,CXT,CYT,CZT,VX,VY,VZ

L57::DECL/REAL,INVCXT,INVCYT,INVCZT
L112:!MAJOR:MMEDIA/ON,C:\myfile.exe
L150:!MAJOR:MRRPCS/D(MRR),0,1,0
L213:ERROR:!UNITS
L253:ERROR:!SNSLCT/S(S_103)
Thesemessagesareexplainedhere:
L##ThisrepresentsthelinenumberforthatstatementintheoriginalDMIS
program(##representsthenumber).ForexampleL42wouldindicatethatonline42in
theDMISprogramyouwillfindthatDMISstatement.
:Thissymbolizesthatthestatementwasignored,thatisitwasnot
convertedintoacorrespondingPCDMIScommandbecausethereisnoequivalentPC
DMIScommand.ForexampleyouwillfindthatPCDMISalwaysignorestheDECL
statementbecausePCDMISdoesntneedexplicitvariabledeclaration.
!MAJORThismeansthatthespecifiedDMISstatement(MajorDMISWord)is
notsupported.
ERRORThismeansthespecifiedcommandwasnotcorrectlyimported.
Step5:ManualVerificationofthePCDMISProgram
BesuretomanuallyverifythatthetranslationintoPCDMISfunctionsproperly.Lookthroughthe
partprograminCommandmode.Errorsappearinredtext.
TryexecutingtheprograminOFFLINEmodethentryusingtheCMMinONLINEmodeatlow
speedtoverifythattheprogramimportedwithoutproblems.
ThingstoWatchforandSomeHelpfulTipsandSuggestions
ChorusNTandPCDMISaredifferentmeasuringsystems,andsomeintrinsiccharacteristics
needtobecarefullyconsidered.Thefollowinglistcontainssometipsandsuggestions:
AutomaticMeasuringCycle
TheDMISStandardstatesthatinaMODE/AUTOsectionthefeaturesaremeasuredwiththe
automaticcycle,ignoringanyeventuallypresentPTMEAS.
SinceChorusNTsuppliesautomaticcycleforPOINT,CIRCLE,SPHEREandSLOT(CPARLN),
allthesecasesaretranslatedintothecorrespondingAUTOfeature.However,duetotheintrinsic
differencesbetweenChorusandPCDMIS,youshouldcarefullyverifytheirexecution.
Forexample:InSLOT(roundslot)automaticcycle,ChorusNTtakesfirsttwopointsononeofthe
straightsides.PCDMIShowever,takesthepointsontheroundedendsoftheslot.
STARTIPProbes
PCDMISrecognizestheChorusNTSNSDEFextensionthatdefinesastarprobe.Becarefulthat
thePCDMISsetupfortheProbeHeadorientationcorrespondstoChorusNTSNSMNT
specification.
CW43,CW43L,andIW42WristMountingconventions
ChorusNTandPCDMISconventionsfortherollanglearedifferent.WhilePCDMIScancorrectly
adjustitduringtheimportofaChorusDMISprogram,tobesafe,becarefulthefirsttimeyou
executetheimportedpartprogram.
TheoreticalvaluesinFEATstatements
PCDMISalwaysusesbothTheoandActualvalues,whichshouldbecorrect(nottoomuchoffa
deviationfromactualvalues).Ifthedeviationisgreat,youmayhaveproblems,especiallywith
featuresusedinalignments.ThisisbecausePCDMISdefinestwomatricesforeachalignment:
First,theCADTOPARTmatrix.Basedonthetheoreticalvalues,thisconvert
THEOvaluesinfeatures.
Second,theMACHINETOPARTmatrix.Basedonactualmeasuredvalues,this
convertsactualmeasuredvaluesinfeatures.
SinceChorusNTdoesn'thavetheCADTOPARTmatrix,italwaysusestheactualmeasured
values.Ifyouhavethewrongnominalvalues,youonlybecomeawareofthemifyouexecutean
OUTPUTstatementonthatfeature.
Toverifycorrectness,youshouldthereforeaddintotheoriginalDMISpartprogramOUTPUT
statementsforyourfeatures,especiallyforthealignmentfeatures.
FILNAM
FILNAMinChorusNTspecifiesthenameoftheoutputfilewhenusingthe DISPLY/STOR
command.PCDMISrecognizesitbutthiscommandmustappearaftertheDISPLYintheDMIS
partprogram.ConsultyourDMISmanualformoreinformation.
VFORM
TheChorusNTvendorformatstatementisV(label)=VFORM/ALL.IttranslatesintoaPCDMIS
FORMAT/TEXTcommandthathasthefollowinginformation:
MEASURED
NOMINAL
DEVIATION
UP_TOL
LO_TOL
CRIT/OOT
ThefinalPCDMISFORMATcommandwilllooklikethis:
FORMAT/TEXT,OPTIONS,ID,HEADINGS,SYMBOLS,SDMEAS,NOM,DEV,TOL,OUTTOL,,
DEFGRF
DEFGRFstatementisaChorusextensionthatletsyoudefinedialogboxeswithbuttonsand
inputfields.PCDMISimportsthiscommandandcreatesascriptusingtheBASIClanguage
(CypressEnable).Duetodifferentscreenresolutions,itspossiblethattheresultingdialogbox
mayneedsomeadjustment.YoucanmodifytheBasicScriptfileusingPCDMIS'sBasicScript
Editor.
FROMandGOHOME

ChorusNT'sconventionsmovetheheadcenternotthetip'sballcenter.WhilethePCDMIS
importcanmakethenecessaryoffsets,youshouldusealowfeedthefirsttimeyouexecutethe
importedpartprograminsidePCDMIS.
MRRPCS
InChorusNTthiscommanddefinesthereferencesystemtobeusedinapartprogramcreated
withChorusNT'sMIRRORUtility.PCDMISdoesnotsupporttheimportofChorusmirrored
program.YoushouldinsteadusePCDMIS'smorepowerfulandcompletemirrorutilityona.prg
filecreatedbyimportingthe"leftside"Chorusprogram.
GAUGE
InChorusNTthisstatementdefinesandmeasuresaspheregauge,specifyingthename:
G(label),thediameter,andthestemdirection.Italsooptionallyspecifiesthecenterposition,the
incidenceangle,andthenumberofpointsusedtomeasureit.
GAUGE/SPHERE,G(label),diam,i,j,k,[angle,x,y,z,npoints]
Becauseofthedifferentparameters,PCDMIStranslatesthisintotwocommands.The
AUTO/SPHEREandtheCALIBRATEACTIVE:
F(label)=AUTO/SPHERE
TheAUTO/SPHEREcommandusesthesamename,diameter,anddirectionastheGAUGE
statement.Ifthecenterpositionwasnotspecifiedandduringexecutionyoumanuallyselectthe
firstpointonthetopofthepole,theninit=1andperm=1,otherwiseinit=0andperm=0.
PCDMIScanalsoadjusttheorientation,angle_vec,andnormal_vecvaluesaccordingly.
CALIBRATEACTIVETIPWITHFEAT_ID=F(label),QUALTOOL_ID=label,MOVED=YES
CALIB
InChorusNTthisstatementcalibratesthespecifiedprobeusingthespecifiedspheregauge
G(label)
CALIB/SENS,S(probe),G(label),[angle]
PCDMIStranslatesthisstatementintothesethreecommands:
TIP/T1A..B..
ThetipcommandwillhavethesameABanglesastheS(probe))statement.
F(label) =AUTO/SPHERE
CALIBRATEACTIVETIPWITHFEAT_ID=F(label),QUALTOOL_ID=label,MOVED=NO
ImportingaDMISProgram
ImportingDMISFiles
ExtensionsmayincludenonPCDMIScanimportgenericDMISfilesandDMISprograms
standardcommandsor createdusingextensionsfromspecificvendorenvironments.
added/modifiedparameters
ofstandardDMIS
commands.
ToimportaDMISprogramfile:
1. OpenthePCDMISpartprogramintowhichyouaregoingtoimporttheDMIS
programfile.
2. SelecttheFile|Import|DMIS...menuoption.AnOpendialogboxappears.
3. ChooseChorusDMISFilesorDMISFilesfromtheFilesofTypelistatthe
bottomofthedialogbox.PCDMISlistsprogramfilesendingwitheitherthe".dmi"or
".dms"fileextensions.
Note:ChorusNTprogramsfollowtheDMIS3.0Standardwithextensionsandarebetter
managed.InmostcasesyoushouldchooseChorusDMISFilesovernormalDMISFiles.
FornotesontranslatingChorusNTDMISfilesintoaPCDMISpartprogram,see"ChorusNT
toPCDMISTranslationNotes".
thedesiredDMISprogramfileandselectthatfilefromthelist.
5. ClicktheImportbutton.
6. PCDMISwillmakeafirstpasstranslationoftheinputfile.Onceitcompletesthis
pass,theDMISImportSetupdialogboxappears.Thisdialogboxallowsyoutoselect
manyoptionsusefulduringtheactualimportphase.
7. SelectthenecessaryoptionsfromtheDMISImportSetupdialogbox.Seethe
topicsbelowforinformationonusingthisdialogbox.
8. ClickOK.PCDMISfinishestheimportationprocess.
Inversion4.2andhigher,PCDMISinsertsanRMEAS/LEGACY commandintotheimportedpart
program.YoucanmodifytheDMISRmeasImport registryentrytochangethedefaultvaluefor
RMEAScommandsonfutureimportedDMISfiles.See"SettingUpRelativeMeasure(RMEAS)"
forinformationonthiscommand.
DMISImportSetupGeneraltab

DMISImportSetupdialogboxGeneraltab
TheGeneraltaballowsyoutocontrolprobefiletranslationfortheimportedDMISprogram.The
controlsusedonthistabaredescribedinthistablehere:
ControlName Description
DMISFile ThisboxspecifiestheDMISfiletoimport.Itautomatically
containsapathwaytothefileselectedfromtheOpen
dialogboxdescribedintheDMISimportprocedureabove.
Merge/Replace TheseoptionsspecifywhetherornotPCDMISreplaces
existingcommandswiththeimportedDMIScommandsor
mergesthenewcommandswiththeexistingcommands.
SelectReplaceifyouwanttheexistingcommandsinthe
currentlyloadedpartprogramtobereplacedwithnewPC
DMIScommandsduringtheimportprocess.
SelectMergeifyouwantPCDMIScommandscreated
duringtheimportprocesswillbeappendedattheendof
thecurrentlyloaded.PRGfile.
Arm Thislistspecifiesthearmtousefromamultiplearm
system.
ProbeFile Thislistspecifiesanexistingprobefile.
Useselectedprobefile(s) Thisoptionusesanexistingprobefileselectedfromthe
ProbeFilelist.
1. SelecttheArmthatwillusethedisplayed
probefilefromthedropdownwindow.
2. Selecttheprobefilefromthelist.
3. ClickApply.PCDMISwilladdanytips
(sensors)referencedintheDMISprogramsthat
arenotalreadyintheprobefile.
Createnewdefaultprobefile Thisoptioncreatesanewprobefilebasedonthe
SNSDEFstatementsintheDMISprogramfile.PCDMIS
generatesanewprobefilegivingitthesamenameasthe
DMISprogramfilenameanda".prb"extension.The
createdprobeconfigurationdefaultstoaPH9wristwitha
TP2connectionwithaTIP2BY20MMtip.However,ifno
SNSDEFstatementsaredetectedintheDMISprogram,a
probeconfigurationwillnotbecreated.
IgnoreSNSLCT/statements ThisoptionignoresSNSLCTstatementsintheDMIS
programduring.
Note:Ifthedefaultprobeconfigurationdoesnotmatchtheprobeconfigurationofyourmachine,
youshouldconstructaprobefilewiththecorrectprobeconfigurationusingPCDMISpriorto
importingaDMISprogramfile.Thenselectthecreatedprobefilefromwithinthistabandclick
ApplyandthenOK.Thisallowsthetranslatortoselectthemostappropriatetip(s)during
translationoftheSNSDEFstatements.
DMISImportSetupModulestab
TheModulestabiscurrentlyunavailable.
DMISImportSetupErrorLogtab
DMISImportSetupdialogboxErrorLogtab
TheErrorLogtabcausesPCDMIStostoreanywarningsorerrorsattheendoftheimport
processinatextfileofyourchoice.SimplyclicktheBrowsebuttonandselectatextfile.
IfyouwantPCDMIStoautomaticallydisplaythiserrorlogattheendoftheimportprocess,click
theDisplaylogwhentranslationiscompletecheckbox.ThetextfilewillopeninaDMIS
ImportResultsdialogbox.
DMISImportSetupAdvancedtab

DMISImportSetupdialogboxAdvancedtab
TheAdvancedtaballowsyoutoimportspecificcustomerrequestsandconfigurations.These
requestsmayincludenonstandardcommandsoradded/modifiedparametersofstandardDMIS
commands.PCDMISdisablesunnecessaryoptions(andenablesneededones)whenimporting
ChorusDMISfiles.Forinformationonthecontrolsonthistab,seethedescriptionsinthistable
here:
ControlName Description
CustomerSupport ThisareacontainsspecificcheckboxesforDMISvendors.IfyourDMIS
filesarecreatedusingsoftwarefromthesecompanies,selectthe
appropriatecheckboxtoenableextensionsupportspecifictothose
vendors.Theseincludethefollowing:
Volvo
Volkswagen
ConfigurationSupport ThisareacontainscheckboxesthatallowyoutoselectdifferentDMIS
configurations.Theseincludethefollowing:
FEDRAT/valuesareapercentageofmaximummachinespeed
DMIScommandsdon'tautomaticallyspecifywhetherimported
FEDRAT/commands(commandsthatcontrolthemachine'sspeed)
refertomaximummachinespeedormaximumtouchspeed.
Ifyouselectthischeckbox,importedFEDRAT/
statementsareapercentageofthemaximummachinespeed.
Ifyoudeselectthischeckbox,importedFEDRAT/
statementsareapercentageofthemaximumtouchspeed.
DEAwristmountingandrotationasChorus
Ifyou'reusingaDEACMMequippedwithanIW42,CW43,orCW43L
wristandyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISfollowsChorus
conventionsandadjuststheBrotationangleduringtheimportofthe
SNSLCTstatement.
ThisoptionisautomaticallyusedwhenperformingaChorusDMIS
import.
Option ThisareacontainsaUserDefinedTracefieldcheckbox.Thischeck
boxdetermineswhetherornotcertainimportedDMIScommandsare
transferredintouserdefinedtracefields.
AccordingtotheDMISstandard,youcanquerytheoperatorforthe
followinginformationduringprogramexecutionwiththeseDMIS
commands:
Info DMISCommand
PartName PN(label)='text'
PartSerialNumber PS(label)='text'
ManufacturingDevice MD(label)='text'
DMEName DI(label)='text'
OperatorName OP(label)='text'
SupposetheDMISfileyouaretoimporthastheseDMIScommands:
PN(label1)=PARTID/'partnumber'
PS(label2)=PARTSN/'2345'
MD(label3)=MFGDEV/'BRAVO1'
DI(label4)=DMEID/'PCDMIS'
OP(label5)=OPERID/'MyName'
IfyouselecttheUserDefinedTracefieldcheckbox,PCDMISwill
supportthesamefunctionalityrequiredbytheDMISstandardby
importingDMIScommandsintoTRACEFIELDcommands,likethis:
TRACEFIELD/DISPLAY,LIMIT=15PN(LABEL1): partnumber
TRACEFIELD/DISPLAY,LIMIT=15PS(LABEL2):2345
TRACEFIELD/DISPLAY,LIMIT=15MD(LABEL3):BRAVO1
TRACEFIELD/DISPLAY,LIMIT=15DI(LABEL4):PCDMIS
TRACEFIELD/DISPLAY,LIMIT=15OP(LABEL5):MyName
Thenwhenyouexecuteourprogram, PCDMISwillprovideasmall
dialogboxforeachTRACEFIELDcommand,allowingyoutotypethis
information.
IfyoudidnotselecttheUserDefinedTracefield checkbox,PCDMIS
will,bydefault,inserttheseDMIScommandsintonormalcomment
reportcommands,likethis:
COMMENT/REPT,"PN(LABEL1)='partnumber'"
COMMENT/REPT,"PS(LABEL2)='2345'"
COMMENT/REPT,"MD(LABEL3)='BRAVO1'"
COMMENT/REPT,"DI(LABEL4)='PCDMIS'"
COMMENT/REPT,"OP(LABEL5)='MyName'"
Default Thisbuttonsetsyourselectionasthedefaulttousewhenimporting

DMISfiles.
ImportinganAVAILorMMIVProgram
TheAVAILandMMIVfiletypesareusedbyMicroMeasureIVmeasurementpackage.PC
DMISallowsyoutoimportthisfiletypeintoPCDMISpartprograms.
ToimportanAVAILorMMIVfile,
1. OpenthepartprograminPCDMISintowhichyouaregoingtoimporttheMMIV
programfile.
2. SelecttheFile|ImportmenuoptionandthenselecteitherAvail...orMMIV...
fromthesubmenu.AnOpendialogboxwillappear.
3. PCDMISlistsprogramfilesbeginningwithAVAILandMMIVsllfprefix.
theneededAVAILorMMIVfileandselectthatfilefromthelist.
5. ClicktheImportbutton.PCDMISdisplaystheChooseTranslationMethoddialog
box,askingthemethodtousetoimportthedataintothepartprogram.
ChooseTranslationMethoddialogbox
6. SelectoneofthetranslationoptionsandclickOK.PCDMISprocessesyour
request.
7. ForeachTOOLCHANGEcommandencounteredintheMMIVfile,PCDMISwill
promptyoutoselectaPCDMISprobefile.
8. ForeachTIPCHANGEcommandencounteredintheMMIVfile,PCDMISwill
promptyoutoselectaPCDMISprobetipfromtheSelectTipdialogboxs TiptoUse
list.
SelectTipdialogbox
9. ClickOK(orOKAll)and,asdirectedbyonscreeninstructions,repeatthe
previousstep.WhentheSelectTipdialogboxcloses,theSelectWorkplanedialogbox
willappear.
SelectWorkPlanedialogbox
10. SelecttheworkplanethatmatchesyourcurrentsetupandclickOK.PCDMIS
importsthedataintothepartprogram.
Important:MMIVpartprogramsthatcontainaBRANCH/TESTkeywordoraBRANCH/LABEL
commandinsideofafeatureblockwillhavetherespectivePCDMIScommands(IFandGOTO)
movedbeforethefeatureblockonceimportedintoPCDMIS.Thiswillbecorrectedinfuture
versionsofPCDMIS.
ANoteonImportingAutoFeatures
BeawarethatPCDMISdoesn'tsupporttheDONE/orMEASURE/commandsinimportedMMIV
orAVAILautofeatures.Whiletranslationstilltakesplace,anyMEASURE/X,Y,Z,I,J,K
commandswillbeturnedintooperatorcommentsandDONE/commandsareignored.
Forexample,supposeyouareimportingthisautofeatureinanAVAILorMMIVfile:
CIR2=AUTO/CIRYZPL,OC,4,12.0,6.0,12.0,103.0,295,330
MOVE/BY12,5,0
MOVE/BY0,0,20
MEASURE/12.0,56.0,22.0,0.0,1.0,0.0039
MEASURE/12.0,57.85,16.0,0.0,1.0,0.0
MEASURE/12.0,58.4,6.0,0.0,1.0,0.0039
DONE/
InPCDMISthiswouldtranslatetoanAUTOCIRCLEcommandfollowedbytwoMOVESand
threecommentssayingthatPCDMISignorestheMEASUREcommand.

ImportingaTutorProgram
YoucanimportpartprogramscreatedbytheTutorapplication.
ToimportaTutorfile,
1. OpenthepartprograminPCDMISintowhichyouaregoingtoimporttheTutor
programfile.
2. SelecttheFile|Import|Tutor...menuoption.AnOpendialogboxwillappear.
thedesiredtutorfileandselectthatfilefromthelist.
4. ClicktheImportbutton.TheTutortranslatorbeginsthetranslationprocess,and
theTutorPCDMISTranslatorOptionsdialogboxappears.Thisdialogboxallowsyou
todeterminehowitemsinthetutorfileshouldbeinterpretedordisplayedinsidePC
DMIS.
TutorPCDmisTranslatorOptionsdialogbox
6. Filloutthedialogboxasneeded.Thefollowingareasareavailable:
PCDMISPartProgramSettingsarea
TheseoptionscomefromPCDMISandcannotbemodified.
UnitsThisshowstheunitsofmeasurement(eitherInchorMetric)ofthePCDMISpart
programyouareusingtoimporttheTutorfile.UnlikeTutorforWindows,PCDMIS
doesntallowyoutochangemeasurementunitsatexecutiontime.
AngleModeThisshowshowanglesarecurrentlydisplayed(eitherDegorDMS)inthe
PCDMISpartprogram.
TutorforWindowSettingsarea
TheseoptionsallowyoutospecifyTutorforWindowssettingsneededforaproperTutorto
PCDMIStranslation.
ReadWtutor.IniClickthisbuttonifyouneedtospecifywheretheTutorconfiguration
(.ini)islocated.Bydefault,whentranslationstarts,PCDMISsearchesforthis
configurationfileintheC:\Winntdirectory.ThisfilecontainsTutorforWindows
configurationsneededbythetranslator.
TruePositionErrorSelectRadiusiftheimportingpartprogramrequirestheTrue
Positionerrorevaluatedasradius,SelectDiameterotherwise.
FormErrorSelectDoubleiftheimportingpartprogramrequirestheDoubleForm
errororselectSingleotherwise.
LinearityErrorSelectRadiusiftheimportingpartprogramrequirestheLinearityerror
evaluatedasradius,selectDiameterotherwise.
TutorPCDMISProbesmappingarea
ThisareaallowsyoutomapaTutorprobetoaPCDMISprobe.
TipDiameterTypethedefaulttipdiameterfortheprobethatPCDMISwilluseinthe
partprogram.
ProbeFileUsethe...buttontochooseaPCDMISprobefile(.PRB)touse.
ProbeMapFileUsethe...buttontochooseanexistingTutortoPCDMISprobemap
file(.TP2).Ifyoudon'thaveaprobemapfile,youcancreateonebyclickingtheNew
button.TheEditbuttonallowsyoutochangethecurrentlyselectedprobemapfilelisted
inthisbox.ThismapfileallowsyoutotellthetranslatorwhatPCDMIStipanglesit
shouldusewhentranslatingprobecommandsfromtheTutorfileintoPCDMIS.
SkipCommentsSelectthischeckboxifyoudon'twanttoimportprogrammer
commentsfoundintheTutorfile.
7. ClicktheOKbuttontocontinue.PCDMISdisplaystheimportprocessinsidethe
Translationinprogresswindow,displayinganywarningmessagesinsidethe
Translationmessageslist.
8. Followanyonscreeninstructions.

9. Whentranslationends,theTranslationinprogresswindowallowsyoutoinspect
themessagesintheTranslationmessagelist.Youcanthendecidetocontinue(click
Continue)orabort(clickAbort)theimportprocess.Whateveryouchoose,alltranslation
messagesarestoredinalogfilewiththesamenameastheTutorpartprogramwitha
.logextension,storedinthesamedirectoryastheTutorpartprogram.
Note:TheTutorPCDmisTranslatorOptionsdialogboxappearseverytimePCDMISencounters
aloadprobecommandfromtheTutorfile.Ifyouhavecorrectlysetupyourprobemapfile,you
cansafelyskipthetranslationofthecurrentloadprobecommandbyclickingtheIgnorebutton.
CreatingandEditingTutortoPCDMISProbeMapFiles
ToproperlytranslateprogramsfromTutorintoPCDMIS,youwillneedaprobemapfilethat
relatestheTutorfile'sprobeswithPCDMISprobes.ATutor'sprobecommandisidentifiedby
twonumbersthatrefertoaspecificheadandtiprespectively.
TocreateanewTutortoPCDMISProbeMapFile:
1. Begintheimportprocedureasdescribedin"ImportingaTutorFile".
2. WhentheTutorPCDMISTranslatorOptionsdialogboxappears,clicktheNew
button.TheT2PFiledialogboxappears.
T2PFiledialogbox
3. Ifyouneedtospecifymoreinformation,clickAddtoaddnewrows.
4. IntheHeadcolumnforeachrow,typethevalueof1through100toidentifythe
probeheadinTutor.
5. IntheTipcolumnforeachrow,typeavalueofonethroughfivetoidentifythe
probetipinTutor.
6. IntheNamePRBcolumnforeachrow,typethePCDMISprobetipanglethat
youwanttousefortheHeadandTipofthatrow.Forexample,theprobemap
informationinthefollowingtabletellstheTutortranslatortousePCDMIS'sT5A30B30
probetipanglewhenitencountersaprobecommandof2,2intheTutorfile.
Head Tip NamePRB

2 2 T5A30B30
7. Ifyoumakeamistake,clicktheClearAllbutton.Thisclearstheinformationfrom
thedialogboxallowingyoutostartover.
8. Clickthe...buttontosavethisTutortoPCDMISprobemapfiletoyour
computer.
9. ClickOKtoreturntothe TutorPCDMISTranslatorOptionsdialogbox.
ToeditanexistingTutortoPCDMISProbeMapFile:
1. Begintheimportprocedureasdescribedin"ImportingaTutorFile".
2. WhentheTutorPCDMISTranslatorOptionsdialogboxappears,clickthe...
buttonfortheProbeMapFileboxandselectanexistingT2Pfile.
3. ClicktheEditbutton.TheT2PFiledialogboxappears.
4. Editthevaluesasneeded.
5. ClickOKtoreturntotheTutorPCDMISTranslatorOptionsdialogbox.
ImportingaDirectCADFile
InsteadoftranslatingCADdataintotheinternalCADformatofPCDMIS,theDirectCADfile
typesareaccesseddirectly.Thatis,theCADdataofthesefiletypesremainsinitsnativeformat
afterbeingimported.RoutinesnativetotheCADtypeareusedforallcalculationsdoneonthe
CADdata.AccessingtheCADdatadirectlyeliminatesproblemsthatcanoccurbecauseof
translationinaccuraciesorlimitations.
The""documentationdiscussesimportingDirectCADFilesindetail.
TessellatingaPartwithoutaCADLicense
Withversion3.5andhigher,youcannowtessellatetheimageofaDirectCADInterfacepart
evenifyoudon'thaveitsCADlicensecurrentlyavailable.Themethodforaccessingthis
functionalityvariesbytheDirectCADInterface.Ingeneral,however,yousimplyneedtoaccess
yourDirectCADInterfacepartprogram.PCDMISwillthendisplaythepart,butsome
functionalitywillnotbeavailable.Forexample,youcannotcreateameasuredvectorpointonthe
part.
ImportingaZeissUMESSFile
PCDMIScanimportapartprogramfromUMESS(Zeiss),convertingittoworkwithaPCDMIS
partprogram.
ToimportaUMESSfile,
UMESSprogramfile.
2. SelecttheFile|Import|ZeissUmes...menuoption.AnOpendialogboxwill
appear.
thedesiredUMESSfile,andselectthatfilefromthelist.
4. ClickImport.FollowanyonscreenpromptstoimporttheUMESSfileintoPC
DMIS.
ImportingaMeasureMaxProject
PCDMIScanimportaMeasureMaxproject,convertingtoworkinaPCDMISpartprogram.

ToimportaMeasureMaxproject,
MeasureMaxproject.
2. SelecttheFile|Import|MeasureMaxProject...menuoption.AnOpendialogbox
willappear.
thedesiredMeasureMaxfile.TypicallythesearelocatedinyourC:\MyPartPrograms\
directory.
4. Selectthe.vbpfilefromthedirectory.
5. ClickImport.PCDMISautomaticallyconvertstheprojectandinsertsthePC
DMIScommandsattheendofyourpartprogram.
6. FollowanyonscreenpromptstoimporttheMeasureMaxprojectintoPCDMIS.
ExportingCADDataorProgramData
Similartoimportingdata,PCDMISalsoallowsyoutoexportpartprogramdataintooneofthese
supportedfileformats:
AIMSFiles(*.TDF)
DATAVIEWFiles(*.AS3)
BASICFiles(*.BAS)
DESFiles(*.DES)
DXF/DWG(*DXFor*DXG)
DMISFiles(*.DMIor*.DMS)
GENERICFiles(*.TXT)
EXCELFiles(*.XLS)
IDEASFiles
IGESFiles(*.IGS)
STEPAP203(*.STPor*.STEP)
STEPAP214(*.STPor *.STEP)
STEREOLITHOGRAPHYFiles(*.STL)
VDAFS(*.VDA)
XYZ(*.XYZ)
GDS(*.GDS)
InspectionPlanner
Note:ExportingyourprogramasCADdatadoesnotexportpreviouslyimportedCADpart
modelsinstead,itgeneratesaCADfilefromexistingfeaturecommandsfoundinyourpart
program.
Toexportdataoutfromthecurrentpartprogram:
1. SelecttheFile|Exportmenuoptionandthenselectthedatatoexportfromthesub
menu(orrightclickonapartprogramfilenameinWindowsExplorer,thenselect
Export).InmostcasesthisactionwilldisplayanOpen dialogbox.
Opendialogbox
2. SelectthedesireddatatypefromtheFilesofTypelist.PCDMISwilldisplaythe
availablefilesfortheindicateddatatype.
3. TypethenameofthefiletobecreatedintheFileNamebox,orselectanexistingfile
fromthelist.Ifanexistingfileisselected,PCDMISwillreplacethecurrentdatainthat
filewiththeinformationgeneratedbytheExportoperation.
4. ClickExport.TheOpendialogboxcloses.Dependingonyourdatatype,PCDMISmay
displayanotherdialogboxthatasksyouforadditionalinput.Seethesubtopicsbelowfor
moreinformation.
5. ClickExport.PCDMISgeneratestheexporteddatafiletotheselecteddirectoryand
givesittheextensiondefinedintheFilesofTypebox.
ExportingtoAIMS
PCDMISletsyouexportyourpartprogramfiletoa.TDFfile,thefiletypeusedbytheAIMS
(AdvancedIntegratedMathematicalSolutions)software.AIMSwasdevelopedbyBoeing
CompanyandMetronorGroup,anditenablesthesharingofCADgeometry,inspectionplans,
andmeasurementresultsbackandforthbetweendifferenthardwaresandsoftwares.
SelectingtheAIMS...menuitemdisplaystheAIMSExportdialogbox:
AIMSExportdialogbox
Important:TheAIMSExportwillonlyfunctionisyouareconnectedtoanAIMSmodelthrough
theAIMSDirectCADInterface(DCI).Seethe"DirectCADInterfaces"documentation.

OnceyoufilloutthedialogboxandclickOK,PCDMISwillexportthepartprogramasa.TDF
file.
ExportingtoaBASICFile
PCDMISprovidesyouwithtoolsthathelpyoutoautomatePCDMIS.Exportingyourpart
programasaBASICscript(*.BASfile)allowsyoutothenautomatethatpartprogramusingany
externalapplicationthatsupportstheBASIClanguage.FormoreinformationonautomatingPC
DMIS,seethesedocumentationtopics:
PCDMISBASICLanguageReferencemanual
"InsertingBASICScripts"inthe"AddingExternalElements"chapter.
ExportingtoaDataView(AS3)File
YoucaneasilyexportyourCADmodeltoDataView's.AS3fileformatandthenloadthis
informationintoDataViewtoviewyourCADmodelthere.
ToexporttoDataView,
1. SelectFile|Export|AS3...andthenchoosethedirectorywhereyouwanttoexportthe
file.
2. Typeafilename.
3. ClickExport.
4. PCDMIScreatesthe.AS3fileatthespecifiedlocation.
ExportingaDESFile
WhenyouclicktheExportbuttonduringtheDESexportprocess,PCDMISdisplaystheDES
Filedialogbox.
DESFiledialogbox
TheDESFiledialogboxdisplaysinformationonyourselectedDESexportintheHeaderareait
alsoallowsyoutoselectadditionaloptionsforyourDESexport.
1. SelectanalignmentfromtheAlignment list.
2. SelectacoordinatesystemfromtheCoordinateSystemarea.
3. Ifdesired,selecttheMarkedFeaturesOnlycheckboxtoonlyexportthe
markedfeatures.
4. Ifdesired,selecttheShowDecimalPointcheckboxtoshowthedecimalpoint
intheexporteddata.
5. Ifdesired,selecttheOutputNominalValuescheckboxtocausePCDMISto
createtheexportfilefromthenominalvaluesinyourpartprogram. Ifyoudon't
selectthischeckbox,PCDMISexportsthemeasuredfeatureresults.
6. ClickontheProcessbuttonintheDESFiledialogboxtooutputtheDESdata
fromtheselectedpartprogram.PCDMISwillindicatewhenthefileis100%
processed.
7. ClicktheOKbuttontofinishexportingtheDESfile.
ExportingaDXForDWGFile
WhenyouclicktheExportbuttonduringtheDXForDWGexportprocess,PCDMISdisplaysa
DXF/DWGExportdialogbox.
DXF/DWGExportdialogbox
TheDXF/DWGExportdialogboxallowsyoutoselectadditionaloptionsfortheexportofthese
filetypes.
markedfeatures.
3. Ifdesired,selecttheScansasPointscheckboxtocausescandatatoget
convertedtoitsscannedpoints.
createtheexportfilefromthenominalvaluesinyourpartprogram.Ifyoudon'tselect
thischeckbox,PCDMISexportsthemeasuredfeatureresults.
5. ClicktheExportbuttontofinishexportingtheDXForDWGfile.
ExportingtoDMIS

PCDMISletsyouexportyourPCDMISpartprogramfileasaDMISfile.DMISfilesadheretothe
DMISstandardsforDMIScommandsandcanexecutedonothercomputersbyapplicationsthat
usetheDMISlanguage.
AfterchoosingafilenameandclickingExport fromtheOpenFiledialogbox,PCDMISdisplays
theDMISExportSetupdialogbox.Thisdialogboxcontainstwotabs,theGeneraltabandthe
ErrorLogtab.
Afterchoosingyouroptionsonthesetabs,clickOKtocompletetheexportprocess.
Generaltab
DMISExportSetupdialogboxGeneraltab
TheGeneraltabletsyouchooseoneofthreemethodstoconvertyourPCDMISpartprogram
intoaDMISfile.
PCDMISEditWindow(DMISMode)ThismethodexportsaDMISfileexactly
asthepartprogramlooksintheEditwindowwhenyouareinDMISmode.
FlexibleDMISThismethodallowsyoutocustomizetheexportedfiletomatch
yourspecificDMISversion,measurementmethods,orsupportedDMISstatements.
Whenyouselectthisoption,afileselectionboxbecomesenabledthatallowsyouto
browsetoandselectaspecificBASICscriptfile(*.basextension).Youcancreate
yourownscriptfile,ormodifyanexistingscriptfiletocontrolexactlywhatPCDMIS
shouldexport.
PCDMISprovidesyouwiththreereadytouse.basfilesthatresideinyourPCDMIS
installationdirectory.Thesefilescustomizeyourexportsothatitusesadefined
subsetofsupportedDMISstatementsforaspecificDMISversion.Thefilesare
PCD2DMIS030.BAS,PCD2DMIS040.BAS,andPCD2DMIS050.BAS(forDMIS3.0,
4.0,and5.0respectively).Thecommandswhicharenotcustomizedinthe.basfile
areexportedastheyareinthePCDMISEditWindow(DMISMode)
Note:IfafunctionintheBASICscriptreturnsanerrorwhenusingthisoption,thenthe
exportedfilegetswrittenasifyouhadselectedthePCDMISEditWindow(DMIS
Mode)optionabove.
LegacyPostoutThismethodexportsthefileasitusedtoinolderversionsof
PCDMIS.Beforeversion4.0,neededtosettheDMISUsePostoutCode entrytoTRUEin
thePCDMISSettingsEditortoaccomplishthis.Now,youcansimplyselectthis
option.
ErrorLogtab
DMISExportSetupdialogboxErrorLogtab
TheErrorLogtabletsyouvieworsaveerrorsencounteredduringanexportphasesothatyou
cancorrecttheminyourscriptfileortakesomeotherappropriateaction.Youwillreceiveerrors
orwarningsintheseinstances:
WhenafunctionintheBASICscriptreturnsalogicalerror,meaningyouhaveaproblem
somewhereinyourscriptthat'scausinganautomationlogicerror.Inthiscase,the
BASICScriptfunctionreturnsatextstringwiththisheader:$$LOGERR|.
WhenaparameterinaPCDMIScommandcannotbeconvertedintoDMIScode.Inthis
case,theBASICScriptfunctionreturnsatextstringwiththisheader:
$$DMISERR|
Clickthe...buttontolocateandselectanexistingtextfiletowhichPCDMISshouldsendthe
errors.
ClicktheDisplaylogwhenexportiscompletecheckboxtodisplaythetextfileinatexteditor
oncePCDMISfinishestheexportprocess.
ExportingtoaGenericTextFile

PCDMIScanexportyourpartprogram'sfeatureanddimensiondatatoasimpletextfileas
commaseparatedvalues.Youcanthenimportthisdataintoothersoftwareapplications,suchas
MicrosoftExcel,asneeded.
AfterchoosingwheretoexportthefileandclickingtheExportbutton,PCDMISdisplaysadialog
boxaskingforyoutochoosethealignmenttousewhenexportingthedataandthetypeofdatato
export:
GenericPostoutOptionsdialogbox
Item Description
Alignment list Thislistletsyouchoosewhatalignmenttoapplytothedatawhen

exported.
OutputTypearea Thisarealetsyoudeterminethetypeofdatatoexport.Youcan
choosetoexportdimensionsandfeatures.
AnExampleExportedCircleFeature:
CIR1,93.486348,19.488589,1.269350,0.000000,0.000000,1.000000,
14.997670
CIR1HITS,85.984616,19.473057,1.279984,0.999998,0.002070,0.000000
CIR1HITS,93.479917,11.992677,1.287909,0.000858,1.000000,0.000000
CIR1HITS,100.988033,19.458504,1.285809,0.999992,0.004010,0.000000
CIR1HITS,93.486169,26.984522,1.265512,0.000024,1.000000,0.000000
Theformatforthefirstlineofthefeature
is:
[FeatureLabel],[X],[Y],[Z],[I],[J],[K],[D]
Theformatforthehitslines,lines25,is:
[HitsLabel],[X],[Y],[Z],[I],[J],[K]
AnExampleExportedLocationDimension:
LOC1AX:X,93.485000,0.010000,0.010000,93.486348,0.001348,
0.000000
LOC1AX:Y,19.500000,0.010000,0.010000,19.488589,0.011411,
0.001411
LOC1AX:D,15.000000,0.010000,0.010000,14.997670,0.002330,
0.000000
Theformatforthelines
is:
[DimLabel]AX:[Axis
Indicator],[Nominal],[+
Tol],[Tol],[Measured],
[Deviation],[OutofTol]
ExportingtoExcel
PCDMISallowsyoutoexportyourpartprogram'smeasurementdataintoaMicrosoftExcel(.xls)
file.TodothisselectFile|Export|Excel.PCDMISthendisplaysthePCD2ExcelWizard.You
canalsoaccessthiswizardfromtheWizardstoolbar.See"WizardsToolbar"in"UsingToolbars".
ExportingtoanIDEASDCIModelFile
ToexporttoanIDEASpart,followthesesteps:
1. SelecttheFile|ExportmenuoptionfromthemainmenuandselecttheIDEAS
datatypefromthesubmenu.TheIDEASPartSelectiondialogboxappears.
IDEASPartSelectiondialogbox
2. ClicktheConnectToServerbutton.TheIDEASServerConnectiondialog
boxwillappear.UsethisdialogtoconnecttoanIDEASserver.Forinformationon
usingtheIDEASServerConnectiondialogbox,seethe"UsingtheIDEASServer
Connectiondialogbox"topicinthe"DirectlyInterfacingwithaCADFile"appendix.
OnceconnectedtoanIDEASserver,theIDEASPartSelectiondialogboxwill
becomeavailable.AlltheprojectsintheactiveIDEASdatainstallationwillbelisted.
3. ClickConnecttoconnecttotheserver.TheIDEASPartSelectiondialogbox
appears.
4. Selectaprojectandthemodelfiletowhichyouwanttoexport.Todothis,select
anexistingpartfromthePartsinselectedmodelfilelist.Oryoucancreateanew
partbytypingvaluesintotheBin,Name,andPartNumberboxes.

Note:Surfacegeometry(cylinder,cone,orspherefeatures)cannotbecreatedin
anexistingpart.Ifyouexporttoanexistingpart,thesefeaturetypeswillbe
ignored.Toexportsurfacefeaturetypes,specifyanewparttobecreated.
Note:ThefollowingcharactersareinvalidandcannotbeusedintheBin,Part
Name,orPartNumberboxes:
:

,
"
*
?
5. ClicktheExportToPartbuttonafteryouhavespecifiedapart.Ifthepartisnew,
amessageboxwillappearaskingifyouwanttocreateapart.
6. ClickYestocreatetheIDEASpart.TheIDEASExportdialogboxappears.
IDEASExportdialogbox
7. SelectanalignmentfromtheAlignmentbox.
8. Selectanyadditionalexportoptions.Theoptionsonthisdialogboxarethesame
asdiscussedinthe"ExportingaSTEPFile".
9. ClicktheExportbuttontofinishexportingtotheIDEASpart.Oncetheexporting
processiscomplete,PCDMISwillautomaticallyinstructtheIDEASservertosave
thepartsmodelfile.
ExportinganIGESFile
WhenyouclicktheExportbuttonduringtheIGESexportprocess,PCDMISdisplaystheIGES
Filedialogbox.
IGESFiledialogbox
TheIGESFiledialogboxdisplaysinformationonyourselectedIGESexportintheStartSection
andGlobalParametersareasitalsoallowsyoutoselectadditionaloptionsforyourIGES
export.
2. Ifdesired,clicktheSetupbuttontoalterthedisplayoftheexportedimage(see
"AlteringtheImported/ExportedImageDisplay".
markedfeatures.
5. ClickontheProcessbuttonintheIGESFiledialogboxtooutputtheIGESdata
fromtheselectedpartprogram.PCDMISwillindicatewhenthefileis100%
processed.
6. ClicktheOKbuttontofinishexportingtheIGESfile.
ExportingaSTEPFile
WhenyouclicktheExportbuttonduringtheSTEPexportprocess,PCDMISdisplaysaSTEP
Exportdialogbox.

STEPExportdialogbox
TheSTEPExportdialogboxallowsyoutoselectadditionaloptionsforyourSTEPexport.
1. SelectanalignmentfromthelistintheAlignmentarea.
2. SelectacoordinatesystemfromtheAlignmentarea.
markedfeatures.
4. Ifdesired,selecttheScansasPointscheckboxtocausescandatatoget
convertedtoitsscannedpoints.
6. ClicktheExportbuttontofinishexportingtheSTEPfile.
ExportingtoanSTLFile
Youcanexportfeaturesorscansfromyourpartprogramasastereolithography(STL)file.After
choosingwheretoexportthefileandclickingtheExportbutton,PCDMISdisplaystheSTL
Exportdialogboxaskingforyoutodeterminewhatalignmentyouwanttoexportandwhetheror
notyouwanttoexportmarkedfeaturesand/orscans.
STLExportdialogbox
100 UsingBasicFile Options PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Icon Description
Thisarealetsyouchoosewhatalignmenttoapplytothedatawhenexported.
Alignment
area Ifyouselectacustomalignment,theCADCoordinatesandPartCoordinates
optionsbecomeenabled,allowingyoutodetermineinwhatcoordinatesyour
alignmentisused.
Marked
Features
Selectingthischeckboxexportsthemarkedfeatures.
Only
checkbox
Scansas
Points Selectingthischeckboxexportsallscansaspointfeatures.
checkbox
ExportingaVDAFSFile
WhenyouclicktheExportbuttonduringtheVDAFSexportprocess,PCDMISdisplaysthe
VDAFSExportdialogbox.
VDAFSExportdialogbox
TheVDAFSExportdialogboxallowsyoutoselectoptionsforyourVDAFSexport.Thisdialog
boxhastheexactsameoptionsastheSTEPExportdialogbox.See"ExportingaSTEPFile"for
information.
ExportingtoanXYZFile
WhenyouclicktheExportbuttonduringtheXYZexportprocess,PCDMISdisplaystheXYZ
Exportdialogbox.

XYZExportdialogbox
TheXYZExportdialogboxallowsyoutoselectoptionsforyourXYZexport.Thisexportsyour
partprogramasan.xyzfile,afiletypereadableinsidestandardtexteditors.Forinformationon
the.xyzfiletype,seethe"ImportinganXYZIJKFile"foradiscussionofthisfile'scharacteristics.
ThisdialogboxhastheexactsameoptionsastheSTEPExportdialogbox.See"Exportinga
STEPFile"forinformation.
ExportingtoaGdsFile
PCDMIScanexportanalignmentfromthepartprogramintoa.gdsfileformat.This.gdsformat
istheRomerFrancefileformatforalignments.ThissmallalignmentfileisthenusedbyRomer
France'sportablearms.Itisalsousedtointerfacewithothersoftwarepackageslike
3DReshaper.
Bydefault,whenyouexporttoa.gdsFile,PCDMISwillexportthemostrecentalignmentofthe
activepartprogram.Ifdesired,theSelectAlignmenttoOutputtoaGdsFilecheckboxonthe
SetUpOptionsdialogbox,allowsyoutoselectaspecificalignmentfromaSelectAlignment
dialogbox.Seethe"SelectAlignmenttoOutputtoGds"topicin"SettingYourPreferences".
The.gdsfilenamedefaultstoindex.gdsandwillbesavedautomaticallytothearmdatafolderof
theGScansoftware.IfyoudonothaveROMSOFTsoftwareinstalled,acommonExportdialog
boxappears,allowingyoutoselectwheretoexportthe.gdsfile.

AlteringtheImported/ExportedImageDisplay
If,whileimportingorexporting,youclickontheSetupbuttonfromtheIGESFiledialogbox,
eithertheIGESSETUPdialogbox(importing)ortheIGESWriteSetupdialogbox(exporting)
appear.ThesedialogboxesallowyoutoalterhowtheIGES/DMISimagewillbedisplayed.
AlteringDisplayofImportedCAD
IGESSetupdialogbox
ToaccesstheIGESSetupdialogboxandalterhowtheIGES/DMISimageisdisplayed:
1. BeginimportingyourCADfile(see"ImportinganIGESFile").
2. WhentheIGESFiledialogboxappears,clicktheSetupbutton.
3. SelectthedesiredcheckboxoptionsfromtheIGESSETUPdialogbox.
4. ClicktheOKbutton.
PCDMISwilldrawtheselectedCADimagewiththerequestedfeatures.
UnderstandingtheAvailableOptions
TheSurfaceofRevolutioncheckboxisavailableiftrimmedsurfacesarebeingusedthathavea
surfaceofrevolutionasabasesurfaceanditisnotbeingreadincorrectly.Ifthisisthecase,
simplyselecttheappropriateoptionsintheTrimmedSurfaceareaofthedialogbox.
IftheDefaultcheckboxisselected,PCDMISwillusethecurrentsettingtoprocessallfuture
entities.
The'ProcessEntitieswithUse'Area
TheProcessEntitieswithUseareacontainsthefollowingsixcheckboxesthatallowyouto
selectthepossibleCADimagesetupoptions.Theyaredescribedinthistable:

CheckBox Description
Geometry Determineswhetherornottoimportthegeometricentitiesfromthefile.
Geometricentitiesarethecurvesandsurfacesthatdefinethemodel.
Annotation Determineswhetherornottoimporttheannotationentitiesfromthefile.
Theseentitiesareusedtoaddannotationordescriptiontoafile.These
includeangulardimension,diameterdimension,flagnote,generallabel,
lineardimension,ordinatedimension,pointdimension,radiusdimension,
generalsymbol,andsectionedareaentities.
Definition Determineswhetherornottoimportthedefinitionentitiesfromthefile.
Theseentitiesareusedindefinitionstructuresofthefile.Theseinclude
generalnote,leader,associativelydefinition,linefontdefinition,macro
definition,subfiguredefinition,textfontdefinition,textdisplaytemplate,
andnetworksubfiguredefinitionentities.
Other Determineswhetherornottoimporttheotherentitiesfromthefile.These
entitiesareusedforotherpurposessuchasdefiningfeaturesinthefile.
Currently,theseincludethecolordefinitionentityandthedimensioned
geometryassociatively.
Logical/Positional Determineswhetherornottoimportthelogical/positionalentitiesfromthe
file.Theseentitiesareusedaslogicalorpositionalreferencebyother
entities.Currently,PCDMISdoesnotprocessanyentitiesthatareofthis
type.
2DParametric Determineswhetherornottoimportthe2Dparametricentitiesfromthe
file.TheseentitiesarepositionedintwodimensionalXYparameterspace,
andareconsideredasubsetofthreedimensionalXYZspace,byignoring
theZcoordinate.Thisentitytypeisintendedforuseindefiningtrimming
curvesonsurfaces.Currently,PCDMISignoresthischeckbox.Formore
information,see"The'TrimmedSurfaces'Area"below.
Ifyouselectallsixcheckboxes,thenallIGESentitiesintheIGESfilewillbeimported.
The'ProcessEntitiesIf'Area
TheProcessEntitiesIfareacontainscheckboxesthatallowyoutoprocesscertainentities
whentheymeetcertainconditions.Thefollowingtabledescribestheavailableconditionsthatare
metandthedescriptionofeachcheckbox:
Condition Description
Processentitiesif DetermineswhetherornotthebasesurfaceofaCurveonParametric
PhysicallyDependent Surfacewillbeshown.
Processentitiesif Determineswhetherornotlogicallydependententitieswillbeimported
LogicallyDependent fromtheIGESfile.
Processentitiesif Determineswhetherornotblankedentitieswillbeimported.
Blanked
The'TrimmedSurfaces'Area
TheTrimmedSurfacesareacontainscheckboxesthatyoumayusetoproperlyprocess
TrimmedSurfaces.
ShowTrim Showsthetrimmedsurface.
ShowBaseSurface Showstheuntrimmedsurface(basesurface).

UseBCurves IfBcurvesarepresentintheIGESfile,selectthischeckboxtousethem
asthetrimdefinition.Youmayalsoneedtoselectthischeckboxifthe
modelhaspoorlydefinedCtrimmingcurves.Byselectingthischeckbox,
theCtrimmingcurveswillberegeneratedfromtheBtrimmingcurves.
UseCCurves IfCcurvesarepresentintheIGESfile,selectthischeckboxtousethem
asthetrimdefinition.Youmayneedtousethisoptionifthemodelhas
poorlydefinedBtrimmingcurves.Byselectingthischeckbox,theB
trimmingcurveswillberegeneratedfromtheCtrimmingcurves.
IfyouselecttheShowTrimcheckbox,theothercheckboxesunderitbecomeavailablefor
selection.Youcanuseeither'B'or'C'curvesasyourtrimdefinition,dependingontheattributes
ofthetrimmedsurface.
Note:Beawarethatifyouuse'C'curvesasyourtrimdefinition,PCDMISwillhavetocalculate
the'B'curvesthatcanbequitetimeconsuming.
Also,iftheIGESfilecontainstrimmedsurfacesthathaveasurfaceofrevolutionasabase
surfacethesecheckboxesbecomeavailableforselection:
ReverseParams DetermineswhetherornottofixBtrimmingcurvesthatreversetheU
andVparameters.
VParam0to1 DetermineswhetherornottofixtheVparameterthatgetsdefinedinthe
range0to1,insteadofinradians.
UParam0to1 Determineswhetherornottofixthe'U'parameterthatgetsdefinedwitha
rangeof0to1insteadofinradianswhenthegeneratrixofthesurfaceof
revolutionisanarc.
ShowBaseSurface Determineswhetherornottoshowtheuntrimmedsurface.
DefiningTrimmingCurves
Youcandefinetrimmingcurvesintwoways:
Using3dimensionalcoordinatesinmodelspace(thecoordinatesthe
surfaceisdefinedin).TheseareknownasCtrimmingcurvesbecauseeach
coordinaterequiresthreevaluestopositionitinmodelspace(1,2,3A,B,C).By
definition,thecurvemustbedefinedsothatitgeometricallycoincideswiththe
surface.Inotherwords,thecurvemustlieonthesurface.However,apoorlydefined
Ctrimmingcurvemaybreakthisrule.
Definingthepositionofthecurveusingrelativepositionsonthesurface.
TheseareknownasBtrimmingcurvesbecauseeachcoordinaterequirestwo
valuestopositionitinparametricspace.Forexample,arectangularsurfacecould
havetheparametricposition(0,0)atonecornerand(1,1)attheoppositecorner.
Everypositiononthesurfacecouldthenberepresentedusingtwovaluepairs
betweenthesetwoextremes.Theparametricposition(0.5,0.5)wouldbeinthecenter
ofthesurface.Theparametricallydefinedcurveisrepresentedusingthese2
dimensionalparameterspacepoints.Bydefinition,thecurvemustbedefinedsothat
itdoesnotgooutsidetheparameterspaceofthesurfaceitlieson.However,a
poorlydefinedsurfacemaybreakthisrule.
ExampleofShowingTrim

IGESFilewithShowTrimcheckboxselected
ExampleofnotShowingTrim
UsingtheIGESfileinthe"ExampleofShowingTrim"topicabove,ifyoudeselecttheShowTrim
checkbox,youwillendupwithanemptymodel.ThisisbecausethisparticularIGESfilecontains
onlytrimmedsurfaces.However,ifyoudeselecttheShowTrimcheckboxandselecttheShow
BaseSurfacecheckbox,thisistheresult:
IGESFilewithShowTrimcheckboxnotselected
Noticethatalltheholesinthesurfacesaregoneandthattheouterboundariesofthesurfaces
arenottrimmed.
AlteringtheDisplayofExportedCAD
TheIGESWriteSetupdialogboxallowsyoutoalterhowtheIGES/DMISimagewillbedisplayed.

IGESWriteSetupDialogbox
ToaccessthisdialogboxandalterhowtheIGES/DMISimageisdisplayed:
1. BeginexportingyourCADfile(see"ExportinganIGESFile").
2. WhentheIGESFiledialogboxappears,clicktheSetupbutton.
3. SelectthedesiredcheckboxoptionsfromtheIGESWriteSetupdialogbox.
PCDMISwilldrawtheselectedCADimagewiththerequestedfeatures.
UnderstandingtheAvailableOutputOptions
ThevariousoutputoptionscontrolhowtheIGESentitiesareexported.
SurfacesasSurfacesofRevolutionThischeckboxcausescones,cylinders,and
spherestobeexportedassurfaceofrevolutionentities.
SurfacesasArcsThischeckboxcausescones,cylinders,andspherestobeexportedas
arcs.Aconewillbeexportedasacircleatitsbaseandapointatitsvertex.Acylinderwillbe
exportedastwocircles:onecircleatthetopandonecircleatthebottomofthecylinder.A
spherewillbeexportedasacircleaboutitsequator.
SurfacesasSurfacesofRevolutionandSurfacesasArcsYoucanselectboththese
checkboxes.Inthiscase,PCDMISexports,cones,cylinders,andspheresassurfacesof
revolutionandasarcs.Ifbothcheckboxesareclear,cones,cylinders,andsphereswillnot
beexported.
ScansasCopiousDataForm2Thischeckboxescausesscanstobeexportedasthe
copiousdataIGESentitytypetheformatoftheentityispointswithoutvectors.
copiousdataIGESentitytypetheformatoftheentityispointswithvectors.Thevarious
formscontroltheformatofthecopiousdataentity.
copiousdataIGESentitytypetheformatoftheentityispiecewiselinearcurvewithout
vectors.Thevariousformscontroltheformatofthecopiousdataentity.
copiousdataIGESentitytypetheformatoftheentityispiecewiselinearcurvewithvectors.
Thevariousformscontroltheformatofthecopiousdataentity.
ScansasPointsThischeckboxcausesscanstobeexportedasmultiplepointentities.
ScansasCopiousDataandScansasPointsYoucanselectboththesecheckboxes.
PCDMISthenexportsscansascopiousdataandaspoints.Ifyoudeselectthesecheck
boxes,PCDMISdoesnotexportscans.
SettingImportOptions

Youcaneasilysetimportoptionstodeterminedefaultcolorsforcertainimportedentitytypes,as
wellashowPCDMISdisplaysimportedcurves.
Toperformthesemanipulations,selecttheEdit|Preferences|ImportOptions menuitem.This
willdisplaytheImportOptionsdialogbox.
ImportOptionsdialogbox
ThisdialogboxcontainstheDefaultColorsareaaswellassomecheckboxes.
DefaultColors
ThisarealetsyouchangethedefaultcolorsforimportedPoints,Curves,Surfaces,and
Datumentitytypes.Iftheentitytypesdon'talreadyhaveadefinedcolor,theywillusethis
defaultcolor.Tochangeacolor,simplyclickonabuttoninthisarea.AstandardColordialog
boxappears,allowingyoutoselectanewcolor.
Colordialogbox
Whenyouimportthenextfeature,PCDMISwillusethenewlydefinedcolors.
CheckBoxes
ExplodepolylinestopointsUsually,whenyouimportcurvesentities,theyappearas
individualcurves.Inreality,however,eachcurveisreallyapolyline,abunchoflines
connectedbyaseriesofpoints.Selectingthischeckboxmakesimportedpolylinecurve
entitiesappearasaseriesofpoints,onepointforeachpolylinevertex.Clearingthischeck
boxmakesimportedcurvesappearasnormal.

KeepPolylinesSelectingthischeckboxwillallowtheimagetocontinuetodisplaythe
originalpolylinealongwiththepointswhenyouselecttheExplodepolylinetopointscheck
box.Clearingthischeckboxwillonlyshowtheseriesofpoints.
PCDMISwillusethesesettingsforallfutureimportoperations.
ExecutingPartPrograms
WithPCDMISyoucaneasilyexecuteanentirepartprogramorperformpartialexecutions.This
topicdescribeshowtoperformbothfullandpartialexecutions.Italsoexplainshowtousethe
ExecutionModeOptionsdialogboxtoexecuteyourpartprogramsandhowtoresizethedialog
box.
WhenyouchoosetoexecutesomeorallofyourpartprogrambyselectingFile|Executeora
menuitemfromtheFile|PartialExecutionsubmenu,andyoudon'thavebreakpointsinyour
partprogram,PCDMISdisplaysadifferentlayoutofthescreendisplaycalledtheexecution
layout.ThislayoutinitiallyhidestheEditwindowandexpandstheGraphicsDisplaywindow,to
showmoreofthepart.ItalsodisplaystheProbeReadoutwindow.Youcanchangewhat
windowsappearduringexecutionbypausingtheexecutionandshowingorhidingawindow.
Subsequentexecutionswilluseyourupdatedexecutionlayout.
Whenexecutionfinishes,thescreenlayoutreturnstothelearntimelayout.Anywindowyoushow
orhideduringlearntimebecomespartofthelearntimelayout.
Note:IfyourprogramusesbreakpointsandtheEditwindowisinCommandmodewhenyou
choosetoexecute,PCDMIScontinuestodisplaytheEditwindowduringexecutionbuthighlights
thecurrentcommandtoexecuteinred.IftheEditwindowisinSummarymode,witha
breakpoint,PCDMISshowsagreenhighlightintheEditwindowforalreadyexecuted
commands,yellowforafeatureabouttobemeasured,blueforfeaturescurrentlyundergoing
execution,andorangefornonexecutedcommands.
ExampleofcolorsusedinCommandmodeduringexecutionwithabreakpoint.

ExampleofcolorsusedinSummarymodeduringexecutionwithabreakpoint.
Execute
Toexecuteallmarkedcommandsoftheentirepartprogram,selecttheFile|Executeoption.
ExecuteFeature
Toexecuteonlythefeatureonwhichthecursorrests,selecttheFile|PartialExecution|
ExecuteFeatureoption.
PCDMISwilldisplaytheExecutionModeOptionsdialogbox.IfPCDMISissettomanual
mode(mode=MANUAL),itwillpromptyoutotakethenecessaryhits.IfPCDMISissettoDCC
mode(mode=DCC),itwillautomaticallymovetheprobebasedontheparameterssetinthe
dialogbox.
ExecuteFrom
Toresumeapreviouscancelledexecution,usetheFile|PartialExecution|ExecuteFrom
menuoption.Thiscommandexecutesthefeaturelisteduntiltheendofthepartprogram.This
menuoptionisonlyavailablewhenyouhavecanceledapriorexecutecommandbyusingthe
ExecutionModeOptionsdialogbox.
Example:Ifduringaprogramexecution,youclicktheCancelbuttonwhilemeasuringfeature
CIR1.TheExecuteFrommenubecomesavailablesothatyoucancontinueinspectingthepart
beginningatCIR1.
ExecuteFromCursor
Toexecutethepartprogrambeginningatthecursor'scurrentlocation,selecttheFile|Partial
Execution|ExecuteFromCursormenucommand.Theprogramwillexecutethepartprogram
beginningatthecursor'scurrentlocation.
ExecuteBlock

Toexecuteablockofcommands,selectthecommandsyouwanttoexecute,andthenwiththe
commandsstillselected,choosetheFile|PartialExecution|ExecuteBlockmenucommand.
PCDMISwillexecuteonlytheselectedblockofcommands.
ExecuteFromStartPoints'
Tobeginexecutionataspecifiedstartpoint,firstsetthestartpointbyrightclickinginside
CommandmodeandselectingSetStartPoint fromtheshortcutmenu,andthenchoosethe
ExecutefromStartPointsmenucommand.
Important:Beawarethatifthecurrenttipforthatlocationintheprogramdoesnotmatchthe
currentorientationoftheprobehead,PCDMISwillnottryandgobacktoexecutethetip
commandaboveitinordertochangethetiporientation.
AnyOrderExecution
PCDMISversions4.0andlaterallowyoutoexecutemanuallymeasuredpartprogramfeatures
inanyorder.Thisisusefulforportablearmmachines.
Thisfunctionalitybecomespossibleifthefollowingconditionsaremet:
Itonlyappliestofeaturesmeasuredwithmanualhits.
Thepartprogramscannothaveanybranchingorloops.
Thefeaturesyoumeasureoutofordermustusethesamealignmentandprobe
asthefeaturePCDMISinitiallyplannedtomeasure(itwillnotsearchacrossLOAD
PROBEorALIGNMENTcommands).
Outoforderexecutiononlyworksforfeaturesmeasuredafteracomplete
alignment.Theinitialalignmentmustbemeasuredinorder.
HowItWorks:
Whenyouexecuteyourpartprogram,PCDMISasksyoutotakethefirsthitonthefirstfeature.
Youcandecidetotakeyourfirsthitonadifferentfeatureinstead.Whenyoudothis,PCDMIS
lookstoseeifyoutookthathitwithinatoleranceofthehitPCDMISexpected.Ifyourhitismore
thanaspecifiedtolerance(usually10mm)awayfromthefeature,thenPCDMISwillsearch
backwardsandforwardsthoughthepartprogramfortheclosestfeaturewho'sinitialhitmatches
theinitialhitthatyoutook.YoucandefinethetoleranceintheSetupOptionsdialogbox,
Generaltab.
Ifyoutakeahitthatisnotintoleranceforanyfeatureinyourentirepartprogram,thearmwill
soundabeepalert,andPCDMISwillignorethehit.Anerrormessagewillalsoappearinthe
ExecutionModeOptionsdialogbox.Simplytakeadifferenthitclosertoapartprogramfeature
tocontinue.
WhenPCDMISfindstheappropriatefeature,itpassesyourfirsthitintothefeature.Itthen
movesthearrowindicatingwheretotakethenexthittothenewfeature.PCDMISonlychecks
thetoleranceonthefirsthitofthefeature.Afterthat,itassumesthatyouwillcontinuetakinghits
untilyoufinishmeasuringthatfeature.
Onceyoufinishmeasuringafeatureoutoforder,PCDMISattemptstogobacktoitsinitialorder.
Itwillcontinuetopromptyoutomeasuretheoriginalfeatureeachtimeyoufinishmeasuring
somethingelseoutoforderuntilyoueitherskiptheoriginalfeatureormeasureit.PCDMIS

tracksthefeaturesyoumeasureoutofordersothattheyaren'tremeasuredwhenPCDMIS
resumesitsregularexecutionroute.
Ifyouremeasureafeature,PCDMISwillrecomputeeverythingthatusesthatfeatureupuntilthe
currentexecutionlocation.
UsingtheExecutionModeOptionsDialogBox
AllexecutionoperationsbeginbydisplayingtheExecutionModeOptionsdialogbox.
ExecutionModeOptionsdialogbox
PCDMISwillthenexecuteallmarkedcommandsofthecurrentpartprogram.
IfyouareinManualMode,PCDMISwillrequestyoutotakehits.
IfyouareinDCCMode,PCDMISwillautomaticallybeginthemeasurement
process.
MachineErrors
TheMachineErrorslistdisplaysanyerrorsthatmayoccurduringexecutionofthepartprogram.
Somepossibleerrorsareanunexpectedprobehitoranunexpectedendofmove.Youcanview
theerrorsbyclickingonthedropdownarrow.
MachineCommands
TheMachineCommandslistdisplaysanymovesandhitsforthecurrentfeature(orthefeature
abouttobemeasured).Thisinformationisonlyavailableiftheprogramisstoppedduring
execution,eitherbyerrororbytheoperator.Executionofthepartprogramcanberesumedby
highlightingthedesiredhit(ormove)fromtheMachineCommandslistboxandselectingthe
Continuebutton.
Example:IfaclearancemovecommandwasprogrammedwiththewrongX,Y,orZ,thenduring
theexecutionofthatmove,youmightgetamotionerror.Tocontinue:
PulldowntheMachineCommandsdropdownlist.

Selectthecommandfollowingtheoffendingmove.
PresstheContinuebutton.
Continue
TheContinuecommandbuttonallowsyoutoresumeexecutionofapartprogramhaltedbya
CMMmotionerror,ortheStopbutton.PCDMISallowsyoutoselectthespecificlocationwithin
thecurrentfeaturewheretheprobeistoresumemeasuringthepart.Thedefaultlocationis
displayedintheMachineCommandslist.Toselectanotherlocation,simplypulldownthedrop
downarrowandselectthedesiredline.PCDMISwillcontinuethemeasurementprocessatthe
displayedlocationwhentheContinuebuttonispressed.
Stop
TheStopcommandbuttonhaltstheprobeatitscurrentpositionandsuspendsexecutionofthe
partprogram.
Note:ThisoptionwillnotstopthepartprogramexecutionifthecurrentmoveisaPH9orientation
change.TheprogramwillstopafterthePH9hasstopped.
Thetopic"ManuallyControllingaFeature'sMeasurement"discussesusingStoptoswitchto
manualmodeduringtheexecutionprocess.
EraseHit
ToremovethecurrentlyhighlightedhitintheMachineCommandslist,simplypresstheEraseHit
button,locatedintheExecutionModeOptionsdialogbox.
MostCMMjogboxeshaveabuttonassignedtoerasingthelasthit.Pressingthatbuttononthe
CMM'sjogboxwhileinExecutemode,producesthesameresultasclickingtheEraseHitbutton
onthedialogbox.
Skip
TheSkipcommandskipsthenextcommanddisplayedintheMachineCommandslist.Any
commandsthatdependontheskippedcommandarealsoskipped.
StepNext
TheStepNextcommandbuttoncontinueswiththemeasurementprocessbutdoessoonestep
atatime,pausingtheCMMafterexecutingeachstepofanycommandthatmovestheCMM.
WhileinStepMode,hitscanbeinsertedintofeaturesandnewfeaturescanbeinsertedbetween
existingfeaturesorcommands.Ifyouinsertanewfeature,PCDMISwilldisplayadialogbox
allowingyouto:
SkiptotheHIT/BASICcommandofthenewfeature,
Remeasurethenewfeature,or
Continuesteppingthroughthepartprogram,ignoringthenewfeatureentirely.
StepModecanalsobesimulatedoffline.

StepNextappearsonthedialogboxwhenPCDMISpausesexecutionforabreakpoint(see
"UsingBreakpoints"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapter).
Jump
TheJumpbuttonautomaticallystopsexecution(ifyou'reusingaDCCmachine)anddisplaysthe
JumptoFeatureListdialogbox.Fromthislist,youcanselectthenextfeaturetoexecute,
therebydeviatingasneededfromtheautomaticallygeneratedexecutionpath.
JumptoFeatureListdialogbox
Afteryouselectafeaturefromthelist,clickOK,andPCDMISwillexecutetheselectedfeature.
Afteritfinishes,itwillreturntothepredefinedpathandattempttoexecutethenextnon
measuredfeatureuntilyouclickJumpagainandselectanewfeature.
Example:
Supposeyouhavesevencircles,labeledCIR1throughCIR7andtheyareprogrammedto
executeinthatorder.IfafterCIR1,youclickJumpandselectCIR6,PCDMISwillimmediately
measureCIR6.Whenfinished,itwillreturnandmeasurecirclesCIR2throughCIR5,andthenit
willfinishbymeasuringCIR7.
ProgressBar
TheExecutionModeoptionsdialogboxalsoincludesaprogressbarwhichindicatesthe
percentageofthepartprogramthathasfinishedexecuting.Thepercentageisderivedfromthe
amountofexecutedcommandsandhitstakencomparedagainstthetotalnumberofmarked
commandsandhitstotake.Theprogressbarupdatesasitprogressesthroughthepartprogram.
Youmayfindthisusefulwhenyouhavealargeprogramandwantageneralideaofhowlongit
willtaketocomplete.
Note:Thisfunctionalitydoesnotfactorinindividualscanhitsoralterationstothenumberof
executeditemsduetoflowcontrolstatements.

ExampleProgressBarShowingthePercentageofProgramExecution
Thisbuttonallowsyoutoshoworhidetheprogressbarasneeded:
Showstheprogressbar
Hidestheprogressbar
ManuallyControllingaFeature'sMeasurement
Tomanuallycontrolthemeasurementofafeature:
1. ClickontheStopcommandbuttonintheExecutionModeOptionsdialogbox.
2. ClicktheManualModeicon.PCDMISwillthenallowyoutocontrolthe
measurementprocessonthecurrenthit.(See"Continue".)
WhenthecurrentfeatureismeasuredinMANUALmode,PCDMISwillautomaticallyreturnthe
systemtoDCCmodeandcontinuetomeasurethepartundercomputercontrol.Youcanpress
theDCCmodeicontogobacktoDCCmodeatanytime.
PCDMISwillnotreplacetheoriginalhitswithanyofthenewhits.Ifameasurementvalueneeds
tobealtered,itmustbedoneintheEditwindow.
Note:Someautofeatureswillaskattheendofmanualmeasurementifyouwanttosavethenew
locationofthefeatureasthetargetforfutureexecutionsofthepartprogram.ClickingYES in
responsetothispromptwillsavethecurrentlymeasuredpositionasthenewtarget.
ResizingtheExecutionModeOptionsDialogBox
TheExecutionModeOptionsdialogboxisresizable.Toresizethisdialogbox:
1. Placethemousecursorontheouteredgeofthedialogbox.Thegeneralarrow
iconwillbereplacedbyadoublearrowicon.
3. Whileholdingdowntheleftmousebutton,dragthecursortothedesiredlocation.
Theboxwillberesized.Thiscapabilityisusefulwhentheexecutiondataneedstobereadfrom
adistance.

SettingYourPreferences
SettingYourPreferences:Introduction
PCDMISallowsyoutosetpersonalpreferencesthattailortheformandfunctionofPCDMISto
meetindividualspecifications.Usingthischapteryouwillbeabletocontroloutputformat,screen
graphics,machineparameters,andotheroptions.
SelectingPCDMISSetupOptions
ModifyingReportandMotionParameters
SettingUptheEditWindow
SettingUptheReadoutWindow
SettingUpMultipleArms
DefiningtheRotaryTable
SettingUpProbeChangerOptions
LoadingtheActiveProbe
SettingUptheMachineInterface
CompensatingforTemperature
SpecifyingExternalDirectoriestoSearch
ChangingOpenGLOptions
Understandingthe.DATFiles
Thefollowingparagraphsdescribethevarioussystemoptionsandtheirfunctions.
ANoteonStoringSettingsforMultipleUsers
AnychangesmadetoPCDMIS'ssettings,parameters,oruserinterfacecustomizationsarenow
storedforeachuser.ThisiscontrolledinternallybyusingtheWindowsNT/Windows2000user
permissions.Loggingontotheoperatingsystembyyourspecificusernameautomaticallyrecalls
yoursettings.Thesearestoredinsidenamedsubdirectoriesatthelocationwhereyouinstalled
PCDMIS.
SwitchingBetweenMachineProfiles
Important:YourportlockmustbeprogrammedwiththeIPMeasureoptionfortheSaveMachine
ProfileandRecallMachinemenuitemstoappear.
Thesetwomenuitemsletyoueasilyswitchbetweenmachineprofileswhencreatingpart
programsoffline.
Edit|Preferences|SaveMachineProfileThismenuitemdisplaysaSaveAsdialogbox
thatasksforafilenameandrecordsallthecurrentsettingsforthevirtualmachineintoafile
withan"mpl"filenameextension.PCDMISsavesthefollowingintothefileforlaterrecall:
Loadedmachinemodel
Loadedtoolchangermodel
Rotarytablesettings
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual SettingYourPreferences 117

Mountorientationfortheprobe
Startingdefaultprobecomponent(PH10,CW43etc.)
Activeprobefile
Any"fixed"quickfixturecomponents
Themachine'sspeedsettingsandlimits
Edit|Preferences|RecallMachineThismenuitemletsyourestoreamachine'ssettings
thatwerestoredinan.mplfile.PCDMISdisplaysanOpendialogbox,andonceyouselect
thefiletoopen,PCDMISrestoresthesettings.
SelectingtheEdit|Preferences|SetupmenuoptionaccessestheSetUpOptionsdialogbox.
ThisdialogboxallowsyoutoaltertheformandfunctionofPCDMIS.Simplyclickonthedesired
tab.Theavailabletabsincludethefollowing:
SetupOptions:Generaltab
SetUpOptionsdialogboxGeneraltab
TheGeneraltabcanbeaccessedbyclickingontheGeneraltabwithintheSetUpOptions
dialogbox(Edit|Preferences|Setup).Thisoptionwillallowyoutochangevariousfunctions
controllingthemeasurementprocess.
EditBoxesfortheGeneraltab
TheeditboxesfortheGeneraltaballowyoutoeditthefollowingoptions:
118 SettingYourPreferences PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Scale
Factor TheScaleFactorboxscalesthemeasureddatabywhateverfactorisentered.
Forexample,ifacircleismeasuredandhasadiameterof1.0inchesandthe
scalefactoris0.95thenthemeasuredvaluewillbereportedas0.95inches.
Minutesto TheMinutestoSaveboxallowsyoutoentertheamountofminutesthatPC
Save DMISwillwaitbeforeautosavingyourpartprogram.Theleastamountof
minutesyoucanenterisone.TheMinutestoSaveboxbecomesavailable
whenyouselecttheAutomaticFileSavecheckbox.
ThisboxbecomesavailablewhenyoufirstselecttheFindNominalscheck
box.See"FindNominals".
Find
Nominals TheFindNominalsToleranceboxallowsyoutotypetheamountoftolerance
Tolerance thatPCDMISuseswhenfindingthenominals.Thedefaultis10mm.
WhenyouinitiallysetthisvalueandclickOK(andwheneveryouperformafind
nominalsoperationinlearnmode),PCDMISchecksthisvalueagainstthe
activetip'sradius.Ifthisvalueislessthanthetip'sradius,PCDMISwillchange
ittomatchthediameteroftheactivetip.
Show
Deviations
TheShowDeviationsToleranceboxallowsyoutotypetheamountof
Tolerance
tolerancethatPCDMISuseswhenPCDMISisshowinghitdeviations.This
optionisonlyavailablewhenyoufirstselecttheShowHitDeviationcheckbox.
Deviation
Arrow TheDeviationArrowMultiplierboxisonlyavailablewhenyoufirstselectthe
Multiplier ShowHitDeviationcheckbox.AnarrowappearsintheGraphicsDisplay
windowmarkingeachhittaken,showingthedeviation.Thelargerthevalue
enteredinthisfield,thegreaterthesizeofthearrow.
TheAnyOrderExecuteToleranceboxletsyoudefinethetolerancethatthe
hitmustbewithinforPCDMIStomeasurethatfeaturewhenexecutingyour
partprograminanyorderexecutemode.
AnyOrder
Execute Ifyourinitialhitismorethanthespecifiedtoleranceawayfromthefeature,PC
Tolerance DMISwillsearchbackwardsandforwardsthroughthepartprogramforthe
closestfeaturewhoseinitialhitmatchesyourinitialhitandexecutethatfeature
instead.SeeAnyOrderExecutioninthe"UsingAdvancedFileOptions"chapter
formoreinformation.
PCDMISstoresthetolerancevaluewithyourpartprogram.Thisallowsyouto

havedifferentsearchzonesfordifferentpartprogramsifdesired.
TheThicknessboxworkswiththeThicknessforPointOnlyModePoints
checkbox.IfyouselecttheThicknessforPointOnlyModePointscheckbox,
Thickness thethicknessinthisboxwillbeappliedtoeachpointcreatedbyPointOnly
Mode.
See"PointOnlyMode"and"ThicknessforPointOnlyModePoints"for
additionalinformation.
TheExecutionFindNomsToleranceboxallowsyoutotypetheamountof
Execution tolerancethatPCDMISuseswhenfindingthenominalsduringpartprogram
FindNoms execution.
Tolerance
ThisboxbecomesavailablewhenyoufirstselecttheFindNominalsduring
Executioncheckbox.
See"FindNominalsDuringExecution".
TheAutoCircleHitsboxallowsyoutosetthedefaultnumberofhitsPCDMIS
Auto willtakewhilelearningcirclesusingCADdata.Theminimumnumberofhitsthat
CircleHits maybeenteredisthree.Itonlychangesthenumberofhitsforcirclesaboutto
beprogrammed,notforcirclesthathavealreadybeenprogrammed.
TheentryinthePCDMISSettingsEditorforthisoptionreads: AutoCirHits=
[numberofhits].Forinformationonmodifyingregistryentries,pleaseviewthe
"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendix.
TheAutoLineHitsboxallowsyoutosetthedefaultnumberofhitsPCDMIS
willtakewhilelearninglinesusingCADdata.Theminimumnumberofhitsthat
AutoLine maybeenteredistwo.Itonlychangesthenumberofhits forlinesabouttobe
Hits programmed,notforlinesthathavealreadybeenprogrammed.
TheentryinthePCDMISSettingsEditorforthisoptionreads: AutoLineHits=
[numberofhits].Forinformationonmodifyingregistryentries,pleaseviewthe
"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendix.
TheHitsinUboxindicatestheminimumnumberofrowsthatmustbetaken
HitsinU whenscanning.
Note:ThisscanningoptionisonlyactivewhenusedwiththeCurvesand
Surfacesoptions.
HitsinV

TheHitsinVboxindicatestheminimumnumberofhitsperrowthatmustbe
takenwhenscanning.
Note:ThisscanningoptionisonlyactivewhenusedwiththeCurvesand
Surfacesoptions.
Warnings
TheWarningsbuttondisplaystheWarningsDisplayOptionsdialogbox.
Important:Inordertobettersupporttheabilitytoturnoffwarningsinversion4.0andabove,
warningmessageswillonlyappearintheWarningsDisplayOptionsdialogboxonceyouhave
turnedthemoff.Ifnowarningshavebeenturnedoffthedialogboxwillbeempty.
WarningsDisplayOptionsdialogbox
ThisdialogboxallowsyoutotellPCDMIStoredisplaywarningsthatyouhavealreadyswitched
offaswellaschangethedefaultactionsforwarningmessagesthatareturnedoff.Bydefaultthis
dialogboxisempty.Whenawarningmessageappears,PCDMISgivesyoutheoptionofnot
receivingthatwarningagain.Whenyouchoosetonotreceivethewarning,thewarningendsup
inthisdialogbox.
Tostartreceivingawarningmessageagain:
1. AccesstheSetUpOptionsdialogbox(Edit|Preferences|Setup).
2. SelecttheGeneraltab.
3. ClicktheWarningsbutton.TheWarningsDisplayOptionsdialogboxwill
open.Itwillshowanywarningsyouhaveturnedoff.
4. Selectthewarninginthedialogbox.
5. Clearitscheckbox.
6. ClickOK.Thewarningisremovedfromthedialogboxandyouwillstartreceiving
thatwarningmessageagain.

TheClearListbuttonclearsallthecheckboxesforallitemsinthisdialogbox,therebyreturning
PCDMIStoitsdefaultmodeofdisplayingallthewarningmessages.
Tochangethedefaultactionforawarningmessage:
1. MakesureyouhaveclickedtheDon'taskmeagaincheckboxwhenthe
warningappears.ThiscausesittogototheWarningsDisplayOptionsdialogbox.
2. AccesstheSetUpOptionsdialogbox
4. ClicktheWarningsbutton.TheWarningsDisplayOptionsdialogboxwill
open.Itwillshowanywarningsyoudonotwanttodisplay.
5. Doubleclickonthewarningmessagewhosedefaultactionyouwanttochange.
PCDMISdisplaysthewarning,allowingyoutoselectthenewdefaultaction.
6. Selectthenewdefaultaction.Thelistwillnowbeupdatedwiththenewaction.
7. ClicktheOKbuttontosaveyourchoice.
Password
ThePasswordbuttonallowsyoutopasswordprotectaccesstotheSetupOptionsdialogbox.
Topasswordprotectyoursetupoptions:
3. ClickthePasswordbutton.TheOptionsPassworddialogboxappears.
OptionsPassworddialogbox
4. IntheNewPasswordbox,typethedesiredpassword.
5. IntheRepeatentrybox,retypethesamepasswordtoconfirmyourentry.
6. SelecttheUsePasswordcheckbox.
7. ClickOK.
ThenexttimeyouattempttoaccesstheSetupOptionsdialogbox,youwillbeaskedtotypethe
passwordbeforeproceeding.
If,atthisrequest,youclickCancelyouwillhavetheoptionofviewingthecurrentlyselected
optionsbutwillbeunabletomakeanychanges.
CheckBoxesfortheGeneraltab
ThecheckboxeslistedintheGeneraltaboftheSetUpOptionsdialogboxallowyoutoturnon
oroffavarietyofdifferentoptions.Thisisusefulbecauseyoucancustomizethewaymuchof
PCDMISoperatesinordertofityourspecificneeds.

PressEndKey
ThePressEndKeycheckboxcontrolswhetherornotPCDMISwaitsforyoutopresstheEND
keybeforeitacceptsthelasthittaken.Selectingthischeckboxallowsyoutopreviewthelasthit
beforeyouacceptit.Ifyoudon'tselectthischeckbox,thecurrenthitthatyoutakewiththejog
boxisnotstoredinthehitbuffer,butautomaticallybecomesthelasthitforthefeature,evenif
youtakethehitatthewrongspot.
AutomaticFileSave
TheAutomaticFileSavecheckboxallowsyoutoautomaticallysavethepartprogramat
predeterminedtimeintervals.Ifthischeckboxisselected,thedefaultsettingwillsavethe
programeveryminute.Thisamountoftimecanbechangedsimplybyenteringanothervaluein
theMinutestoSavebox.
PCDMISstorestheautosavedfileunderthetitleof"AutosaveCopyof"plustheoriginalfile
name.Thisautosavedcopycanbeopenedinthesamemannerasaregularpartprogramin
caseofsomecatastrophicfailureoftheoriginalfile.TheentryinthePCDMISSettingsEditorfor
thisoptionreads: AutoSave=0or1
Forinformationonmodifyingregistryentries,pleaseviewthe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"
appendix.
FindNominals
TheFindNominalscheckboxcontrolshowPCDMIStreatshits.Whenselected,PCDMISwill
thenautomaticallyconsidereachprobetouch,findingtheclosestCADnominalforthattouch.It
willcontinuetoaccumulatehitsuntiltheENDkeyispressed.Thefeaturetypewillthenbe
calculatedandtheCADnominalsapplied.
Onceselected,theFindNominalsToleranceboxbecomesavailable.See"FindNominals
Tolerance".
PointOnlyMode
ThePointOnlyModecheckboxcontrolshowPCDMISrespondstoeachprobehit.When
selected,PCDMISautomaticallyconsiderseachprobehittobeasinglepointmeasurementand
automaticallycreatesanAutoVectorPoint.Ifthecheckboxisnotselected,PCDMISwill
accumulateprobehitsuntiltheENDkeyispressed.Onlythenwillitdeterminethetypeoffeature
justmeasured.
Whenyouselectthischeckbox,theThicknessforPointonlyModePointscheckboxbecomes
available.See"ThicknessforPointOnlyModePoints".

EdgePointOnlyMode
TheEdgePointOnlyModecheckboxcontrolshowPCDMISrespondstoeachsetofprobe
hits.Inthiscase,asetisdefinedastwosingularprobehits.Thefirsthitshouldalwaysbetaken
onthesurface.Thesecondhitshouldalwaysbetakenontheedge.Whenthischeckboxis
selected,PCDMISautomaticallyconsiderseachsetofprobehitstobeasinglepoint
measurementandautomaticallycreatesanAutoEdgePoint.Ifthecheckboxisnotselected,PC
DMISwillaccumulateprobehitsuntilyoupresstheENDkey.Onlythenwillitdeterminethetype
offeaturejustmeasured.
PDDMISwillusetheoptionsasdisplayedintheHits,Auto,andMiscareasoftheEdgePoint
dialogboxwhencreatingtheEdgePoint(Seethe"CreatinganAutoEdgePoint"topicinthe
"CreatingAutoFeatures"chapter).
CADnominalswillbeappliediftheFindNomsoptionischecked.
IgnoreMotionError
Thisoptiondoesnotapply
toallmachinetypes.Some
machinescanutilizethis SelectingtheIgnoreMotionErrorscheckboxtellsPCDMISto
optionwhileonothersitwill ignorecollisionerrors.SelectingthischeckboxandclickingOK
havenoeffect. insertsanIGNOREMOTIONERRORS/ONcommandintotheEdit
window.WhenPCDMISencountersthiscommandandtheprobe
collideswithanobstruction,theprobewillnotautomaticallystop.
Thisoptionishelpfulwhenmeasuringmaterialssuchasclayor
plastic,wheresomeflexibilityisnecessary.
SettingthiscommandtoOFFwithintheEditwindowwilloncemore
displaycollisionerrors.
AutomaticallyAdjustProbeHeadWrist
IfyouselecttheAutomaticallyAdjustProbeHeadWristcheckbox,thenduringexecution
whenthesoftwarereachesaTIPcommand,itwill,basedonthegeometry,automaticallyselect
thetipforwhichtheIJKofthetipshankmostcloselyapproximatestheIJKontheTIPcommand.
TheIJKontheTIPcommandisrelativetopartcoordinatessothetipactuallyselectedcanvary
basedonthepartalignment.
HowitworkswithNonMappedWrists
FornonmappedwristsPCDMISreturnstheclosesttheoreticalposition.Ifthereisacalibrated
tipthatmatchesthistheoreticalposition,itusesthatcalibratedtip.IfPCDMIScanfindcalibrated
tipsthatfallwithintheangletolerancedefinedintheWristWarningDeltaboxofthe
Part/Machinetab,itllusethosetipsovernoncalibratedtipsthathavecloseranglematches(see
"SetupOptions:Part/Machinetab").
Ifitcannotfindwhatitthinksisatheoreticalmatch,itgivesanerror"IllegalTIPcommandorTIP
notqualified".

Ifitfoundagoodtheoreticalmatchbutthattipdoesn'texistorisn'tyetcalibrated,itwillwaituntil
themachinecatchesuptotheTIPstatementsonomachinemotionisinprogress,andthenitwill
askyouifitshouldusetheclosestcalibratedtip.
IfyouselectYES,thenitusesthecalibratedtip.
IfyouselectNO,thenitaddsatipobjecttomatchthebesttheoreticalfitand
halts,butdoesnotcancel,executionandamessageappearsonPCDMIS'sStatus
Barthatsaystopresscontinuewhenyou'redonecalibratingthenewprobe.Atthis
point,youshouldaccesstheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox,performanycalibrationwork
asneeded,andthenclickContinuetoproceed.
HowitworkswithMappedWrists:
Withaninfinitewristthatisactuallymapped(andthereforecalibrated)PCDMISautomatically
returnsthebestmatchingtippositionandproceedsusingthatposition.
OtherNotes
ThisoptioncanalsobeturnedonforindividualhitsofAutoFeaturesbyusingtheAutoPH9
checkboxinsidetheAutoFeaturedialogbox.(Seethe"CreatingAutoFeatures"chapter.)
TheentryinthePCDMISSettingsEditorforthisoptionreads: AutoAdjustPh9=0or1.For
informationonmodifyingregistryentries,pleaseviewthe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendix
Note: MarkUsedProbeUtilities(Insert|HardwareDefinition|Probe)chapter
IgnoreCADtoPart
Eachtimeyoucreateanalignment(savedorotherwise)PCDMIScreatestwotransformation
matrices.
1. MachinetoparttransformationmatrixComputedfromtheinputfeatures'
measuredvaluesstoredinternallyinmachinecoordinates.
2. CADtoparttransformationmatrixComputedfromtheinputfeatures'
theoreticalvaluesstoredinternallyinCADcoordinates.
Whenyoudon'thaveavailableCADdata,theoreticaldatausuallycomesfromthemeasured
valuesofthelearnedfeatures.Itisdifficulttogetconsistentresultsusingtheoreticalvalues.This
canhappenwhensomeofthesevaluesareedited,whileothersarenot.
IfyouhaveselectedtheIgnoreCADtoPartcheckboxwhenyousaveanalignment,PCDMIS
ignorestheCADtopartmatrixandinsteadonlysavesthemachinetopartalignment.All
theoreticalvalueswillnowbeinthesamecoordinatesystem.
Generally,ifyouarenotusingCADdata,selectthischeckbox.
EffectsonCadEqualsPart
YoumaywanttoexecuteanalignmentfromfeaturesmeasuredwithoutCADdatainDCC
mode.IfyouwillbeusingtheCADEqualsPart menuoption(orCAD=Partbutton),be
suretoselecttheIgnoreCADtoPartcheckboxpriortosettingtheCADequaltothepart.

ForinformationonsettingtheCADequaltothepart,seethe"CADEqualsPart"topicin
the"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapter.
TheoreticalValuesforCopiedFeatures
IfyouclearthischeckboxandcopyafeaturetoanewlocationintheEditwindow,the
theoreticalvaluesofthefeaturewillbeassociatedwiththealignmentatthefeature's
originallocation.
IfyouselectthischeckboxandcopyafeaturetoanewlocationintheEditwindow,the
theoreticalvaluesofthefeaturewillbeassociatedwiththealignmentatthefeature'snew
location.
See"ChangingAlignmentNominalValues"inthe"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapter.
Resetglobalsettingswhenbranching
IfyouselecttheResetglobalsettingswhenbranchingcheckbox,PCDMISwillresetthe
globalvaluesforstatecommands(seethelistofcommandsbelow.)afterencounteringa
branchingstatement.(Forinformationonbranching,seethe"BranchingbyUsingFlowControl"
chapterforinformationonbranching).Anystatecommandsjumpedover,becauseofabranching
statement,willnotbeexecuted.Thisallowsyoutoskipoversectionsoftheprogramwithout
havingthesesettingschange.
Forexample,supposeyourpartprogramhasthefollowing:
TIP/T1A0B0
MYLABEL=LABEL/
Measurementsetc...
TIP/T1A90B90
GOTO/MYLABEL
Ifyouselectthecheckbox,
WhenPCDMISreadstheGOTOstatement,itjumpstoMYLABEL.Andthensearchesup,using
thefirstencounteredTIP/command:TIP/T1A0B0
Ifyoudeselectthischeckbox,
WhenPCDMISreadstheGOTOstatement,itjumpstoMYLABEL.PCDMISwon'tresetglobal
settingswhenencounteringabranchingstatement.Instead,itusesthelastexecutedTIP/
command:TIP/T1A90B90
PCDMISdefaultstoselectingthecheckbox.Inversionspriortoversion3.25,PCDMIS
automaticallyresettheglobalvaluesofthestatecommands.Now,PCDMISgivesyoutheoption
toturnthisoptionOnorOff.
CommandsResetAfterBranching:

Start/align
Recall/align
Mode/
Rmeas/
Workplane/
Tip/
Loadprobe/
Retract/
Check/
Touchspeed/
Movespeed/
Polarvectorcomp/
AutoTrigger/
Triggerplane/
TriggerTolerance/
Videosetup/
Displayprecision/
ManRetract/
Scanspeed/
Prehit/
Clamp/
Clearp/
Format/
132column/
Gaponly/
Retrolinearonly/
Probecom/
Array_indices/
Fly/
Positivereporting/
Ignoremotionerrors/
MoveFeaturetoReferencePlane
IfyouselecttheMoveFeaturetoReferencePlanecheckbox,PCDMISwillautomatically
projectthemeasuredfeaturetotheworkplane.Ingeneral,thisworksforanyofthefollowing
featuretypesaslongastheyusethebestfitfunctionalityinternally:
Circles
Ellipses
Lines
Polygons
Slots
Measuredpoints
ShowExtendedSheetMetalOptions

IfyouselecttheShowExtendedSheetMetalOptionscheckbox,PCDMISwilldisplayallof
theavailableSheetMetaloptionsintheAutoFeaturesdialogbox.(Seethevariousextended
sheetmetaltopicsintheCreatingAutoFeatures"chapter)
TheentryinthePCDMISSettingsEditorforthisoptionreads: ShowExtendedSheetMetal=0
or1.Forinformationonmodifyingregistryentries,pleaseviewthe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"
appendix.
FixedDialogPositions
IfyouselecttheFixedDialogPositionscheckbox,PCDMISwilldisplaydialogboxesintheir
defaultposition.Ifthisoptionisnotcheckmarked,PCDMISwilldisplayeachdialogbox
whereveritwaslastpositioned.Thisoptionbecomesextremelyhelpfulwhenusingmacros.
TheentryinthePCDMISSettingsEditorforthisoptionreads: DialogFixedPosition=0or1.
Forinformationonmodifyingregistryentries,pleaseviewthe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"
appendix.
LockMarkedSets
IfyouselecttheLockMarkedSetscheckbox,PCDMISwillpreventusersfromaccidentally
deletingorotherwisemodifyingthecurrentmarksetconfigurations.PCDMISwillonlyallowyou
toexecuteandactivatemarkedsets.Youmustclearthischeckboxtoaddordeletefeatures
fromamarkedset.
AutomaticallyScaletoFit
IfyouselecttheAutomaticallyScaletoFitcheckbox,PCDMISwillautomaticallyscalethe
screeneverytimeafeatureismeasured.
TheentryinthePCDMISSettingsEditorforthisoptionreads: AutoScaleToFit=0or1.For
informationonmodifyingregistryentries,pleaseviewthe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendix
ShowHitDeviations
IfyouselecttheShowHitDeviationscheckbox,PCDMISwilldrawanarrowwheneverahitis
takentoshowthemeasuredvalueminusthenominaldeviation.
UseCircularMovesonRoundFeatures

IfyouselecttheUseCircularMovesonRoundFeaturescheckbox,andifyouare"learning"a
partprogrambytakinghitsonthepart,PCDMISwillautomaticallyplacecircularmove
commandsintotheinsidecircularfeaturesaswellasintotheoutsideofcircularfeatures.This
includesCircles,Cylinders,Cones,andSpheres.Thisstate,however,isonlyrelevantduring
learnmode.Oncethecircular/movecommandsarepresentinsidefeaturestheyremainthere
unlessdirectlyremovedbytheuser.
TheentryinthePCDMISSettingsEditorforthisoptionreads: UseCircularMoves=0or1.For
informationonmodifyingregistryentries,pleaseviewthe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendix.
ThicknessforPointOnlyModePoints
Whenyouselectthischeckbox,youcanapplythicknesstopointscreatedwithPointOnlyMode.
SelectingthischeckboxmakestheThicknessboxinthissamedialogboxavailableforediting.
YoucanthentypeathicknessandapplythatthicknesstopointscreatedusingPointOnlyMode.
Foradditionalinformation,see"PointOnlyMode"and"Thickness".
AllowfinetuningofAlignment
Wheneveryouchangeanalignment,PCDMISasksifitshouldupdatethecommandsbelowwith
thechangedalignment.Ifyouhavethischeckboxselected,andyouclicktheNObuttonatthis
prompt,PCDMISchangestheMACHINETOPARTtransformationifrequired.Ifdeselected,the
MACHINETOPARTtransformationdoesnotchange.
UseCADProvidedIDsforFeatures
TheUseCADProvidedIDsforFeaturescheckboxallowsyoutoimport featureIDsfromaCAD
file.Whenyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISautomaticallyinputsthegivenCADIDintothe
AutoFeaturedialogboxwhentheCADfeatureisselectedwithaleftmouseclick.Ifyoudecide
tokeepthisvalue,thenthefeaturecreatedwillhavethegivenID.
FindNominalsDuringExecution
IfyouselecttheFindNominalsduringExecutioncheckbox,newnominalsarefoundforboth
SurfaceandVectorpointsduringpartprogramexecution.See"ExecutionFindNomsTolerance"
todefinethetolerancevaluesPCDMISwilluse.Also,see"FindNominalsTolerance".
AutoContinueExecutionifFindHoleFails

IfyouselecttheAutoContinueExecutionifFindHoleFailscheckbox,PCDMISallowsyouto
automaticallycontinueexecutingapartifthe"FindHole"optionfoundontheAutoFeaturedialog
boxfailstofindahole.
Inthepast,whentheFindHoleoptionfailed,PCDMISpromptedyoutoplacetheprobeinthe
centeroftheholetocontinuerunningthepartprogram.However,withtheAutoContinue
ExecutionifFindHoleFailscheckboxselected,PCDMISautomaticallyprintsanerror
messagetothereportandcontinuesrunningtheremainingpartprogram.
FormorespecificinformationonFindHole,seethe"FindHoleCheckBox"topicinthe"Creating
AutoFeatures"chapter.
ShowStartupDialog
TheShowStartupDialogcheckboxallowsyoutodeterminewhetherornotPCDMISshows
theOpenFiledialogboxeachtimeyoustartPCDMIS.Thisdialogboxshowsalistingof
availablepartprogramstoopen.
Whenyouclearthecheckbox,PCDMISwilldisablethisstartupdialog.
See"OpeningExistingPartPrograms"inthe"UsingBasicFileOptions"chapterforadditional
informationontheOpenFiledialogbox.
AutomaticLabelPositioning
TheAutomaticlabelpositioningcheckboxtellsPCDMIStoautomaticallypositionfeature
labelsaroundthepart.Thereafter,featureIDlabelswillberepositionedwheneveryouperform
pan,zoom,orrotateoperationsonthepartmodel.
YoucanalsoturnonAutomaticLabelPositioningbyrightclickingonafeatureIDlabeland
selectingLabelProcessing|AutomaticLabelPositioningfromtheshortcutmenu.
AnimateProbeduringProgramMode
TheAnimateprobeduringProgramModecheckboxactivatesprobeanimationduring
Programmode.Whenyouselectthischeckbox,theprobewillanimatethetakingofhitsinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindowasthehitsaregeneratedfromCAD.
ShowIconinTextBoxes
TheShowiconintextboxescheckboxallowsyoutodetermineificonsdepictingthefeatureor
dimensiontypeshouldappearintextboxesandinsidefeatureIDlabels.Thetextboxesinclude
featureID,dimensioninfo,andpointinfotextboxes.

Forinformationontextboxessee"TextBoxMode"inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter.
PierceCADon3DRotate
ThePierceCADon3Drotatecheckboxallowsyoutodeterminetheexactpointaboutwhich
PCDMISrotateswhenperforminga3DrotatebysimplyrightclickingintheGraphicsDisplay
window.
Ifyouselectthischeckboxandperforma3DrotatebyrightclickingintheGraphics
Displaywindow,PCDMISusesthepointwhereyouclickedasthepointusedaboutwhichto
rotate.
Ifyouclearthischeckboxandthenrightclickto3Drotate,thenPCDMISdoesn'tpierce
theCAD.
Note:Asalways,however,ifPCDMISdetectsawireframeentityorsurfaceedgeclosetothe
mousecursor,thenthepointontheentityoredgeclosesttothemousepointerwillbeusedas
therotationpoint.
See"3DRotateMode"discussedinthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapterforinformationon3D
rotating.
SavePartProgramonExecute
TheSavePartProgramonExecutecheckboxtellsPCDMIStoautomaticallysavethecurrent
partprogramwheneverit'sexecuted.
UseDMISButtoninEditWindow
TheUseDMISButtoninEditWindowcheckboxdetermineswhetherornottheDMISmode
icongetsdisplayedontheEditwindowtoolbar.
PatchScansMaintainLastIncrement
ThePatchScansMaintainLastIncrementcheckboxforceseachnewlineofthepatchscanto
usethelastincrementfromthepreviousline.Ifyoudeselectthischeckbox,thescanwillrevertto
theminimumscanincrementwhentakingthefirsthitoneachline.
UseAutomotiveDeviationLetters

TheUseAutomotiveDeviationLetterscheckboxcausesPCDMIStoaddaletterafterthe
deviationnumberinLocationandTruePositiondimensionreports.PCDMISinsertstheletter
Fwhenthefeaturedeviatesinthedirectionofthefrontofthecar.
Bwhenthefeaturedeviatesinthedirectionofthebackofthecar.
Iwhenthefeaturedeviatestowardsthecenterlineofthecar(meaningthecaristoo
narrow).
Owhenthefeaturedeviatesawayfromthecenterlineofthecar(meaningthecaristoo
wide).
Hwhenthefeaturedeviatestowardsthetopofthecar.
Lwhenthefeaturedeviatestowardsthebottomofthecar.
MapofAutomotiveDeviationLetters
TheselettersareaddedtotheLocationandTruePositiondimensionsjustfollowingthedeviation
numbersreported.ThesedeviationlettersalsoappearinsidetheReportwindowforthe
appropriatedimensions.
AutomotiveDeviationLettersinCommandMode

AutomotiveDeviationLettersinReportWindow
UseFindNominalsOverrideforScans
TheUseFindNominalsOverrideforScanscheckboxallowsyoutooverridefoundnominals
whensearchingfornominalvaluesforascan'smeasuredpointswhenitexecutes.
Note:Theexecutionmustfailtofindatleastoneofthemeasurednominalpointvaluesforyouto
overridethefoundnominals.
See"OverridingFoundNominals"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapter.
UseONLYPrioritySurfacesfortheFindNominalsDuringScans
TheUseONLYPrioritySurfacesfortheFindNominalsDuringScanscheckboxcausesPC
DMIS(duringprogramexecution)tosearchfornominalvaluesforascan'smeasuredpointson
onlytheprioritysurfacessetintheEditCADElementsdialogbox.
See"EditingCAD"inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter.
DisplayOutlineofPlane

TheDisplayOutlineofPlanecheckboxdetermineswhetherornotPCDMISdisplaysactual
planeoutlinesintheGraphicsDisplaywindowinsteadofthesmallsymbolictrianglesymbol
typicallyused.
Forexample,ifyouselectthischeckboxandmeasurethreepointstoconstructaplane,the
symbolictrianglefortheplanewillbesizedsothatitsverticesareexactlywherethemeasured
pointsare.
Exampleofaconstructedplanedisplayedwiththischeckboxselected
Note: Whetheryouselectorclearthischeckbox,existingoutlinesaren'tredrawnonlyplanes
createdfromthatpointonaffected.Tochangeexistingoutlines,youhavetodoitmanually.
Toswitchthedisplayofexistingplanes:
1. AccesstheEditwindow.
2. PlaceitinCommandmode.
3. Gotothecommandfortheplane'sdisplayyouwanttochange.Forexample,
PLN1=FEAT/PLANE,RECT,TRIANGLE
4. PresstheTABkeyuntilyouhighlighttheTRIANGLEorOUTLINEfield.
5. PressF7orF8toswitchbetweentheavailablevaluesforthisfield.
TRIANGLEdisplaysthesmallsymbolictrianglesymbolfortheplane.
OUTLINEdisplaystheactualoutlineforthepointsmakinguptheplane.
6. 6. PresstheTABkeytoseetheresultintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
TreatTheoValuesAsifStoredinPartCoordinates
TheTreattheovaluesasifstoredinpartcoordinatescheckboxcausesPCDMIStotreat
theoreticalvaluesasifthey'restoredinpartcoordinates.Thischeckboxwasaddedforcases
wherepartprogramsperformloopsandthealignmentsarechangingwithintheloopingcode.

TheoffsetparametersoftheLOOP/STARTcommandtakecareofthisissueautomatically.This
isforloopingprogramsthatdon'tusetheLOOP/STARTandLOOP/ENDcommands,suchasa
WHILEEND/WHILEloop.
Considerthissamplepseudopartprogram:
ASSIGN/COUNT=4
ASSIGN/I=1
WHILE/I<4
LOOPALIGN=START/ALIGN
ALIGN/TRANSLATIONOFFSET,X,50
END/ALIGN
MYCIRCLE=MEAS/CIRCLE
THEO/0,0,0
ASSIGN/I=I+!
END_WHILE/
YouwouldexpectthateachtimethroughthelooptheXvaluewouldshiftby50sincethe
alignmentisshiftingby50eachtime.However,sincePCDMISdon'tstorefeaturedatainpart
coordinatesbutinCADandMachinecoordinates,theeffectisthatthefeaturedoesn'tactually
moveinthissituationeventhoughthealignmentischangingeachtimethroughtheloop.Thisis
becausetheCADTOPARTandPARTTOMACHINEtransformmatricesofthealignmentareboth
alteredinthesameway,theneteffectisthattheCADTOMACHINEtransformremains
unchanged.Thismeans,bydefault(whenthischeckboxisnotselected),PCDMISendsup
measuringinthesamespotallfourtimesthroughtheloop.
IfPCDMISstoredcoordinatesinpartcoordinatesinternally,thenthiswouldworkasexpected.
Thisiswherethischeckboxcomesintoplay.Whenyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISkeeps
trackofthealignmentthatwasusedduringtheinitialmeasurement.Onsubsequent
measurementsofafeature,itcheckstoseeifthecurrentalignmentdiffersfromthealignment
usedonthefirstpass.Ifitdoes,thenPCDMIScalculatesthedifferencesandshiftsthefeature
bythatdifference,causingthistofunctionasexpected.
RatherthansimplychanginghowPCDMISdoesthingsinternally,thisfunctionalitywasprovided
asacheckboxtopreserveexistingpartprograms.
MakeVariablesGloballyVisible
Usually,whenasubroutineiscalled,allvariablesgo"outofscope"andareunavailable.The
MakeVariablesGloballyVisiblecheckboxmakesanyvariablesglobally"visible",orusable,
throughouttheentirepartprogram.
Bydefault,thischeckboxisn'tselectedsothatvariablesinasubroutinewon'treplacedatastored
invariableswiththesamenameinthemainpartprogram.
Example:
ASSIGN/V1=1
C1=CALLSUB,MYSUB
.

.
.
SUBROUTINE/MYSUB
COMMENT/OPER,V1
END/SUB
Ifyoudeselectthischeckbox,variablesarenotgloballyvisible.TheOPERcommentwill
showavalueof0sinceV1cannotbeseenfrominsidethesubroutine.
Ifyouselectthischeckbox,variablesaregloballyvisible,theOPERcommentwillshowa
valueof1sinceV1canbeseenfrominsidethesubroutine.
Forinformationonvariables,seethe"UsingExpressionsandVariables"chapter.
UseDMISPolarConvention
iththisoptionselected,polarangleswillfollowstandardDMISPolarConvention.
XYPlane(PLUSZorMINUSZ)coordinate'a'istheanglefromthexaxistowardsthey
axis.
YZPlane(PLUSXorMINUSX)coordinate'a'istheanglefromtheyaxistowardsthez
axis.
ZXPlane(PLUSYorMINUSY)coordinate'a'istheanglefromthezaxistowardsthex
axis.
PassBackSettingsfromSubroutine
Thischeckboxallowsalignmentandothersystemchangesthatoccurwithinasubroutinetobe
seenbythemainprogramafterthesubroutinecall.
UseProgramLayoutforExecution
Selectingthischeckboxletsyouusethesamewindowlayoutsatexecutiontimeasyouhavefor
programtime.
ForcePartAlignmentinCarBody
TheForcePartAlignmentinCarBodycheckboxforcesyouralignmenttobeincarbody
alignment.Ifyouselectthischeckbox,nomatterwhatalignmentmethodyouchoose,the
alignmentwillalwaysmatchthatoftheCAD.Selectingthischeckboxactsasasecondary
transformationaftertheinitialalignment.

Forexample,ifyoutranslatetothecenterholeontheHexagonMetrologytestblockandselect
thischeckbox,theoriginwillstillbeinthecorner,butwhenyoureportonthathole,itwillbe
perfectsinceyouusedittosetyourorigin.
Alignmentbeforeusingthischeckbox
Alignmentafterusingthischeckbox
KeepExistingDimension'sAxes
TheKeepExistingDimension'sAxescheckboxkeepsexistingaxesfordimensionedfeatures
fromgettingupdatedevenifyouswitchadimensionedfeaturetoadifferentfeaturetype.Ifyou
don'tselectthischeckbox,therelateddimensionaxeswillupdateaccordingtotheselected
feature.
Bydefaultthisisnotselected.
SelectAlignmenttoOutputtoGds
ThischeckboxletsyoudeterminewhetherornotPCDMISdisplaysadialogboxallowingyouto
selectthealignmenttooutputasa.gdsfile.IfyouselectthischeckboxPCDMISletsyouchoose
analignmenttooutputtothe.gdsfile.Ifyoudon'tselectthischeckbox,PCDMISwilloutputthe
lastusedalignmentautomatically.See"ExportingtoaGdsFile"in"UsingAdvancedFile
Options".
GapOnly

ThischeckboxsetsthedefaultvaluefortheGapOnlycheckboxusedinnewLocation
dimensionsforthecurrentpartprogram.
IfyouselectGapOnlythen,whenthepartprogramnextstarts,theGAPONLY/ON command
willgetaddedintotheEditwindow.Inaddition,theFeatureLocationdialogboxfor
LocationdimensionswillautomaticallyhaveitsGapOnlycheckboxselectedbydefault
wheneveryoucreateanewLocationdimension.
IfyoudeselectGapOnlythentheFeatureLocationdialogboxwillhaveitsGapOnly
checkboxalsodeselectedwheneveryoucreateanewLocationdimension.
Showtrackerparametersinoffline
IfyouuseaportableLeicaTrackerdeviceinonlinemodetogeneratefeaturecommands,PC
DMISautomaticallyinsertsthefollowinginformationintotheEditwindowinsidethosefeature
commands:
RMSRootMeanSquaredvalueofeachhit.
ProbeTypeThetypeofprobeusedtomeasurethefeature.
TimeStampThetimethefeaturewasexecutedorlearned.PCDMISonlyupdatesthis
whenitactuallymeasuresafeatureinonlinemode.
EnvironmentalConditionsInformationsuchastemperature,pressure,andhumidity.
InofflinemodePCDMISbehavesdifferently.TheseLeicaTrackeritemsonlyappearafteryou
selecttheShowtrackerparametersinofflinecheckbox,andtheywillonlyappearfornew
featurecommandsinsertedintothepartprogramafteryouhaveselectedthisoption.Previously
measuredfeatureswillremainunaffectedexceptforapermanentstructurechangeaddinginan
emptyTrackerParametergroupintoeachfeaturecommand.
Note:Selectingthischeckboxperformsapermanentchangetoyourpartprogramstructurefor
insertedfeaturecommandsregardlessofwhetherornotyoulaterclearthischeckbox.For
example,ifyouclearthischeckboxafteryou'vealreadyuseditforsomefeatures,newlyinserted
featureswillstillcontainaTrackerParametergroupalthoughthatgroupwillnotcontainany
groupitems.
Forinformationonwhereandhowtheseitemsappearinthefeaturecommands,seethe"PC
DMISPortable"documentation.
SetupOptions:Part/Machinetab

SetupOptionsdialogboxPart/Machinetab
ThePart/MachinetabletsyoudefinethepartsetupontheCMM(orMachine)bychangingthe
CADaxesrelationshiptothemachineaxes.Thisoptioncanbeaccessedbyclickingonthe
Part/MachinetabwithintheSetUpOptiondialogbox(Edit|Preferences|Setup).
ThiscapabilityisneededwhenaprogramisbeingcreatedusingPCDMIS,andtheCAD
coordinatesystemdiffersfromtheCMMpartsetup.
Example:ApartissetuponthemachinewithitsX+CADaxispointinginthesamedirectionas
theCMM'sZ+axis.TheZ+CADaxisispointinginthesamedirectionastheCMM'sXaxis.This
functioncanbeusedtocreatetheproperrelationships.
ToequatetheCADsetuptothepartssetup,simplyselecttheappropriateaxes fromthedrop
downlists.Oncethisrelationshipisestablished,itwillbeeasiertoprogramthepartbecausePC
DMISwillproperlydisplaytheprobeinrelationtothepart.
Machinearea

Machinearea
DialogBoxItem Description
ProbeHeadOrientation TheProbeHeadOrientationbuttonallowsyoutoconfigure
button theprobeheadwristABanglesforbothMasterandSlave
arms.
ToconfiguretheABwristanglesforbothMasterandSlave
arms:
1. AccesstheSetUpOptionsdialogbox(Edit|
Preferences|Setup).
2. SelectthePart/Machinetab.
3. ClicktheProbeHeadOrientationbutton.
TheProbeHeadWristAngleConfigurationdialog
boxwillappear.
4. SelecttheappropriateaxesfortheABangles
forbothMasterandSlavearms(ifapplicable).
FlyModearea TheFlyModeareaprovidesawaytomovetheprobearound
thepartinasmooth,nonstoppingmotion.Amovepointmust
beinsertedintothepartprogrambeforeusingthisoption.
(See"InsertingaMovePointCommand"inthe"Inserting
MoveCommands"chapter.)TheFlycommandcanonlybe
insertedbeforeorafteranyfeatureinthepartprogram.
TousetheFlyMode:
1. ScrolltothelocationintheEditwindowwhere
youwanttheFlycommand.
2. SelecttheActivecheckbox .
3. Typearadiusvalue.
4. ClicktheCreatebutton.
5. TheFlyModewillautomaticallybeplacedin
thecurrentpartprogramatthedesignated

location.TheEditwindowcommandlineforthis
optionreads:
FLY/TOG1,TOG2
TOG1
ThistogglefieldswitchesbetweeneitherON
orOFF.IfONthenPCDMISactivatesthe
command.IfOFF,PCDMISskipsthe
command.
TOG2
Thisfieldliststhevaluefortheradius.
Ifyouhaveselectedanillegalposition,amessageappears
informingyouthatPCDMIScannotinsertatthecurrentline.
Themessagethenasksifitshouldinsertthecommandatthe
nextlegalposition.
IfyouclicktheYesbutton,PCDMISwill
movetheFlycommanddowntotheendofthe
currentfeatureintheEditwindow.
IfyouclicktheNobutton,PCDMISwill
canceltheFlycommandandreturnyoutothe
Part/Machinetab.
Whenthepartprogramisexecuted,PCDMISwillmovethe
probeapredetermineddistancefromthemovepointwithout
anyhesitation.Thedistancemovedisthevalueenteredinthe
Radiusbox.
WristWarningDeltabox Thisisanumericalvaluedefiningtheminimumchangeinthe
wristanglerequiredbeforePCDMISrequiresyoutochange
thecurrentwristposition.ThisonlyaffectsuserswithaDCC
CMMwithaPH9articulatedwrist.
ManualHitRetractbox TheManualHitRetractboxallowsyoutotypetheretract
distancetheCMMwillautomaticallytravelafteramanualhitis
Thisoptionisonlyavailable taken.
withcertainDCCCMMtypes
(suchasLKandMitutoyo). IftheManualHitRetractvalueischangedfromeitherthe
defaultorfromthelastusedvalue,thenPCDMISplacesa
retractcommand(shownas"MANRETRACT/"andthenthe
value)inthecurrentpartprogram'sEditwindowatthe
cursor'slocation.Asmanualhitsaretaken,theCMMwill
retractbythenewvaluestatedonthiscommand.
Forexample,ifyouchangetheManualHitRetractvaluefrom
the.1defaultto.003thenthecommand
"MANRETRACT/0.003"appearsintheEditwindow.
ScanningMinTimeDelta ThisvalueallowsPCDMIStoreducetheamountofpoints
box thatarescannedbydeletinghitsthatarereadinfasterthan
thespecifiedtimedelayinmilliseconds.

ScanningMinDistance Thisvalueallowsyoutoreducethemeasureddataby
Deltabox deletinghitsthatarecloserthanthedistancespecifiedin
millimeters.Thereductionofhitshappensasdatacomesfrom
themachine.PCDMISonlykeepsthepointsthatareset
apartbymorethanthespecifiedincrements.
DisplayAbsoluteSpeedbox IftheDisplayAbsoluteSpeedcheckboxisselected,PC
DMISwilldisplaytheMoveSpeedasanabsolutevalue
insteadofapercentage.Thisvaluecorrespondstotheset
unittypeofthepartprogram(inchesormillimeters).
TopSpeed(mm/sec)box TheTopSpeed(mm/sec)boxallowsyoutoresetthetop
speedthatthemachinecantravel.Thevaluethatisspecified
cannotexceedthemachine'sdesignatedtopspeed.The
valuethatissetworksinconjunctionwiththeMove
Speedoption.
PartSetuparea
PartSetuparea
TheoptionsinthePartSetupareaareneededwhenaprogramisbeingcreatedusingPCDMIS,
andtheCADcoordinatesystemdiffersfromtheCMMpartsetup.
CAD"+X"axisequals Thisdropdownlistallowsyoutosettherelationshipbetweenthe
list CADX+axisandthemachineaxis.
CAD"+Y"axisequals Thisdropdownlistallowsyoutosettherelationshipbetweenthe
list CADY+axisandthemachineaxis.
CAD"+Z"axisequals 'Thisdropdownlistallowsyoutosettherelationshipbetweenthe
list CADZ+axisandthemachineaxis.
XOffbox TheseboxesallowyouenterthedistancethatPCDMISwilloffset
theCADdrawingalongtheX,Y,orZaxis.PCDMISwillshiftthe
YOffbox CADdrawingalongtheX,Y,orZaxisthespecifieddistance.For
example,ifyouenterin.5intheXfield,theentireCADdisplayin
ZOffbox theGraphicsDisplaywindowwillshiftthedistanceof.5intheX
direction.
Note:Allfeaturescreatedinthepartprogramwillnotshiftalong
theaxiswiththeCADdrawing.

Adjustbutton TheAdjustbuttonopenstheAdjustPartSetupdialogbox.
AdjustPartSetupdialogbox
YoucanusethisdialogboxtorotateormovetheCADin
incrementsaboutandalongthemachine'sXYZaxes.
Ifyou'rerotatingtheCAD,thenthevalueswillbein
angledegrees.Avalueof360willhavethesameeffect
as0.
Ifyou'removingtheCAD,thenthevalueswillbein
theunitsofmeasurementthatthepartprogramisin,so
avalueoftwowouldmeantwoinchesortwo
millimeters,dependingontheunitsofmeasurement
usedbyyourpartprogram.
ToadjusttheCADalongoraboutanaxis:
1. Clickontheappropriatebox
2. Typeanewvalue.PCDMISdynamicallyshows
theadjustmentintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
3. ClickOKtoacceptthevaluesandclosethedialog
box.
PCDMISwillmaintainthisadjustmentunlessyoureimportthe
part'sCADmodel.
Applybutton TheApplybuttonimmediatelyappliesanychangesmadeintheX,
Y,orZOffsetfieldsandshiftsthedrawingalongtheappropriate
axis(axes)whilekeepingthedialogboxopen.
AutoPositionbutton TheAutoPositionbuttonautomaticallypositionsthepartontothe
graphicalrepresentationofthemachine.Autopositionbest
guesseswheretopositionthepartonthegraphicalrepresentation.
YoucaneitherletPCDMISdeterminewheretoputthepartin
relationtotheCMMbyusingthisfunction,oryoucankeyinyour
ownpositioningusingtheXYZoffsetfields.(See"Defining
Machines"inthe"DefiningHardware"chapterformoreinformation
onsettingupthegraphicalrepresentationoftheCMM.)

TableAvoidancearea
TheTableAvoidanceareaofthePart/MachinetaballowsPCDMIStoascertainiftheprobewill
comeincontactwiththetable(orsetplane)whileinDCCmode.
PresstheMeasurebuttonandPCDMISwillaskyoutotakeahitwherethetablesurfaceistobe
defined.ThislocationdefinesthethresholdfortheZaxis.Thetolerancefielddefinesalocationin
thepositiveZdirectionforpositivevaluesandinthenegativeZdirectionfornegativevalues,
relativetothesetplane.
Ifamovegoesbeyondtheindicatedtolerance,PCDMISwilldisplayanerror
messageindicatingthepotentialdanger.
Ifawristrotationisrequestedthatwillpassthroughthedefinedzone,PCDMIS
willdisplayamessagealertingyoutotheerror.
SelecteitherCancelorContinuetoterminateorfinishtheoperation.
Example:Atolerancefieldof.25willalertPCDMIStoavoidtheindicatedthresholdplusthe
tolerancevalue.Ifthethresholdisonthetablesurface,PCDMISwillalertyouiftheprobetip
comeswithinonequarterinch(ormillimeterdependingonthesetunittype)ofthetable.
Note:TheTableAvoidanceoptionisavailablewithcertaininterfacetypesonlywhileinDCC
mode.
Defaultbutton
TheDefaultbuttonallowsyoutoupdatethedefaultsettingstoseveralofthePart/MachineSetup
parameters.Whenanewpartprogramiscreated,itwillreflectanychangesmadetothe
accessibleparameters,onlyiftheDefaultbuttonispressed.IftheOKbuttonisselected(without
theDefaultbuttonbeingpressed)thedefinedparameterswillonlyapplytotheactivepart
programandwillnotaffectPCDMIS'sregistryentries.Thedefaultvaluesarestoredinthe
registry.TheseparameterscanbeupdatedintheappropriatedialogboxorbyusingthePC
DMISSettingsEditor.Seethe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendix.
IfanyoftheparametersarechangedandtheDefaultbuttonisclicked,PCDMISwillupdatethe
registryfile,redefiningthedefaulttothecurrentsetting.
SetupOptions:Dimensiontab

SetupOptionsdialogboxDimensiontab
TheDimensiontabletsyouaccessthedimensionalprintoutparameters.
ToaccesstheDimensiontab
2. ClicktheDimensiontab.
ApplyDefaultsBasedOn
ApplyDefaultsBasedonarea
TheApplyDefaultsBasedOnarealetsyouapplydefaultdimensiontoleranceseitherbasedon
featuretypeoronthenumberofdecimalplacesdisplayed.
SelectingtheFeatureTypeoptionenablestheDefaultFeatureTolerancearea,
allowingyoutodefinedimensiontolerancesbasedonindividualfeaturetypes.
WheneverPCDMIScreatesadimensionautomatically,eitherbecausetheAuto
optionisselectedintheLocationdialogboxorbecauseyouusedtheAuto
DimensionSetup...button,thedefaultdimensiontoleranceassociatedwiththat
featuretypewillbeused.Seethe"DefaultFeatureTolerance"topic.

SelectingtheDecimalPlaceoptionenablestheDefaultTolerancesarea,
allowingyoutodefinedimensiontolerancesbasedonthenumberofdecimalplaces.
ThisistheoldwaythatPCDMISdetermineddimensiontolerances.See"Default
Tolerances"topic.
DefaultFeatureTolerance
DefaultFeatureTolerancearea
TheDefaultFeatureTolerancearea,enabledwhenyouselecttheFeatureTypeoptionfrom
theApplyDefaultsBasedOnarea,letsyoudefinedefaultdimensiontolerancesbasedon
individualfeaturetypes.WheneverPCDMIScreatesadimensionautomatically,eitherbecause
theAutooptionisselectedintheLocationdialogboxorbecauseyouusedtheAutoDimension
Setup...button,thedefaultdimensiontoleranceassociatedwiththatfeaturetypewillbeused.
Item Description
Typelist Thislistdisplaysallthefeaturesforwhichyoucansetadefaulttolerance.
Tolerance
ThisboxdefinesthedefaulttoleranceusedforthefeatureintheTypelist.
box
ApplyAll ThisbuttonletsyouapplythecurrenttolerancevalueintheToleranceboxtoall
button featuretypes.
AutoStats
AutoStatsarea
ALWAYSSave TheALWAYSSaveStatstoFilecheckboxallowsyoutobypassthe
StatstoFile promptaskingyoutosavestatsdatathatappearswheneverexecutionofa
checkbox partprogramstartswithavalidSTATS/ONcommand.Thestatistical
datawillautomaticallybesavedtotheXSTATS11.tmp fileifthisoptionis
checkmarkedandaSTATS/ONcommandexistsinthepartprogramwhen
itisexecuted.Seethe"TrackingStatisticalData"chapterformore
information.
ALWAYS TheALWAYSUpdateDatabasecheckboxallowsPCDMIStoupdate
Update yourstatisticaldatabasesoftwarewiththeinformationinthe
Databasecheck XSTATS11.tmpfilewithoutthepromptaskingtoupdatethedatabasenow
box everytimethepartprogramisexecutedandstatisticaldataiscollectedand
saved.Ifthisoptionisnotcheckmarked,PCDMISwillcontinuedisplaying

thispromptbeforeupdatingthedatabasesoftware.Seethe"Tracking
StatisticalData"chapterformoreinformation.
FeaturesUseDimensionColors
TheFeaturesUseDimensionColorscheckboxtellsPCDMIStocolorfeaturesthathavean
associateddimension.FeaturesaredrawnintheGraphicsDisplaywindowwiththesamecolors
thatthedimensionusestoindicatedeviationfromthetheoreticalvalues.
CADNominalPlaces=
TheCADNominalPlaces=boxallowsyoutoenteranumericalvaluethatdefineshowmany
decimalplacesPCDMISwillusebeforeroundingwhenitusesCADdata.Forexample, ifaCAD
circlehasadiameterof3.9995,andthevalueissetto3,PCDMISwillrounditsvalueto4.000.
ThisoptiononlyaffectsthewayPCDMISinterpretsCADdataintheSHEETMETAL
MEASUREMENTmode.Ifthevalueissetto0,PCDMISwillnotroundoffanyvalues.
MinusTolsShowNegative
TheMinusTolsShowNegativecheckboxcontrolswhetherornottheminustolerancesofthe
dimensionswillbedisplayedwithaminussign.Forexample,ifthedimensionisspecifiedas
5.0000 +0.3(uppertolerance),0.2(lowertolerance),thedimensionlinemaybedisplayedas
followsifthischeckboxisselected:
AX NOM +TOL TOL MEAS MAX MIN DEV OUTTOL

Y 5.0000 0.3000 0.2000 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Ifthischeckboxiscleared,thesameexamplemaybedisplayedasfollows:

Y 5.0000 0.3000 0.2000 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Thischeckboxdoesnotaffecthowthevaluesarestoredorusedincalculations.Itonlycontrols
howthevaluesaredisplayedaccordingtouserpreference.Thischeckboxisnotselectedby
default.
Important:Ifyouhavethischeckboxcleared,youcanstillhaveatolerancewithaminussignin
frontofit.Underusualcircumstances,yourlowerandupperlimitsareonoppositesidesofthe
nominalandwithoutthischeckboxselectedwillbeshownaspositivevalues.However,ifthe

upperlimitandlowerlimitarebothgreaterthanthenominalforexample,yourvaluesactually
read+TOL0.03andTOL0.02beforeusingthischeckboxthenyourminustolvalueshowsa
positivevaluewhenyouselectthischeckbox.
NumberofDecimalPlaces
NumberofDecimalPlacesarea
TheNumberofDecimalPlacesareacontrolsthenumberofdecimalplacesprintedonthe
inspectionreportbyPCDMIS
Iftheunittypeisinch,theavailableoptionsareonethroughfive.
Iftheunittypeismm,theavailableoptionsarezerothroughfour.
Choosethedesiredoptiontodeterminethenumberofdecimalplacesthatwillbeprinted.
EachtimethisischangedinaprogramPCDMISplacesacommand:DISPLAYPRECISION/#
intothepartprogram.Thisspecifiestheprecisiontobedisplayedatthissectionoftheprogram.If
thiscommandisnotusedthenthedefaultvalueisautomaticallyused.Ifthiscommandisused
theprecisionwillstayasspecifiedunlesschangedbyanotherinstanceofthecommand.
DefaultTolerances
DefaultTolerancesarea
TheDefaultTolerancesarea,enabledwhenyouselecttheDecimalPlacesoptionfromthe
ApplyDefaultsBasedOnarea,letsyoudefinethedefaulttolerancesPCDMISwillusewhenyou
modifyadimension'snominalvalueintheEditwindow.Thedefaulttoleranceusedisbasedoffof
thenumberofdecimalplacesinthenominalvalue.
Forexample,ifyoumodifyanominalvaluetoread6.250,PCDMISwillsetthe+andtolerance
tothe3Places=defaulttolerancevalue,becausethreedecimalplaceswereused.Ifyouinstead
entered6.25,PCDMISwouldsetthe+andtolerancetothe2Places= value,becausetwo
decimalplaceswereused.
Item Description

TheseboxesallowyoutosetdifferentdefaulttolerancesthatPCDMIS
05Places=boxes
willapplywhenyoudefineanominalvaluewith0to5decimalplaces.
PositiveReporting
ThecheckboxesrelatedtothePositiveReportingareacontrolthereportingoffeaturestothe
negativesideoftheoriginthatwouldnormallyhavenegativevaluestoalwaysbeprintedwith
positivevalues.
TheX,Y,andZcheckboxesdetermineonwhichaxis(oraxes)PCDMISwill
displaypositivenumbers.
TheAllDataoptiontellsPCDMIStodisplaythemeasuredandnominalvalues
oftheselectedaxis(oraxes)aspositivenumbers.
TheDeviationsOnlyoptiontellsPCDMIStodisplayonlythedeviationsofthe
selectedaxis(oraxes)aspositivenumbers.
Whenthesecheckboxesareselected,aPOSITIVEREPORTINGcommandisinsertedintothe
partprogramatthecurrentcursorposition.ThiscommandhasthefollowingformatintheEdit
window:
POSITIVEREPORTING/a,b,c,TOG1
Where:
a=XwhentheXcheckboxisselected,orblankiftheXcheckboxiscleared.
b=YwhentheYcheckboxisselected,orblankiftheYcheckboxiscleared.
c=ZwhentheZcheckboxisselected,orblankiftheZcheckboxiscleared.
TOG1=ALLDATAorDEVONLYdependingonwhetheryouselectedtheAllDataor
DeviationsOnlyoption.
TheX,Y,andZdirectionmayeachhavepositivereportingturnedoninanycombinationofthe
three.MultiplePOSITIVEREPORTINGcommandsmaybeusedwithinthesamepartprogram,
andanydimensionsthatareinthepartprogramaredisplayedusingthePOSITIVEREPORTING
commandthatprecedesthedimensions.IfnoPOSITIVEREPORTING commandexistsinthe
partprogram,alldimensionsarereportedwiththeoptionsturnedOFFintheX,Y,andZ
directions.
Thefollowingdiagramdemonstrateshowthetolerancesarealsoaffectedbythepositive
reportingoptions:

A)0.3+tolinX
B)0.1tolinX
C)0.2deviationin
X
PositiveReportingaffectingtolerances
D)Point1
E)Point2
F)1.0nominal
PurposeofPositiveReporting
Positivereportingallowsyoutoreportfeaturesinasymmetricmanner,sothat,regardlessof
whichsideoftheoriginthefeatureexists,deviations:
awayfromtheoriginareconsideredpositive.
towardtheoriginareconsiderednegative.
Thus,inthediagramabove,bothPoint1andPoint2willdisplaypositivedeviationswhenpositive
reportingintheXaxis.Thisalsomeans,however,that:
plustolerancesareappliedaway fromtheorigin.
minustolerancesareappliedtowardtheorigin.
DisplayAngleDegrees
DisplayAngleDegreesarea
TheDisplayAngleDegreesareaallowsyoutodisplayangledimensionsusingdecimaldegrees
orbydegree/minute/second.Simplyselectthedesiredoption.AnyPALocationaxesandAngle
dimensionswillchangetodisplaytheselectedoption.
AngleDegrees
AngleDegreesarea
TheAngleDegreesareawillalsoallowyoutodisplaytheangledimensionfrom0 360 or0 to

+/180.AnyPALocationaxesandAngledimensionswillchangetoliewithintheselectedangle
degreerange.

AutoDimensionSetup
TheAutoDimensionSetupbuttonopenstheAutoDimensioningdialogbox.
AutoDimensioningdialogbox
ThisdialogboxprovidesyouwithseveraloptionsthatallowyoutodeterminewhetherornotPC
DMISautomaticallydimensionsfeaturesimmediatelyaftercreatingthemandhowitshouldcreate
thosedimensions.
Toenableautomaticdimensioncreation,selectAutoFormDimensionsand/orAuto
Location/PositionDimensions.AfterclickingOKPCDMISwillthenautomaticallybegin
creatingtheselecteddimensiontypewhenyoucreatefeatures.
Seethefollowingtableforinformationontheavailableoptions:
DialogBoxOption Description
AutoForm ThischeckboxdetermineswhetherornotPCDMISautomatically
Dimensions createsformdimensionsforfeaturetypesthathaveaformdimension.
Feature AssociatedFormDimension
Circle Roundness
Cylinder Roundness
Cone Roundness
Sphere Roundness
Plane Flatness
Line Straightness
Auto ThischeckboxdetermineswhetherornotPCDMISautomatically
Location/Position createslocationorpositiondimensionsforfeaturetypesthathavea
Dimensions locationorpositiondimension.
CreateLocation IfyouselectAutoLocation/Positiondimensions,thisoptionbutton
Dimensions tellsPCDMIStocreatethosedimensionsasLocationdimensions.
CreateTrue IfyouselectAutoLocation/Positiondimensions,thisoptionbutton
Position tellsPCDMIStocreatethosedimensionsasTruePosition
Dimensions dimensions.
AutoTextual ThischeckboxcontrolswhetherornotPCDMISwillautomatically
AnalysisON createtextualanalysisofthedimension.ItisconsideredONifthebox

ismarked.See"AnalysisSettings"inthe"DimensioningFeatures"
chapterand"Analysis"inthe"InsertingReportCommands"chapter.
AutoGraphical ThischeckboxcontrolswhetherornotPCDMISwillautomatically
AnalysisON createagraphicalanalysisofanydimensionthatiscreatedwithAuto
CreateDimensionsorAutoRoundness.See"AnalysisSettings"in
the"DimensioningFeatures" chapterand"Analysis"inthe"Inserting
ReportCommands"chapter.
AutoDimension ThischeckboxcontrolswhetherornotPCDMISwillautomatically
Info createaDimensionInformationcheckboxforanydimensioncreated
withtheAutoCreateDimensionscheckboxortheAutoRoundness
checkbox.See"InsertingDimensionInfoBoxes"inthe"Inserting
ReportCommands"chapterforinformationonhowtosetthedefault
formatsforthisDimensionInfoboxes.
TheMultiply valueisascalingfactorthatmagnifiesthearrowand
Multiply tolerancezoneforthegraphicalanalysismode.Ifavalueof2.0is
entered,PCDMISwillscalethearrowtwotimesthegraphicalimage.
TheMultiplyboxisusedforviewingpurposesonly,andisnot
reflectedinthetextprintout.
Note:PCDMIScreatesdimensionsaseitherlegacydimensionsorFeatureControlFrame
dimensionsdependingonwhetherornotacheckmarkexistsnexttotheUseLegacy
DimensionsmenuoptionfromtheInsert|Dimensionsubmenu.
SetupOptions:IDSetuptab
SetupOptionsdialogboxIDSetuptab

ItisimportanttokeeptrackTheIDSetuptaballowsyoutoaltertheformatusedtoidentify
ofIDsalreadysetwhen alignments,dimensions,features,comments,labelsandvariables.
changinganidentification.
ItispossibletohaveID Toaccessthisoption:
duplicationthroughmultiple
changestothisoption. 1. AccesstheSetupOptionsdialogbox(Edit|Preferences|
Setup).
2. SelecttheIDsetuptab.
ThedefaultIDSetupoptionisGeneric.Aseachfeatureiscreated,
PCDMISwillassignitanIDbeginningwiththeletterF,followedbya
number(incrementallysetfromthestartingnumberofone).Youmay
choosetooverridethissettingbyselectingthefollowingoptions:
Item Description
LabelsForlist TheLabelsFordropdownlistallowsyoutoselecttheidentification
thatwillbeusedforalignments,dimensionsandfeatures.(See
"LabelingMethod")
AlignmentsID
Genericistheonlymethodavailableforidentifying
alignments.
CommentsID
comments.
DimensionsID
DimensionscanbeidentifiedusingeithertheGeneric or
ByTypemethod.IftheByTypemethodisused,
identificationscanbesimilartoeachdimensiontype,or
differentbasedonindividualneed.
FeaturesID
FeaturescanbeidentifiedusingeithertheGenericorBy
Typemethod.
IftheByTypemethodisselected,thecolorusedto
displaythefeatureIDcanalsobealtered.
IftheShowAllIDcheckboxisselectedandyouclick
Apply,PCDMISwilldisplayallfeatureIDlabelsinthe

GraphicsDisplaywindowforallfeaturesfromthecurrent
cursorlocationtotheendofthepartprogram.Newly
createdfeatureswillalsoshowtheirID.Ifthischeckboxis
deselectedandyouclickApply,allfeaturesIDsfrom
currentcursorlocationtotheendofthepartprogramare
hidden.NewlycreatedfeaturesstillgetcreatedintheEdit
window,buttheIDlabeldoesn'tappearintheGraphics
Displaywindow.
IftheColoroptionisselected(marked)allfeatures
createdaftertheApplybuttonispressedwillbeeffected.
(Featurescreatedpriortothecolorchangewillnotbe
replaced.)
LabelsID
Genericistheonlymethodavailableforidentifyinglabels.
VariablesID
variables.
CallSubsID
GenericistheonlymethodavailableforidentifyingCalled
Subroutines.
LabelingMethodlist ThisdropdownwindowallowsyoutoselectbetweenByTypeand
Genericidentificationmethods.
ByType
ByTypeletsyousettheidentificationforeachelement
type(circle,cone,cylinder,line,plane,point,andsphere).
Generic
Genericwillapplythesameidentificationsystem
regardlessoffeature(dimension)type.
PCDMIShasnoinherentlimitonthenumberofletters
usedforidentifications.However,theGraphicDisplay
areaandEditwindowhavelimitsontheIDlength.Evenif
theEditwindowdoesnotshowthecompleteID,PCDMIS
willinternallykeeptrackofthecompleteidentification.
StartingLettersbox TheStartingLettersboxdeterminesthefirstletter(s)thatwillbe
usedintheidentificationprocess.PCDMISwillalwaysdisplaytheID
usingcapitalletters.Upto15characterscanbetypedin.
Note:InvariousdialogboxeswheretheIDisdisplayed,changing
thetextportionoftheIDthedefaulttextoftheIDmayalsobeset.
StartingNumberbox TheStartingNumberboxdeterminesthefirstnumberthatwillbe

usedintheidentificationprocess.Anynumberbetween1and9999
canbeentered.
Note:InvariousdialogboxeswheretheIDisdisplayed,changing
onlythenumberportionofanIDthecountermayberesettoa
desiredcount
LabelLengthcheck TheLabelLengthcheckboxdeterminesthelengthofthe
box identification.Upto15digitsmaybeentered.Thecheckboxmustbe
selectedinorderforthisoptiontobeactive.Ifthislengthisset,PC
DMISwillappendzerostotheIDletterstomakeupthenecessary
length.
Forexample:
IDLength=10,IDLetters=CIRCLE.
PCDMISwillgenerateanID=CIRCLE0001,etc.Thisis
doneonlyiftheLengthisset.
DisplayBracketsfor TheDisplayBracketsforFeatureArrayscheckboxdetermines
FeatureArrayscheck whetherarraybracketsaredisplayedwithIDsforcommands
box executedmorethanonce.
Whenselected,theinspectionreportdisplayswhichinstanceofthe
command'sexecutionisbeingreferenced.
Forexample:
F1[3]=POINTMEASUREDFROM1HIT
Showsthatthefeature,F1,ismeasuredhereforthethird
(designatedbythenumberthreeinbrackets)time.
Theformatofthebracketedexpressioncanbecontrolled
usingthearray_indicesobject.See"ArrayIndicesObject"in
the"UsingExpressionsandVariables"chapter.
Applybutton TheApplybuttonappliesthechangesdescribedin"Labeling
Method")toanyfeatureidentifications.Thesechangesonlyapplyto
featureIDs.
IftheApplybuttonisnotpressed,PCDMISwillcontinuetoassign
featureidentificationsusingthepreviousmethodlisted.
Note:IfduplicateIDsareassigned,PCDMISwillnotifyyouthatyou
musthaveauniqueIDforanyfeature,dimensionetc.
Defaultbutton TheDefaultbuttonallowsyoutoupdatethedefaultsettingstoallof
theIDSetupparameters. Whenanewpartprogramiscreated,itwill
reflectanychangesmadetotheparameters,onlyiftheDefault
buttonisclicked.
ForadditionalinformationonDefaultbuttons,seethe"Default"topic
inthe"NavigatingtheUserInterface"chapter.
Note:AlwayspresstheApplybuttonafterachangeismade(before
pressingtheOKorDefaultbuttons).

SetupOptions:NC100Setuptab
SetUpOptionsdialogboxNC100tab
TheNC100tab(Edit|Preferences|Setup)allowsyoutouseaNC100videoprobe.Oncethe
UseNC100VideoProbecheckboxisselected,theTCPIPAddress,PortNumber,and
ComputerNameboxesbecomeavailable.Usetheseboxestosetupcommunicationsettings
withtheNC100computersystem.Thesevaluesarestoredintheregistrysettingsandare
recalledeachtimeyoustartPCDMIS.Seethe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"chapter.
ForinformationonusingtheNC100VideoProbetocreateAutoFeatures,seetheappropriate
sectioninthePCDMISVisiondocumentation.
Note:TheNC100tabonlyappearsinPCDMISifyourportlockisprogrammedtoacceptCMT
functionality.
Item Description
UseNC100Video TheUseNC100VideoProbecheckboxdeterminesifPCDMIS
Probecheckbox isusingtheNC100videoprobe.Ifyouselectthischeckbox,PC
DMISassumesthattheNC100isactive.
TCPIPAddressbox UsetheTCPIPAddressboxtoentertheaddressinformationfor
theNC100computersystem.Thisvalueisrequiredforthe
communicationbetweenthePCDMIScomputersystemandthe
NC100computersystem.
PortNumberbox UsethePortNumberboxtoentertheportnumberoftheNC100
computersystem.Thisvalueisrequiredforthecommunication

betweenthePCDMIScomputersystemandtheNC100
computersystem.
ComputerNamebox UsetheComputerNameboxtotypethenameoftheNC100
computersystem.Thisvalueisrequiredforthecommunication
betweenthePCDMIScomputersystemandtheNC100
computersystem.
SetUpOptions:SoundEventstab
SetUpOptionsdialogboxSoundEventstab
TheSoundEventstab(Edit|Preferences|Setup)containsalistofapplicationeventsthatyou
canassociatewithasoundfileofyourchoice.Whentheeventoccurs,PCDMISautomatically
playstheassociatedsound.
Item Description
ApplicationEvents Thislistshowstheapplicationeventstowhichyoucanassociate
list soundfiles.
Soundsbox Thisboxliststhepathwaytothesoundfilefortheselectedapplication
event.
Thisbuttonteststhespecifiedsoundfile.
Browser...button Thisbuttonletsyoubrowsetoandselectasoundfilefortheselected
applicationevent.
AssociatingaSoundFile

Toassociateacustomsoundfilewithanevent:
1. SelecttheeventfromtheApplicationsEventslist.
2. ClicktheBrowser...button.
3. Navigatetothedirectorycontainingyoursoundfile.PCDMISonlysupportstheplaying
of.wavfiles.
4. Selectthe.wavfileandclickOpen.TheSoundslistboxdisplaysthepathwaytothe
selectedsoundfile.
5. TestthefilebypressingthePlaybutton.
6. ClickOKtosaveyourchanges.
RemovingaSoundFile
Youcanremoveanassociatedsoundfilefromanevent.Todothis:
1. SelecttheeventfromtheApplicationsEventslist.
2. ClicktheSoundslistbox.
3. Select(NONE).PCDMISremovesthespeakericontotheleftoftheevent,indicating
thattheeventnolongeristiedtoasoundfile.
4. ClickOKtosaveyourchanges.
TheEdit|Preferences|Parametersmenuoptionallowsyoutomodifythecontent,form,and
methodofcalculationusedinanyreport.Additionally,itallowsyoutomodifythemachinemotion
parametersofaDCCCMM.ThismenuoptionopenstheParameterSettingsdialogbox.
InadditiontoaccessingtheParameterSettingsdialogbox,youcaninsertthecommandsfrom
thisdialogboxdirectlyintothepartprogrambyselectingthemfromtheInsert|Parameter
Changesubmenu.
ThefollowingtabsareavailableontheParameterSettingsdialogbox.
ParameterSettings:Dimensiontab
ParameterSettings:ClearPlanetab
ParameterSettings:Probingtab
ParameterSettings:Motiontab
ParameterSettings:RotateTabletab
ParameterSettings:Accelerationtab
ParameterSettings:OptionalProbetab
ParameterSettings:ProbeTriggerOptionstab
ParameterSettings:NC100Parameterstab
ParameterSettings:I/OChannelstab
ParameterSettings:Dimensiontab

TheDimensiontaballowsyoutovarytheformatofthedimensionoutput.Italsoprovidesa
meansforalteringtheprintedreport.
ToaccesstheDimensiontab:
1. AccesstheParameterSettingsdialogbox(Edit|Preferences|Parameters).
2. ClicktheDimensiontab.
DimensionOutputFormat
ThiscommandcontrolsthePCDMISdimensionoutputformat.Tochangetheformat,selectthe
desiredFormatcheckbox(es).
AvailableFormats: Description
Nominal Displaysthenominalvalueforalldimensions.
Tolerance Displaysthetolerancevaluesforalldimensions.
Measured Displaysthemeasuredvalueforalldimensions.
MaxMin Displaysthemaxandminvaluesforalldimensions.
Deviation Displaysthedeviationvalueforalldimensions.
OutofTol Displaystheoutoftolerancevalueforalldimensions.
DevAngle DisplaysthedeviationangleontheTruePositiondimensions.

Whenswitchingfrombox PCDMISoffersthesameprintformatsforboxtolerancingandtrue
tolerancingtotrueposition positioningtolerancing,althoughtheircolumnswilllookslightly
(andback),itisimportantto differentduetoadditionalcolumnsfortruepositiondimensions.
checktheformatfor
correctness. Example: Whentolerancingthedistancebetweentwolineswiththe
Max/Mincheckboxselected,PCDMISwillcalculatethedistance
betweenthetwopointsthatwerefurthestapartorthetwopoints
thatwereclosesttogether.Itwouldthenchoosetheworstcase
(mostoutoftolerance)ofthetwo.IftheMax/Mincheckboxisnot
selected,PCDMISwillcalculatethedimensionwithoutdisplaying
theMax/Minvalue.
PCDMISwillindicatetheorderoftheoutputselectionbydisplayinganumbertotherightofthe
checkbox.Thisallowsyoutoaltertheorderoftheformattomeetindividualneeds.Acheckbox
canbeclearedsimplybyselectingitasecondtime.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforthisoptionreads:
FORMAT/TEXT,OPTIONS,HEADINGS,SYMBOLS,SD"DIMENSIONOUTPUT"
DIMENSIONOUTPUT=Theformatoftheoutputwillbebasedontheorderofselection.The
defaultoutputwilldisplaytheentireselection,intheorderindicated.
DimensionText
TheDimensionTextcheckboxcontrolswhetherornotthedimensiontextwillbedisplayedin
theEditwindowforanydimensionsthatfollowthecommand.
FORMAT/TEXT,,,,NOM,TOL,MEAS,MAXMIN,DEV,OUTTOL,DEVANG
Foradescriptiontheoptionsonthiscommand,see"DimensionOutputFormat".
DimensionOptions
TheDimensionOptionscheckboxcontrolswhetherornotthedimensionoptionswillbe
displayedintheEditwindowforanydimensionsthatfollowthecommand.
Theseoptionsinclude:
Units(see"Units"inthe"DimensioningFeatures"chapter)
Graphicalanalysis(see"AnalysisSettings"inthe"DimensioningFeatures"chapter)
Textualanalysis(see"AnalysisSettings"inthe"DimensioningFeatures"chapter)
Arrowmultiplier(see"AnalysisSettings"inthe"DimensioningFeatures"chapter)
Outputoptions(see"AnalysisSettings"inthe"DimensioningFeatures"chapter)

TheEditwindowcommandlineforthischeckboxreads:
FORMAT/OPTIONS,,,,NOM,TOL,MEAS,MAXMIN,DEV,OUTTOL
DimensionHeadings
TheDimensionHeadingscheckboxcontrolsthecolumnheadingsontheinspectionreport.If
thischeckboxisnotselected,thenPCDMISwillnotprintanycolumnheadings.
DeviationSymbols
TheDeviationSymbolscheckboxshowsthedeviationwithinthesetrange.Iftheoutof
tolerancerangeishigh,PCDMISwillindicatethedeviationusingthe"greaterthan"symbol(>)
ontherightsideoftheline.Iftheoutoftolerancerangeislow,PCDMISwillindicatethe
deviationusingthe"lessthan"symbol(<).
Forexample:
Nominal=0.00
Measured=0.02
PositiveTolerance=0.10
NegativeTolerance=0.20
TotalToleranceRange=(.10(.20))=.30
Percentage=100*(.02(.20))/.3 =73.3%
# looksatthe%andshiftsbasedonthe%.
DIMD1=LOCATIONOFCIRF5 GRAPH=OFF TEXT=OFF MULT=1.00
AX NOM +TOL TOL MEAS DEV OUT

TOL
x 5.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 #
y 2.0000 0.0100 0.0100 2.0000 0.0000 0.0000 #
z 0.2500 0.0100 0.0100 0.2500 0.0000 0.0000 #
d 2.0000 0.0100 0.0100 2.0000 0.0000 0.0000
v i j k
ENDOFDIMENSIOND1
StandardDeviation
TheStandardDeviationcheckboxdisplaysthestandarddeviationoffeatures.
ParameterSettings:ClearPlanetab

ParameterSettingsdialogboxClearPlanetab
TheClearPlanetabprovidesthemeanstodefineandaddclearanceplanes.Clearanceplanes,
inessence,createanenvelopearoundapartwheretheprobewillalwaystravelwhenmoving
fromonefeaturetoanother.PCDMISwillmovetheprobeoutfromthepartapredetermined
distance,relativetothecoordinatesysteminwhichitwasdefined.Afterthelasthitonthefeature
ismeasured,theprobewillstayatprobedepthuntilcalledtothenextfeature.Thishelpsto
reduceprogrammingtimebecausetheneedtodefineintermediatemovesisminimized.In
addition,usingproperlydefinedclearanceplanescanhelpprotectyourprobefromaccidental
collisionswiththepart.
Asamplepartwithanimaginaryenvelopefromclearanceplanes
Touseclearanceplanes:
1. AccesstheParameterSettingsdialogbox(Edit|Preferences|Parameters),then
selecttheClearPlanetab.
2. SelecttheclearanceplaneusingtheActivePlaneandPassThroughPlaneareas,and
specifytheclearancedistancesusingtherespectiveValueboxes.

3. ClickOKtofinishdefiningtheclearanceplane.PCDMISinsertsaCLEARP command
containingtheclearanceplaneinformationintotheEditwindow.Thefinishedcommand
willlooksomethinglikethis:
CLEARP/ACTIVE_PLANE,n,PASS_THROUGH_PLANE,n,TOG1
ACTIVE_PLANE andPASS_THROUGH_PLANE refertotheaxesselected.n referstothe

offsetdistancesspecified.TOG1isanON/OFFtogglefielddeterminingwhetheror
nottheclearanceplaneisactiveandautomaticallyusedfornewlycreated
MeasuredandAutoFeatures.
3. YoucantheninsertMOVE/CLEARPLANE commandsintoyourpartprogram.WhenPCDMIS
encountersaMOVE/CLEARPLANE command,theprobewillusetheinformationfromthe
CLEARP commandaboveitintheEditwindowandmovetothespecifieddistanceaway
fromtheselectedActiveplane,movingthroughthePassThroughplaneasappropriate
priortoexecutingthenextcommand.
ActivePlaneArea
TheActivePlaneareadefinestheplane(oraxis)inwhichfeaturesliewhentheyaremeasured.
TheValueboxdefinestheclearanceplaneasanoffsetdistanceinthecurrentunitsof
measurementawayfromthespecifiedplane.Todefineaclearanceplane,selecttheplanefrom
theAxislist,thenenteranewvalueintheValuebox.
PassThroughPlaneArea
ThePassThroughPlanedefinesaclearanceplanethattheprobewillmovetoandthenpass
throughtogettothenextactiveclearanceplanefollowingaprobe'sTIP command.Thenew
CLEARP definitioncommandmustimmediatelyfollowtheTIP commandtoproperlydefinethepass
throughplane.WhenPCDMISencountersthenextMOVE/CLEARPLANE command,itwillmoveto
thepassthroughplaneandremainatthatoffsetdistanceuntilitreachesthenextactive
clearanceplane.
ClearancePlaneActive(ON)CheckBox
IfyouselecttheClearancePlaneActive(ON)checkboxPCDMISwillautomaticallyinserta
MOVE/CLEARPLANE commandbeforeanyMeasuredFeaturesorAutoFeaturesinsertedintotheEdit
windowfromthatpointon.
NotesonClearancePlanes
Beawareofthesignofaclearanceplanewhenenteringitsdistancevalue.Thesignmust
correspondtothepositiveornegativeendofthenormalaxisdefiningtheplane.Forexample,to

defineatopclearanceplane,enterapositivevalue,andtodefineabottomclearanceplane,
enteranegativevalue.
Movementfromoneclearanceplanetoanotheraffectsthepositionoftheprobe.Makesurethat
thesetclearanceplaneissufficienttoclearthepart.
Aclearanceplaneisdefinedrelativetothecurrentcoordinatesystemandpartorigin.Therefore,
youmustbecarefulwhendefiningaclearanceplanetoensureadequateclearancearoundthe
part.
ClearancePlaneExample
Usingtheabovedrawing,supposeyourpartistenincheslong,anditislinedupclosetothe
machineaxeswiththeXoriginatthebottomlefthandcorner.Youcansetaoneinchclearance
fromtherightsideofthepartbysettingtheXPLUSclearanceplaneto11inches.
Alwaysdefineclearanceplanesrelativetothecurrentcoordinatesystem.Whenyoucreateanew
coordinatesystem,theclearanceplanesstillrelatetothefirstalignment.Ifyouwishtoassociate
theclearanceplaneswiththenewcoordinatesystem,theymustberedefined.
Clearanceplanesarenotusedwhentakingsamplehits.Itisthereforeimportantwhenmeasuring
pinstosetthespacervaluetoadistancethatwillallowtheprobetomovearoundthepin.
YoucaninsertMOVE/CLEARPLANE commandsbetweenautofeatures'HIT/BASIC commands.Youwill

needtousetheInsert|Move|MoveClearplanemenuitemtodothis.Copyingandpastingthis
commandwillnotwork.TheEditwindowmustalsobeinCommandmode.
CodeExample
Considerthisexample:
TIP/T1A0B0,SHANKIJK=0,0,1,ANGLE=0
CLEARP/ZPLUS,2,ZPLUS,0,ON(Newclearanceplanedefined)
PLN1 =FEAT/PLANE,CARTESIAN,TRIANGLE
THEO/<0.3597,0.3544,0.8268>,<0,0,1>
ACTL/<0.3597,0.3544,0.8268>,<0,0,1>
MEAS/PLANE,3
MOVE/CLEARPLANE(Probemovestothedefinedclearanceplane)
HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,<0.2346,0.6411,0.8268>,<0,0,1>,<0.2346,0.6411,0.8268>,USE
THEO=YES
THEO=YES

THEO=YES
ENDMEAS/
CON2 =FEAT/CONE,CARTESIAN,IN,LENG
THEO/<8.9134,0.4921,0.9193>,<0,0,1>,0.3964,0.5906,0.5906
ACTL/<8.9134,0.4921,0.9193>,<0,0,1>,0.3964,0.5906,0.5906
MEAS/CONE,8
THEO=YES
THEO=YES
THEO=YES
THEO=YES
THEO=YES
THEO=YES
THEO=YES
THEO=YES
ENDMEAS/
CIR1 =FEAT/CIRCLE,CARTESIAN,IN,LEAST_SQR
THEO/<6.0827,3.1693,0.012>,<0,0,1>,0.5906
ACTL/<6.0827,3.1693,0.012>,<0,0,1>,0.5906
MEAS/CIRCLE,4,WORKPLANE
THEO=YES
THEO=YES
THEO=YES
HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,<6.0827,2.874,0.012>,<0,1,0>,<6.0827,2.874,0.012>,USETHEO
=YES
ENDMEAS/
CLEARP/YMINUS,3,ZPLUS,2,ON(Newclearanceplanedefined,thistimewitha
passthroughplane)
CIR2 =FEAT/CIRCLE,CARTESIAN,IN,LEAST_SQR
THEO/<4.8819,0,0.5906>,<0,1,0>,1.2362
ACTL/<4.9445,15.8342,0.5906>,<0,0,1>,31.4282
MEAS/CIRCLE,4,WORKPLANE
MOVE/CLEARPLANE(ProbetravelsthroughthePassThroughPlaneinZPLUStothe
YMINUSclearanceplane)
HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,<4.8819,0.0623,0.8406>,<0.9999185,
0.012768,0>,<4.8224,0.0025,0.8406>,USETHEO=YES
MOVE/CIRCULAR

HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,<5.1319,0.0623,0.5906>,<0.9999279,
0.012008,0>,<5.0733,0.0026,0.5906>,USETHEO=YES
MOVE/CIRCULAR
HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,<4.8819,0.0623,0.3406>,<0.9999185,
0.012768,0>,<4.8224,0.0025,0.3406>,USETHEO=YES
HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,<4.6319,0.0623,
0.5906>,<0.9999071,0.0136308,0>,<4.69,0.0041,0.5906>,USETHEO=YES
ENDMEAS/
MOVE/CLEARPLANE
ParameterSettings:Probingtab
ParameterSettingsdialogboxProbingtab
TheProbingtabdisplaysthecurrentprobefile,activetip,andprobeslot(ifbeingused).Italso
allowsyoutoselecttheProbeCompensationActive(On)checkboxandselectthePolarVector
Compensationfromthedropdownlist.
ToaccesstheProbingtab:
2. ClicktheProbingtabfromtheavailabletabs.
ActiveProbe

ThislineintheProbingtabdisplaysthecurrentprobefile.See"ProbeFileName"inthe
"DefiningHardware"chapterformoreinformationonselectingadifferentprobefile,orcreatinga
newprobefilename.
ActiveTip
ThislineintheProbingtabdisplaysthecurrentactivetip.See"ActiveTipList"inthe"Defining
Hardware"chapterformoreinformationonthedisplayedvaluesandselecting,creatingand
deletingtips.
TIP/active_tip_name
ProbeCompensation
Thisoptionisonlyavailable TheProbeCompensationActive(On)checkboxallowsPCDMISto
whileinDCCmode. compensatefortheproberadius.Ifthisoptionison,PCDMISwill
compensatefortheproberadiusoneachfeatureitmeasures.
CommandlineintheEditwindow:
PROBECOM/ON
PolarVectorCompensation
ThePolarVectorCompensationdropdownlistallowsthemeasurementofVectorandSurface
pointstoalwaysbecompensatedalongaPolarvector.Thefollowingoptionsareavailable:
OFFVectorandSurfacepointsbehavenormally.
XYPLVectorcompensationsforeachVectorandSurfacepointwillbe2Dinthe
XYplanealongavectorfromthepointtothecurrentorigin.
YZPLVectorcompensationsforeachVectorandSurfacepointwillbe2Dinthe
YZplanealongavectorfromthepointtothecurrentorigin.
ZXPLVectorcompensationsforeachVectorandSurfacepointwillbe2Dinthe
ZXplanealongavectorfromthepointtothecurrentorigin.
3DCausesapolarvectorcompensationalonga3Dvectorfromthepointtothe
currentorigin.
TheEditwindowcommandlinesfortheseoptionsread:
POLARVECTORCOMP/OFF
POLARVECTORCOMP/XYPL
POLARVECTORCOMP/YZPL
POLARVECTORCOMP/ZXPL
POLARVECTORCOMP/3D
ProbeinSlot#
Thisoptionindicatestheslotnumberontheprobechangeroftheprobeorstyluscurrentlybeing
used.Thisoptionisonlyavailableifaprobechangerhasbeensetup.

Ifyouaren'tusingaprobechangerorifyourcurrentprobeisn'tinaprobechangerthenPCDMIS
displaystextinformingyouthatyourcurrentprobeorstylusisn'tintheprobechangerorthata
probechangerisn'tbeingused.
See"Slots"underthe"SettingUpProbeChangerOptions"topicforinformationonaddingprobes
orstylitoaprobechanger.
ParameterSettings:RotaryTabletab
ParameterSettings:RoTable(RotaryTable)tab
ParameterSettingsdialogboxRoTabletab
TheRoTabletaballowsyoutorotatethecurrentactiverotarytablebyadefinedangleand
direction,oryoucanuseittoautomaticallysettherotationbasedonadefinedvectoranda
specifiedfeature.
TheRoTabletabbecomesavailablewhenyouselectSingleRotaryTable,DualRotaryTables,
orStackedRotaryTablesfromtheRotaryTableSetupdialogbox.See"DefiningtheRotary
Table".
2. SelecttheRoTabletab.
3. Choosetorotatebyaspecificangleortorotatetoafeature.
Ifbyaspecificangle,filloutRotaryTableWorRotaryTableVareas,
definingtheAngleandtheRotationDirection.
Iftoaspecificfeature,fillouttheAutosetfromVectorarea.
4. Ifyouwanttorotatethetableimmediately,selecttheRotatetheTable(s)check
box.
5. ClicktheApplybutton.PCDMISinsertsaMOVE/ROTAB commandintotheEdit
window.

MOVE/ROTAB,angle,DIRECTION
Ifyouhaveastackedconfiguration,theEditwindowcommandlineforthisoptionwillread:
MOVE/ROTAB,angle,DIRECTION,agle2,DIRECTION2
Additionally,theRotaryTableSetupmenuoptionisonlyavailableifyourportlockis
programmedforrotarytables.
RotaryTableW/RotaryTableV
RotaryTableWareaandRotaryTableVarea
TheRotaryTableWareaandtheRotaryTableVarealetyoucontroluptotworotarytables,
tableWandtableV.PCDMISactivatestheareaassociatedwiththecurrentlyactiverotarytable.
Ifyouhaveastackedrotaryconfiguration,PCDMISactivatesbothareasallowingyoutotypethe
angleanddefinetherotationdirectionforbothtablesatthesametime.SeeDefiningtheRotary
Table
Theseareascontainthesameoptions:
Item Description
Angle
Thisdefinestheangleofthetable'srotation.
box
IntheRotationDirectiondropdownlistyoucanselectthedirectionyouwantthe
tabletorotate.Availableoptionsare:
ClockWise:Rotatesthetableinaclockwisedirectionuntilitreachestheangle
Rotation enteredintheRotateTableAnglebox.
Direction
list Counterclockwise:Rotatesthetableinacounterclockwisedirectionuntilit
reachestheangleenteredintheRotateTableAnglebox.
Shortest:Rotatestakingtheshortestroute(eitherClockwiseorCounterclockwise)
untilitreachestheangleenteredintheRotateTableAnglebox.
AutoSetfromVector

AutosetfromVectorarea
ThisarearemainsunavailableforselectionuntilyouselecttheStackedRotaryTablesoption
fromtheRotaryTableSetupdialogbox.See"DefiningtheRotaryTable".
TheAutosetfromVectorarealetsyouselectafeaturefromtheFeatureIDlist.Theactive
rotarytablewillautomaticallyrotatetothebestangleinordertomaketheprobenormaltothat
feature.
Item Description
Feature Thiscontainsallthefeaturesinthepartprogramandallowsyoutochoosethe
IDlist featuretowhichthetablewillrotate.
Target
TheseboxesshowthesurfacenormalIJKfortheselectedfeature.Alternately,you
Vector
cantypeinyourownIJKvalue.Therotarytablewillautomaticallyrotatetobeas
IJK
closetonormalaspossibletotheIJKcontainedintheseboxes.
boxes
RotatetheTable(s)
TheRotatetheTable(s)checkboxallowsthecurrenttable'srotationtobeactivatedbythe
specifiedAngle valueonceeithertheApplyortheOKbuttonispressed.
ParameterSettings:Motiontab

ParameterSettingsdialogboxMotiontab
TheMotiontaballowsyoutochangethedistancesthattheprobewillbeallowedtotravelwhen
takingahit.ItwillalsoallowyoutosetthespeedthatPCDMISwillusetotakeahitandmove
frompointtopoint.
Note:Youcandeterminewhetherthespeedboxes(MoveSpeed,TouchSpeed,andScan
Speed)listthevaluesaseithermm/secorasapercentageofthetotalallowedspeed,by
selectingordeselectingtheDisplayAbsoluteSpeedscheckboxinthePart/Machinetabof
theSetupOptionsdialogbox.
ToeditinformationintheMotiontab:
2. ClickontheMotiontab.You'llseeavarietyofboxes.
3. Highlightthevalueyouwanttochange.
4. Typeanewvalue.
5. ClickApplyorOK.
Toresetthemotionvaluestotheoriginalfactorysetting,presstheRecallbutton.TheRecall
buttonwillreturnthedisplayedmotionvaluestothevaluesstoredinthePCDMISSettings
Editor.IftheDefaultsbuttonisselected,thedisplayedvalueswillbesavedtotheSettingsEditor.
ForinformationonthePCDMISSettingsEditor,viewthe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendix.
PrehitDistance
ThePrehitDistanceboxletsyouenterthevalueforthemachineprehitdistance.Thisisthe
distanceawayfromthesurfacewherePCDMISstartssearchingforthepart.Ifnecessary,itcan
beautomaticallychangedbyPCDMISwhentakinghitswithinanarcorcircle.
PREHIT/nnn.nnnn

RetractDistance
TheRetractDistanceboxletsyouenterthedistancetheproberetractsfromthesurfaceafter
takingahit.Ifnecessary,itcanbeautomaticallychangedbyPCDMISwhentakinghitsonanarc
orcircle.
RETRACT/nnn.nnnn
CheckDistance
TheCheckDistanceboxletsyouenterthedistanceineitherinchesormillimeters(dependingon
themeasurementsystemusedforthepart)pastthetheoreticalhitlocationthatthemachinewill
continuetosearchforthesurfaceofthepartuntilitdeterminesthesurfaceisnotthere.
CHECK/distance,percentage
PercentageMovementDuringFindHoleOperations
WhendefiningthecheckdistanceforaFindHoleoperation,youcantellPCDMIStomovebya
percentageofthecheckdistance.
Todothis:
1. AccesstheEditwindowandplaceitinCommandmode.
2. ClickontheCHECKcommandintheEditwindow.
3. PresstheTABkeytomovetothesecondnumber.
4. Typeanewpercentagevalue.Thedefaultvalueis1whichmeans100%ofthe
checkdistance.Thus.1=10%,.2=20%,.3=30%etc.
Forexample,inthefollowingcode:
CHECK/20,.3, the.3 valuerepresents30%ofthetotalcheckdistanceoftwentyunits.
ForadditionalinformationonFindHole,seethe"FindHoleCheckBox"topicinthe"Creating
AutoFeatures"chapter:
CheckPercent
TheCheckPercent valuedeterminesthepercentofthetotaldistancemovedwhenperforminga
FindHoleoperation.Beawarethatifyoutype1,thevalueisequalto100percent.Thus,100%
wouldbeenteredas1,25%wouldbeenteredas.25,and10%wouldbe.10.
MoveSpeed%

TheMoveSpeedboxletsyouchangethepointtopointpositioningspeedoftheCMM.Thevalue
thatisenteredisapercentageofthemaximummachinespeed.Itcanbesettoanyvalue
between1and100%offullmachinespeed.(Seethe"Measure"topicunder"DefiningProbes"in
the"DefiningHardware"chapterforinformationregardingthemovespeedoptionandprobe
calibration.)
MOVESPEED/nnn.nnnn
TouchSpeed%
TheTouchSpeedboxletsyouchangethespeedatwhichtheCMMtakeshits.Thevaluethatis
enteredisapercentageofthemaximummachinespeed,andcannotexceedtwentypercent.
TOUCHSPEED/nnn.nnnn
TounderstandtheeffectsofchangingeitherPREHITorRETRACTdistancesandMOVEor
TOUCHSPEED,it'simportanttounderstandhowtheoptionsinteractduringDCC
featuremeasurement.Theorderofeventsisthatthemachinewillmovetowardthefeatureat
MOVESPEED.WhenitreachesPREHITdistance,itwillapproachthefeatureatTOUCHSPEED
totakethehit.Afterittakesthehit,itwillbackawayatTOUCHSPEEDuntilitreachesthe
RETRACTDISTANCE.Atthispoint,itwillgotothenextlocationatMOVESPEED.
ClampingValue
TheClampingValueonlyworkswiththeLeitzcontrollerandtheLeitzbrandTTP.Thisvaluetells
thecontrollerhowfirmlytoholdtheprobeonaLeitzCMM.
Dependingontheweightoftheprobetips,youmayneedtoincreaseordecreasetheclamping
value.
Foralargetipweight,youmayneedtoincreasetheclampingvalue.
Forasmalltipweight,youmayneedtodecreasetheclampingvalue.
ScanSpeed%
TheScanSpeedboxletsyouchangethespeedatwhichtheCMMwillscanthepart.Thevalue
thatisenteredisapercentageofthemaximummachinespeed.
SCANSPEED/nnn.nnnn
WhenscanningusingtheDEFINEDmodeofexecution(see"Defined"discussedinthe"Exec
Controlsarea"topicinthe"ScanningyourPart"chapter),ScanSpeedplaysanimportantrolein
gettingbackdataatincrementsspecifiedbyyou.WhenyouspecifyaveryhighScanSpeed,the
CMMmayexecutethescanatthespeedyourequested,butthedatafromtheCMMmaynotbe
spacedattheincrementsyouspecify.

Example:AssumetheCMMgathersdataattherateofoneHitper20millisecondsinthe
DEFINED mode.Ifyouspecifyanincrement(minimumdistancebetweenhits)of0.5mmanda
ScanSpeedof75mm/sec,theCMMwouldgivebackpointsatevery1.5mm.Toavoidthisyou
couldreducetheScanSpeedto15mm/secor20mm/secwhich,attherateof1hit/20ms,would
satisfyyourrequirements.
PCDMISwillwarnyouaboutthiscasebydisplayingamessageinformingyouthatthesupplied
incrementcouldn'tbemeasuredatthespecifiedscanspeed.Youwillthenberequiredtoreduce
yourScanSpeedorincreasetheincrement.
YoucanthenselecttheScanSpeedsettingandchangetoasuitablescanspeed.
ParameterSettings:Accelerationtab
ParameterSettingsdialogboxAccelerationtab
TheAccelerationtabdisplaysadditionaleditingcapabilitiesforbothCMMandTablemotion.
ToaccesstheAccelerationtab:
1. AccesstheParameterSettingsdialogboxfromthemainmenu(Edit|
Preferences|Parameters).
2. SelecttheAccelerationtab.
CMMAcceleration
TheCMMAccelerationareaoftheAccelerationtaballowsyoutochangethemaximum
2
acceleration(atmm/sec )alongtheX,Y,orZaxisoftheCMM.Availableoptionsare:
MaximumXAxis Thenumberinthisboxrepresentsthemaximumacceleration

Acceleration: thattheCMMwilltakewhentravelingalongtheXaxis.
MaximumYAxis Thenumberinthisboxrepresentsthemaximumacceleration
Acceleration: thattheCMMwilltakewhentravelingalongtheYaxis.
MaximumZAxis Thenumberinthisboxrepresentsthemaximumacceleration
Acceleration: thattheCMMwilltakewhentravelingalongtheZaxis.
ParameterSettings:OptionalProbetab
ParameterSettings:Opt.Probe(OptionalProbe)tab
ParameterSettingsdialogboxOpt.Probetab
TheOpt.Probetabgivesyouadditionalcapabilitiesforcontrollinganalogprobes.These
capabilitiesincludethefollowingprobingrelatedvalues:
MaxForce
LowForce
UpperForce
TriggerForce
#ReturnData
ReturnSpeed
PositioningAccuracy
ProbingAccuracy
ProbingMode
ManualFineProbing
ItalsoincludesthefollowingScanrelatedvaluesandgeneralpurposebuttons:
PointDensity
OffsetForce
Acceleration
Defaultbutton
Recallbutton
Clearbutton

Eachoftheseisdescribedbelowingreaterdetail.
ToaccesstheOpt.Probetab:
2. SelecttheOpt.Probetab.
Caution:ThevaluesontheOpt.Probetabaremachinespecific.Withtheexceptionofthe
ManualFineProbingcheckboxandthePointDensitybox,theygenerallyshouldn'tbe
changed.Checkwithyourmachine'smanufacturerbeforemakingchanges.
ClickingApplyorOKontheOpt.ProbetabinsertsanOPTIONPROBE commandintotheEdit
window.
ForinformationonusingtheOPTIONPROBEcommandwithanalogprobesduringcalibration,see
the"NotesonSP600UpperLevelMatrix(RegularCalibration):"topicinthe"DefiningHardware"
chapter.
MaxForce
TheMaxForceboxallowsyoutoenterthemaximumforcethataprobewilltakebeforeanerror
occurs,thusstoppingmeasurement.
A"newton"isaunitofforce. Duringananalogprobingcycle,whentheprobefirsttouchesthe
OnenewtonistheforceneededpartitcontinuestomoveintothepartuntilitreachesthisMax
toaccelerateamassof1 Forcevalue.Itthenreversesdirectionandmovesawayfromthe
kilogramtoaspeedof1meter part.Thismovementintothepart,aftertouchingthepart,is
persecondpersecond. sometimesreferredtoasthecontactforce.Thevalueis
specifiedinnewtons.Inanormaldeflectionmode(DFL)probing
cycle,thecontrollercollectsdataastheprobemovesawayfrom
thepart.
LowForce
TheLowForceboxallowsyoutoentertheminimumforcerequiredtodeterminewhenthe
machineisincontactwiththeobjectbeingmeasured.
Foranormaldeflectionmode(DFL)probingcycle,thisistheforceatwhichthecontrollerstops
collectingdata.Thevalueisspecifiedinnewtons.
UpperForce
TheUpperForceboxistheupperlimitforameasurement.Whenthisforceisreachedthe
machinemovesback,awayfromtheobjectbeingmeasured.

Foranormaldeflectionmode(DFL)probingcycle,thisistheforceatwhichthecontrollerstarts
collectingdata.Thevalueisspecifiedinnewtons.
TriggerForce
TheTriggerForceboxallowsyoutoentertheforceatwhichameasurementreadingistaken.
Foranormaldeflectionmode(DFL)probingcycle,thisistheforceatwhichtheActualPoint
(APT)willbecalculatedandreturnedtoPCDMIS.Thevalueisspecifiedinnewtons.Notall
analogprobes/controllersusethisinput.
#ReturnData
The#ReturnDataboxallowsyoutoenterthenumberofreadingstakenwhenthemachineis
movingawayfromtheobjectbeingmeasured.
Thisvaluedefinestheminimumnumberofdatatobecollectedwithintheprobingwindowdefined
bytheUpperForceandLowerForcevalues.
ReturnSpeed
TheReturnSpeedboxallowsyoutosetthevalue,whichdeterminesthespeedatwhichthe
probecomesofftheobjectbeingmeasured.Thisisspecifiedinmm/sec.
PositioningAccuracy
ThePositioningAccuracyboxisaparameterspecifictotheLeitzinterface.Thevalue
submittedtellstheCMMhowcarefullyitshouldremainontheapproachvectorastheprobeis
movedintothepartforameasurement.
Withsmallervaluesthedifficultyforthemachinetoacquirethedesiredlocationincreases.
However,usingasmallervalueprovidesamoreaccuratemeasurement.Thisvalueisalwaysin
millimeters.
Thisshouldnormallybeleftatthedefaultvalue.
ProbingAccuracy
TheProbingAccuracyboxallowsyoutodeterminetheaccuracyrequiredtotakea
measurement.Ifthisvalueisnotmetthennomeasurementistakenandanerrorisgiven.Itis
specifiedinmmandshouldnormallybeleftatthedefaultvalue.
ProbingMode

Thisspecifiesthetypeofprobingcycleused.Themostcommoncycleisdeflectionmode(DFL).
Othercycles,suchassoftprobing(SFT),mayalsobesupportedbysomeanalog
probes/controllers.Insomecasestheprobe/controllermaynothavemultiplemodesandthis
valueisignored.
ManualFineProbing
IftheManualFineProbingcheckboxisselected,thenwhenamanualprobingpointistaken,
thecontrollerautomaticallyswitchestoDCCmodewhilemovingawayfromthepartinorderto
usethenormaldeflectionprobingcycle.Thismayresultinslowermanualprobingbutimproves
accuracy.
WhilerecentmachineswithanalogprobingsystemsmaysupportManualFineProbing,notall
analogprobes/controllerssupportthismodeofmanualprobing.Inthosecases,PCDMISignores
thischeckmark.YourCMMcontroller'smanufacturerwillknowifyourcontrollersupportsthis
option.
PointDensity
ThePointDensityboxallowsyoutosetthenumberofreadingstotakepermillimeterof
measurementduringascan.
IfyougiveascanincrementsmallerthanthePointDensitydefinedintheregistryentryinthe
SettingsEditor,PCDMISwilldisplayawarningexplainingthattheminimumincrementissmaller
thanPointDensityforscans.Youwillthenbeaskedtoverifyincrementsettingsinthedialogbox.
Youcanthenchangethescan'sPointDensityvaluetoasuitablenumber.
OffsetForce
Thisallowsyoutospecifywhatlevelofforcetomaintainduringascan.Thevalueisspecifiedin
newtons.
Acceleration
Thisallowsyoutospecifywhataccelerationtouseduringascan.Thevalueisspecifiedin
mm/sec/sec.
ParameterSettings:ProbeTriggerOptionstab

ParameterSettingsdialogboxProbeTriggerOptionstab
TheProbeTriggerOptionstaballowsyoutodeterminetolerancezonesandtheninsert
AUTOTRIGGER,TRIGGERTOLERANCE, andTRIGGERPLANEcommandsintotheEditwindow.
Thesecommandstriggerahitwhencertainconditionsaremet.
Note:OnlymanualCMMmachineswithcertaininterfacessupporttheseprobetriggeroptions.
Theseinterfacescurrentlyinclude:BackTalk,Faro,Romer,Garda,GOM(Krypton),Axila, Leica,
Polar,andSMXLaser.
Toaccessthistab:
2. SelecttheProbeTriggerOptionstab.
SupportedFeatures
Thesetriggercommandsfunctionwiththesesupportedfeatures:
AutoFeatures:Circle,Ellipse,EdgePoint,RoundSlot,SquareSlot,NotchSlot,and
Polygon
MeasuredFeatures:Circle,Line,andRoundSlot
Inaddition,theAUTOTRIGGERcommandsupportstheAutoVectorPointfeatureandthe
MeasuredPointfeature.
AutoTriggerarea

WiththeAutoTriggerareayoucaninsertAUTOTRIGGER/commandsintotheEditwindowwitha
tolerancezone.
TheAUTOTRIGGER/commandtellsPCDMIStoautomaticallytakeahitwhentheprobeentersa
tolerancezoneataspecifieddistancefromtheoriginalhitlocation.Forexample,ifthetolerance
zone,theRadius value,issetto2mm,ahitistakenwhentheprobeiswithin2mmofthehit
location.
Youcanusethisoptionwithmanualmachinesinsteadofpressingabuttontotakeahit,youcan
placeAUTOTRIGGER/commandsatanystandardlocationintheEditwindow.
On
SelectingOncheckboxactivatestheautotriggercommand.CommandsintheEditwindowthat
followtheinsertedAUTOTRIGGER/commandandrequireyoutotakeahitwillthenhavethehit
automaticallytakenwhentheprobeentersthedefinedtolerancezone.
IfyoudonotselectthischeckboxandyouclicktheInsertCommandbutton,PCDMISinserts
thecommandlineintotheEditwindowbutdoesn'tactivatethecommand.
BeepingOn
SelectingtheBeepingOncheckboxactivatesabeepingsoundassociatedwithyour
AUTOTRIGGER/command.Thecloseryougettothetarget,beepsareheardmorefrequently.
Radius
TheRadiusboxallowsyoutotypeatolerancezonevalue.Whentheprobemovesintothis
tolerancezone,itautomaticallyandimmediatelytakesahit.
InsertCommand
ClickingtheInsertCommandbuttoninsertstheAUTOTRIGGER/commandintotheEditwindow
forthecurrentpartprogram.Thiscommandlinereads:
AUTOTRIGGER/TOG1,TOG2,RAD
TOG1 ThistogglefieldcorrespondstotheAutotriggerOncheckbox.Itdisplayseither
ONorOFF.
TOG2 ThistogglefieldcorrespondstotheBeepingOncheckbox.ItdisplayseitherONor
OFF.
RAD Theradiusfieldcontainsthevalueforthetolerancezone.Thisvalueisthedistance
fromtheactualpointthatPCDMIStakesthehit.

TriggerPlanearea
WiththeTriggerPlaneareayoucaninsertaTRIGGERPLANE/commandintotheEditwindow.
TheTRIGGERPLANE/commandtellsPCDMIStoautomaticallytakeahitwhentheprobe
passestheplanedefinedbythesurfacenormalofasupportedfeatureatthelevelofthedefined
depth.Forautofeatures,thisdefinedlocationwillbeadjustedbasedonoptionssuchassample
hitsorRMEASfeatures.Astheprobecenterpassesfromonesideoftheplanetotheother,the
probewilltriggerandthehitwillbetaken.
Youcanusethiscommandwithmanualmachinesinsteadofpressingabuttontotakeahit,you
canplaceTRIGGERPLANE/commandsatanystandardlocationwithintheEditwindow.
Thiscommandonlyworksinonlinemode.IftheAUTOTRIGGER/commandisused,itwilltake
precedenceovertheTRIGGERPLANE/command.
NoteonFaroandRomerMachines:Asdefinedabove,PCDMISwillautomaticallytakeahit
whentheprobepassestheplane.However,ifyouareusingaFarooraRomermachine,the
probewillnottriggeragainuntilyoupresstheAcceptbutton(orReleasebutton).Youmust
pressthisbuttonaftereachregisteredhitinordertocontinue.
On
SelectingtheOncheckboxactivatestheTRIGGERPLANE/command.CommandsintheEdit
windowthatfollowtheinsertedTRIGGERPLANE/commandandrequireyoutotakeahitwillthen
havethehitautomaticallytakenwhentheprobecenterpassestheplanedefinedbythesurface
normalanddepthofthefeature.
thecommandlineintotheEditwindowbutdoesn'tactivatethecommand.TheTRIGGERPLANE/
commandwillnotfunctionuntiltheoptionisturnedon.
BeepingOn
SelectingtheBeepingOncheckboxactivatesabeepingsoundassociatedwithyour
TRIGGERPLANE/command.Thecloseryougettothetarget,beepsareheardmorefrequently.
InsertCommand
ClickingtheInsertCommandbuttoninsertsthetriggerplanecommandintotheEditwindowfor
thecurrentpartprogram.

TRIGGERPLANE/TOG1,TOG2
TOG1 ThistogglefieldcorrespondstotheOncheckbox.ItdisplayseitherONorOFF.
TOG2 ThistogglefieldcorrespondstotheBeeping Oncheckbox.ItdisplayseitherONor

OFF.
ManualPointTriggerTolerancearea
WiththeManualPointTriggerToleranceareayoucaninsertaTRIGGERTOLERANCE/
commandintotheEditwindow.
TheTRIGGERTOLERANCE/commandtellsPCDMIStoonlyacceptamanualhitwhenitiswithin
thespecifiedtolerancezone.
YoucanusethisoptionwithmanualmachineswhenPCDMISpromptsyoutotakeahit,trigger
theprobeasyouwish.Eachtriggerwillbeevaluatedtoseeifitiswithinthecylindricaltrigger
tolerancezone.Ifitisnot,youwillreceiveanerrorintheMachineErrorslistoftheExecution
ModeOptionsdialogbox.PCDMISwillthenaskyoutotakethehitagain.Youcanplace
TRIGGERTOLERANCE/commandsatanystandardlocationwithintheEditwindow.
Thisoptiononlyworksinonlinemode.
UseTriggerTolerance
SelectingtheUseTriggerTolerancecheckboxactivatestheTRIGGERTOLERANCE/command.
CommandsintheEditwindowthatfollowtheinsertedTRIGGERTOLERANCE/commandand
requireyoutotakeahitwillthenonlyacceptthehitwhentheprobeentersthedefinedtolerance
zone.
thecommandlineintotheEditwindowbutdoesn'tactivatethecommand.TheTriggerTolerance
capabilityisdisableduntiltheoptionisturnedon
InsertCommand
ClickingtheInsertCommandbuttoninsertstheTRIGGERTOLERANCE/commandintotheEdit
windowforthecurrentpartprogramwiththefollowingoptions.
TRIGGERTOLERANCE/TOG1,RAD
TOG1 ThistogglefieldcorrespondstotheUseTriggerTolerancecheckbox.Itdisplays
eitherONorOFF.

RAD Theradiusfieldcontainsthevalueforthetolerancezone.Thisvalueisthedistance
fromtheactualpointthatPCDMISacceptsthehit.
ToleranceRadius
TheToleranceRadiusboxallowsyoutotypeatoleranceradiusvalue.Whentheprobeis
triggered,PCDMISwillchecktoseeiftheprobeiswithinthistolerancezone.Ifitis,thehitwill
beaccepted.Itisitnot,youwillbeaskedtotakeanotherhit.
ParameterSettings:NC100Parameterstab
ParameterSettingsdialogboxNC100Parameterstab
TheNC100ParameterstabTheNC100Parameterstaballowsyoutochangetheparameters
onlyappearsinthe fortheNC100VideoProbe.Theseparametersareusedtocontrol
ParameterSettingsdialog thelighting,sizingetc.oftheNC100visionarea.Ifthevaluesinthe
boxifyouhaveselecteda NC100tabarechanged,thenPCDMISinsertsanew
NC100Videoprobeasyour VIDEOSETUP commandintothepartprogram,anddisplaysthe
activeprobe. cursorpositionintheEditwindow.TheEditwindowcommandline
fortheVIDEOSETUPcommandreads:
VIDEOSETUP/GAIN=n,OFFSET=n,TOP=n,BOTTOM=n,WIDTH=n,YORIGIN=n,
YEND=n,LSEG=n,XSEG=n,YSEG=n
ToeditinformationintheNC100Parameterstab:
2. ClickontheNC100Parameterstab.
3. Selectthevalueyouwanttochange.
4. Typeanewvalue.
5. ClickApplyorOK.
TheboxescontainedintheNC100Parameterstaballowyoutospecifyinformationthat
correspondstosettingsontheNC100computersystemSeedocumentationfromyourNC100
computersystemformoredetailedinformationonthesesettings.

Gain
TheGain valuecorrespondstotheGain valueontheNC100computersystemandisavision

sensorsetting.
OffsetValue
TheOffset valuecorrespondstotheOffsetvalueontheNC100computersystemandisalight
sensorsetting.SeedocumentationfromyourNC100computersystemforadditionalinformation.
ROITop
TheROITopvaluecorrespondstotheROITop valueontheNC100computersystemandis
thetoppositionoftheROI.
ROIBottom
TheROIBottom valuecorrespondstotheROIBottomvalueontheNC100computersystem
andisthebottompositionoftheROI.
ROIWidth
TheROIWidth valuecorrespondstotheROIWidthvalueontheNC100computersystemand
isthehorizontaldimensionoftheROI.
YOrigin
TheYOriginvaluecorrespondstotheYOrigin valueontheNC100computersystem.
YEnd
TheYEndvaluecorrespondstotheYEnd valueontheNC100computersystem.
LongSegment
TheLongSegment valuecorrespondstotheLongSegment valueontheNC100computer

system.

XSegment
TheXSegment valuecorrespondstotheXSegmentvalueontheNC100computersystem.
YSegment
TheYSegment valuecorrespondstotheYSegmentvalueontheNC100computersystem.
VideoSetup
TheVideoSetupbuttonallowsyoutoopentheVideoSetupParametersontheNC100Video
System.Clickingthisbuttonopensandclosesthisoption.
CommunicationsettingsbetweenthePCDMIScomputersystemandtheNC100computer
systemhavetobeconfiguredbeforethisoptionfunctionsproperly.See"NC100Setuptab"on
theSetUpOptionsdialogboxforthisinformation.
ParameterSettings:I/OChannelstab
ParameterSettingsdialogboxI/OChannelstab
Currently,theoptionsontheI/OWiththeI/OChannelstabyoucanselectoptionsrelatedtothe
Channelstabonlyfunctionon useofcontrollerI/OchannelsandplaceanIOCHANNEL/
DEAmachines.Othermachine commandintotheEditwindowthatwilldefinethestateofthe
typesmaybeaddedinthe controller.
future.
SomemachinecontrollersareequippedwithI/OchannelsthatcanbeSETtoanONstate(a
valueof1)orRESETtoanOFFstate(avalueof0).TheIOCHANNEL/commandtellsPCDMIS
tosetthestateasspecified.

ToeditinformationintheI/OChannelstab:
2. ClickontheI/OChannelstab.
3. Makeanychanges.
4. ClickApplyorOK.
Channel
ThisspecifiesthechannelnumberthatyouwillSETorRESET.
SetandResetOptions
Option Description
Set ThisoptioninsertsanIOCHANNEL/SETcommandintothepartprogram.WhenPC
DMISexecutesthiscommandthestateofthespecifiedchannelnumberwillbesetto
1.
Reset ThisoptioninsertsanIOCHANNEL/RESETcommandintothepartprogram.When
PCDMISexecutesthiscommandthestateofthespecifiedchannelnumberwillbe
setto0.
SettingUptheEditWindow
PCDMISletsyoudeterminetheEditwindow'sappearanceaswellaswhatinformationtodisplay
withinsometheEditwindow'smodes.
DefiningEditWindowColors

EditWindowColorsdialogbox
TheEdit|Preferences|EditWindowColorsmenuoptiondisplaystheColorEditordialog
box.YoumustbeinCommandmodeorDMISmodetoselectthismenuitem.
TheColorEditordialogboxallowsyoutodefinethecolorsusedfortheEditwindowtextand
backgroundwhenyouhavetheEditwindowinCommandandDMISmodes.Youcanalsoexport
yourcolorschemetouseondifferentcomputersystemsorimportexternalcolorschemes.
Note:TheColorEditordialogboxonlyspecifiesthecolorsintextualmodesoftheEditwindow
suchastheCommandandDMIS.
Therearefourprincipalcolorsthatcanbeconfiguredforallcommandsorforindividual
commands.Youcandeterminewhethertoshowthesecolorsasahighlightedbackgroundcolor
orastextcolorbyselectingorclearingtheEnableBackgroundHighlightingcheckbox.These
arelistedinthefourboxesintheCommandTextColorsarea.
Marked
Unmarked
StepMode
Error
Bydefault,theEnableBackgroundHighlightingcheckboxisselected,makingtheboxes
appearwiththefollowingcolors:
Ifyouclearthischeckboxtoenabletextcoloringinstead,PCDMISwillshowtheboxesas
follows:
PrincipalColors
MarkedColor: MarkedColorrepresentsanyfeaturethatismarkedforexecution.Some
featuressuchasalignmentsarealwaysexecutedandthereforealways
showupintheMarkedcolor.
Unmarked: Unmarkedcoloristhedefaultcolor.Ifnootherconditionispresentthen
thedefaultcolorisused.
StepMode: StepModecolorhighlightsthelineuponwhichexecutionwilloccurnext
whenexecutingapartprogramusingbreakpoints.
Error: Errorcolorshowscommandsthatareinerrorormeasurementsthatare
outsideoftheirtolerancelimits.Forexample,ifatipisrecalledbutisnot
definedintheprobedatabase,thistiptextwillbecoloredwiththeerror
color.

YoucanalsochangebackgroundcolorsfortheEditwindow,fordimensions,andforthehighlight
color.
BackgroundColor: BackgroundColoroftheEditwindowcanalsobemodifiedfromwithin
thisdialog.
Dimension DimensionBackgroundColorsetsthebackgroundcolorfora
BackgroundColor dimension'sreportingboxes.
HighlightBackground HighlightBackgroundColorsetsthebackgroundcolorwhendragging
Color themousetoselectacommandorgroupofcommands.
Tochangethecommandtextcolorsused:
1. SelectEdit|Preferences|EditWindowColorsfromthemenubar.TheColor
Editordialogboxopens.
2. ClicktheAutoPreviewcheckbox.Thisallowsyoutopreviewyourchanges
insidetheEditwindowasyoumakethem.
3. Selectaspecificcommandoraparentcommandfromthelistofcommandsin
theCommandTextColorsarea.Clickontheplussignstoexpandthelisttoview
additionalsubcommands.Thisallowsyoutosettheprincipalcolors(Marked,
Unmarked,StepMode,andError)forspecificcommandsorparentcommands.To
setthechangesforallcommandtext,selectDefault fromthetopofthelist.
4. SimplyclicktheEditbuttonforthetextorbackgroundcolorintheCommand
TextColorsarea. AColorselectionboxwillappear.
5. Selectthenewcolor,orcustomizeacolorbyselectingtheDefineCustom
Colorsbutton.
6. ClicktheOKbutton.TheColorselectionboxwillclose.Ifyouselectedaparent
command,PCDMISpresentsyouwithanoptiontosetallchildcommandsunderthe
parentcommandtousethesamecoloraswell.SelecteitherYesorNoatthis
prompt.
7. Whenfinisheddefiningyourcolors,clicktheApplybuttontoseethechanges
withoutclosingtheColorsdialogbox.
8. ClicktheOKbuttontoapplythechangesandclosetheColorEditordialogbox.
Thecolorchangeswillimmediatelybemade.
Tochangethebackgroundcolorsused:
2. ClicktheAutoPreviewcheckbox.Thisallowsyoutopreviewyourchanges
insidetheEditwindowasyoumakethem.
3. SimplyclicktheEditbuttonforthebackgroundorhighlightcolorfromthe
BackgroundColorarea. AColorselectionboxwillappear.
4. Selectthenewcolor,orcustomizeacolorbyselectingtheDefineCustom
Colorsbutton.
5. ClicktheOKbutton.TheColorselectionboxwillclose.
6. Whenfinisheddefiningyourcolors,clicktheApplybuttontoseethechanges
withoutclosingtheColorsdialogbox.
7. ClicktheOKbuttontoapplythechangesandclosetheColorEditordialogbox.
Thecolorchangeswillimmediatelybemade.
Toexportacolorscheme:

2. Makechangestoyourcolorschemeasneeded.
3. ClicktheExportbutton.ASaveAsdialogboxappears.Thisdialogboxallows
youtostoreyourEditwindowcolorschemeasacolorfile(afilewitha.clr
extension).
SaveAsdialogbox
4. Navigatetowhereyouwanttostorethisfile.
5. TypeanameforthestoredcolorfileintheFilenamebox.
6. ClickSave.
Toimportanduseacolorscheme:
Editordialogboxopens.ClicktheAutoPreviewcheckbox.Thiswillallowyouto
previewyourchangesinsidetheEditwindowonceyouselectthecolorscheme.
2. ClicktheImportbutton.AnOpendialogboxappears.
3. Navigatetothecolorschemefile(afilewitha.clrextension).
4. SelectthefileandclickOpen.TheOpendialogboxcloses.
5. ClickApplyandthenOKtousethecolorschemeyoujustimported.
DefiningtheEditwindowLayout
TheEdit|Preferences|EditWindowLayoutmenuoptionbringsuptheEditWindowLayout
dialogbox.ThedialogboxcontainsaCommandtab.Thistabletsyouhideorshowcertain
commandsintheEditwindow.
CommandModeDisplayOptions

EditWindowLayoutdialogboxCommandtab
TheCommandtaballowsyoutochoosewhichofthefollowingdisplayoptionsareavailablefor
Commandmode.
ShowFeatures Thisoptiondisplaysthefeaturesmeasuredbythepartprogram.
ShowAlignments Thisoptionshowsalignmentchangesastheyoccurduringthepart
program.Itwilldisplayallalignmentchangesthatoccurinthedimension
orfeaturelists.
ShowMoves Thisoptionshowsanymovesthathavebeenaddedtothepartprogram.
ShowComments Thisoptionshowsanycommentsthathavebeenaddedtothepart
program.(See"InsertingProgrammerComments"inthe"Inserting
ReportCommands"chapterforadditionalinformation.)
ShowDimensions Thisoptiondisplaysthespecifieddimensionforthefeaturesinspectedby
PCDMIS.ItwillbedisplayedintheselectedformatusingtheFORMAT
commanddescribedinthe"DimensionFormat"topicinthe"Usingthe
EditWindow"chapter.
ShowHits Thisoptiondisplayseachhit.
ShowHeader/ Thisoptiondisplaystheheader/footerfromtheLOGO.DAT,
Footer HEADER.DAT,andELOGO.DATfiles.(See"ModifyingHeadersand
Footers"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"chapterforinformationon
alteringthesefiles.)
ShowTips Thisoptiondisplaysthetipfilenamesusedtoinspectthepart.
ForinformationonworkingwithCommandmode,seethe"WorkinginCommandMode"topicin
the"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter.
SettingUptheReadoutWindow

ProbeReadoutSetupdialogbox
TheProbeReadoutSetupdialogbox(Edit|Preferences|ProbeReadoutSetup)allowsyou
toselectthedesiredformatoftheProbeReadoutwindow.Selectthecheckboxesthatmeetyour
probereadoutneeds.WhenyounextselecttheProbeReadoutWindowmenuoptionitwillreflect
thechosenformat.

ASampleProbeReadoutWindow
Hint:YoucanalsoaccesstheProbeReadoutSetupdialogboxbyrightclickingontheProbe
ReadoutwindowandclickingSetup.
ForinformationonusingtheProbeReadoutwindow,see"UsingtheProbeReadoutwindow"in
the"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools"chapter.
FeatureArea
Featurearea
ShowFeatureIDcheck IfinLearnModeandthereareCADelements,thisshowsthetext
box labelofthenearestCADelement.
IfinExecuteModeandPCDMISisexecutingsequentially
throughthepartprogram,thisshowstheIDoffeaturebeing
executed.IfPCDMISisexecutinginanyorder,andtheClosest
FeatureoptionisselectedfromtheDistanceTargetarea,itwill
showtheIDoftheclosestfeature.

ShowFeatureType IfinExecuteModeandPCDMISisexecutingsequentially
checkbox throughthepartprogram,thisdisplaystheexecutingfeaturetype.
IfPCDMISisexecutinginanyorderthisdisplaysthefeaturetype
oftheclosestfeature.
Probe/HitArea
Probe/Hitarea
ProbePositioncheck WhenyouselecttheProbePositioncheckbox,PCDMIS
box displaysthecurrentpositionoftheprobe.TheProbeReadout
windowwilldisplaytheprobe'spositionintheactivecoordinate
system.
LastHitcheckbox WhenyouselecttheLastHitcheckbox,PCDMISwilldisplaythe
locationofthelasthittakenwiththeprobe.Ifthisoptionisnot
selected,PCDMISdisplaysthecurrentpositionoftheprobe.
Displayerroroflast WhenyouselecttheDisplayerroroflastmeasuredfeature
measuredfeaturecheck checkbox,PCDMISdisplaysanydeviationsalongtheXYZ
box coordinates(andDforcircularfeatures)forthelastmeasured
featureintheProbeReadoutwindow.Evenifthedeviationis0
thenonly0isdisplayed.
CoordinatesArea
Coordinatesarea
MachineCoordinate WhenyouselecttheMachineCoordinateSystem(MCS)check
System(MCS)checkbox box,PCDMISdisplaystheinformationinthemachine's
coordinatesystem,notthepartcoordinatesystem.Thischeckbox
switchesbetweenthesecoordinatesystems.Deselectingitwill
onceagaindisplaytheinformationinthepart'scoordinatesystem.
UsePolarCoordinates WhenyouselecttheUsePolarCoordinatescheckbox,PCDMIS
checkbox switchesbetweenrectangularandpolarcoordinates.Whenpolar
coordinatesareused,thenormaldirectionoftheworkplaneisalso
displayed.
AxistoDisplayArea

Axistodisplayarea
Xcheckbox ThishidesordisplaystheXaxisintheProbeReadouts
window
Ycheckbox ThishidesordisplaystheYaxisintheProbeReadouts
window
Zcheckbox ThishidesordisplaystheZaxisintheProbeReadouts
window
ColorsArea
Colorsarea
Backgroundlist ThissetsthebackgroundcoloroftheProbeReadout
window.
Text list ThissetsthetextcoloroftheProbeReadoutwindow.
TrackerArea
Trackerarea
ShowRMScheckbox ThisshowstheRMSvalueintheProbeReadoutswindowifthe
measuremachineisaportabletrackerdevice.
InspectorBuildoption Thesedeterminewhetherornottheinformationinthetrackeris
reportedaccordingtotheInspectmodeorBuild mode.
Seethe"PCDMISPortable"documentationformoreinformation.
GraphicalRepresentationArea
GraphicalRepresentationarea

Showcurrentprobe TheShowcurrentprobepositiononscreencheckboxdiffersfrom
positiononscreencheck theProbePositioncheckboxinthatitshowsagraphical
box representationoftheprobeonscreen,relativetothemachine.
Thisishelpfulwhenworkingonline.Whenyoumovetheprobeby
usingthejogbox,agraphicalrepresentationoftheprobealso
moveswithinPCDMIS'sscreen.
Showdeviationarrow TheShowdeviationarrowonscreencheckboxshowsa3D
onscreencheckbox arrowontheGraphicsDisplaywindowindicatingthedirectionof
deviation.
DistanceTargetArea
DistanceTargetarea
DistancetoTargetcheck WhenyouselecttheDistancetoTargetcheckbox,PCDMIS
box displaysthedistanceoftheprobetothetargetpoint.Theprobe's
positionisdisplayedintheactivecoordinatesystem.Manually
drivetheprobetothekeyedinlocation.Whenthetargetpointis
reached,theProbeReadoutwindowwilldisplay0,0,0.
WithAutoZoomcheck WhenyouselectboththeDistancetoTargetcheckboxandthe
box WithAutoZoomcheckbox,PCDMISalsodisplaysthedistance
oftheprobetothetargetpoint.Theprobespositionisdisplayed
intheactivecoordinatesystem.Astheprobeismanuallydriven
tothekeyedinlocation,PCDMISmakesthetargetpointthe
centerofthescreenandzoominonthepointintheGraphics
Displaywindow.
Distancearea Thisareacontainsthesetwooptionbuttons:
Executingfeatureshowsthedistancetothefeature
beingexecuted.
Closestfeatureshowsthedistancetothefeature
closesttotheprobe.
Targetarea Thisareacontainsthesetwooptionbuttons:
Surface/Edgecalculatesthedistancetotheactualtarget
pointonthesurfaceoredgeofthefeature.

Intheaboveexample,whilemeasuringthecircle(CIR1),
thisoptionwillcausetheProbeReadoutwindowtoshow
thedistancetotheactualtargetpoint(seeA).
Centroidcalculatesthedistancetothefeature's
centroid.
Intheaboveexample,whilemeasuringthecircle(CIR1),
thisoptionwillcausetheProbeReadoutwindowtoshow
thedistancetothefeature'scentroid(seeA)insteadofthe
actualtargetpoint.
Displaydistanceto ThischeckboxshowsthedistancefromprobetoclosestCAD
closestCADcheckbox element.
Applydimensioncolor Thischeckboxchangesthecolorsofthedeviationvalues
checkbox (DistancetoTargetvalues)tomatchtheoutoftolerance
dimensioncolors.
PromptHistoryArea

WhenyouselecttheDisplayprompthistorycheckbox,PCDMISwilldisplaythenewProbe
ReadoutcommenttypeinsidetheProbeReadoutwindow.
UsingtheDisplaylinesatatimebox,youcanspecifyhowmanylinesPCDMIS
shouldsetapartforthesecommentsontheProbeReadoutwindowitself.
UsingtheSelectFontbutton,youcanalsospecifythefonttypeandsizethat
shouldbeusedforthesecommentsontheProbeReadoutwindow.
Forinformationoninsertingcomments,see"InsertingProgrammerComments"inthe"Inserting
ForinformationondisplayingtheProbeReadoutwindow,see"UsingtheProbeReadoutwindow"
inthe"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools"chapter.
AlwaysTrackFOVCenter
Ifthisitemisselected,PCDMISdisplaystheFOVcenterofanoncontactvideoprobe.Thisitem
onlyappearsifyouhaveanoncontactvideoprobedefined.
SettingupMultipleArms
Seethe"UsingMultipleArmMode"chapterforinformationregardingsetupproceduresfor
multiplearms.
DefiningtheRotaryTable
SelectingtheEdit|Preferences|RotaryTableSetup menuoptiondisplaystheRotaryTable
Setupdialogbox.

RotaryTableSetupdialogbox
Thisdialogboxallowsyoutodefinetherotarytable.Youcanonlyacceptoneoptionper
category.
1. Selectthetypeoftablebeingused.IfDualRotaryTableorStackedRotary
Tablesisselected,indicatetheactivetable(TableWorTableV).SelectingDual
RotaryTablesorStackedRotaryTablesalsodisplaystheActiveRotary
TabletoolbaronceyouclicktheOKbutton.Thistoolbarcontainstwoiconsthat
allowyoutoselectwhichrotarytableisactive.
2. Definewhetherthetableisindexableorinfinitetype,byselectingeither Tableis
IndexTypeorTableisInfiniteType.
NoteonIndexTypeRotaryTables:
Indextyperotarytableshaveafinitenumberofspecificanglestowhichthey
canbepositioned.Generally,theyhaveafixedincrement(indegreesof
rotation)fromagivenpositiontothenextavailableposition.Theincremental
amountwillvary,basedonyourspecifictable.PleaseconsultyourRotary
tabledocumentationifnecessary.Infinitetyperotarytableswillacceptany
position(indegrees).
3. DetermineiftherotarytableisManualorDCC,andselecteitherTableis
ManualorTableisDCCasappropriate.
3. FromtheAxisforTablelist,selectthemachineaxisclosesttotheaxisof
rotationforthetable.
4. FromtheDirectionofPositivelist,selectwhetherornotthetablehasapositive
rotationaboutthechosenaxisineithertheCLOCKWISEdirectionorthe
COUNTERCLOCKWISEdirection.
5. Ifknown,keyintheXYZ,IJKvalues
6. ClickCalibratetobeginthecalibrationprocess.
Note:TheRotaryTableSetupmenuoptionisunavailableuntilyourportlockisconfiguredto
acceptrotarytables.

CalibrateRotaryTable
DependingontheoptionsselectedintheRotaryTableSetupdialogbox(see"Definingthe
RotaryTable")oneoftwodialogboxeswillopenwhenyouclicktheCalibratebutton.
SelectingtheTableisInfiniteTypeoptionandtheCalibratebuttonopensthe
CalibrateInfiniteRotaryTabledialogbox.
Selectingthe TableisIndexTypeoptionandtheCalibratebuttonopensthe
CalibrateIndexableRotaryTabledialogbox.
CalibrateIndexableRotaryTable
CalibrateIndexableRotaryTable
UsingtheCalibrateIndexableRotaryTabledialogboxyoucanselecttheoptionsthatwillbe
usedtocalibratetheselectedtable.Oncetheoptionswithinthedialogboxaresatisfactory,click
theCalibratebuttontostarttherotarytablecalibrationprocess.
UsageNote:Theindexablerotarytablecalibrationmustincludethe0position.Additionally,all
theanglesthatwillactuallybeusedinapartprogrammustalsobecalibrated.Thiscalibration
procedurecalculatesandstoresatransformationforallotheranglesrelativetothe0position.
CalibrationNote:TheindexablerotarytablecalibrationprocedurerequiresavalidXYZ,IJKfor
thetableinordertorunproperly.Thiscanbeaccomplishedintwoways.
1.)Ifthevaluesareknown,theycanbemanuallytypedintotheRotaryTableSetupdialogbox.
Thiswillusuallynotbethecase.
2)Initiallyselectthe TableisInfiniteTypeoptionandcompleteaninfiniterotarytablecalibration,
whichwillcalculateandsavetheXYZ,IJK.ThenselecttheTableisIndexableTypeand
performtheindexablerotarytablecalibration.Thisisnormallyonlyanissueduringtheinitial
softwareinstallation/setuporiftherotarytablehasbeenmovedorifsomethinghashappenedto

significantlyaltertheoriginofthemachinecoordinatesystem.OncetheXYZ,IJKisdetermined
closelyenoughthattheindexablerotarytablecalibrationprocedurecanrunsuccessfullyitisnot
necessarytogobackandreruntheinfiniterotarytablecalibrationinordertorerunthe
indexablerotarytablecalibration.
AddRotabAngles
TheAddRotabAnglesareaallowsyoutodefinethelistoftableanglesthatwillbeincludedin
thecalibration.Youcandefineoneangleatatime,oryoucandefineanincrementedrangeof
angles.DefinedanglesarethenplacedintheAnglestoCalibratelist.WhenyouclickCalibrate
PCDMISwillthencalibratetherotarytableusingthedefinedangles.
Example:Ifyouwanttocalibratealltheanglesbetween5and95degreeswitha10degree
incrementbetweeneachangle,youwouldfillintheStartAngle,EndAngle,andIncrement
boxeswith5,95,and10respectively,andthenclicktheEquallySpacebutton.
AnglestoCalibratelist
Thislistcontainsallthetableanglesforthecalibration.Youcanaddanglestothislistfromthe
AddRotabAnglesarea.TheAnglestoCalibratelistmustusethezeroangle.
OtherDialogboxParameters
Thisdialogboxalsocontainsmanyofthesameoptionsdescribedinthe"DefiningHardware"
chapter.
ForinformationonNumberofHits,Prehit/Retract,MoveSpeed, Touch
Speed,Manual/DCC,ListofAvailableTools,AddTool,andDeleteTool,seethe
MeasuretopicintheDefiningHardwarechapter.
ForinformationonActiveProbeFileandActiveTip,seetheDefiningProbes
topicintheDefiningHardwarechapter.
CalibrateInfiniteRotaryTable

CalibrateInfiniteRotaryTabledialogbox
TheCalibrateInfiniteRotaryTabledialogboxdiffersfromtheCalibrateIndexableRotary
Tabledialogboxintheseareas:
InsteadoftheAnglestoCalibratelist,thedialogdisplaystheTableAngleslist.
Youdonthavetousethe0.0angleintheTableAngleslist.
Insteadofthreecalibrationtools,thedialogboxonlydisplaysonecalibrationtool.
SeeCalibrateIndexableRotaryTableaboveforinformationonthespecificoptionscontainedin
thisdialogbox.
SettingUpProbeChangerOptions
SelectingtheEdit|Preferences|ProbeChanger menuoptiondisplaystheProbeChanger
dialogbox.
ProbeChangerdialogbox
Thisdialogboxallowsyoutosetupvariousoptionsthatcanbeusedonaprobechanger.Until
youdefineaprobechanger,thisdialogwillonlydisplaytheTypetab.Theseothertabsmay
becomeavailablewhenyoudefineyourprobechangertype.
Type Thisallowsyoutoselecttheprobechangertype.
Calibrate Thisallowsyoutochoosewhichactivetipstocalibrate.
MountPoint ThisallowsyoutochangeABwristvaluesandalsoprovideasafelocationthat
theCMMcanmovetoaftereachcycle.
Slots Thisallowsyoutodefineprobeorstylusconfigurationforexistingslotsinthe
probechangerrack.

Comm Thisallowsyoutoworkwithyourcomputer'sserialportconnectiontotheprobe
changer.
Thesetabsaredescribedbelowingreaterdetail.
Seethe"DefiningProbeChangers"topicinthe"DefiningHardware"chapterprovidesyouwitha
stepbystepdescriptionofhowtosetupandcalibrateaprobechanger.Italsodescribeshowyou
todisplayanexistingprobechangerinsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
Type
ProbeChangerdialogboxTypetab
Beforecalibrationcantakeplace,theprobechangertypemustbechosen.Selectthetypeof
probechangerfromtheProbeChangerdropdownlist.Afterachangeofprobechangertype,
PCDMISmustberestarted.
Thedockingspeedcanbealteredtofinetunetheoperationofthechangecycle.Simplytypea
newpercentagevaluetosetthedockingspeed.
ActiveProbeChanger
DependingonthevalueintheNumberofProbeChangersbox,theActiveProbeChangerlist
containsnumbereditems(ProbeChanger1,ProbeChanger2,ProbeChanger3etc.)towhichyou
canassignaprobechangeranditsassociatedvalues.
InitiallyPCDMISdisplaysonlyoneiteminthislist,usually"ProbeChanger1".Youcanadd
additionalitemstothelistbyincreasingthevalueintheNumberofProbeChangersbox.
PCDMISstorestheprobechangertypeyouselectedandanyothervaluesforthenumbered
itemintheActiveProbeChangerlist.
NumberofProbeChangers
WiththeNumberofProbeChangersboxyoucandeterminehowmanyprobechangerstouse.
ThenumberyoutypeinthisboxbecomesthenumberofavailableprobechangersintheActive
ProbeChangerlist.
ProbeChangerType

TheProbeChangerTypedropdownlistcontainsalistofthevariousprobechangertypes.
ProbeChangerdialogboxshowingtheCW43Lprobechangertype
CW43LProbeChangers
TheCW43Lprobechangercalibrationprocedurerequiresyoutoperformthecalibrationusinga
probewiththewristmapinordertoproperlycalculatetheportlocations.Oncecalibrated,you
canthenusetheprobechangertochangeprobesregardlessofwhetherornottheyactuallyuse
thewristmap.
DockingSpeed
TheDockingSpeedboxallowsyoutodeterminethedockingspeedofthechangecycle.
Comm
ProbeChangerDialogboxCommtab
Forsometypesofprobechangersthereisaserialconnectiontothecomputer.Thisdialogwill
allowyoutochooseyourcommunicationsport(COMport)andmodifyyourCOMportsettings.
ForinformationonyourCOMportsettings,checkthedocumentationthatcamewithyour
computerhardware.
IfyourprobechangerdoesnothaveaserialconnectiontheCommtabwillnotappear.

Calibrate
ProbeChangerdialogboxCalibratetab
Beforeprobeconfigurationscanbeloadedintotherack,considerthefollowing:
TheprobeorstylusmustbechosenfromtheTypetabandcalibrated.
TherackshouldbesquaredtooneoftheCMM'saxes.
ThePS35RstylusthatwassuppliedbyRenishawmustbeusedtocalibratethe
probechanger.
Verifythatthestylushasbeencalibratedbeforestartingthisprocess.(See
"DefiningProbes"inthe"DefiningHardware"chapter.)
Ifcalibratingaslotholdinganextension,ensurethatyouhavefirstdefinedthe
ProbeHeadWristAnglerequiredforthechangeintheMountPointtab.The
probeheadwillrotatetothisanglebeforemeasuringthewrist'sjointonthe
datumsphere.
CAUTION:Theoptoelectronicinfrareddetectionsystemisalwaysactive.Ifitisaccidentally
tripped,thePI200(probecontroller)willdeactivatetheTP200.
Note:Generally,youshouldphysicallyalignprobechangersalongoneofthemachinesaxis.
However,fortheTP20,TP200,andSP600probechangersthisisn'trequired.Fortheseprobe
changes,therackstillneedstobelevel,butyoucannowrotateitsothatthelengthoftherackis
nolongeralignedalongamachineaxis.
ActiveProbeChanger
FromtheActiveProbeChangerlistyoucanselectwhatprobechangertocalibrate.
See"ActiveProbeChanger"undertheTypetabforinformationonthislist.
ActiveProbeFile
TheActiveProbeFiledropdownlistallowsyoutoselectaprobetouseforthecalibration
process.
ActiveTip
TheActiveTipdropdownlistallowsyoutochooseatipconfigurationfortheprobeselected.

FullCalibration
IfyouselecttheFullCalibrationoption,PCDMISwillmeasuretheentireprobechanger.Thisis
themostoftenusedmethodofcalibrationandforsometheonlymethodavailable.Itis
recommendedthattheoperatorusethefullcalibrationmethod.
PartialCalibration
ThePartialCalibrationoptionwillonlycalibrateaportionoftheprobechanger.Thisoptiononly
appearsforthosechangertypesthatsupportit.
SinglePortCalibration
Someprobechangers,suchastheARC1,willallowyoutomeasureonlyasingleslotaftera
successfulfullcalibration.TheSingleSlotCalibration optiononlyappearsforthosechanger
typesthatsupportit.
CalibrateButton
TheCalibratebuttonallowsyoutobeginthecalibrationprocessbyopeningtheProbeChanger
dialogbox.Followanyonscreenpromptstocorrectlycalibrateyourprobechanger.
ProbeExtensionCalibration
Whencalibratinganextensionmodule,afterthemeasurementswiththetiparecompletedand
thejointonthewristhasbeenmeasuredonthedatumspherewithouttheextensionsattached,
foreachslotconfiguredtoholdanextensionyouwillbeaskedtoattachtheextensiontothatslot,
andyouwillneedtomeasuretheendjointonthoseextensionsasyoudidforthewristitself.
SCR200ProbeChangerCalibration
ThefollowingproceduredescribeshowtocalibrateanSCR200ProbeChanger:
AfterclickingtheCalibrate
button,thefirstpromptappears.
Openlids3and4,and
removeanyprobesfrom
thoseports.
ClickOK.
Takeonehitonthefront
faceoftheprobe
changer'scenterpost.
Asecondpromptappears
askingyoutotakethesecond
hit.
ClickOK.
Takethesecond
manualhitonthetopof

thecenterpost.
Athirdpromptappearsasking
youtotakethefinalhit.
ClickOK.
Takethethirdmanual
hitagainonthefront
faceofthecenterpost.
Youshouldhavetaken
allthreehitssimilarto
shownhere:
A1stManualHit
(infrontofcenter
post
B2ndManualHit
(ontopofcenter
post)
C3rdManualHit
(infrontofcenter
post)
PCDMIStakesthe
remaininghitsinDCC
mode:
1hiteachontheleft
andrightinsidesidesof
slot3
1hiteachontheleft
andrightinsidesidesof
slot4.

Aftercalibration,theProbe
Changerdialogboxappears.
SelecttheMountPoint
tab.
Confirmthewristangle
forthechangecycleby
typingintheangleinthe
ProbeHeadWrist
AngleAAngleandB
Angleboxes.
Specifytherack'ssafe
position(aposition
whereprobescanbe
swappedinandout
safely)inmachine
coordinates.Youcan
typethismanuallyinto
theMachinePosition
X,Y,andZboxesor
clicktheReadMachine
button.
ClicktheSlotstab.
Definethecontentsof
eachslotintherackby
expandingtheplussign
(+)foreachslotand
thendoubleclickingthe
(noprobe)item.

Alistofavailableprobes
appears.
Selecttheprobefileto
addtothecurrentslot.
Ifneeded,adjusttheslot
position.Selectthe
slot'sposition,andclick
theEditSlotData
button.
TheProbeChangerSlotData
dialogboxappears.
ModifytheX,Y,Z
positionoftheslot.
ClickOKtoclosethe
ProbeChangerSlot
Datadialogbox.
ClickOKtoclosethe
ProbeChangerdialog
box.
MountPoint
ProbeChangerdialogboxMountPointtab
TheMountPointtaballowsyoutochangethevaluesfortheABwristangleaswellasdefinea
safepositionthattheCMMcanmovetobeforeeachchangecycle.
YoucandothisforasmanyprobechangersasdefinedusingtheTypetab.Selecttheprobe
changerfromtheActiveProbeChangerlistandtypethedesiredABanglesandCMMposition.

ActiveProbeChanger
FromtheActiveProbeChangerlistyoucanselecttheprobechangerforwhichyouwantto
defineABwristanglesandaCMMposition.
See"ActiveProbeChanger"undertheTypetabforinformationonthislist.
ProbeHeadWristAngle
TheAAngleandBAngleboxesindicatethepositionoftheprobeheadwhileslidingtheprobe
configurationsinplace.Inmostcasestheangleshouldindicateastraightdownposition.When
calibratingslotsholdingextensions,theABangleboxesshouldbedefinedpriortocalibration.If
youtrytochangetheABangleaftertheslothasalreadybeencalibrated,awarningwillappear
informingyouthatrecalibrationwillbeneeded.
TochangetheABanglesfromthestraightdownposition:
1. PlacethecursorintheAAngleboxortheBAnglebox.
2. Typethedesiredangle.
CMMPosition
TheCMMPositionareaofthisdialogboxallowsyoutoindicateasafelocationtowhichtheCMM
canmovepriortoeachchangecycle.Usually,thissafelocationisapproximatelytwoinches
aboveandinfrontoftheprobechangerrack.However,youmayfinditnecessarytomoveto
someotherlocationdependingonthetypeofprobechanger.
TochangethevaluesfortheCMMPosition:
1. SelectthepreviousvalueoftheX,Y,orZboxyouwanttochange.
2. TypethecorrectvaluefortheappropriateboxesorusetheReadCMMbuttonto
insertthecurrentlocationoftheCMM.
Slots
ProbeChangerdialogboxSlotstab

Theprobechangerisarackthatprovidesslotsfordifferentprobeconfigurations.TheSlotstab
allowsyoutodefinetheprobeconfigurationforeachslotthatwillbeused.Thedefaultforeach
slotis"noprobe".Youcandefinetheprobeconfigurationforeachslotoftheselectedprobe
changer.
ToDefinetheProbeConfigurationforEachSlot
1. SelecttheappropriateprobechangerfromtheActiveProbeChangerlist.
2. Clicktheplussign(+)totheleftoftheslotnumber.You'llnoticethatPCDMIS
displaysa"noprobe"itemasthedefault.
3. Doubleclickorrightclickonthe"noprobe"item.Alistwillappear.
4. Assigntheappropriateprobefileorextensiontoeachslot.
5. Selecttheslotnumber,andthenclicktheEditSlotDatabutton.TheProbe
ChangerSlotDatadialogboxappears.See"ToManuallyEditaSlot'sData".
6. FromtheSlotTypelist,specifywhattypeofhardwaretheslotwillhold.Select
eitherProbeAttachedifitwillholdaprobeorExtensionOnlyifyouonlywantitto
holdaprobeextension.Iftheslotisempty,youwouldselectUndefined.Onsome
probechangersyoucanselectspecificinsertsfromthislist.
7. DefinetheXYZlocationfortheslot.ClickOKtoacceptyourchanges.
8. EachprobeconfigurationmustbeloadedintotherackusingtheCMMArmand
LoadActiveProbeoption.(Donotinserttheprobeintotherackbyhand.)
Note:Extensionsarenotmanufacturedwithinthenecessarytolerancestobeinterchangeable
withoutrecalibration.Therefore,ifyouhavealreadyconfiguredaslotforaspecificextension,and
youwantthatslottoholdadifferentextension(evenanextensionofthesamesize),youwill
needtorecalibratetheslotforthenewextension.
ToManuallyEditaSlot'sData
1. SelecttheappropriateslotfromtheActiveProbeChangerlist.
2. ClicktheEditSlotDatabutton.TheProbeChangerSlotDatadialogbox
appears.Youcanusethisdialogboxtochangeaslot'stypeorXYZlocation.
ProbeChangerSlotDatadialogbox
3. Ifavailable,selectthedesiredtypefromtheSlotTypelist.Thislistbecomes
availablewhenusingasupportedprobechanger.Probechangersthatsupportthis
listincludetheFCR25(usedwiththeSP25probe),theTESASTARR,andthe
Autochange(ACR1).Youcanusethislisttoconfigureeachslotinoneoftheseways.
Itcanbeopenforamodulechange.
Itcanhaveaninsertforholdingscanningprobestyli.
Itcanhaveaninsertforswitchingprobestyli.

ItcanholdaProbeExtensionModule(PEM)forquickconnectjoints.
TheitemsintheSlotTypelistdisplaymodelnumbersfortheslotinserts,etc.Forin
depthinformationonusingyourspecificprobechangerandonsettingupandusing
slotinserts,consultyourhardwaredocumentation.
4. Specifythatslot'slocationbytypingtheX,Y,andZvalues(inmillimeters)into
theX,Y,andZboxes.
5. ClickOK.PCDMISclosesthedialogboxandshowstheXYZvaluesforthatslot
intheProbeChangerdialogbox,andnexttotheslotitshows"changespending".
6. Ifyouwanttorevertaslottoitspreviousvalue,youcanselectthatslot,clickthe
EditSlotData,andthenclicktheRestoreXYZorRestoreTypebuttoninsidethe
ProbeChangerSlotDatadialogboxasapplicable.Thesebuttonsareonlyavailable
forselectionifyouhaven'talreadyclickedOKorApplyontheProbeChanger
dialogbox.
7. Ifyou'rereadytoacceptyourchanges,clickeithertheOKorApplybuttononthe
ProbeChangerdialogbox.
ToChangeaDefinedProbeBacktothenoprobeDefault
2. Doubleclickontheslottochange.Alistappears.
3. Select"noprobe"fromtheavailablelist.
ToAddorRemoveSlotsfromtheDialogBox
Withsometypesofprobechangersyoucandefinethenumberofslots.
2. ChangethevalueintheNumberofSlotsbox.
3. ClicktheApplybuttontoimmediatelyseethechanges.
IfyourprobechangerdoesnotallowforachangingamountofslotsthentheNumberofSlotsbox
willbedisabled.
ToDropoffaProbewithoutPickingupaNewProbe
Youmaywanttodropoffthecurrentprobeintotheprobechangerwithoutpickingupanew
probefromthechanger.
Todothis:
1. CreateadummyprobefileintheProbeUtilitiesdialogboxforaprobethat
doesn'texist.Nameitsomethinglike"unload".Seethe"DefiningProbes"topicinthe
"DefiningHardware"chapter.
2. ClicktheSetupbutton.TheProbeSetupdialogboxappears.
3. SelectthisprobefilefromtheProbeFileUsedwithProbeChangertoForce
UnloadOnlylist.
4. ClickOKtoclosetheProbeSetupdialogbox.
5. AccesstheSlotstabintheProbeChangerdialogboxandensurethatthe
probeisNOTassignedtoanyslotintheprobechanger.
6. ClickOKtoclosetheProbeChangerdialogbox.

ManagingMultipleProbeChangers
ManagingMultipleProbeChangers
Thetopicsbelowdiscussthemorepopularprobingsystemsusedtoday(theTP2,ACR1,TP20
andTP200,andtheSP600).The"ConfiguringMultipleRacks"and"SP25Probe/StylusChange
system"topicsthenprovidedetailedexamplesofhowtoworkwithmultipleprobechangers.
BackgroundonTP2
WhenRenishawdevelopedthesmalltouchtriggerprobe(TP2),itattachedtotheCMMramviaa
probeheadwithathreadedM8connectioninlinewiththeprobebodyitself.However,thisdesign
requiredaproberecalibrationwheneveritwasremovedorreattached.
Toalleviatethisneedtorecalibrate,Renishawdevelopedaquickconnectadapter(termed
QuickConnect)whichusedaturnofakeytolockandunlocktheadapterfromtheCMM.The
TP2screwedintothisadapter.Thisadaptercouldbedetachedandreattachedveryquicklyand
repeatablywithoutthenecessityofalwaysrecalibrating.
BackgroundonACR1
TheACR1wasthefirstprobechangerintroducedbyRenishaw.Ithelduptoeightofthequick
connectextensions,eachwithaseparateTP2probebody.Oncethecollectionofprobeswere
qualifiedandplacedintotherack,theycouldbeautomaticallydroppedoffandpickedupbythe
CMMwithsimplemovecommandsandcoordinatedwiththelocking/unlockingmechanismsof
therack.Asoftwaremodulewaseventuallydevelopedwhichcontrolledtherackoperations.
BackgroundonTP20andTP200
Overtime,designevolutionandelectronicdevelopmentspavedthewayforalternativestothe
TP2probebody.Inaddition,forsomecustomers,purchasinguptoeightprobebodiesproved
prohibitive.Newprobebodydesignsweredevelopedwhichallowedforremovalandattachment
ofnewstylusadapters.Thesetooktheplaceofthequickconnectjoints.Individualstylus
assembliescouldthenberemovedandreattachedrepeatedlyandinexpensively.
TwoofthebetterknownprobetypesofthisdesignfromRenishawincludetheTP20andthe
TP200.EachisroughlyequivalenttotheTP2insizeandshape,buttherearetwomain
differences:
Duetotheirenhancedelectronics,theycanholdmoreweightandstillproduce
moreaccurateandrepeatableresults.
Theyaredesignedwithamagneticsplitbetweentheupperprobebodyandthe
lowerstylusholder.Thisallowsthemtobeusedwiththeirownstyluschangerack
systems,theMCR20andtheSCR200respectively.

BackgroundontheSP600AnalogProbe
AnotherimprovementisthepopularSP600analogprobe.Thisprobecanperformanalogscans
aswellastouchtriggermeasurements.WhileitsbodydesignismuchlargerthantheTPseriesof
probes,amagneticstylusholdercanseparatefromthebody.Accordingly,italsohasitsownrack
system,theSCR600tipchanger.
ConfiguringMultipleRacks
Whilethereareotherprobingsystemsonthemarket,thefourmostpopularprobingsystems,as
discussed,aretheTP2,TP20,TP200,andSP600systems.Eachhasitsownracksystemwhich
canfunctiononitsownasasinglerack.Alternately,youcanusemorethanonerackwitha
CMM,andthePCDMISsoftwarehastheabilitytomovebetweentherackstodropoffandpick
upprobesandstylusholdersasneeded.
ImportantNotes:
EachrackhasitsowncalibrationmethodinPCDMIS.Whiletheysharealotof
commonality,forcalibrationpurposes,theyarecompletelyindependentofeach
other.
Theclearancemovepointforeachrackisonlyrelatedtothatrack,exceptthat
someconsiderationmustbegiventowheretowilltravelnext.Forthisreason,the
clearancemoveshouldbeatsuchalocationtoallowfreetraveltoanyotherrack
whichmaybeinvolved.Evenwhenusingasinglerack,thisclearancemovemustbe
sufficienttotravelfromandreturntothepartinspectionoperations.
Definingtheslotscontentsformultipleracksisthemostcriticalpartof
configuringmultipleracksforsimultaneoususe.Sinceeachslotmaycontainmultiple
probereferences(thecontentsoftheslotcanbeusedwithmultipleprobes)eachslot
mustidentifyalloftheprobesitwillpotentiallyuse.
ExampleofMultipleProbeReferences
Supposeyouhavethesethreeprobesconfigurations:
PROBE_01 PROBE_02 PROBE_03

QuickConnectAutoJoint QuickConnect QuickConnectAutoJoint
AutoJoint
TP2 TP20 TP20
3mmx10mmstylus 2mmx10mmstylus 4mmx20mmstylus
TheACR1willswitchbetweentheTP2andtheTP20probes.TheMCR20willswitchbetween
thestyliassociatedwiththeTP20probesystem(s).
Atypicalslotdefinitionmightlooklikethis:
ACR1 MCR20

Slot1 Slot2 Slot1 Slot2
Probe_01 Probe_02 Probe_02 Probe_03

Probe_03
Inoperation,supposethesystemisusingPROBE_01anditneedstoswitchtoPROBE_02.The
systemwould:
Pausethemeasurementprogram.
TraveltotheclearancelocationfortheACR1.
Returnthecurrentlyloadedprobetoslot#1oftheACR1.
Movetoslot#2oftheACR1andpickuptheTP20bodyforPROBE_02.
UsetherespectiveSafety/ClearancepointsandmovetotheMCR20.
Moveintoslot#1oftheMCR20toattachthestylusadapterwiththedesired
stylus.
ReturntotheMCR20sClearancepoint.
Continuewiththemeasurementprogram.
Supposeaftermeasuringsomefeatures,thesystemthenneedstousePROBE_03.Thesystem
would:
Pausethemeasurementprocess.
TraveltotheclearancelocationfortheMCR20.
Moveintoslot#1todropoffPROBE_02sstylus.
Travelout,over,andintoslot#3topickupthestylusrequiredforPROBE_03.
Traveltotheclearancelocation.
Continuewiththemeasurementprogram.
Now,supposethesystemneedstoswitchfromPROBE_03(theTP20withthe4mmx20mm
stylus)backtoProbe_01(theTP2withthe3mmx10mmstylus).Thesystemwould:
Pausethemeasurementprogram.
MovetotheclearancepointfortheMCR20.
Gointoslot#2anddropoffthestylusassembly.
ReturntotheMCR20sclearancelocation
MovetotheACR1sclearancelocation.
Gointoslot#2todropofftheTP20assembly.
Moveoutandreturntoslot#1topickuptheTP2assembly(theTP2probe
alreadyhasthestylusattached).
MovetotheclearancepointfortheACR1.
Continuethemeasurementprogram.
Notethatinthisexample,youonlyneedoneTP20probebody.YouusetheMCR20toswitch
betweentwodifferentprobestylusassembliesforvariedmeasurementrequirements.
SP25Probe/StylusChangesystem
TheSP25rackisanextensionofthesameproceduresusedinotherracks.Thisdiscussion
coverstheARC1andTP20racksandthenbranchesouttodescribetheSP25racksystem.

UnderstandingtheARC1Rack
WhenusingtheACR1,thesystemusestheQuickenedjointbetweentheprobeheadandthe
probebody.AlloftheslotsintheACR1areidentical,soifyouhadanSP600inslot1,itwould
connectdirectlytotheprobehead.IfyouwantedtoputaTP2intoslot2,youwouldneedto
mountanadaptertotheTP2(aswithTP20andTP200probingsystems).
Withthisconfigurationinmind,youonlyneedtodefineoneprobenameforeachslot.
Technically,theACR1isaprobechanger,andeachprobewouldhaveastylusalreadyattached
toitwhenitsitsintherack.
SupposeyouwanttoassigntheseprobestotheARC1rack:"SP600","TP2","TP20",and
"TP200".TheslotdefinitionsintheARC1rackwouldbe:
SLOT1 SLOT2 SLOT3 SLOT4

SP600 TP2 TP20 TP200
UnderstandingtheARC1withaTP20StylusChanger
Now,ifyouwanttocombinetheACR1withaTP20rack(astyluschanger),thingsgetslightly
morecomplicated.TheACR1willswitchbetweentheSP600andtheTP20probebodies.Once
thesystempicksuptheTP20,itwillgototheMCR20racktopickupanappropriatestylusforit.
Supposeyouhave3separatestylithatyouwantedtousewiththeTP20andthattheSP600is
usedasasingleprobe(nostyluschanging).
Whenyoudefinetheslots,youmightcalltheSP600probe"SP600_1",andtheTP20probeswith
thevariedstyliattached,youmightcall"TP20_1","TP20_2",and"TP20_3".
TheslotsintheACR1probechangerwouldbedefinedas:

SP600 TP2 TP20_1 TP200
TP20_2
TP20_3
TheslotsintheTP20styluschangerwouldbedefinedas:

TP20_1 TP20_2 TP20_3 empty
UnderstandingtheSP25RackSystem
YoucanextendthelogicfromtheabovetopicstotheSP25racksystem.Thisrackcanholdtwo
differenttypesofprobecomponents.Foronetypetheslotiscalibratedempty,andfortheother
typeaslotiscalibratedwithaninsert.

ThisdiscussionwillabandonthepreviousreferencestoSP600,TP2,TP20,andTP200sincethe
SP25racksystemusesthesecomponentsinstead:
q SP25M
q SM25x
q SH25x
TheSP25MsystemcanadapttoanyofthreedifferentSM25modulesforvariedstyli
lengths/weights,anda4th moduleforusewiththeTP20.TheyallusethesameSP25Mprobe
body.
1. SM251ModuleThismodulecanonlyaccepttheSH251stylusholder,andis
usedforstylilengthsbetween20mmand50mm.
usedforstylilengthsbetween50mmand105mm.
usedforstylilengthsbetween120mmand200mm.AnyoftheseSM25xmodules
arecapableoftouchtriggerprobingaswellasscanning.
4. TM2520ModuleThismodulecanonlyaccepttheTP20stylusholder,andis
onlyusedfortouchtriggerprobing.
ExampleofSP25withMultipleProbes
SupposeyourSP25rackhasthesesixprobeassembliesthatarealways
attachedtotheprobehead:
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6
SP25M SP25M SP25M SP25M SP25M SP25M
SM251 SM251 SM252 SM253 TM2520 TM2520
SH251 SH251 SH252 SH253 TP20 TP20
2mmby20mm 4mmby30mm 6mmby80mm 8mmby 2mmby20mm 4mmby20mm
stylus stylus stylus 100mmstylus stylus stylus
YouwoulddefinetheslotsintheFCR25racktoholdcomponentsmakingupthe
variousprobeconfigurations.Thisfirsttableshowstheslotsthathold
componentsfortheaboveprobeconfigurations.
SLOT1 SLOT2 SLOT3 SLOT4 SLOT5 SLOT6

P1 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5*
P2
Indetail,theslotswouldholdthesecomponents:
SLOT1 SLOT2 SLOT3 SLOT4 SLOT5 SLOT6

SM251 SH251 SH251 SH252 SM353 TM2520
2mmby20mm 4mmby20mm6mmby80mm SH253 TP20*
stylus stylus stylus
8mmby100 2mmby 20mm

mmstylus stylus*
Slot1containstheSM251moduleonly.Itusesnoinsertforthis.Thiscomponentattaches
directlytotheSP25andrequirestheadditionoftheSH251withthe2mmstylusfoundinSlot2
ortheSH251withthe4mmstylusfoundinslot3.
Slot2containstheSH251stylusholderwithanattached2mmby20mmstylus.Thisrequiresan
insertintheslottoadaptthephysicalcharacteristicsoftheslotforthiscomponent.This
componentrequiresanSM251module(foundinslot1).OnceitpicksuptheSM251,theprobe
assemblyiscomplete.
Slot3containstheSH251stylusholderwithanattached4mmby30mmstylus.Thisrequiresan
insertintheslottoadaptthephysicalcharacteristicsoftheslotforthiscomponent.This
componentrequiresanSM251module(foundinslot1)OnceitpicksuptheSM251,theprobe
assemblyiscomplete.
Slot4containstheSH252stylusholderandanattached6mmby80mmstylus. Itusesnoinsert
forthis.Oncethisispickedup,theprobeassemblyiscomplete.
Slot5containstheSM253withtheSH253stylusholderandanattached8mmby100mm
stylus. Itusesnoinsertforthis.Oncethisispickedup,theprobeassemblyiscomplete.
Slot6containstheTM2520moduleonly.Itusesnoinsertforthis.Thiscomponentattaches
directlytotheSP25M.
*Whenusedwithasinglestylus,theTP20probemoduleandstyluscanbeattachedto
theTM2520modulewhileintheslot,andrequiresnoadditionalracksystem.Butwhen
usedwithmultiplestyli(asinthisexample),theTM2520modulehasnoother
componentsattachedwhileitsitsintheslot,butrequirestheuseofadditionalFCR25slots
withadaptersspecificallyforthepurposeofholdingtheTP20module/styluscombinations.
Forthisexample,theadded3portswouldlooklikethis:
SLOT7 SLOT8 SLOT9

P5 P6 empty
SLOT7 SLOT8 SLOT9

TP20 TP20 empty
2mmby20mm 4mmby20mm
stylus stylus
WhenusingP1,theCMMwoulddropoffanyexistingcomponents.Thenitwouldpickupthe
SM251foundinslot1oftheFCR25andproceedtopickuptheSH251foundinslot2ofthe
samerack.
SM251foundinslot1oftheFCR25andproceedtopickuptheSH251foundinslot3ofthe
samerack.

SM252andSH252combinationfoundinslot4.Withthis,theprobeassemblyiscomplete.
SM253andSH253combinationfoundinslot5.Withthis,theprobeassemblyiscomplete.
WhenusingP5,theCMMwoulddropoffanyexistingcomponents.Itwouldthenpickupthe
TM2520bodyinslot6oftheFCR25andproceedtopickuptheTP20module/styluscombination
inslot7oftheFCR25.
WhenusingP6,theCMMwoulddropoffanyexistingcomponents.Itwouldthenpickupthe
TM2520bodyinslot6oftheFCR25andproceedtopickuptheTP20module/styluscombination
inslot8oftheFCR25.
Aswithothertoolchangersandprobeassemblies,componentsaredroppedoffinreverseorder
fromhowtheyarepickedup.
LoadingtheActiveProbe
TheOperation|LoadActiveProbe menuoptionloadstheactiveproberequiredbythepart
program.WhileinLearnmode,usetheProbeUtilitydialogbox(Insert|HardwareDefinition|
Probe)tochangetheloadedprobefile(s).TheProbeChangerSetupdialogbox(Edit|
Preferences|ProbeChanger)allowsyoutodefinetheappropriateprobeconfigurationsfor
eachslotthatwillbeused.TheLoadActiveProbeoptioncanthenbeusedtotellthemachine
toexchangethenecessaryprobeconfiguration(s).
SettingUptheMachineInterface
Thisoptionisonlyavailable TheEdit|Preferences|MachineInterfaceSetupmenuoption
whenworkinginOnline invokestheMachineOptionsdialogboxforthespecificmachine
mode. interfacebeingused.Whilethecontentoftheinterfacetabsonthe
dialogboxcanvarygreatlyfromoneinterfacetothenext,thetabs
usuallycontaininformationdiscussingthesetupofthefollowing:
Machineandprobeheadcommunication
Mechanicaloffsets
Axesorientation
Debuginformation
TheMachineInterfaceSetupoptionisonlyavailablewhenworkingonline.
Caution:Inmostcasesyoushouldn'tchangeanyofthevaluesinthisdialogbox.Someitemsin
thisdialogbox,suchastheMechanicalOffsetsarea,permanentlyoverwritevaluesstoredfor
yourmachineonthecontroller'sharddrive.ForquestionsonhowandwhentousetheMachine
Optionsdialogbox,youshouldcontactyourlocalservicerepresentative:
TheparametersfoundintheMachineOptionsdialogboxarediscussedforthefollowing
machineinterfaces:
Axila LKDriver Reflex

Backtalk(B&S)* LKRS232 Renishaw

Bright Manmiti Romer
Dea Manmora Sharpe
Elm Metrocom/Metromec Sheffield
Embboard(B&S)* Metrolog Tech80
Faro Mitutoyo Theodole
Federal Mora Wenzel
GOM MZeizz Zeiss
Johansson Numerex ZssGPIB
Leica Omnitech
Leitz
*B&S=Brown&Sharpe
Formorecompleteinformationonhowtoinstall/setupthevariousinterfaces,refertoyour
installationdocumentation(Machine_Interface_Installation_Manual.doc).
RestoringFactorySettingsfromtheController
FormachinesusingaLeitzinterface,ifyou'vesavedoveryourCMM'soriginalfactorysettingsby
clickingaDefaultbuttonononeofthetabsontheParameterSettingsdialogbox(Edit|
Preferences|Parameters),youcanstillrestorethembyfollowingthisprocedure:
1. AccesstheMachineOptionsdialogbox(Edit|Preferences|Machine
InterfaceSetup).
2. Fromthefirsttabyousee,selecttheReadMachineDefaultsonStartupcheck
box.ThistellsPCDMIStoquerytheCMM'scontrollerfortheCMMdefaultsthenext
timeyoustartPCDMIS.
3. ClickOKtoclosethedialogbox.
ThenexttimeyourunPCDMIS,itwillreplacethevaluesstoredinthePCDMISSettingsEditor
withtheCMM'soriginalfactoryvaluesstoredinthecontroller.
Note:Thisproceduredoesnotrestoreoriginalfactoryvaluesifyouhaveoverwrittenthemonthe
controller'sharddrive.
AssigningtheMachineAxes

MachineOptionsdialogboxAxistab
TheAxistabcontainslistsfortheX,Y,andZaxes.Selectfromthesedropdownlists,thenative
machineaxesthatwillbeassignedtothePCDMISaxes.
ItemsinthedropdownlistsontherightrepresenttheMachine'saxes.Thesearethenassigned
tothePCDMISaxesontheleft.
WARNING:theaxisdirectionsyoudefineMUSTformarighthandedcoordinatesystem.
Caution:ChangingthedefaultsontheAxistabcaninvalidatethemachine'svolumetric
compensation(dependingonthetypeofcontrollerandthevolumetriccompensationused)
GeneratingaDebugFile
PCDMIShastheabilitytogenerateaspecialtextfilethatcontainsallthecommunicationthat
takesplacebetweenPCDMISandtheCMMduringpartprogramexecution.Thisfileiscalledthe
debugfileandisusedbytechnicalsupporttoresolvecertainproblemsinvolvingtheCMM.
ThedebugfilelistsallthecommandsPCDMISsendstotheCMM,responsesreceived,anderror
messagesgeneratedbythecontroller.
IfyouencounterrepeatableproblemsthatinvolvethemovementofyourCMMinonlinemode,
youcangenerateadebugfilebyfollowingthisprocedure:
1. FromtheMachineOptionsdialogbox(Edit|Preferences|MachineInterface
Setup),selecttheDebugtab.

MachineOptionsdialogboxDebugtab
2. SelecttheLogcheckbox.
3. ChooseanameforthedebugfilenameintheboxnexttotheLogcheckbox.
Thedefaultfilenameisdebug.txt.Ifdesired,youcanalsoprecedethefilenamewitha
fullpathwaytospecifythedriveanddirectorywherePCDMISshouldsendthe
debugfile.BydefaultPCDMISwritesthedebugfiletothedirectorywhereyou
installedPCDMIS.
4. ClickApplyandthenOK.Thedialogboxcloses.
5. Executeyourpartprogramandwhenyouencountertheerror,immediatelyexit
PCDMIS.
6. Navigatetothedirectorycontainingyourdebugfileandrenamethedebugfile.If
youdon'trenamethedebugfile,thenexttimeyoustartPCDMISitwillautomatically
overwriteallexistingdatastoredinthedebugfile.
Youshouldthensendthedebugfile,thepartprogramfile(.prg),theprobefile(.prb),alongwith
anyotherneededfilestoyourtechnicalsupportrepresentative.
StartingaFreshDebugFile
Tostartafreshdebugfileandclearoutallexistingdata,selecttheResetLogatStartof
ExecutioncheckboxfromtheDebugtab.PCDMISwillthenreplacethecontentsoftheexisting
debugfileeachtimeitbeginspartprogramexecution.
IfyoudeselectResetLogatStartofExecution,PCDMISappendstotheexistinglogfile
insteadoferasingitscontents.
SettingAdditionalDebugOptions

Youcancontrolwhattypeofdebuginformationisloggedandwhereitissent.
ClicktheWindowcheckboxandprovideanameforthewindowintheboxtotheright.
Debuginformationwillbedisplayedinthatwindowforreview.
SpecifyNone,Both,LogorWindownexttoPositionReportstologpositionreports
fromPCDMIS.
SpecifyNone,Both,LogorWindownexttoFromMachinetologdebuginformation
thatissentfromyourmachinetoyourcomputer.Notallinterfacessupportthisoption.
SpecifyNone,Both,LogorWindownexttoFromCPUtologdebuginformationthatis
sentfromyourcomputertoyourmachine.Notallinterfacessupportthisoption.
OITCommunication
MachineOptionsdialogboxOittab
TheOittaballowsyoutoconfiguretheserialconnectionthatconnectstoyourOITdevice.You
canchooseyourcommunicationsport(COMport)andmodifyyourCOMportsettings.For
informationonyourCOMportsettings,checkthedocumentationthatcamewithyourcontroller.
TheavailableOITtypesareTESA,VORNE,orGE.
PH9Communication

MachineOptionsdialogboxPH9tab
ThePH9taballowsyoutoconfiguretheserialconnectionthatconnectstoyourPH9device.You
canchooseyourcommunicationsport(COMport)andmodifyyourCOMportsettings.For
informationonyourCOMportsettings,checkthedocumentationthatcamewithyourcontroller.
RotaryTableSettings
MachineOptionsdialogboxRotarytab
TheRotarytaballowsyoutoconfigurerotarytableoptionsforyourinterface.
AccelerationThisisthemaximumaccelerationfortherotarytable.Normallythisvalueis
readfromthecontrollerconfiguration.
VelocityThisisthemaximumspeedfortherotarytable.Normallythisvalueisreadfrom
thecontroller.
ResolutionThisspecifiesthescalefactorfortherotarytable.

OffsetThehomepositionforyourrotarytablemaynotbeatthezeroposition.Ifyouwant
thetabletogotothetruezeropositionafterhomingthenthisvalueistheanglethatyouwant
thetabletorotatetoafterhoming.ThesecondboxnexttoOffsetisforasecondrotarytable.
Min.deltaThisistheminimumdifferencebetweenthecurrenttablepositionandnewly
requestedtableposition.Ifthedifferenceisbelowthisamountthetablerotationrequestwill
beignored.
TableSelectthisoptionifyourmachinehasarotarytable.
DualTableSelectthisoptionifyourmachinehasdualrotarytables.
Note:Remember,theportlockmustbeprogrammedforrotarytable.
SettingtheCommunicationProtocol
MachineOptionsdialogboxControllertab
TheCommorControllertaballowsyoutoconfiguretheserialconnectionthatconnectstoyour
Interface'scontroller.Youcanchooseyourcommunicationsport(COMport)andmodifyyour
COMportsettings.ForinformationonyourCOMportsettings,checkthedocumentationthat
camewithyourcontroller.
SettingtheAxesScaleFactor

MachineOptionsdialogboxResolutiontab
TheResolutiontaballowsyoutospecifythescalefactorfortheeachaxisofyourmachine.The
scalefactorisusedfortworeasons:
Somecontrollersdonotreturnscalesasrealnumbers(e.g.637.24319876)butaswhole
numbers(e.g.63724319876).Inthiscase,thewholenumberreturnedfromthecontroller
wouldneedtobedividedbyscalefactorof1,000,000.0togetthecorrectrealnumber.
Thesevaluesmayalsobeusedtoperformasvolumetriccompensationforyourmachine.
Forexample,ifyouhaveasmalllinearerroryouwoulduseascalefactorof9,998
insteadof10,000.
Caution:Thesevaluesshouldonlybechangedbyatrainedtechnician.Alteringthesevalues
maygiveanundesiredresult.
WristConfiguration

MachineOptionsdialogboxWristtab
TheWristtaballowsyoutospecifythescalefactorfor theA&Baxesofyourwristdeviceinthe
A&BResolutionboxesrespectively.Thescalefactorisusedtoconvertvaluesfromyourwrist
devicetoconsistentvalueinPCDMIS.
TheAandBOffsetvaluesareusedtosquareupthehomepositionofyourcontinuousmotion
wrist.
TheMaxSpeedboxprovidesthemaximumallowablespeed(percent)formovementofyour
continuousmotionwrist.
AxilaInterface
Documentationforthisexistsinthedocumentation.
BacktalkInterface
TheBacktalkinterfaceisusedwithBrown&SharpemanualmachineswithaMan3(External
SerialInterface).Ifyourmachinehasalightpen,youwillneedtoalterthecontrollersettings
undertheMM2ControlintheSettingsEditor.Forinformationonmodifyingregistryentries,
pleaseviewthe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendix.
AmonitorneedstobehookedtoyourcontrollertoconfigureyourBacktalkcontroller.Before
startingPCDMIS,renamethebacktalk.dlltointerfac.dll.

Note:IfthecustomerhasaMan3boxandisusingtheZrailmouse,alightpenisneededto
disabletheZrailmouse.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfourtabsfortheBacktalkinterface:
Controllertab
Seethe"SettingtheCommunicationProtocol"topic.DefaultvalueisCommPort1,4800Baud,
Evenparity,7databits,and1stopbit.
Axistab
Seethe"AssigningtheMachineAxes"topic.
Resolutiontab
Seethe"SettingtheAxesScaleFactor"topic.DefaultisX=1.0,Y=1.0,Z=1.0.
Debugtab
Seethe"GeneratingaDebugFile"topic.
Note:AdditionalinformationforthisinterfaceisprovidedintheMachineInterfaceInstallation
Manual(MIIM).
BrightInterface
TheBrightinterfaceisusedwithMitutoyoEuroC(Bright)machines.Thisinterface
communicatestothecontrollerthroughaproprietarycarddevelopedbyMitutoyo.Ifthis
installationisusinganewPC,thenthecardmustberemovedfromtheoriginalmachineandput
inthenewone.IfthecustomerneedstobeabletostillusetheiroldsoftwaretogetherwithPC
DMIS,theybothmustbeinstalledonthesamemachine.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethebright.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhastwotabsfortheBrightinterface:
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
LeicaInterface
DeaInterface

TheDeainterfaceisusedwithDEAGAMMAandnewerDEAmachines(withTutorP&B3P
Seriescontrollers),ManualMistralmachines(withMInsideCardcontroller)andSwiftManual
machines(with"WhiteBox"(AKACPM3)controllers).
IfyourPChasTutorforWindowsalreadyinstalled,PCDMISwilllocatetheWTUTOR.INIfileand
extracttherelevantinformationregardinglocationofthecompensationmap,mechanicaloffsets,
etc.andsetthecorrespondingoptionsintheregistry.Ifyouareinstallingonacomputerthatdoes
nothaveTutorinstalledthenyouwillneedtomaketherelevantchangestotheregistry.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethedea.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasseventabsfortheDeainterface:
Deatab
Seethe"UsingtheDeatab"topic.
Controllertab
PH9tab
Seethe"PH9Communication"topic.DefaultvalueisCommPort2,4800Baud,Noparity,8data
bits,and1stopbit.
Wristtab
Seethe""WristConfigurationtopic.Defaultvaluesare:AResolution=3600,BResolution=
3600,AOffset0.0,BOffset0.0,andMaxSpeed=100.
Axistab
Resolutiontab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
UsingtheDeatab

MachineOptionsdialogboxDeatab
TheDeataballowsyoutoconfigurethefollowingsettingsthatarespecifictotheDEAinterface:
BufferSizeThenumberofmovesthatcanbesenttothecontrollerbufferatonetime.
Somemachineswillgiveerrorsifwesendtoomanymovesinadvancesoreducingthiswill
help.Decreasingthisvaluewillhoweverreducethesystemperformance,ifforexamplewe
setitto1thenwewillonlysendthenextmovecommandwhenthemachinehasfinishedthe
previousone,thiswillcausethemachinetopausebetweenmovesaseachcommandis
sent.
XYZMechanicalOffsetThesevaluesallowyoutoestablishthemechanicaloffsetforyour
machine.Thisshouldonlybeadjustedbyatrainedtechnician.
ButtonAssignmentsYoucanspecifytohavetheRecordbuttoneitherErasetheLastHit
oractastheend/donekey.
PollControllerCommport Whenthischeckboxisenabled,PCDMISwillperiodicallypoll
theserialporttopreventlossofcommunication.Onlyselectthisoptionifyoususpect
communicationproblems.
DisengageDrivesThischeckboxshouldbeselectedforDCCmachineswhichhavedrives
thatcanbedisengagedthataregoingtobeusedmanually.
CompensationTypeSelectfromthefollowingVolcompmethods:NONE,DEAStandard,
DEADLL(wcompens32),ASI,orBrown&Sharpe.
CompensationModeSelectfromthefollowingcompensationmodes:StandardMachine,
DualDrive,HorizontalArm(Arm1),orHorizontalArm(Arm2).

UseDEAStructuralThermalCompensationOCXSelectthisoptiontouseDEA
StructuralThermalCompensationOCX.
OCXPathSpecifiesthepathfortheDEAStructuralThermalCompensationOCXfile.
MachineTypeSpecifythetypeofmachine:ArmorRobot
ElmInterface
TheElminterfaceisusedwithanElmorStarrettinterfacemachines.Thisinterface
communicateswithaboardinthePCmanufacturedbyAPI(AutomatedPrecision,Inc).Alldirect
communicationtothecontrollerisperformedthroughthisboard.ThePCDMISinterfac.dll
communicateswiththeAPIdll(dccsim32.dll)thatmustbeinthePCDMISdirectory.
Theelmsetup.exesetupprogramcanconfigurethemachineparametersthatPCDMISuses.
ThisfileislocatedontheWilcoxftpsiteinelmsetup.zipfilethatalsocontainsthedataand
resourcefilesrequiredbythesetuputility.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheelm.dlltointerfac.dll.
Note:OnStarrettmachinestheAPI.INIfilecanbeusedforconfiguration.Justaddaqualifiedfile
nametotheINIentryINI_Filename.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhastwotabsfortheElminterface:
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
EmbboardInterface
TheEmbboardinterfaceisusedwithBrown&Sharpemanualmachineswithaninternal
embeddedcontrollercard.ThisisafulllengthcardlocatedinyourPCwiththeaddresssetto
300h.Youmustensurethatthisaddressisnotusedbyanotherboardinthesystem(some
networkcardsusethisaddress).
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheembboard.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasthreetabsfortheEmbboardinterface:
Axistab

Resolutiontab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
FaroInterface
FederalInterface
TheFederalinterfaceisusedwithFederal/Renaultmachines.Thisinterfacejustrequiresasingle
RS232commport.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethefederal.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasthreetabsfortheFederalinterface:
Commtab
Seethe"SettingtheCommunicationProtocol"topic.Default valueisCommPort1,9600Baud,
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
GOMInterface
DocumentationforthisexistsinthePortabledocumentation.
JohanssonInterface
TheJohanssoninterfaceisusedwithJohanssonmachines.ThisinterfacerequiresProto
softwarethatisinstalledaspartoftheJoWininstallation.WhenPCDMISstartsitwillalsostart
theProtosoftwareandterminateProtowhenyouexitPCDMIS.Protodetectsthecommunication
settingtocommunicatewiththecontroller.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethejohansson.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhastwotabsfortheJohanssoninterface:

Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
LeitzInterface
TheLeitzinterfaceisintendedforuseonanyofthecontrollersthatutilizetheLeitzprotocol.This
includesBrown&Sharpecontrollers(suchastheSharpe32ZinLeitzmode)aswellasactual
LeitzmachinesandalsotheBrown&SharpeCommonFirmwarecontrollers.Nomachine
parameterfileisneededfromtheoriginalsystemtorunthisinterface.
SomeofthenewercontrollersallowtheuseofTCP/IPcommunicationsasanalternativetoa
serialport.Thisinterfacesupportseithermethod.Examinationand/ormodificationofthe
controllercommunicationsconfigurationisgenerallyperformedusingtheserviceutilitiesforthe
machine.PCDMISshouldthenbeconfiguredtomatchhowthecontrollerisconfigured.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheleitz.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhaseighttabsfortheLeitzinterface:
LeitzProtocolSetuptab
Seethe"LeitzProtocolSetuptab"topic.
Controllertab
Noparity,8databits,and1stopbit.
Wristtab
Seethe"WristConfiguration"topic.Defaultvaluesare:AResolution=3600,BResolution=
3600,AOffset=0.0,BOffset=0.0,andMaxSpeed=100.
Rotarytab
Seethe"RotaryTableSettings"topic.Defaultvaluesare:Acceleration=0.0,Velocity=20,
Resolution=N/A,Offset=0.0,Mindelta=0.5,Table=Unchecked,andDualtable=N/A.
Oittab
Seethe"OITCommunication"topic.DefaultvalueisCommPort0,9600Baud,Noparity,8data
bits,and1stopbit.
Axistab
Seethe"SettingtheAxesScaleFactor"topic.
Paramstab
Seethe"LeitzParamstab"topic.

Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
LeitzProtocolSetuptab
MachineOptionsdialogboxLeitzProtocolSetuptab
TheDeataballowsyoutoconfigurethefollowingsettingsthatarespecifictotheDEAinterface:
ReadMachineDefaultsOnStartup Whenthischeckboxisenabled,PCDMISwillquery
theCMM'scontrollerfortheCMMdefaultsthenexttimeyoustartPCDMIS.Thenexttime
yourunPCDMIS,itwillreplacethevaluesstoredinthePCDMISSettingsEditorwiththe
CMM'soriginalfactoryvaluesstoredinthecontroller.Note:Thisproceduredoesnotrestore
originalfactoryvaluesifyouhaveoverwrittenthemonthecontroller'sharddrive.
UseTCPIPlinktodriveMachineSelectthisoptionifyouareusingTCP/IPtoconnectto
yourcontroller.
TCPIPAddressSpecifytheTCP/IPaddressforyourmachinecontroller
TCPIPPortNumberSpecifytheportnumberthatthecontrollerisconfiguredtolistento.
Typicallythiswillbeport2001.

TerminalbuttonClickingthiswillopenaterminalsessionwithyoucontrollerbasedonthe
TCPIPsettings.
DisengageDrivesThischeckboxshouldbeselectedforDCCmachineswhichhavedrives
thatcanbedisengagedthataregoingtobeusedmanually.
DEADLL(wcompens32),ASI,orBrown&Sharpe.
CompensationModeSelectfromthefollowingcompensationmodes:StandardMachine,
DualDrive,HorizontalArm(Arm1),orHorizontalArm(Arm2).
UseDEAStructuralThermalCompensationOCXSelectthisoptiontouseDEA
StructuralThermalCompensationOCX.
OCXPathSpecifiesthepathfortheDEAStructuralThermalCompensationOCXfile.
MachineTypeSpecifythetypeofmachine:ArmorRobot
LeitzParamstab
MachineOptionsdialogboxParamstab

MaxSpeedsThesevaluesarethemaximumspeedsfortheX,Y,andZaxes.Normally
thesevaluesarereadfromthecontroller.
MechanicalOffsetThesevaluesallowyoutoestablishthemechanicaloffsetsforyourXYZ
axesforyourmachine.Volcompisnormallyperformedinthecontrolleritselfwiththis
interface.Ifforanyreasonitwasconfiguredtorequireaprobereferencepointotherthan
0,0,0thevaluescanbeinputintheseoffsets.
MaxScanSpeedThisvaluesetsthemaximumallowedscanspeed.Thisisonlyusedfor
analogscanssuchasthatwithanSP600probeorWABopticalprobe.
LKDriverInterface
TheLKDriverinterfaceisusedwiththeLKmachineswithLK3000orLK2000controllers.The
commondriversoftwaremustbeobtaineddirectlyfromLK.Itmustbeinstalledandconfigured
priortoattemptingtoinstall/usethePCDMISinterfacethatutilizesit.ThecommondriverDLL
itselfisnamedsomethingsimilartoLKCMMDRV53.DLL,dependingontheversionnumberofthe
driver.TherearealsovariousotherDLLsthatLKprovideswiththedriverthatmustbepresent
forthedrivertoworkproperly.TheearliestversionthatcanbeusedwiththePCDMISinterface
isLKCMM21.DLL.Earlierversionsarenotcompatible.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethelkdriver.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasthreetabsfortheLKDriverinterface:
LKDrivertab
Seethe"LKDrivertab"topic.
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
LKDrivertab

MachineOptionsdialogboxLKDrivertab
TheLKDrivertaballowsyoutoalterLKDriverspecificparameters.
ReadoutInterval(mSec)Thisdeterminesthefrequencywithwhichthepositionreadouts
willbeupdatedwheninreadoutmode.Thevalueisanintegernumberofmilliseconds.The
defaultis500milliseconds(i.e.onehalfsecond).
LKDriverDLLThisidentifiesthenameofthecommondriverDLLfilethatPCDMISwill
use.ThismaychangewithtimeasLKreleasesnewerversionsofthedriver.
XYZMechanicalOffsetThesevaluesallowyoutoestablishthemechanicaloffsetsforyour
XYZaxesforyourmachine.YoucanonlyeditthesevalueswhentheVolcompMethodis
settoASI.
ManHitToleranceThisvalueisusedtohelpdistinguishbetweenarealmanualhitvs.
pressingthemanualprintbutton.Ifpressingthemanualprintbuttonisfrequently
misinterpretedasamanualhityoucantryincreasingthisvalue.Ifmanualhitsarefrequently
misinterpretedaspressingthemanualprintbutton(sameashittingtheENDkey)youcantry
decreasingthisvalue.NOTE:TousethemanualprintbuttonastheENDkeytheCMMmust
notbeinmotionwhenthebuttonispressed.Ifitisstillmovingitwillalmostcertainlybe
interpretedasamanualhit.

MinimumRotabMoveThisdefinesacutoffforrotarytablemovement.Itthenewly
requestedtableangleisnotgreaterthanthisamountawayfromthecurrentanglethemove
requestwillbeignored.
ManPrintButtonThisoptionallowsyoutodesignateaPCDMISfunctiontotheManual
Printkeyonthejogboxifdesired.TheavailableoptionsareDONE(endkey),MovePoint
(storeamove),orEraseHit(Erasethelasthit).
Note:Forthisinterfacethefunctionassignmentisonlyapplicablewheninhitmode.Ifthe
buttonispressedwhiletheinterfaceisswitchedtoreadoutsmodeitwillbeinterpretedasan
illegaltouchregardlessofthesettingforManualPrintButton.
VolcompMethodSelecttheLK(viaDriver)tousetheVolumetricCompensationfromthe
driverorselectASItoassignthesecompensationvaluesintheXYZMechanicalOffset
boxes.
CommonDriverConfigbuttonThisbuttonwilllaunchtheLKdriverconfiguration
application.
LKRS232Interface
TheLKRS232interfaceisusedwitheightdifferentLKcontrollers:CupeSerial,CupeGPIB,
MicronDrive,LK3000,LK2000/2002/2000+,LK4000,theACT,andtheAIM.TheLK3000is
olderthanboththeLK2000andtheLK4000.TheACTisthereplacementforthe2000lineand
theAIMisthereplacementforthe4000.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethelkrs232.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasseventabsfortheLKRS232interface:
LKDirecttab
Seethe"LKDirecttab"topic.
Controllertab
Axistab
Resolutiontab
Seethe"SettingtheAxesScaleFactor"topic.DefaultisX=10000.000000,Y=10000.000000,
Z=10000.000000.
Rotarytab
Seethe"RotaryTableSettings"topic.Defaultvaluesare:Acceleration=0.0,Velocity=0.0,
Resolution=10000,Offset=0.000000,Offset2=0.000000,Mindelta=0.5,Table=Unchecked,
andDualtable=Unchecked.

Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
LKDirecttab
MachineOptionsdialogboxLKDirecttab
TheLKDirecttabprovidesspecificsettingsforyourLKRS232interface.
LK2000IfthecontrollerisanLK2000typethenthisoptionneedstobeselected.
LK3000IfthecontrollerisanLK3000typethenthisoptionneedstobeselected.Youmust
alsoselecttheLK2000ifyouselecttheLK3000option.
MicronDriveIfthiscontrollerisaMicronDrive,thenthisoptionneedtobeselected.Note:
TheMicronDrivecontrollerneverusesGPIBcommunications.
GPIBSelectthisoptionifyourcontrollerusestheGPIBprotocoltocommunicate.
PH9SelectthisoptionifyouareusingaPH9.
SETPTIfyoufindthatthemachinewillnotregisterhitsthenyoumaywanttoselectthis
option.
HomingVelocityThisvaluesetsthehomingspeed.Ifthemachinedrivestothelimits
beforereachingthehomepositionthenyoushoulddecreasethisvalue,turnthecontrolleroff,
andtryagain.Itshouldreachthelimitsandthenfindthehomepositionforeachaxisifthis
valueiscorrectlyset.Defaultis1.
MoveSpeedThisvaluesetstheoverallmovespeed.Ifyoufindthemovespeedistoofast
evenwhenyousetittoaslowspeedinsideofPCDMISthenyoushoulddecreasethisvalue.
Defaultis1.00000

WaitforprehitThisvalueshouldbeleftat0.
MovebufferThenumberofmovesthatcanbesenttothecontrollerbufferatonetime.
Somemachineswillgiveerrorsifwesendtoomanymovesinadvancesoreducingthiswill
help.Decreasingthisvaluewillhoweverreducethesystemperformance,ifforexamplewe
setitto1thenwewillonlysendthenextmovecommandwhenthemachinehasfinishedthe
previousone,thiswillcausethemachinetopausebetweenmovesaseachcommandis
sent.
NostartbuttonIfthereisnoMasterStartbuttononthecontroller(orjogbox)thenyou
shouldselectthisoption.
AutospeedoptimizationCertainLKcontrollerssupportAutoSpeedOptimization,a
controllerfeaturethatwilldriveeachaxisatitsmaximumindependentspeedforeachmove.
Ifyouknowthatyourcontrollersupportsthisthenyoucanselectthisoption.
ManmitiInterface
TheManmitiinterfaceisusedwithMitutoyoManualmachineswithMAG1,MAG2,orMAG3
controllersthatconnecttothescales.ThisisaGPIBinterface.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethemanmiti.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhastwotabsfortheManmitiinterface:
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
ManmoraInterface
TheManmorainterfaceisusedwithmanualMora machines.ThismachinehasaGEMODEK
typeMR01counterboxwithXYZreadoutwithsomecontrol/setup/sendoptions.SeetheMIIMfor
additionalconfigurationandtestinginformation.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheManmora.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfourtabsfortheManmorainterface:
Controllertab

Axistab
Resolutiontab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
Metrocom/MetromecInterface
TheMetrocominterfaceisusedwithMetrocom,Metromec(withMetrocomSV2&V3),andolder
Wenzel(Wenzel2000withMetromecEmulator)machines.ForPCDMIStoperformcorrectlythe
originalstartupfile(METROCON.DAT)fromtheMetrocomsoftwaremustbecopiedintothePC
DMISdirectory.
OlderWenzelmachines(withaMetrocomScontrollerforexample)onlyneedthe
METROCON.DATfiletooperate.However,ifyouareusingoneofthenewerWenzelWPseries
controllersthenyoumustalsohavethefollowingfourfilescopiedfromtheMetroSoftsoftware
directories:WPMACH.PMC, WPSW.PMC,WPDAT.PMC,andWPGO.PMC
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheMETROcom.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfivetabsfortheMetrocominterface:
Metromectab
Seethe"Metromectab"topic.
Controllertab
PH9tab
Seethe"PH9Communication"topic.DefaultvalueisCommPort1,38400Baud,Noparity,7
databits,and1stopbit.
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
Metromectab

MachineOptionsdialogboxMetromectab
TheMetromectaballowsyoutoconfigurethefollowingsettingsfortheMetromecinterface.
MaxSpeedThisoptionsetsthemaximumspeedforyourCMM.
AccelerationThisoptionsetsthemaximumaccelerationforyourCMM.
XYZMechanicalOffsetThesevaluesallowyoutoestablishthemechanicaloffsetforyour
machine.Thisshouldonlybeadjustedbyatrainedtechnician.
CompensationData WhenyouareusingtheDEAcompensationtypesthecompensation
datafile(typicallycompens.dat)isspecifiedinthisbox.WhenusingthenewDEAcompthere
arethreetextfilesthatmustbeinthePCDMISdirectory:FZYFILE.TXT,RCXFILE.TXT,and
RMXFILE.TXT.
orDEADLL(wcompens32).
CompensationModeSelectfromthefollowingcompensationmodesaresupportedfor
DEADLL(wcompens32)Compensationtype:StandardMachine,HorizontalArm(Arm1),or
HorizontalArm(Arm2).
MetrologInterface

TheMetrologinterfaceisusedwithMetrologiccontrollers.PCDMIShastwomodesofdriving
theMetrologiccontroller.
ThefirstmodeisexecutedthroughaMetrologicsuppliedMTDIAL.DLLfile.ThisDLL
requiresaseparateportlockavailableonlyfromMetrologic.InthismodePCDMIScalls
functionsintheMTDIAL.DLLinordertodrivetheCMM.Allvolcompisalsotakencareof
insidetheDLL.TheDLLtalkstothedesignatedCommportandcommunicatesdirectly
withtheCMM.
ThesecondmodeofdrivingtheMetrologiccontrollerisdirectthroughtheCommport
bypassingtheMTDIAL.DLLaltogether.Inthismode,thereisnoseparateportlock
neededfromMetrologic.PCDMISwilltalkdirectlytothecontrollerthroughthe
designatedCommport.Volcompisprovidedinthreeformats1)theDEATutorformat,2)
theWcompens32.dllformat.3)theBNScomp.datformat.Optionsoneandtwoare
typicallywhatareusedonaDEAcontrollermachine.Option3istypicallywhatisusedon
anExcelCMM.Theonlyreasonforusingthefirstmodeistotakeadvantageofthe
MetrologicsuppliedvolcompthatmightalreadybeonanexistingCMM.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethemetrolog.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasthreetabsfortheMetrologinterface:
Commtab
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
MitutoyoInterface
TheMitutoyointerfaceisusedwithMitutoyomachines.ThisisaGPIBinterfaceanddoesnot
requireanymachineparameterfilefromtheoriginalMitutoyosystem.Mitutoyoconsidersthese
machinesmechanicallyaccuratesononativesoftwarecompensationexists.Several
compensationmethods,however,aresupported.
TotakemanualhitswiththesemachinesyouneedtopushdowntheMEASbuttononthejog
box.
Note:FormachineswithaPH9orPH10thenormalmachinestartupsequenceincludesusing
themanualcontroltospecificallypositionthehead(usuallyto0,0).Thisinsuresthatall
communicationsbetweenthePH9/10controllerandtheheaditselfareinitializedandworking
properly.Thisshouldstillbedoneevenifitinitiallyreads0,0andyouwanttopositionitto0,0.
FailuretoinitializetheheadviathehandsetcanleadtofailureswhentryingtodoaDCCrotation
(itmaynotrotateallorinsomecasesmayproduceerrorsafteritappearstofinishrotating).
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethemitutoyo.dlltointerfac.dll.

TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfourtabsfortheMitutoyointerface:
Interfacetab
Seethe"MitutoyoInterfacetab"topic.
Axistab
Resolutiontab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
MitutoyoInterfacetab
MachineOptionsdialogboxInterfacetab
TheInterfacetaballowsyoutoconfigurethefollowingsettingsfortheMitutoyointerface.
OldJoystickIftheJogboxisanoldtypethenthisoptionmustbesetto1.(Ifthejogbox
functionsdonotperformassetoutbelowthenyouhaveanoldjoystick)
BHN706SelectthisoptionifyouareconnectingtoaBHN706CMM.
TopSpeedThissetstheoveralltopspeedforthemachine.Ifthisvalueistoohighthenyou
willgetintermittentoverspeederrorsfromthecontrollerduringDCCmoves.Defaultis60.

InPositionToleranceThisisthevaluethatsetshowclosethemachinehastogettoa
commandedpositionbeforeitacceptsthatitisthere.Ifthemachineseemstopausebetween
movesforexcessivetimethenyoucouldtryincreasingthisvalue.
MoraInterface
TheMorainterfaceisusedwithMoraCNCmachines.ThisinterfacejustrequiresasingleRS232
commport,nomachineparameterfileisneededfromtheoriginalsystem.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethemora.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasthreetabsfortheMorainterface:
Commtab
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
MZeizzInterface
TheMZeissinterfaceisusedwithmanualZeissmachines.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheMzeiss.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfourtabsfortheMZeissinterface:
Controllertab
Axistab
Resolutiontab
Debugtab

Manual(MIIM).
NumerexInterface
TheNumerexinterfaceisusedwithNumerexmachines.Therearetwodifferenttypesof
Numerexinterfacesavailable,onewithaDigitalReadoutUnit(DRO)andonewithout.TheDRO
versionisstraightforwardtoinstallbutifyourmachinehasnoDROthenaTech80cardwillbe
needed(toreadthescales)aswellasaspecialkittoconnecttheTech80totheNumerex
controller.SeetheMIIMforinstallationinformationforthesetwointerfaces.
Nomachineparameterfileisneededfromtheoriginalsystemtorunthisinterface.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheNumerex.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfourtabsfortheNumerexinterface:
Numerextab
Seethe"MitutoyoInterfacetab"topic.
Axistab
Resolutiontab
Seethe"SettingtheAxesScaleFactor"topic.DefaultisX=1.0,Y=1.0,Z=1.0.Thisscalefactoris
usedifaDROunitispresent.
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
Numerextab

MachineOptionsdialogboxNumerextab
TheNumerextaballowsyoutoconfigurethefollowingsettingsfortheNumerexinterface.
DROSelectthisoptionifyoursystemusesaDROtoreadthescales.
DROCommSpecifytheCOMportfortheDROunit.
4800N81SelectthisoptionifyourPH9unitneedtousethesecommunicationsettings
ratherthanthedefaultof4800baudNOparity7bits2stopbits(48007N2).Usually,you
needtoselectthisoptionifitisaceramicCMM(anewerCMM).IftheCMMisolder,you
willneedtodeselectthisoption.
PH9CommSpecifytheCOMportforthePH9unit.
DCCControllerCommSpecifytheCOMportfortheDCCController.
KeyBoardCommSpecifytheCOMportfortheKeyboard.
UseTech80SelectthisoptionifyoursystemusesaTech80boardtoreadthescales.
Tech80IRQThisvaluesetstheinterruptlevelfortheTech80board.Makesureit
matchesthejumpersettingandalsotheWNS27registrysettings.
Tech80XYZScaleTheseXYZScaleoptionsallowyoutospecifythescalefactorfor
eachaxisifaTech80isused.Thisisnormallyavalueof200.0.Asimplewaytotestifthis
valueiscorrectistomeasurethedistancebetweentoknownpoints,ifthereisadifference
betweenmeasuredandtruereadingsthenyoucanworkoutthecorrectionfactorthatyou
canusetodeterminethevalue,itisalmostalwaysaroundvaluei.e.100,1000,500etc.A

rudimentaryformoflinearerrorcompensation(linearstretch)canbeperformedbyslightly
changingthisvalue.
InPositionToleranceThisvaluesetshowclosethemachinemustgettoacommanded
positionbeforeitacceptsthatitisthere.Ifthemachineseemstopausebetweenmoves
forexcessivetimethenyoucouldtryincreasingthisvalue.
AccelerationThisoptionsetstheaccelerationoftheCMMduringDCCmoves.The
defaultvalueis1500.IftheCMMisalittletoojerkyinstartingandstoppingamove,lower
theaccelerationvalue.
TopSpeedThisoptionissimplyamultiplierofthemachinespeedallowsyoutogovern
themaximumspeedofthemachine.Itshouldbeadjustedsothat100%speedinPC
DMISmatchesthefullspeedofthemachine.
DCCMachineTheonlytimethisoptionshouldNOTbeselectedisfordebugging
purposeswhenyouwishtotesttheDROwithoutrunningthisasaDCCmachine.Ifthisis
amanualmachinethenthestraightTech80interfaceshouldbeused.
HasHomeSelectthisoptionifthemachinehasahomeposition.Itmustbeselectedif
youareusingacompmap.
OmnitechInterface
TheOmnitechinterfaceisusedwithOmnitechmachines.Thisinterfacecommunicatestothe
controllerthroughastandardRS232interface.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheomnitech.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhastwotabsfortheOmnitechinterface:
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
ReflexInterface
TheReflexinterfaceisusedwithaReflexcontroller.Thisinterfaceisintendedforuseona
manualGage2000machinewiththeReflexboxinPassThroughMode.Thereare2smart
cardsthatareinsertedinthecontroller.Theupperoneisthestoragecard,wheretheprograms
arestored.AfterturningontheReflexController,youwillnoticethefollowingscreens:
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheReflex.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfourtabsfortheReflexinterface:

Controllertab
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
RenishawInterface
TheRenishawinterfacecommunicateswiththeRenishawinstalledsoftware(V4.0orlater).
Thereisalsoaspecialinterfacecard(orUSBmodule)thatisusedtocommunicateviaoptical
linkwiththeUCC1controller.ThesoftwareandinterfacecardmustbeobtainedfromRenishaw.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheRenishaw.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhastwotabsfortheRenishawinterface:
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
RomerInterface
SharpeInterface
TheSharpeinterfaceincludestheSharpe,Sharpe32,andExcelinterfaces.PCDMISmusthave
theDOWNL.OADfilefromtheoriginalsoftwarepackageinordertorun.IfSoftware
compensationisbeingusedthentheCOMP.DATfileisalsorequired.SeetheMIIM
documentationfortheSharpeinterfaceformoreinformationaboutcreatingtheDOWNL.OADfile.
Forsystemsconfiguredwithdualrotarytablesasecondcontrollerisusedthatcontrolsonlythe
secondtable.Inthatsituation,PCDMISmusthaveaDOWNL2.OADfilesuitablyconfiguredfor
useonacontrollerwithonlytheWaxisbeingused.Currentlythereisnocompensationforthe
tableonlysothereisnoneedforaCOMP2.DATfile.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethesharpe.dlltointerfac.dll.

TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasseventabsfortheSharpeinterface:
Sharpe32tab
Seethe"Sharpe32tab"topic.
Controllertab
Controller2tab
Oittab
Seethe"OITCommunication"topic.DefaultvalueisCommPort0,9600Baud,Noparity,8data
bits,and1stopbit.
Axistab
Resolutiontab
Rotarytab
Seethe"RotaryTableSettings"topic.Defaultvaluesare:Acceleration=46500.0,Velocity=
46500.0,Resolution=5000.0,Offset=0.0,Mindelta=0.5,Table=Unchecked,andDualtable=
Unchecked.
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
Sharpe32tab

MachineOptionsdialogboxSharpetab
TheSharpe32taballowsyoutoconfigurethefollowingsettingsfortheSharpeinterface.
ButtonsPrintYoucanspecifytohavetheRecordbuttonErasetheLastHit,StoreaMove,
oractastheend/donekey.
ManualSelectthisoptionifyouareusingamanual(noDCCcapability)machine.
VerifyPH9SomecontrollersdonotreliablypositionthePH9totherequestedangle.When
youselectthisoption,thePH9positionwillbecheckedaftertherequestedrotationandifthe
positionisnotcorrectthePH9movewillberepeated.
SingleEStopMessageIfyouselectthisoptionthenwhenEstopispressedtheEstop
warningmessagewillonlybeshownoncewhilestillintheEstopstateinsteadof
continuouslyrepeatingit.ThisallowstheusertoEstopthemachineandthenmanuallymove
theprobe(forscribingasanexample)whilestillbeingabletoaccessthenormalPCDMIS
userinterfacefunctionality.
CircularmovesSelectthisoptionifyourcontrollersupportstheuseofcircularmoves.
PollControllerCommport Whenthisoptionisselected,PCDMISwillperiodicallypollthe
controllerserialporttoaffirmcommunication.Thisisausefuloptiontotryifyoususpect
problemswithyourPC'sRS232port.
DisableAutoCancelSometypesoferrors(exampleissometypesofPH9errors)canbe
immediatelyresetbutkeeprecurring.Theresultisasituationwheretheerrormessage
windowflashestooquicklytoreadandkeepsrepeating.Whenthisoptionisselected,thiswill
preventtheerrormessagedialogfrombeingautocancelledinordertoprovidesufficient
timefortheusertoreadtheerrormessage.Notethatduringhomingofthemachine,some
dialogswillbeautocancelledregardlessofthissetting.
SheffieldInterface

TheSheffieldinterfaceisusedwithSheffieldmachines.Nomachineparameterfileisneeded
fromtheoriginalsystemtorunthisinterface.OntheSheffieldCMM,PCDMISdoesnotcontrol
whentheCMMisinmanualcontrolorDCCcontrol.Thebuttonstocontrolthisareonthejogbox.
IftheCMMhasarotarytable,PCDMISrequiresaseparateTech80cardfortherotarytable
encoder.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethesheffield.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfourtabsfortheSheffieldinterface:
Interfacetab
Seethe"SheffieldInterfacetab"topic.
Axistab
Resolutiontab
Seethe"SettingtheAxesScaleFactor"topic.DefaultisX=1000,Y=1000,Z=1000.
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
SheffieldInterfacetab
MachineOptionsdialogboxInterfacetab
TheInterfacetaballowsyoutoconfigurethefollowingsettingsfortheSheffieldinterface.

RS232SelectthisoptionifyouplanonusingRS232ratherthanGPIB.AllnewerSheffield
controllers,SMP3xxandSMP400,useserialcommunications.
LPT2SelectthisoptionifyoursystemusestheMSIboardtoreadthescales.
Tech80SelectthisoptionifthissystemusestheTech80boardtoreadthescales.
ManualMachineSelectthisoptionifthisisamanualmachine.Note:Usethisoptionfor
testingpurposesonly,ifthisistobeadedicatedmanualmachinethentheTech80interface
shouldbeinstalled.
RS50SelectthisoptionifthissystemusesRS50.
MachinePortThisvaluesetstheRS232commportforthecontroller.
Tech80IRQThisoptionsetstheinterruptvaluefortheXYZtech80board.Ifyoudochange
it,makesurethatthejumperonthetech80cardisthesame.Defaultis5.Note:Thisdoes
notapplytotherotarytableTech80board.Itdoesnotrequireaninterrupt.
HitDelayThisisthedelaytimebeforereadingahitfromtheMSIboard.Defaultis0.3.If
thisvalueistoosmallthentheboardwillbereadtooquicklyandgetanincorrectreading.If
youarehavingaccuracyproblemsthenyoumaywanttotryfractionallyincreasingthisvalue.
Note:IfyouareusingtheMPHitsoptionthenchangingthisvaluewillhavenoeffect.
ResetDelaySomeMPunitswillhangcommandsaresenttooquickly.Youcanincrease
thisvalueifyoususpectthistobethecase,howeverincreasingthisvaluewillreducesystem
performance.Note: WhenrunningwithSMP400,thisvalueneedstobe1.0.
PH9Handbox(PH9D)IfthePH9'pendant'handheldcontrolunitispresentthenselectthis
option.
PH9BaudThisvaluesetsthebaudrateforthePH9.Validvaluesare300,1200,4800,or
9600.BydefaulttheserialprotocolusedisNostopbits,8databits,and1paritybit(N81).
PH9PortThisoptionsetstheRS232commportforthePH9.
MPHitsSelectingthisoptionwillcausePCDMIStogetitshitdatafromtheSheffieldMP
unitinsteadofthetech80board.TheadvantageofthisisthattheMPunitprovides
compensateddatasonoASIcompmapneedstobecreated.Thedisadvantageisthatthis
optiondisablesthefunctionalityoftheJogBoxmacrokeys(End,Erasehit,storemove,etc.)
whileinTakeHitsmode(seetheJogBoxToggleoptionbelow).Note:Thereisnoneedtouse
thisoptionyouareusingtheMSIboardbecausethisboardalreadyreportsback
compensateddata,alsomakesureifyouareusingaTech80boardthattheprobecableis
NOTconnectedtotheprobesignalintheMPunit.
MPVectors Whenthisoptionisnotselected,PCDMISwilltrackthevectorsofhitsby
readingthepositionoftheprobebeforeahitistaken.SelectingthisoptionwillcausePC
DMIStogetthevectorsdirectlyfromtheMPunit.Thedisadvantageisthatthisoption
disablesthefunctionalityoftheJogBoxmacrokeys(End,Erasehit,storemove,etc.)while
inTakeHitsmode(seetheJogBoxToggleoptionbelow).Note:Someoftheoldersystemsdo
notsupportthisfunction.Ifyougetan'InvalidParameter21'errorwhenyouinitializewiththis

optionthenyoursystemdoesnotsupportit.IfyouareusingMPHitsthenyoushould(if
supported)usethisoption.
Tech80Interface
TheTech80ThisinterfacesupportsthemanualTech80andScazonCardinterfaces.Nomachine
parameterfileisneededfromtheoriginalsystemtorunthisinterface.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheTECH80.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfourtabsfortheTech80interface:
Connectiontab
Seethe"Tech80Connectiontab"topic.
Axistab
Resolutiontab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
Tech80Connectiontab
MachineOptionsdialogboxConnectiontab
TheConnectiontaballowsyoutoconfigurethefollowingsettingsfortheTech80interface.

InterruptThisvaluesetstheinterruptlevelfortheTech80card,ifyouchangeitmakesure
thejumperonthecardissettothesamelevel.
RequestintervalThisvaluecontrolsthespeedPCDMIStracksthepositionoftheprobe.
Thisvalueisenteredinmilliseconds(e.g.300is0.3seconds)Thedefaultvalueof300will
requestthepositionroughly3timesasecond.
HitintervalThisvaluecontrolshowmuchtimemustpassafterahitbeforeasecondhitis
valid.Itisusefultoprevent'doublehits'astheproberetractsfromthepart.Itisenteredin
milliseconds(e.g.500is0.5seconds.)
ZerocountersonstartupSelectthisoptiontoZerothecounterswhenPCDMISisstarted.
ZerocountersbuttonClickthisbuttontoZerothecounters.
TheodoleInterface
TheTheodoleinterfaceisusedwithaTheodolitemachine.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethetheodole.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfourtabsfortheTheodoleinterface:
Controllertab
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
WenzelInterface
TheWenzelinterfaceisusedwithWenzelmachineswithaWenzel2010controller(Native
WenzelProtocol).ThisinterfacejustrequiresasingleRS232commport,nomachineparameter
fileisneededfromtheoriginalsystem.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethewenzel.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhastwotabsfortheWenzelinterface:
Axistab
Debugtab

Manual(MIIM).
ZeissInterface
TheZeissinterfaceisusedwithmachinesusingIPbasedZeisscontrollers.Thisnewinterface
supportsbothTCPandUDPprotocols.Becauseoftheminordifferencesthatwehaveobserved
amongthesecontrollersthisinterfacewasdesignedtoallowmodificationstoaconfigurationfile
toaccommodatethesedifferenceswithoutrequiringanewinterfac.dll.Additionally,mostofthe
configurationoptionsforthecontrollerhavebeenmovedtothisconfigurationfileaswelltoallow
forfutureWAIutilitiestocommunicatewiththemachinewithouthavingtorunPCDMIS.
SupportedprobesincludethestandardZeissprobe,RDS,DSE,andVast.Theoldjogboxesare
supported(boththesmallonewiththenumericpadaswellasthelargerkeypadone)andthe
newerjogboxes(thatarealaptop)canbesupportedwithanadditionalIPbasedutilitythatallows
basicfunctionbuttonstobeused.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renametheZeiss.dlltointerfac.dll.
TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfourtabsfortheZeissinterface:
PH9tab
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
ZssGPIBsInterface
TheZssGPIBinterfaceisusedwithZeiss machineswithRS232ofGPIBbasedcontrollers.This
interfacesupportstheGPIBZeisscontroller(graytwofeetsquarebox).ThePH9iscontrolled
throughanRS232port.
ThereisalsosupportforanativeRS232connection(ZeissC99controller)withthisinterface
whereastheZSSRS232.DLLdrivestheZEISSCMMthroughtheZEISSUMESS/COMET
Softwarepackage.WhetherPCDMIScommunicateswithGPIBorRS232isdeterminedbythe
RS232CMMoptionintheZEISSsectionoftheSettingsEditor.ForthenativeRS232thisshould
besetto1.Forinformationonmodifyingregistryentries,pleaseviewthe"ModifyingRegistry
Entries"appendix.
BeforestartingPCDMIS,renamethezssgpib.dlltointerfac.dll.

TheMachineOptiondialogboxhasfourtabsfortheZssGPIBinterface:
PH9tab
Axistab
Debugtab
Manual(MIIM).
CompensatingforTemperature
TemperatureCompensationSetupdialogbox
SelectingtheEdit|Preferences|TempCompSetupmenuoptionopenstheTemperature
CompensationSetupdialogbox.Thisdialogboxallowsyoutocompensateforroomandpart
temperature,thusincreasingaccuracyoftheinspectionprocess.
Tocompensatefortemperatureduringmultiplearmcalibration,see"UsingTemperature
CompensationwithMultipleArmCalibration"inthe"UsingMultipleArmMode"chapter.
UsingSTPFiles
EachCMMusesmachinespecificparametersfortemperaturecompensationforeachaxis,such
asthermalcoefficientsandsensorassignments.Theseparameters,alongwithembeddedcode
thattellsPCDMISifthefileisastructuralorlinearcompensationfile,arestoredinsidespecial
STPfiles(namedforthe.stpextension)createdbyyourCMMvendor.
PCDMISrequirestheseSTPfilestocompensatefortemperature.
Priortocompensatingfortemperature,ensurethattheseSTPfilesresideintheappropriate
locationsonyourharddrive:
TheDEAStructuralThermalCompensationmethodexpectstofindtheServ1.stp
fileintheC:\Thermal_OCXdirectory.

TheDEALinearThermalCompensationmethodexpectstofindtheServ1.stpfile
intheC:\ProgramFiles\Thermal_OCXdirectory.
LinearandStructuralTemperatureCompensation
Linearcompensation=(ThermalCoefficientofExpansion)X(Displacement+Changein
TemperatureofEachAxisandthePart).Ifmultipletemperaturesensorsexistonanaxis,PC
DMISaveragesthereadoutstofindthetemperaturechange.
StructuralcompensationrecognizesthataCMM'svariousmaterialcomponentsmayhave
differenttemperatures(asingleaxisofthemachine,forexample,mayhaveseveraldifferent
temperatures,whichcausebending,bowingorskewingofthemachineinsomeway).Structural
compensation,then,appliesthetemperaturecorrectionsforspecificareasoftheCMM.When
youselecttheEdit|Preferences|TemperatureCompensation menuitem,theStructural
Thermal_OCXgetscalledandPCDMIScalculatesanewtemporaryvolumetriccompensation
map.
AvailableInputParameters
ThefollowingexplaintheavailableinputparametersontheTemperatureCompensationSetup
dialogbox(Edit|Preferences|TemperatureCompensation).
SensorNumbersboxes
TheSensorNumbersboxescontainalistofoneormoresensornumberstobeusedforthe
givenaxisorpart.Thesevaluesareveryimportantwhenreadingtemperaturesfromthe
controllerbecausetheymustcorrespondtohowthesensorsareactuallyconfigured.
Eachsensorisanumberintherangeof1to32.
Itemsinthelistcanbeeitherasinglenumberorarangefromfirsttolast.
Itemsareseparatedbyeithercommasorleftblank.
Theinputallowsupto32valuesforanyaxisorthepart.
Formanualmodethesenumbersarerelativelymeaninglessbutatleastonesensornumber
mustbeassignedforeachaxisandthepart.
MaterialCoefficientboxes
TheMaterialCoefficientboxescontainnumbersreflectingthematerialproperty,andarethe
fractionalchangeinlengthperunitchangeintemperature.
Valuesvarydependingonwhattypeofmaterialwasusedtomakethescaleson
themachineaxesandonwhatthepartismadeof.
UnitsareperdegreeCorperdegreeF,dependingontheselectionofthecheck
boxfordisplayinginCelsiusornot.
Thiscanbethoughtofasmeters/meter/degreeCorinches/inch/degreeFbut
sincethelengthinboththenumeratoranddenominatorareinthesameunitsthey
divideout.
Example:Ascalewithacoefficientof11.5microns/meter/degreeCbecomes0.0000115
meters/meter/degreeCorjust0.0000115/degreeC.

QualTool
Thisboxallowsyoutospecifythematerialcoefficientfortheprobequalificationtoolseparately
fromthepart.
CurrentTempboxes
TheCurrentTempboxescontainthecurrenttemperaturesintheappropriateunits.Youcan
eithertypetheseorreadtheminfromthecontrollerdependingonthetypeofmachineavailable
andtheselectedoptions.
PrevTempboxes
ThePreviousTempboxesalwayscontainthepreviouslyreadtemperatures.Ifnotemperatures
werepreviouslyreadin,thesevaluesareeitherzeroorleftblank.
RefTempboxes
TheRefTempboxescontainthereferencetemperaturefromwhichtemperaturecompensation
adjustmentsneedtobeapplied.
Theamountofcorrectiontobeappliedisbasedonmultiplyingthematerial
coefficientbythedifferencebetweenthecurrentandreferencetemperatures.
AmountofCorrection=MaterialCoefficientx(CurrentTempReference
Temp)
Ifthecurrenttemperatureisthesameasthereferencetemperaturetheneteffect
isthatnothermalcompensationadjustmentisapplied.
Thevalueintheseboxesisalmostalways20degreesC,ortheFahrenheit
equivalent.
HighThresholdboxes
TheHighThresholdboxescontainanupperlimit(intheappropriateunits)onthecurrent
temperatureabovewhichnofurtherthermalcompensationwillbeapplied.PCDMISdoesn't
produceanywarningorerrormessage.
Example: Withareferencetempof20degreesC,acurrenttempof35degreesCandahigh
thresholdof30degreesCtheamountofcorrectionactuallyappliedwouldbebasedona
differenceof(3020)insteadof(3520)becausethecurrenttemperatureexceededtheupper
limit.
LowThresholdboxes
TheLowThresholdboxesisconceptuallylikethehighthresholdexceptitprovidesalowerlimit
onthecurrenttemperaturebelowwhichnofurtherthermalcompensationwillbeapplied.
Originboxes
TheOriginboxesareusedtodeterminethelengthoftheitemtowhichthermalcompensationis
beingapplied.

Length=CurrentPositionValueOriginValue
TheX,Y,andZ valuesoftheOriginboxeswillbezeromostofthetime.
However,sometypesofmachinesdonotusezerofortheoriginoftheirscales.
ThePartvaluewilltypicallyalsobezerounlessthereissomespecialtypeof
fixturingconstraint.
ShowTemperaturesinCelsius
TheShowTemperaturesinCelsiuscheckboxaffectsboththetemperaturesandthematerial
coefficient.
Ifyouselectthischeckbox,thedisplaywillusedegreesCelsius.
Ifyouclearthischeckbox,PCDMISwillusedegreesFahrenheit.
TemperatureCompensationEnabled
TheTemperatureCompensationEnabledcheckboxtellsPCDMIStousetemperature
compensation.
Ifnotselected,PCDMISdoesnotperformanytemperaturecompensation,and
theTEMPCOMPcommand(ifpresentinthepartprogram)willhavenoeffect.
Ifselected,PCDMISbehavesaccordingtotheinputparameters.
CompensationMethod
ThefollowingaretheavailablecompensationmethodsandtheirrespectiveprocessesinPC
DMIS.
ForSheffieldcontrollers,youmustdefinetheMaterialCoefficientandRefTemperatureboxes,
andthenclickDefault,regardlessofthecompensationmethodused.
Method Process
Manual Compensationismanual(controlled
byyourinput)withnoinvolvementfrom
themachinecontroller.
PCDMISperformsall
compensationcalculations.
Duringpartprogramexecutionthe
TemperatureCompensationSetup
dialogboxopensandyoucaneditthe
currentsettingsbeforeproceedingwith
therestoftheprogram.
Read Whenusingamachinethat
Temperatures supportsthisoption,PCDMISreadsthe
currenttemperaturesfromthecontroller
from automaticallyratherthanyousupplying
Controller thedata.

PCDMISperformsall
compensationcalculations.The
controlleronlyprovidesthecurrent
temperatures.
dialogboxdoesnotopen.
Thepartprogramdoesnotpause
foryourconfirmation.
ForSheffieldcontrollers,youcanretrieve
theCTE(CoefficientofThermal
Expansion)valuesfortheAxesby
clickingtheGetCurrentTempsbutton.
Controller Thecontrollerperforms
Compensates compensationofthemachineaxesitself.
AxesOnly
Theinputsfortheaxeswillnotbe
used.
Partinputparametersapplysince
PCDMISstillperformscompensationfor
thepart.
Theprogramdoesnotpausefor
yourconfirmation.
Controller Thecontrollerperforms
CompsAxes compensationofboththemachineaxes
andthepart.
andPart
Theinputsfortheaxesarenot
used.
PCDMISdoesnotperformany
compensationcalculations.
Theinputforthepartforthe
materialcoefficient,reference
temperatureandoriginmuststillbe
suppliedbecausePCDMISmustpass
thatinformationdowntothecontroller.
Theprogramdoesnotpausefor

yourconfirmation.
ForSheffieldcontrollers,youdonotneed
toentertheCTEvaluesfortheAxes.
TimeRemaining
TheTimeRemainingdisplayshowsthetimeremainingbeforethetemperaturereadingtakes
place.Thisonlydisplaysifyousetupadelayperiodforexecution.SeeDelayBeforeReading
Partbelow.
DelayBeforeReadingPart
TheDelayBeforeReadingPartboxallowsyoutospecifyaperiodthatPCDMISwillwaitduring
partprogramexecutionbeforereadingtheSensorstoobtainthecurrenttemperatures.Ifzerois
enteredthenthereisnopause.
ResettoDefaults
TheResetstoDefaultsbuttonupdatesanypreviouslymodifiedvalueswiththepreviouslysaved
values.IfthisisonaDEAmachineandaserv1.stpisavailablethenPCDMISwillreadthatfile.
GetCurrentTemps
IfyouselecttheReadTempsfromControllermethodfromtheCompensationMethodlist,and
ifyouuseamachinethatsupportsthisoption,theGetCurrentTempsbuttoncausesPCDMIS
toreadthecurrenttemperaturesfromthecontrolleranddisplaythemintheTemperature
CompensationSetupdialogbox.
TEMPCOMPCommandintheEditWindow
WhenyouaccepttheinputsintheTemperatureCompensationSetupdialogboxbyclickingthe
OKbuttonPCDMISinsertsaTEMPCOMPcommandintothepartprogram,asshownbelow.
ExampleofInsertedTEMPCOMPcommand
NormallyapartprogramwillonlyuseoneTEMPCOMPcommandTheTEMPCOMPcommand
shouldbeplacednearthetopoftheprogrampriortoanymeasurements.Whenyouexecutethe
partprogram,itbehavesaccordingtothevariousinputparameters.
ControllerSupport
Notallcompmethodsaresupportedbyallcontrollers.Thefollowingarethesupportedcontrollers
forthedifferentcompensationmethods.SeeCompensationMethod.
CompensationMethods SupportedControllers
Manual All,thereisnocontroller

involvementwiththismethod
ReadTempsfromController DEA(onlywithDEACfamily
controllers),Sharpe32zusingLeitz
protocol,Sheffield
ControllerCompsAxesOnly Sharpe32zusingLeitzprotocol
ControllerCompsAxesand Sharpe32zusingLeitzprotocol,
Part Sheffield
LocalTemperatureSettings
WhenopeningapartprogramcontainingaTEMPCOMPcommand,PCDMISwillverifythepart
sensornumberwiththelocalsettings.
Ifthevaluesdiffer,PCDMISwillautomaticallyupdatethecommandtoreflectthecurrent
settings,andacommentwillbeinsertedintothepartprogramreflectingtheoldandnew
values.
Ifnolocalsettingisavailableforthepartsensor,PCDMISwillmarktheTEMPCOMP
commandREDintheEditWindow.
SpecifyingExternalDirectoriestoSearch
SearchPathdialogbox
TheEdit|Preferences|SetSearchPathmenuoptiondisplaystheSearchPathdialogbox.
ThisdialogboxallowsyoutospecifythedirectoriesthatPCDMISuseswhen:
ExportingCADorProgramfiles
ImportingCADorProgramfiles
LoadingPartProgramFiles(.prg)
LoadingProbeFiles(.prb)
Recallingalignments(.aln)
CallingSubroutines
Tospecifyadefaultdirectorytouse:
1. AccesstheSearchPathdialogbox.
2. SelectanitemfromtheSearchForlist.
3. Typethedirectorypathwayinthebox(orusetheBrowsebuttontoselecta
directory).
4. ClicktheApplybutton.
5. Asneededrepeatthesestepstosetadditionaldefaultdirectoriesforotheritems.
6. ClicktheOKbutton.Thechangeswillbemadeandthedialogboxwillclose.

Note:IfyouselectedProbeDirectory,RecallDirectory,orSubroutineDirectoryfromthe
SearchForlist,additionalcheckboxesbecomeavailableforselection.Thesearedescribed
below.
TheSearchPathdialogboxcontainsthefollowingoptions:
SearchFor
TheSearchfordropdownlistletsyouselectoneoftheseoptions:
DefaultExportDirectory
DefaultImportDirectory
DefaultPartProgramDirectory
ProbeDirectory
RecallDirectory
SubroutineDirectory
Foreachofthese,youcandefineadirectorythatPCDMISwillsearchinwhenthecommandfor
theselectedoptionisencounteredintheEditwindow.
SearchCurrentDirectory
TheSearchCurrentDirectorycheckboxenablesordisablessearchingwithinthecurrent
directory.
SearchCurrentDirectoryFirst
Whenselected,(andifboththeSearchCurrentDirectoryandtheSearchSpecifiedDirectory
checkboxesareselected)thischeckboxallowsyousearchinboththecurrentdirectoryandthe
userspecifieddirectory.Theorderofthesearchdependsonifthischeckboxisselected:
IfselectedPCDMISwillfirstaccessthecurrentdirectoryandthentheuser
specifieddirectory.
Ifcleared,thesearchorderwillbereversed,accessingfirsttheuserspecified
directoryandthenthecurrentdirectory.
SearchSpecifiedDirectory
TheSearchSpecifiedDirectorycheckboxenablesordisablessearchinginadirectoryyou
specify.Thepathwayforthedirectoryyouspecifywillbeenteredintheboxjustbelowthecheck
box.

BrowseButton
TheBrowsebuttonallowsyoutobrowseforauserspecifieddirectory.Whenclicked,your
system'sdirectorystructurewillappear:
Exampleofonesystem'sdirectorystructureinsidetheChooseDirectorydialogbox.
TheChooseDirectorydialogboxcontainsthefoldersandlevelsoffoldersavailabletoyou.
Simply,highlightthedirectoryyouwantPCDMIStosearchinandclicktheOKbutton.PCDMIS
returnsyoutotheSearchPathdialogbox.Noticethatthedirectorypathwaynowappearsinthe
SearchSpecifiedDirectorybox.
Note:ThedirectorystructureintheChooseDirectorydialogboxvariesfromcomputerto
computer.Theaboveisonlyanexampleofwhatyoumayencounter.
ChangingOpenGLOptions
OpenGLOptionsdialogbox

TheGraphicsDisplay TheEdit|Preferences|OpenGL menuoptionbringsupthe

windowmusthavethefocus OpenGLOptionsdialogbox.Thisdialogboxallowsyoutochange
forthismenuoptionto theOpenGLoptionsthataffectdisplayofthemodelinsolidview
becomeavailable. mode.Tochangetheparttosolidview,seeSettingUptheScreen
ViewintheEditingtheCADDisplaychapter.
Options
TheOptionsareacontrolsthedisplaycharacteristicsofthemodelinsolidviewmode.Some
combinationsoftheseoptionsmaynotbeavailablebecauseoflimitationsofyourgraphicscard.
Also,dependingonhowyourgraphicscardsupportshardwareacceleration,somecombinations
ofoptionsmayresultinloweredgraphicsperformance.Ifthecurrentoptionsettingswillresultin
loweredperformance,awarningmessagewillappearatthebottomofthedialogbox.
DoubleBuffering
Adisplaybufferisgraphics
memoryusedtostorethe WhenyouselecttheDoubleBufferingcheckbox,thereare
imageseenonyourcomputer actuallytwodisplaybuffers:afrontandabackbuffer.Thefront
screen. bufferiswhatyouseeonthescreen.Whenthescreenhastobe
redrawn,suchaswhenthemodelisrotated,theimagehastobe
erasedfromthescreenandtheimageredrawninitsnewstate.
Theerasinganddrawingisdoneonthebackbuffer.Youcannot
seetheactualerasinganddrawingofthegraphics.Oncethe
graphicsaredrawntothebackbuffer,thebackbufferis
swappedwiththefrontbuffer.Thishappensquicklysothatany
transitionbetweenthetwobuffersisvirtuallyundetectable.
WhentheDoubleBufferingcheckboxiscleared,orinotherwords,whenthereisonlyone
displaybuffer,youcanactuallyseethescreenbeingerasedandredrawn(albeitveryquickly).
Theerasingandredrawingofthescreencausesaflickering.
Insummary,doublebufferingproducesamorevisuallypleasinggraphicaldisplaythansingle
buffering.
ZBufferDepth
TheZBufferDepthlistcontrolshowmuchgraphicsmemoryisusedforthezbuffer.Thezbuffer
determineswhichpartsofa3Dmodellieinfrontofotherpartsofthemodel.Ifyouuse
insufficientbitsforthezbuffer,visualartifactsmayappearonthemodelinsolidviewmode.
Theseartifactsareareasonthemodelthataredrawninfrontofotherpartsofthemodelwhen
theyshouldactuallybehidden.TheseartifactsdonotaffecttheaccuracyofPCDMISbutare
simplyinaccuraciesinthevisualdisplayofthemodel.

ColorDepth
TheColorDepthlistcontrolshowmuchgraphicsmemoryyoursystemusesforthecolor
informationofeachpixel.ThisnumberisusuallydependentonthecolordepthoftheDesktop
Settings.
Tessellation
Thetessellationvalueisthe TheTessellationareacontrolsthedrawnimagebysettinga
defaultvalueusedtobreakup tessellationmultiplierintheMultiplierValuebox.PCDMIS
surfacesintopatchesfor multipliestheMultiplierValuebythetessellationvalueforthe
shading. givenCADsystem.Thesevaluesarethenusedinthe
generationoftheshadedimage.
DesktopSettings
TherecanbedifferentOpenGLoptionsforeachdesktopdisplaysetting.TheDesktopSettings
areashowswhatthecurrentdesktopsettingsare.
ResolutionRatiosofDifferentMonitorSizes
Widescreenmonitorsneeda1.6ratioinsteadofa1.3333ratiousedbynormalmonitors.For
example,aresolutionof1200x1600hasa1.3333ratio(1600/1200)andworkswellforanormal
sizemonitor,whilearesolutionof1680x1050hasa1.6ratio,goodforawidescreenmonitor.If
youuseawidescreenmonitorandyourscreenappearsstretched(perhapsyourcirclefeatures
appearasellipsesintheGraphicsDisplaywindow),usea1.6resolutionratiotoresolvethis
problem.
Youcaneasilysetimportoptionstodeterminedefaultcolorsforcertainimportedentitytypes,as
wellashowPCDMISdisplaysimportedcurves.
Toperformthesemanipulations,selecttheEdit|Preferences|ImportOptions menuitem.This
willdisplaytheImportOptionsdialogbox.

ImportOptionsdialogbox
ThisdialogboxcontainstheDefaultColorsareaaswellassomecheckboxes.
DefaultColors
ThisarealetsyouchangethedefaultcolorsforimportedPoints,Curves,Surfaces,and
Datumentitytypes.Iftheentitytypesdon'talreadyhaveadefinedcolor,theywillusethis
defaultcolor.Tochangeacolor,simplyclickonabuttoninthisarea.AstandardColordialog
boxappears,allowingyoutoselectanewcolor.
Colordialogbox
Whenyouimportthenextfeature,PCDMISwillusethenewlydefinedcolors.
CheckBoxes
ExplodepolylinestopointsUsually,whenyouimportcurvesentities,theyappearas
individualcurves.Inreality,however,eachcurveisreallyapolyline,abunchoflines
connectedbyaseriesofpoints.Selectingthischeckboxmakesimportedpolylinecurve
entitiesappearasaseriesofpoints,onepointforeachpolylinevertex.Clearingthischeck
boxmakesimportedcurvesappearasnormal.
KeepPolylinesSelectingthischeckboxwillallowtheimagetocontinuetodisplaythe
originalpolylinealongwiththepointswhenyouselecttheExplodepolylinetopointscheck
box.Clearingthischeckboxwillonlyshowtheseriesofpoints.
PCDMISwillusethesesettingsforallfutureimportoperations.

Understandingthe.DATFiles
WhilethePCDMISregistryentriesstoremostofPCDMIS'ssettings,severalfileswitha.dat
filenameextensionarealsousedbyPCDMIStostoreinformation.Whileyoucaneditsomeif
thesefilesinatexteditor,manyyoucanonlyeditwithinPCDMIS.Youcan,however,delete
mostofthesefilestoreturnPCDMIStoitsoriginalstateforthedeleteditem.Itemsthatshould
notbedeletedarenotedintheDescriptioncolumn.
Thefollowingtabledetailsthe.datfilesavailable:
Filename Editable Location Description

Text
File
colors.dat No Intheuser'ssub ThisfilestoresyourmodifiedEdit
directoryunder windowcolors.PCDMIS
PCDMIS's generatesthisfileonlyifyou
installlocation. modifiedEditwindowcolors.The
filegetscreatedwhenyouexit
PCDMIS.Deletingthisfilereverts
yourEditwindowcolorstothe
defaultsettings.
See"DefiningEditWindow
Colors".
custommenuitem.dat No Intheuser'ssub Thisfilecontainsinformationfor
directoryunder thedefaultitemsanduserdefined
PCDMIS's itemsfoundintheUserDefined
installlocation. CommandslistoftheMenutab
oftheCustomizedialogbox.
Deletingthisfileremovesany
userdefinedmenuitems.The
defaultautomationwizardsthat
shipwithPCDMISare
regeneratedinanew.datfile.If,
afterdeletingthefile,youhavea
toolbar.datfilefromaprevious
versionofPCDMIS,youwillget
themback,regeneratedaftera
nextexecutionofPCDMIS.
See"CustomizingtheUser
Interface"in"NavigatingtheUser
Interface".
elogo.dat Yes Inthedirectory Thisfilecontrolstheformatofthe
wherePCDMIS Editwindow'sfooterforthelast
wasinstalled. page.
DONOTDELETETHISFILE.
Doingsoerasesthefooteronthe
lastpageoftheEditwindow.
See"ModifyingHeadersand
Footers"in"UsingtheEdit

Window".
execbarstate.dat No Intheuser'ssub Thisfilecontainsthelayoutsof
directoryunder toolbarsanddockablewindows
PCDMIS's duringpartprogramexecution.
installlocation. PCDMISswitchesbackandforth
reloadingthesetwofiles
(gbarstateandexecbarstate)as
wellwhenyoustartandfinish
programexecution.Deletingthis
filerestoresadefaultlayout.
gbarstate.dat No Intheuser'ssub Thisfilecontainsthelayoutsof
directoryunder toolbarsanddockablewindows
PCDMIS's withinthepartprogram(butnot
installlocation. duringexecution).Deletingthisfile
restoresadefaultlayout.
header.dat Yes Inthedirectory Thisfilecontrolstheformatofthe
wherePCDMIS Editwindow'sheaderforallpages
wasinstalled. butthefirst.See"Modifying
HeadersandFooters"in"Using
theEditWindow".
Doingsoerasestheheaderon
theaffectedpagesoftheEdit
window.
layouttoolbar.dat No Intheuser'ssub Thisfilecontainsalistofany
directoryunder layoutswhenyousavealayout
PCDMIS's usingtheWindowLayouts
installlocation. toolbar.Deletingthisfileremoves
yourwindowlayoutsfromthe
WindowLayoutstoolbar.
layout#.dat No Intheuser'ssub Thesefilesstoreinformation
directoryunder aboutaspecificlayoutstoredin
PCDMIS's theWindowLayoutstoolbar.You
installlocation. willhaveonefileforeachstored
layout.(similartothe
gbarstate.dat).PCDMIS
automaticallyincrements#for
eachnewlycreatedlayout.
DeletingaspecificLayout#.datfile
removetherelatedlayoutbutton
fromtheWindowLayouts
toolbar.
logo.dat Yes Inthedirectory Thisfilecontrolstheformatofthe
wherePCDMIS Editwindow'sheaderonthefirst
wasinstalled. page.See"ModifyingHeaders
andFooters"in"UsingtheEdit
Window".
Doingsoerasestheheaderfrom
thefirstpageoftheEditwindow.
menu_<language>.dat No Intheuser'ssub Thisfilestorescustomizedmenus
directoryunder fortheuser.Inthefilename

PCDMIS's <language>isthethreeletter
installlocation. languagecodeforthelanguage
youareusingtodisplayPCDMIS.
Deletingthisfileremovesany
menucustomizationsmade.
messageboxoptions.dat No Intheuser'ssub Thisfilestoresalistofthe
directoryunder warningmessagesyouhave
PCDMIS's turnedoff.Deletingthisfilecauses
installlocation. allwarningmessagestoappear
again.
probe.dat Yes Inthedirectory Thisfiledisplaysalltheprobe
wherePCDMIS componentsavailablewithinPC
wasinstalled. DMIS.Whenyougotobuildyour
ownprobefile,PCDMISusesthe
informationinthisfiletopopulate
theProbeUtilitydialogbox.
Doingsoerasesthelibraryof
probecomponentsavailable
makingitimpossibletomodifyand
createprobes.
reportingtoolbar.dat No Intheuser'ssub Thisfilecontainsalistofthe
directoryunder savedreporttemplatesand
PCDMIS's customreportsontheReporting
installlocation. toolbar.Deletingthisfileremoves
anysaveditemsfromthe
Reportingtoolbar.
quickfix.dat Yes Inthedirectory Thisfiledisplaysallthequick
wherePCDMIS fixtureitemsavailabletoaddinto
wasinstalled. theGraphicsDisplaywindow.
Doingsoerasesthelibraryof
quickfixtureitemsavailable
makingitimpossibletoworkwith
thesefiles.
templreppickerlist.dat Yes Inthedirectory Thisfilecontainsalistofreport
wherePCDMIS templatesyouhaveaddedtothe
wasinstalledas TemplateSelectiondialogbox.
wellasthein Deletingthisfileremovesthose
theuser'ssub filesfromtheTemplateSelection
directory.It's dialogbox,butitdoesnotdelete
alsointhe theactualreporttemplates
UserDefaultFiles themselves.
subdirectory.
toolbar.dat No Intheuser'ssub Thisfilecontainsallcustomized
directoryunder toolbarsdefinitions(buttons)and
PCDMIS's names.PCDMIScreatesthisfile
installlocation. whenyoucustomizeorcreateany
toolbars.Deletingthisfileremoves
anycustomizedtoolbars.

EditingtheCADDisplay
EditingtheCADDisplay:Introduction
PCDMISletsyoueditthedisplayoftheCADintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
ThemaintopicsinthischapterdescribehowtoedittheCADdisplay.Theseinclude:
SettingUptheScreenView
ManagingandPositioningOnScreenElements
SwitchingBetweenCurveandSurfaceModes
DrawingSurfaces
HighlightingSurfacesorCurveswiththeMouse
RepaintingtheScreen
ChangingScreenModes
ChangingScreenColors
ScalingtheDrawing
RotatingtheDrawing
ChangingRotationandOtherMotionOptions
ShowingandHidingGraphics
WorkingwithAssembliesofParts
MakingCAD3DbyUsingtheCreateLevelsWindow
ViewingCADInformation
VerifyingCADInformation
UsingScreenCapturesoftheGraphicsDisplayWindow
EditingCAD
EditingCADVectors
ApplyingLightingandMaterialstotheCADDisplay
SelectingFeaturesUsingtheGraphicsDisplayWindow
IdentifyingFeaturesbyUsingTooltips
AutomaticallyPositioningFeatureIDLabels
EditingDimensionColors
EditingFeatures
ShowingandAnimatingPathLines
DeletingCAD
DeletingFeatures
DeletingDimensions
TransformingaCADModel
WorkingwithCADCoordinateSystems
PointNominalDeviation
ModifyingDisplaySymbols
SettingUptheScreenView
TheEdit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|ViewSetupoptionopenstheViewSetupdialogbox.
Thisdialogboxletsyouspecifythenumberofviews(maximumoffour)ofthepartthatPCDMIS
willdisplayintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Youcanalsodeterminetheorientationofeachview
andiftheparticularviewisdisplayedasawireframeorasolid.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual EditingtheCADDisplay 271

ViewSetupdialogbox
Hint:Toquicklychangehowthepartisdisplayedinthe'blue'view,youcanclickontheicons
availablefromtheGraphicViewtoolbar.
Tostoreyourviewforlateruse,youcancreateandrecalltheview.See"WorkingwithViewsets"
in"InsertingReportCommands".
ChangingLayoutandViews
Tochangethescreenlayoutandtheorientationoftheviews:
1. AccesstheViewSetupdialogbox(Edit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|View
Setup).
2. SelectthedesiredscreenstylefromtheLayoutarea.Forexample,tosplitthe
screenintotwodifferentviewsofthepartimage,clickonbuttontwoorthree(inthe
firstrow).Thewindowwillbesplithorizontallyorvertically,dependingonthebutton
thatischosen.
3. Usingthedropdownlistbox,selectthedesiredvieworientationforeachwindow
thatwillbedisplayed.Forexample,toviewthepartimagefromtheZ+direction,
simplyselectZ+ fromthedropdownlistbox.Or,toviewthesameimagefromtheY
axis,selectY.AllofthedisplayoptionsonlyaffecthowPCDMISdisplaysthepart
image.Theydonotaffectthemeasureddataorinspectionresults.
4. SelecttheSolidcheckboxifyouwanttodisplayyourpartintheselectedviewof
yourpartasasolid.Leavingthecheckboxblankwilldisplaytheviewofthepartasa
wireframe.
5. ClickeithertheApplybuttonortheOkbutton.
IftheApplybuttonisselected,PCDMISwillredrawtheGraphics
Displaywindowtoreflectthecurrentsettings,allowingyoutopreviewyour
changes.
IftheOkbuttonisselected,PCDMISwillclosetheViewSetupdialog
boxandapplythechangestotheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Atanytime
beforeclickingOk,youcanclickCanceltoclosethedialogboxandrevert
theviewstowhattheywere.
ChangeSizeofViews
272 EditingtheCADDisplay PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

PCDMISletsyouredefinethesizesoftheviewsintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
Tochangethesizeofaviewwindow:
1. Positionthepointeronthelineseparatingthewindows.Thesinglearrowcursor
willchangetoadoublearrow.
3. Dragthelinetothedesiredlocation.Theviewsizewillchange.
Thisprocedureworksineitherthehorizontalorverticalposition.Thedrawingcanthenbere
scaledtofitwithinthenewwindowbyselectingtheScaleToFitoption.See"Scalingthe
Drawing".
Note:PCDMIScanbeinanymodewhenchangingtheviewsize.
Addinga3DGrid
Selecta3DGridcheckboxtoturnonthe3Dgridfortheselectedview.Unliketherulers,the
originofthe3Dgridwillalwaysbelocatedatthepart'scurrentalignment.
The3DGridSetupbuttonbringsupthe3DGridSetupdialogbox.Fromhereyoucanmodify
thegridspacing.
3DGridSetupdialogbox
ModifythegridlinespacingbytypingavalueintheXAxis,YAxis,andZAxisboxesorselect
theAutocheckboxestohavePCDMISautomaticallycomputereasonablespacing.
Gridlinelabelsareplacedaroundtheoutsideofthewindow.Theselinesfollowthecurrent
alignmentdefinedintheEditwindow.TheycanbeinsetbythevalueshownintheLabelInset
box.ThisvaluedeterminesthepixelbuffersizethatPCDMISplacesbetweentheouteredgeof
theGraphicsDisplaywindowandthe3Dgridlabels.
ClickOKandPCDMISdisplaysthe3DgridintheGraphic'sDisplaywindow.

Exampleofa3DGridwithLabelInsetof10intheXYPlane
Therearethreepossiblegridsthatcanbedrawn:
XY
YZ
ZX
PCDMISdrawsonlyonegridatatime.Thegriddrawndependsontheaxisplanerotated
closesttoyourscreen(determinedbytheaxisindicator).Forexample,thefollowingaxisindicator
fromtheGraphicsDisplaywindowshowstheXYaxisplanefacingtheuserPCDMISdrawsthe
XYaxisgrid.
AxisIndicatorshowingtheXYplane.
Note:Thecolorofthe3DgridcanbemodifiedfromtheScreenColordialogbox.See"Changing
ScreenColors".
Showinglinesoversurfaces
Thischeckboxappliestosolidviewonly.Selectthischeckboxtocausepointsandlinesthat
hidebehindsurfacestoshowthrough.Thisoptionisusefulforlookingatmeasuredfeaturesthat
arebehindsurfaces.Forexample,supposeameasuredlineinyourpartisslightlyunderneath
theCADsurface.Selectingthischeckboxwillforcethemeasuredlinetobevisible.
DisplayingRulers
SelecttheRulerscheckboxtoturnonrulersinallviews.Theoriginoftherulerswillalwaysbe
locatedattheCADorigin(notlocalpartalignments).
Displaying,Creating,andManipulatingLevels

ACADlevelconsistsofagroupofrelatedCADgeometries,whichareidentifiedbyalevel
number.ThelevelinformationinthesefilesisimportedintoPCDMISwhenthefilesare
'imported'.YoucanthenselectwhichlevelswillbedisplayedineachGraphicsDisplay'view'
usingtheViewSetupdialog(Edit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|ViewSetup).
GiventhesizeandcomplexityofmanyCADfiles,thisoptionwillgreatlybenefityourabilityto
restrictspecificportionsoftheCADmodelthatwillbevisibleasvariousPCDMIStasksarebeing
performed.(See"MakingCAD3D"formoreinformation.)
Note:ThisoptionisonlyavailableiflevelshavebeenincorporatedintotheIGESdrawingfile.
ToviewalevelintheGraphicsDisplaywindow:
Selectthedesiredview(blue,red,yellow,orgreenview).
Selecttheappropriatelevelfromthelist.
ClicktheApplybutton.
PCDMISwillredrawtheGraphicsDisplaywindowtoreflectthecurrentsetting.TheOKbutton
mustbepressedtosavethesechanges.
TheCreate...buttonintheViewSetupdialogboxallowsyoutoaccesstheLeveldialogbox.
Leveldialogbox
TheLeveldialogboxallowsyoutocreate,delete,ormodifylevels.

CreatingLevels
Creatingalevelconsistsofa3stepprocess.
1. FromtheLeveldialogbox,typeinthenewlevelnumberintheboxbeneaththe
Createbutton.
2. Choosethefeaturesthatyouwantcontainedinthenewlevelbyselectingthe
desiredfeaturetypecheckboxes.
3. ClicktheFinishbuttontocompletetheprocess.
DeletingLevels
Leveldeletionconsistsofa3stepprocess:
1. FromtheLeveldialogbox,selectanexistinglevelfromthedropdownlist.
3. SelecttheFinishbuttontocompletetheprocess.Allfeaturetypesthatwere
assignedtothedeletedlevelwillbeassignedtolevel'0.'
ModifyingLevels
Levelmodificationconsistsofa5stepprocess:
1. FromtheLeveldialogbox,selectanexistinglevelfromthedropdownlist.
2. ClickontheModifybutton.
3. SelecttheAssignbuttontoaddCADtothechosenlevel,orselecttheUndo
buttontoremoveCADfromthechosenlevel.
4. FromtheFeatureTypecheckboxes,selecttheappropriatefeaturetypestobe
'addedto'or'removedfrom'thedisplayedlevel.
5. SelecttheFinishbuttontocompletethelevelmodificationprocess.
LeveladditionandlevelmodificationwillrequiretheselectionofCADdata.Youcanrestrictthe
selectiontodifferenttypesofgeometryinthesamewayasselectionisrestrictedintheEdit
CADandDeleteCADdialogboxes.Also,selectionmayberestrictedtoCADofagivencolorby
checkingthe'Color'checkboxandselectingageometryofthedesiredcolor.Theselectedcolor
willthenappearnexttothe'Color'checkbox.Tochangeacolor,clearthe'Color'checkbox,
thenreselecttheColorcheckbox,selectingthegeometrywiththenewcolor.
YoucanclosetheLeveldialogboxbyclickingOKorCancel.TheCancelbuttonwillnotsave
theresultsofanyoperationsinprogress.
ManagingandPositioningOnScreenElements
TheGraphicsDisplaywindowholdsmorethanjusttheCADdrawingofyourpart.Itcanalso
displayfeatureIDandDatumDefinitionlabels,DimensionInfoandPointInfotextboxes,and
FeatureControlFrames(FCFs).Theseelementsallbringorganizationtoyourreport,butwithtoo
manyofthemdisplayedyourscreenmaycoverupyourpartandtendtomakeyourpartdrawing
lookcluttered.
Fortunately,youcaneasilyrepositiontheseelementsbymovingyourmouseoveranelement.
Themousepointerchangestoacrosshair.Clickonanelementanddragittoanewlocation.
PCDMISthendrawsaleaderlinefromtheIDlabelortextboxtoitscorrespondingfeature.

YoucanalsohavePCDMISdynamicallyrepositionallyourlabelsandtextboxesaroundyour
partdrawingevenwhenchangingthezoomlevelforyourpart'sdisplay.SelecttheAutomatic
LabelPositioningcheckboxfromtheGeneraltaboftheSetupOptionsdialogbox.See
"AutomaticLabelPositioning"in"SettingYourPreferences".
Ifthingsstilllookcluttered,youcanalsocontrolthevisibilitystateofthesevariouselementsusing
shortcutmenus.See"FeatureShortcutMenu"and"BoxSelectShortcutMenu"in"Using
ShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus".
Note:Positioningelementsisonlydoneintheactiveview.Ifyouhaveasplitscreenshowing
additionalviewsofthepart,theIDsremainasbeforeintheotherviews.
SwitchingBetweenCurveandSurfaceModes
Operation|Graphics
DisplayWindow|Change
Curve/SurfaceMode
TheoptionalpackageCurvesandSurfacesmusthavebeenpurchasedforyoursysteminorder
toaccessthesemodes.YoucanusethesemodeswithProgrammodetotakeofflinehitsonyour
CADmodel'swireframeorsurfaceentities.
TheCurvemodeoptionmakesawireframe'smodelofcurvesandlines
selectablewhenclickingontheCADdataintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Youmust
importawireframemodelforthisoptiontobecomeavailable.Thismodeworkswell
forallMeasuredFeatures.However,twographicviewsarerequiredtotakehitsin
Curvemode,oneviewforsettingthedepthandtheotherviewfortakinghitsonthe
feature.Thefollowingmouseoperationsareusedtosetdepthandtakehitsonany
MeasuredFeature:
o RightclickThissetstheapproximateanimatedprobedepthatthe
currentmousepointerposition.UsethistocreateMovePointswhen
programminginofflinemode.See"InsertingaMovePointCommand"in
"InsertingMoveCommands".
o Rightclick+dragThissetsthedepthonthenearestwireframeentity
whenyoureleasethemousebutton.Usethistosetthedepthformeasured
lines,circlesandcylinders.Notethatyoucancreateaconefeaturebyright
clickingonthetopandbottomcirclestodefinetheconeangle(topview)and
thenleftclickingtotakehits(bottomview).
o LeftclickThisselectsthenearestlineorcircleandtakesequally
spacedhitsatthecurrentdepthsettingbasedonthesettingsintheGeneral
taboftheSetupOptionsdialogbox.See"EditBoxesfortheGeneraltab"in
"SettingYourPreferences".
o Leftclick+dragThistakesasinglehitatthecurrentdepthsettingona
line,arcorcircle.Alwaysapproachfromthesideofthewirethemachine
wouldapproachfrom.
o Leftclick+holdThisdelayedclicktakesahitatthepointer'sposition
atthecurrentdepthsetting.Usethismethodtotakehitsonaplane.Besure
toholdthemousesteadywhenholdingdownthebuttonsothatwhenyou
releaseitavalidhitistakennormaltothesurfaceatthepointer'sposition.
TheSurfacemodeoptionmakesasolidmodel'ssurfacesselectablewhen
clickingontheCADdataintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Youmustimportasolid
modelforthisoptiontobecomeavailable.Totakeahit,clickonanysurface.PC

DMISpiercesthesurface,capturestheX,Y,Z,I,J,Kinformation,andthehitis
recordedatthepointer'sposition.Selectthecorrectnumberofhitstodefinethe
featureandthenpresstheENDkey.PCDMISwillguessthefeaturetype.Thismode
worksbestforcreatingpoint,line,andplanefeatures.Whileyoucanalsousethis
modewithcircularfeatures(circles,cylinders,conesandspheres),youwillfind
thatespeciallyforinsidefeaturesitisoftendifficulttoselecthitsataconstant
crosssectionordepth.InthesecasesyoumaywanttouseCurvemode.
Forinformationonusingthesemodeswithscans,seethe"ScanningyourPart"chapter.
DrawingSurfaces
TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|DrawSurfacesoptionallowsyoutodisplay
surfacesonthescreen.NotethatyoumustfirstselecttheSolidcheckboxintheViewSetup
dialogbox.ForinformationontheViewSetupdialogbox,seethe"SettingUptheScreenView"
topic.
Toturnoffthedisplayofsurfaces,selectthisoptionagain.
HighlightingSurfacesandCurveswiththeMouse
PCDMIS3.6andlatergivesyoutheabilitytoquicklyandeasilyhighlightCADsurfacesand
wireframeelementsbysimplyhoveringoverthemwithyourmouse.Thisletsyougetaquick
overviewoftheavailablesurfacesorcurvesonyourpartmodel.ThisiscalledMouseOver
Highlighting(MOHL).
ExampleofMouseOverHighlighting
TousetheMOHLfunctionality,holddowntheSHIFTbuttonandmovethemouseoveryourpart.
IfyouhaveselectedSurfacemode,PCDMIShighlightsinyellowthecurrentsurface
underthemouse.
IfyouhaveselectedCurvemode,PCDMIShighlightsthecurrentcurveorwireframe
elementunderthemouse.

IfusingMOHLwithatexturedbitmapappliedtosurfacesofyourpart,youshouldsetyourZ
BufferDepthtoavaluelowerthan32bits.Asettingof32orhighermaycausejaggedhighlight
linestoremainonyourimageuntilyourrefreshtheGraphicsDisplaywindow.See"Changing
OpenGLOptions"inthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapter.
RepaintingtheScreen
ThisoptionwillrefreshtheGraphicsDisplaywindowwhenevertheOperation|Graphics
DisplayWindow|RepainttheScreenoptionisselected.
ChangingScreenModes
PCDMISallowsyoutoswitchbetweentheseScreenModes.ThedifferentmodestellPCDMIS
howtointerpretmouseclicks.
TranslateMode
TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|ChangeScreenMode|Translateoptionplaces
PCDMISintotranslatemode.Thismodeallowsyoutomoveandzoominoroutonthepartwhile
intheGraphicsDisplaywindow.ThefollowingfunctionsareavailableintheTranslateMode:
ShrinkthesizeofthepartwithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
EnlargethesizeofthepartwithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
SelectaportionofthepartwithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
RepositionthepartwithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
ShrinkingthePartImagewithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow
Toshrinktheentireimageofthepartbyclicking:
1. Movethemousepointertoapointabovetheimaginary,horizontalcenterlineof
thegraphicpartdisplay.
2. Clicktherightmousebutton.
Thefartherawaythecursorisfromthecenterline,themorethedrawingwillshrink.
Ifyouhaveamousewithamousewheelyouscrollyourmousewheelawayfromyoutoshrink
thedrawing.
EnlargingthePartImagewithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow
Toenlargetheentireimageofthepart:
1. Movethemousepointertoapointbelowtheimaginary,horizontalcenterlineof
thegraphicpartdisplay.
2. Clicktherightmousebutton.

Thefartherawaythecursorisfromthecenterline,themorethedrawingwillgrow.
Ifyouhaveamousewithamousewheelyouscrollyourmousewheeltowardsyoutoenlargethe
part.
EnlargingaPortionofthePartImagewithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow
Toenlargeaspecifiedsectionofthedisplayedpart:
1. Placethemousepointeratacorneroftheselectionarea.
2. Holdbothleftandrightmousebuttonssimultaneously.
3. Move(drag)thearrowiconovertheportionoftheGraphicsDisplaywindowtobe
selected.PCDMISwillbegindrawingabox.
4. Whentheboxcontainsthepropergeometry,releasebothmousebuttons.PC
DMISwillzoominontheselectedarea.
Note:Onceyoureachacertainpoint,theimagedoesn'tenlargeanyfurther.
RepositioningthePartImagewithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow
TochangethepositionofthepartimagewithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow:
1. Placethemousepointerovertheimageofthepart.
2. Holddowntherightmousebuttonanddragittoanewposition.
2DRotateMode
Rotatingadrawingin2 TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|ChangeScreen
dimensionsonlychangestheMode|2DRotateoptionrotatesthepartintwodimensions.The
display.Itdoesnotinany partcanberotatedafull360degreesoranyfractionthereof.
waychangetheactualpart's
originordatums. Thefollowingsectionsdescribethedifferentwaystorotatea
drawingintwodimensions.
Rotate2DbyDragging

PCDMISredrawstheimageAdrawingcanberotatedintwodimensionsbydraggingthedrawing
dynamicallyasthemouseis aroundtheimaginarycenteroftheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
beingmoved.
Torotatebydragging:
1. FromtheGraphicsModestoolbar,clickthe2D
RotateModeicon.
2. PositionthemousepointerintheGraphicsDisplay
window(inanyareaotherthanatthecenter).
3. Holddowntherightmousebutton.
4. Movethepointerabouttheimaginarycenterofthe
displaywindow.PCDMISredrawstheimage
dynamicallyasyoumovethemouse.
5. Releasethemousebutton.PCDMISkeepsyour
currentrotation.
Hint:Toquicklyrotateyourpartfromwithinanymode,pressALT+rightclickanddragthe
mouse.NotethatthisdoesnotworkifyouhavetheRotatedialogboxfor3Drotationopen.
Rotate2DtoanElement(SquareuptheDrawing)
To"squareup"theparttothescreen,fromtheGraphicsModestoolbar,selectthe2DRotate
Modeicon ,andthenclickonafeaturewiththerightmousebutton.(Donotholddownthe
button.)PCDMISwillrotatethedrawingsothattheselectedfeatureisparalleltotheclosest
screenaxis(verticalorhorizontal).
Rotate2DbyaFactor
Torotatebyaprecisefactor,similartothe"ScalingtheModelbyaFactor"topic,dothefollowing:
1. Selectthe2DRotateModeicon fromtheGraphicsModestoolbar.
2. PressSHIFTandthenrightclickintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.PCDMISwill
displayasmalldialogbox.
3. Typetheangle(indegrees)intotheAngleofpartcoordinatesXbox.
4. ClickOK.PCDMISclosestheboxandperformsa2Drotateofthepartinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.
3DRotateMode

TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|ChangeScreenMode|3DRotatemenuoption
allowsyoutorotateapartdrawinginthreedimensions.Thepartcanberotatedupto45degrees
perrotation.SelectingthisoptionopenstheRotatedialogbox.
Rotatedialogbox
The"Rotate3DusingRotateDialogBox","Rotate3DbyDragging",and"Rotate3Dtoan
Element"topicsbelowdescribethreedifferentwaystorotateadrawinginthreedimensions.
Seethe"RotatingtheDrawing"topicforadditionalinformationonrotatingthedrawing.
Rotate3DbyDragging
Partrotationcanalsobeaccomplishedbydraggingthemouse.Todothis:
1. Accessthe3DRotatedialogbox.
2. Clickandholdtherightmousebutton.
3. Dragthemouse.
Hint:ToquicklyrotateyourpartwithorwithouttheRotatedialogboxopen,pressCTRL+right
clickanddragthemouse,orifyourmousehasacentermousewheelbutton,holdthe
mousewheelbuttonanddragthemouse.
DeterminingthePointofRotation
Therearetwowaystodeterminethepointofrotation,dependingonwherethemouseiswhen
youfirstclicktherightmousebutton.EitherthemouseisovertheGraphicsDisplaywindow
backgroundoritisoverthepart.
1.) IfthemouseisovertheGraphicsDisplaybackground,thepartwillberotatedabout
thepart'sorigin.
2.) Ifthemouseisoverthepart,thepartwillberotatedaboutthepointonthepart
directlybelowthemousepointer.
Rotate3DusingRotateDialogBox
Torotatethedrawingusingthedialogbox:

1. Selecttheviewtobealtered(numberedas14optionbuttons).
2. DeterminetheamountofrotationbyselectingtheDegreeIncrement(1,5,10,or
45)option.
3. Clickonthedesiredaxisbuttonstorotatethedrawing.
4. SelecttheClosebutton.PCDMISdisplaysthechangestotheCADimageinthe
ClickingtheResetbuttonwillsnaptherotationofthedrawingintheRotatedialogboxandinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindowtotheclosestaxis.
IfyouselecttheAnimatecheckbox,PCDMISdynamicallyredrawsthepartintheGraphics
Displaywindowasitisrotatedinsidethedialogbox.Ifyouclearthischeckbox,andthenusea
rotationbuttoninthedialogbox,therotationoftheactualpartonthescreendoesnottakeplace
untilyoureleasetheclickedbutton.
Rotate3DtoanElement(SquareuptheDrawing)
To"squareup"theparttothescreen,fromtheGraphicsModestoolbar,selectthe3DRotate
Modeicon,andthenclickonafeaturewiththerightmousebutton.(Donotholddownthe
button.)PCDMISwillrotatethedrawingsotheselectedfeaturewillbeparalleltotheclosest
screenaxis(vertical,horizontalorperpendiculartothescreen).
TextBoxMode
TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|ChangeScreenMode|TextBoxmenuoption
placesPCDMISintoamodethatletsyoumanipulatefeatureIDs,featurecontrolframes,scan
points,aswellasquicklycreateandmodifyDimensionInfoandPointInfotextboxes.
SampleDimensionInfoBox
SamplePointInfoBox
Youcancreatethesetextboxesbyusingshortcutmenusthatappearwhenyourightclickorbox
selectfeatureIDsorfeatures.Seethe"InsertingDimensionInfoBoxes"and"InsertingPointInfo
Boxes"topicsinthe"InsertingReportCommands"chapter.

Note:InsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow,noticethatwhenyoumovethemouseovereithera
feature,orafeature'sIDlabel,thatPCDMIShighlightsthefeatureontheCADdrawing.This
helpsyouquicklyidentifythefeatureassociatedwithaparticularlabel.
ThefollowingaretheshortcutmenusavailableinsideTextBoxMode:
Ifyourightclickonthefeature,feature'sIDlabel,ortextbox,PCDMISdisplays
ashortcutmenuforthatfeature.See"FeatureShortcutMenu"inthe"UsingShortcut
IfyourightclickonaDimensioninfoorPointInfobox,PCDMISdisplaysa
shortcutmenuforthattextbox.See"FeatureShortcutMenu"inthe"UsingShortcut
Ifyouboxselectoneormorefeatures,PCDMISdisplaysashortcutmenu.See
"BoxSelectShortcutMenu"inthe"UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus"
appendix.
IfyourightclickonascanpointyoucanusetheMoveCursorTomenuitemto
jumptothatpoint.See"LocatingPointsinaScan"inthe"ScanningyourPart"
chapter.
Note: Whenyourmouseisn'toverafeatureortextbox,PCDMISallowsyoutoperformthe
normaltranslatemodeoperationsofzoomingandrotatingthepartwiththerightmousebutton.
See"TranslateMode"foradditionalinformation.
Tip:ForaquickwaytocreateaDIMINFOoraPOINTINFObox,simplydoubleclickonafeature
orfeatureIDlabel.PCDMIScanbeinanymode.PCDMISautomaticallycreatesaninfobox
basedoncurrentEditDimensionInfoorEditPointInfodialogboxsettings.
Example:SupposeyoucreatedaDIMINFOboxforafeature.Doubleclickingonsubsequent
featurelabelswillcreateadditionalDIMINFOboxesforthosefeaturesusingthesamesettings
selectedthelasttimetheEditDimensionInfodialogboxwasused.
ProgramMode
TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|ChangeScreenMode|Programmenuoption
allowsyoutolearnandeditpartprogramsusingCADdatafromIGESfiles.UseProgramMode
tocreateMeasuredfeaturesfromawireframeorsurfaceCADmodel.WhileinProgramMode
youtakehitsonthemodelwithananimatedprobesimulatingtakinghitswiththeCMMinGuess
Mode.ThiscapabilityisavailableineithertheofflineoronlineversionsofPCDMIS.
Forfurtherinformationonprogrammingusinggraphics,refertothe"WorkinginOfflineMode"
appendix.
ChangingScreenColors

ScreenColordialogbox
TheScreenColordialogbox(Edit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|ScreenColor)allowsyouto
determinethecolorstodisplaywithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Theseincludethe
backgroundcolor,agradientcolor,highlight,andmouseoverhighlightcolors,the3DGridcolor,
andtheVisionmodule'sFieldofView(FOV)color.
ToChangeaColor:
Tochangethecolors:
1. AccesstheScreenColordialogbox(Edit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|
ScreenColor).
2. ClickontheEditbuttonfortheBackground,Gradient,Highlight,MouseOver
Highlight,3DGrid,orVisionFOV.TheColordialogboxwillappear.
3. Chooseanewcolorfortheoptionyouselected.
4. ClickOK.TheColordialogboxwillclosereturningyoutotheScreenColor
dialogbox.
5. ClicktheApplybuttontosavethechangesyouhavemadeandcontinue
workingintheScreenColordialogbox.
6. Whenfinished,clicktheOKbutton.
Background

TheBackgroundareaallowsyoutochangethebackgroundscreencolor.Thiscolorisalsoused
asthebackgroundcolorforanyFeatureControlFramesdisplayedintheGraphicsDisplay
window.Followthedirectionsdiscussedin"ToChangeaColor"above.
TheGradientsettingsarea,letsyoudefineasecondarybackgroundgradientcolor.Whenyou
setthegradienttosomethingotherthanNoneinthelist,anadditionalEdit...buttonappears.You
canclickthatbuttontodefineasecondarygradientcolor.Then,whensettingthescreen's
background,PCDMISwillstartfromthesettinglocation(forexampletheBottom)anddisplaythe
secondarygradientcolor,andthengraduallychangefromthatcolortotheprimarygradientcolor
asitdrawsthecolorsnearstheotherendofthescreen.
Forexample,aBottomgradientsettingmightlooklikethis:
GradientColorsExample
TheavailableitemsintheGradientssettingslistare:
NoneNosecondarygradient.Thescreen'sbackgroundwillbethesolidprimary
color.
BottomThesecondarygradientcolorstartsatthebottomofthescreenand
graduallychangestotheprimarycolorasitnearsthetop.
RightThesecondarygradientcolorstartsattherightsideofthescreenand
graduallychangestotheprimarycolorasitnearstheleftside.
BottomRightThesecondarygradientcolorstartsatthebottomrightsideof
thescreenandgraduallychangestotheprimarycolorasitnearsthetopleftside.
BottomLeftThesecondarygradientcolorstartsatthebottomleftsideofthe
screenandgraduallychangestotheprimarycolorasitnearsthetoprightside.

ToprightThesecondarygradientcolorstartsatthetoprightsideofthescreen
andgraduallychangestotheprimarycolorasitnearsthebottomleftside.
TopleftThesecondarygradientcolorstartsatthetopleftsideofthescreen
andgraduallychangestotheprimarycolorasitnearsthebottomrightside.
Highlight
TheHighlightareaallowsyoutochangethecolorusedforhighlightingwithintheGraphics
DisplaywindowofPCDMIS.Followthedirectionsdiscussedin"ToChangeaColor"above.
MouseOverHighlight
TheMouseOverHighlightarealetschangethecolorthatPCDMISusesaswellasthemouse
pointer'sshapewhenyouhighlightsurfacesorcurveswithyourmouseusingMouseOver
Highlighting(MOHL).Followthedirectionsdiscussedin"ToChangeaColor"above.
TheCursorarealetsyoudisplayeitheranArroworaCrossshapeforthemousepointerwhen
inMOHLmode:
ArrowShapeMousePointer CrossShapeMousePointer
See"HighlightingSurfacesandCurveswiththeMouse"forinformation.
3DGrid

The3DGridareaallowsyoutochangethecolorusedforthe3DgridintheGraphicsDisplay
window.Followthedirectionsdiscussedin"ToChangeaColor"above.
Formoreinformationonthe3DGrid,see"Addinga3DGrid".
VisionFOV
TheVisionFOVarealetsyouchangethecolorusedfortheFieldofView(FOV)whenusingthe
PCDMISVisionmodule.Followthedirectionsdiscussedin"ToChangeaColor"above.Seethe
PCDMISVisiondocumentationforinformationontheFOVandontheVisionmodule.
ScalingtheDrawing
YoucanscaletheCADdrawingtofitthesizeofyourselectedview(s)intheGraphicsDisplay
window,oryoucanscalebyafactor.
ScalingtheModeltoFittheView
TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|ScaleToFit menuoptionredisplaysthepart
imagetofitentirelywithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Thisoptionishelpfulwheneverthe
imagebecomestoolargeortoosmall.ToalterthepartimagesoallfeaturesandCADelements
arevisible,simplyselecttheScaleToFitmenuoption.
ScalingtheModelbyaFactor
ScaleDrawingdialogbox
TheScaleDrawingoption TheScaleDrawingoptionisnotavailablefromthemenubar.The
onlyfunctionswhenPC ScaleDrawingoptionletsyoualterthepart'simageinthe
DMISisinTranslateMode. GraphicsDisplaywindow.ThisoptiondoesnotaltertheCADdata
See"ChangingScreen inanyway.
Modes".
Tousethisoption:

1. ClicktheTranslatemodeiconfromtheGraphicsModestoolbar.
2. PresstheSHIFTkeyandwhileholdingitdown,clicktherightmousebutton.The
ScaleDrawingdialogboxwillappear.
3. IndicatetheX,Y,Zpartcoordinatesthataretobedisplayedinthecenterofthe
screen.
4. Typethedesiredscalingfactor.
Example:Toreducethesizeofthedrawingelementsby50%,type0.5.Todoublethesizeofthe
drawingelements,type2.0.Ascalingfactorof1.0willnotaffectthesizeofthedrawing.
YoucanalsoscalethegraphicalimagewithintheGraphicsDisplaywindowsimplybyright
mouseclickingaboveorbelowanimaginaryhorizontallinethatsplitstheGraphicsDisplay
window.
RotatingtheDrawing
SelectingtheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|RotatemenuoptionbringsuptheRotate
dialogbox.
Rotatedialogbox
Thisdialogallowsyoutorotateapartdrawinginthreedimensions.Eachviewofthepartcanbe
rotatedupto45degreesperrotation.Youcanalsoactivatethisoptionbyselectingthe3D
RotatemodeiconontheGraphicsModestoolbar.
Torotatethedrawingusingthedialogbox:
1. Selecttheviewtobealtered(14).
2. Determinetheamountofrotationbyselectingthedegreeincrement(1,5,10,or
45).
3. Clickonthedesiredaxisbuttontorotatethedrawingintheindicateddirection.
ClickingtheResetbuttonwillsnaptherotationofthedrawingintheRotatedialogboxandinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindowtotheclosestaxis.
IfyouselecttheAnimatecheckbox,PCDMISdynamicallyredrawsthepartintheGraphics
Displaywindowasitisrotated.

Seethe"3DRotateMode"foradditionalinformationonrotating.
Hint:ToquicklyrotateyourpartwithorwithouttheRotatedialogboxopen,pressCTRL+right
clickanddragthemouse,orifyourmousehasacentermousewheelbutton,holdthe
mousewheelbuttonanddragthemouse.Also,doubleclickingthemousewheelbuttonatany
timedoesthesamethingastheResetbuttonontheRotatedialogbox:itsnapstherotationto
theclosestaxis.
ChangingRotationandOtherMotionOptions
YoucanmodifyhowCADmodelsgetdisplayedduringrotationbyaccessingtheEdit|Graphics
DisplayWindow|Rotate2D/3DOptionsmenuitem.ThisdisplaystheRotateOptionsdialog
box.
YoucanalsoaccessthisdialogboxbyclickingtheRotation
RotationOptionsicon OptionsiconontheGraphicsModetoolbar.
RotateOptionsdialogbox
Thisdialogboxcontrolswhetherornotcertainitemsgetdrawnandhowtheygetdrawninside
theGraphicsDisplaywindowwhenyourotateyourpartmodelusingtherightmousebutton.The
optionsonthisdialogboxcanhelpspeedupthedisplayofyourrotation.
Important:IfyouareusingaSpaceBallorSpaceMousedevice,thisdialogboxbehavesjustlike
thePan,Zoom,RotateOptionsdialogboxandonlyhasadifferentdialogboxtitle.SpaceBallor
SpaceMousedevicesextendthefunctionalitydescribedforrotationtozoomingandpanningas
well.Seethe"ConfiguringaSpaceBallorSpaceMouseDevice"topicinthe"GettingStarted:An
Overview"chapter.Ifyouareusingastandardmouseforyourpointingdevice,thenthe
GraphicsOptionsdialogboxonlyappliestorotation.
Disable2sidedlightingandbackfaceculling

Selectingthischeckboxdisablestwosidedlightingandusesbackfacecullingduringrotation.
TheresultinglightingeffectswillroughlydisplayonlyhalfoftheCADelements.Seethe
comparisonbelow.
BeforeRotation DuringRotationDisable2sided
lightingandbackfaceculling
Disablematerials,textures,andtransparencies
Selectingthischeckboxdisablestherenderingofappliedmaterials,textures,andtransparencies
duringrotation.Seethecomparisonbelow.
BeforeRotationwith DuringRotationNo
Transparency transparencies
Ignoretheseobjects
Selectingthischeckboxdisablesthedisplayofspecifiedobjects.Objectswillbeignoredduring
rotationforthoseobjecttypesthatareselectedusingtheassociatedcheckboxes.Youcan
choosetoignoreprobes,machines,changers,orfixtures.Theexamplebelowhidestheprobe
duringrotation.

BeforeRotation DuringRotationIgnoreProbe
Percentageofremainingobjectstodraw
ThisareadrawsthespecifiedpercentageofCADentitiesmakinguptheremainingobjects
displayedintheGraphicsDisplayWindow.Choicesaregivenfor100,50,20,and10percent.For
example,ifyouselected10% PCDMISwoulddrawonly10%oftheCADentitiesthatmakeup
theentire model.Theexamplebelowdisplaysonly10%oftheobjectsduringrotation.
BeforeRotation DuringRotationDisplayonly
10%
HowtodrawobjectsAsDefined
Selectingthisoptiondrawsobjectsasoriginallydefinedduringrotation.
HowtodrawobjectsWireFrame
Selectingthisoptiondrawsobjectsaswireframesduringrotation.Seethecomparisonbelow.

BeforeRotation DuringRotationDrawWire
Frame
HowtodrawobjectsPoints
Selectingthisoptiondrawsobjectsaspoints.ThePointsoptiongivesarepresentationofthe
objectsusingpoints.Seethecomparisonbelow.
BeforeRotationwithTransparencyDuringRotationDrawPoints
ShowingandHidingGraphics
YoucanchoosetoshoworhidevariouskindsofgraphicalobjectsinsidetheGraphicsDisplay
windowbyselectingtheEdit|GraphicsDisplaywindow|HideandShowGraphicsmenu
option.ThisdisplaystheHideandshowgraphicsdialogbox.
YoucanalsoaccessthisdialogboxbyselectingtheGraphics
GraphicsCategoriesiconCategoriesiconfromtheGraphicsModestoolbar.

Hideandshowgraphics
Thisdialogboxcontainscheckboxesthatdeterminewhetherornotthefollowingitemsget
displayedintheGraphicsDisplaywindow:
Cadmodels
Probe
Machine
ToolChanger
Fixture
YouwillfindthathidingsomeoftheseobjectsfromtimetotimemakesusingtheGraphics
Displaywindoweveneasier.
Checkboxesareunavailableformodelsorhardwaredefinitionsthathavenotyetbeeninserted.
WorkingwithAssembliesofParts
TheCADAssemblydialogboxcontainsalistofallimportedandmergedpartsorassemblies
usedintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Youcanusethisdialogboxtovieworeditassembliesof
parts.SelectingtheAssemblyiconorselectingEdit|GraphicsDisplayWidow|CAD
AssemblydisplaystheCADAssemblydialogbox.
TheAssemblyiconisavailablefromtheView|Toolbars|GraphicsModestoolbar.

CADAssemblydialogbox
Thisdialogboxcontainsthefollowingoptions:
PartPathway
Thegrayboxatthetopofthedialogboxdisplaysthelocationonyourcomputerwhereaselected
partresides.
AssemblyTreeView
Theleftsideofthedialogboxhasatreeviewoftheassemblystructure.Thistreeviewshows
eachcomponentpartintheassembly.
Whenyouselectacomponentintheassembly,PCDMIShighlightsitintheGraphicsDisplay
window.Conversely,whenyouselectaCADobjectinthegraphicsview,PCDMISselectsits
correspondingcomponentintheAssemblyTreeView.ThismakesiteasytoidentifywhichCAD
objectsbelongtowhichassemblycomponent.
Selectingapartalsodisplayspathwayinformationtofindthatpartonyourcomputerinthegray
boxabovethelist.
Thetreeviewalsohasacheckboxnexttoeachcomponent.Youcanshoworhidethat
componentintheGraphicsDisplaywindowbyselectingthischeckbox.Thisisreflected
immediatelyinthegraphicswindow.
SelectingorclearingthesecheckboxesperformsthesamefunctionalityasclickingtheShowor
HidebuttonsintheVisibilityarea.
ExpandDescendants
TheExpandDescendantsbuttonexpandsanassemblytoshowalistofchildpartsmakingup
theassembly.
Visibilityarea

TheVisibilityareaprovidesconvenientbuttonstochangethehiddenstateofassembly
componentgroups.SelecttheHidebuttontohidetheselectedcomponent.
HideSiblingsHidesallofthecomponentsexcepttheselectedcomponentatthesame
levelontheassemblytree.
ShowShowstheselectedcomponent.
HideHidestheselectedcomponent.
ShowSiblingsShowsallofthecomponentsexcepttheselectedcomponentatthe
samelevelontheassemblytree.
ShowAllShowallthecomponentsontheassemblytree.
Editingarea
TheEditingareaprovidesbuttonsthatallowyoutomakesimplemodificationstotheassembly.
DeleteDeletestheselectedcomponentfromtheassemblyandremovesitfromthe
TransformDisplaytheCADTransformdialogbox.Thisdialogboxallowsyouto
transformasinglecomponentintheassembly.See"TransformingaCADModel"for
moreinformation.
CoordinateSystemDisplaystheCADCoordinateSystemdialogbox.Thisdialogbox
letsyoucreateandmanagedifferentcoordinatesystems.See"WorkingwithCAD
CoordinateSystems"formoreinformation.
Youcannotedittherootlevelcomponent(usuallythepartnameusedinyourpartprogram)or
DCIcomponents.SelectingthesetypesofcomponentsdisablesthebuttonsintheEditingarea.
MakingCAD3DbyUsingtheCreateLevelsWindow
TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|Make3Dmenuoption(ortheMake3Dbuttonon
theIgesFiledialogbox)allowsyoutomanipulatea2DCADdrawingthreedimensionally.This
optioncanalsobeaccessedduringtheimportphaseofloadingaCADdrawing.
AfterselectingtheMake3Dmenuoption,PCDMISdisplaystheCreateLevelswindow.This
windowwillinitiallydisplay"CreateLevelsOLDFILE"initstitlebar.

CreateLevelswindow
Note:Anychangesmadetothedrawingaretemporary.WhenthemainPCDMISforWindows
screenisreactivated,thealterationswillnolongerbevalid.
UsingtheCreateLevelsOLDFILEwindowyouareabletocreatenewlevels,orviewsofthe
variousgeometricalelementsthatmakeuptheCAD.Anychangesmadetothegraphicsare
temporaryuntilyouselectFile|SaveandExit.
Therearethreemenusassociatedwiththiswindowwhichareusedtocreatethevariouslevels:
File.Thismenuletsyousaveyourchanges,cancelyourchanges,andswitch
betweentheOLDFILEandNEWFILEwindows.See"CreateLevelsFilemenu"for
adescriptionoftheoptionsintheFile menu.
View.Thismenuprovidesvariousoptionstomanipulatetheviewsofthevarious
levels.See"CreateLevelsViewmenu"foradescriptionoftheoptionsintheView
menu.
Level.Thismenuallowsyoutocreate,select,orpositionyourlevels.See
"CreateLevelsLevelmenu"foradescriptionoftheoptionsintheLevel menu.
ToMakeCAD3D
Useofthisprogramfeaturemayrequiresomeexperimentationtogainfamiliaritywiththe
orientationoptionsdiscussedinthisprocedure.
1. Createapartprogram(see"CreatingNewPartPrograms"inthe"UsingBasic
FileOptions"chapter).
2. ImporttheCADmodelintothepartprogram(see"ImportingCADData"inthe
"UsingAdvancedFileOptions"chapter).
3. Reviewthecoordinatesystemofthemodel.
4. Createyouralignment(seethe"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapter).
5. SelecttheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|Make3Dmenuoption.The
CreateLevelswindowappearswiththetext"OLDFILE"displayedonthetitlebar.
ThewindowdisplaysyourimportedCADasawireframemodel.
6. Holddowntheleftmousebuttonanddrawaboxaroundtheentiremodel.PC
DMIShighlightstheselectedCADmodel.
7. SelectLevel|Create.PCDMISregeneratesthemodel.
8. SelectLevel|Position.ThePositionLeveldialogboxappearswiththenumber
1inthetitlebar.Thisshowshowyouwillpositionthemodelforthefirstlevel.
9. SelectaviewfromwhichtoreorientthemodelfromtheOrientationarea.The
remainingdialogboxoptionsbecomeavailable.
10. Selectotheroptionsasdesired:
Torotatethemodeltoyourselectedorientation,clickPosition.
Tooffsetthemodel'sorientationbyaspecificvalueinthehorizontalorvertical
direction,typetheoffsetdistanceintotheOffset(Horizontal)orOffset
(Vertical)boxes.
Tomovetheorientationtoaspecificelement,clicktheElement1optionand
thenclickthedesiredCADelementinyourCreateLevelswindow.PCDMIS
shiftstheorientationtothespecifiedelement.Ifyouwanttouseasecond
element,dothesamewiththeElement2option.

Tooffsettheorientationfromadefiningelement,selecttheElementoptioninthe
OffsetDefiningElementareaandthentypeanoffsetdistanceintheOffset
box.
11. Aftercompletingyourchanges,clickApply,andthenOK.ThePositionLevels
dialogboxclosesandPCDMISregeneratestheCreateLevelswindowwithyour
changes.
12. ReviewyourchangesbyusingoptionsfromtheView menu.Specifically,View|
ChangeallowsyoutoaccesstheViewSetupdialogboxtospecifytheviewforthe
CreateLevelswindow.
13. SelectFile|SaveandExitifyouwanttokeeptheneworientation.Ifnot,select
CancelandExit.
CreateLevelsFilemenu
TheCreateLevels'File menuallowsyoutoaccesstheoriginalfilethatwasreadin"OLDFILE"
andthenewlycreatedfile"NEWFILE".Italsoallowsyoutosaveanychangesbeforeexitingthis
option.
The"OLDFILE"alwayscontainstheunaltereddatafromtheoriginalfile.
The"NEWFILE"fileallowsyoutoaccessthePositiondialogbox,situatingthe
level3dimensionally.
Onlyoneofthefilewindowscanbeaccessedatatime.PCDMISallowsyoutoswitchbetween
theopenedwindowsusingtheFile menu.PCDMISwillautomaticallyswitchtotheappropriate
windowwhennecessaryforaspecificfunction(suchascreatinganewlevel).
If,aftercreatingoreditingyourlevels,youwanttosaveyourchanges,besuretoselecttheSave
andExitoption,PCDMISdoesnotautomaticallysaveyourchangestotheCADdisplayifyou
justclosedownthewindow.
CreateLevelsViewmenu
CreateLevelsViewmenu
TheCreateLevels'View menuallowsyoutotemporarilyalterthegraphicsdisplayedinthedialog
box.Thisallowsyoutorotate,scale,orchangetheviewtoeasilyaccessthenecessaryCAD
elements.
View|Change
TheChangemenuoptionletsyoucreatenewviewsfromaCADfile.Thisfunctionishelpful
whena2DIGESfileisusedthatcontainsseveralviewsofapartinoneplaneandtheviews
needtobeassociatedwiththeircorrectorientationintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
View|ScaletoFit
TheScaletoFit menuoptionredrawsthepartimagetofitentirelywithintheGraphicsDisplay
window.Thisfunctionisusefulwhenevertheimagebecomestoolargeorsmall.
View|Rotate

TheRotatemenuoptiondisplaystheRotatedialogbox,allowingyoutorotatethepartimagein
threedimensions.See"ScalingtheDrawing".
View|CADInfo
TheCadInfomenuoptiondisplaystheCADinformationdialogbox.Thisdialogallowsyouto
viewinformationaboutaspecificCADGeometry.AnytimeasingleCADgeometryisselected,
andtheCADinformationdialogboxisopen,theninformationaboutthespecifiedCADgeometry
willbedisplayed.
CADInformationdialogbox
Theselectedelementwillalsoflashonthescreen.Ataminimum,thetypeofthegeometrywillbe
shown(circle,line,etc.).Also,iftheCADwasimportedwithPCDMISversion3.2orlater,
informationabouttheCADfile(atthetimeofimport)willbedisplayed.Thisincludesthefullpath
tofile,thetimethefilewaslastmodified,andthesize(inbytes)ofthefile.Ifavailable,the
sequencenumberoftheelementintheIGES,XYZ,etc.filewillbedisplayed.Usually,therewill
beinformationaboutthegeometrysuchasdiameter,vector,orlocation.Forcomplexelements
suchastrimmedsurfaces,informationaboutothergeometries(basesurface,boundingcurves)
willalsobedisplayed.SelectingtheViewbuttonwillcausethegeometrydescribedtoflashon
thescreen.YoucanselectthisdialogboxbyusingtheCadInfo menuoption.
View|ScreenColor
TheScreenColormenuoptiondisplaystheScreenColordialogbox.LiketheScreenColorbox
discussedin"ChangingScreenColors",thisallowsyoutoalterthecolorsthatwillbeviewedin
theCreateLevelswindow.
CreateLevelsLevelmenu
CreateLevelsLevelmenu
TheCreateLevels'LevelmenuoptionallowsyoutoselectthedesiredCADelementsandcreate
upto18differentlevels.Aseachleveliscreated,itwillbedisplayedatthebottomofthemenu
list,allowingyoutoreselectit.(Seethe"Level1"headingbelow,locatedafter"Position".)
ACADlevelconsistsofagroupofrelatedCADgeometriesthatareidentifiedbyalevelnumber.
Levelsarepredefinedineitheran'IGES'or'XYZ'CADfile.Thelevelinformationinthesefilesis
importedintoPCDMISwhenthesefilesare'imported'.Youcanthenselectwhichlevelsare
displayedineach'view'usingtheViewSetupdialogbox.Giventhesizeandcomplexityofmany
CADfiles,itwillbeagreatbenefittohavetheabilitytorestrictwhichportionsoftheCADmodel
willbevisibleasvariousPCDMIStasksareperformed.

ACADgeometrycanbelongtoonlyonelevel.Forexample,geometry'A'canbelongtolevel'x',
ortolevel'y',butnottoboth.Thiswillnotrestrictyourviewingcapabilities,asmultiplelevelscan
beviewedsimultaneously.
Level|New
TheNewmenuoptionallowsyoutocreateanewlevelonceexistinglevelsexist.(Itisnot
necessarytousethisoptiontocreatethefirstlevelsincePCDMISautomaticallycreatesanew
leveloncetheCreateLevelsOLDFILEwindowopens.)
ToCreateaNewLevel:
1. AccesstheCreateLevelswindow
2. SelecttheNew menuoption.IftheNewmenuoptionisalreadygrayedoutthen
ithasbeenautomaticallyselecteduponopeningtheCreateLevelOLDFilewindow.
3. SelectthedesiredCADelements.(CADelementscanbeselectedinthesame
manneravailableinPCDMIS.Theseinclude,mouseselectingandboxselecting.)
OnceaCADelementisselecteditwillbehighlightedinthecurrenthighlightcolor.
4. SelectLevel|Createfromthedropdownmenu.
PCDMISwillcreatethenewlevelandautomaticallyswitchtotheCreateLevelsNEWFILE
window,displayingtheselectedelements.
YoucanalsocreatenewlevelsusingtheViewSetup dialogbox.See"SettingUptheScreen
View"forinformationonthisdialogbox.
Level|Select
Thisoptionisonlyavailable TheSelectmenuoptionallowsyoutoselecttheCADelementsthat
aftertheNEWmenuoption willbeviewedinthenewlevel.Selecteddatawillbedisplayedin
hasbeenselected. thecurrenthighlightcolor.Elementscanonlybechosenwhenthe
Selectmenuoptionischosen.
Note:Verifythattheselecteddataisdisplayedexactlyasneeded.OncetheCreatemenuoption
ischosen,theCADelementscannotbechanged.Tomodifyalevel(priortoselectingtheCreate
menuoption),choosetheDeselectoption.Thiswillclearallhighlighteddata.
Level|Deselect
Thisoptionisonlyavailable TheDeselectmenuoptionallowsyoutoclearanyCADelements
aftertheNEWmenuoption thatwereselectedforviewing.
hasbeenselected.
Level|Create
TheCreatemenuoptioncreatesanewlevelbasedontheselectedCADelements.
OncetheCADelementsareselectedandthisoptionischosen,PCDMISwillmovetheselected
elementsfromthe"OLDFile"tothe"NEWFile".Thescreenwillautomaticallyswitch,displaying
the"NEWFile".Thewindowwillalsoshowanypreviouslevelsthathavebeencreated.The
elementsselectedforthenewlevelwillbedrawninblack.Datafromthepreviouslevelswillbe
displayedingray.

Tocreateanotherlevel,selecttheNew menuoption(seeabove).The"OLDFile"will
automaticallybedisplayed,andtheselectionprocesscanberepeated.
Level|Position
Positiondialogbox
Oncealevelhasbeencreated,selectingthePositionmenuoptiondisplaysthePositionLevel
dialogbox.Thisdialogallowsyoutopositiontheaxesandchangetheorientationofthatlevel.
ToRepositionaLevel:
1. SelectthelevelfromtheLevelmenu.
2. SelectLevel|Position.
3. Selectanorientationoption(top,bottom,right,etc.)fromtheOrientationareaof
thedialog.
4. ClickthePositioncommandbutton.TheViewfromOrientationdialogbox
appears.Withthisyoucanpositionthelevelrelativetotheorientation
5. UsetheViewfromOrientationdialogboxtomovethelevelin3Dsoitwillbein
thecorrectpositionrelativetotheotherlevels.
6. ClickOK.
Levelscanberepositionedinanyorder,andasmanytimesasisnecessary.
Orientationarea
Onlyorientationsthatcorrespondtothesixsidesofacubearecurrentlysupported.Selectthe
orientationthatcorrespondstothedesiredportionofthe2Ddata.Ifthe2Ddatarepresentsthe
partasseenfromtherightsideofthepart,selectthe'RIGHT'orientation.
Example:Ifthedatashowstheleftsideofacar,selectthe'LEFT'orientation.Itisnecessarythat
thedatashowtheleftsideofthecarasitwouldbeseenstandingnexttothecar.Ifthecar
appearsupsidedown,oronend,selectthePositionbuttonafterselectingtheorientation.
Positionbutton

ThePositionbuttondisplaystheViewfromOrientationdialogbox.
ViewfromOrientationdialogbox
Thisoptionwillshowonlythe2Ddataforthecurrentlevel.Itwillalsodisplayaboxdepictingthe
selectedorientation.UsetheRotateoptionbuttonsandMirrorcheckboxestochangethedata
asrequired.Thisprocesscanbedoneatanytimeduringthepositioningprocedure.
OriginDefiningElement(s)area
Tomovethedatawithintheplane,an'origin'canbeselectedusingtheOriginDefinition
Element(s)areaintheViewfromOrientationdialogbox.Thisisdoneeitherbyselectingone
oremoregeometrieswithintheleveldata,byspecifyinganumericaloffset(s),orboth.
Toselectageometry:
1. SelecttheElement1option.
2. SelectageometricalfeatureintheCreateLevelsNEWFILEwindow(for
example,aline).IftheApplybuttonisthenpressed,oneoftheendpointsofthe
linewillbecomethe'origin.'
3. Tomaketheotherendpointtheorigin,selectthePoint2checkbox.
Tomaketheintersectionofthetwolinestheorigin:
1. SelecttheElement1option.
2. SelectalineintheCreateLevelsNEWFILEwindow.
3. Next,selecttheElement2option.
4. SelectasecondlineintheCreateLevelsNEWFILEwindow.
5. ClicktheApplybuttontomovetheleveldatatotheneworigin.(Anycombination
oflines,arcs,circles,andpointscanbeusedtoselectanorigin.)
Numericaloffsetscanalsobeenteredtomovetheorigininthehorizontaland
verticaldirections(beingdefinedrelativetotheorientation).
OffsetDefiningElementarea

Onceanoriginisselected,itmaybenecessarytomovetheplaneinadirectionnormaltoitselfin
ordertocorrectlypositionitrelativetotheotherlevels.Thiscanbedonebyselectingageometry
inalevel.
Example:AlineinaToporientationcanbeselected.TheRightorientationlevelswillthenbe
movedsothatitisinthesameplaneasthelineintheToporientationlevel.Ideallytheline
selectedshouldbeparalleltotheRightorientationlevel.
Scalebox
TheScaleboxallowsyoutoscalethepartimageintheGraphicsDisplaywindowtotheCAD
drawing.ThisoptiondiffersfromtheScaletoFitandScaleDrawingoptionsinthattheCAD
datainthepartprogramwillactuallyreflectthechanges.Typethedesiredscalingfactor.
Toreducethesizeofthedrawingelementsby50%,type0.5intheScalebox.
Todoublethesizeofthedrawingelements,type2.0.
Toleavethedrawingunchanged,type1.0.(Ascalingfactorcanbeenteredfor
anylevel.)
To'apply'allofthechangesclicktheApplybutton.TheResetbuttonallowsyoutoundoallthe
changesmadetothecurrentlevel.TheCancelbuttonwillundoanychangesmadesincethe
PositionLeveldialogboxwasdisplayed.
Note:Alloftheabovepositioningoperationscanbedoneinanyorder.Theycanberepeatedas
oftenasnecessary.Inmostcases,thechangeswillnotbeshownuntiltheApplycommand
buttonisselected.
AdditionalLevelManipulations
PCDMISallowsyoutoperformtheseadditionallevelmanipulationsusingtheViewSetupdialog
box:
Createanewlevel.See"CreatingLevels".
Deleteanexistinglevel.See"DeletingLevels".
Modifyanexistinglevel.See"ModifyingLevels".
LeveladditionsandmodificationsrequiretheselectionofCAD.Youcanrestrictselectionto
differenttypesofgeometryinthesamewayasselectionisrestrictedintheEditCADandDelete
CADdialogs.Selectioncanalsoberestrictedtoanexistinglevelthatisselected.
See"Displaying,Creating,andManipulatingLevels"inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapterfor
detailedinformationonhowlevelsareusedwiththeViewSetupdialogbox.
YoucanalsocreatelevelsusingtheMakeCAD3Dmenuoption.See"MakingCAD3D".
ViewingCADInformation

CADInformationdisplaybox
SelectingtheView|CadInfo menuoptiondisplaystheCADInformationdialogbox.Thisdialog
boxletsyouobtainCADinformationsimplybyhighlightingthedesiredCADfeatureinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.OncetheCADfeatureisselected,PCDMISwilldisplayanyavailable
CADinformation.
ClickingtheViewbuttonwillconfirmtheselectionofafeaturebyflashingthehighlighted
graphicalimagewithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
VerifyingCADInformation
CADVerifydialogbox
YoucanusetheView|CADVerifymenuitemtoverifythattheCADmodelisaccurate.PC
DMISwilldisplayaCADVerifydialogboxthatallowsyoutoperformdifferentoperationsonthe
CADmodelimportedintotheGraphicsDisplaywindow.YoucaneasilyresizetheCADVerify
dialogboxtoalargersizeasneeded.
Thedialogboxcontainsthefollowingareasanditems:

Inputarea
ThisareaspecifiestheXYZpointandtheIJKvectorusedtoverifytheCADmodel.Some
operationsdonotrequirethevectorPCDMISdisablestheIJKVectorboxesinthosecases.
Optionsarea
ThisareadetermineswhatoperationPCDMISshouldperformontheCADmodel.Youcanalso
specifyoptionsthatcontrolthebehavioroftheoperationsandtheresultingoutput.
TheinputpointandvectorintheseoptionsrefertotheinformationenteredintotheInputarea.
Item Description
Point ThisprojectstheinputpointontotheCADmodel.Aclosestdistance
projection algorithmisusedtoprojectthepoint.
Raypierce ThisoptionpiercestheCADmodelusingaline.Theinputpointandvector
definetheline.
Planecut ThisoptionintersectstheCADmodelusingaplane.Theinputpointdefines
apointontheplaneandthevectorspecifiestheplane'snormalvector.For
surfaces,onlythesurfaceboundariesareintersectedwiththeplane.
Boundaries Thischeckboxdetermineswhetherornotsurfaceboundariesareused.If
youselectthischeckboxandtheCADentityisasurface,onlythesurface
boundarieswillbeused.Thisdoesnotaffectcurvegeometry.
Allresults ThischeckboxdetermineswhetherornottogetresultsforalltheCAD
entitiesinthemodel.
Ifyoudon'tselectthischeckbox,onlythe"best"resultisdisplayed.The
bestresultdependsontheoperationselected.
ForPointprojection,thebestresultistheCADpointclosesttothe
inputpoint.
ForRaypierce,thebestresultiseithertheintersectionpoint
farthestalongtherayvectororclosesttotheinputpoint.Youcan
specifywhichintersectionpointisdisplayed.See"FarthestAlong
Vector"below.
ForPlanecut,thebestresultistheintersectionpointclosesttothe
inputpoint.
Farthest Thisoptiondisplaystheintersectionpointfarthestalongtherayvector.
Along
Vector
Closestto Thisoptiondisplaystheintersectionpointclosesttotheinputpoint.
Point
Resolution Thisboxcontrolstheprecisionoftheresult.Theresultwillbewithinthe
resolutionvalue.Theminimumresolutionis0.0000001.
Note:ForDirectCADInterfacemodels,theprecisionwillonlyaffectthe
numberofdisplayeddecimalplaces.TheactualCADsystemcontrolsthe
precisionoftheoperationsandcannotbemodifiedfromwithinPCDMIS.
Tolerance Thisboxdefinesatolerancevaluethatwilllimitthedisplaytoonlythose
itemsthatfallwithinthespecifiedlimits.
IfyouselectPointprojectionandAllresults,youcanspecifya
Tolerancevalue.PCDMISthendisplaysallCADentitieswithinthe

tolerancedistance.
IfyouselectRaypierceandAllresults,youcanspecifya
Tolerance.Forcurvegeometryandsurfaceboundaries,PCDMIS
displaysanycurvewithinthetolerancedistanceoftherayvector.
Output Thisareacontrolsthedisplayedvectorforsurfaceboundariesandcurves.
Vector (Forsurfacepointswithinitsboundaries,thedisplayedvectorisalwaysthe
surfacenormal.)
Select Tangenttodisplaythecurvepoint'stangentvector.
SelectNormaltodisplaythecurvepoint'snormalvector.For
curves,thenormalvectoristheinverseofthesecondderivative
vector.Forsurfaces,thenormalvectorissimplythesurfacenormal.
InputCadarea
ThisarealetsyouchoosetheCADentitiesyouwanttested.
Item Description
EntireCAD ThischeckboxdetermineswhetherPCDMISwilltesttheentireCADmodel
Model oronlyselectedCADentities.
Ifyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISenablesothercheckboxes
thatallowyoutodefinewhichentitytypestotestintheentireCAD
Model:Points,Curves,Surfaces,orAll.
Ifyouclearthischeckbox,onlyspecificCADentitieswillbetested.
See"Sequence/SourceSeq."below.
Points ThischeckboxtestsforallpointsontheentireCADmodel.
Curves ThischeckboxtestsforallcurvesontheentireCADmodel.
Surfaces ThischeckboxtestsforallsurfacesontheentireCADmodel.
All Thischeckboxtestsforallpoints,curves,andsurfacesontheentireCAD
model.
Sequence/ TheseboxesletyoudefineasingleCADentity.Youcanfillintheseboxes
Source andthenclicktheSelectCADObjectbutton.PCDMISwillturntheitem
Seq. redandcauseittoflashafewtimes.
Alternately,youcantestmultipleCADentitiesbyselectingthemoneata
timefromtheGraphicsDisplaywindow,orbyboxselectingagroupof
entities.
Outputarea
TheOutputareacontainstheresultsoftheverificationinatableformatwithpointsmakingup
therows.PCDMISdisplaysallthepointsintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Selectedpointsfrom
thislistarehighlightedintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.ToupdatetheinformationintheOutput
area,selectanewoptionandpressTAB.
ThistabledescribesthecolumnheadingsintheOutputarea:
Column Description

Point ThiscolumnshowstheresultingCADpointfromtheinputpointandthe
CAD.
Vector ThiscolumnshowstheresultingCADvectorfromtheinputpointandthe
CAD.
Result ThiscanbeeitherHitorMiss.
ForPointprojection,
HitmeansthattheprojectionpointwasontheinterioroftheCAD
entity.
Missmeansthattheprojectionpointwasontheextremitiesofthe
CADentity.Forcurves,theextremitiesaretheendpoints.For
surfaces,theextremitiesaretheboundaries.
ForRaypierce,
HitmeansthattherayvectordirectlyintersectedtheCADentity.
Missmeansthattherayvectorpassedcloseto,butdidnotdirectly
intersect,theCADentity.
ForPlanecut,
HitmeansthattheplanedirectlyintersectedtheCADentity.
Missmeansthattheplanepassedcloseto,butdidnotdirectly
intersect,theCADentity.
Sequence ThiscolumnshowswhichCADentitythepointison.Thesequenceisa
uniqueidentifierassignedtoeachCADentity.
Distance Thiscolumnshowsthedistancebetweentheinputpointandtheoutput
point.
CopytoClipboard
ThisbuttoncopiestheOutputarea'sresultstotheWindowsClipboard.Ifyouselectedspecific
points,onlyinformationforthosepointsiscopied.Otherwise,theentireoutputiscopied.
UsingScreenCapturesoftheGraphicsDisplayWindow
PCDMISallowsyoutotakescreencapturesoftheGraphicsDisplaywindowandplacetheminto
yourreportorsendthemtotheClipboard.
SendingScreenCapturestotheClipboard
TheimagewillremainontheTheOperation|GraphicsDisplaywindow|ScreenCaptureTo|
clipboarduntilanother ClipboardmenuoptionwillcapturetheGraphicsDisplaywindow
screeniscaptured,orthe andcopythescreencapturetotheclipboard.
partprogramisclosed.
Toviewanimagecapturedtotheclipboard,"paste"itintoany
WindowsapplicationwherethePasteoptionisavailable(i.e.,Word
forWindows).

SendingScreenCapturestotheReport
See"ScreenCaptures"inthe "UsingtheEditWindow"chapter.
SendingScreenCapturestoaFile
TheOperation|GraphicsDisplaywindow|ScreenCaptureTo|Filemenuoptionwillcapture
theGraphicsDisplaywindowandallowyoutosavethescreencaptureasabitmapfiletoyour
computer'ssystem.
EditingScreenCaptures
Byitself,PCDMISdoesnothavetheabilitytoeditorformatthecapturedfigure.However,you
canuseanyimageeditorsoftwaretoeditorformatyourscreencaptures.Todothis,usethe
Insert|Report|ExternalObjectcommandandinsertanobjectintotheEditwindow(suchasa
bitmapfile).
Then,insidethepaintordrawingprogramassociatedwiththatbitmapfile,pastethescreen
captureyoujusttook.Youshouldbeabletousethedrawingorpaintingoptionsthatcomewith
theexternalobject'sprogramtodoyourediting.
ForinformationonusingtheExternalObjectcommand,seeInsertingExternalObjectsinthe
AddingExternalElementschapter.
EditingCAD
EditCADdialogbox
TheEditCADElementsdialogbox(Edit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|CADElements)allows
youtoalterthecoloroftheimportedCADfile.
Selectthedesiredfeaturestobechanged.Youcandothisbymovingthemousepointeroverthe
desiredfeatureintheGraphicsDisplaywindowandclickingtheleftmousebutton.

Toselectmultiplefeatures,boxselectthedesiredCADelements.Whenthemousebuttonis
released,PCDMISwillhighlightthecurrentelementsthatwereselectedandindicatethenumber
offeaturesintheNumberSelectedbox.Additionalelementsmaybechoseninthesame
manner.TheDeselectbuttonwillclearthescreenofanyhighlightedelements.
Oncethedesiredelementsareselected,clickontheColorbuttonandselecttheappropriate
color.TheApplybuttonmustbepressedtoviewthecolorchangeintheGraphicsDisplay
window.
Note:Inorderforthisoptiontowork,youmustcreateCADlevels.See"SettingUptheScreen
View"formoreinformation.
FeatureTypes
ThisoptiontellsPCDMISwhattypeoffeature(s)toalter.Availabletypesinclude:
Points
Lines
Circles
Arcs
Curves
Surfaces
Note:Toselectsurfaces,selecttheSurfaceModeiconfirst.See"SwitchingBetweenCurveand
SurfaceModes".
NumberofSelectedFeatures

TheNumberSelectedboxesdisplaythenumberoffeaturestobedeleted.Thenumbersinthese
fieldschangedependingonthefeaturesselectedintheFeatureTypesareaofthedialog.
EditColor
TheColorcommandbuttonallowsyoutosetthecolorforaspecifiedCADelement.Todothis:
1. SelecttheColorcommandbutton.PCDMISdisplaystheColordialogbox.
Colordialogbox
2. Selectthedesiredcolor.
3. ClicktheOKbutton.PCDMISupdatestheEditCADElementsdialogbox,
displayingtheselectedcolor.
ChangeName
TheChangeNamecheckboxallowsyoutochangethenameofaselectedCADelement.Todo
this:
1. AccesstheEditCADElementsdialogbox(Edit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|
CADElements).
2. Selecttheappropriatefeaturetypecheckbox.See"FeatureTypes".
3. ClickontheCADelement(s)insidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.PCDMISwill
highlightyourselection.
4. SelecttheChangeNamecheckbox.
5. TypethenewnamefortheselectedCADelement(s)intheNamebox.See
"NameboxforCADElements".
6. ClickApply.PCDMISchangesthename.Youcanverifythatthenamehas
changedbyusingtheShowNamecheckbox(see"ShowName").
ChangeColor

TheChangeColorcheckboxdrawstheselectedCADdatainthecolorshownintheColorbox
atthebottomofthedialogbox.TheApplybuttonmustbeselectedforthisprocesstotakeplace.
Tochangethecurrentcolor,selecttheColorbutton.
SetasPriority
YoucanselectandstoreasetofCADsurfacesforFindNomprocessingusingtheSetas
Prioritycheckbox.ThisspeedsupthecalculationofnominalvaluesasitallowsPCDMISto
determinewhichsurfacestocheckfirst.Thereisnotalimittothenumberofsurfacesthatcanbe
selected.Theorderthatthesurfacesareselectedinwilldeterminetheorderofthesearch.
WheneveryouopentheEditCADElementsdialogboxandselecttheSetasPrioritycheck
box,PCDMISwillautomaticallyselectthepreviouslystoredsetofsurfaces.
Tostoreanewsetofsurfaces:
1. OpentheEditCADElementsdialogbox(Edit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|
CADElements).
2. SelecttheSetasPrioritycheckbox.Ifyou'vepreviouslydefinedasetof
surfaces,PCDMISwillselectthemintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
3. WiththeSetasPrioritycheckboxselected,clicktheDeselectbuttonandthen
clicktheApplybutton.ThisessentiallytellsPCDMIStoclearanystoredsurfaces.
4. DeselecttheSetasPrioritycheckbox.
5. Selectthenewsetofsurfacestostore.
6. SelecttheSetasPrioritycheckbox.
7. ClicktheApplybutton.
8. ClickOK.
ShowName
TheShowNamecheckboxallowsyoushoworhidethefeatureIDsassociatedwithanyCAD
elementsselected.
Ifselected,PCDMISwilldisplaythefeaturenames(ifprovidedbytheCADdesigner)or
featuretypesofspecifiedfeatures.
Ifnotselected,PCDMISwillhidethefeaturenames.
ToDisplayorHideSpecificFeatureNames:
1. AccesstheEditCADElementsdialogbox(Edit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|
CADElements).
2. ClickonthedesiredfeatureintheCADdisplay(orboxselectanareaformultiple
features).PCDMISwillhighlightselectedCADelementsontheCADmodel.
3. SelectorcleartheShowNamecheckbox
4. ClickOK.
Deselect

TheDeselectcommandbuttontellsPCDMIStoclearanychangesthatweremadewiththe
ApplybuttonbeforetheOKbuttonwasclicked.
NameboxforCADElements
TheNameboxallowsyoutospecifyanamefortheselectedCADelement(s).Todothis,select
theCADelement(s),typethenameinthisbox,andclickApply.
EditingCADVectors
TheEdit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|CADVectors...menuitemdisplaystheEditCAD
Vectorsdialogbox.Thisdialogboxletsyouviewandmanipulatesurfacevectors.
EditCADVectorsdialogbox
SurfacesSelected
Withthedialogboxopen,clickonaCADsurfaceintheGraphicsDisplaywindowtoselector
deselectthatsurface.Youcanalsodragaboxacrossaportionofyourparttoboxselectseveral
surfacesatonce.PCDMIShighlightsanyselectedsurfaceandshowsthenumberofselected
surfacesintheSurfacesSelectedbox.
Deselect
TheDeselectbuttonclearsallselectedCADsurfaces.
ShowVectors
IfyouselecttheShowVectorscheckbox,PCDMISwilldisplayagreenarrowoneachselected
CADsurfacetorepresentitsvector.
FlipSurfaceVectors
TheFlipSurfaceVectorbuttonflipsyoursurfacevectors,causingthevectorarrowstopointin
theoppositedirection.PCDMISthenclearstheselectedsurfaces,andtheywillappearwiththe
flippedsurfacevectorthenexttimeyouselectthem.
FixSurfaceVectors
Somesurfaces,wheninitiallyselected,willhaveimpropervectors.Apropervectorwillpointaway
fromthepart.

TheFixSurfaceVectorsbuttonusesinternalmathematicalalgorithmstocorrectselected
surfacevectors,automaticallycausingthevectorarrowstopointintheproperdirection.PCDMIS
thenclearstheselectedsurfaces,andtheywillappearwiththecorrectedsurfacevectorthenext
timeyouselectthem.
TofixthesurfacevectorsoftheentireCADmodel,followthesesteps:
1. DisplayyourCADmodelinSolidviewbyselectingtheToggleGraphic
WindowinSolid iconfromtheGraphicViewtoolbar.
2. SelecttheEdit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|Lighting,Materials...
menuitem.TheLightingandMaterialsdialogboxappears.
3. SelecttheLightingtab.
4. CleartheTwosidedlightingcheckbox.
5. ClicktheOKbutton.Inthegraphicswindow,notice
howsomeoftheCADsurfacesappeardark.Thisis
avisualindicationthatthesurfacenormalforthat
surfaceispointinginthewrongdirection.
6. SelectEdit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|CAD
Vectors.TheEditCADVectorsdialogbox
appears.
7. BoxselecttheentireCADmodel.
8. ClicktheFixVectorsbutton.Ifthealgorithmcanfixallofthesurfacevectors,PCDMIS
willchangethedarksurfacestothepart'susualcolor,signifyingthatthesurfacevectors
nowpointintheproperdirectionoutsidethepart.Ifanyofthesurfacesremainwitha
darkshade,youcanselectthosesurfacesandmanuallyfliptheirvectorsbyusingthe
FlipSurfaceVectorsbutton.
Close
Thisbuttonclosesthedialogboxandclearsanyselectedvectors.
ApplyingLightingandMaterialstotheCADDisplay
SelectingtheCADLighting iconortheEdit|GraphicsDisplay
CADLightingiconfrom Window|Lighting,MaterialsmenuoptiondisplaystheLighting
theView|Toolbars| andmaterialsdialogbox.
GraphicsModestoolbar

Lightingandmaterialsdialogbox
TheLightingandmaterialsdialogboxgivesyouasetoftoolsthatallowyoutofurther
manipulatethedisplayofCADmodelsincludingyourpartmodel,probemodel,machinemodel,
andotherfixturemodelsinsidePCDMIS'sGraphicsDisplaywindow.
Thisdialogboxcontainsthesetabs:
Archive:ThistabletsyousaveandrecalltheseCADconfigurationsforlateruse.
Lighting:Thistabletsyoudefineandenablelightsources,theircolors,theirdirections,light
models,andCADtransparency.
Material:ThistabletsyouapplytexturemappingtothesurfacesofyourCADmodels,you
canalsochangethecolorsandbrightnessofthematerialsmakingupthetextures.
ClipPlane:ThistabletsyoudefineuptofourClippingPlanesthathideyourpartmodelin
theclippedarea.Youcanusethistocutyourpartmodeltoshowcrosssectionsandcutaway
views.
Therearefourbuttonsatthebottomofthedialogbox:
OKAcceptsyourchangesandclosesthedialogbox.
CancelRejectsyourchangesandclosesthedialogbox.
SaveSystemDefaultsSavesyourchangesasthenewdefaultlightingandmaterial
settings.ThisoverwritesthedefaultsettingsthatcamewithPCDMIS.

RestoreSystemDefaultsThisbringsbacktheoriginallightingandmaterialsettingsthat
camewithPCDMIS.
Note:AnymodificationsyoumaketotheLightingandmaterialsdialogboxtakeplaceinreal
timeintheGraphicsDisplaywindow. Thisletsyouimmediatelyseetheeffectsofyourselected
changes.UntilyouclickOK,however,thechangesyoumakeareonlytemporary.
LightingTab
TheLightingtabconsistsofthreeareasthatallowyoutodefineyourlightsources,yourlight
model,andtransparencies.
LightSource:
TheLightsourceareadefinesuptofourlightsources,eachspecifyingtheirrespectivelights
directionandcolors.Youcancreateanewlightsourcebyselectingtheappropriatenumberand
clickingtheEnabledcheckbox.
Withtheexceptionofthefirstlightsource,whichremainsalwaysenabled,theEnabledcheck
boxletsyouturnthecurrentlightsourceonoroff.
LightDirection:
Onceyouenablealightsource,anactivelightdirectionbuttonbecomesselectedwithared
outline.Thesebuttonsdefinethedirectionfromwhichthelightoriginates.
Thecenterlightdirectionbuttonactsasifthelightcomesfromthedirectionyouarelocatedasif
shiningthroughyourcomputerscreenontotheCADpart.Theotherdirectionbuttonsdefinelight
comingfromotherangles.
LightColors:

YoucanchangetheAmbient,Diffuse,orSpecularlightforthecurrentlightsourcebysimply
clickingonthecoloredrectanglebeneatheachtypeoflightandselectingthenewcolorfromthe
Colordialogboxthatappears.
Note:Beawarethatlightsource1haswhiteasthedefaultcolorforDiffuseandSpecular,while
theotherthreelightsources useblackasthedefaultcolor.
Ambientilluminationislightthathasbeenscatteredsomuchbytheenvironmentthatits
directionisimpossibletodetermineitseemstocomefromalldirections.Backlightinaroom
hasalargeambientcomponent,sincemostofthelightthatreachesyoureyehasbounced
offmanysurfaces. Aspotlightoutdoorshasatinyambientcomponentmostofthelight
travelsisthesamedirection,andsinceyouareoutdoors,verylittleofthelightreachesyour
eyeafterbouncingoffotherobjects. Whenambientlightstrikesasurface,itsscattered
equallyinalldirections.
Diffuselightcomesfromonedirection,soit'sbrighter ifitcomessquarelydownonasurface
thanifitbarelyglancesoffthesurface.Onceithitsasurface,however,itsscatteredequally
inalldirections,soitappearsequallybright,nomatterwheretheeyeislocated. Anylight
comingfromaparticularpositionordirectionprobablyhasadiffusecomponent.
Specularlightcomesfromaparticulardirection,andittendstobounceoffthesurfaceina
preferreddirection.Alaserbeambouncingoffamirrorproducesalmost100percentspecular
reflection. Shinymetalorplastichasahighspecularcomponentandchalkorcarpethas
almostnone. Youcanthinkofspecularlightas"shininess".
Ifyoudisablealightsource,theLightdirectionandLightcolorsbuttonsbecomeunavailable
forselection.
LightModel:
TheLightModelareadefinesinformationappliedtotheentirescene,regardlessofthelight
source.
TwosidedlightingThischeckboxdetermineswhetherornotthefrontandbackfacesof
surfacesshouldbelighted.YoushouldselectthischeckboxforimportedIGESfilesandfor
someotherCADformatswhenthesurfacenormalsarenotcorrect.

BackfacecullingThischeckboxdetermineswhetherornotPCDMISshouldcull,orhide,
thebackfacesofsurfaces.YoushouldselectthischeckboxforIGESfiles,andsomeother
Cadformats,whenthesurfacenormalsarenotcorrect.
AmbientThisboxdefinestheambientcolorappliedtotheentirescene.Clickontheboxto
changecolors.
Transparency:
Workingwithsimulatedprobesormachinesonyourscreencanbedifficultiftheyblockyoursight
toyourpartmodel.TheTransparencyareareducesthisproblembyallowingyoutomake
certainobjectstransparentinsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Inthisway,youcanseeyour
partmodelorotherCADobjectsevenifyourprobeormachineisintheway.
YoucanmakethesedisplayobjectstransparentinsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow:
Partmodel
Probe
Machine
Onceyouhaveenabledtransparencyforasimulatedmachine,youcanthenselectfeaturesand
otheritemsonyourpartbyclickingonyourpartmodelthroughthetransparentmachine.
OnceyouselecttheEnabletransparencycheckbox,youcanselecttheotheritemsinthe
Transparencyarea.Whenyouenabletransparencyforanobject,theothersettingsinthisarea
controlhowthetransparencyistobeshown.
ReadonlydepthbufferThischeckboxchangeshowthelightingandcolorinteractby
makingthedepthbufferreadonly.Thiswillcausethegraphicsimagetochange,perhaps
onlyinasmallunnoticeableway,butperhapsinamorenoticeableway.Itisuptoyouto
determinewhetherornottheresultsproduceabetterlookingimage.Consultanexternal
resourceonOpenGLforadditionalinformationonthedepthbuffer.
BackfacecullingThischeckboxcausesPCDMIStonotdrawthebackfacesofsurfaces
fortheselectedtransparentobject.
%TransThissliderletsyoudeterminethepercentageoftransparencyfortheselected
object.Movingtheslidertotheleftmakesthedisplayobjectmoreopaque,whilemovingthe
slidertotherightmakesitmoretransparent.
OnceyoudefinetransparencieshereyoucaneasilyswitchthemonandoffusingtheToggle
GraphicViewTransparencyiconfromtheGraphicViewtoolbar.Seethe"GraphicView
Toolbar"topicformoreinformation.
ArchiveTab

Thistabcontainstwoareas,theSystemdefinedsettingsareaandtheUserdefined
configurationsarea.
TheSystemdefinedsettingsarealetsyouselectfromsystemdefinedlightingandmaterial
settings.ThesearestoredinaconfigurationfilenamedLightingMaterials.datinthedirectory
whereyouinstalledPCDMIS.
TheUserdefinedconfigurationsarealetsyousaveandrecallyourowncustomlighting
andmaterialsconfigurations.Thesearestoredin\Models\LightingMaterialssubdirectory
underthedirectorywhereyouinstalledPCDMIS.
Tosaveacustomdefinedconfiguration:
1. MakeanychangesyouwantintheothertabsoftheLightingandmaterials
dialogbox.
2. ClickintheSaveasbox.ASaveNowbuttonappears.
3. Typeanameforyoursavedconfiguration.
4. ClicktheSaveNowbutton.
Torecallauserdefinedconfiguration,selectthesavedconfigurationfromtheRecalllist.
MaterialTab
TheMaterialtabconsistsofsettingsthatwillbeappliedtoCADobjectsmakinguptheimported
CADpartmodelortheentirepartmodelaltogether.
Thefirstareaofthistabcontainstwooptionbuttonsthatallowyoutodeterminethe"active
selection",eitherEntiremodelorCadobjects.
EntiremodelSelectingthisoptionappliesthesettingstotheentireCADmodel.
CadobjectsSelectingthisoptionappliesthesettingstospecificselectedCADobjects
makinguptheentiremodel.
Texturemapping

TheTexturemappingareadefinesthetexturetobeappliedtotheactiveselection.PCDMIS
automaticallyappliesthetextureimageasoftenasnecessarytocovertheentireactiveselection.
Thecheckboxdisplaysthecurrentbitmapnameonceyouselectabitmapfiletouseforthe
texture.ThischeckboxisalwaysselectedwhentheactiveselectionisaCadobject.
Thelargegraysquareareaunderthecheckboxdisplaysthecurrenttexture.
Toapplyatexturetoyourpart:
1. Selectclickthegraysquarearea.AstandardOpendialogboxappears.
2. UsetheOpendialogboxtonavigatetoandselectavalidbitmapfile.Itmust
haveawidthandheightof2tosomepower.Forexample2tothe5th poweris32and
2tothe4thpoweris16.Soifyourbitmapis32X16pixels,itwouldbeavalidbitmap.
Ifyouhadsomethinglike32X20,however,PCDMISwoulddisplayanerror
message.
3. PCDMISdisplaysapreviewoftheselectedtextureinsidethegraysquarearea.
4. ClickOpentoacceptthetexture.
Toapplythecheckboxtotheactiveselection,clicktheEnablecheckboxasneeded.
Theotheritemsinthe TextureMappingareadeterminehowPCDMISshouldapplythetexture
andsurfacecolors:
Decalpreventsanyofthesurfacescolorfrombeingemitted,soyouwillonlyseethe
texturescolor.
ModulateandBlenduseOpenGLalgorithmstodeterminethefinaldisplaycolors.
ZoomcontrolsthezoomfactortobeappliedtothecurrenttextureValuesgreaterthan1.0
zoomintothetexture,repeatingthetexturelessoften.Valueslessthan1.0zoomoutofthe
texture,repeatingthetexturemoreoften.Forexample,avalueof2.0willmakethebitmap
twicethesize(repeathalfasoften),andavalueof0.5willmakethebitmaphalfthesize
(repeattwiceasoften).
ThebuttonsFlipT,FlipS,andSwapdeterminetheorientationofthetexture.Thetextureis
atwodimensionalimage,theorientationisdescribedintermsofSandT.Atexturewithan
arrowdrawnatopithelpsvisualizewhathappens:
Theoriginaltexturelookslikethis,anarrowpointingtotherightwiththetophalfofthearrow
redandthebottomhalfofthearrowgreen:
ClickingSwapontheoriginalswitchestheorientationsothatSbecomes TandTbecomes
S.Thiscausesthearrowtopointupbuttoalsoflipthebottomandtopofthearrow:

(Swapexample)
ClickingFlipSontheoriginalchangesthedirectionofS.Thiscausethearrowtopointthe
left:
(FlipSexample)
ClickingFlipTontheoriginalchangesthedirectionofT.Thiscausesthearrowtoflip,
makingthetopofthebottomandtopswitchplaces:
(FlipTexample)
Youcanclickthesebuttonsindifferentcombinationstogetavarietyoforientationsforyour
texture.
ClickApplytoseeanychangesyoumadetotextureorientationsorothermaterialcolors.
Materialcolors
TheMaterialcolorsareadefinesthecolorinformationtobeappliedtotheentireCadModel.
TheAmbient,Diffuse,andSpecularfunctionsimilarlytothosealreadyexplainedintheLight
ColorsareaoftheLightingtab.See"LightingTab".
EmissionMaterialsmayhaveanemissivecolor,whichsimulateslightoriginatingfroman
object.IntheOpenGLlightingmodel,theemissivecolorofasurfaceaddsintensitytothe
object,butisunaffectedbyanylightsources.Also,theemissivecolordoesnotintroduceany
additionallightintotheoverallscene.
Brightnessofhighlight Thisslidercontrolstheintensityofthehighlightwhenlookingata
curvedsurface.
ApplyingTexturestotheEntireCADModel
1. SelecttheEntiremodeloption.

2. Selectthegraysquarearea.AnOpendialogboxappears.
3. Selectavalidbitmapfile.
4. ClickOpen.Thetextureappearsinthedialogbox.
5. ClickthecheckboxforthebitmapsintheTexturemappingarea.Thetexture
coverstheentireCADmodel.
6. Performadditionalcustomizationonthetextureasneededfromtheotheroptions
onthedialogbox.
7. ClickOKtoacceptthefinishedtexture.
ApplyingTexturestoSelectedCADObjects
1. SelecttheCadobjectsoption.AnemptylistappearsalongwithaClearand a
Removebutton.
2. Selectthegraysquarearea.AnOpendialogboxappears.
3. Selectavalidbitmapfile.
4. ClickOpen.Thetextureappearsinthedialogbox.
5. ClickonsurfacesontheCADmodel.PCDMISwillapplythesurfacesyou
clickedwiththecurrenttexture.Thepreviouslyemptylistnowshowstheindividual
CADitemsthathavetexturesappliedtothem.
RemovingTexturesfromSelectedCADObjects
OnceyouapplyatexturetoaCADobject,thenumberrepresentingthatCADobjectappearsina
list.
ToremovetexturesfromallselectedCADobjects,clicktheClearbutton.
ToremovetexturesfromindividualCADobjects,selecttheobjectsfromthelistandclick
Remove.
ClipPlanesTab

ClipPlanestab
TheClipPlanestaballowsyoutodefineuptofourplanes,called"clippingplanes"thatyoucan
usetohidethedisplayyourpartmodelononesideoftheplane.Yourpartmodelontheother
sideoftheplaneremainsvisible.Theseplanesallowyoutocreatecrosssectionsofyourpart
model.
ClippingplaneswhenyouhavetheLightingandmaterialsdialogboxopen,appearinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindowasaroundsawlikesymbol.

ExampleofaclippingplanecreatingacrosssectionoftheHexagontestblock
DefiningaClippingPlane
Youonlyneedtwopiecesofinformationtodefineyourclippingplane:AnXYZlocationandan
IJKvector.TheIJKvectorpointsinthedirectionofwhatwillremainvisible.
Therearetwowaystodefinethisinformation.
YoucanclickonyourpartintheGraphicsDisplaywindowandPCDMISwilltake
thepointthatyouclickedastheclippingplane'slocation.Onceyouclickalocation,
PCDMISautomaticallyenablesyourclippingplaneandsetsadefaultvector.You
canthenmodifytheIJKvectorasdesired.
YoucanclicktheEnabledcheckboxandthenmanuallytypeintheXYZlocation
andIJKvector.

Note:Inversion4.0andlater,theXYZandIJKvaluesareintheactivepartalignmentcoordinate
system,nottheCADcoordinatesystemaswasthecaseinearlierversions.
TheFlipIJKbuttonflipsthevectorsothatitpointsintheoppositedirection.
Onceyouhaveyourclippingplanemodifiedtowhereyouwantit,clicktheApplybuttontosee
yourchanges.PCDMISwillhideallportionsofyourpartmodelpointingawayfromyourchosen
clippingplanevector.
DeselectingtheEnabledcheckboxdisablesthecurrentclippingplane.Disabledclippingplanes
haveayellowcolorandtheabilitytoplaceandmoveyourclippingplaneisalsodisabled.
Enabledclippingplanesredcolor.
Youcandefinemultipleclippingplanesbyselectinganewclippingplaneoptionbuttonandthen
followingtheaboveinstructions.
AdjustingaClippingPlane
Onceyouhavetheclippingplaneinserted,youcanadjustitby:
ClickingtheFlipIJKpushbuttontoinverttheIJK.Thisisusefulwhensurface
vectorsfromaCadselectionwereincorrect,arelativelycommonproblemwithIGES
files.
ManuallyeditingXYZlocationandIJKvectorinformationbytypinginnewvalues.
UsingtheMoveclippingplanealongtheaboveIJK area.
TheMoveclippingplanealongtheaboveIJKareacontainstworowsofboxesandleftand
rightarrowbuttons.Theboxesdefineincrementsthattheclippingplanewillmovealongthe
definedvectorwhenyouclicktherightorleftarrowbuttonsforthatbox.
ThetoprowallowsyoutomovetheclippingplanealongtheIJKvectorinsmalladjustments.
ThebottomrowallowsyoutoalsomovetheclippingplanealongtheIJKvector,inlarger
increments.
SelectingFeaturesUsingtheGraphicsDisplayWindow

PCDMISrecognizesfeaturePCDMISallowsyoutoselectfeatures/elementsintheGraphics
selectionbyhighlightingthe Displaywindow(i.e.,toprintout,createcoordinatesystems,
indicatedfeatureinthe constructnewfeatures,calculatedimensions,etc.).Therearefive
currentlychosenhighlight basicwaystoselectfeatures:
color.
1. SelectingFeaturesUsingtheID(s)
2. SelectingFeaturesUsingMetaCharacterMatching
3. SelectingtheLastID(s)
4. BoxSelectingID(s)
5. SelectingFeaturesOnline
SelectingFeaturesusingtheID(s)
SelectthedesiredfeatureusingtheID.Thereareseveralalternativemethodsforselecting
featuresinthefeaturelistbox,locatedinmanydialogboxes.
1. TypetheID(s)assignedtothefeature(s)intheSearchIDbox.
2. ClickonthedesiredIDfromthelistoffeatures.PCDMISwillautomatically
assigneachfeatureanumberinorderofselectionthatwillbeindicatedtothe
rightofthefeatureID.
3. WhileintheGraphicsDisplaywindow,movethecursoroverthefeaturedesired
andclicktheleftmousebutton.(Notethatthefeatureyouselectedinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindowisnowhighlighted(orselected)inthefeaturewindow.)

SelectingFeaturesUsingMetaCharacterMatching
Youcanalsoselectfeaturesusingametacharacter.Metacharactersarecharactersthatactas
wildcardsforotheralphanumericcharacters.TherearetwometacharactersavailableinPC
DMIS.Theyarethe:
1. Asterisk(*)
2. Questionmark(?)
Botharedescribedbelowingreaterdetail.
TheAsterisk(*)MetaCharacter
* Theasteriskmetacharacter(*)willmatch,ortaketheplace,ofanycharacteror
charactersinasearch.Forexample,imaginethesefeaturesareavailableinthefeaturelist:
PLN1
LINE1
LINE2
CIR1
CIR2
Asterisk(*)metacharacter
Ifyouwanttoselectallthelinefeatures(LINE1andLINE2).Youwouldtype"L*"(without
quotationmarks)intheSearchIDboxandthenpresstheTABkey.PCDMISwouldthenselect

allfeaturesbeginningwith"L".Theasterisk(*)causesPCDMISonlytolookforcharacterseither
beforeoraftertheasterisk(*).Sinceinthiscase,theasteriskcomesafterthe"L",PCDMIS
ignoresanythingcomingafterthe"L"inthefeaturelist.
Tousetheasterisk(*)metacharacterinyourfeatureselection:
1. PlaceyourcursorintheSearchIDbox.
2. Enteryoursearchcriteriausingtheasterisk(*).
3. PresstheTABkey.
PCDMISselectsthefeaturesthatmeetthesearchcriteria.
Note:Theasterisk(*)metacharactercanbeusedmultipletimesinanyonesearch.Itcanalso
beusedinconjunctionwiththequestionmark(?)metacharacter.
TheQuestionMark(?)MetaCharacter
? Thequestionmarkmetacharacter(?)actsinthesamewayastheasterisk(*),except
thatthequestionmarkmetacharacterwillmatchonly1alphanumericcharacter.Forexample,
supposeinyourlistoffeatures,youhavethefollowing:
PLN1
LINE1
LINE2
CIR1
CIR2
Questionmark(?)metacharacter
Ifyouwantedtoselectallthecirclefeatures(CIR1andCIR2)usingthequestionmark(?)meta
characteryouwouldenter"CIR?"inSearchIDbox.PCDMISwouldthenlookforallfeaturesthat
metthesearchcriteria,whichisafeaturewithanID4characterslongwiththefirst3characters
being"CIR".
Tousethequestionmark(?)metacharacter:
1. PlaceyourcursorintheSearchIDbox.
2. Enteryoursearchcriteriausingthequestionmark(?).
3. PresstheTABkey.
PCDMISselectsthefeaturesthatmeetthesearchcriteria.
Note:Thequestionmark(?)metacharactercanbeusedmultipletimesinanyonesearch.Itcan
alsobeusedinconjunctionwiththeasterisk(*)metacharacter.

SelectingtheLastID(s)
ThisinstructsPCDMIStousethelast'number'offeaturesinthecurrentoperation.
Toselectthelastnumberoffeatures:
1. Fromthedialogbox,placeyourcursorintheSelectLast#box.
2. Enterthelastnumberoffeaturestobeused.Forexample,tocreatealinefrom
thelastfourfeaturesmeasuredtype4inthebox.
SelectLastID
BoxSelectingID(s)
Anotherwaytoselectfeaturesistousetheleftmousebuttontodrawa"box"aroundthe
features.Thisiscalled"boxselecting".Todothis:
1. Placethemousepointeratonecornerofwheretheboxistobedrawnandhold
downtheleftmousebutton.
2. Next,dragthemousepointertotheoppositecornerofthe"box."PCDMISwill
drawtheboxoutlineonthescreenasthemouseisdragged.
3. Whenthe"box"issatisfactory,releasetheleftmousebutton.PCDMISwill
highlightalltheelementsintheboxandlisttheminthefeaturelistbox.
BoxSelectingCIR1andCIR2

Thisoptionalsoallowsyoutomodifythecontentsoftheboxasindicatedinthelist.Toeitheradd
ordeleteafeaturefromtheset,simplyclickonthefeaturetobechanged(eitherintheGraphics
Displaywindow,orthedialogbox'slistoffeatures).
OverviewofBoxSelectingSheetMetalFeaturesIDs
PCDMIS'sabilitytoboxselectfeatureidentificationsnowallowsaunionofsheetmetalfeatures
betweentwoselectedgroups.Thisfunctionalitymakestheselectionofmultiplethreedimensional
objectsmucheasier.Additionally,ifanyCADobjectsareboxselectedandthenaCADobjectis
chosenwithoutboxselection,thoseobjectsthatwereboxselectedbecomepermanentselections
inadditiontothesingleselection.
See"BoxSelectingforAutoFeatureID's"inthe"CreatingAutoFeatures"chapterforspecific
informationonusingthiscapability.
SelectingFeaturesOnLine
Intheonlinemode,usetheactivetipasapointer,andtriggertheprobewhenthetipiscloseto
thefeatureneeded.
EditingaFeatureID
EditIDdialogbox
Tochangeafeature'sidentification,doubleclickonthedesiredfeatureIDinthefeaturelist.PC
DMISwilldisplaytheEditIDdialogbox.Thisdialogboxallowsyoutorenametheselected
feature'sID.
Important:Neveruseanyofthemathematicalcharacters(,+,/, or*) inanIDlabel.Thiswill

causeproblemswhenyouattempttousethefeatureIDinsidePCDMISExpressions.
IdentifyingaFeaturebyUsingTooltips
PCDMIS4.3andhigherprovidesyouwithawaytoidentifyafeaturewithouthavingtoturnon
featureIDs.Instead,PCDMIScandisplayasmalltooltipthatwillappearwhenyoubrieflyhover
yourmouseoverthefeatureinsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Thetooltipwillremainvisible
untilyoumovethemouseoffofthetooltip.

SampleTooltipofaLineFeature
Youmayfindthisusefulwhenyouhavealargepartprogramandyouwanttokeepyourfeature
IDlabelsturnedofftoimproveperformance,yetyoustillneedawayofquicklyidentifyinga
feature.
ClickingonthetooltipwilltogglethefeaturesIDlabelinthecurrentview.
Rightmouseclickingwilldisplayashortcutmenuwiththesameoptionsavailablewhen
rightclickingonafeatureinsideTextBoxMode.
TooltipsarenotavailablewhenPCDMISisperformingpathoperations(AnimatePath,EditPath,
etc)orwheninQuickFixturemode,orinanymodewherethemousebuttonorkeyboardbuttons
areusedatthesametime(suchasduringaPan,Zoom,orRotateoperation).
AutomaticallyPositioningFeatureIDLabels
PCDMISprovidesyouwiththesemethodstoautomaticallypositionfeatureIDlabelsinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindowwithleaderlinessothattheypointtothefeaturestheyreference
insteadofrestingdirectlyonthefeature.ThismovesthelabelstotheedgeofyourCADviewso
thatyoucanmoreeasilyseethepartorfeature.
IDLabelsWithoutAutomatic IDLabelsWithAutomatic
Positioning Positioning

Method1UsetheSetUpOptionsdialogbox
AccesstheSetUpOptionsdialogboxandenabletheAutomaticlabelpositioningcheckbox
fromthelistofcheckboxesontheGeneraltab.Thismethodkeepsrepositioningyourlabels
wheneveryouperformpan,zoom,orrotateoperationsonthepart.Itonlyfunctionswiththemain
CADviewifyouhavemultiplesplitviews.
Method2UsetheFeatureIDLabelShortcutMenu
RightclickonafeatureIDlabel,andfromtheshortcutmenu,selectLabelProcessing|
AutomaticLabelPositioning.Thismethod,differentfrommethod1,worksinthecurrentCAD
view,notjustthemainCADview.Alsoitonlypositionsthelabelsonce.So,ifyouperformpan,
zoom,orrotateoperations,thelabelsarenotrepositioned.
EditingDimensionColors
SelectingtheEdit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|DimensionColormenuoptionbringsupthe
EditDimensionColordialogbox.Thisdialogboxallowsyoutodefinecolorsandtolerance
zonesforyourentiretoleranceband.

EditDimensionColordialogbox
DefiningDimensionColors
1. DefinetheNumberofToleranceZones.
2. SettheToleranceZoneMultiplierasneeded.
3. Ifdesired,selecttheShowColorsinTwoDirections checkboxtoextendyour
colorrangetotheTolvalue.
4. Pickthecolorsforthetolerancezonesinoneoftwoways:
Method1Selecteachtolerancezoneoneatatimefromthetolerance
zonedropdownlist,andclicktheEditbuttontosetaspecificcolorfor
eachzone.
Method2Usethecolorwheeltoselectthestartandendtolerance
zonecolors,andallowPCDMIStodefinecolorsfortheotherzones.
3. ClickApplyColors.
4. ModifytheoptionsfortheDimensionColorsbarasdesired.
5. ClickOK.
Item Description
Tolerance Thisincreasesthenegativeandpositivetolerancebythepercentage
ZoneMultiplier specified.Ifitissetto200%,thentherangeoftolerancezoneswill
box become:
2.0*(Tol)through2.0*(+Tol)
Thisprovidesyouwithgreatercontroloverthetolerancerangeforyour
tolerancezone,allowingyourrangeofcolorstoextendintotheoutof
tolerancezone,lettingyouvisuallyseehowmuchoutoftolerance
somethingis.
Thedefaultvalueis100%.
Numberof Thisdeterminesthetolerancezonesforyourpartprogram.Tolerance
Tolerance zonesessentiallydivideyourentiretolerancebandintothesetolerance
Zonesbox zones.Eachtolerancezonehasauniquecolorassociatedwithit.
Tolerance Thislistcontainsallthetolerancezones.Youcanselectaspecificzone
Zoneslist fromthislisttomanipulateitscolorindetail.
TheDimensionLimitsitemfromthislistisusedtocreateaborderatthe
absolutepositiveornegativelimitofthefeaturetolerance.Thecolorused
forthiscorrespondstocolorusedtodrawthetoleranceband.
Show Thisdetermineswhetherornotyourtolerancezonesdisplaythesame
Tolerancesin colorrangeintwodirections,oneheadingtowardsthePositiveOutof
TwoDirections TolerancerangeandtheotherheadingtowardstheNegativeOutof
checkbox Tolerancerange.Thiseffectivelyexpandsthelowerdimensioncolor
rangetoTolinsteadofzero.
YoucanthenusetheEditbuttontodefinethenegativedimensioncolors
andpositivedimensioncolorsseparately.
Recallbutton Thisbuttonreturnsthecolorstothedefaultsetting.
Defaultbutton Thisbuttonletsyouoverridethepreviousdefaultcolorsettingswiththe

currentvalues.
EditColor ThisdisplaysaColordialogboxlettingyouchangethecolorassociated
button withthecurrentlyselectedtolerancezone.
ColorWheel Thisprovidesyouwithaquickwaytodefinecolorsforallyourtolerance
zones.
Itletsyoupickthecolorsforthefirstandlasttolerancezones.Asmallx
appearsonthecolorwheelforeachcolorselected:
Theremainingtolerancezoneswillhavecolorsspacedevenlybetween
thestartandendcolors.Thedirectionofthespacingdependsuponthe
optionselected.
Clockwise Thissetstheendcolortohavethesamebrightnessasthestartcolor,
option andwillspacethecolorsinaclockwisedirection.
Counter Thissetstheendcolortohavethesamebrightnessasthestartcolor,but
Clockwise willspacethecolorsinthecounterclockwisedirection.
option
StraightLine Thisspacesthecolorsfromthestartcolortotheendcolor,regardlessof
option thebrightness,inastraightlinedirection.
ApplyColors Thisappliesanycolorchangesyoumadewithoutclosingthedialogbox,
button allowingyoutoimmediatelytestyourcolorselection.
Visiblecheck ThischeckboxletsyoushoworhidetheDimensionColorsBaronce
box youclickOK.
ForinformationontheDimensionColorsBar,see"Usingthe
DimensionsColorsWindow"topicinthe"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,
andTools"chapter
Default Thiseditboxletsyouchangethedefaulttolerancevalueforthe
Tolerancebox DimensionColorsBar.
DisplayActual ThisdisplaystolerancesastheactualdeviationintheDimensionColors
Deviation Bar.
option
Display% Thisdisplaystolerancesasapercentageofthedeviationinthe
Deviation DimensionColorsBar.
option
EditingFeatures

EditFeatureAppearancedialogbox
SelectingtheEdit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|FeatureAppearancemenuoptionbringsup
theEditFeatureAppearancedialogbox.Thisdialogboxallowsyoutoalterfeature
identifications(termedfeatureIDs)withinapartprogram,featurecolors,andfeatureIDlabels.
ThefollowingexampleshowsafeatureIDlabelandafeaturethathavebeenmodifiedusingthe
EditFeatureAppearancedialogbox.Variouscolorsdemonstratethedifferentpartsofthelabel.
RedtheFeatureColor.Bydefault,thecoloredbaratthetopoftheIDlabelalso
changestomatchthecolorofthecircle.
GrayBackgroundColor.
GreentheLineColor.
AnenlargedscreenshotofanexamplefeatureIDlabel,andfeaturewithamodifiedappearance
EditingFeatureIDs
Apreviouslyassignedfeaturenamecanbeeditedsimplybydoubleclickingonthedesired
featureinthelistbox.AnEditIDdialogboxwillappearallowingyoutokeyinanewidentification.

EditIDdialogbox
FeatureIDscanalsobechangedintheEditwindow.SimplyhighlightthedesiredIDandtypeina
newidentification.Beaware,however,thatintheEditwindow,PCDMISdoesnottrackfeature
identificationsandthereforewillnotwarnyouifduplicateIDsareassigned.Usecautionwhen
makingchangesifyoudonotwantidenticalIDs.
Important:Neveruseanyofthemathematicalcharacters(,+,/, or*) inanIDlabel.Thiswill

causeproblemswhenyouattempttousethefeatureIDinsidePCDMISExpressions.
Thisdialogboxcontainstwomainareas:
TheFeaturesOptionsareaUsedtomodifythedisplayofthepart'sfeatures
themselves.
TheTextLabelsOptionsareaUsedtomodifythefeatureIDlabelsintheGraphics
Displaywindow.
TochangethegraphicoptionsforfeaturesorfeatureIDlabels,selectthedesiredoptionsfrom
thedialogbox,andthenclickApplyandthenOK.
FeaturesOptionsarea
TheFeaturesOptionsareaallowsyoutochangethecolorofselectedpartfeaturesandwhether
ornotselectedfeaturesorfeatureIDlabelsaredisplayedintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Touse
theitemsinthisarea,youmustfirstselectoneormoreitemsfromtheListofFeaturesandthen
clicktheSelectedfromthelistoption.Thisenablestheotheritemsinthisarea.
TheSearchIDandSelectLast#boxesarediscussedinthe"SearchID"and"SelectLast#"
topicsinthe"NavigatingtheUserInterface"chapter.

TheFeatureColoroptionallowsyoutosetthecolorforaspecifiedfeature'sidentification.This
optionworksinthesamemannerastheEditColoroption(seetheEditCADdialogboxfoundin
"EditingCAD").
ToChangetheColorofaFeature:
Tochangethecolorofafeature:
1. SelectthefeaturetobealteredfromtheListofFeatures.
2. SelecttheFeatureColoroption.PCDMISwillautomaticallydisplaythe
Colordialogbox.
3. Clickonthedesiredcolor,ordefineanewoneusingtheCustomColor
box.
4. ClicktheOKbutton.PCDMISreturnstotheEditFeatureAppearance
dialogbox.ThenewcolorwillbedisplayedintheFeatureColorbox.
5. ClicktheApplybuttonandPCDMISwillautomaticallychangethecolor
ofthefeature(s)intheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Thetopborderofthe
featureIDlabelalsochangestomatchthefeaturecolor.
TheDisplayareacontainsON/OFFoptionsthatcontrolthedisplayoffeaturesintheGraphics
Displaywindow.Thisoptionisusefulwhenyouwanttofocusononlyaportionofgeometrical
featuresthepartcontainsatatime.
ToDeterminetheDisplayofSelectedFeatures:
Todeterminethedisplayofselectedfeatures:
1. Selectthefeature(s)youwanttoturnonoroff.
2. SelecteithertheONortheOFFoptionlocatedundertheDisplayareaof
thedialogbox.
3. ClicktheApplybutton.PCDMISwilldisplayorconcealthefeatures.
4. Ifthechangesmadearetoyoursatisfaction,clickthe OKbutton.PC
DMISwillclosethedialogboxandsavethechanges.
TheLabelareacontainsON/OFFoptionsthatcontrolthedisplayoffeatureIDsintheGraphics
Displaywindow.Thisoptionisusefulwhenaportionofthepartdrawingbecomesclutteredwith
severalfeatureIDs.SpecificIDscanbeturnedoff,allowingotherIDstobemoreeasilyviewed.
ToDeterminetheDisplayofSelectedFeatureIDLabels:
TodeterminethedisplayofselectedfeatureIDlabels:
1. Selectthefeaturelabel(s)thatyouwanttoturnonoroff.
2. SelecteithertheONortheOFFoptionlocatedundertheLabelareaof
thedialogbox.
3. ClicktheApplybutton.PCDMISwilldisplay(orconceal)thefeature
labels.
4. Ifthechangesmadearetoyoursatisfaction,clickthe OKbutton.PC
DMISwillclosethedialogboxandsavethechanges.
TextLabelOptionsarea

TheTextLabelOptionsareaallowsyoutodetermineforallfeatureIDlabelsthebackground
color,linecolor,andwhetherornotashadowappearsaroundtheborder.Tousethefeaturesin
thisarea,youmustfirstselecttheAllfeaturestextlabelsoption.PCDMISautomaticallyselects
allthefeaturesfromtheListofFeatures.
BackgroundColorThisbuttondisplaysaColordialogboxfromwhichyoucanchoosethe
backgroundcolorforthefeatureIDlabels.
LineColorThisbuttondisplaysaColordialogboxfromwhichyoucanchooselinecolorforthe
featureIDlabels.Changingthelinecolorchangestherightandbottombordercoloronthe
featureIDlabel.
ClickingtheDefaultbuttoncausesallfeatureIDlabelscreatedthereaftertousetheline,color,
andshadowsettingsdisplayedwhenyouclickedDefault.
Hint:Youcanalsochangetheseitemsbyrightclickingonafeature'sIDlabelandselectingthe
appropriateitemfromtheresultingshortcutmenu.See"FeatureShortcutMenu"in"Using
ShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus"
ShowingandAnimatingPathLines
PCDMIShastheabilitytogeneratecoloredlinesontheCADmodelintheGraphicsDisplay
windowthatshowthepathyourprobewilltakeonthepartwhiletheprobemeasuresmarked
features.Theselinesarecalledpathlines.Pathlineswillhelpyoupreviewthepathyourprobe
willtakeandtroubleshootpossiblecollisionareas.
Toviewpathlines,selectView|PathLines.PCDMISwillcheckeachcommandanddrawthe
pathlinesaccordingly.YoucancancelthisprocessatanytimebypressingtheyESCkeyonyour
keyboard.
Thisshowstheprobe'sroutedrawnonthepart'sgraphicalimage
Note:YoucancontrolthesizeofyourpathlinesbyusingtheDisplaySymbolsiconfromthe
GraphicsModestoolbarandthenmodifyingtheFixedSize valueintheDisplaySymbols

dialogbox.Tochangethecolor,youwillneedtomodifythePathLinesColorRGB registryentry
usingthePCDMISSettingsEditor.Seethe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendixforinformation
onchangingregistryentries.
AnimatingthePath
TheAnimatePathoptiononly TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|Animate
simulatesthemovementofthe Pathmenuoptionanimatesthepathoftheprobeonthepart,
probe.Itdoesnotexecutethe simulatingthemovementoftheprobe.
partprogram.
TomakeAnimatePathaccessible:
1. Markthedesiredfeatures.
2. SelectthePathLinesmenucommand.The
AnimatePathoptionwillthenbeavailablefor
selection.
3. SelecttheAnimatePathmenucommand.PC
DMISwilldisplaytheExecutionModeOptions
windowandautomaticallybeginanimatingthepath
withasimulatedprobetip.
AnimationcanbestoppedatanytimebypressingtheESCkey
onthekeyboardortheStopcommandbuttonwithinthe
ExecutionModewindow.(IftheStopcommandbuttonis
selected,pressingtheENTERkeywillalsohaltanimation.)
Tostepthroughthepartprogram,simplypresstheContinuebutton.
Tostoptheanimation,presstheStopbutton.
PressingtheCancelbuttonwillclosetheExecutionModeOptionswindowwithout
completingtheexecutionofthepartprogram.
Clickingonthepathlineusingthearrowiconandleftmousebuttonwillmovethecursorto
thecorrespondingcommandlineintheEditwindow.Thenextavailablefeatureinthepath
linewillbeindicated.
RegeneratingthePath
Ifamoveisinsertedbeforea TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|Regenerate
PH9wristchange,thelocation Pathmenuoptionredrawsthepartprogrampathlines.PC
ofthewristchangewillnot DMISwillerasethecurrentpathlines fromthescreenandre
moveuntilREGENERATE drawthem.Thisoptionisparticularlyusefulwhenchangeshave
PATHischosen. beenmadetoapartprogramandconfirmationisneededthat
thepathlinestrulyrepresentthecurrentstateofthepart
program.
Youcancanceltheregenerationatanytimebypressingthe
ESCkey.

Note:TheRegeneratePathoptionisonlyaccessibleafterfeatureshavebeenmarkedinthe
EditwindowandtheView|PathLinesoptionhasbeenselected.
DetectingCollisions
TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|CollisionDetection menuoption(CD)displays
theCollisionDetectiondialogbox.TheCDmoduleisdesignedtodetectcollisionsbetweenthe
probeandCADsurfaces.AllCADcurves,lines,andpointsareignored.Asaresult,onlyCAD
filesthatfullydescribethepartusingsurfacesaresuitableforcollisiondetection.(TheCD
algorithmdoesn'tusetheactualsurfacedefinitions,butratherthesurfacetessellations(or
graphicalapproximations),whicharealsousedforrenderingsolidviewsusingtheOpenGL
graphicslanguage.)
ToEnableCollisionDetectionFunctionality:
1. Importapartmodelthathassurfacedata.
2. EnsurethattheGraphicsDisplaywindowshowsyourpartmodelinSurface
mode.ItwillnotworkinWireframemode.See"ToConfigureaViewtobeinOpengl
Mode:".
3. SelecttheView|PathLinesmenuoption.PCDMISwillperformthisoperation
anddisplaytheprobe'spathlinesinsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.See"Showing
andAnimatingPathLines".
4. SelecttheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|CollisionDetectionmenu
option.PCDMISwilldisplaytheCollisionDetectiondialogbox.See"Collision
DetectionDialogboxOptions".
ToConfigureaViewtobeinOpenglMode:
ToconfigureaviewtobeinOpenGLmode:
1. ClicktheViewSetup icontobringuptheViewSetupdialogbox.
2. SelecttheSolidscheckbox.
3. PresstheApplybutton.
4. PresstheOKbutton.
5. ClicktheSurfaceModeiconintheGraphicsModestoolbar.
CollisionDetectionDialogboxOptions
CollisionsareshownintheCollisionDetectiondialogbox.

CollisionDetectiondialogbox
YoucanselecttheStopOnCollisioncheckboxsothatprobeanimationcollision
detectionwillstopifacollisionoccurs.
TheotheroptionsinthedialogfunctionlikethoseintheExecutionModeOptions
dialogbox.(See"ExecutingPartPrograms"inthe"UsingAdvancedFileOptions"
chapter)
WhenPCDMIShasfinishedrunningCollisionDetection,thepathlineswillberedrawninthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.PCDMISwillindicatewherecollisionshaveoccurredinred.
TheProbeDisplayArea
TheprobewillbedisplayedintheProbeDisplayAreausingagreencolor.Ifacollisionoccurs,
theportionoftheprobethatcollideswillbeshowninred.Thesamecolorschemeisusedtodraw
theprobeonthescreen,aswellasintheCollisionDetectiondialogbox.
Youcanenlargeorshrinkthedrawingoftheprobejustasyouwouldtheparton
theGraphicsDisplaywindowbyclickingtherightmousebuttonaboveorbelowan
imaginaryhorizontalline.
Youcan3DrotatethedrawingoftheprobebyholdingdownCTRLanddragging
themouseusingtherightmousebutton.
TheScaletoFitbuttonshrinksorenlargesthedrawingoftheprobesothatitfitsbackintothe
CollisionDetectiondialogboxsProbeDisplayArea.
DisplayingaCollisionList
WhentheCollisionDetectiondialogboxfinishestestingthecurrentpartprogramforpossible
collisions,itdisplaystheCollisionListdialogbox.

CollisionListdialogbox
Thisdialogboxdisplaysalistofcollisionsforthepartprogram.TheGraphicsDisplaywindowwill
alsohighlightthosepathlinesinred.ClickingonanitemontheCollisionListdialogboxwill
jumptotheEditwindowcommandwherethecollisionwasdetected.TheEditwindowmustbein
commandmodeforthistowork.Youcanthenmodifythepartprogramtofixthecollision
problem.
IfyouwanttoremoveoneormoreitemsfromtheCollisionListdialogbox,selecttheitemor
items,andclicktheClearbutton.Youmayfindthisusefulifyouwanttoremoveanitemyou've
alreadycorrectedorifyouwanttofocusonasubsetofalargelistofdetectedcollisions.
DeletingCAD
DeleteCaddialogbox
TheEdit|Delete|CadElementsmenuoptiondisplaystheDeleteCADdialogbox.
ThisdialogboxletsyoupermanentlyremovethenominalimagesoffeaturesfromtheGraphics
Displaywindow.ThisfunctionisusefulinsimplifyinganimportedCADfilebeforebuildingan
inspectionprogram.Forexample,aCADfilemaycontaintextorotherdescriptiveinformationthat

hasnoimpactontheinspectionofthepart.TheDeleteCADdialogboxallowsyoutodeletethis
extraneousdata.
FeatureTypes
TheFeatureTypesareaofthedialogcontainsvariouscheckboxestellingPCDMISwhattypeof
feature(s)todelete.Theavailableselectionconsistsofthefollowing:
Points
Lines
Circles
Arcs
Curves
Surfaces
NumberofSelectedFeatures
ThisoptiondisplaysthenumberoffeaturesthatPCDMISwillalter.
NumberofDeletedFeatures

TheNumberDeletedboxesdisplaythenumberoffeaturesthathavebeendeleted.The
numbersinthesefieldschangedependingonthefeaturesselectedintheFeatureTypesareaof
thedialog.
DeleteCAD
TheDeletecommandbuttontellsPCDMIStodeleteanynominalfeaturesthathavebeen
selected.
UndoDeletedCAD
TheUndocommandbuttontellsPCDMIStorestoreanynominalfeaturesthathavejustbeen
deleted.
Deselect
TheDeselectcommandbuttontellsPCDMIStodeselectanyfeaturesthatwerepreviously
highlighted.
DeletingFeatures
PCDMISallowsyoutodeleteexistingfeaturesinthreeways:
YoucanselectfeaturesintheEditwindowandpresstheDELETEkeyonyourkeyboard.
YoucanusetheDeleteFeaturesdialogbox.Discussedbelow.
YoucanplaceyourcursorintheEditwindowandselecttheDelete[Feature]menu
option.Discussedbelow.
DeletingusingtheDeleteFeaturesDialogBox

DeleteFeaturesdialogbox
SelectingtheEdit|Delete|FeaturesmenuoptionbringsuptheDeleteFeaturesdialogbox.
Thisdialogletsyoupermanentlyremovethemeasuredorconstructedfeaturesfromthepart
program.Thisoptionshouldbeusedwhenanumberofunnecessaryfeaturesneedtobe
removed.
TheDeleteFeaturesdialogboxallowsyoutokeyintheID#,clickonthefeature,orselectthe
lastfeaturecreatedbyspecifyinganumber.PCDMISalsoofferstheabilitytorestoreanyfeature
thathasjustbeendeleted.WhentheOKcommandbuttonispressed,theindicatedfeatureswill
bedeleted.
Note: WhenmeasuredfeaturesareremovedfromtheGraphicsDisplaywindow,PCDMISwill
automaticallyremoveanydimensionsordatumsassociatedwiththemfromthepartprogram.
DeleteFeatures
TheDeletecommandbuttondeletesanyfeaturesthatweremarkedfordeletion.Thisdeletionis
notpermanentuntiltheOKbuttonispressed.
UndoDeletedFeatures
TheUndocommandbuttonallowsyoutorestoreallthedeletedfeaturesthatweredeletedusing
theDeletebutton.ThisbuttonwillnotrestoredeletedfeaturesoncetheOKbuttonispressed.
ClearList

TheClearListcommandbuttonclearsthelistboxofanymarkedfeaturestobedeleted.
DeletingusingtheDelete[Feature]MenuOption
TheEdit|Delete|Delete[Feature]menuoptionalsoallowsyoutodeletethefeatureatthe
cursor'slocationintheEditwindow.[Feature]indicatestheIDofthefeaturetobedeleted(i.e.
DeletePNT1).Usually,whencreatingapartprogram,yourcursorwillbeattheendofyourpart
program,thusselectingtheDelete[Feature]menuoptiondeletesthelastfeatureinyourpart
program.
DeletingDimensions
DeleteDimensionsdialogbox
TheDeleteDimensionsdialogbox(Edit|Delete|Dimension)letsyoupermanentlyremove
anydimensionsfromthepartprogram.Thisoptionshouldbeusedwhenanumberof
unnecessarydimensionsneedtoberemoved.
TheDeleteDimensionsdialogboxallowsyoutokeyintheID#,clickonthedimension,select
allthedimensions,orselectthemostrecentlycreateddimensionsbytypinganumberinthe
SelectLast#box.PCDMISalsoofferstheabilitytorestoreanydeleteddimensionbyclicking
theUndobuttonbeforeyouclicktheOKbutton.WhenyouclicktheOKbutton,theindicated
dimensionswillbedeletedpermanently.
DeleteDimensions
TheDeletecommandbuttonplacesatextfragmentof"del"afteranydimensionsthatisselected
formthelistwhenyouclickDelete.Youcanselectallthedimensionsfromthelistbyclicking
SelectAll.ThisdeletionisnotpermanentuntiltheOKbuttonispressed.
UndoDeletedDimensions

TheUndocommandbuttonallowsyoutorestoreallthedeleteddimensionsthataremarkedfor
deletionusingtheDeletebutton.ThisbuttonwillnotrestoredeleteddimensionsoncetheOK
buttonispressed.
ClearList
TheClearListcommandbuttonclearsthelistboxofanymarkeddimensionstobedeleted.
TransformingaCADModel
PCDMIS4.0andlaterletsyoutransform(translate,scaleandrotate)yourCADmodel,andif
desired,keepacopyoftheoriginalunmodifiedCADmodel,aswellascreateanewcoordinate
systemforthetransformedmodel.
TotransformyourCADmodel,accesstheCADTransformdialogboxbyselectingOperation|
GraphicsDisplayWindow|Transform.Oncethedialogboxappears,usetheitemsonthe
dialogboxasneeded,andthenclickOKorApply.
CADTransformdialogbox
KeepOriginal Thischeckboxletsyoukeepacopyoftheoriginal,unmodifiedCAD

model.
Createnew Thischeckboxletsyoucreateanewcoordinatesystemfromthenewly
coordinate translatedCADmodel.See"WorkingwithCADCoordinateSystems"for
system moreinformation.
ThisareadefinestheXYZoffsetstotranslatethemodel.
Translate YoucaneithertypethespecificlocationtowhichyouwantPCDMISto
movethecoordinatesystem,orifyoudon'tknowthecoordinates,you
canusetheSelectbuttontoselectaspecificCADentitytowhichthe
coordinatesystemwillmove.See"TransformingbySelecting"below.
ThisareadefineshowtheCADmodelwillbescaled.Thiscanbeuseful
forfixingmodelsthatarenotscaledcorrectlyduetoimproper
measurementunitidentification.Forexample,ifthemodelissizedfor
millimeterunitsbutyouknowtheyshouldbeinchunits,youwouldscale
themodelby25.4.
Scale
TheUniformcheckboxuniformlyscalesthemodel.Ifyouwanttoscale
aselectedaxisofthemodel,cleartheUniformcheckbox.Leavethe
valueas1foraxesthatyoudon'twantscaled,andchangetheaxisthat
youwantscaled.Youcanalsoscaleaxesbynegativevalues.Thisis
usefulifyouwanttomirroranaxis.Inthiscaseyouwouldenter1for
thataxis.
InthissectionyoucanmirrortheCADviewofapart.Mirroringprovides
thesamefunctionalitythatcouldbedoneusingScalewith1specified
forthemirroringaxis.
MirroringyourCADmodelisparticularlyusefulwhenmeasuring
automotivepartsthathaveidenticalleftandrighthandpieces.IfCAD
informationisavailablefortherightsideofapart,youcanmirrorthe
appropriateaxisandcreateaCADviewoftheleftsideofthepart.
Selecttheaxisyouwanttomirror.IfyouwanttokeepyouroldCADdata
Mirror
sothataftermirroringyou'llhaveCADdataforboththesymmetrical
halves,clicktheKeepOriginalcheckbox.
OnceyouclickApplyorOKPCDMISwillmirrortheCADdrawinginthe
specifiedaxisanddisplaytheimageintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
TheMirroroptiondoesnotcreateanewpartprograminthemirrored
image.Ifyouwanttomirroryourpartprograminstead,seethe"Mirror"
topicinthe"UsingBasicFileOptions"chapterandfollowtheinstructions
available.
ThisareacontrolshowtheCADmodelwillberotated.Typetheangle
youwanttorotatethemodelbyintheAnglebox.
Rotate YoucaneithertypethespecificlocationtowhichyouwantPCDMISto
movethecoordinatesystem,orifyoudon'tknowthecoordinates,you
canusetheSelectbuttontoselectaspecificCADentitytowhichthe
coordinatesystemwillmove.See"TransformingbySelecting"below.
ThisareadefinesthelineaboutwhichtheCADmodelwillberotated.
RotateAxis
Themodelwillrotateaboutthislinebythespecifiedangle.Thedirection
ofrotationfollowstherighthandrule.

RightHandRule:Ifyouextendthethumbonyourrighthandin
thedirectionofthelinevector,andcurlyourotherfingersintoyour
palm,yourfingersindicatethedirectionofpositiveanglerotation.
Youcanuseoneofthecoordinatesystemaxesasthelinetorotate
aboutbyselectingtheappropriateX,Y,orZaxisoptionbutton.
Ifyoudon'twanttorotateaboutoneofthecoordinatesystemaxes,you
canrotateaboutanarbitrarylinebyselectingtheLineoptionbutton.This
enablestheLineVectorandLinePointareas.Filltheseareasoutto
determinethepointandvectorthatcomprisethearbitraryline.
AsyoudetermineyourCADmodel'snewtransformation,thisarea
automaticallygetsfilledoutwiththevaluestouseina3x3matrix.This
3x3matrixrotatestheCADmodel.
Usually,youwon'tneedtofilloutanythinginthisareaasitisgenerally
forinformationalpurposesonly.
FortheAdvancedUser:
RotateMatrix YoucanselecttheSpecifyRotateMatrixcheckboxtotypethevalues
fortherotationmatrixmanually.Thecolumnsspecifytheaxesforthe
rotation.Theserestrictionsapply:
Eachaxisofthematrixmustbeorthogonaltotheothertwoaxes.
Thus,eachaxispairmustforma90degreeangle.
Eachaxismustbeunitlength.Thatis,thelengthoftheaxismust
beone.
Whenyouapplythetransformation,ifeitheroftheserestrictionsisnot
met,amessageappearsindicatingtheproblem,andPCDMIS
automaticallycorrectstherotationmatrix.
TransformingbySelecting
WhenyouclicktheSelectbuttonPCDMISdisplaystheSelectPointsdialogbox.
SelectPointsdialogbox
Insteadoftypinganoffsetvalue,youcanusethisdialogboxtoselectanoffsetbysimplypicking
aCADentityfromtheGraphicsDisplaywindow.

Selectpoint1 Thisoptiondefinesthetranslationlocation.Withthisoptionselected,
option clickonadesiredCADentity.Thisanchorsthepointtothatlocation.
Thisoptionspecifiestheanglewithrespecttopoint1andtheaxisof
Selectpoint2
rotation.Withthisoptionselected,clickonasecondCADentityonyour
option
CADmodeltodefinetheangle.
Insteadofselectingtwopointsforyourtranslation,thisoptionletsyou
Selectline
selectasingleline.PCDMISthensetsthevaluesofthePoint1and
option
Point2areastomatchthestartandendpointoftheselectedline.
ReversePoints
ThisswitchestheXYZvaluesofPoint1withtheXYZvaluesofPoint2.
button
TheseareasdefinetheXYZcenterpointoftheCADentityselectedwith
theSelectpoint1andSelectpoint2options.
ThecheckboxesintheseareasallowyoutoselectivelyupdatetheX,Y,
Point1 and orZvalueofthepoint,enablingyoutospecifypointswherethereisno
Point2areas actualgeometryforyoutoclickon.Forexample,forPoint1,suppose
youwantedtheXandYvalueofonepointbuttheZvalueofadifferent
point.Todothis,youwouldcleartheZcheckboxandthenselectone
point.ThenyouwouldcleartheX,Ycheckboxes,selecttheZcheck
box,andthenselecttheotherpoint.
WorkingwithCADCoordinateSystems
CADCoordinateSystemdialogbox
TheEdit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|CADCoordinateSystemmenuoptiondisplaystheCAD
CoordinateSystemdialogbox.TheCADCoordinateSystemdialogboxletsyoucreateor
selectnewcoordinatesystemsforyourCADmodel.
TheCoordinateSystemlistontheleftsideofthedialogboxshowsallthecoordinatesystemsin
theCADmodel.Thecoordinatesystemslistedfirstaretheglobalcoordinatesystems.Youwill
alwaysseetheDefaultcoordinatesystemlisted.

IftheCADmodelisanassemblyofcomponentparts,thenfollowingtheglobalcoordinate
systemswillbelistedallthecoordinatesystemscontainedinthatassembly.Thesearelistedina
treeviewstructure.Toexpandthetreeview,clickonaplussymbol(+).PCDMISdisplaysthe
componentparts'assemblycoordinatesystems.YouwillalwaysseeaDefaultcoordinatesystem
listedforeachpartcomponentintheassembly.Thiscoordinatesystemdefinesthepart'sdefault
localcoordinatesystem.
WhenyoufirstopentheCADCoordinateSystemdialogbox,PCDMIScheckstoseeifthe
currentactivecoordinatesystemmatchesacoordinatesysteminthelist:
Ifitfindsamatch,thenPCDMISselectsitfromthelist.
Ifitdoesn'tmatchanyofthecoordinatesystems,thenPCDMISusestheDefault
coordinatesystematthetopofthelist.ThiscanhappenifyoutransformedtheCAD
withoutcreatingacoordinatesystem(seeCADTransformdialogsectionformore
information).
ToSelectanduseCoordinateSystems
Touseanexistingcoordinatesystem,
1. SelectthecoordinatesystemfromtheCoordinateSystemList.PCDMISshows
thatcoordinatesystemintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Ifyouselectanassembly
component,PCDMISselectsthefirstcoordinatesysteminthatcomponentinstead.
2. ClickApplyorOK.Theselectedcoordinatesystembecomesthenewactive
coordinatesystemandPCDMISredrawstheCADtoreflectitsnewposition.
ToCreateaCoordinateSystem
TocreateacoordinatesystematthecurrentCADmodel'sposition,clicktheCreatebutton.
TheCADmodel'spositioncanbechangedbyusingtheCADTransformdialogbox.Seethe
"TransformingaCADModel"topic formoreinformationontransformingtheCADmodel.
ToRenameaCoordinateSystem
Torenameacoordinatesystem,selectthecoordinatesystemfromthelist,andclickthe
Renamebutton.Thentypethenewname.
YoucannotrenametheDefaultcoordinatesystems.
ToDeleteaCoordinateSystem
Todeleteacoordinatesystem,selectthecoordinatesystemfromthelist,andclickthe
Deletebutton.PCDMISdeletestheselectedcoordinatesystem.
YoucannotdeletetheDefaultcoordinatesystemorassemblycoordinatesystems.
ToReplaceaCoordinateSystem
ToreplaceoroverwriteanexistingCoordinateSystemwiththecurrentCADmodel'sposition,
selectacoordinatesystemfromthelist,andclicktheReplacebutton.
YoucannotreplacetheDefaultcoordinatesystemorassemblycoordinatesystems.

CheckingandFixingPointNominalDeviation
PointNominalDeviationdialogbox
TheEdit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|PointNominalDeviationmenuoptiondisplaysthe
PointNominalDeviationdialogbox.Thisresizabledialogboxletsyoueasilycomparecertain
pointmeasurementsagainstaCADmodelinordertocheckforchangesorupdatesmadetothe
CADmodel.Essentially,youdefineatolerancevalue,andPCDMISwilllookatthenominalsfor
anypointfeaturesinyourpartprogramandcomparethemagainsttheCADmodel.PCDMISwill
listallpoints.Ifanypointsdeviatebeyondthedefinedtolerancevalue,PCDMISwilllistthose
pointsinared/orangecolor,allowingyoutoadjustthemasneeded.
ThePointNominalDeviationdialogboxcontainsthefollowingoptions:
Item Description
Thisboxfilterswhichpointfeaturesaredisplayed.Thedistancebetweena
Deviation pointfeature'stheoreticalpositionandtheCADmodelnominalpositionisits
cutoffbox deviation.Onlypointswhosedeviationisgreaterthanorequaltothe
deviationcutoffwillbelisted.
Angle ThisboxcontrolsthenominalCADposition.TheCADsurfacenormalandthe
deviation pointvectormustbewithinthisangle.Therangeforthisangleis090
cutoffbox degrees.
Find
Nominals Thisdefinesthetolerancevaluethatwillbeallowedforeachpointfeature.
Toleranc Pointswithadeviationthatexceedsthistolerancevaluewillturnred.
ebox
ThischeckboxdetermineswhetherornotPCDMISonlyusespriority
surfaceswhensearchingforasolution.Youcandefineprioritysurfacesusing
Search theSetasPrioritycheckboxintheEditCADElementsdialogbox.Seethe
Priority "EditingCAD"topicformoreinformationonhowtodothis.
Surfaces
Only
checkbox Ifyouclearthischeckbox,andPCDMIScannotfindanacceptablevalue
withinthedefinedprioritysurfaces,itwillthencheckalltheothersurfacesin
theCADmodel.
Move ThisbuttonupdatestheXYZandIJKvaluesofthosepointfeatureswhose

Checked checkboxesyouhaveselectedtomatchtheCADmodel'sXYZandIJK
Features values.
ThisbuttoncopiestheinformationforallselectedpointstotheWindows
Clipboard.Theinformationinthecolumnswillbedelimitedbysemicolons,as
Copy shownhere:
Checked
to
Clipboard
ExampleofPointsCopiedtoWindowsClipboard
Sometimesthebestpointthatthealgorithmfindsisincorrect.Ifyouselecta
singlefeature,theOverridebuttonbecomesavailableforselection.Clicking
thisbuttonwilldisplayanOverridedialogbox.Thisdialogboxletsyou
Override overridethefoundpointwithadifferentpoint.
Seethe"UsingtheOverrideDialogBox"topicbelow.
ThiscolumndisplaysthenameoftheIDofthefeature.Thecolumnheader
Feature
containsacheckbox.Selectingorclearingthischeckboxselectsorclears
column
thecheckboxesforallpointfeaturesinthelist.
Current
Thiscolumndisplaysthefeature'scurrenttheoreticalposition.
XYZ
Current
Thiscolumndisplaysthefeature'scurrenttheoreticalvectors.
IJK
Thiscolumndisplaysthefeature'snominalpositionifitweremovedontothe
CADXYZ
CAD.
Thiscolumndisplaysthefeature'snominalvectorifitweremovedontothe
CADIJK
CAD.
Thiscolumndisplaysthedistancebetweenthefeature'scurrenttheoretical
Deviation
positionanditscorrespondingnominalCADposition.
Angle Thiscolumndisplaystheangledeviationbetweenthefeature'scurrent
Dev theoreticalvectoranditscorrespondingnominalCADvector.
UsingtheOverrideDialogBox
TheOverridedialogboxappearsifyouselecttheOverridebuttonfromthePointNominals
Deviationdialogbox.
ItshowsalistofalltheCADnominalpointsthatcorrespondtotheselectedfeaturefromall
surfaceswithintheFindNominalsTolerancesearchzone.PCDMISinitiallysortsthesepoints

fromsmallesttolargestdeviation.UsuallythefirstpointlistedisthepointusedinthePoint
NominalsDeviationdialogbox.Eachpointisgraphicallyrepresentedwithacrosshairinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.Selectingapointinthelisthighlightsthatpointaswellasanycurveor
surfaceonwhichthepointliesintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Onceyoufindthedesiredpoint,
clicktheOverridebutton.TheOverridedialogboxclosesandthePointNominalsDeviation
dialogboxreappears,showingtheupdatedpointvalue.
UsePreviousSurfacecheckboxYoushouldusethischeckboxwhenoverridingseveral
points.Forexample,ifyouknowthatpointsforseveralfeaturesshouldalllieonthesamesurface
butthealgorithmincorrectlyputthepointsondifferentsurfaces,youwouldoverridethefirst
featureasusual.Thenonthesecondandsubsequentoverrides,youcouldselecttheUse
PreviousSurfacecheckbox.ThiswouldcausePCDMIStoonlyshowthepointsfoundonthe
surfaceofthepreviousoverride.
FindNominalsToleranceThisboxfunctionsthesameasthefieldofthesamenamefoundin
thePointNominalDeviationdialogboxbutwithdifferentresults.PCDMISsearchestheCAD
fornominalpointsthatcorrespondtotheselectedfeature.Itsearchesinasphericalzonearound
thecurrenttheoreticalpositionoftheselectedfeature.Thisboxdefinesthesizeofthatspherical
searchzone.ThevalueregulatestheamountofCADthatPCDMISevaluateswhilegenerating
thispointoverridelist.
TheotheritemsusedintheOverridedialogboxarealreadydiscussedinthePointNominals
Deviationdialogboxabove.
ModifyingDisplaySymbols
SelectingtheEdit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|DisplaySymbolsmenuitem(ortheDisplay
SymbolsiconfromtheGraphicsModestoolbar)causestheDisplaySymbolsdialogboxto
appear.
DisplaySymbolsdialogbox
ThisdialogboxletsyouchangehowdifferentsymbolsaredisplayedintheGraphicsDisplay
window.TheinitialvaluesforthesettingsintheDisplaySymbolsdialogboxcomefromthepart

programfile(.PRG).Ifnosettingsinformationexistsinthepartprogram,thentheinitialvaluesfor
thesettingswillcomefromtheregistryorhardcodeddefaults.
AvailablesymbolsyoucanmodifyincludethePointSymbol,theArrowSymbol,andPath
Lines.Wheneveryoumakeachangetooneofthecheckboxesoroptionbuttons,PCDMISwill
applythatchangeautomaticallysoyoucanseewhateffectitwillhave.PCDMISwillonlysave
yourchangesonceyouclicktheOKbutton.Toseechangestothesymbols'sizesclickthe
appropriateApplybutton.
DialogBox Description
Item
Point ThislistdefinesthetypeofPointtomodify.YoucanchooseeitherScan
Symboldrop Point,CADPoint,orFeaturePoint.ThedefaultitemisFeaturePoint.
downlist
Diameter/ Thisboxdefinesthesizeofthepointsymbol.SquareDotandRoundDot
Widthin symbolsuseWidthinPixels3LinesandSphereuseDiameterinpart
Pixelsbox programunits.NotethatthemaximumsizeforRoundDotisbasedonthe
computer'sphysicalvideocard.Ifthesizeexceedsthelimitsofthecurrent
computer'svideocard,itwillsimplydisplaythesymbolatthelargestsize
availabletothecurrentsystem'svideocard.
SquareDot Thisoptiondisplaysthepointsymbolasasquaredot.Thisisthequickest
optionbutton symbolforPCDMIStodraw.
ExampleSquareDotsymbol
RoundDot Thisoptiondisplaysthepointsymbolasarounddot.
optionbutton
ExampleRoundDotsymbol
Note:SquareDotandRoundSlotsymbolsaredrawnflatonthescreen
andmaybeclippedbytheCADmodel.
ThreeLines Thisoptiondisplaysthepointsymbolasathreelinedcrosshair.
optionbutton

ExampleThreeLinessymbol
Sphere Thisoptiondisplaysthepointsymbolsasasphere.Thisistheslowest
optionbutton symbolforPCDMIStodraw,especiallyifyouhavealltheattributes
selected.
ThesecheckboxesbecomeavailableifyouselecttheSpheresymbol.They
provideyouwithadditionalattributestofurthercontrolthedisplayofa
spheresymbolintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
ShadedThischeckboxproducesashaded(opaque)sphere
symbol.
LightingThischeckboxaddsOpenGLlightingtothesphere
symbol.
HighQualityThischeckboxproducesasmootherlookingsphere
symbol.
Whilethesecheckboxesimprovetheimagequalityofthespheresymbol,
theywillalsocauseaslightincreaseinthetimeittakestodrawthesphere
symbolswheneverthescreengetsrefreshed.
SomeExamples:
Shaded,
HighQuality
Lighting,
HighQuality
Shaded,
Lighting,High
quality

Arrow Thisboxcontrolsthediametersize(inpartprogramunits)ofthearrows
Symbolbox displayedintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Thesizeoftheactualarrowin
thedisplaywillchangeonlyiftheShadedcheckboxisselected.Thevalue
isinpartprogramunits.
ShadedThischeckboxshadesarrowsymbol,inessencedrawingarrows
ascylindertubeswithasetdiameter.Ifnotselected,arrowsaredrawnas
simplelineswithoutsize.
SomeExamples:
Not
Shaded
Shaded

Increased
Diameter
PathLines Thisareacontrolsthefixeddiametersize(inpartprogramunits)ofthepath
box linesdisplayedintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Fixedsizemeansthepath
lineswillnotchangesizeonthescreenwhenzoominginoroutonpart
model.
SomeExamples:
Default
Size
Increased
Diameter

EditingaPartProgram
EditingaPartProgram:Introduction
PCDMIS'smainpurposesaretoallowyoutocreate,edit,andexecutepartprogramswithease.
ThischapterdiscussesusingtheEdit menu(withothermenuoptions)toedityourpartprograms.
WhiletheEdit menuworkswiththecommandsthatappearintheEditwindow,adiscussionof
theEditwindowitselfisbeyondthescopeofthischapter.ForanindepthlookattheEditwindow
see,the"UsingtheEditwindow"chapter.
Thischaptercoversthesetopics:
UsingStandardEditCommands
EditingPatternsofFeatures
FindingandReplacingText
EditingDataFields
JumpingtoSpecifiedLineNumbers
JumpingtoandfromReferencedCommands
OverridingGuessedFeatures
OverridingFoundNominals
MarkingCommandsforExecution
CreatingandExecutingMarkedSets
UsingBookmarks
UsingBreakpoints
ChangingFontsandColors
EditingExternalObjects
UsingStandardEditCommands
PCDMIS,likemostWindowsapplications,allowsyoutousestandardeditcommandsinyour
partprogram.Thefollowingstandardmenuoptionsareavailable:
Undo
Redo
Cut
Copy
Paste
Delete
SelectAll
Undo
TheEdit|UndomenuoptionremovesthelastchangeyoumadetotheEditwindow.Youcan
continuetoselecttheUndooptiontoremovemultiplechangestotheEditwindow.
Note:Beawarethatswitchingtoadifferentmode,completelyremovesallchangesfrom
memory.
Redo
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual EditingaPartProgram 359

TheEdit|RedomenuoptionreversesthelastchangesthattookplacewhenyouusedtheUndo
menuoption.LiketheUndooption,youcanusetheRedooptionmultipletimestoreplace
multiplechanges.
Note:Beawarethatswitchingtoadifferentmode,completelyremovesallchangesfrom
memory.
Cut
TheEdit|Cutmenuoptionallowsyouto"cut"ormovetextfromoneareatoanotherusingthe
clipboard.
Tocuttext:
1. Highlighttheitem(s)tobemovedtoanotherarea.
2. SelecttheCutoption.ThetextwillberemovedfromtheEditwindowandstored
ontheclipboard.
3. SelectthePastecommandtorestorethecuttext.(See"Paste".)
Note: WhenselectingtheCutcommandanypreviousclipboardcontentswillbereplacedwiththe
cutselection.
Copy
TheEdit|Copymenuoptionalsoallowsyoutocopyandmovetextfromoneareatoanother
usingtheclipboard.TheonlydifferencebetweenthisoptionandtheCutoptionisthatthetextwill
notberemovedfromtheEditwindowwhenitiscopied.
Tocopytext:
1. Highlightthedesiredtext.
2. SelecttheCopycommand.Thetextwillremaininitscurrentlocationandwillbe
storedontheclipboardaswell.
3. SelectthePastecommandtorestorethecuttext.(See"Paste".)
Note: WhenselectingtheCopycommandanypreviousclipboardcontentswillbereplacedwith
thecopiedselection.
Paste
TheEdit|PastemenuoptionallowsyoutopastecopiedtextfromtheclipboardintotheEdit
windowatthecursor'slocation.
Delete
TheEdit|Delete|Selection menuoptiondeletesthecurrentlyhighlightedselectionfromthe
Editwindow.Thecontentsofthedeletedselectionarenotplacedontheclipboard.
SelectAll
360 EditingaPartProgram PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

TheEdit|SelectAllmenuoptionallowsyoutoselectallthecontentsoftheEditwindowfor
editingpurposes.
EditingPatternsofFeatures
Patternsoffeaturesareoftenencounteredinparts.PCDMISprovidesyouwithwaystocreate
patternedfeatures.Considerthesemenuoptions:
Pattern
PastewithPattern
Pattern
TheEdit|PatternmenuoptionbringsupthePatternOffsetsdialogbox.
PatternOffsetsdialogbox
ThisdialogallowsyoutodefinetheoffsetsthatwillbeusedwhenselectingtheEdit|PasteWith
Patternoption.
Tocreateapattern:
1. AccessthePatternOffsetdialogbox.
2. Typeanydesiredoffsetvalues.
3. Selectanydesiredmirroroption.
4. TypethenumberoftimestooffsetintheNumberofTimestoOffsetbox.
5. PresstheOKcommandbutton.
6. Optionally,presstheCancelbuttontoclosethedialogwithoutmakingchanges
tothecurrentsettings.
X,Y,ZOffset
ThesefieldsallowyoutosettheX,Y,orZOffsetbetweenpatternoccurrences.
TochangetheX,Y,orZOffset values:
1. SelectthedesiredX,Y,orZOffsetbox.
2. Typethedesiredchange.
PCDMISwilloffsetthenominalX,Y,andZdataofthepastedfeature(orsetoffeatures)by
theseoffsetvalues.

AngleOffset
TheAngleOffsetboxallowsyoutosettheangularoffsetbetweenpatternoccurrences.
Anangularoffsetmightbeusefulwhenmeasuringthetruepositionlocationofanumberofholes
inaboltholepattern,wherethedatumwasaholeinthecenterofthepattern.PCDMISwill
rotatetheoffsetaroundtheorigin.
AngularoffsetscanbeusedinconjunctionwithX,Y,andZoffsetsandflips.Theorderof
applyingtheseoffsetsisflips,rotations,andlastly,translations.
Tochangetheangleoffset:
1. SelecttheAngleOffsetboxinthedialogbox.
2. Typethedesiredvalue.
NumberofTimestoOffset
ThisoptionletsyousetupthenumberoftimesPCDMISwilloffsetapattern.Tochangethe
currentvalue,selectthisoptionandtypeanewvalue.Thedefaultvalueisone.
FlipX,Y,Z
TheFlipX,FlipY,orFlipZoptionsmirrorthepatternaroundtheX,Y,orZaxis,respectively.
TheoriginalpatternisflippedabouttheX,Y,orZaxisbeforeanytranslationorrotation.
PastewithPattern
TheEdit|PasteWithPatternoptiontakesanyfeature(orgroupoffeatures)storedonthe
clipboardandpastesittotheEditwindowatthecurrentcursorlocation.Whenyoudothis,new
featuresarecreatedbasedonthosecopiedtotheclipboard.However,thenewlycreatedfeatures
willhavethepreviouslydefinedpatternoffsetsappliedtothem.See"Pattern"formore
information.
Topastefeaturesusingapattern:
1. MakesuretheproperoffsetshavebeendefinedusingthePatternOffsetdialog
box(selectthePatternmenuoption).
2. Makesurethefeature(orsetoffeatures)youwanttooffsethasbeenhighlighted
andcopiedtotheclipboard.
3. Positionthecursoratthelocationinthepartprogramwherethenewfeaturesare
tobeinserted.
4. SelecttheEdit|PasteWithPatternmenucommand.
PCDMISwillpastethecontentsoftheclipboardasmanytimesasindicatedbythe valueinthe
NumberofTimestoOffsetofthePatternOffsetdialogbox.Eachtimetheclipboardcontents
arepasted,thenewlycreatedfeature(s)willbeoffsetwithrespecttothepreviouslyinserted
feature(s)bythedefinedpatternoffsets.Theidentificationsforthenewfeatureswillbe
incrementedfromtheoriginalfeatureID.PCDMISwillalsodrawthenewlycreatedfeaturesin
theGraphicsDisplaywindow.

FindingandReplacingText
YoucanfindandreplacetextinEditwindowfieldsbyusingstandardregularexpressions
describedinthesemenuoptions:
Find
Replace
Find
TheEdit|FindandReplace|FindmenuoptionopenstheFinddialogboxwhichallowsyouto
findaspecifiedkeywordwithintheEditwindow.
Finddialogbox
UsingWildcards
Tousewildcardstoperformpatternmatching,selectthePatternmatchcheckbox.
Thisoptionalsoallowsyoutofindtextmatchingavarietyofdifferentsearchcriteria.Considerthe
followingtable:
TextToFind WildcardtoUse SomeExamples

Anyonecharacter . D.Mmatches"DIM"
or"D4M".
Characterset [] D[MI]Sfinds"DIS"
and"DMS"butnot
"DMIS"or"DUS".
Anyonecharacterin[] LINE[26]finds
arange "LINE2"and"LINE3"
butnot"LINE1"or
"LINE7".Ranges
mustbein
ascendingorder.
Anyonecharacter [^] POINT[^32]finds
exceptcharacter(s) "POINT1",
insidebrackets "POINT5",and
"POINT12",butnot
"POINT3",
"POINT2",
"POINT21",or
"POINT30".
Anyonecharacter [^xz] LINE[^25]finds

exceptrangeof "LINE6"and
charactersinside "LINEH",butnot
brackets "LINE3"
Charactersetsthat [] LINE[09]matches
includethe"" "LINE4"and"LINE".
charactershould LINE[^09]matches
havethe""asthe "LINEH"butnot
firstorlastcharacter "LINE".
oftherange.Ifthe
rangeexcludesthe
""thenthe""
shouldbethe
secondcharacter.
0ormoreinstances * lo*pmatches"lp"
ofthepreceding and"looooop".
character,unless
thefollowing: ^*matchesa"*"ifit
startsaline.
"*"startsastring
"*"followsa"^"that
startsastring
"*"startsa
parenthesizedsub
expression
Linebeginningwith ^ ^CIRCLEfindsall
aspecifiedphrase linesthatbeginwith
orcharacter.The"^" theword"CIRCLE".
isspecialonlyatthe Notethatindented
beginningofa linesinPCDMIS's
string. Editwindowbegin
withspaces.
Lineendingwitha $ ENDMEAS/$finds
specifiedphraseor linesendingin
character.The"$"is "ENDMEAS/"butnot
specialonlyatthe "MEAS/"
endofastring.
Parenthesesinthe ()and\ FindWhat:
FindWhatboxstore BO(BB)Y(RAY)
whatiswithinthem
toberecalledlater ReplaceWith:
intheReplaceWith DO\1YP\2
box.
WouldGive:
IntheReplaceWith DOBBYPRAY
boxabackslash"\"
character,followed \1usesthefirstset
byanumberwould ofcharactersoffset
bringthatdefined byparentheses,\2
patternintothe
thesecondsetand
replacetext. soon.

Note:Forpatternmatches,younolongerneedtoprecedeparentheseswithabackslash(\)
characterasyouhadtodoinsomeearlierversionsofPCDMIS.
UsingPredefinedCharacterSets
Tomatchapredefinedcharacterset,selectthePatternmatchcheckbox.Youcanthensearch
thetextbyusingthesespecialpredefinedcharactersets:
CharacterCharactersinset
set
[[:alnum:]]ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789
[[:alpha:]] ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
[[:blank:]] (Thespacecharacterandthetabcharacter)
[[:digit:]] 0123456789
[[:graph:]] ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789!"#$
%&'()*+,./:<=>?@[\]^_`{|}~
[[:lower:]] Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
[[:print:]] ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789!"#$%&'()*+,./:<=>?@[\]^_`{|}~
[[:punct:]] !"#$%&'()*+,./:<=>?@[\]^_`{|}~
[[:upper:]] ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[[:xdigit:]] 0123456789ABCDEFabcdef
Example:Tosearchforastringwhichconsistsofaletter,followedbysomelettersornumbers,
followedbythatsamefirstletter,youwoulduseabackreference,asshownhere:
([[:alpha:]])[[:alnum:]]\{1,\}\1.
Tosearchforaspecificwordorphrase:
1. SelectEdit|FindandReplace|Findfromthemenubar.
2. Typeinakeywordorphrasetosearch.
3. Indicatethesearchpath(upordown).
4. SelecttheMatchwholewordonlycheckboxifyouwantPCDMIStomatchthe
entireword.Forexample,ifyoutype"CIR",PCDMISwillfind"CIR"butnot
"CIRCLE".
5. SelecttheMatchCasecheckboxifyouwantPCDMIStosearchbasedon
upperorlowercase.
6. PresstheFindbutton(orpressENTER).
Replace
TheEdit|FindandReplace|ReplaceoptionworksmuchthesamewayastheFindoption
(see"Find").Oncethetextisfound,however,youcanreplacethattextbyusingtheReplace
dialogbox.

Replacedialogbox
Inversionspriorto3.6,youcouldonlysearchandreplacewithineditablefieldsintheedit
window.Forexampleyoucouldn'treplace
SHOWHITS=NO
with
SHOWHITS=YES
becauseSHOWHITS=wasaconstantfield.Onlytheeditableportionofthecommand(theNOto
theYES)couldbereplaced.
WithPCDMISversion3.6andabove,however,youcannowsearchandreplacewithany
matchingstringaslongasthelastpartofthestringcorrespondstoaneditablefield,andaslong
asitistheonlyeditablefieldinthestringthatwillbechanging.
AFindandReplaceExampleThatWorks:
=AUTO/CIRCLE,SHOWALLPARAMS=NO
replacedwith
=AUTO/CIRCLE,SHOWALLPARAMS=YES
Noticethattheendofthestringcorrespondstoaneditablefield.Onlythelasteditablefieldcan
bechangedfromthesearchstring.
AFindandReplaceExampleThatWillNOTWork:
Youcannot,forexample,replacetwoeditablefieldsinonereplacelikethis:
=AUTO/CIRCLE,SHOWALLPARAMS=NO
cannotbereplacedwith
=AUTO/LINE,SHOWALLPARAMS=YES
becausebothCIRCLEtoLINEisoneeditablefieldandNOtoYESisanothereditablefield.

Neithercanyoudosomethinglikethis:
=AUTO/CIRCLE,SHOWALLPARAMS
cannotbereplacedwith
=AUTO/CIRCLE,MYSHOWALL
becausethepartyouwantreplacedisaconstantfield.
Findwhat
ThisboxallowsyoutoenterthetextforwhichPCDMISwillsearch.Youcanuseanyofthe
variouswildcardsandsearchpatternsdiscussedinthe"Find"section.See"Find".
Replacewith
Thisboxallowsyoutoindicatewhattextwillreplacethefoundtext.
Matchwholewordonly
Ifyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISwillonlylookforanentirewordcontainingthattext.For
example,ifyoutypein"CIR"intheFindwhatbox,andselectthischeckbox,PCDMISfinds
only"CIR".Itwillnotfind"CIRCLE"or"CIRCULAR".
Matchcase
ThischeckboxtellsPCDMIStosearchfortextmatchingthecase(upperorlower)usedinthe
Findwhatbox.Forexample,ifyoutyped"Point"intheFindwhatboxandselectedtheMatch
casecheckbox,PCDMISwouldfind"Point"and"Points",butnot"POINT".
Patternmatching
ThischeckboxtellsPCDMIStolookforspecifiedpatterns.Youshouldselectthischeckbox
whensearchingforpatternmatchesusingwildcardsorotherspecialcharactermatching.
FindNextbutton
TheFindNextbuttontellsPCDMIStofindthenextinstanceofthetextforwhichyou're
searching.
Replacebutton
TheReplacebuttonreplacesthefoundtextwiththetextstringintheReplacewithbox.This
allowsyoutoreplaceinstancesoffoundtextoneatatime.

ReplaceAllbutton
TheReplaceallbuttontellsPCDMIStoinstantlyfindalloccurrencesoftextintheFindwhat
boxandreplacesthemwiththetextintheReplacewithbox.
EditingDataFields
EditDataFieldwizard
TheEditDataFieldwizardisanexternalprogramthatworkswithPCDMIStoletyouchange
datainsidespecifieddatafieldsofcertaincommandtypesinsidetheEditwindow.Toaccessthis
wizard,selecttheDataFieldEdit iconfromtheWizardstoolbar.
ThiswizarddiffersfromtheReplacedialogbox.Itallowsyoutochangedataitemsgloballyinside
anymodeoftheEditwindow,whereastheReplacedialogboxonlyworksinsideofCommand
mode.Additionally,thiswillallowyoutoreplacecertainvaluesthatyoucannotchangeusingthe
Replacedialogbox.
TheEditDataFielddialogboxcontainstheseitems:
ChooseCommandTypeThislistdisplaystheavailablecommandtypes.
ChooseDataTypeThislistdisplaysthedatatypesfortheselectedcommandtype.Ifyou
wanttoseealldatatypesinthislist,selectAllCommandTypes,fromtheChoose
CommandTypelist.

TypeIndexThisboxletsyouspecifyanexactfieldyouwanttochangebyitsnumerical
index.Youwillfindthisusefulwhenyouhavemorethanonefieldofthesamedatatypeand
youwanttochangeonlyoneofthefields.Typinganindexvalueletsyoudeterminewhich
onetochange.Forexample,theCLEARP commandhastwodistancefields,oneforthe
clearancedistanceandoneforthepassdistance.Typinganindexof1wouldtargetthe
clearancedistancewhileavalueof2wouldtargetthepassdistance.
ChangeFromThisareacontainstheUsecheckboxandaboxthatholdsavalue.This
checkboxletsyouspecifyavalueyouwanttochangefrom.ThismeansthatPCDMISwill
onlytargetthosefieldsthathavethegivenvalue.
ChangeToThisboxletsyoudeterminethenewvalueforthedatafieldyouwantto
update.
VerifyEachChangeIfyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISwilldisplayamessagebox
showingtheIDoftheitemtochange,itscurrentvalue,andwhetherornotyouwantto
changethatdatafieldtothenewvalue.
ChangeThisbuttonbeginstheprocessoffindingthedatafieldandchangingittothenew
value.
StatusTheboxatthebottomofthedialogboxdisplaysanystatusordiagnosticmessages
duringthechangeprocess.
JumpingtoSpecifiedLineNumbers
PCDMIScaneasilyjumptospecifiedlinenumbers.UsetheEdit|FindandReplace|GoTo
menuoptiontojumptoaspecifiedlinewithintheEditwindow.
GoTodialogbox
TomovethecursortoaspecificlinenumberinCommandorDMISmode:
1. SelectEdit|GoTofromthemenu.TheGo Todialogboxwillappear.
2. ThecurrentlinemarkedbythecursorwillbeindicatedintheLineNumberbox
ofthedialogbox.
3. Typethedesiredlinenumber.
4. ClicktheOKbutton(orpressENTER).PCDMISdisplaysthespecifiedline.
JumpingtoandfromReferencedCommands
IntheEditwindow'scommandmode,ifonecommandintheEditwindowreferencesanother
command,youcanjumptothereferencedcommand,byhighlightingthelabeltothereferenced
commandandselectingtheEdit|FindandReplace|JumpTo menuoption.

Whenyouarriveatthereferencedcommandyoucanquicklyjumpbacktothepreviousfeature
byselectingtheEdit|FindandReplace|JumpBackmenuoption.
Example:Supposeinanalignmentblockyouhavethefollowingcommandsandyouwantto
jumptotheLIN2featurereferencedintheblock:
A1 =ALIGNMENT/START,RECALL:STARTUP,LIST=YES
ALIGNMENT/LEVEL,ZPLUS,PLN1
ALIGNMENT/ROTATE,XPLUS,TO,LIN1,ABOUT,ZPLUS
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,XAXIS,LIN2
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,YAXIS,LIN1
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,ZAXIS,PLN1
ALIGNMENT/END
YouwouldhighlightLIN2andselecttheJumpTomenuoptionfromthemenubarorrightclick
andselectitfromtheshortcutmenu.Youcanthenjumpbacktothecommandyouwerejustat
byselectingJumpBack.
Youcanalsoselectthesemenuoptionsfromashortcutmenuthatappearswhenyourightclick
onthefeaturesintheEditwindow'sCommandmode.
EditingNominalandTargetValues
Mostofthetimeyoucanmeasureyourfeaturesjustfine,butsometimes,duetomanufacturing
errors,afeaturewon'tbeclosetoitstheoretical(nominal)location,butrathershiftedsomehow.
ForMeasuredfeatures,youneedtoadjustyourtheoreticalvaluestohandlethissituation.
However,usingthemoreadvancedAutoFeatures,youcanmodifythetargetinstead.Thiswill
adjustthepathaccordingly,yetwillallowdimensioningtotakeplacerelativetotheoriginal
theoreticalvalues.
ModifyingNominalValues(forbothMeasuredandAutoFeatures)
PCDMISprovidesyouwithsimplewaystomodifythenominalvalue.Youcaneasilymodifythe
fielditselfinsideCommandmode,analternatewayistoplacethecursoroverthefeatureand
pressF9.Thiscausesadialogboxtoappearwiththenominalinformationinsideofit.
ModifythenominalinformationandclickOKorCreate.Thedialogboxcloses.
Ifyouaremodifyingameasuredfeature,PCDMISdisplaysapromptaskingifyouwant
toupdatemeasuredvaluesaswell.IfyouclickYes,themeasuredvalueswillget
updatedtomatchthenewlyenterednominalvalues.IfyouclickNo,themeasuredvalues
remainwhattheywere.
Ifyouaremodifyinganautofeature,PCDMISasksifyouwanttoupdatethetarget
valuestomatchthenewtheoreticalvalues.Ifyouclick Yes,thetargetvalueswillget
updatedtomatchthenewlyenterednominalvalues.IfyouclickNo,thetargetvalues
remainwhattheywere.
ModifyingTargetValues(forAutoFeaturesonly)
Ifyouhaveanautofeature,youcanchoosetomodifytargetvaluesinsteadofthetheoretical
values.ThetargetvaluesdeterminethelocationwherePCDMISwilltrytomeasuretheauto
feature.Thisletsyoukeepthetheoreticalvaluesfordimensioningpurposes,butstillchangesthe
locationatwhichthesoftwareattemptsmeasurement.Tomodifythetargetvalues,usetheEdit
window:

Modifying TargetValuesSummaryMode:Selectthefield,pressENTER,typeanewa
valueandpressENTERagaintostorethechange.
ModifyingTargetValuesinCommandMode:Tabtothefieldtochange,typeanew
value,andpressTABagaintostorethechange.
OverridingGuessedFeatures
TheEdit|OverrideGuesssubmenuallowsyoutochangethetypeoffeaturelastmeasured.
Forexample,ifacirclewasthelastfeaturemeasuredandPCDMISguessedthatitwasaplane,
thisoptioncanbeusedtoconvertthefeaturetothepropertype.Thisoptionmustbeusedbefore
anyotherfeaturesaremeasuredorconstructed.
TousetheOverridefeature:
2. PlaceyourcursorontheincorrectfeaturetypeintheEditwindow.
3. FromtheOverrideGuesssubmenuselectthecorrectfeaturetype.
YouwillseethatthefeaturechangeswillbemadeintheEditwindow.
OverridingFoundNominals
FindNomsOverridedialogbox
TheFindNomsOverridedialogbox(Edit|OverrideFindNoms)allowsyoutochoosethe
appropriatenominalpointfromCADsurfacesforAutoVectorPoints,AutoSurfacePoints,and
individualhitsinsideotherfeatures(suchasscans).ItoverridesthedefaultFindNomsbehaviorof
PCDMISduringLearnmodeandExecutemode.
Whenattemptingtofindavalidnominalpoint(withintheFindNomstolerance)bytakingamanual
hit,PCDMISwill,mostofthetime,choosethecorrectpoint.However,thereareexceptional
circumstanceswhenPCDMIScannotfindanappropriatepointandinsteadchoosesan
inaccuratepointontheCADmodel.Inthesesituations,youcanusetheFindNomsOverride
dialogboxtohelpPCDMISfindtheappropriatenominalpointfromtheCADsurfaces.
ToenabletheOverrideFindNomsmenuoption,ensurethatyouhaveimportedavalidCAD
modelthatsupportssurfaces,selecttheSurfaceModeicon,selecttheProgramModeicon,and
thenselectboththeFindNominalsandPointOnlyModecheckboxesfromtheSetUpOptions
dialogbox, Generaltab(Edit|Preferences|Setup).

ThefollowingtopicsdescribetheFindNomsOverridedialogboxitselfandhowtousethedialog
boxinthedifferentmodes:
UnderstandingtheFindNomsOverrideDialogBox
FindNomsOverridedialogbox
Thefollowingtopicsdescribethisdialogbox.
ThePrioritySurface,PiercePoint,andDropPointColumns
Thisareaofthedialogboxcontainsthesethreecolumns:
1.) PrioritySurface
2.) PiercePoint
3.) DropPoint

A"Tvalue"isthedistanceofTheydisplaytherelevantnominalpointvaluesandtheirTvalues
themeasuredhitfromthe (thevaluedisplayedtotheleftoftheX,Y,andZvaluesin
nominalpointalongthe parentheses).
nominalCADsurfacevector.
PrioritySurfacecolumnThiscolumnliststhesurfacesthatyou
havestoredasprioritysurfacesintheEditCADElementsdialog
box(Edit|GraphicsDisplayWindow|CadElements).
Itdisplaysthetypeofsurfaceandacheckbox.Thecheckbox
allowsyoutoaddorremovethesurface fromthelistofpriority
surfacesmaintainedbyPCDMIS.Ifyouselectthecheckbox,PC
DMISaddsthesurfacetotheprioritylist.Deselectingthecheckbox
removesthesurfacefromthelist.
PiercePointcolumnThiscolumnliststhenominalpointvalues
foundusingPCDMIS'sPiercePointoperation.Ifyouseethetext
"FailedOP"inthiscolumnitmeansthatthepiercepointoperation
failedtofindthenominalpointonthatsurface.IfPCDMIS
highlightsapointingreen,thenthatpointisthebestnominalpoint
foundbytheselectionalgorithm.Youcanofcourseoverridethis
selectedpoint.
DropPointcolumnThiscolumnliststhenominalpointvalues
foundusingPCDMIS'sDropPointoperation.
TheTolerancebox
TheToleranceboxallowsyoutospecifyanewtolerancevaluetousewhenfindingthenominal
pointsusingthisdialogbox.
TheUsePreviousSurfacecheckbox
TheUsePreviousSurfacecheckboxtellsPCDMIStousethemostrecentsurfacetolookfor
thenominalpoints.Thischeckboxbecomesavailableforselectiononlyafteryoutakeahitona
surfacewiththedialogboxopen.Afteryoutakeahit,PCDMISthenhasasurfacetoworkwith
forfuturehits.
TheOverridebutton
TheOverridebuttonoverridesanincorrectnominalpointfoundbyPCDMISwiththenominal
pointdataselectedfromthelistcontainingthePrioritySurface,PiercePoint,andDropPoint
columns.
UsingtheFindNomsOverrideDialogBoxinLearnmode:
ToaccessthisdialogboxinLearnmode:
1. SelectthePointOnlyModeandFindNominalscheckboxesfromtheGeneral
taboftheSetUpOptionsdialogbox(Edit|Preferences|Setup).
2. EnsurethatyouhaveimportedaCAD'ssolidmodel.
3. SelecttheSurfacemodeiconfromtheGraphicsModestoolbar.

4. SelecttheOverrideFindNomsmenuoption.TheFindNomsOverridedialog
boxappears.
WiththeFindNomsOverridedialogboxopen,whenyoutakeamanualhit,PCDMISfollowsits
normallogictochooseasaccurateanominalpointaspossiblebyusingthemostrecently
measuredhitcoordinatesandapproachvector.
YoucanthenusetheFindNomsOverridedialogboxtoperformadditionalproceduresallowing
youtooverridethefoundnominalpoint.
Procedure1:FindingNominalPointsonthePreviousSurface
IfyouselecttheUsePreviousSurfacecheckbox,theFindNomsOverridedialogboxattempts
tofindanominalpointfromthemostrecentsurfaceused.Ifthedialogboxcanfindapointwithin
FindNomstoleranceonthemostrecentsurfaceitwillselectthatnominalpointandcreatean
AutoVectorPointbasedonthenominalvalues.
Procedure2:FindingNominalPointsonPrioritySurfaces
IftheFindNomsOverridedialogboxcannotfindanominalpointontherecentsurface(see
"Procedure1:FindingNominalPointsonthePreviousSurface"),ittriestofindanominalpoint
fromtheprioritysurfaces.Prioritysurfacesaresurfacesthattheuserhasselectedasasubsetof
CADsurfacestofindnominalpoints.Prioritysurfacescanbeselectedordeselectedusingthe
SetasPrioritycheckboxintheEditCADElementsdialogbox(seethe"EditingCAD"topicin
the"EditingtheCADDisplay"section).IfPCDMISfindsanappropriatepointamongthepriority
surfaces,itselectsthepointandcreatesanAutoVectorPointbasedonthenominalvalues.It
alsodisplaysthevalidnominalpointswithintheFindNomstoleranceofalltheprioritysurfacesin
theFindNomsOverridedialogbox.
Procedure3:FindingNominalPointsonAllCADSurfaces
IfPCDMISstillcannotfindavalidnominalpointbyusingtheproceduresdiscussedin
procedures1and2,(seethe"Procedure1:FindingNominalPointsonthePreviousSurface"and
"Procedure2:FindingNominalPointsonPrioritySurfaces"topics),itdoesthefollowing:
LooksforthebestnominalpointonalltheCADsurfaceswithintheFindNoms
tolerance
CreatesanAutoVectorPointbasedonthebestavailablenominalpoint.
DisplaysalltheCADsurfacesthathadnominalpointsintheFindNoms
Overridedialogbox.
Procedure4:ChoosingaNominalPointLater
IfPCDMISstillcannotfindanappropriatepointonalltheCADsurfaces,itasksifitcancreate
theAutoVectorPointandyoucanchooseanominalpointlater.Ifyouaccept,thenPCDMIS
createsanAutoVectorPointintheEditwindowandyoucanselectfromtheseoptions:
Option1.YoucantakeanewhitandPCDMISwilltrytofindanewnominalpoint.Essentially
you'restartingoverifyoudothis.

Option2.YoucanchooseadifferentnominalpointfromthedialogboxandclicktheOverride
button.PCDMISwillthenoverrideitsearlierchosennominalpointwiththenewselectedpointfor
therecentlycreatedAutoVectorPoint.
Youwillusuallywanttodothisifyoudon'tlikethenominalpointthatPCDMISattemptedtofind
intheproceduresdiscussedinthesetopics:
"Procedure1:FindingNominalPointsonthePreviousSurface"
"Procedure2:FindingNominalPointsonPrioritySurfaces"
"Procedure3:FindingNominalPointsonAllCADSurfaces"
Options3.YoucanselectaCADsurfaceonthescreen.PCDMISwouldthenattempttofind
nominalpointsontheselectedsurfaceanddisplaythosepointsintheFindNomsOverride
dialogbox.
Youcanthenoverridethepreviousfoundnominal,byselectingapointfromthisnewsurfaceand
clickingOverride.
Note:PCDMISignorestheFindNomstolerancewiththisoption.So,eveniftheselectedCAD
surfaceisoutofFindNomstolerancethedialogboxstilldisplaysthepoints.
Option4.YoucanincreasetheFindNomstolerancebychangingthevalueintheTolerancebox
andclickingtheApplybutton.PCDMISwillthenapplytheseproceduresagain,usingthehigher
tolerancevalueanddisplayanyappropriatepoints:
"Procedure1:FindingNominalPointsonthePreviousSurface"
"Procedure2:FindingNominalPointsonPrioritySurfaces"
"Procedure3:FindingNominalPointsonAllCADSurfaces"
YoucanthenchooseavalidpointandclickOverridetoacceptanominalpointfortherecently
createdAutoVectorPoint.
IncreasingtheFindNomstoleranceintheToleranceboxhasthesameeffectaschangingthe
FindNomstolerancefromtheGeneraltaboftheSetUpOptionsdialogbox.
AfterChoosingtheBestNominalPoint
Afterchoosingthebestnominalpoint,PCDMISwillrememberthechosensurfaceforthat
feature.
Duringexecutioninmanualmode,PCDMISwill:
1. UsethetolerancevalueheldintheFindNomsDuringExecutionbox,available
ontheGeneraltaboftheSetUpOptionsdialogbox(Edit|Preferences|Setup).
2. YoumustselecttheFindNominalsDuringExecutioncheckbox(alsoavailable
ontheGeneraltab)forthistowork.
3. AttempttousethesamesurfaceandCADoperation(PiercePointorDropPoint
operation)tofindthenewnominalsfortherecentlyexecutedpoint.
IfitcannotfindanominalpointonthatCADsurface,itwillagainaccesstheFindNomsOverride
dialogbox.Seethe"UsingFindNomsOverrideinExecuteMode:"topicbelowforexecutiontime
behavior.

UsingFindNomsOverrideinExecuteMode:
Asmentionedinthe"AfterChoosingtheBestNominalPoint"topic,theFindNomsOverride
dialogbox,PCDMISdisplaysthisdialogboxinexecutemodeuponmeetingthefollowing
conditions:
YoumustimportasolidmodelwithsurfacesandselecttheSurfaceModeicon
fromtheGraphicModestoolbar.
YoumustselecttheFindNominalsDuringExecutioncheckboxfromthe
GeneraltaboftheSetUpOptionsdialogbox.
TheAutoVectorPointorAutoSurfacePointmusthaveavalidnominalpoint
foundinLearnmode(see"UsingtheFindNomsOverrideDialogBoxinLearn
mode:").
ExecutionmusttakeplaceinManualmode.
PCDMISmustexecutetheAutoVectorPointorAutoSurfacePointfeature.
PCDMISmustfailtofindanominalpointforexecutedAutoVectorPointorAuto
SurfacePoint.
Oncethedialogboxappears,executionstopsandyoucaninteractwiththedialogboxinways
alreadydiscussedinthe"UsingtheFindNomsOverrideDialogBoxinLearnmode:"topic.
Youcanalsochoosetoreexecutetherecentlymeasuredpointfeature.Inthatcase,PCDMIS
reexecutesandattemptstofindnominalvaluesagain.Ifitstillcan'tfindanynominalvaluesfor
thepoint,PCDMISagaindisplaystheFindNomsOverridedialogbox.
Youcanthendooneofthefollowing:
Reexecuteagain.
UsetheOverridebuttonasdiscussedinthe"Procedure4:ChoosingaNominal
PointLater"topic
ClosethedialogboxbyclickingtheCancelbutton.Ifyouclosewithoutchoosing
anappropriatenominal,PCDMISreplacesthemeasureddatawiththeprevious
nominalvalues.
UsingtheFindNomsOverrideDialogBoxfromtheEditwindow:
YoucanalsoaccesstheFindNomsOverridedialogboxbyrightclickingthemouseononeof
thesefeaturesandselectingOverrideFindNomsfromtheshortcutmenu:
Vectorpoint
Surfacepoint
IndividualHit
Thedialogboxwillthenusethefeaturesmeasureddata(pointandvector)tofindanappropriate
nominalpointasdiscussedinthe"UsingtheFindNomsOverrideDialogBoxinLearnmode:"
topic.
MarkingCommandsforExecution
InordertoexecutePCDMIScommandsyoumustfirstmarkthemforexecution.Thefollowing
menuoptionsandcommandscontrolmarking:

Mark
TheEdit|Markings|Markmenuoptionallowsyoutomarkaspecifiedfeatureorcommandfor
execution.PCDMISautomaticallymarkscommandsthatarealwaysexecuted,suchasthe
alignment,tipcommands,etc.
Thereareseveralwaystomarkfeaturesorcommands.PCDMISwillindicateamarkeditem
usingthecurrentMarkedTextColor(see"DefiningEditWindowColors"inthe"Settingyour
Preferences"chapter)withintheEditwindow.Itwillalsodisplayanasterisk(*)nexttothefeature
IDintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Waystomarkpartprogramitemsareto:
MarkthedesiredfeatureorcommandintheEditwindow.Positionthecursor
overthefeaturetobemarkedandselectMark.Themarkedcommandwillbe
highlighted.
MarkmultiplecommandsintheEditwindow.Selectthecommandstobe
markedintheEditwindowandselectMark.Themarkedcommandswillbe
highlighted.
MarkthedesiredfeatureintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.MakesurePC
DMISisinTranslatemode.Clickonthedesiredfeaturewiththeleftmousebutton
whilesimultaneouslyholdingdowntheSHIFTkey
MarkMultiplefeaturesintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.MakesurePCDMIS
isinTranslateorTextboxmode.HolddowntheSHIFTkeywhileboxselectingthe
desiredfeaturesusingtheclickanddragmethod.
IfyouhavetheEdit|Markings|ParentModemenuoptionselected,andyoumarka
constructedfeatureoradimension,PCDMISwillalsomarkanyrelatedfeaturesusedinthe
constructionordimensionprocess.
IfyouhavetheEdit|Markings|ChildModemenuoptionselected,andyoumarkafeature
usedtoconstructafeatureorusedtocreateadimension,PCDMISwillmarkanyrelatedchild
features.
Note:Featuresandcommandscanbeunmarkedbyrepeatingoneoftheaboveprocedures.
Onceanitemismarked,specificlineswithinsomeitemscanbeunmarked.Forexample,
featuresanddimensionscanhavesomelinesunmarked.Whenyouunmarkaline,PCDMISwill
notexecuteit.
Ifdimensionsaremarked,PCDMISwillsendtheresultstotheprinterwiththeproperoutput
configurationinplace,aftertheprogramisexecuted.(See"OutputTo"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter.)
Tounmarkspecificlineswithinafeature:
1. Movethecursortothedesiredlinewithinthemarkedfeature(suchastheHIT
/BASICline).
2. ReselecttheEdit|Markings|Markoptiontounmarktheindicatedline.
MarkAll
TheEdit|Markings|MarkAllmenuoptionmarksallofthefeaturesorcommandsintheEdit
window.PCDMISwillmarktheselecteditemsintheEditwindow,displayingthemingreen

coloredtext.PCDMISalsodisplaysanasterisk(*)nexttoeachfeatureIDintheGraphics
Displaywindowthataremarkedforexecution.
WhenyouselectMarkAll,PCDMISwillaskifyoualsowanttomarkmanualalignmentfeatures.
IfyouselecttheYesbutton,thenPCDMISwillmarktheentirepartprogramfor
execution,includingthealignmentfeatures.
IfyouselecttheNobutton,PCDMISwillmarktheentireprogramforexecution,
butwillnot markthealignmentfeature.Additionally,sincemovecommandsdon't
functioninmanualmode,theywillremainunmarkedaswell.
ClearAll
TheEdit|Markings|ClearAllmenuoptionclears(orunmarks)alltheitemsintheEditwindow
thatwereearliermarkedforexecution.
ParentMode
SelectingEdit|Markings|ParentModemarkstheparentcommand(ifthismenuoptionhasa
checkmarkandtherelatedcommandismarkedintheEditwindow).Aparentisacommand(or
informationfromacommand)usedinanothercommand.Forexample,ifyoumarkadimension
andselectthisoption,thefeatureusedinthedimensionwillalsobemarked.Thiswasthedefault
modeinPCDMISpriortoversion3.25.
Note:Ifyouunmarkamarkedchildcommand,theparentcommandstaysmarked.
ChildMode
SelectingEdit|Markings|ChildModemarksanychildrencommandsaslongastherelated
parentcommandisalsomarked.Achildisacommandthatisdependentuponanother
commandinordertofunction.Forexample,ifyoumarkafeaturethathasadimension,andyou
havethisoptionselected,PCDMISwillalsomarkthedimensionforthatfeature.
Note:Ifyoudon'tselecteithertheParentModeorChildModeoptions,PCDMISwillmarkonly
theselecteditems.
Note:Ifyouunmarkamarkedparentcommand,thechildcommandstaysmarked
NewAlignmentMode
TheEdit|Markings|NewAlignmentMode(indicatedwithacheckmarknexttothemenu
option)markscorrespondingalignmentdataeverytimeafeature/dimensionismarkedfor
execution.
CreatingandExecutingMarkedSets
PCDMISallowsyoutoorganizemarkedfeaturesintogroupscalled"sets".Youcanthenexecute
yourstoredsetsoffeaturesbyusingtheMarkedSetswindow.

Therecanbeuptothirty(30)markedsetsdefinedforapartprogram.
Therearenorestrictionsastothenumberoffeaturesthatcanbeassociatedwith
eachmarkedset.
Whenexecuted,onlyfeaturesgroupedwithintheactivemarkedsetwillbe
executed.
Everymarkedsetthatiscreatedwithinapartprogramwillbedisplayedasan
iconintheMarkedSetwindow.Eachicongraphicallyindicatesallofthefeaturesthat
havebeenassociatedwiththemarkedsetthatitrepresents.
Thefollowingtopicsdescribehowtocreate,modify,execute,reposition,lock,anddeletemarked
sets.
ASampleMarkedSetswindow
MarkedSetswindowwithtwocreatedmarkedsets(Set1andSet2).
Note: WhentheMarkedSetswindowishidden,allmarkedsetsaredisabledandthestandard
modeforexecutingapartprogramisfollowed.
AvailableButtons
OpenThisbuttonaccessesthestandardOpendialogbox,allowingyoutoopenpart
programsandperformotherminorfileoperations.See"OpeningExistingPartPrograms"in
the"UsingBasicFileOptions"chapter.
PrintFullReportThisbuttonsendsthecurrentreporttothecurrentlyselectedoutput.See
"PrintingfromtheEditwindow"inthe"UsingBasicFileOptions"chapter
CalibratetipsThisbuttonaccessestheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox,allowingyouto
calibrateyourtips.PCDMISdisablesthisbuttonfortheGom(Krypton),Romer,andGarda
interfaces.See"DefiningProbes"inthe"DefiningHardware"chapter.
ToCreateNewMarkedSets
1. SelecttheEdit|Markings|NewMarkedSetoptionordoubleclickanywherein
theMarkedSetswindow,theNewMarkSetdialogboxappearsrequestinganame
forthenewmarkedset.
NewMarkSetdialogbox

2. Typeanametoidentifythemarkedset.Whilethere'snolimittothelengthofthe
name,shortdescriptivekeywordsimprovereadability.
3. ClickOK.YournewmarkedsetisstoredintheMarkedSetswindow.Atthis
pointPCDMISalsodisplaysaReportPrintOptionsdialogbox.Thisdialogbox
allowsyoutodefineprintingoptionsspecifictothismarkedset.(See"SettingOutput
andPrinterOptions"in"UsingBasicFileOptions"forinformationonthevarious
optionsinthisdialogbox.)
ASampleReportPrintOptionsdialogboxforSet1
2. Definespecificprintingoptionsforthisset.Or,ifyouwanttousetheexisting
printoptionsdefinedforyourentirepartprogram,simplyselecttheUseGlobalPrint
Settingscheckmark.
3. ClickOK.Thedialogboxcloses.
4. YouwillnowneedtoaccessthenewlyMarkedSetandaddfeaturestoit.
ToAddFeaturestoExistingMarkedSets
1. SelecttheEdit|Markings|ShowMarkedSetsoption.TheMarkedSets
windowappears.
2. Ensurethemarkedsetyouwanttomodifyisactive(pressTABtocyclethrough
thesets,orsimplyclickonthesetoncetoselectit).
3. AccesstheEditwindowandmarkfeaturesyouwanttoaddtothemarkedset.
Thedefaulticondrawingforthesetchangesdynamicallytoreflectyourchanges.
4. ClosetheMarkedSetswindowwhenfinished.
ToRemoveFeaturestoExistingMarkedSets
windowappears.
2. Ensurethemarkedsetyouwanttomodifyisactive(pressTABtocyclethrough

3. AccesstheEditwindowandunmarkthosefeaturesyouwanttoremovefromthe
markedset.Thedefaulticondrawingforthesetchangesdynamicallytoreflectyour
changes.
ToCustomizetheMarkedSetIcons
Markedsetscanhaveuserdefinedbitmapimages,ifdesired,inplaceofthedefaultgraphics.To
applyauserbitmap,
1. Createacolorbitmapusing'Paint'orsomeotherbitmapeditorprogramofyour
choice.Thebitmapshouldbenolargerthan48x48pixelsinsize.
2. Savethebitmapfileinthesamedirectoryasthepartprogram.Thebitmap
filenamesmustusethefollowingnamingconventioninordertoberecognizedbyPC
DMIS:
MARKST00.BMP forthefirstmarkedset
MARKST01.BMP forthesecondmarkedset
MARKST02.BMP forthethirdmarkedset
...
MARKST30.BMP forthethirtyfirstmarkedset
Example:IfthebitmapfileMARKST00.BMPisplacedinthepartprogramdirectorywhenthefirst
markedsetiscreated,thebitmapimagecontainedinMARKST00.BMPwillbedisplayed.Ifa
markedsetdoesnothaveabitmapfilethedefaultgraphicswillbeused.Also,itisnotnecessary
touseconsecutivebitmaps.Inotherwords,youcanuseabitmapformarkedset1andmarked
set5,butusethedefaultgraphicsformarkedsets2,3and4.
ToRepositionMarkedSets
Markedsetscanberepositioned.Torepositionamarkedset,
windowappears.
2. WhileholdingdowntheSHIFTkey,selectthedesiredmarkedsetwiththeleft
mousebutton.
3. Dragthemarkedsettothenewlocation.
4. ReleasetheSHIFTkeyandleftmousebuttonandPCDMISwillupdatethe
MarkedSetwindowwiththechange.
ToExecuteMarkedSets
windowappears.
2. Doubleclickonthesetyouwanttoexecute.PCDMISexecutesthemarkedset.

ToLockMarkedSets
Onceamarkedsethasbeendefinedforapartprogram,alockcanbeestablishedtoprevent
anyonefromaccidentallydeletingorotherwisemodifyingthecurrentconfiguration.Formore
informationonthisoptionseethe"LockMarkedSets"topicinthe"SettingyourPreferences"
chapter.
ToDeleteMarkedSets
Youcaneasilydeleteanypreviouslycreatedmarkedsets.Todothis:
windowappears.
2. Ensurethemarkedsetyouwanttodeleteisactive(pressTABtocyclethrough
3. PresstheDELETEkey.Aconfirmationboxwillappearconfirmingthedeletionof
themarkedset.
4. ClicktheYesbutton.Themarkedsetisdeletedandtheiconisremovedfromthe
MarkedSetswindow.
UsingBreakpoints
EditwindowwithBreakPoint(redicon)
TheEdit|Breakpointsmenuoptionisausefuldebuggingtooltobeusedwhencreating,testing,
andrunningapartprogram.Generally,partprogramsareexecutedsequentially,linebyline.By
placingabreakpointataparticularlineinthepartprogram,programexecutionwillpausewhenit
reachesthatpoint.Ifthepartprogrammakesuseofvariableexpressionsandflowcontrol,you
canexaminethesevariablestoensurethattheprogramisfunctioningasdesired.
OncePCDMIShaspausedforthebreakpoint,youmaywanttousetheStepNextbutton.This
buttoncontinueswiththemeasurementprocessbutdoessoonestepatatime,pausingthe
CMMafterexecutingeachstepofanycommandcreatingmovementoftheCMM.WhileinStep
Mode,hitscanbeinsertedintofeaturesandnewfeaturescanbeinsertedbetweenexisting
featuresorcommands.StepModecanalsobesimulatedoffline.
Whenyouarereadytocontinuewithnormalprogramexecution,simplypressContinueonthe
Executiondialog.Severalmenuandkeyboardcommandsareavailableformanipulatingthe
placementandremovalofbreakpoints.Breakpointsaresavedwiththepartprogramandare
thereforeavailablethenexttimethepartprogramisopened.

Note:IfyourprogramusesbreakpointsandtheEditwindowisinCommandmode,PCDMIS
continuestodisplaytheEditwindowduringexecutionbuthighlightsthecurrentcommandto
executeinred.IftheEditwindowisinSummarymode,withabreakpoint,PCDMISshowsa
greenhighlightintheEditwindowforalreadyexecutedcommands,yellowforafeatureaboutto
bemeasured,blueforfeaturescurrentlyundergoingexecution,andorangefornonexecuted
commands.
ExampleofcolorsusedinSummarymodeduringexecutionwithabreakpoint.
ExampleofcolorsusedinCommandmodeduringexecutionwithabreakpoint.
ToggleBreakpoint
TheEdit|Breakpoints|ToggleBreakpointmenuoptionallowsyoutosetorremovea
breakpoint.ThebreakpointwillbesetatorremovedfromthelineintheEditwindowwherethe
cursoriscurrentlypositioned.AsmallcircularrediconwillappearintheleftmarginoftheEdit
windowtoindicatethatabreakpointhasbeenset.
InsertDefaults
TheEdit|Breakpoints|InsertDefaults menuoptionallowsyoutosetbreakpointsthroughout
thepartprogramatdefaultlocations.DefaultlocationsaredefinedaslinesintheEditwindowthat
containcommandswhichgeneratemotionoftheCMMorcausebranching tooccurasaresultof
aflowcontrolcommand(suchasIFTHENstatements).Seethe"BranchingbyUsingFlow
Control"chapterformoreinformation.
RemoveDefaults
TheEdit|Breakpoints|RemoveDefaultsmenuoptionallowsyoutoremovebreakpoints
throughoutthepartprogramfromdefaultlocations.Onlythosebreakpointsthataresetondefault
locations(See"InsertDefaults")willberemoved.Anybreakpointsthataresetinnondefault
locationswillremaininplace.

RemoveAll
TheEdit|Breakpoints|RemoveAllmenuoptionallowsyoutoremoveallbreakpointsfroma
partprogram.
SettingStartPoints
Editwindowwithstartpoint(redarrow)
StartpointscanonlybesetwhentheEditwindowisinCommandMode(see"Workingin
CommandMode"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter).
WhenyouinsertastartpointintothepartprogramandthenselecttheFile|PartialExecution|
ExecuteFromStartPoints menuoption,PCDMISwillbeginthepartprogramexecutionfrom
thefirststartpointinsteadofstartingtheprogramflowatthebeginningofthepartprogram.
StartpointsareespeciallyusefulifyouareworkinginMultipleArmmodeandyouneedtoseta
differentstartpointforeacharm(seethe"UsingMultipleArmMode"chapter).
Toinsertastartpointintoyourpartprogram,clickthelocationintheEditwindowwhereyouwant
thestartpointtoappear,andthenselecttheSetStartPointiconfromtheEditwindowtoolbar
orrightclickintheCommandmodeandselectSetStartPoint fromtheshortcutmenu.
Formoreinformation,see"SettingStartPointsforMultipleArms"inthe"UsingMultipleArm
Mode"chapterand"EditWindowToolbar"inthe"UsingToolbars"chapter.
UsingBookmarks

Editwindowwithbookmark(blueicon)
BookmarkscanbesetwhentheEditwindowisinCommandMode(see"WorkinginCommand
Mode"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter)or,ifenabled,inDMISMode.Bookmarksmark
frequentlyaccessedlinesinapartprogram.Onceabookmarkisset,youcanusemenuor
keyboardcommandstomovetoit.Youcanremoveabookmarkwhenyounolongerneedit.
Bookmarksaresavedbetweeneditingsessionsandarethereforeavailablethenexttimethepart
programisopened.
Important:Beawarethatbookmarksareassignedtolinenumbers,notcommands.Thus,setting
bookmarksinonemodeandthenswitchingtoanothermodemaycausethebookmarkstoshow
upondifferentcommandseventhoughthey'reonthesamelinenumbers.
ToggleBookmark
TheEdit|Bookmarks|ToggleBookmarksmenuoptionallowsyoutosetorremovea
bookmark.ThebookmarkwillbesetatorremovedfromthelineintheEditwindowwherethe
cursorispositioned.Asmallblueiconwillappearintheleftmargintoindicatethatabookmark
hasbeenset.
NextBookmark
TheEdit|Bookmarks|NextBookmarkmenuoptionallowsyoutomovetothenextbookmark
intheEditwindow.Ifnobookmarkisfoundbelowthecurrentcursorposition,searchingwill
resumeatthetopoftheEditwindow.
ClearAllBookmarks
TheEdit|Bookmarks|ClearAllBookmarksmenuoptionallowsyoutoremoveallbookmarks
fromtheEditwindow.
ChangingFontsandColors
YoucaneasilyeditthefontsandcolorsusedintheEditwindowbyfollowinginstructions
describedinthe"SettinguptheEditWindow"topicofthe"SettingyourPreferences"chapter.
EditingExternalObjects

PCDMISallowsyoutoeditembeddedexternalobjectsinCommandmodeonly.Todothis,
selecttheobjectinCommandmode,anddoubleclickontheselectedobject.
Forinformationoncreatingandinsertingexternalobjects,see"InsertingExternalObjects"inthe
"AddingExternalElements"chapter.

UsingtheEditWindow
UsingtheEditWindow:Introduction
Editwindow
ToaccesstheEditwindow Oneoftheprincipaltoolsforeditingapartprogramisthepowerful
selecttheView|Edit Editwindow.TheEditwindowhousesallthecommandsforthepart
Windowmenuoption. program.Itallowsthepartprogrammertoperformediting
operationssuchascutting,copying,pasting,andmodifyingexisting
Textandcommands.TheprogrammercanalsousetheEditwindow
toaddnewcommands,executeexistingcommands,anddebug
code.
InthischapteryouwilllearnabouttheEditwindowandeditingpartprogramsingeneralby
viewingthefollowingtopics:
UnderstandingCoreConcepts
WorkinginSummaryMode
WorkinginCommandMode
WorkinginDMISMode
WorkingwithUserDefinedGroups
MajorEditWindowChangeswithVersion3.5
TheEditwindowmenushavebeenremovedandplacedinthenewmenu
structureoftheupdatedmenubar.
TheEditWindowtoolbar,providingquickaccesstomanyofthefrequently
accessedEditwindowfunctions,hasbeenremovedfromtheEditwindowandisnow
accessiblefromPCDMIS'stoolbararea.Youcanfindinformationforthistoolbarin
the"EditWindowToolbar"topicofthe"UsingToolbars"chapter.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual UsingtheEditWindow 387

TheEditwindowisnowdockabletothesides,top,orbottomofyourscreen.This
meansyoucandocktheEditwindowontotheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
TheEditwindowisalsofloatableovertheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Youcan
floatitovertheGraphicsDisplaywindowlikeitdidinpreviousversionsofPCDMIS
(versions2.xthrough3.25).TofloattheEditwindow,rightclickontheEditwindow,
anddeselecttheDockingViewoption.ThisopensupanewEditwindowthat
behavesjustastheoldEditwindowdid.YoucanusethecommandsintheWindow
menuinthismode.
TheReportModewasremovedfromtheEditwindow,replacedbythenewer
Reportwindow.See"AbouttheReportWindow"inthe"ReportingMeasurement
Results"chapter.
TheEditwindow'sCommandandDMISmodescontainanewcolorandtext
formattingschemetohelpyoumoreeasilyrecognizecommandblocksandeditable
fields.Italsoprovidesanewwaytochangevaluesoneditablefields.See
"UnderstandingtheDefaultEditWindowColorsandFormatting"forinformation.
TheseenhancementsprovideasetoftoolsformanipulatingEditwindowcontentinawaythatis
easyandintuitivetouse.
UnderstandingCoreConcepts
TheEditwindowallowsyoutoeasilyaccessthecurrentpartprogram.Changescaneasilybe
madetothepartprogramusingonlytheEditwindow,thedialogboxes,oracombinationofthe
Editwindowwiththeapplicabledialogboxes.Thesectionsbelowprovidecoreconceptsthatwill
aidyouinlearningtousetheEditwindow.
NavigatingtheEditwindow
Theeditwindowhousesallthecommandsmakingupyourpartprogram.
YoucanchangethedisplayoftheEditwindowbyswitchingbetweendifferentmodes.Thetwo
mostcommonmodesarealreadyenabledbydefault.TheseareCommandmodeandSummary
mode.Athirdmode,calledDMISmode,isalsoavailableifenabledintheSetupOptionsdialog
box.
Summarymode,simplyput,providesavisualsummaryofyourpartprogram.
Commandmodeletsyouviewdetailedcodemakingupeachcommand.
DMISmodeissimilartocommandmode,butthecodelanguageiswrittenusing
theDMISprogramminglanguage,andyoudon'thavealltheeditingfunctionalityyou
haveinCommandmode.Youcanswitchbetweenthesedifferentmodesbyclicking
theappropriateiconontheEditwindowtoolbar.
Ineachofthesemodesyoucanworkwithexistingcommandsandaddnewcommands,although
thecapabilitiesofeachmodeandthemethodsofworkingwithcommandsdiffersomewhat.
388 UsingtheEditWindow PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Commandscanhavebotheditableandnoneditablefields.Editablefieldsarefieldsthattakea
value.Someeditablefieldsarecalledtogglefieldsandallowyoutoswitchbetweenapredefined
setofacceptablevalues.
Ifyou'reinCommandmodeorDMISmode,pressingTABmovesthecursorto
thenexteditablefield.Youknowyou'reonaneditablefieldwhenthevalueis
highlightedinthehighlightcolor(defaultisyellow).
Ifyou'reinSummarymode,expandingthecommandandthenrightclickingon
editableitemswilldisplayanEditcommandwhichwhenselectedallowsyoutotype
anewvalueorselectanexistingvaluefromalist.
UsingtheEditWindowToolbar
TheEditWindowtoolbarletsyouperformoperationsonyourpartprogramandswitchbetween
thedifferentEditwindowmodes.Forinformationonthistoolbar,seethe"EditWindowToolbar"
topicin"UsingToolbars".
MovingtoaFeatureusingtheGraphicsDisplayWindow
Tomovethecursortoaspecificfeature'slocationintheEditwindow,clickonthatfeatureinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindowwhileholdingdowntheCTRLkey.
UnderstandingtheDefaultEditWindowColorsandFormatting
EditwindowinCommandMode
PCDMISusesdifferentbackgroundcolors,textcolors,andtextcharacterstooffsetinformation
inCommandandDMISmodes.Thiscoloringandtextformattingmayseemsomewhatconfusing
atfirst,especiallyifyouareusedtopreviousversionsofPCDMISandaresuddenlybarraged
withamyriadofcolors.However,resteasyifyoudon'tlikethem,youcaneasilyrevertPCDMIS
toitscoloringschemeusedinpreviousversions(seethe"DefiningEditWindowColors"inthe
"SettingYourPreferences"chapter).

However,thecolorsandformattingarevaluabletoolsthatcanincreaseyourproductivity.The
followingtopicsdescribethesetools.
BackgroundColors
Differentbackgroundcolorshelpyouknowwhatcommandsaremarked,unmarked,haveerrors,
areactive,orarebeingsteppedthrough.ThesebackgroundcolorsaredefinedintheColor
EditordialogboxfortheEditwindow.
EditwindowBackgroundColorInformationintheEditWindow'sColorEditor
Considerthisexamplescreenshot:

Editwindowexampleshowingversion4.2coloringscheme
A. Alightgreenbackgroundmeansthecommandhasbeenmarkedforexecution.
B. Thelightbluebackgroundmeansthecommandhasnotyetbeenmarkedforexecution.
C. Aslightlydarkerbackgroundcolor(eitherdarkergreenformarkedcommandsordarker
blueforunmarkedcommands)showsthecurrentactivecommand.
TextColors
BlacktextAnynoneditablecommandtext.Youcannotchangethistext.
BluetextAnyeditablecommandtext.
RedtextFornondimensioncommandsthisindicatesanerrorinthecommandtext.The
commandwillbeskippedduringprogramexecution.Errorscomefromunsupportedcommands,
unsupportedprobetypes,andsyntaxerrors(usuallywhileworkingwithexpressionorscripting
commands).Fordimensioncommands,redtextindicatesthatthedimensionisoutoftolerance.
Warning:Ifyourpartprogramcontainsunsupportedcommands(commandsinredtext),checkit
thoroughlybeforeexecutingonline.Sinceunsupportedcommandsareskippedduringprogram
execution,insomecasesthiscouldcauseaprobecollisionifyouaren'tcareful.
HighlightedTextShowstheActiveCommandorGroup

Whenyoumoveyourmouseoveracommandblock,orcommandblocksthataregrouped
together,theentirecommandblock,ortheentiregroup,ishighlightedwithaslightlydarker
backgroundcolor(seeitemCinexampleabove).Thishelpsyouimmediatelyseetheextentsof
anentirecommandblock.Doingthisalsomakesthecommand"active".Thismeansyoudon't
needtoclickonthecommandtooperateonit.Forexample,simplyhoveryourmouseovera
commandandpressF9.Theassociateddialogbox,ifoneexists,willappear.Todeletethe
command,youdon'tneedtoselecttheentirecommand,justhoveryourmouseoverituntilit
becomesactive,andpressDELETE.Youwillfindwheneditinglargeprogramsthatshavingoffa
mouseclickhereandthereincreasesyourproductivity.
"<"and">"CharactersProvideEnhancedReadability
Ifyouhaveeverflounderedinaseaofmonochromatictext,fishingforaspecificvalue,thenyou
willbepleasedwiththeadditionofthe"<"and">"characters.Thesecharactersgrouplikevalues
together,therebymoreeasilydelineatingthedifferentfieldsforvariousX,Y,ZandI,J,K values.
Thesecharactersshowwherethesepairsbeginandend.Thisenhancesreadabilityandmakesit
mucheasiertolocateneededvalues.
PopupMenuProvidesEasierToggleFieldSelection
Nolongerdoyouhavetocyclethroughalistofavailablecommandsonatogglefield...unlessyou
reallywantto.Simplyhoveryourmouseoverthedarkerbluetextforamoment,andthe
backgroundcolortakesonabuttonlikequality.Clickonthebutton.Adropdownlistappears
lettingyouselectthedesiredvalueforthattogglefield.
EasierFilenameFields
Certainfieldstakefilenamevalues.Ifthefilemovestoanewlocationthere'saneasierwayto
updateitthanarduouslyretypingalongdirectorypathway.Instead,hoveryourmouseoverthe
field,thefilenameturnsintoabutton.ClickingitwilldisplayaFileOpendialogboxallowingyou
tolocateandupdatethefile'slocation.
InsertingCommands
Inmanycasescommandsareautomaticallyinsertedwhenyoutakemeasurementsorwhenyou
usedialogboxestoinputinformation.Howeveryoucanalsoaddcommandsdirectlyfromwithin
theEditwindow.Dependingonwhatmodeyou'rein,PCDMISwillgiveyoudifferentresults:
Ifyou'reinCommandmode,youcaninsertnewcommandsbysimplytypingthe
firstfewlettersofthecommandifyouknowthem.
Ifyou'reinSummarymode,youcaninsertnewcommandsbyrightclickingand
selectingAddCommandfromtheshortcutmenu.PCDMISdisplaysyouwithalist
ofcommandsyoucanadd.
Ifyou'reinDMISmode,youcaninsertnewcommandsbysimplypressing
RETURNonaline.AlistwillappearfromwhichyoucanselecttheappropriateDMIS
commandtoadd.
EditingValues
Sometimesyoumaywanttoquicklychangeacommand'ssettingsdirectlyintheEditwindow.
Ifyou'reinCommandorDMISmode,pressTABtogototheeditablefieldyou
wanttochange.EithertypeinanewvalueorpressF7orF8tocycleforwardor
backwardthroughalistofavailable values.Youcanalsoholdyoumouseovera

togglefieldandclickthedropdownarrowtoselectfromapopuplistofavailable
values.
Ifyou'reinSummarymode,expandthecommand.Thenrightclickontheline
youwanttoedit,PCDMISwilleitherdisplayalistfromwhichyoucanchoosea
preexistingvalueoraneditboxintowhichyoucantypeanewvalue.
SelectingCommands
YoucanselectmostcommandsinanyofPCDMIS'smodes.You'llneedtoselectacommand
beforerepositioningorcopyingit.
InSummarymode,clickonacollapsedcommandtoselecttheentirecommand
block.Allthedataitemsassociatedwiththecommandwillalsobeselected.
InCommandorDMISmodes,clickatthebeginningofthecommand,holddown
themouse,anddragituntiltheentirecommandishighlighted.
TheSelectAll menuoptionallowsyoutoselecttheentirereportforeditingpurposes.
RepositioningCommands
ManycommandsinPCDMIScanberepositioned.Ifyoueverwanttochangeacommand's
locationyoucaneasilydoso.
Ifyou'reinSummary,CommandorDMISmode,youcanrepositionacommand,byselectingthe
entirecommandblock,thenselectingtheEdit|Cut menuoptiontoremovethecommandfrom
itscurrentlocationandthenselectingtheEdit|Pastemenuoptiontoplaceitinit'snewlocation.
YoucanalsousetheEdit|Copymenuoptiontomakeacopyofacommand,storingitinthe
Clipboarduntilyoudecidetopastethecopyintoanotherlocation.
Forinformationontheseandotherstandardeditingcommands,see"UsingStandardEditing
Commands"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapter.
DeletingCommands
YoucaneasilydeletecommandsfromtheEditwindowbyselectingthemandpressingDELETE.
YoucanrestoreanydeletedcommandifyouimmediatelyclicktheUndoiconfromtheEdit
Windowtoolbar.
AccessingDialogBoxes
Wheneditingfeaturesorcommands,youmightwanttoaccessdialogboxesassociatedwitha
particularfeatureorcommand.Youcaneasilydothisinoneoftheeditingmodesbyplacingthe
cursoronthefeatureorcommandblockandpressingF9.Thedialogboxassociatedwiththe
featurewillappear.YoucanthenmakeanychangesinthedialogboxitselfandafterclickingOK,
orApply,theEditwindowautomaticallygetsupdatedwithyourchanges.
Onsomecommands,pressingF9accessesthedialogboxonlyifPCDMISisinCommand
mode.
ModifyingtheEditWindow'sHeadersandFooters

Therearethreefilesthatareusedtoformattheheader/footertextintheEditwindow.These
filesareLOGO.DAT,HEADER.DAT,andELOGO.DAT.Thesefilesarelocatedinyourinstallation
directory(forexample,C:\Pcdmisw).
YoucanedittheEditwindow'sheaderorfooterbymakingandsavingchangestothesetextfiles
usingastandardtexteditor(suchasNotepad).
Important:DuetoimprovementsinhowPCDMISreportsmeasurementresultsinPCDMIS4.0
andgreater,reportsnolongerusetheEditwindow.Instead,reportsnowappearinsidetheirown
Reportwindow.Therefore,modifyingthe.DATfilesasexplainedherewillgenerallyonlyaffect
theheadersandfooterswithintheEditwindow,nottheReportwindowoutput.However,inv4.3
andhigherthereisawayaroundthisthoughitrequiressometemplateeditingtosetup.See
"ReportingUsing.DATFileKeywords"ifyouwanttodothis.
Usually,however,tomodifytheReportwindow'sheader,youwon'tusethe.DATfilekeywords
andwillneedtomodifythelabeltemplateusedfortheheaderinstead.Thestandardlabel
templateusedtocontrolheaderinformationisfile_header.lbl.SeetheReportingMeasurement
Resultschapterforinformationonmodifyingtemplatestocontrolwhatgetsdisplayedinthe
reportwindow.SpecificallyseeModifyingyourReport'sHeader.
TheHeader
TherearetwofilesyoucanmodifytodefinetheheaderinyourEditwindow.LOGO.DATand
HEADER.DAT.
LOGO.DATThisfiledefinestheheaderfortheveryfirstpageoftheEditwindow.Youcan
defineabitmapwithyourcompany'slogoaswellasspecificdateandtimeformatsforthefirst
page.
Editwindow'sHeaderFormattingExample
ThecorrespondingLOGO.DATfileisdisplayedbelow:
Logo.datExampleinNotepad
Note:ThatPARTNAME,REVNUMBER,SERNUMBER,andSTATSCOUNTarestaticfields
andcannotbechangedintheLOGO.DATfile.

HEADER.DATThisfileisusedtoformatpageheadersforallotherpages.
TheFooter
ELOGO.DATisusedtoformatafooterforthelastpageonlyofyourEditwindow.
Editwindow'sFooterFormattingExample
ThecorrespondingELOGO.DATfileisdisplayedbelow:
Elogo.datExampleinNotepad
HeaderandFooterFormattingKeywords
Thefollowingisalistoftheavailableformattingkeywordsandtheirfunctions.Youcaninsert
thesekeywordsintothe.DATfilestohavethemdisplayedinaheaderorfooterintheEdit
window.
Note:Thekeywordsarecasesensitive.
#DATE Insertsthecurrentdate.
#TIME Insertsthecurrenttime.
#PAGE Insertsthecurrentpagenumber.
Thisisidealforuseinthe
HEADER.DATfile.
#TRn Insertsthevalueoftracefieldn,
wherenisthetracefieldnumber.
#PARTN Insertsthepartprogramname.
#DRWN Insertstherevisionnumber.
#SERIALN Insertstheserialnumber.
#SEQUENCE Insertsthesequencenumber.
#SHRINK Insertsthescalefactor.
#NMEAS Insertsthetotalnumberof
dimensions.
#NOUT Insertsthetotalnumberof
dimensionsthatareoutoftolerance.
#ELAPSTIM Insertsthetimeelapsedbetween

startandendofexecution.Thisis
idealforuseintheFOOTER.DAT
file.
#BMP=bitmappath Insertsabitmapwiththespecified
nameinthebitmappathvariable.
Youmustspecifythefullpaththebit
mapfile(i.e.,
D:\Files\Bmp\Pcdhead.bmp).
UsingExpressionsandTracefieldstoCustomizeHeadersandFooters
You'llnoticethatthekeywordsthemselvesaren'tcustomizable.Forexamplethe#DATEkeyword
inthelogo.datfileonlygivesyouonewaytodisplaythedateinmmddyyyyformat.For
exampleMay5,2005iswrittenas552005inyourEditwindow'sheaderorfooter.
Thefollowingexampleshowshowyoucanuseexpressionsandtracefieldstochangetheformat
ofyourdateontheEditwindow.
1. Typethefollowingcommandssomewhereintoyourpartprogram:
ASSIGN/V1=SYSTEMDATE("MMMdd,yyyy")
ThisgivesV1thestringvalueof"May05,2005"(orwhateveryourcurrentdateis).
TRACEFIELD/DISPLAY,LIMIT=15DATE:V1
ThisassignsV1totheTRACEFIELD.
2. Assumingthisisthefirsttracefieldinyourprogram,openupyourlogo.datfile
insideatexteditorandmodifytheDATE=fieldsothatitlookslikethis:
DATE=#TR1
NoticethatDATEfieldnowreferencesthefirsttracefieldbyusing#TR1.
3. Saveandcloseyourlogo.datfile.
4. AccesstheEditwindow.AssumingyourEditwindowisenabledtoshowheaders
andfooters,theheadernowusestheformattedsystemdatethatwasstoredinthe
V1variableandsubsequentlyinthefirsttracefield.
YoucanusetracefieldsandexpressionstogiveyougreatercontroloverwhatyouseeintheEdit
window.
Forinformationontracefields,seethe"UsingTraceFields"topicinthe"TrackingStatistical
Data"chapter.
Forinformationonexpressions,seethe"UsingExpressionsandVariables"chapter.
WorkinginSummaryMode

ToenterSummarymode, Thesummarymodeallowsyoutoviewtheoveralllayoutofthepart
selectView|Summary program,aswellaspartprogramcommandsindifferentlevelsof
Mode. detail.Throughtheintuitiveinterfaceyoucanalsoeasilyreorder
andeditcommands.
Layout
PCDMIS'ssummarymodelayoutisintheformofexpandableandcollapsiblepiecesofdata.At
thetoplevel,PCDMISdisplayscommandobjects.Youcanexpandtheseobjectstoviewtheir
groupsanddataitemsbyclickingtheplussign(+)totheleftofthecommand.Collapsethemby
clickingtheminussign().Youcanalsoexpandandcollapsecommandsorgroupsbypressing
theRIGHTARROWandLEFTARROWkeysrespectively.
Commands
SummaryModeShowingCommands(unexpandeditems)
PCDMISdisplaysmostpartprogramcommandsatthetoplevel.Somecommands,suchas
basichits,locationdimensions,andcertainalignmentcommandsappearundertheirparent
object.Also:
Eachcommandhasauniqueiconassociatedwithittohelpyouquicklyidentify
neededcommands.
IfthecommandhasanID,PCDMISdisplaystheIDdisplayedbeforethe
commanddescription.
Commandsmarkedtoexecutearedisplayedingreentext.
Commandsnotsettoexecutearedisplayedinbluetext.
Groups

SummaryModedisplayingGroups(foldericons)
Groupsaredisplayedwithafoldericonandarecomposedofacommand'ssimilardataitems.
Forexample,themeasuredcircleobjecthasatheoreticalsgroup,anactualsgroup,anda
settingsgroup.
Thetheoreticalsgroupcontainsthetheoreticalvaluesforthemeasuredcircle
includingthetheoreticalx,y,z,i,j,kanddiameter.
Themeasuredgroupcontainsthecorrespondingmeasuredvaluesofthecircle.
Thesettingsgroupcontainsinformationaboutthemeasuredcirclesuchasthe
ID,coordinatetype,whetherthecircleisaninner/outer,thenumberofhits,etc.
DataItems
SummaryModedisplayingDataItems(bluesphereicons)
Dataitemsaretheparametersorsettingsofthecommandobject.Somedataitemscanbeedited
andsomeareforinformationpurposesonlyandcannotbechanged.Dataitemsaredisplayed
withabluesphereicon.
EditingaPartProgramfromSummaryMode
PCDMISgivesyoutheabilitytoeditthepartprogramwhileinSummaryMode.Usingthe
SummaryModeinterfaceyoucanselect,add,remove,copy,cut,paste,mark,unmark,
commands,aswellaseditacommand'sdataitems.

SelectingCommands
SelectcommandsbyeitherleftclickingwiththemouseorbynavigatingtothemusingtheUPand
DOWNARROWkeys.
Toselectmultiplecommands,holddowntheCTRLkeywhileleftclicking.
Toselectagroupofitemsatonce,selectthefirstitemintheblockofobjects,
holddowntheSHIFTkeyandselectingthelastitemintheblock.
PCDMIShighlightsallselecteditems.
AddingCommands
Wheninsummarymode,youcanaddcommandstothepartprogrambyusingPCDMIS's
standardmenuoptionsorbyusingaspecialshortcutmenu.
1. Toaccesstheshortcutmenu,rightclickonacommanditem.See"Summary
ModeCommandShortcutMenu"inthe"UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus"
appendixformoreinformationontheitemsavailable.
2. Fromtheshortcutmenu,selectAddCommand.Ascrollablebluelistappears.
3. Selectthecommandtoadd.Onceclicked,thepopuplistdisappearsandPC
DMISinsertsthecommandintotheEditwindow.Ifyouwanttoclosethelistwithout
addingacommandpressESConyourkeyboarduntilitcloses.
Note:PCDMISgenerallyinsertsthenewcommandafterthecurrentlyselectediteminthe
expandable/collapsiblelist.
RemovingCommands
Youcaneasilyremovecommandsfromthepartprogrambyselectinganobjectandpressingthe
DELETEkey.Ifthecommandcontainsanysubcommands,thosecommandsarealsodeleted.
Copying,Cutting,andPastingCommands
Tocopyorcutacommand:
1. Selectthedesiredcommandintheexpandable/collapsibleview
2. Choosethecopyorcutcommandsfromanyoftheselocations:
TheEditwindow'sEditmenu
TheKeyboard(CTRL+Cforcopy,CTRL+Xforcut)
Theshortcutmenu'sCutorCopyoptionthatappearsfromrightclickingonthe
command
Note:Ifthecommandcontainsanysubcommands,thosecommandsarealsocutorcopied.

Topasteacommandthathasbeencutorcopied:
1. Selectthecommandintheexpandable/collapsibleviewthatprecedesthe
commandtobepasted.
2. Choosethepastecommandfromanyoftheselocations:
TheEditwindow'sEditmenu.
Thekeyboard(CTRL+V)
Theshortcutmenu'sPasteoptionthatappearsfromrightclickingonthe
command.
DraggingandDroppingCommands
WhileyoucancutandpastecommandstorearrangetheminSummaryMode,youcanalso
rearrangecommandsbysimplydragginganddroppingoneormorecontiguouscommandstoa
newlocation.
1. SelectoneormorecontiguouscommandsintheEditwindow'sSummaryMode.
2. Usetheleftmousebuttonanddragtheselectedcommand(s)toanewlocationinthe
Editwindow.
PCDMISmovesthecommand(s)immediatelybelowthecommandthatwasunderthemouse
pointerwhenyoureleasedthemousebutton.
Marking/UnmarkingCommandsforExecution
Tomarkorunmarkacommandforexecution:
1. Selectthecommandintheeditwindow.
2. PressF3(orrightclickonthedesiredcommandandchooseMarkfromthe
shortcutmenu).
EditingDataItemsofaCommand
Toeditthedataitemofacommanddooneofthefollowing:
SelectthedataitemandpresstheENTERkey.Edittheinformationandpress
ENTER.
Doubleclickonthedataitemwiththeleftmousebutton.Edittheinformationand
pressENTER.
RightclickonthedataitemandchooseEdit|Value/ExpressionText.Editthe
informationandpressENTER.
Ifthedataitemisatogglefield,alistofpossiblevaluesappearsfromwhichyoucanchoosethe
desireditem.PressENTERafterselectingthedesiredchoiceordoubleclickonthedesired
choice.
Ifthedataitemcanbeeditedanditisnotatogglefield,asmalleditfieldwillpopupwiththe
currentvaluewhichcanthenbeeditedviathekeyboard.Tocanceltheeditingofanitem,press
ESC.

Toeditacommandviathedialogboxspecifictothatcommand:
1. Selectthecommandintheexpandable/collapsibleview.
2. PressF9(orrightclickonthecommandandchooseEdit fromthepopup
menu).
Theappropriatedialogboxforthecommandappears.However,beawarethatinsomecases
youcanonlyeditacommandifPCDMISisinCommandmode.
SummaryModeKeyboardFunctions
ThefollowingtableliststhevariouskeyboardfunctionsavailablewhenPCDMISisinsummary
mode.
Key(s) Function
SHIFT+TAB Movescursorbackwardtonextiteminthesummaryview
CTRL Clickondesiredfeatureusingleftmousebutton.PCDMIS
willmovethecursortothecorrespondingcommanditemin
thesummaryview.
CTRL+A Selectsallofthecommandsofthepartprogram.
CTRL+C CopiestextorobjectstotheClipboard.
CTRL+END Movesthecursortotheendofthepartprogram.
CTRL+HOME Movesthecursortothebeginningofthepartprogram.
CTRL+Q DisplaystheExecutedialogboxandallowsyoutoexecute
thepartprogram.
CTRL+V Pastestextifinaneditcontrol.Ifobjecthasbeencutor
copied,pastesobjectaftercurrentlyselectedobject.
CTRL+X Cutsselectedobjectortextifinaneditcontrol.
CTRL+Y DisplaystheExecutedialogboxandallowsyoutoexecute
thepartprogramataspecifiedlocation.
DELETE Deletesanyhighlightedcharacterswheneditingavaluein
aneditcontrol.Ifnothingishighlighted,thenboth
keystrokesfunctionasinanormaleditor.
Doubleclick Doubleclickingonacommanditemorgroupitemwill
expandthatitem.Doubleclickingonadataitemthatcanbe
editedwillbringuptheeditcontrolforthedataitem.
DOWN Movesthecursordownoneline.
ARROW
F2 Bringsuptheexpressionbuilderifthecurrentlyselected
dataitemcanhaveexpressions.
F3 Marksasinglefeatureforexecution.
F9 Callsupdialogboxforthecurrentlyselectedcommand.
PAGEDOWN Movesthecursordownonepage.
PAGEUP Movesthecursoruponepage.
SHIFT Usedinconjunctionwiththeleftmousebuttonafter
selectinganinitialobjectinordertofacilitateselectinga
blockofobjects.
TAB Movescursorforwardtothenextiteminthesummaryview.
UPARROW Movesthecursoruponeline.
LEFTARROW Collapsesanexpandedcommandorgroup.
RIGHT Expandsacollapsedcommandorgroup.
ARROW

WorkinginCommandMode
ToenterCommandmode, SelectingtheCommandModeiconplacestheEditwindowinto
selectView|Command commandmode.This modeallowsyoutoinsertoreditawide
Mode. varietyofPCDMIScommands.Themainfeaturesorcommands
thatyoucanaddtotheEditwindowinclude:
ConstructedFeatures
Dimensions
StatisticalData
Alignment
MeasuredFeatures
Hits
MotionCommands
MoveCommands
SheetMetalMeasurements
Probe
Comments
TraceFields
Expressions
ScreenCaptures
GlobalCommands
CommandModeKeyboardFunctions
PCDMISalsoprovidessomekeyboardfunctionsthatyoucanusewhiletheEditwindowisin
CommandMode.Thesearediscussedin"CommandModeKeyboardFunctions".Similarly,you
canaccessseveralshortcutmenuitemsbyrightclickingonthecommandswithinCommand
Mode.See"CommandModeShortcutMenu"inthe"UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus"
appendix.
YoucanalsodeterminewhichcommandsgetdisplayedinCommandmode.See"Command
ModeDisplayOptions"inthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapterforadditionalinformation.
ConstructedFeatures
PCDMISallowsyoutocreatespecifiedfeaturesfromexistingfeatures.Additionalinformation
includingspecificrulesforconstructingfeaturescanbefoundinthe"ConstructingNewFeatures
fromExistingFeatures"chapter.
PCDMISsupportstheconstructionofthefollowingfeatures:
POINT
CIRCLE
ELLIPSE
SPHERE

LINE
CONE
CYLINDER
PLANE
SLOT
CURVE
SURFACE
FEATURESET
GAUSSIANFILTERSET
Dimensions
Dimensioncommandsallowyoutodimensionfeaturesortherelationshipbetweenfeatures.
Additionalinformationregardingthecalculationofdimensionscanbefoundinthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter.
DimensionFormat
PCDMIS'sprintcapabilityisoneofitsmostpowerfulfeatures.Adimensioncanbecalculated
manydifferentwaysuntiltheresultsareacceptable.Onlyifthedimensionismarkedforprinting
willthedataappearontheinspectionreport.
TheFORMATcommandallowsyoutocreatemorethanonedimensionalformatwithinapart
program.Forsomedimensions,youmightnotwantthenominalsprinted.
Note:Certaintypesofzonetolerancesalwayshaveanominalofzero,soitisunnecessaryto
printtheNOM.However,laterinthepartprogramyoumightwanttousethenominalsfora
differenttypeofdimension,suchaslocationortrueposition.
ThedefaultFORMATcommandwillprintoutallofthecolumnsandcolumnheadings.Itwillalso
createthestatisticsXSTATS11.TMPfile.
FORMAT/HEADINGS,SYMBOLNOM,TOL,MEAS,MAXMIN,
DEV,OUTTOL
HEADINGS=ThismajorcommandcontrolswhetherthedimensionsthatfollowtheFORMAT
commandwillhavecolumnheadingsabovethenumbers.
SYMBOL=Thisminorcommandcontrolswhetherthedeviationsymbolswillbeprinted.This
fieldcanbetoggledonoroff.Ablankfieldindicatesthatthiscommandisoff.

Whenthecursorisinone NOM,TOL,MEAS,MAXMIN,DEV,OUTTOL=Theseminor
ofthesefieldsyoucanuse commandscontrolwhichcolumnsgetprintedfordimensions
theF7andF8hotkeysto followingtheFORMATcommand.Youcantoggleany
togglethemonoroff. combinationofthesecolumnsonoroff.Toturnaflagoff,placea
blankinthefield.Theycanalsobedisplayedinanyorder.Simply
typethedesiredcommandintheorderneeded.(Theorderwillbe
numericallydisplayedintheParametersDimensiondialogbox.)
Formoreinformationconsultthe"DimensioningFeatures"chapter.
AvailableDimensions
Toeditthesedimensions,pleaseviewtheirindividualsectionsinthe"DimensioningFeatures"
chapter.
Analysis
ToedittheAnalysisinformation,seethe"InsertingReportCommands"chapter.
StatisticalData
Toincludeandeditstatisticaldata,seethe"TrackingStatisticalData"chapter.
Alignment
TheAlignmentoptionallowsyoutorecallorcreateanewcoordinatesystem.
AlignmentCommands
FormoreinformationonhowtousethesealignmentcommandsintheEditwindow,seethe
individualtopicsinthe"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapter
CADEqualsPart
FormoreinformationonhowtousetheCADEqualsPartcommandintheEditwindow,see
"EquatingCADtoMeasuredPartData"inthe"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapter.
EquateAlignment
FormoreinformationonhowtouseEquateAlignmentcommandintheEditwindow,see
"EquatinganAlignment"inthe"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapter.
MeasuredFeatures
Youcaninsertcommandsthatcreatethefollowingmeasuredfeatures:
MeasuredPoint
MeasuredLine
MeasuredPlane
MeasuredSphere

MeasuredCylinder
MeasuredCone
MeasuredCircle
Thesefeatures,alongwithinformationaboutmeasuredfeaturesingeneral,arediscussedinthe
"CreatingMeasuredFeatures"chapter.
Hits
Thiscommandtargetsthelocationforactualtouchesbytheprobe.
BasicHit
HIT/BASIC,x,y,z,i,j,k,x,y,z,USE_THEO=YES/NO
Thisisthesimplesthitformat.See"UnderstandingtheCommandFormat"inthe"Creating
MeasuredFeatures"chapterformoreinformation.
SheetMetalHits
HIT/type,x,y,z,i,j,k,x,y,z
type=VECTOR,SURFACE,EDGE,CORNER,ANGLE
Therearefiveavailabletypesofsheetmetalhits.TheSheetMetalpackagemustbeinstalledfor
thisoptiontobeavailable.(See"SheetMetalMeasurements".)
AddingHitLines
Toaddahitline,placethecursorinthedesiredlocationandpresstheENTERkey.Beginby
typingthecommandHIT.PresstheTABkey.PCDMISaddsthenewlinedependingonwhere
thecursorislocated.Ifthecursorisinthemiddleofacommand,anewlineiscreatedbelowthe
currentline.IfthecursorisplacedanywherewithinthefirstfourlinesPCDMISwillcreatethe
newlineimmediatelyafterthemeasuredline.
DeletingBlankLines
TodeleteablanklinepresstheDOWNARROWorENTERkey.Thelinemayalsobehighlighted
anddeleted.(See"CommandModeKeyboardFunctions".)
MotionCommands
ThevariousMotioncommandscontrolthemovementofthemachine.Seethevariousmotion
commandsdiscussedinthe"ParameterSettings:Motiontab"andthe"ParameterSettings:
OptionalMotiontab"topicsofthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapter.
Mode=MAN/DCC

MODE/MAN(orDCC)
ThiscommandallowsyoutoselectbetweenmanualandDCCmode.
PrehitDistance
PREHIT/nnn.nnnn
Thiscommanddeterminesthedistancefromthetheoreticalhitlocationthatthemachinewill
travelattouchspeed.
MoveSpeed
MOVESPEED/nnn.nnnn
ThiscommandchangesthepointtopointpositioningspeedoftheCMM.Thevaluethatis
entered(1to100)isapercentageofthemaximummachinespeed.
TouchSpeed
TOUCHSPEED/nnn.nnnn
ThiscommandchangesthespeedatwhichtheCMMtakeshits.Thevaluethatisenteredisa
percentageofthemaximummachinespeed,andcannotexceedtwentypercent.
ScanSpeed
SCANSPEED/nnn.nnnn
ThiscommandchangesthespeedatwhichtheCMMwillscanthepart.Thevaluethatisentered
isapercentageofthemaximummachinespeed.
RetractDistance
RETRACT/nnn.nnnn
Thiscommanddeterminesthedistancethemachinewillmoveawayfromtheactualhitlocation
beforegoingfrom"TouchSpeed"to"MoveSpeed".
CheckDistance
CHECK/nnn.nnnn,p.pp
Thiscommanddeterminesthedistanceininchesormillimeters(dependingonthesystemof
measurementthatwasinitiallysetupfortheparticularpartprogram)pastthetheoreticalhit
locationthatthemachinewillcontinuetosearchforthesurfaceofthepartuntilitdeterminesthe
surfaceisnotthere.
nnn.nnnn:
Thecheckdistance
p.pp:
ThepercentageofthetotalcheckdistancethatPCDMISwillmovewhenperformingaFind
Holeoperation.Thedefaultvalueis1whichmeans100%ofthecheckdistance.Thus
.1=10%,.2=20%,.3=30%etc.Thisonly functionswithFindHoleoperations.
IfPCDMISfindsasurfacewithinthespecifiedcheckdistance,ittakesahit.

IfnosurfaceisfoundPCDMISdisplaysanerrormessagethatithas
encounteredanunexpectedendofmove.
Example:If.3inchesisenteredasthecheckdistance,PCDMISwillmove.3inchespastthe
theoreticalsurface,searchingforasurfaceonwhichtomakethehit.
See"CheckDistance"inthe"SettingyourPreferences"chapterforadditionalinformation.
MoveCommands
Thecommandslistedbelowprovideyouwiththeabilitytoalterthemovementoftheprobe
betweenhits.
MOVE/POINT
MOVE/INCREMENT
MOVE/CLEARPLANE
MOVE/CIRCULAR
MOVE/SYNC
MOVE/SWEEP
MOVE/ROTAB
MOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE
Thesearedescribedinthe"InsertingMoveCommands"chapter.
SheetMetalMeasurements
Sheetmetalmeasurements,alsoknownas"AutoFeatures",areavailableonlyasanadded
optiontothebasicPCDMISgeometricsoftwarepackage.(Seethe"CreatingAutoFeatures"
chapter.)Thisoptionprovidesyouwithseveralalternatechoicesfortakinghits.Thevarioussheet
metalfeaturesarelistedbelow.Whenapplicable,NumberofHits,NumberofRows,Spacer,
andIndent valuescanbeupdated.Therequiredminimumnumberwillbeindicatedasthe
default.
Thefollowingsheetmetalmeasurementsareavailable:
AutoVectorPoint
AutoLine
AutoPlane
AutoCircle
AutoEllipse
AutoNotchSlot
AutoRoundSlot
AutoAnglePoint
AutoCornerPoint
AutoEdgePoint
AutoHighPoint
AutoSurfacePoint
AutoSquareSlot
AutoCylinder
AutoCone
AutoSphere

Probe
Thefollowingcommandsallowyoutoaccessoptionsthataffecttheprobe.Thesecommands
allowyoutochangetheactivetipinaprobeclusterorchangethepositionoftherotatingprobe
head.Probecompensationcanalsobeturnedonoroffasneeded.
LoadProbe
LOADPROBE/probe_file_name
TheLoadProbecommandisausereditablefieldthatallowsyoutoloadafileofqualifiedprobe
tipstobeusedwithinthepartprogram.
ProbeComp
PROBECOM/ON (orOFF)
TheProbeCompcommandallowsyoutoturnprobecompensationonoroff.ItisconsideredON
ifthecommandisdisplayedintheEditwindow.
ReadPoint
F_ID= FEAT/POINT,TOG1
THEO/x,y,z,i,j,k
ACTL/x,y,z,i,j,k
READPOINT
TheReadPointcommandcreatesapointfeatureatthecurrentlocationoftheprobe.PCDMIS
willthenstorethevaluesofthepointthatisread.
See"CreatingaReadPointfromtheProbe'sPosition"inthe"CreatingGenericFeatures"chapter
foradditionalinformation.
Tip
TheSHANKIJKisjustanothervectorformofspecifyingtheAandBanglesforthe
tip.
TheANGLEspecifiestheanglethatthetiptransformationmatrixisrotatedaboutthe
shankvector.
Comments
Thisoptionallowsyoutodisplaycommentsduringtheexecutionofthepartprogram,ortosend
thecommentstotheinspectionreport.ThesecommentsarecreatedusingtheInsert|Report
Command|Comment menuoption.TheShowCommentsoptionalsoallowsyoutoadd,edit,
ordeleteoperatornotesandinspectionreportcommentswithintheEditwindow.TheCOMMENT
commandswitchesbetweentheoptionsOPER,REPORT,YESNO,$$,INPUT,andREADOUT.
Whenyouopenapartprogramthatwassavedfromalaterversion,anycommandsthatarenot
supportedinthecurrentversionwillshowupasDOCcomments.

Seethe"InsertingProgrammerComments"topicinthe"InsertingReportCommands"chapter.
Operator
Thisoptionwilldisplayausersuppliedmessagewhenexecutingthepartprogram.Accessthis
optionbyselectingUtilities|CommentfromthemenubarandswitchingtoOPERorenterthe
commandCOMMENT/OPERinthedesiredlocationoftheEditwindow.Typeinthedesiredtext.
(Anylengthoftextwillbeaccepted.)ClicktheOKbutton(orpresstheENTERkey)whenthe
commentsarecompleted.WhenPCDMISexecutesthepartprogram,amessagedisplaysthe
previouslyenteredcomments.ClickontheOKbuttontoclosethemessagebox.
PressingtheF9keywhilethecursorisinaCOMMENT/OPERcommandlinewilldisplaythe
Commentsdialogboxallowingyoutoalterthedisplayedmessage.
COMMENT/OPER,commenttext
Report
Thisoptionallowsyoutosendtexttotheinspectionreport.Accessthisoptionbyselecting
Utilities|CommentfromthemenubarandswitchingtoREPTorenterthecommand
COMMENT/REPTinthedesiredlocationoftheEditwindow.Typeinthedesiredtext.(Anylength
oftextwillbeaccepted.)ClicktheOKbutton(orpresstheENTERkey)whenthecommentsare
completed.WhenPCDMISexecutesthepartprogram,thesemessageswillnotbeviewed.PC
DMISwill,however,sendthesecommentstotheinspectionreportwhenitisprinted.
PressingtheF9keywhilethecursorisinaCOMMENT/REPT commandlinewilldisplaythe
Commentsdialogboxallowingyoutoalterthedisplayedmessage.
COMMENT/REPT,commenttext
Input
Thisoptionissimilarto"OPER"inthatitallowsyoutodisplaytextwhenexecutingapart
program.Inadditiontodisplayingamessagewiththepreviouslyenteredtext,acommentboxwill
appear.Thisallowsyoutoenternumericalinformationthatwillbewrittentotheinspection
report.AccessthisoptionbyselectingUtilities|Commentfromthemenubarandswitchingto
INPUT,orenterthecommandCOMMENT/INPUT inthedesiredlocationoftheEditwindow.Type
inthedesiredtext.TheinputfromtheoperatorwillbeassignedtotheCommentIDandis
accessibleviaanexpressionreference(i.e.C1.INPUT).
PressingtheF9keywhilethecursorisinaCOMMENT/INPUTcommandlinewilldisplaythe
Commentsdialogbox,allowingyoutoalterthedisplayedmessage.
commentID=COMMENT/INPUT,commenttext
$$(Document)
Thisoptionprovidesyouwiththeabilitytodocument(addprogrammercomments)totheinternal
program.Itwillnotdisplayanytextwhenexecutingthepartprogram.Thiscommanddoesnot

havetheusualCOMMENTprefixtothecommand.Thisisdoneforvisibilitypurposestobetter
offset
$$NO,PleaseEditCommentText!
TotypeadocumentcommentdirectlyintotheEditwindow:
1. TypeCOMMENTandpressTAB.PCDMIShighlightstheOPERfield.
2. Type$$andpressTABorENTER.
Whenyouopenapartprogramthatwassavedfromalaterversionintothecurrentversion,any
commandsthatarenotsupportedinthecurrentversionwillshowupasDOCcomments.See
"SaveAs"inthe"UsingBasicFileOptions"chapter.
Yes/No
Thisoptionallowsyoutodisplaytextwhenexecutingapartprogram.Themessageboxwill
displayanypreviouslyenteredtextandYES/NObuttons.TheresponsetotheYES/NO
questionwillappearinthepartprogram.Thetext'YES'or'NO'willbeassociatedwiththe
commentidentificationandisavailableinanyexpressionviaareferencetotheCommentID(i.e.
C1.INPUT).
CommandlineintheEditwindow
commentID=COMMENT/YESNO,commenttext
Readout
ThisoptionallowsyoutodisplaytextinsidetheProbeReadoutwindow.
COMMENT/READOUT,commenttext
Formoreinformationonsettingupthisoption,see"Readout"inthe"InsertingReport
Commands"chapter.
TraceFields
TheTraceFieldoptionletsyousetuptracefieldsintheEditWindow.Thisinformationisusefulin
theSTATSdatabase(seetheXSTATS11.TMP file).Thenameofthefieldandthecurrentvalue
canbechangedintheEditwindow.Thisisdonebyselectingthefieldtobechanged,andtyping
anewvalue.
TodisplaytheTraceFieldsdialogbox,selecttheInsert|StatisticsCommand|Trace
Fieldmenuoption.
TRACEFIELD/fieldname:value
fieldname=stringthatrepresentsthenameofthetracefield.Thereisa15characterlimit
onthelengthofthefieldname.

value=thecurrentvalueofthetracefield.Thereisa15characterlimitonthelengthofthe
value.
Expressions
YoucaninsertexpressionsintomostofPCDMIS'seditablefields.Seethe"UsingExpressions
andVariables"chapter.
ScreenCaptures
YoucaninsertaDISPLAY/METAFILEcommandtoinsertscreencapturesoftheGraphics
Displaywindowintoyourreport.Seethe"InsertingScreenCaptures"topicinthe"Inserting
GlobalCommands
ThetablebelowdefinesthelistofglobalcommandsavailableintheEditwindow.Whileyou
cannotalterthesecommands,theEditwindowdoesallowyoutoselecttheminorcommands
followingthesemajorcommands.
Toselecttheminorcommands:
1. PlacethecursoroveraminorcommandintheEditwindow.
2. Clickingtheleftmousebutton.
3. PressF7orF8.Thistogglesthroughtheavailablechoices.
Thislistservesasacomprehensivesummaryofthecommandsthatcanbeaddedtoapart
program.Seeeachspecificsectionformoreinformationasnecessary.
Note:ThemaximumnumberofcharactersthatPCDMIScanmanagewithinanylineoftheEdit
windowis280.
MAJORCOMMAND MINORCOMMAND
2DANGLE(see"DimensioningAngle"inA
the"DimensioningFeatures"chapter)
2DDISTANCE(see"Dimensioning M
Distance"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)
3DANGLE(see"DimensioningAngle"inA
the"DimensioningFeatures"chapter
3DDISTANCE(see"Dimensioning M
Distance"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)
ALIGNMENT(seethe"Creatingand BF2D,BF3D,ITERATE,
UsingAlignments"chapter) LEVEL,ROTATE,TRANS,
ROTATE_OFFSET,
TRANS_OFFSET,RECALL,
RECALL_EXTERNAL
ANGULARITY(see"Dimensioning M
Angularity"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)

ANALYSISVIEW(see"Analysis"inthe
"InsertingReportCommands"chapter)
ARRAYINDICES(see"Arrays"inthe
"UsingExpressionsandVariables"
chapter)
ASSIGN(see"UsingVariableswith
Expressions"intheUsingExpressions
andVariables"chapter)
ATTACH(see"IDsforfeatureswithin
subroutines,basicscripts,orexternal
programs"inthe"UsingExpressions
andVariables"chapter)
AUTO(see"SheetMetal VECTORPOINT,SURFACE
Measurements") POINT,EDGEPOINT,CORNER
POINT,ANGLEPOINT,HIGH
POINT,SPHERE,CIRCLE,
CYLINDER,SQUARESLOT,
ROUNDSLOT,CONE,ELLIPSE,
NOTCH,CONE
AUTOTRIGGER(see"Parameter
Settings:ProbeTriggerOptionstab"in
the"SettingyourPreferences"chapter)
CADEQUALSPART(see"CADEquals
Part")
CALCULATION
CALLSUB(see"CallingaSubroutine"in
the"BranchingbyUsingFlowControl"
chapter)
CASE(see"Case/EndCase"inthe
"BranchingbyUsingFlowControl"
chapter)
CHECK(see"CheckDistance")
CLEARP(see"ParameterSettings: "WORKPLANEVALUE"
ClearPlanetab"inthe"Settingyour
Preferences"chapter)
CLAMP(see"ClampingValue"inthe
"SettingyourPreferences"chapter)
COLUMN132(see"Dimensions")
COMMENT(see"Comments") OPER,REPORT
CONCENTRICITY(see"Dimensioning M
Concentricity"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)
CONST(see"ConstructedFeatures") CIRCLE,CONE,CURVE,
CYLINDER,ELLIPSE,LINE,
PLANE,POINT,SET,SURFACE,
SPHERE
CIRCULARITY(see"Dimensioning
Circularity"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)
CYLINDRICITY(see"Dimensioning
Cylindricity"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)

DEFAULT_CASE(See"DefaultCase/
EndDefaultCase"inthe"Branchingby
UsingFlowControl"chapter)
DISPLAY(see"ScreenCaptures") METAFILE
DO(see"Do/Until"inthe"Branching
byUsingFlowControl"chapter)
ELSE(see"Else/EndElse"inthe
chapter)
END_ELSEIF(See"ElseIf/EndElse
If"inthe"BranchingbyUsingFlow
Control"chapter)
ELSE_IF(see"ElseIf/EndElseIf"in
chapter)
END_CASE(see"Case/EndCase"in
chapter)
END_DEFAULTCASE(see"Default
Case/EndDefaultCase"inthe
"BranchingbyUsingFlowControl")
END_ELSE(see"Else/EndElse"in
chapter)
END_IF(see"If/EndIf"inthe
chapter).
END_SELECT(see"Select/End
Select"inthe"BranchingbyUsingFlow
Control"chapter)
ENDWHILE(see"While/EndWhile"in
chapter)
ENDSUB(see"EndingaSubroutine"in
chapter)
EQUATE(see"EquateAlignment")
EXTERNALCOMMAND(see"Inserting
anExternalCommand"in"Adding
ExternalElements").
FILE(seethe"UsingFileInput/Output"OPEN,MOVE,EXISTS,DIALOG,
chapter) DELETE,COPY,CLOSE,
WRITE_CHARACTER,
WRITE_BLOCK,WRITELINE,
SAVE_POSITION,REWIND,
RECALL_POSITION,
READ_UPTO,
READ_CHARACTER,
READ_BLOCK,READLINE
FLATNESS(see"Dimensioning M
Flatness"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)
FLY(see"FlyMode"inthe"Setting
yourPreferences"chapter)

FORMFEED(see"InsertingaForm
FeedCommand"inthe"Inserting
ReportCommands"chapter).
FORMAT(see"DimensionFormat") HEADINGS,STATS
GAPONLY(see"Dimensioning ON
Location"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)
GENERIC(see"CreatingaGeneric POINT,PLANE,NONE,LINE,
Feature"inthe"CreatingGeneric CYLINDER,CONE,CIRCLE,
Features"chapter) SQUARE_SLOT,SPHERE,
ROUNDSLOT
GOTO(see"JumpingtoaLabel"inthe
chapter)
HIT(see"Hits") BASIC,ANGLE,VECTOR,
SURFACE,EDGE,CORNER
IF(see"If/EndIf"inthe"Branchingby
UsingFlowControl"chapter)
KEYIN(see"Dimensioningthrough M
KeyboardInput"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)
LABEL(see"CreatingLabels"inthe
chapter)
LEITZPROBE
LOADPROBE(see"LoadProbe") "FILENAME"
LOCATION(see"Dimensioning A,D,M,PA,PR,R,T,X,Y,Z
Features"chapter)
LOOP(see"CreatingGenericLoops"in START,END
chapter)
MEAS(see"MeasuredFeatures") CIRCLE,CONE,CURVE,
CYLINDER,LINE,PLANE,POINT,
SET,SLOT,SPHERE
MODE(see"ProbeModetoolbar"intheDCC,MANUAL
"UsingToolbars"chapter)
MOVE(see"MoveCommands") POINT,ROTAB,CIRCULAR,
CLEARPLANE,INCREMENT,
PH9(X,Y,Z)
MOVESPEED(see"MoveSpeed") %ofoverallmachinespeed
ONERROR(see"BranchingonaCMM Unexpected_hit,probe_miss
Error"inthe"BranchingbyUsingFlow
Control"chapter)
OPTIONMOTION(see"Parameter
Settings:OptionalMotiontab"inthe
PARALLELISM(see"Dimensioning M
Parallelism"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)
PD
PERPENDICULARITY(see M
"DimensioningPerpendicularity"inthe
"DimensioningFeatures"chapter)

PREHIT(see"PrehitDistance") "distance"
PROBECOMP(see"ProbeComp") "ON,OFF"
PROFILE(see"DimensioningSurface
orLineProfile"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)
PROGRAM END"endsprogramatcommand
location"
READPOINT(see"ReadPoint") "xyzvalueofprobelocation"
RECALL(see"RecallinganExisting VIEWSET,ALIGNMENT
Alignment"in"CreatingandUsing (INTERNAL/EXTERNAL)
Alignments"chapter)
RETRACT(see"RetractDistance") "distance"
RETROLINEARONLY(see"Location ON,OFF
Options"inthe"DimensioningFeatures"
chapter)
RMEAS(see"RelativeMeasurement
Area"inthe"CreatingAutoFeatures"
chapter)
RS
RT
RUNOUT(see"DimensioningRunout" M
inthe"DimensioningFeatures"chapter)
S
SAVE(see"SavinganAlignment"intheALIGNMENT
"CreatingandUsingAlignments"
chapter)
SCANSPEED(see"ScanSpeed"inthe %ofoverallmachinespeed
SCRIPT(see"InsertingBASICScripts"
inthe"AddingExternalElements"
chapter)
SELECT(see"Select/EndSelect"in
chapter)
STATS(seethe"TrackingStatistical ON,OFF
Data"chapter)
STRAIGHTNESS(see"Dimensioning M
Straightness"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)
SUBROUTINE(see"Branchingwith
Subroutines"inthe"BranchingbyUsing
FlowControl"chapter)
TIP(see"Tip") "filename"
TEMPCOMP(see"Compensatingfor
Temperature"inthe"Settingyour
Preferences"chapter)
TOUCHSPEED(see"TouchSpeed%" "%ofoverallmachinespeed"
inthe"SettingyourPreferences"
chapter)
TRACEFIELD(see"TraceFields") (fieldname:value)
TRUEPOSITION(see"Dimensioning A,D,M,PA,PR,R,T,V,X,Y,Z
TruePosition"inthe"Dimensioning
Features"chapter)

UNTIL(see"Do/Until"inthe
chapter)
WHILE(see"While/EndWhile"inthe
chapter)
WORKPLANE(see"WorkingPlane TOP,BACK,BOTTOM,FRONT,
List"inthe"UsingToolbars"chapter) LEFT,RIGHT
CommandModeKeyboardFunctions
ThefollowingtableliststhevariouskeyboardfunctionsavailablewithintheEditwindow's
CommandMode.
Key(s) Function
ALT+F3 DisplaystheSearchdialogbox.
SHIFT+TAB, Movescursorbackwardtothelastuser
CTRL+LEFT editablefield.
ARROW
CTRL ClickondesiredfeatureintheGraphics
Displaywindowusingleftmousebutton.PC
DMISwillmovethecursortothe
correspondingfeaturelineintheEditwindow.
CTRL+doubleclickingonafeatureselects
theentirefeature.
CTRL+A Selectsalltextinthewindowforhighlighting.
CTRL+C CopiestextorobjectstotheClipboard.Iftext
fromasinglefieldishighlighted,thistextis
copiedtotheClipboard.Ifmorethanonefield
ishighlighted,thentheentireobjectiscopied
totheClipboard.
CTRL+E Executesselectedfeatures(orthefeaturewith
thecursor).
CTRL+END Movesthecursortotheendofthepart
program.
CTRL+TAB MinimizesorrestorestheEditwindow.
CTRL+HOME Movesthecursortothebeginningofthepart
program.
CTRL+PAGE Movesthecursortotheendofthefile.
DOWN
CTRL+PAGE Movesthecursortothebeginningofthefile.
UP
CTRL+Q DisplaystheExecutedialogboxandallows
youtoexecutethepartprogram.
CTRL+T Assignsthecurrentcommandtotheselected
activearm.

CTRL+V PastestheClipboard'scontentsattheinsertion
point.Iftextonlywascopied,attemptstopaste
thetext.Ifanentireobjectwascopiedtothe
Clipboard,attemptstopastetheentireobject.
Inthelattercase,iftheinsertionpointisinthe
firstcolumnoftheeditwindowonthefirstline
ofacommand,theClipboardobjectisplaced
beforethisobject.Inallothercases,insertion
isaftertheobject.
CTRL+X Cutsanyhighlightedcharacters.
CTRL+Y DisplaystheExecutedialogboxandresumes
apausedexecution.
DELETEor Deletesanyhighlightedcharacters.Ifnothing
BACKSPACE ishighlighted,thenbothkeystrokesfunctionas
inanormaleditor.
doubleclick doubleclickingusingtheleftmousebutton
whenthecursorisonanyeditablefieldwill
highlightthatfield.
DOWN Movesthecursordownoneline.
ARROW
F1 DisplaystheHelptopicforthecommand.
F2 Insertsanexpression.
F3 Marksasinglefeatureforexecution.Multiple
featurescanbemarkedsimultaneouslyby
highlightingthembeforeselectingthis
command.
F4 PrintstheentirecontentsoftheEditwindow.
F5 DisplaystheSetupOptionsdialogbox.
F6 DisplaystheChangeallthefontsdialogbox.
F7 Ifthecursorisplacedinatogglefield,this
commandswitchestheentryinthefield
forwardtothenextalphabeticalentryinthelist
ofallowedentries.Itwillcycletothebeginning
ofthelistwhentheendisreached.
F8 Ifthecursorisplacedinatogglefield,this
commandswitchestheentryinthefield
backwardtothelastalphabeticalallowedentry.
Itwillcycletotheendofthelistwhenthe
beginningisreached.
F9 Callsupdialogboxforthecommandonwhich
thecursorisresidingwhenthekeyispressed.
F10 DisplaystheParameterSettingsdialogbox.
F12 DisplaystheFixtureSetupdialogbox.
LEFTARROW Movesthecursorleftonecharacter.
PAGEDOWN Movesthecursordownonepage.
PAGEUP Movesthecursoruponepage.
RIGHT Movesthecursorrightonecharacter.
ARROW
SHIFT Iftheshiftkeyishelddownwhenarrow
buttonsaredepressed,textishighlightedas
thecursormoves.
SHIFT+doubleclickonastartblockorend
blockselectstheentireblock.

SHIFT+F10 DisplaystheJumpTodialogbox.
TAB+CTRL+ Movescursorforwardtothenextusereditable
RIGHT field.
ARROW
UPARROW Movesthecursoruponeline.
(minuskey)orRemovesthelasthitfromthehitbuffer.
ALT+
END Insertsthemeasuredfeatureintothepart
program.
WorkinginDMISMode
ToenterDMISmode,select SelectingtheDMISModeicondisplaystheEditwindowcommands
View|DMISMode. inDMISformat.ThismeansyoucanusetheDMISsyntaxtoedit
yourpartprograms.
MostofthecommandsandfeaturesyoucanaddtoyourpartprogramusingCommandmode,
youcanaddusingDMISmode.ForinformationonhowtoinsertoreditcommandsinDMIS
mode,see"UnderstandingCoreConcepts".
ForinformationonhowDIMScommands(PCDMIS'sstandardcommandformat)
translateintoDMIScommands,seethedocumenttitled,PCDMISSupport
DocumentationforDMISavailablefromftp://wilcoxassoc.com/docs/dmis_support.zip.
ForinformationonDMIS,seehttp://www.dmis.com.
WorkingwithUserDefinedGroups
PCDMISletsyougroupcontiguousEditwindowcommandstogether,placingtheminsideofa
userdefinedGROUP/ENDGROUPcommandpair(inDMISmodegroupsareshownas
DMISEWcommands).Groupedcommandshelpsimplifyuserinteractionwiththepartprogram
byallowingoperationsoncommandsinsidethegrouptobeappliedatonceontheentiregroup.
Inaddition,theprogramappearslessbusytotheeye,allowingyoutobettervisualizetheoverall
structureofthepartprogram.
Forexample,supposeyouhaveseveralhundredpointsinyourpartprogramfromascanthat
youwanttohidetomaketheoverallstructureofthepartprogrammorevisibleandeasiertowork
with.Youcanselectallthepointcommands,aslongastheyareallinonelist,andthenselect
theInsert|Group menuitemtogroupthosecommandstogether.InanymodeoftheEdit
windowyoucanthenshoworhidethecommandsinsideofthegroupasneeded.

SampleGroupofSeveralPoints SampleGroupofSeveralPointsCollapsed
Expanded
GroupsappearinthisformatinsidetheEditwindow'sCommandmode:
GRP1=GROUP/SHOWALLPARAMS=YES
...commandsinsidethegrouparelisted
...betweenthetwocommands
ENDGROUP/
SHOWALLPARAMS=ThisYES/NOtogglefieldletyoushoworhidecommandsinside
ofthegroupinCommandorDMISmodes.BydefaultthiscommandissettoYESand
showsallcommandsheldwithinthegroup.IfyousetittoNO,commandsinsidethegroup
stillexistbutarehidden.
InsertingGroups
Whenyouinsertyourfirstgroupcommandintothepartprogram,PCDMISgivesitadefault
nameof"GRP1"insideCommandandDMISmodesor"GROUPGRP1"insideSummarymode.
PCDMISthenincrementsthenumberintheIDforeachadditionalGroup.Youcaneasilymodify
thenameofthegrouptosomethingmoredescriptivebysimplytypinganewIDinCommandor
DMISmodes,orbypressingF9andeditingtheGROUPcommandthatway.

ThereareseveraldifferentwaystoinsertgroupsintothePCDMISpartprogram:
TheInsert|Group menuitem.
ThisinsertstheGROUPandENDGROUPcommands.Ifyouselectedagroupof
commandsbeforeselectingthismenuitem,theywouldbeplacedinsideofthegroup.In
CommandandDMISmodes,thismeanstheGROUPcommandwouldprecedethevery
firstselectedcommandandtheENDGROUPcommandwouldfollowthelastselected
command.Ifyoudon'thaveanycommandsselected,PCDMISwilldisplayadialogbox
askingifyouwanttoinsertthecommandpairwithoutanyfeaturesinsideit.Thismenu
itemworksinanymodeoftheEditwindow.
TheRightclickshortcutmenu.
RightclickinsideCommandorDMISmode,andselectGroupfromtheshortcutmenu.If
youselectedagroupofcommandsbeforeselectingthismenuitem,theywouldbe
placedinsideofthegroup.InCommandandDMISmodes,thismeanstheGROUP
commandwouldprecedetheveryfirstselectedcommandandtheENDGROUP
commandwouldfollowthelastselectedcommand.
SummaryMode.
RightclickinsideSummarymode,andselectAddCommand.Fromthelistof
commands,selectGroup.ThiswillinsertanemptyGROUP/ENDGROUPcommand
pair.GroupsappearasfoldersinsideSummarymode.Commandsappearindented
insidethosefolders.Youcanexpandorcollapsethesegroupsbyclickingontheplus(+)
and()keysrespectively.TheENDGROUPishiddeninSummarymode.
TypetheCommand.
InCommandorDMISmodes,simplytypeGROUPandpressENTERorTAB.PCDMIS
willinsertanemptyGROUP/ENDGROUPcommandpair.
PCDMISwillmaketheGroup menuitemunavailableforselectionifyoutrytogroup
somethingthatisnotallowed,suchasattemptingtoonlygroupaportionofa
command'sblock.
EditingGroups
YoucanedityourgroupsbyusingtheEditwindowdirectlyorbypressingF9andaccessingthe
Groupdialogbox.
GroupIDThisletsmodifythegroup'sIDtosomethingdifferent.
HideGroupThissetsSHOWALLPARAMSequaltoNO.
ShowGroupThissetsSHOWALLPARAMSequaltoYES.
RemovingGroups

YoucanremoveGROUP/ENDGROUPcommandsintheseways:
SimplyhighlightingandthendeletingtheGROUPcommandintheEditwindow.
RightclickingonthecommandandselectingDeletefromtheshortcutmenu.
PCDMISwilldeletetheGROUPandENDGROUPcommandsfromthepartprogramand
everythingcontainedtherein.
Important:Onceagroupisdeleteditcannotbeundone.IfyoujustwanttodeletetheGROUP/
ENDGROUPcommandswithoutaffectingthegroup'scontents,youwillneedtofirstselectand
movethecontentsoutsideofthegroupbeforedeletingit.
UsingMultipleArmModewithGroups
InCommandorDMISmodes,groupsthatcontaincommandssetforexecutionbyaspecificarm
willhavethesameredand/orgreenMultipleArmModemarginmarkingsasthosecommands.
Ifallthecommandsinagroupare
tiedtoonearm,thentheGROUP
commandwillalsohavethesame
margincolormarkings.Ifyouthen
changethearmmodeoftheGROUP
command,allcommandsinsidewill
switchtheirmargincolormarkingsto
theotherarm.
Ifoneor morecommandsaretiedto
botharms,thentheGROUP
commandwillalsohavethesame
margincolormarkingsasbotharms.
ForinformationonMultipleArmMode,seethe"UsingMultipleArmMode"chapter.

PerformingOperationsonGroups
Ingeneral,alloperationsthatcanbeperformedonasinglecommandintheeditwindow,when
performedonagroup,areperformedoneveryitemcontainedwithinthegroup.
Thevariousoperationsyoucanperformonagrouparedescribedindetailbelow.Mostaretaken
fromtheCommandmode'sshortcutmenu.RightclickintheCommandmodetoseethisshortcut
menu.Thisshortcutmenuisdiscussedinthe"CommandModeShortcutMenu"topicfrom"Using
ShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus".Theinformationbelowonlyappliestohowthismenuworks
withGROUPcommandsorfeaturesinsideofgroups.
ShortcutMenuOperationsonGroups
SelectCommand Whenthegroupiscollapsedand
youchooseSelectCommand,PCDMISselectsevery
commandcontainedinthegroupasablock.Whenthe
groupisexpanded,SelectCommandselectsonlythe
GROUPcommanditself.
SelectBlockThismenuitemselectseverycommand
containedinthegroupasablock,regardlessofthe
expanded/collapsedstateofthegroup.
ExecuteFromCursor(CTRL+U)Thisdoesn't
changefromtheusualoperation.
ExecuteBlock(CTRL+L)Ifyouselectablock,PC
DMISonlyexecutestheblock.Ifyouselectedagroup
astheblock,thenPCDMISexecutesthegroup.
JumpTo(CTRL+J)Thisdoesn'tchangefromthe
usualoperation.
JumpBack(ALT+J)Thisdoesn'tchangefromthe
usualoperation.
Edit(F9) Whenthecursorispositionedonthe
GROUPcommand,aGroupdialogboxappears.You
canmodifythegroup'sIDanddisplaystate.Ifyou
selectEditontheENDGROUPcommand,nothing
happens.
Mark(F3)IfyouplacethecursorontheGROUP
commandandselectthismenuitem,allitems
containedwithinthegroupareMarkedorUnmarkedas
awhole.Ifyouhaveanyunmarkedcommandswithin
thegroupwhenyouselectthismenuitem,those
commandsbecomemarked,andallothercommands
remainmarked.Ifallcommandswithinthegroupare
alreadymarkedwhenyouselectMark(F3),allcommandsbecomeunmarked.Thecolor
oftheGROUPcommandreflectsthemarkedstateofthecommandscontainedwithinthe
group.Ifatleastonecommandwithinthegroupismarkedforexecution,thenthegroup
displaysasmarkedforexecution.Ifnocommandismarked,thenthegroupdisplaysas
unmarked.
DeleteThismenuitemonlyappearsontheSummaryModeshortcutmenu.Ifyou
selectaGROUPcommandandthenselectDelete,PCDMISwilldeletetheGROUPand
ENDGROUPcommandsandeverythinginbetween.YoucannotundoaGROUP
deletion.
GroupIfyouselectanexistingGROUPcommandandthenselecttheGroupmenu
item,PCDMIScreatesanewGROUPcommand,nestingtheselectedgroupinsideit.
CollapseGroupsThisdoesn'tchangefromtheusualoperation.
SetasStartPointThisdoesn'tchangefromtheusualoperation.

CutRemovestheGROUPcommandandENDGROUPcommand.Allitemsstored
insidethegroupremaininthepartprogram.
CopyandPasteCopyingandpastingdoesn'tworkwithaGROUP/ENDGROUPpair.
Youcanonlycopyandpastecommandsfoundinsideofthegroup.
OtherGroupOperations
File|Execute|ExecuteFeature(CTRLE)Selectingthismenuitemwhileselecting
theGROUPcommandwillexecuteallfeaturesinsidethegroup.
FlowControlStatementsTheIDcanbeusedtocontroltheflowofpartprogram
executionsimilartohowyoucansendprogramflowtoaLABELcommand.Youcanuse
GOTOorIF_GOTOflowcontrolcommandstosendtheprogramflowtoagroupbased
ondefinedconditions.Forexample:
IF_GOTO/VAR>0,GOTO=GRP1
or
GOTO/GRP1

UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools
UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools:Overview
PCDMISprovidesyouwithanassortmentofwindows,editors,andotheraidsthathelpmake
yourpartprogrammingeasierandmoreproductive.Thischapterdiscusseshowtoaccessand
usethesetools.
Theseinclude:
TheEditwindow,whichhasalreadybeendiscussedinthe"UsingtheEdit
window"chapter
AReportwindowfordisplayingmeasurementresults(see"UsingtheReport
Window")
AscripteditorthatallowsyoutocreatescriptsintheBASICprogramming
language(see"UsingtheBasicScriptEditor")
Aneditorforcreatinganddisplayinginteractiveandformsanddialogboxes(see
"UsingtheFormEditor")
Aninspectionreporteditorthatallowsyoutoquicklyviewandmakesmallediting
changestoyourautomaticgeneratedinspectionreports(see"ViewinganInspection
Report")
Aninterfaceforquickgenerationofsimplepartprograms(see"UsingtheQuick
StartInterface")
Asettingswindowthatletsyoumakequickeditstofrequentlyusedvalues(see
"UsingtheSettingsWindow")
Apreviewwindowthatallowsyoutopreviewyourmeasurementsbefore
acceptingthem(see"UsingthePreviewWindow")
Awindowusedtocreateandstoremarkedsetsoffeaturesforfutureexecution
(see"UsingtheMarkedSetsWindow")
AcustomizableVirtualKeyboardthatyoucanuseinplaceofarealkeyboard
(see"UsingtheVirtualKeyboard")
Aprobereadoutwindowthatshowsthecurrentprobe'slocation,andother
information(see"UsingtheProbeReadoutWindow")
Astatuswindowthatdisplaysthecurrentstatusofanoperationorfeature
information(see"UsingtheStatusWindow")
Aprobetoolboxthatallowsyoutoperformprobemanipulations(see"Usingthe
ProbeToolbox")
Adockablecolorbarthatshowsthedifferenttolerancezonesanddimension
colors(see"UsingtheDimensionsColorsWindow")
Apathviewershowingthepathyourprobewilltakeduringprogramexecution
(see"ViewingPathLines")
ACadInformationdialogboxtodisplayinformationaboutaCADelementinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow(see"ViewingCADInformation"inthe"EditingtheCAD
Display"chapter.
UsingtheReportWindow
SelectingtheView|ReportWindow menuoptiondisplaystheReportWindow.Thiswindow,
afterpartprogramexecution,displaysyourmeasurementresultsandautomaticallyconfiguresthe
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools 425

outputaccordingtoadefaultreporttemplate.Fordetailedinformation,seethe"AbouttheReport
Window"topicinthe"ReportingMeasurementResults"chapter.
UsingtheBasicScriptEditor
TheBasicScriptEditorcanbeusedtocreateandeditBASICscriptsthatcanbeusedinBasic
ScriptobjectsduringexecutionorfromtheBasicScriptEditortoolbar.
TheView|BasicScriptEditor menuoptionopenstheBasicScriptEditorandreplacesPC
DMIS'smainmenubarwiththesemenus:File,Edit,Run,andHelp.YoucanrestorePCDMIS's
normalmenubarbyminimizingorclosingtheBasicScriptEditor.
TheBasicScriptEditorconsistsofthefollowing:
BasicScriptEditorToolbar
Filemenu
Editmenu
Runmenu
Helpmenu
Thesetopicsarediscussedbelow.
BasicScriptEditorToolbar
TheBasicScriptEditortoolbarsupportsthefollowingfunctions:
New
Thisbuttonallowsyoutocreateanewbasicscriptintheeditor.
Open
ThisbuttonbringsupanOpenFiledialogboxallowingyoutoopenanexistingbasicscriptinto
theeditor.
Save
Thisbuttonsavesthecurrentbasicscript.Ifyouhavenotalreadynamedthecurrentscript,a
SaveAsdialogboxaskingforthenameofthescriptwillappear.
426 UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Print
Thisbuttonprintsthecurrentbasicscript.
PrintPreview
ThisbuttonallowsyoutoseethecurrentbasicscriptinthePrintPreviewwindowasitwillappear
whenprinted.
Find
Thisbuttonallowsyoutosearchfortextinthecurrentbasicscript.
Cut
Thisbuttoncutscurrentlyselectedtextandputtextontheclipboard.
Copy
Thisbuttoncopiescurrentlyselectedtextandputtextontheclipboard.
Paste
Thisbuttonpastestextfromtheclipboardintotheeditoratthecurrentinsertionpoint.
Undo
Thisbuttonallowsyoutoundothelasteditingchange.
Compile

TheCompileiconcompiles(makesthescriptunderstandableandreadytorunonthecomputer
system)thecurrentBASICscript.Youmustcompileascriptbeforerunningit.
Start
Thisbuttoncompilesandrunsthecurrentbasicscript.
Note: ScriptsranfromtheeditorusingthePCDMISbasiccommandscaninsertobjectsintothe
currentpartprogram.
FileMenu
TheBasicScriptEditor'sFile menugivesyouthefollowingcommandsandoptions:
New
TheFile|New menuoptionopensanewBasicScriptEditorinwhichyoucanwriteanewscript.
Open
TheFile|Openmenuoptionallowsyoutonavigatetoandopenanexistingscript.Inorderfor
filestoappearintheBasicScriptEditor,filesmustbeoffiletype*.bas.
Save
TheFile|Savemenuoptionallowsyoutosaveascript.Withanewscript,thefirsttimethis
optionisselected,theSaveAsdialogboxwillappearallowingyoutochoosewhattonameyour
scriptandwhereyouwanttosaveit.
SaveAs
TheFile|SaveAsmenuoptionallowsyoutosaveanewscript,oranalreadyexistingscriptbya
newfilename.TheSaveAsdialogboxappears,allowingyoutoselectthefilenameandthe
directorytowhichyouwillbesavingthescript.
Print
TheFile|Print menuoptionallowsyoutoprintthescriptintheBasicScriptEditorfromyour
system'sprinter.
PrintPreview
TheFile|PrintPreview menuoptionallowsyoutopreviewwhatwillbesenttotheprinterwhen
PrintisselectedfromtheBasicScriptEditor's File menu.
Exit

TheFile|ExitmenuoptionallowsyoutoexitoutoftheBasicScriptEditorwithoutsavingany
changesyouhavemadetoanyopenscripts.ChoosingFile|Exitwillreturnyouthemainuser
interface.ThemenubarwillreturntonormalPCDMISfunctions.
Unicode
TheFile|UnicodemenuitemspecifieswhetheryourbasicscriptisaUnicodescriptornot.Ifit
isn'taUnicodescript,thentheBasicScriptEditorinterpretsthescriptasASCIItext.
TheBasicScriptEditorneedstoknowtheformatofyourscriptinordertocorrectlydisplayand
interpretit.Unicodeformattingallowstheeditortohandlemorecomplexcharacters(suchas
thosedisplayedinChineseorJapanese).
Unlessyou'reworkinginalanguagethatusesmultibytecharacters,yougenerallywon'tneedto
selectthismenuitem.
EditMenu
TheEditmenuoftheBasicScriptEditorallowsyoutousebasicEditfunctionstomanipulatethe
textdisplayedintheBasicScriptEditor.
Undo
TheEdit|UndomenuoptionallowsyoutoundothemostrecentactiontakenintheBasicScript
Editor.
Cut
TheEdit|CutmenuoptionallowsyoutocutselectedtextfromtheBasicScriptEditor.Cuttextis
storedintheWindowsclipboardtolaterbepastedelsewhere.
Copy
TheEdit|Copymenuoptionallowsyoutocopyselectedtext.Copiedtextisstoredinthe
Windowsclipboardtolaterbepastedelsewhere.
Paste
TheEdit|PastecommandallowsyoutopastetextthatisstoredintheWindowsclipboard.
Delete
TheEdit|Deletecommandallowsyoutodeletehighlightedtext.
SelectAll
TheEdit|SelectAllmenuoptionautomaticallyselectsallthetextwithintheBasicScriptEditor.
YoucanthenCut,Copy,orDeletetheselectedtext.
Find

TheEdit|Find menuoptionbringsuptheFinddialogbox.
Finddialogbox
Thisdialogboxallowsyoutosearchforaspecificword,ortermwithintheBasicScriptEditor.
IfyouchoosetheMatchWholeWordOnlycheckboxthedialogwilldisplayonly
thosewordsthatmatchtheentireword.
IfyouchoosetheMatchCasecheckbox,thenthedialogwilldisplayonlythose
termsthatmatchthecase(UppercaseorLowercase)thatyouusedintheFindwhat
box.
FindNext
TheEdit|FindNextwillsearchintheBasicScriptEditorforthenexttermthatmeetsthe
qualificationsspecifiedintheFinddialogbox(SeeEdit|Findabove.)
Replace
TheEdit|ReplacemenuoptionbringsuptheReplacedialogbox.
Replacedialogbox
TheReplacedialogboxisanextensionoftheEdit|Findcommand.Itallowsyoutosearchfora
specifictermandthenreplaceitwiththetermenteredintheReplacewithbox.
TheMatchwholewordonlycheckboxwillonlymatchwholewords,notpartialmatches.For
example,ifyouarelookingfor"point"andyoudonothavethischeckboxselected,itmayfind
thesequenceofcharactersinsidethewords"points"or"pointer".
TheMatchcasecheckboxonlyfindsinstancesthatmatchtheexactcasetypedintotheFind
whatbox.Ifyoutyped"point",itwouldnotfind"Point"or"POINT"becauseoftheircase
differences.
TheFindNextbuttonsearchesthroughtheBasicScriptEditorandbringsupthefirstinstance
thatmeetsthequalificationsenteredinthedialogbox.

TheReplacebuttonallowsyoutoreplacewhathasbeenfound(usingtheFindNextbutton)with
whatisintheReplacewithbox.
TheReplaceAllbuttonallowsyoutoreplaceallinstancesintheBasicScriptEditorthatmeetthe
searchqualificationswithwhatisintheReplacewithbox.
TheCancelbuttonclosestheReplacedialogbox.
DialogEditor
TheEdit|DialogEditoroptionopensawindowwithagridnamedDialogOneandalsothe
MasQEnableDialogDesignertoolbar.ThistoolbarandtheDialogOnegridgiveyouthe
necessarytoolstodesigndialogboxesthatcanlaterbeprogrammedforyourscripts.
Clickingthe"X"intheupperrighthandcorneroftheMasQEnableDialogDesignertoolbarwill
closethesetools.
ViewMenu
TheViewmenuallowsyoutochooseiftheBasicScriptEditortoolbarandStatusBararebeing
displayed.SelectView|Toolbartodisplayorhidethetoolbar.SelectView|StatusBarto
displayorhidethestatusbar.
Usingthismenuyoucanalsodeterminewheretosettabstops.Thisoptionallowsyoutoindent
programstatementsasetnumberofcharacters,thusimprovingprogramreadability.SelectView
|SetTabStopsandtypeanumber.PCDMISwillthenindentbytheindicatednumberof
characterswheneveryoupresstheTABkey.Forexample,ifyouwantatabstopateveryfive
characters,type"5"intheSetTabStopsdialogbox.
RunMenu
TheRunmenuallowsyoutoselecttheCompileorStartcommand.Thecompilecommand
compilesthescriptcheckingitforsyntaxerrorswhilethestartcommandexecutesthescript.
HelpMenu
TheHelp menuallowsyoutoaccessvariousoptionsthataidyouinusingtheBasicScriptEditor.
BasicHelp
TheHelp|BasicHelpcommandbringsuptheonlinehelpfilecreatedfortheaddonBasic
Module.
SyntaxHelp
TheHelp|SyntaxHelpturnsonorofftheoptiontousethesyntaxhelpwhenusingtheBasic
ScriptEditor.Ifthisoptionisselected,apopupscrollboxappearswithintheBasicScriptEditor
wheneveryoutypeinacommandortermusedintheBasicprogramminglanguage.Youcanuse
arrowkeystoselecttheappropriateterm.Onceselected,presstheTABkeyandthattermwill
appearintheBasicScriptEditor.PressingtheSPACEBARdisplaysthesyntaxneededforthe
command.

SyntaxHelpFile
TheHelp|SyntaxHelpFileallowsyoutoselectthesyntaxfileusedintheHelp|SyntaxHelp
command.TheLoadSyntaxHelpFiledialogboxwillappear.Navigatetothedirectorythat
containsPCDMISforWindowsandselectthe"Pcdmis.syn"file.
UsingtheFormEditor
SelectingtheView|FormEditormenuoptiondisplaystheFormEditor.Thiseditorprovidesyou
withpowerfultoolstoaidyouinbuildinginteractiveformsanddialogboxesthatgetactivated
duringexecution.Fordetailedinformation,seethe"AboutForms"topicinthe"Reporting
MeasurementResults"chapter.
ViewinganInspectionReport
TheView|InspectionReportmenuoptionallowsyoutoselectthedesiredtextreporttobe
displayedonthescreen.ThereportwillbeinRichTextFormat(.rtf)
Toopenaninspectionreport:
1. ChoosetheInspectionReport menuoption.AnOpenFiledialogboxwill
appear.
Opendialogboxshowinganavailablereport(Test001.RTF)

2. Navigatetowhereyourreportsarestored.
3. Selectthedesiredtextfiletobedisplayedonthescreen.
Ifyoudon'thaveawordprocessorthatsupports.RTFfiles,theinspectionreportisopenedin
WordPad.ThemenusinaWordPadwindowallowyouto:
Cut,copy,andpastesectionsofareport
Openanexistingreport
Saveanewreport
Printareport
Closetheopenreport
UsingtheQuickStartInterface
TheQuickStartinterface(View|OtherWindows|QuickStart)isadialogboxwithaconnected
toolbardowntheside.
QuickStartinterface
Thisinterfacehelpsyoutoquicklycreateasimplepartprogram.Itdoesthisbyprovidingdialog
boxesorproceduresthathelpyoudefineorcalibrateaprobe,alignyourpart,measurefeatures,
constructadditionalfeatures,anddimensionexistingfeatures.
Toaccessanyoftheseitems,simplyclickonthedesiredtoolbaricon.Iftheiconcontains
additionalprocedures,anothertoolbarwillappeartotherightoftheselectedicon.Fromthenew
toolbaryoucanselectaspecificprocedure.
TheQuickStartToolbarIcons
TheQuickStarttoolbarcontainstheseicons:
Calibrate/EditThisicondoesn'tdisplayanothertoolbar.Insteaditlaunchesthe
ProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.Youcanthenusethisdialogboxtodefineaprobeand
calibrateprobetips.
AlignThisicondisplaystheQuickStartAligntoolbar.Fromthistoolbaryoucan
selectanalignmentprocedure.
MeasureThisicondisplaystheQuickStartMeasuretoolbar.Fromthistoolbaryou
canselectameasurementprocedure.

ConstructThisicondisplaystheQuickStartConstructtoolbar.Fromthistoolbar
youcanselectaconstructionprocedure.
DimensionThisicondisplaystheQuickStartDimensiontoolbar.Fromthistoolbar
youcanselectadesireddimensionprocedure.
ResetThisiconresetstheQuickStartdialogboxtoguessmode.
UnderstandingtheQuickStartInterface:
Inversions3.5through3.7,theQuickStarttoolbarwasseparatefromtheQuickStartdialog
box.Sinceversion4.0,however,tosavescreenrealestate,theQuickStarttoolbarisnowtiedto
theQuickStartdialogboxitself.This meanswheneveryouselecttheQuickStartinterface,both
thetoolbarandthedialogboxautomaticallyappearandareinseparable.
QuickStartdialogboxandtoolbar
Inaddition,
Hoveringyourmouseoveraparticularitemonthedialogortoolbartellswhatthatitem
doesinayellowtooltipthatwillappearunderyourmouse.
YoucandockorundocktheQuickStartdialogboxtoorfromtheleftsideofthescreen
byclickingonthetitlebarandthendragginganddroppingit.
InstructionsforthevariousQuickStartproceduresarenolongerincludedintheQuickStart
dialogbox.Instead,theyaredisplayedontheStatusBaratthebottomofyourscreen.Ifthe
instructionsaretoolongfortheStatusBararea,PCDMISscrollstheinstructionsfromrightto
left.MovingyourmouseovertheQuickStartdialogboxresetsthescrollingofthecurrent
instructionstothebeginning.

ExampleQuickStartInstructionontheleftsideoftheStatusBar
Youcannowselectinputfeaturesusedinthedifferentproceduresbyclickingonthe
featurefromtheEditwindoworfromtheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
PCDMISnowincludesaStatusWindow.Thiswindowletsyoupreviewadimensionor,if
inGuessMode,previewameasuredfeaturebeforeclickingtheFinishbuttonand
insertingthedimensionorfeatureintothepartprogram.See"UsingtheStatusWindow"
inthe"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools"chapter.
Important: WhenyouenabletheQuickStartinterfacecertaincommandsaredisabled.For
example,youcannotdelete,copy,ormarkfeaturesneithercanyouexecuteyourpartprogram.
ToperformtheseandotheractionsyouneedtofirstclosetheQuickStartinterface.
UsingtheQuickStartdialogbox
TheQuickStartinterfacecontainsatoolbarattachedtotheQuickStartdialogbox.Manyofthe
proceduresonthistoolbarusetheQuickStartdialogboxtoperformtheiroperations.Thetoolbar
iconsarediscussedinthe"QuickStartInterface"topic.
Thistopicfocusesondescribingtheitemsyouwillencounteronthedialogboxportionofthe
interfaceandhowtousethedialogboxtoperformvariousoperations.
SampleQuickStartInterface

ForalloperationsthatusetheQuick
Startdialogbox,PCDMISdisplays
twoicons.Acurrentprocedureonthe
leftandthecurrentstepinthat
GraphicalDescription procedure,orthecurrentguessed
feature,ontheright.
Intheexamplescreenshottotheleft,
thequestionmarkiconshowsthat
PCDMISisinaGuessMode
operation.ThePointicononitsright
showsthatwithasinglehit,apoint
featurewillgetcreated.Theiconon
therightwillchangetoalineifyou
takeanotherhit.
TheuniqueIDforthefeature.AnID
appearsintheboxonceyouselectan
appropriateprocedure.
See"ID"inthe"NavigatingtheUser
Interface"chapter.
ID
Thislistletsyouoverridetheguessed
featuremeasurementtotheselected
featuretype.Forexample,ifyoutake
fourhitsandPCDMISguessesa
plane,youcanselectCircle fromthis
listtocauseittocreateameasured
circleinstead.
FeatureOverride
See"OverridingaGuessedMeasured
Feature"inthe"CreatingMeasured
Features"chapter.
Thisdisplayshowsontherightofthe
slash,theminimumhitsneededto
measurethefeatureandontheleftof
theslashthehitscurrentlytaken.You
cantakemorethantheminimum
numberofhitsinwhichcase,the
numbertotheleftoftheslashwillbe
greaterthanthenumberontheright.
NumberofHitsTaken

TheStoreaMoveiconallowsyouto
easilystoremovepointsintothepart
program.Whenyouclickthisicon,
PCDMISreadsthecurrentlocationof
StoreaMove theprobeandinsertsaMOVE/POINT
Seethe"InsertingaMovePoint
Command"topicinthe"Inserting
MoveCommands"chapter.
Ifyouseethisicondisplayedinthe
dialogboxyouwillknowthatPC
DMISisinGuessMode.PCDMIS
Guess returnstothismodewheneveryou
finishcreatingaConstructedfeature
orAlignmentusingtheQuickStart
dialogbox.
ClickingtheGuessModeiconfrom
theQuickStart:Measuretoolbarwill
alsoplacePCDMISintoGuess
Mode.
Dependingonthenumberofpoints
taken,thismodeguessesthefeature
typeyoureattemptingtomeasure
andwilldynamicallyupdatetheQuick
Startdialogboxtoreflectthis.
Forexample,if,whileinGuessMode,
youselecttwopoints,theQuickStart
dialogboxupdatestoalinefeature.If
fourpointsaretaken,itupdatestoa
circlefeature,ifeight,toacylinder,
andsoon.
Seethe"GuessingaMeasured
FeatureType"inthe"Creating
MeasuredFeatures"chapter.

TheResultsboxshowstheresultsof
allstepsinameasurementprocedure
takenthusfar.Forexample,ifauser
wantstodoaPlane LineLine
alignment,theresultsboxwillshow
thefollowingwhenhehasselectedor
measuredthesecondline:
Step1:PLN1=MeasuredPlane
Results Step2:LIN1=MeasuredLine
Step2:LIN2=MeasuredLine
TheResultsboxistiedtothebuttons
atthebottomofthedialogbox.The
buttonsbecomeenabledwhenever
youfulfilltherequirementsfora
certainstepinaprocedure.
The<BackandNext>buttonscycle
betweenlistsofrequiredfeaturesor
inputs.Thesebuttonsbecome
<BackandNext>
availablewhenproceduresusedon
thetoolbarsrequiretheselectionor
creationofmultiplefeatures(suchas
theDimensionandAligntoolbars)or
userinput(suchasupperandlower
tolerancevaluesfordimensions).
ClickingtheDonebuttononyourjog
boxactsthesameasclickingthe
Next>buttonwhenusingtheQuick
Startdialogbox.
TheFinishbuttoncompletesthe
procedure,insertstheappropriate
commandintotheEditwindow,and
Finish then,inmostcases,PCDMISreturn
totheinitialstepofthecurrent
procedure.
Foralignmentsorconstructed
features,however,afteryouclick
FinishPCDMISreturnsyoutothe
defaultGuessMode.
QuickStart:MeasureToolbar
QuickStartMeasuretoolbar
Thistoolbarcontainstheiconsrelativetothefollowingmeasuringfunctions:

Point Line Plane

Circle Cylinder Cone
Sphere RoundSlot SquareSlot
GuessMode
Formoreinformationoncreatingmeasuredfeaturesseethe"CreatingMeasuredFeatures"
chapter.
Scanning
TheScaniconletsyouquicklyperformaFixedTimeManualScan.PCDMISwillpromptyou
withinstructionsintheStatusbar.Formoreinformationonthistypeofscan,see"Performinga
FixedDistanceManualScan"inthe"ScanningyourPart"chapter
CreatingMeasuredFeatures
1. FromtheQuickStarttoolbar,selecttheMeasuretoolbar.
2. Clicktheiconofthefeatureyouwillmeasure.Thetoplefticononthedialogbox
changestodisplaywhatyouwillmeasureinthisprocedureandinstructionsappear
onthestatusbar.
3. Inofflinemode,clicktheProgramModeiconfromthePCDMISModestoolbar.
PCDMISdrawsasimulateddepictionoftheprobenearthepartintheGraphics
Displaywindow.
4. Inofflinemode,rightclick,tosetthedepthfortheprobeorinonlinemode.In
onlinemode,movetheprobetothedesireddepth.
5. Taketheminimumnumberofhitsontheparttomeasurethefeature.
6. ClickFinishorpressDoneonyourjogboxwhenthemeasurementiscomplete.
TheQuickStartdialogboxremainsopenandPCDMISautomaticallycompensates
forproberadiusandplacesthemeasuredfeatureonthepartintheGraphicsDisplay
window.
7. Followstepsfourthroughsixuntilyoucreateallneededmeasuredfeatures.
8. ClickClosewhenfinished.TheQuickStartdialogboxcloses.
MeasuringaPoint
UsingthePointicon,youcan
measurethepositionofapoint
belongingtoaplanealignedwitha
referenceplane(shoulder)orapoint
inspace.
Tocreateameasuredpointyoumusttakeonehitonthepart.
Seethe"BasicMeasurementFormatforaPoint"topicforinformationonthe
associatedEditwindowcommandinthe"CreatingMeasuredFeatures"
chapter.
MeasuringaLine
WiththeLineiconyoucanmeasure
theorientationandlinearityofaline
belongingtoaplanealignedwitha
referenceplane,oralineinspace.

Tocreateameasuredlineyoumusttaketwohitsonthepart.
MeasuredLinesandWorkingPlanes
Whencreatingameasuredline,PCDMISexpectsthehitsforthelinetobe
takenatavectorperpendiculartothecurrentworkingplane.
Forexample,ifyourcurrentworkingplaneisZPLUS(withavector0,0,1),
andyouhaveablocklikepart,thehitsforthemeasuredlinemustbeona
verticalwallofthatpart,suchasthefrontorside.
Ifyouthenwantedtomeasurealinefeatureonthetopsurfaceofthepart,
youwouldneedtoswitchtheworkingplanetoXPLUS,XMINUS,YPLUS,or
YMINUS,dependingonthedirectionoftheline.
Seethe"BasicMeasurementFormatforaLine"topicforinformationonthe
associatedEditwindowcommandinthe"CreatingMeasuredFeatures"
chapter.
MeasuringaPlane
UsethePlaneicontomeasureany
flatorplanarsurface.
Tocreateameasuredplaneyoumusttakeaminimumofthreehitsonany
flatsurface.Ifyouonlyusetheminimumofthreehits,it'sbesttoselectthe
pointsinalargetriangularpatternthatcoverthewidestareaofthesurface.
ExamplePlanewith4Points ExamplePlanewith8Points
Seethe"BasicMeasurementFormatforaPlane"topicforinformationon
theassociatedEditwindowcommandinthe"CreatingMeasuredFeatures"
chapter.
MeasuringaCircle
TheCircleiconisusedtomeasure
thediameter,roundness,andposition
ofthecenterofahole/studparallelto
areferenceplane,i.e.the
perpendicularsectionofacylinder
alignedwithareferenceaxis.
Tocreateameasuredholeorstudyoumusttakeaminimumofthreehits.
Theplaneisautomaticallyrecognizedandsetbythesystemduring
measurement.Thepointstobepickedmustbeuniformlydistributedonthe
circumference.
ExampleCirclewith4Points ExampleCirclewith8Points

Seethe"BasicMeasurementFormatforaCircle"topicforinformationon
chapter.
MeasuringaCylinder
UsetheCylindericontomeasurethe
diameter,cylindricity,andorientation
oftheaxisofacylinderorientedin
space.Thepositionofthebaricenter
ofthepointspickedisalsocalculated.
Tocreateameasuredcylinderyoumusttakeaminimumofsixhitsonthe
cylinder.Thepointstobepickedmustbeuniformlydistributedoverthe
surface.Thefirstthreepointspickedmustlieonaplaneperpendicularto
themainaxis.
ExampleCylinderwitheightpoints
Seethe"BasicMeasurementFormatforaCylinder"topicforinformationon
chapter.
MeasuringaCone
UsetheConeicontomeasure
conicity,angleatthetip,and
orientationinspaceoftheaxisofa
cone.Thepositionofthebaricenterof
thepointspickedisalsocalculated.
Tocreateameasuredcone,youmusttakeaminimumofsixhits.The
pointstobepickedmustbeuniformlydistributedonthesurface.Thefirst
threepointspickedmustlieonaplaneperpendiculartothemainaxis.

ExampleConeusingeightpoints
Seethe"BasicMeasurementFormatforaCone"topicforinformationon
chapter.
MeasuringaSphere
UsetheSphereicontomeasurethe
diameter,sphericity,andpositionof
thecenterofasphere.
Tocreateameasuredsphereyoumusttakeaminimumoffourhits.The
pointstobepickedmustbeuniformlydistributedoverthesurface.Thefirst
fourpointspickedmustnotlieonthesamecircumference.Thefirstpoint
shouldbetakenonthepoleofthesphere'scup.Theotherthreepointsare
takenonacircumference.
ExampleSpherewith5Points ExampleSpherewith9Points
Seethe"BasicMeasurementFormatforaSphere"topicforinformationon
chapter.
MeasuringaRoundSlot
UsetheRoundSloticontocreatea
measuredroundslot.
Tocreateameasuredroundslot,youmusttakeatleastsixhitsontheslot,
usuallytwopointsoneachstraightsideandonepointoneachcurve.
Alternately,youcouldtakethreepointsoneachcurve.

ExampleRoundSlotwithSixPoints
Seethe"BasicMeasurementFormatforaRoundSlot"topicforinformation
ontheassociatedEditwindowcommandinthe"CreatingMeasured
Features"chapter.
MeasuringaSquareSlot
UsetheSquareSlot icontocreatea
measuredsquareslot.
Tocreateameasuredsquareslot,youmusttakefivehitsontheslot,twoon
oneofthelongsidesoftheslotandthenonehitoneachofthethree
remainingsides.
ExampleSquareSlotwithFivePoints
Seethe"BasicMeasurementFormatforaSquareSlot"topicforinformation
ontheassociatedEditwindowcommandinthe"CreatingMeasured
Features"chapter.
QuickStart:ConstructToolbar

QuickStartConstructtoolbar
Whenconstructingelements,insteadofprocessingpickedpoints,PCDMISprocessesthe
characteristicpointsofalreadymeasuredelementsorelementsyouwillmeasure.
Therangeofelementsthatyoucanconstructisidenticaltotherangeoftheelementsthatyou
canmeasureusingtheQuickStartMeasuretoolbar.Themostfrequentapplicationisthe
constructionofthecirclepassingthroughthecentersofacircularpatternofholesorbosses.
Typically,theelementsusedtoconstructotherelementsarepointsandcircles(orspheres)which
youmayormaynotbeenmeasuredandstoredalready.Ifyouhavenotalreadymeasureda
neededfeature,youcanmeasureitduringtheconstructionprocedure.
Thefeaturesyoucanconstructare:
PointFeatures LineFeatures
IntersectPoint BestFitLine
MidPoint IntersectLine
ProjectedPoint MidLine
PlaneFeatures CircleFeatures
BestFitCircle
BestFitPlane
IntersectCircle
MidPlane
HeightCircle
AlignmentPlane
DiameterCircle
SlotFeature CylinderFeature
SlotFeature CylinderFeature
ConeFeature
ConeFeature
Seethetopicsinthe"ConstructingNewFeaturesfromExistingFeatures"chapterforindepth
informationonthesefeatureconstructions.
CreatingConstructedFeatures

Thisprocedurebelowcontainsverybasicinformationonconstructingfeatures.Forindepth
information,seethe"ConstructingNewFeaturesfromExistingFeatures"chapter.
1. FromtheQuickStarttoolbar,selecttheConstructtoolbar.
2. Clicktheiconofthefeatureyouwillmeasure.TheQuickStartdialogboxshows
aniconoftheprocedureandasecondiconforthefirstneededfeaturetype.
3. Followtheinstructionsatthebottomofthetoolbar,eitherfillingindataintothe
dialogorselecting(ormeasuring)theneededfeaturestouseintheconstruction.
4. ContinueclickingNextandfollowinginstructionsuntiltheFinishbuttonbecomes
available.
5. ClickFinishwhenready.PCDMISplacesthenewlyconstructedfeatureonthe
partintheGraphicsDisplaywindowandalsointheEditwindow.
QuickStart:DimensionToolbar
QuickStartDimensiontoolbar
TheDimensiontoolbarletsyouperformgeometricmeasurementsandgeometrictolerance
checks.WiththeexceptionoftheKeyIndimension,thistoolbarcontainsallthedimensionsfrom
thenormalPCDMISDimensiontoolbar.See"DimensionToolbar"inthischapter.
Important:TheQuickStartDimensiontoolbaronlycreateslegacydimensions.Itdoesnot
createthenewFeatureControlFramedimensions.
AboutGeometricMeasurements AboutGeometricToleranceChecks
Geometricmeasurementsareusedinthe Geometrictolerancecheckstestthe
followingcircumstances: location,orientation,profile,runout,orform
errorofafeature(checkedfeature)relative
Whendimensionsinvolve toadatumreferenceframe(asapplicable).
twoelements(suchas
distancesandangles). Thefollowingchecksareavailable:
Whendimensionelements
arenotmeasurable(suchas Orientationchecks:testfor
corners). errorsofparallelism,
Whendimension perpendicularity,andangularity.
measurementscanbeobtained Locationchecks:testfor
byusinggeometriccalculation errorsofcoaxiality,and
procedures(intersections, concentricity,location,and
projections,and/ormiddle position.
elements). Profilechecks:testfor
errorsofprofileformorprofile,
Ineachgeometricrelationshipbetweentwo relativetothecurrentalignment.
elements,athirdelementiscreated(point, Runoutchecks:testfor
circle,line,orplane).Thedefaultoutput errorsoftotalrunoutofacircle,
formatofthecalculatedelementincludes cylinder,orplane.
themostmeaningfuldimensions.
PCDMISinsertsadimensionofthe
Note:Geometricrelationshipsarenottobe resultinggeometrictolerancecheckbetween
confusedwithgeometrictolerances. twoelementsintotheEditwindow.
Geometrictolerancesareusedtocheckthe

functionalrequirementsofafeature.
Functionalrequirementsarefeature
characteristicsthatensuresufficient
assembly,safety,appearance,performance
etc.Geometricrelationships,asusedinPC
DMIS,arenotsufficienttoensurefunctional
requirementsbecausetheydonotutilizethe
fullextentofdatumtheory.
Icon Description QuickStartProcedure

Selectormeasurethefeature.Click
Next,specifytheplusandminus
CreatesalegacyLocationdimension.
tolerances,andthenclickFinishto
inserttheLocationdimension.
Selectormeasurethefeature,click
CreatesalegacyTruePosition Next,specifytheplusandminus
dimension. tolerances,andthenclickFinishto
inserttheTruePositiondimension.
Selectormeasurethefirstfeature,
clickNext.Selectormeasurethe
secondfeature.ClickNext.Specify
CreatesalegacyDistancedimension. theplusandminustolerances,typea
nominalvalue,selecteither2Dor3D,
andthenclickFinishtoinsertthe
Distancedimension.
Selectormeasurethefirstfeature,
clickNext.Selectormeasurethe
secondfeature.ClickNext.Specify
CreatesalegacyAngledimension. theplusandminustolerances,typea
nominalvalue,selecteither2Dor3D,
andthenclickFinishtoinsertthe
Angledimension.
Selectormeasurethefirstcircular
feature,clickNext.Selectormeasure
CreatesalegacyConcentricity thesecondcircularfeature.ClickNext.
dimension. Specifytheplustolerance.ClickNext.
ClickFinishtoinserttheConcentricity
dimension.
Selectormeasurethefirstcircular
feature,clickNext.Selectormeasure
CreatesalegacyCircularity thesecondcircularfeature.ClickNext.
dimension. Specifytheplustolerance.ClickNext.
ClickFinishtoinserttheRoundness
dimension.
SelectormeasureaCylinder,click
Next.Selectormeasurethesecond
CreatesalegacyCylindricity
feature.ClickNext.Specifytheplus
dimension.
tolerance.ClickNext.ClickFinishto
inserttheCylindricitydimension.

SelectormeasureaCone,Line,or
CreatesalegacyStraightness Cylinder.ClickNext.Specifyaplus
dimension. tolerance.ClickNext.ClickFinishto
inserttheStraightnessdimension.
SelectormeasureaPlane.ClickNext.
Specifyaplustolerance.ClickNext.
CreatesalegacyFlatnessdimension.
ClickFinishtoinserttheFlatness
dimension.
Selectormeasurethefirstfeature.
ClickNext.Selectormeasurethe
CreatesalegacyPerpendicularity secondfeature.Specifyaplus
dimension. toleranceandaprojectiondistance.
ClickNext.ClickFinishtoinsertthe
Perpendicularitydimension.
Selectormeasureanonpointfeature.
ClickNext.Selectormeasurethe
CreatesalegacyParallelism secondnonpointfeature.Specifya
dimension. plustoleranceandaprojection
distance.ClickNext.ClickFinishto
inserttheParallelismdimension.
SelectormeasureaCone,Cylinder,
Line,orPlane.ClickNext.Selector
measureaCone,Cylinder,Line,or
CreatesalegacyTotalRunout
Plane.ClickNext.Specifyaplusand
dimension.
minustolerance.ClickNext.Click
FinishtoinserttheTotalRunout
dimension.
SelectormeasureaCylinder,Cone,
Cylinder,Line,orSphere.ClickNext.
SelectormeasureaCylinder,Cone,
CreatesalegacyCircularRunout
Cylinder,Line,orSphere.ClickNext.
dimension.
Specifyaplusandminustolerance.
CircularRunoutdimension.
Selectormeasureafeature.Click
Next.Specifyaplusandminus
CreatesalegacySurfaceProfile tolerance.Choosewhethertheprofile
dimension. isFormOnlyorFormandLocation.
SurfaceProfiledimension.
Selectormeasureafeature.Click
CreatesalegacyLineProfile Next.Specifyaplusandminus
dimension. tolerance.ClickNext.ClickFinishto
inserttheSurfaceProfiledimension.
Selectormeasureanynonpointor
nonspherefeature.ClickNext.Select
CreatesalegacyAngularity aCone,Cylinder,Line,orPlane.Click
dimension. Next.Specifyaplustolerance,a
distance,andangle.ClickNext.Click
FinishtoinserttheAngularity

dimension.
Selectormeasurealineorsetforthe
firstfeature.ClickNext.Selectthe
secondfeature.ClickNext.Selectthe
CreatesalegacySymmetry
third(ordatum)feature.ClickNext.
dimension.
Typeaplustolerance.ClickNext.
ClickFinishtoinserttheSymmetry
dimension.
DimensioningFeaturesUsingtheQuickStartInterface
TheprocedurebelowprovidesbasicinstructionsonhowtousetheQuickStartinterfacetocreate
dimensions:
1. FromtheQuickStarttoolbar,selecttheDimensiontoolbar.
2. Selectthedesireddimensionfromthetoolbar.Theiconfortheselected
dimensionprocedureappearsintheQuickStartdialogboxandinstructionsappear
intheStatusBaratthebottomofyourscreen.
3. FollowtheinstructionsontheStatusBarbyselectingfeaturesfromtheEdit
windoworGraphicsDisplaywindow(orbymeasuringthemiftheydon'texist).
4. FollowtheinstructionsontheStatusBartotypevaluesintotheQuickStart
dialogbox.
5. ContinuefollowinginstructionsandclickingNextuntiltheFinishbuttonbecomes
available.
6. ClickFinish.PCDMISinsertsthedimensionintothepartprogram.
QuickStart:AlignToolbar
QuickStartAligntoolbar
TheAligntoolbarallowsyoutocreatealignmentsfromspecificfeaturetypesbyusingthese
procedures.
Icon Description QuickStartProcedure
SelectormeasureaPlanetolevelto,andclickNext.Selector
Plane,Line,
measureaLinetorotateto,andclickNext.Selectormeasurea
Line
secondLine.Theoriginiscreatedbytranslatingtheparttothetwo
alignment
lines.ClickFinishtoinsertthealignment.
Plane,Line,
measureaLinetorotateto,andclickNext.Selectormeasurea
Circle
Circle.Thecircle'scenter,projectedontothelineiswherePCDMIS
alignment
willsetthealignment'sorigin.ClickFinishtoinsertthealignment.

Plane, measurethefirstCirclefeature.ClickNext.Selectormeasurethe
Circle, secondCirclefeature.PCDMISrotatesthealignmenttotheline
Circle createdfromthecentersofthetwocircles.Itthenusesthefirst
alignment circle'scenter,tosetthealignment'sorigin.ClickFinishtoinsertthe
alignment.
Plane,Line, SelectormeasureaPlanetolevelto,andclickNext.Selector
Point measureaLinetorotateto.ClickNext.SelectormeasureaPointfor
alignment thealignment'sorigin.ClickFinishtoinsertthealignment.
SelectormeasureaCylinder,andclickNext.Selectormeasurea
Cylinder, Line.ClickNext.SelectormeasureaPoint.PCDMISlevelsthe
Line,Point alignmenttothesurfacewhereyouclickedthepoint,rotatesthe
alignment alignmenttotheline,andsetsitsXYorigininthecenterofthe
cylinder.ClickFinishtoinsertthealignment.
Followtheonscreenpromptstoselectormeasuresixpoints.A
typicalprocedurewouldbetomeasurethreepointsonthetopsurface
toleveltotheZAxis.Measuretwopointsonthefrontsurfaceto
rotatetotheXAxis.Thenmeasureonepointtodefinetheoriginfor
theYaxis.ClickFinish.Thiswillestablishthecorrectoriginforthe
alignment.PCDMISinsertstheBestFit3DAlignment.Following
execution,PCDMISwilldisplaya3DAlignmentBestFitGraphical
AnalysisintheReportwindow.
SixPoints
BestFit
alignment
ASampleBestFitAlignmentGraphicalAnalysis
Thisgraphicalanalysisofthe3DBestFitalignmentdisplaysthis
informationintheReportwindow:
HeaderThiscontainsvariousvaluesusedintheBestFit
alignment:Method,StandardDeviation,Mean,Translation
offsets,Rotationoffsets,Maxiterations,Iterations.
VerticalAxisThisshowstheamountofdeviationafterthe
alignment.
HorizontalAxisThisdisplaystheIDsofthepointsusedin
thealignment.
Foradditionalwaysofcreatingalignmentsseethe"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapter.
QuickStart:Calibrate/EditToolbar

QuickStartCalibrate/Edittoolbar
TheQuickStartCalibrate/EdittoolbariconsimplylaunchestheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.
ProbeUtilitiesdialogbox
Usingthisdialogboxyoucancreateyourprobesandcalibratethedifferentangles.Formore
informationonusingthisdialogbox,see"DefiningProbes"inthe"DefiningHardware"chapter.
UsingtheSettingsWindow
SelectingView|OtherWindows|SettingsWindowopensuptheSettingswindow.
Settingswindow

Thisdockablewindowcontainsseveraltabsoffrequentlymodifiedsettings.Eachtabcontains
colorcoded,editablesettings,specifictothattab.Thesettingsarelinkedtoyourcursor'scurrent
locationinthepartprogramandwillupdatetheirdisplaytomatchthesettingintheprogramat
thecursor'slocation.Forexample,ifyouhavemultipleLOADPROBEcommands,andyouselect
eachLOADPROBEcommandintheEditwindow,PCDMISwillupdatetheSettingswindowto
displaytheselectedLOADPROBEcommand.
EditingaSetting
Toeditasetting,simplyclickonthefieldtotherightofthesetting,andselectadifferentoption,or
typeanewvalue.Whenyouchangeasetting,PCDMISwillinserttheappropriateparameter
changeintothepartprogramatthecursor'slocation.
AvailableSettings
Thefollowingtabsandsettingsareavailable.Theshadedbackgroundonthecellsinthetable
belowindicatesthedefaultcolorassociatedwiththosesettings:
All General Probe Distances Speeds Dimensions

Thistab Display
contains Precision
Prehit
allthe TouchSpeed
Alignment Probe
settings Thissetting
fromall Thissetting
Thissetting insertsa
the Thisinserts This insertsa
insertsa DISPLAYPRE
tabs. a insertsa PREHIT
TOUCHSPEE CISION
RECALL/AL LOADPRO commandthat
Dcommand commandwith
IGNMENT BE setsthe
thatchanges avalueequal
command, command distanceaway
thespeedat tothevaluein
torecallthe forthe fromthe
whichthe thesetting.Any
alignment selected theoretical
CMMtakes features
youselect probeinto locationthatPC
hits.Values followingthis
fromthe thepart DMISwillmove
include120 commandwill
list. program. theprobeat
percent. showdecimal
TouchSpeed.
placestothe
specifiedvalue.
Viewset Tip Check MoveSpeed Positive

Reporting
Thisinserts This Thissetting Thisinsertsa Display
a definesthe insertsa MOVESPEE
RECALL/VI ABangle CHECK Dcommand Thissetting
EWSET tousefor commandthat that insertsa
command the setsthe determines POSITIVEREP
forthe LOADPRO distancepast howfastthe ORTING
savedview BE thetheoretical CMMmoves commandinto
you command hitlocationthat inbetween thepart
selected by themachinewill takinghits. program.This
fromthe inserting continueto Values command
list. the
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual searchforthe include1 displays 451
UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools
selected surfaceofthe 100percent. featuresonthe
TIP part. negativeside
command oftheorigin
thisreporting
onalldataor
onlyon
deviations.
Manual/DC
C
Probe Retract ScanSpeed
Compensa
Thisinserts Positive
tion Thissetting Thissetting
a ReportingAxis
insertsa insertsa X
MODE/DC
Thisturns RETRACT SCANSPEED
Cor
probe commandthat command
MODE/MA Thissetting
compensat setsthe that
NUALto determines
iononor distancethatthe determines
placethe whetherornot
offby machinewill howfastyour
measuring PCDMIS
inserting moveawayfrom machinewill
machine displaysthe
the theactualhit scanyour
intoeither positive
appropriate locationbefore part.Possible
DCCor reportingon
PROBECO goingfrom values
MANUAL theXaxis.
M TouchSpeedto include1
mode
command. MoveSpeed. 100percent.
respectively
.
Ignore
Motion
Error
This
Workplane insertsan ManualRetract
Positive
IGNOREM ReportingAxis
This OTIONER Thissetting Y
changes ROR/ON insertsa
yourcurrent orOFF MANRETRACT
Thissetting
workplane command commandthat
determines
byinserting intothe setstheretract
whetherornot
anew part distanceyour
PCDMIS
WORKPLA program.If CMMwill
displaysthe
NE youturn automatically
positive
command thissetting travelwhenever
reportingon
intothepart ON,PC youtakea
theYaxis.
program. DMISwill manualhit.
notstop
whenthe
probe
encounters
acollision.
Clearance Trigger Positive

Plane Tolerance ReportingAxis
Active Z
This
This setting Thissetting
activatesa insertsa determines
clearance TRIGGER whetherornot
planeby TOLERAN PCDMIS
insertinga CE displaysthe
CLEARP command. positive

command. This reportingon
PressingF9 command theZaxis.
onthe tellsPC
inserted DMISto
command onlyaccept
allowsyou ahitifthe
tochange hitiswithin
theaffected thedefined
plane. tolerance
zone.You
canuse
thiswith
manual
machines
totake
accurate
hits.
GapOnly
Thissetting
Clearance insertsa
Plane GAPONLY
commandinto
Allowsyou thepart
todefine program.When
whatplane settoON,and
hasthe Trigger dimensioning
clearance Tol.Zone edgepoint
plane.This location,the
remains Thisvalue locationaxes
unavailable determines arecalculated
forselection the byprojecting
untilthe tolerance themeasured
Clearance radiusfor pointtothe
Plane theTrigger theoretical
Active Tolerance surfaceand
settingis setting. thenprojecting
activatedor thisnewpoint
untila ontothe
cursorrests theoretical
ona approach
CLEARP vector.Any
command. locationaxes
arethen
calculatedfrom
thisnewpoint.
ClearPlane Trigger Retrolinear

Dist. Plane Only
Letsyouset This Thissetting

thedistance setting insertsa
forthe insertsa RETROLINEA
defined TRIGGER
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual
RONLY
UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools 453
Clearance PLANE commandinto
Plane. command. thepart

Thistells program.When
PCDMIS settoON,and
to dimensioning
automatica surfaceor
llytakea vectorpoint
hitwhen locations,the
theprobe locationaxes
passesthe arecalculated
plane inthismanner:
definedby
thesurface First,finding
normalof thelargest
anauto componentof
featureat thetheoretical
thelevelof surfacenormal
thedefined vector(largest
depth.You intheX,Y,or
canuse Zdirection).
this
command
Second,
with
projectingthe
manual measuredpoint
machines
tothislargest
insteadof
component
pressinga vectorina
buttonto mannerthat
takeahit, theprojection
youcan is
place perpendicular
TRIGGER
totheoriginal
PLANE
theoretical
commands
surfacenormal
atany
vector.
standard
location
withinthe Thelocation
Edit axesarethen
window. calculatedfrom
thisnew
projectedpoint.
Pass Auto
Through Trigger
Plane
This
This setting
indicates insertsan
theplane AUTOTRI
thatthe GGER
probewill command
pass intoyour
454 UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools
throughto part PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual
gettothe program.
nextfeature WhenPC
plane. DMIS
thatthe
probe
movesinto
thedefined
tolerance
zone,it
automatica
llytakesa
hit.
Auto
Beeping
This
setting
determines
whetheror
Pass notPC
Through DMISuses
Distance abeeping
withyour
Thisdefines AUTOTRI
thedistance GGER
forthepass command.
through Ifthisis
plane. ON,the
closerthe
probegets
tothe
target,the
more
frequent
thebeeps.
Clamping
Value
Auto
Thisvalue Tolerance
tellsthe Zone
controller
howfirmly
This
toholdthe
setting
probeona
definesthe
LeitzCMM.
radiusfor
Itonly
theAuto
workswith
Trigger
theLeitz
tolerance
controller
zone.
andthe
Leitzbrand
TTP.
Polar FlyMode
Vector
Compensati This
on insertsa
FLY
Thisallows command
the andsetsit
measureme toeither
ntofVector ONor
andSurface OFF.A
pointsto FLY
alwaysbe command
compensat workswith
edalonga a
Polarvector MOVEPOI
byinserting NT
a command
POLARVE andmoves
CTORCOM theprobe
P aroundthe
command. partina
smooth,
non
stopping
motion.
FlyRadius
Type
This
settingsets
the
distance
parameter
fortheFLY
command.
It
determines
the
distance
awayfrom
the
MOVEPOI
NT
command
towhich
theprobe
will
automatica
llymove.
Forindepthdocumentation,findthespecificoptionsinoneofthesetopics:
SettingsToolbar
ProbeModeToolbar
YoucanalsoinsertmanyofthesesettingsfromtheInsert|ParameterChangesubmenu.

ChangingSettingsWindowOptions
Youcanchangeyoursettingswindowoptions,byrightclickinginthewindowandselecting
Optionsfromtheshortcutmenu.
TheSettingsWindowOptionsdialogboxappears.
SettingsWindowOptionsdialogbox
Usingthisdialogbox,youcanmodifythecolorsusedinthedifferentcategoriesandalsocontrol
whatcategoryappearswheneveryoustarttheSettingsWindow.
StartupArea
ThisareacontainstwostartupoptionsfortheSettingsWindow:
UsingActivecategoryTheSettingsWindowdisplaysthelastusedcategorywhenitstarts.
AlwaysusingTheSettingsWindowdisplaysthecategoryselectedfromthedropdownlist
whenitstarts.
ColorsArea
TheEnablecolorsforcategoriescheckboxletsyoudisableorenablethecolorcodeddisplay
forthecategoriesofsettings.
Thedropdownarrowsonthecoloredboxesletyoumodifythedefaultcolorcodeddisplayforthe
availablecategories.
UsingthePreviewwindow
SelectingtheView|OtherWindows|PreviewWindowmenuoptionopensawindowthat
allowsyoutopreviewtheresultsofafeaturemeasurementbeforeactuallyacceptingthe

measurement.AftertakingprobehitsandpressingtheENDkey(orDONEonthejogbox)PC
DMISdisplaysthefeatureintheGraphicsDisplaywindowanddimensioninformationforthe
featureinthePreviewWindow.
PreviewWindowforameasuredcircleshowingtheX,Y,Z,andDiametervalues
ThePreviewWindowusesthesamecolorschemeusedfordimensionstoshowthedeviations
fromacceptabletolerancesthesecolorsallowyoutoquicklydeterminewhetherornota
particularmeasurementfallswithinacceptabletolerancesornot(see"EditingDimensionColors"
inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapterforinformationonhowtochangethetolerancecolors
usedfordimensions).
Note:TodeterminewhichfeatureinformationisdisplayedinthePreviewwindow,simplyplace
yourEditwindowcursoronthecommandlineforanyfeatureintheEditwindow.Generallythe
cursorrestsonthelastfeatureintheEditwindow.
BelowaretheavailableoptionsforthePreviewWindow.
PreviewWindowOptions
ThePreviewWindowdisplaysgeneralinformationaboutafeatureaswellasmorespecific
dimensionalinformation.
Option Description
ID Thisboxdeterminesthenamelabel
forthemeasuredfeatureor
dimension.
SD ThisboxdeterminestheStandard
Deviationforthemeasuredfeature.
#Hits The#Hitsboxdeterminesthe
numberofprobehitstakento
measurethefeature.
Hide TheHidebuttonclosesthePreview
Window.YoucanopenthePreview
WindowbyselectingView|Preview
Window.
Accept TheAcceptbuttonacceptsthe
measurementandcreatesan
automaticdimensionforthefeatureif
youhaveselectedtodosousingthe
AutoDimensionSetupbutton.
View TheViewbuttondisplaysthe

Analysiswindowfortheappropriate
dimensionforthemeasuredfeature.
See"InsertingCommandsRelatedto
theAnalysisWindow"fora
discussionontheAnalysiswindow.
AutoDimensionSetup SelectingtheAutoDimension
SetupbuttondisplaystheAuto
Dimensioningdialogbox.
Forinformationonthisdialogbox,
see"AutoDimensionSetup"inthe
"SetupOptions:Dimensiontab"topic
discussedinthe"SettingYour
Preferences"chapter.
AX AnAXlistdisplaystheselectedaxis
inthePreviewWindow.Youcan
selecttheseaxes:X,Y,Z,D,R,A,T,
PR,PA,M,V,L,PD,RS,RT,S,H.
Youcanviewinformationonuptosix
axesatonetimebyselectingthem
fromthevariousAXlists.
Forinformationontheseaxes,see
"DefaultAxes"and"SheetMetal
Axes"inthe"DimensioningFeatures"
chapter.
Nominal Thisboxdeterminesthenominal(or
ideal)valuesforeachaxis.
+TOL Thisboxdeterminesatolerance
valueabovethenominalvaluefor
whichthemeasurementisstill
acceptable.
TOL Thisboxdeterminesatolerance
valuebelowthenominalvaluefor
whichthemeasurementisstill
acceptable.
MEAS Thisboxdeterminestheactual
measuredvalues.
MAX Thisboxdeterminesthemaximum
valueyoucanhavebeforeyour

measurementgoesoutoftolerance.
MIN Thisboxdeterminestheminimum
valueyoucanhavebeforeyour
measurementgoesoutoftolerance.
DEV Thisboxdeterminesthe
measurement'sdeviationfromthe
nominalvalue.
OUTTOL Thisboxdeterminesthevalueby
whichthemeasuredvalueisoutof
tolerance.
SizingthePreviewwindow
Likemostwindows,thePreviewwindowcanbesizedtofityourcurrentneeds.Ifyouneedit
largerorsmaller,simplydragtheedgeofthewindowwiththemouseandmakeitthedesired
size.
Note:ThePreviewwindowinLearnmodediffersfromthePreviewwindowinExecutemode,and
youcanchangethesizesforeach.
UsingtheMarkedSetsWindow
SelectingtheView|OtherWindows|MarkedSetsWindowmenuoptionaccessestheMarked
Setswindow.Youcanusethiswindowtostoreagroupofmarkedfeaturesthatyouwantto
execute.Seethe"CreatingandExecutingMarkedSets"topicinthe"EditingaPartProgram"
chapter.
UsingtheVirtualKeyboard
SelectingtheView|VirtualKeyboard menuoptioncausestheVirtualKeyboardtoappear.
Thiskeyboardfunctionsasdoesanynormalkeyboardandcanbeusedwithamouseorwitha
touchscreenmonitor.Thisisusefulforcertainshopfloorenvironmentswhereit'snotconvenient
touseaphysicalkeyboard.

SampleVirtualKeyboardKeypad1Variation
YoucaneasilyselectdifferentvariationsoftheVirtualKeyboardorcustomizeandcreateyour
ownkeyboardvariations.
PCDMISalsoprovidesyouwithatoolbarforeasyaccesstotheVirtualKeyboard.Seethe
"VirtualKeyboardToolbar"topicinthe"UsingToolbars"chapter.
AccessingVirtualKeyboardVariations
YoucanrightclickwithintheVirtualKeyboardatanytimetoseeapopupmenuallowingyouto
quicklyselectvariationsonthekeyboardorcustomizeittofityourneeds:
ThesemenuitemsshowthedifferentdefaultkeyboardvariationsavailablefortheVirtual
Keyboard.Youcan,ofcourse,customizetheseorcreateothervariationstobetterfityourneeds
(see"ToModifyanExistingVirtualKeyboardVariation").
KeyPad1 KeyPad2 KeyPad3

StdKeyPad FunctionKeys Keyboard
ToCreateaNewVirtualKeyboardVariation
1. AccesstheVirtualKeyboard,rightclickonit,andselectCustomizefromthe
menu.TheCustomizeKeypaddialogboxappears.

CustomizeKeypaddialogbox
2. IntheLayoutDefinitionarea,typeanameforyourkeyboardintheLayout
Namebox.
3. TypethenumberofrowsandcolumnsintheRowsandColumnsboxes.This
defineshowmany"keys"(orbuttons)willappearonthekeyboard.
4. ClickCreate.PCDMISdisplaysakeyboardlayoutwindowcomprisedofablank
grid,representingthenumberofkeysonyournewlycreatedlayout.
ExampleofanEmpty3x3GridLayout
5. Sizethegridofbuttonstofityourneedsbydraggingthewindow'sborders.

6. IntheButtonsDefinitionarea,createanewbuttondefinition.Dothisby
selecting,DefineKeysfromtheModelist,thenselectthetypeofkeystroke(orkey
code)fromtheSpecialKeystroke,StandardKeystroke,orSystemKeystroke
lists.Mostofthekeystrokesareselfexplanatory,andaresynonymouswiththename
orsymbologyoftheactualbuttononanEnglishkeyboard,withthepossible
exceptionofVK_PREVIOUSforthePAGEUPbuttonandVK_NEXTforPAGEDOWN
button.
Ifyouwantalabeltoappearforthekeystrokeyouselected,selecttheLabel
option,andtypealabelintheLabelbox.
Ifyouwantasymboltoappearforthekeystrokeyouselected,selecttheSymbol
option,andselectasymbolfromthescrollablelistofsymbols.
Ifyouwanttodefineabuttonasnothingatallrepresentingaflat,emptykey
spaceonarealkeyboardselecttheNoButtonoptionforthatbuttondefinition.
7. Fromthelayoutwindowwiththegridofbuttons,selectanundefinedbuttonthat
willtakethisdefinition,andthenclicktheSetbuttonfromtheButtonsDefinition
areaoftheCustomizeKeypaddialogbox.Yourchangeappearsonthekeyboard
layoutwindow.
8. Continuerepeatingthisprocedureasneededuntilyouhavedefinedyour
keyboardtoyourliking.
CompletedKeyboardLayoutExamplewiththecornerbuttonssettoNoButton
9. Onceyouhavedefinedallyourbuttons,theSavebuttonbecomesavailablefor
selection.ClicktheSavebuttontosaveyourkeyboard.
10. ClicktheNewbuttontocreateadditionallayoutsifneededotherwise,click
Close.
Note:Ifyouincorrectlyassignabuttondefinition,youcanselecttheNoButtonoption,clickthe
buttononthelayoutgrid,andthenclicktheSetbutton.Thiswillclearanypreviousvalues
assignedtothatbuttonlocation.
ToModifyanExistingVirtualKeyboardVariation
Tomodifyanexistinglayout,

3. Selectthekeyboardfromthedropdownmenu.
4. Usetheprocedureforassigningbuttondefinitionstothekeyboardlayoutinthe
"ToCreateaNew,CustomizedVirtualKeyboardLayout"topic.Youmayneedto
selecttheNoButtonoptionforabuttontoclearoutapreviousdefinitionpriorto
assigningitanewdefinition.
5. ClickSavetosaveanymodifications.
ToDeleteanExistingVirtualKeyboardVariation
Todeleteanexistinglayout,

3. Selectthekeyboardfromthedropdownmenu.PCDMISasksifyouwanttodeletethe
keyboard.
4. ClickYestodeleteit.
5. ClickClose.
JoiningorMergingKeysinaKeyboardVariation
TheCustomizeKeypaddialogboxalsoallowsyoutojoinormergemorethanonebuttononthe
keyboardlayoutgridtomakelargerbuttons.Thisisusefulifyouwanttohaveabuttonthat's
largerthantheusualsinglebuttonsize(forexample,ifyou'recreatingsomethingthatlookslike
theSPACEBARkey).
1. Createoropenformodificationakeyboardlayoutbyfollowingtheprocedures
alreadydescribedinthe"ToCreateaNewVirtualKeyboardVariation"topicandin
the"ToModifyanExistingVirtualKeyboardVariation"topic.
2. FromtheModelistontheCustomizeKeypaddialogbox,selectJoinKeys.
Eachbuttonofthekeyboardlayoutgridnowcontainsasmall,reddottedborder.

3. Clickoneofthebuttons.Thisbecomesthestartbutton.Aboldredborder
appearsonboththehorizontalandverticalsidefromthestartingbutton.Ifyouclick
ondifferentbutton,itchangesthestartbuttontothatbutton.
4. Rightclickontheendbuttonforthemergeitmustbeinsidethedrawnredarea,
anditmustbetotherightof,orbelow,thestartbutton.Ifjoinedareadoesn'tconflict
withanalreadyexistingjoinedarea,theboldredborderwillbecomeagreen
rectangle.Thismeansthatthosegroupedbuttonswillbeshownasonebutton.
5. Ifthejoinedareaconflictswithanotherjoinedarea,PCDMISwilldisplaya
messagesayingitcannotperformthejoin.
6. Todeleteoneoftheexistingjoinedareas,leftclickinsidethegreenbordered
region(joinedbuttons).
Important: Whenyouassignabuttondefinitiontoagroupofjoinedbuttons,youmustselectthe
startbuttononthatgroup:thisistheleftmostbuttonifit'sanhorizontalgroupingorthetopmost
buttonifit'saverticalgrouping.Youonlyneedtodothiswhenassigningabuttondefinitiontothat
groupwhenyouactuallyusetheVirtualKeyboard,thisisn'tneeded.
UsingSeparatorsintheVirtualKeyboardforVisualAppeal

Youcanaddorchangewhereseparators,emptyspacebetweenbuttons,appearonavirtual
keyboardvariation.Thisdoesn'taffecthowthekeyboardfunctionsitmerelyprovidesvisual
appealandbetterorganizationtothekeyboard'slayout.
1. Createoropenformodificationakeyboardlayoutbyfollowingtheprocedures
alreadydescribedinthe"ToCreateaNewVirtualKeyboardVariation"topicandin
the"ToModifyanExistingVirtualKeyboardVariation"topic.
2. FromtheModelistontheCustomizeKeypaddialogbox,selectToggle
Separators.Eachbuttonofthekeyboardlayoutgridnowcontainsasmall,blue
dottedborder.
3. Leftclickbetweenthebluedotstoshoworhideaseparator.Aredlineappears
showingwheretheseparatorwillappear.Ifyouselectahorizontallinebetweenrows,
theseparatorwillbeahorizontalseparatoralongthatline.Ifyouselectaverticalline
betweenrows,itwillbeaverticalseparatoralongthatline.
WhenyouareworkingintheDefineKeysmode,asdiscussedinthe"ToCreateaNewVirtual
KeyboardVariation"topic,separatorswillappearasbluelines.

UsingtheProbeReadoutwindow
TheView|OtherWindows|ProbeReadouts menuoptionallowsyoutoaccessareadoutof
thecurrentCMMpositionandotherusefulinformation.Whenthisoptionisselected,PCDMIS
willdisplaytheProbeReadoutwindow.
SampleProbeWindow Explanation
AFeatureID(CIR1)and
Featuretype(CIRCLE)
BCurrentXYZprobeposition
CXYZpositionofthelasthit
DDistancetonextlocation
showninoutoftolerance
dimensioncolors
EErroroflastmeasured
feature
FRotarytableangle
GNumberofhitstaken
ABaxisanglesappearbelow
thenumberofhitstakenifyou
haveanactivewristprobe
(suchasaPHSorCW43Light
etc.).
ProbeReadoutwindow HProbeReadoutcomments.
ThiscomesfromtheProbe
Readoutcommenttype.See
the"InsertingProgrammer
Comments"inthe"Inserting
TheProbeReadoutwindowcontainsinformationfromthetablebelowdependingontheoptions
selectedfromtheProbeReadoutSetupdialogbox(see"SettingUptheReadoutWindow"inthe
"SettingyourPreferences"chapter).
Tip:YoucanaccesstheProbeReadoutSetupdialogboxbyrightclickingontheProbe
ReadoutwindowandclickingSetup.
SizingtheProbeReadoutsWindow
Youcanalterthesizeofthiswindowsimplybydraggingtheborderofthewindowuntilthe
desiredsizeisreached.Clickingonthemaximizewindowicon intheupperrightportionofthe

windowwillexpandtheboxtothefulldisplayofthescreen.(Clickontheiconasecondtimeto
returnittoitsprevioussize.)ThisallowsyoutoviewtheselectedReadoutwindowwhenthe
CMMislocatedacrosstheroomfromthemonitor.ToclosetheProbeReadoutwindowyoumust
clicktheXintheupperrighthandcorner.
Note:EachtimethelocationorsizeoftheProbeReadoutwindowisaltered,PCDMISwill
updatetheproperregistrysetting.Thenexttimetheoptionisaccessed,thewindowwillbe
displayedpreciselyasitwasinthepreviousviewing.
OnmachineswithanexternalDRO,thisoptionisnotavailable.
MultipleArmModeandtheProbeReadoutWindow
Ifyouhavemorethanonearmmeasuringyourpart,PCDMISdisplaystheprobereadout
informationforeachadditionalarminanewcolumn.
ExampleoftheProbeReadoutwindowshowingmultiplearmsintwocolumns
Youcanrightclickonthiswindowtodisplayashortcutmenuthatallowsyoutoshoworhide
informationaboutaparticularprobe.
Ifthemenuitemdisplaysacheckmarknexttoit,itsinformationappearsintheProbeReadout
window.
UsingtheStatusWindow

StatusWindow
TheView|StatusWindow menuoptiondisplaystheStatuswindow.Thiswindowletsyou
previewcommandsandfeatureswhilecreatingthemfromtheQuickStarttoolbar,duringfeature
execution,andalsobysimplyclickingontheitemintheEditwindowwiththeStatuswindow
open.WhilesimilarinsomewaystothePreviewwindow,theStatuswindowdiffersinthese
ways:
Youdon'tspecifytolerancesornominalvaluesinthiswindow.Thewindowisfor
displayonly.
Itprovidesaflexiblewaytodisplaycommandsbytyingintothenewtemplate
basedReportingfunctionality.
Itdisplaysadynamicpreviewforanycommandordimensiontype,notjust
Locationdimensions,aslongasthosecommandsareproperlyassignedinsideyour
reportandlabeltemplates.
Thiswindowfunctionsthesameasotherdockableandscrollablewindows.Itwilldisplayscroll
barsifthecontentwithinthewindowexceedsthewindow'ssize.Additionally,youcandockand
undockthiswindowatthebottomortopoftheGraphicsDisplaywindowbydoubleclickingonthe
window'stitlebar,orbydraggingthewindow,andthenreleasingitatthedesiredlocation.
TheStatusWindowwiththeQuickStartToolbar
TheStatuswindowdisplaysthecurrentstatusofanyGuessModemeasurements,feature
selection,anddimensioncreationwhenusingtheQuickStarttoolbar.Inthecaseofthescreen
shotshownabove,thisdimensionhasnotyetbeencreated,yetPCDMISletsyoupreviewthe
dimensioninthiswindowpriortoclickingFinishfromtheQuickStarttoolbar.
TheStatusWindowduringFeatureCreationorExecution
TheStatuswindowdisplayspreviewinformationoffeaturesnotyetdisplayedintheReport
window.Thiswindowutilizesthenewreportingtemplatesfunctionalitytogeneratedynamic
previewsofcommandsduringexecutionandcreation.Duringfeaturecreationitonlypreviewsthe
featureifPCDMISisinGuessmode.
ChangingtheStatusWindowTemplate
SincetheStatuswindowusesreportingtemplatestodisplayitsinformation,youcanchangewhat
templateitusesifyouwouldlikeittodisplaydifferentinformation.Anycommandcanbe
displayedintheStatuswindowaslongasalabeltemplateisassignedtothatcommandinthe
reporttemplate(.rtp)file.YouassignwhatreporttemplatethisusesfromtheReportTemplate
registryentryundertheStatusWindowsectionofthePCDMISSettingsEditor.Thedefault
templateitusesistextonly.rtp.
UsingtheDimensionsColorsWindow(DimensionsColorBar)

TheView|OtherWindows|DimensionsColorsWindowmenuoptiondisplaysthe
DimensionsColorBar.Thisdockable,nonsizablebarlikewindowshowsthecolorsfor
dimensiontolerancesandtheirassociatedscalevalues.
ExampleSurfaceProfileDimensionandAssociatedDimensionsColorBar
Thecolorbarcanbedraggedanddockedoneithertherightsideorleftsideofthescreen.
HowitDisplays
Thetopofthebardisplaysthecurrentdefaulttolerancevalue,representedsimplybyalabel
inawhitebandwithitsnumericalscalevalue.
Theremainingcoloredbandsonthebarconsistofthesamenumberofdefinedtolerance
zonesasintheEditDimensionColordialogboxwiththeadditionofacoloredbandontop
fortheNegativeOutofTolerance(labeledwithasign)andacoloredbandonthebottom
forthePositiveOutoftolerance(labeledwitha+sign).
RightClicktoAccess'EditDimensionColor'DialogBox
AsinglerightclickwiththemouseonthecolorbarwillcausetheEditDimensionColor
dialogboxtodisplay:

Thisdialogboxdefinesthedimensioncolorsandtolerancezonesused.Italsocontainssome
settingsthatdeterminehowthecolorbarisdisplayed.Forinformationonthisdialogbox,seethe
"EditingDimensionColors"topicinthe"EditingtheCADDisplay:Introduction"chapter.
TooltipsforCompleteInfo
Ifyoumoveyourmouseoveratoleranceband,ayellowtooltipappearscontaining
thecompleterangeofvaluesforthattoleranceband(lowerandhigher)orthe
completelabelPositiveOutofTolerance or"NegativeoutofTolerance"when
hoveringyourmouseoverthe+or""bandrespectively.
UsingtheProbeToolbox
TheView|ProbeToolbox menuoptiondisplaystheProbeToolbox.
ProbeToolboxforaContactProbe

Thistoolboxallowsyoutoeasilyperformvariousproberelatedmanipulations.Itpresentstabs
andinformationrelativetothetypeofprobecurrentlyused.Ifyouuseanopticalprobeoralaser
probe,forexample,thetabsthatappearwillbedifferentthanforcontactprobes,andtheywill
allowyoutomanipulateparametersspecifictothoseprobetypes.
Seethedocumentationsetsthatapplytoyourparticularconfigurationforspecificinformationon
theProbeToolbox:
PCDMISCMM
PCDMISVision
PCDMISLaser
PCDMISPortable
Note:BecausetheitemsintheProbeToolboxaresofrequentlyusedwhencreatingAuto
Features,inversion4.3theProbeToolboxalsofunctionsasanembeddedportionoftheAuto
Featuredialogbox.
PlacingandSizingtheToolbox
MuchliketheEditwindoworthevarioustoolbarsavailableinPCDMIS,youcandocktheProbe
ToolboxtothesidesofthePCDMISapplicationwindoworyoucancauseittofloataboveother
elements.
Tocauseittodock:
1. EnsurethattheProbeToolboxisindockingmode.Rightclickonthetitlebarand
selectDockablefromtheshortcutmenu.
2. Selectthetoolbox'stitlebarwiththemouse.
3. DragthetoolboxontotheleftorrightedgesofthePCDMISapplicationwindow.
4. Releasethemouse.PCDMISdocksthetoolboxatthatlocation.
Tocauseittofloat:
1. Selectthetoolbox'stitlebarwiththemouse.
2. Dragthetoolboxoutofit'sdockedpositionontopoftheGraphicsDisplay
windowandreleasethemouse.WhileitfloatsabovetheGraphicsDisplaywindow,it
isstillindockingmode.
3. RightclickonthetitleandselectFloatingfromtheshortcutmenu.
4. Dragthetoolboxtowhereyouwanttoplaceit.
5. Releasethemouse.PCDMISfloatsthetoolboxatthatlocation.
Youcanalsosizethetoolboxbyselectinganedgeofthetoolboxanddraggingthemousetoa
newlocation.
ViewingPathLines

SelectingtheView|PathLines menuoptiondrawsthecurrentpathoftheprobeintheGraphics
Displaywindow.See"ShowingandAnimatingPathLines"inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"
chapterformoreinformation.

UsingToolbarsUsingToolbars:Introduction
Inanefforttodecreasethetimeittakestoprogramyourpart,PCDMIS3.2andaboveoffersyou
avarietyoftoolbarscomposedoffrequentlyusedcommands.Thesetoolbarscanbeaccessedin
twoways.
SelecttheView|Toolbarssubmenuandselectatoolbarfromthemenu
provided.
RightclickonPCDMIS's Toolbarareaandselectatoolbarfromtheshortcut
menuprovided.
Thetoolbarsprovidedinclude:
GraphicViewToolbar
Settingstoolbar
ProbeModetoolbar
EditWindowtoolbar
Dimensiontoolbar
ConstructedFeaturestoolbar
AutoFeaturestoolbar
MeasuredFeaturestoolbar
FileOperationstoolbar
MacroPlay/Recordtoolbar
Wizardstoolbar
PortableToolbar
ActiveArmstoolbar
ActiveRotaryTabletoolbar
QuickStarttoolbar
WindowLayoutstoolbar
Ifyou'relookingfortheGuessMode,ProbeReadouts,andManual/DCCtoolbars,theseareall
onthenewProbeModetoolbar.See"ProbeModeToolbar".TheGuessModeiconsarealso
includedontheProbeToolbox,discussedinthe"UsingtheProbeToolbox"topicinthe"Using
OtherWindows,Editors,andTools"chapter.
GraphicsModesToolbar
TheGraphicsModestoolbarallowsyoutoeasilyalterthedisplayofthepartonthescreen.It
alsoallowsyoueasyaccesstotheavailablemodes.Thistoolbarcontainsthefollowingicons:
Icon Description

ViewSetup Altersthedisplayofthepartinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.See"Setting
uptheScreenView"inthe"Editingthe
CADDisplay"chapter.
SaveViewset Savestheviewofthepartasthe
currentviewsetwhichcanlaterbe
recalled.See"WorkingwithViewsets"
inthe"InsertingReportCommands"
chapter.
CreateViewset Savestheviewofthepartasa
separateviewsetcommandwhichcan
laterberecalled.See"Workingwith
Viewsets"inthe"InsertingReport
Commands"chapter.
ScaletoFit Enlargesorshrinkstheviewsofthe
graphicintheGraphicsDisplaywindow
tofityourscreen.See"Scalingthe
Drawing"inthe"EditingtheCAD
Display"chapter.
DrawSurfaces TurnsonoroffthedisplayofsolidCAD
surfaces.See"DrawingSurfaces"in
the"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter.
RepainttheScreen Refreshesandredrawsalltheviewsof
thepart.See"RepaintingtheScreen"
inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"
chapter.
Curvemode PlacesPCDMISintoCurvemode(for
usewithwireframe).See"Switching
BetweenCurveandSurfaceModes"in
Surfacemode PlacesPCDMISintoSurfacemode
(forusewithsurfacedata).See
"SwitchingBetweenCurveandSurface
Modes"inthe"EditingtheCAD
Display"chapter.
Translatemode PlacesPCDMISintotranslatemode.
See"TranslateMode"inthe"Editing
theCADDisplay"chapter.
2DRotatemode Twodimensionallyrotatesthepartfor
theselectedview.See"2DRotate
Mode"inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"
chapter.
3DRotatemode Threedimensionallyrotatesthepartfor
chapter.

Programmode Usestheprobeeitherofflineoronline
tolearnandedityourpartprogram.
See"ProgramMode"inthe"Editingthe
CADDisplay"chapter.
TextBoxmode Accessesshortcutmenucommandsfor
PointInfoandDimensionInfotext
boxesaswellasotheronscreen
elements.See"TextBoxMode"inthe
QuickFixturemode Providestheabilitytomovequick
fixturesandthepartbyclickingand
draggingthemwiththemouse.See
"InsertingQuickFixtures"inthe
"DefiningHardware"chapter.
Assembly Displaysawindowallowingyouto
displayorhidepartsinsidean
assembly(acollectionofpartmodels).
See"WorkingwithAssembliesofParts"
inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"
chapter.
CoordinateSystem DisplaystheCADCoordinateSystem
dialogbox.Thisdialogboxletsyou
createaneworselectanexisting
coordinatesystem.See"Workingwith
CADCoordinateSystems"inthe
CADLighting Applieslighting,textures,and
transparenciestoCADmodels.See
"ApplyingLightingandMaterialstothe
CADDisplay"inthe"EditingtheCAD
Display"chapter.
GraphicsCategories Showsandhidesdifferentitemsinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.See
"ShowingandHidingGraphics"inthe
RotationOptions Changeshowitemsaredisplayedin
theGraphicsDisplaywindowduring
partrotation.See"ChangingRotation
andOtherMotionOptions"inthe
DisplaySymbols Definesthesymbolstyleandsizeused
torepresentCADpoints,scanned
points,andfeaturepointsinthe
"ModifyingPointSymbols"inthe
GraphicViewToolbar

GraphicViewtoolbar
WiththeGraphicViewtoolbaryoucanquicklyandeasilychangehowyourpartisdisplayed
insidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.TheseiconsactthesameasifyouhadusedtheView
Setupdialogboxtoaffectyourview.Seethe"SettinguptheScreenView"topicinthe"Editing
theCADDisplay"chapterforinformationonsettingupyourviews.
IfyouconfiguredtheGraphicsDisplaywindowtoshowmorethanoneview,thesetoolbaricons
onlyaffectthebluepaneintheViewsareaoftheViewSetupdialogbox.
Forexample,ifyoudividedyourscreenintothreeviewsbyusingthisiconfromtheViewSetup
dialogbox...
...clickingiconsfromtheGraphicViewtoolbarwouldonlyaffectthetopleft(orblue)portionof
thescreen.
Icon Description
ShowstheX+viewofthepart
ShowstheXviewofthepart
ShowstheY+viewofthepart
ShowstheYviewofthepart
ShowstheZ+viewofthepart
ShowstheZviewofthepart
Showsanisometricviewofthepart
Showsthewireframeviewofthepart
Showsthesurface/solidviewofthe
part
Turnsanypredefinedtransparencies
onoroff.Thisiconbecomesenabled
oncetransparencyisdefinedinthe
LightingtaboftheLightingand
Materialsdialogbox.
Displaysorhidesthe3DGrid.
GraphicItemsToolbar

GraphicItemstoolbar
TheGraphicItemstoolbarletsyoueasilyshoworhideidentificationlabelsforFeatures,
DimensionInfoboxes,PointInfoboxes,andFeatureControlFrames(FCFs)intheGraphics
Displaywindow.
Icon Description
HidesordisplaysFeatureIDs.
HidesordisplaysPointInfoboxes.
HidesordisplaysFeatureControlFrame
IDs.
HidesordisplaysDimensionInfoboxes.
SettingsToolbar
Settingstoolbar
TheSettingstoolbarcontainsavarietyofliststhatprovideaneasywayforyoutoswitch
betweenthesesettings:
Savedviews
Predefinedalignments
Probetypes
Predefinedprobetips
Availableworkplanes
Planestoprojectto

ActiveCMMinterfaces
Tochangeadisplay:
1. Openthedesireddropdownlist.
2. SelectapreviouslydefinedIDorfeature.
ViewsList
TheViewsliststoresviewsthatwerecreatedandsavedwiththeactivepartprogram.
See"SettingUptheScreenView"inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapterand"Workingwith
Viewsets"inthe"InsertingReportCommands"chapter.
Touseasavedview:
1. PlacethemousepointeroverthedownarrowontheViewslist.
2. Clicktheleftmousebutton.
3. MovethemousepointertotheIDthatisdesired.
4. Clicktheleftmousebutton.
WhilePCDMISisrecallingaview,allotherfunctionsaretemporarilyinaccessible.
RECALL/VIEWSET,view_set_name
View_set_name=thenameoftheviewsettorecall.
AlignmentsList
TheAlignmentsliststorespreviouslysavedalignments.Thesealignmentscanthenbeinserted
intotheEditwindowwhenselected.
See"SavinganAlignment"fromthe"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapterforadditional
informationonhowtocreateandsavealignments.
Tochangethealignment:
1. PlacethemousearrowoverthedownarrowoftheAlignments list.
2. Clicktheleftmousebutton.Adropdownlistwillappearallowingyoutoselecta
newalignment.
YoucancontrolwhichalignmentsaredisplayedinthislistbygoingtotheAlignmentintheEdit
windowandchangingthevaluefortheLIST=portionoftheALIGNMENT/STARTcommand(see
the"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapterformoreinformation).
ProbesList

TheProbeslistallowsyoutoselectprobesalreadydefinedinyourprobefile.PCDMISinsertsa
LOADPROBEcommandintotheEditwindow.
ProbeTipsList
TheProbeTipsliststorespreviouslydefinedprobetipangles.See"AddAngles"fromthe
"DefiningHardware"chapterforinformationonhowtocreatetipangles.
Tochangeatipnumber:
1. ScrollthroughtheavailabletipsbyclickingondownarrowoftheProbeTipslist.
2. Selectthedesiredtipusingtheleftmousebutton.
WorkingPlaneList
TheWorkingPlanedropdownlistallowsyoutochangetheplaneinwhichyouareworking.This
willnotchangetheviewintheGraphicsDisplaywindow,onlytheworkingplane.
Theavailableworkingplanesare:
A=TOP Lightgray ZPLUS

B=RIGHT Mediumgray XPLUS
C=BACK Verticallines YPLUS
D=BOTTOM Horizontallines ZMINUS
E=LEFT Darkgray XMINUS
F=FRONT Clear YMINUS
Forexample,tochangethecurrentworkingplanetothebackofthepartimage:
1. PositionthemousepointeroverthedownarrowoftheWorkingPlanelist.
2. SelectYPLUSfromthedropdownlisttogetthenewworkingplane.
Whencreatingameasuredline,PCDMISexpectsthehitsforthelinetobetakenatavector
perpendiculartothecurrentworkingplane.

Forexample,ifyourcurrentworkingplaneisZPLUS(withavector0,0,1),andyouhaveablock
likepart,thehitsforthemeasuredlinemustbeonaverticalwallofthatpart,suchasthefrontor
side.
Ifyouthenwantedtomeasurealinefeatureonthetopsurfaceofthepart,youwouldneedto
switchtheworkingplanetoXPLUS,XMINUS,YPLUS,orYMINUS,dependingonthedirectionof
theline.
PlaneList
ThePlanelistcontainsalistofanyplanefeaturesyouhavecreatedinyourpartprogram.By
defaultPCDMISprojectseachmeasuredlineandcircleintoyourcurrentworkplane,sothe
defaultitemonthislistshowsWorkplane.However,youcanselectadifferentplanefromthislist.
PCDMISwillthenprojecteachmeasuredlineandcircleintothenewlyselectedplane.
ProbeModeToolbar
ProbeModetoolbar
TheProbeModetoolbarcontainsiconsthatallowyoutoenterthedifferentmodesusedbythe
currentprobeorCMM.Theavailablemodeiconsaredescribedinthistable:
Icon Description
ManualMode TheManualModeiconallowsyouto
placePCDMISinmanualmode.
Manualmodeallowsyoutomanually
controlyourmachine'smovementsand
measurements.Manualmodeisused
onamanualCMM,orduringthe
manualalignmentportionofaprogram
thatwillberunonanautomaticCMM.
Selectingthisiconinsertsa
MODE/MANUALcommandintotheEdit
windowatthecursor'slocation.Edit
windowcommandsfollowingthis
commandareexecutedinManual
mode.
DCCMode TheDCCModeiconallowsyouto
placePCDMISinDCCmode.DCC
modeallowssupportedDCCmachines
toautomaticallytakeoverthe
measurementofyourpartprogram.
SelectingthisiconinsertsaMODE/DCC
commandintotheEditwindowatthe
cursor'slocation.Editwindow
commandsfollowingthiscommandare

executedinDCCmode.
ReadoutsMode TheReadoutsModeiconbecomes
availableonlyifyouuseanLK
machine.Itplacestheprobeinto
readoutsmode.See"PlacingtheProbe
intoReadoutsandHitsMode"in"Using
OtherWindows,Editors,andTools"for
moreinformation.
HitsMode TheHitsModeiconbecomesavailable
onlyifyouuseanLKmachine.Itplaces
theprobeintohitsmode.See"Placing
theProbeintoReadoutsandHits
Mode"in"UsingOtherWindows,
Editors,andTools"formore
information.
SurfaceAutoTrigger TheSurfaceAutoTriggerModeicon
Mode insertsanAUTOTRIGGER commandinto
thepartprogram.Seethe"AutoTrigger
area"topicinthe"SettingYour
EdgeAutoTrigger TheEdgeAutoTriggerModeicon
Mode insertsaTRIGGERPLANE commandinto
thepartprogram.Seethe"Sample
PlaneAutoTriggerarea"topicinthe
"SettingYourPreferences"chapter.
FindNominalsfrom TheFindNominalsfromCADMode
CADMode iconselectstheFindNominalscheck
boxintheGeneraltaboftheSetup
Optionsdialogbox.See"Find
Nominals"topicinthe"SettingYour
Preferences" chapter.
PointOnlyMode ThePointOnlyModeiconselectsthe
PointOnlyModecheckboxinthe
GeneraltaboftheSetupOptions
dialogbox.See"PointOnlyMode"
topicinthe"SettingYourPreferences"
chapter.
Note:PreviousversionsofPCDMISusedtocontainFlatGuessandRoundGuessmodeicons.
SincetheguessalgorithminPCDMIShasimprovedinversion4.0andhigher,theseiconshave
beenremovedfromthetoolbarandarenolongerneeded.
EditWindowToolbar
Editwindowtoolbar
TheEditWindowtoolbarprovidesquickaccesstomanyfrequentlyaccessedEditwindow
functions.

ThetoolbarallowsyoutomanipulatingEditwindowcontentinawaythatiseasyandintuitiveto
useThetoolbarprovidesreadyaccesstothesecommandsimportantEditwindowcommands.
ExecuteProgram
TheExecuteProgramtoolbariconruns(orexecutes)themeasurementprocessforany
currentlymarkedfeature(s).See"ExecutingPartPrograms"inthe"UsingAdvancedFileOptions"
chapter.
MarkCurrentFeature
TheMarkCurrentFeaturetoolbariconhighlightsthefeatureunderyourcursorandpreparesit
forexecution.See"Mark"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapterformoreinformation.
MarkAll
TheMarkAlltoolbariconhighlightsallfeaturesintheEditwindow.PCDMISwillaskyouifyou
wanttohighlightfeaturesusedforthealignmentaswell.See"MarkAll"inthe"EditingaPart
Program"chapterformoreinformation.
ClearMarked
TheClearMarktoolbariconremovesallhighlightsfromcurrentlymarkedfeatureswithintheEdit
window.See"MarkAll"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapterformoreinformation.
SetStartPoint
TheSetStartPointtoolbariconallowsyoutosetthestartpointfortheactivelearnarm.Inthe
Editwindow,clickonthecommandthatyouwanttouseforthestartpointandthenclickonthe
StartPointtoolbaricon.Thestartpointforthecurrentarmwillbesettothecommandlocatedat
theinsertionpoint. Youcanalsosetastartpoint,byrightclickingonacommandandchoosing
SetStartPoint. See"UsingMultipleArmMode"chapterformoreinformationonmultiplearm
mode.
See"SettingStartPoints"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapterformoreinformation.
Insert/RemoveBreakpoint

TheInsertBreakpointtoolbariconinsertsabreakpointatthecurrentcursorlocationinthepart
program.See"UsingBreakpoints"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapterformoreinformation.
RemoveAllBreakpoints
TheRemoveAllBreakpointtoolbariconremovesthebreakpoint(s)foundinthepartprogram.
See"RemoveAll"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapterformoreinformation.
InsertBookmark
TheInsertBookmarktoolbariconplacesabookmarkatthecurrentcursorlocationinthepart
program.See"ToggleBookmark"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapterformoreinformation.
NextBookmark
TheNextBookmarktoolbariconjumpsyourcursortothenextlocationthatcontainsabookmark
inthepartprogram.See"NextBookmark"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapterformore
information.
ClearAllBookmarks
TheClearBookmarktoolbariconremovesthebookmark(s)fromthepartprogram.See"Clear
AllBookmarks"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapterformoreinformation.
SummaryMode
TheSummaryModetoolbariconplacestheEditwindowinsummarymode.Thismodeprovides
youwithanexpandableandcollapsiblegraphicalsummaryofallfeaturesandcommandsinyour
partprogram.Youcanalsodosomelimitedediting.See"WorkinginSummaryMode"inthe
"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter.
CommandMode

TheCommandModetoolbariconplacestheEditwindowincommandmode.Thismodeallows
youtoaccessthevariouscommandsthatgiveyouthecapabilitytoeditvariousaspectsofthe
partprogram.See"WorkinginCommandMode"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter.
DMISMode
TheDMISModetoolbaricondisplaystheEditwindowcommandsintheDMISformat.Thismode
allowsyoutoworkusingtheDMISsyntaxifdesired.Ifyoudon'tseethisicononyourtoolbar,
selecttheUseDmisButtoninEditwindowcheckboxfromtheSetupOptionsdialogbox,
Generaltab.See"SetupOptions:Generaltab"inthe"SettingyourPreferences"chapter.
ForinformationonhowDIMScommands(PCDMIS'sstandardcommandformat)
translateintoDMIScommands,seethedocumenttitled,PCDMISSupport
DocumentationforDMISavailablefromftp://wilcoxassoc.com/docs/dmis_support.zip.
ForinformationonDMIS,seehttp://www.dmis.com.
See"WorkinginDMISMode"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter.
Cut
TheCuttoolbariconallowsyoutocuttextandobjectsintheEditwindow,placingthecut
informationtemporarilyintheClipboard.See"Cut"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapterfor
moreinformation.
Copy
TheCopytoolbariconallowsyoutocopytextandobjectsintheEditwindowandplacethem
temporarilyintheClipboardtobepastedlater.See"Copy"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"
chapterformoreinformation.
Paste
ThePastetoolbariconwillpasteinformationbeingheldintheClipboardintotheEditwindowat
thecursor'scurrentlocation.See"Paste"inthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapterformore
information.
PastewithPattern

ThePastewithPatterntoolbariconwillpastepatternedfeatureswiththeiroffsetsintothepart
programatyourcursor'scurrentlocation.See"EditingPatternsofFeatures"inthe"EditingaPart
Program"chapterformoreinformation.
Undo
TheUndotoolbariconremovesthelastactionyoutookintheEditwindow.See"Undo"inthe
"EditingaPartProgram"chapterformoreinformation.
Redo
TheRedotoolbariconwillredoanactionthatwasremovedwhenusingUndo.See"Redo"inthe
"EditingaPartProgram"chapterformoreinformation.
Print
ThePrinttoolbariconallowsyoutoimmediatelysendareportofthecurrentcontentsoftheEdit
windowtoyourdefaultprinterwithoutdisplayinganydialogboxes.
DimensionToolbar
Dimensiontoolbar
WiththeDimensiontoolbaruseiconstoquicklyaccesstheoptionsavailablefromthe
Dimensionmenu.
Icon Description
Location
TruePosition
Distance
AngleBetween
Concentricity
Coaxiality
Circularity
Cylindricity
Straightness

Flatness
Perpendicularity
Parallelism
TotalRunout
CircularRunout
SurfaceProfile
LineProfile
Angularity
Symmetry
Keyin
ConstructedFeaturesToolbar
ConstructedFeaturestoolbar
WiththeConstructedFeaturestoolbaruseiconstoquicklyaccessthefeatureconstruction
optionsavailablefromtheConstructedsubmenu.
Icon Description
Point
Line
Plane
Circle
Ellipse
Slot
Curve
Cylinder
Cone
Sphere
Surface
FeatureSet
GaussFilter
Generic
Forinformationontheseitems,seethe"ConstructingNewFeaturesfromExistingFeatures"
chapterandthe"CreatingGenericFeatures"chapter.

ForinformationoninsertingReadPoints,viewthedocumentationavailableinthe"Creating
GenericFeatures"chapter.
AutoFeaturesToolbar
AutoFeaturestoolbar
WiththeAutoFeaturestoolbaryoucaneasilyaccessthesameautofeatureavailableonthe
varioustabsoftheAutoFeaturesdialogbox,oryoucanhavePCDMISguessthefeaturetype
basedinthehitstaken.
PCDMISdetermineswhich Whenyouclickonanautofeatureicon,thetabforthatfeature
autofeatureitemsare openswiththeAutoFeaturesdialogbox.
enabledinthetoolbarandin
themenudependingonthe Tocreatetheautofeature,presstheENDkeyortheCreatebutton
typeofprobeyouhave ontheAutoFeaturedialogbox.Beforecreatingyourfeature,you
enabledandyourportlock canremovehitsfromthehitbufferbypressingtheALT+''key
settings.Unlessyouhavea combination.
noncontactprobeenabled,
theCharacteristicPointand
theFlushandGapiconswill Tip:ClicktheminimizebuttonfortheAutoFeaturedialogbox.
remainunavailablefor ThisallowsyoutohidetheAutoFeaturesdialogboxandstill
selection. createtheselectedsheetmetalfeature.
GuessingAutoFeatures
WiththeGuessicon,youcanspeedupgenerationofthepartprogram.You'llnoticethatno
dialogboxappearsinstead,whilethisiconisselected,PCDMISguessesthefeaturetypebased
onhitstaken.FortheGuessoperationtowork:
YoumusthaveCADsurfacedata.
YoumustselecttheSurfaceModeicon.
Youmustuseacontactprobe.Featureguessingwithopticalprobesisn't
supported.
Note:CADwireframedatacanbeveryuseful,speedingupfeaturegeneration.Forexample,if
youareonlyusingsurfacedata,PCDMISrequiresthreehitstorecognizeacircle.However,if
you'reusingwireframedata,PCDMISonlyrequiresonehit.
GuessingbyFeatureType
ThefollowingtabledefinesthenumberofhitstotakeandwheretotakethemforPCDMISto
recognizethegivenfeaturetypewhileusingtheGuessicon:

Icon FeatureType NumberofHitsforHitLocationsfor

Guessingthis Guessingthis
FeatureType FeatureType
VectorPoint One
SurfacePoint Two
EdgePoint Wire&Surface: Onehitnearthe
One edge.
AnglePoint Two Onehitonone
surfaceandonehit
ontheother
surface,whichare
not90degrees
apart.
Characteristic Guessmodedoesn'tworkforthis
Point featuretype.
CornerPoint Three Onceoneachof
thethreesurfaces.
SurfaceOnly:TwoOnehitonthetop
surface.Onehiton
theedgesurface
approximately90
degreesfromthe
top.
HighPoint One
Line Guessmodedoesn'tworkforthis
featuretype.
Plane Guessmodedoesn'tworkforthis
featuretype.
Circle Wire&Surface: Onehitonthetop
One surfacenearthe
edgeofthecircle
orarc.
SurfaceOnly: Threehitsonthe
Three topsurfacenear
theedgeofthe
circleorarc.
Ellipse Five Fivehitsaround
theellipse.
SquareSlot Four Fourhitsonthetop
surfacenearthe
edgeoftheslot.
RoundSlot Wire&Surface: Onehitonthetop
Two surfacenearthe
edgeofarcand
onehitnearthe
oppositearc.
Six topsurfacenear
edgeofarcand
threehitsnearthe
oppositearc.
Notch Five Twohitsonthe
sideoppositethe

openingofthe
notch.Onehiton
oneparallelsideof
thenotch.Onehit
ontheotherside.
Onehitonthe
openedge.
Polygon Wire&Surface: Oncehitonthe
One insideoroutsideof
spolygon'sside.
Cylinder Wire&Surface: Onehitonthetop
Two surfacenearthe
edgeofcircleor
arcandonehiton
thesideofthe
cylinder.
Four topsurfacenear
edgeofcircleor
arcandonehiton
thesideofthe
cylinder.
Cone WireandSurface Threehitsonthe
orSurfaceOnly: topsurfacenear
Four edgeofcircleor
arcandonehiton
thesideofthe
cone.
IfPCDMISdetects
ananglegreater
than2degrees
fromtheforthhitto
thecircle
calculatedfromthe
firstthreehits,then
itguessesacone
otherwiseit
guessesacylinder.
Sphere Five Fivehitsonthe
spheresurface.
FlushandGap Guessmodedoesn'tworkforthis
featuretype.
WireOnly: Onehitnearthe
Two firstcircleorarc
(firstendofcone).
Onehitnearthe
secondcircleorarc
(otherendofcone).
PCDMISchecksto
seeifcirclesareon
topofeachother.If
so,itguessesa
coneotherwiseit
guessesaRound

Slot.
Guess Variable.Seethe
beginningofthis
topicforinformation
onthisicon.
MeasuredFeaturesToolbar
MeasuredFeaturestoolbar
WiththeMeasuredFeaturestoolbaryoucanhavePCDMISautomaticallyguessanddisplaythe
featuretypeforwhichyouaretakinghitsoryoucanforcePCDMIStoacceptagivenfeature
type.
AutomaticallyGuessingaFeatureType
IfyouselecttheGuessModeicon,PCDMISwilldisplayanicondepictingwhatthefeaturetype
wouldbeaftereachhitthatyoutake.Thisallowsyoutovisuallypreviewthefeaturetypebefore
it'sactuallycreated.
Forexample,whenmeasuringacylinder,youwilltaketwosetsoffourhits,attwodifferentlevels
alongtheheightofthepin.WhenyoutakefourhitsatonelevelPCDMISdisplaysaCircleicon
ontheGraphicsDisplaywindowasthefeaturetype.Aftertakingthesecondlevelofhits,PC
DMISdisplaysaCylindericon.
ForcingaGivenFeatureType
ThefeaturetypeiconsonthistoolbarallowyoutoforcePCDMIStoaccepttheselectedfeature
type.
Icon Description
ForcesPCDMIStoacceptthePoint
featuretype
ForcesPCDMIStoaccepttheLine
featuretype
ForcesPCDMIStoacceptthePlane
featuretype
ForcesPCDMIStoaccepttheCircle
featuretype
ForcesPCDMIStoacceptthe
Cylinderfeaturetype
ForcesPCDMIStoaccepttheCone
featuretype
ForcesPCDMIStoacceptthe
Spherefeaturetype

IfyoutakehitswhileinGuessMode(usingtheGuessModeicon)andPCDMISdisplaysthe
wrongfeaturetype,clickthecorrectfeatureicontoforcePCDMIStoacceptthatfeature.The
featurewillnotbeaddedtothepartprogramuntilit'screatedbypressingtheENDkeyYoucan
removehitsbypressingthe ''orALT+''keys.
Forexample,ifyouselecttheCircleicon,PCDMISforcesPCDMIStoacceptthecirclefeature
typeaslongasyoutaketheminimumnumberofhits.
FileOperationsToolbar
FileOperationstoolbar
TheFileOperationstoolbarallowsyoutoquicklyperformsomeofthemostpopularfile
operations.Thetoolbarincludesthefollowingicons.
Icon Description
Open Opensanexistingpartprogram
New Createsanewpartprogram
Close Closetheactivepartprogram
Quit QuitsPCDMIS
Save Savesthecurrentpartprogram
SaveAs Savesthecurrentpartprogramunder
adifferentname
Forcompleteinformationonthesefileoperations,seethe"UsingBasicFileOptions"and"Using
AdvancedFileOptions"chapters.
MacroPlay/RecordToolbar
MacroPlay/Recordtoolbar
TheMacroPlay/Recordtoolbarallowsyoutorecord,play,andstopmacroswiththeclickofan
icon.Youcaneasilyrecordandplaycustomcreatedmacrostoperformroutine,repetitivetasks.
InPCDMIS,amacroissimplyarecordingofkeystrokesandmousemovementsthatcanbe
playedbacktoautomateatask.
Hint:YoumaywanttousetheFixedDialogPositionscheckboxwhenworkingwithMacros.
Thischeckboxkeepsalldialogboxesinfixed,setlocations.See"FixedDialogPositions"inthe
"SettingyourPreferences"chapter.
ToRecordaMacro:

1. SelecttheRecordicon. PCDMISwilldisplayaRecordtoMacroFiledialog
box.
RecordtoMacroFiledialogbox
2. CreateafilenameintheFileNameboxusingthe*.macextension.
3. ClicktheOpenbutton.TheRecordToMacroFiledialogboxwillcloseandthe
Recordiconwillbegintoflash.ThisindicatesthatPCDMISisrecordingkeyboard
and/ormouseinputs.
4. Createthedesiredmacrobyrecordingkeystrokesand/ormouseinputs.
5. ClicktheStopicon whenfinished.
ToPlayaPreRecordedMacro:
1. SelectthePlayicon .PCDMISwilldisplaythePlayMacroFiledialogbox.
PlayMacroFiledialogbox
2. NavigatetothefolderthatcontainstheMacroFile.
3. Selectthedesiredmacro.
ThePlayicon willbegintoflashindicatingthatPCDMISisplayingtherequestedmacro.
YouwillseePCDMISusingmouseandkeyboardoptionstoruntheselectedmacro.
VirtualKeyboardToolbar

VirtualKeyboardtoolbar
TheView|Toolbars|VirtualKeyboardtoolbarallowsyoutouseandcustomizeavirtual
keyboardinplaceofarealkeyboard.Itfunctionsasdoesanynormalkeyboardandcanbeused
withamouseorwithatouchscreenmonitor.Thisisusefulforcertainshopfloorenvironments
whereit'snotconvenienttouseaphysicalkeyboard.
SampleVirtualKeyboardKeypad1Variation
TheVirtualKeyboardtoolbariconsaredescribedhere:
Icon Description
ThisiconshowsandhidestheVirtualKeyboard.The
VirtualKeyboardautomaticallyappears,floatingontopof
PCDMIS'smaindisplay.PCDMISalsodisplaysa
programicononyourWindowsTaskBar:
AswithanyotherWindowsprogram,selectingthis
programiconwillgivetheVirtualKeyboardprogram
focus.
ThisicondisplaystheCustomizeKeyboarddialogbox
whichallowsyoutocreateyourcustomizedversionofthe
VirtualKeyboard.Seethe"ToCreateaNewVirtual
KeyboardVariation"topicformoreinformation.
ThedropdownarrowtotherightoftheCustomizeicon
displaysadropdownlistsimilartothepopupmenu
discussedinthe"AccessingVirtualKeyboardVariations"
topic.

Consultthe"UsingtheVirtualKeyboard"topicinthe"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools"
chapterforadditionalinformation.
TouchScreenModeToolbar
TouchScreenModetoolbar
TheTouchScreenModetoolbarallowsyoutodeterminehowtouchesonyourtouchscreen
monitorareinterpreted.Thisisusefulforcertainshopfloorenvironmentswhereit'snot
convenienttouseamouse.
TheLeftClickmodeicon,thedefaultselection,interpretstouchesonthemonitorasaleft
buttonmouseclick.
Therightclickmodeiconinterpretsthenexttouchonthemonitorasarightbuttonmouse
click.Afteryouperformyourscreentouch,themodeautomaticallyswitchesbacktotheLeft
Clickmode.
ForinformationonusingtheTouchScreenModetoolbar,seetheonscreentutorialsthatcame
withyourBrownandSharpe"One"shopfloormachine.
WizardsToolbar
Wizardstoolbar
TheiconsonthistoolbarareinitiallyboundtoexternalwizardsthatcomeinstalledwithPCDMIS.
Thesewizardsservetwopurposes:
1. Toincreasetheusabilityfornewuserswhoarestilllearninghowtousethe
application.
2. TodemonstratetheflexibilityandcustomizabilityofPCDMIS.
Thesewizardsare:

Icon Description
321AlignmentWizardThiswizardwalksyouthroughtwo
basictypesofalignments:a321alignmentandatwocircle
alignment.
CADImportWizardThiswizardallowsyoutoimportsingle
ormultipleCADmodelsintothecurrentpartprogram.Simply
clicktheiconandadialogboxappears.Selectoneormore
filestoimportandthenclickOpen.
DataFieldEditWizardThiswizardletsyoureplacecertain
fieldsintheEditwindowthatyoucannotreplaceusingthe
Replacedialogbox.See"EditingDataFields"inthe"Editing
aPartProgram"chapter.
DMISOutWizardThiswizardhelpsyouexportaDMIS
outputfileofyourinspectionreport.
IterativeAlignmentWizardThiswizardwalksyouthrough
thestepstocreateaniterativealignmentandexplainsthe
rulesbehindtheinputstothealignment
MultipleExecuteWizardThiswizardletsyoueasilyloop
yourpartprogramexecutionindefinitely,oraspecified
numberoftimes.Youcanalsochoosethespecificmessage
todisplaybetweeniterations.
PCD2ExcelWizardThiswizardexportsyourPCDMISpart
programdataintoaMicrosoftExcelfileofyourchoice.To
configurethewizard'soptions,clickConfigure.Mostofthe
configurationoptionsintheresultingdialogboxareself
explanatory.
IftheUseSTAT/ONandSTAT/OFFcheckboxisselected,
youmustincludedimension(orFeatureControlFrame
dimension)commandsbetweentheSTATS/ONand
STATS/OFFcommandsinyourprogram,otherwisethe
wizardwillnotexportdatatotheexcelfile.Ifyouclearthis
checkbox,alldimensioncommandsgetexportedintothe
excelfile.Seethe"TrackingStatisticalData"chapter.
Also,ifyouselecttheIgnoreFCFscheckbox,PCDMISdoes
notpassFeatureControlFramecommandstotheexcelfile.
Seethe"UsingFeatureControlFrames"chapter.
Important:Excel2003orlaterisrequiredforthisWizardto

functionproperly.
RunningtheWizardUnattended
YoucantellPCDMIStorunthePCD2Excelwizardwithout
anyhumanintervention.Afterconfiguringthewizard,insert
EXTERNALCOMMAND intoyourpartprogramandaddan'A'
parametertothecommandsothatitlookssomethinglikethis:
EXTERNALCOMMAND/DISPLAYC:\ProgramFiles\WAI\PCDMIS
V42\Wizards\PCD2EXCEL.EXEA
Thistellsthewizardtoruninunattendedmode.
ProbeWizardThiswizarddemonstrateshowtodefinea
probeandallowsyoutocalibratethenewlydefinedprobe
DatabaseWizardThiswizardhelpsyoutoeasilycreate
andregisterODBCdatabases.Thisonlyappearsifyour
portlockwasconfiguredwiththeIntegratedStatsoption.
WizardSourceCodeAvailable
ThesewizardsweredevelopedusingMicrosoftVisualBasicandtheautomationcapabilitiesof
PCDMIS.ThesourcecodeandprojectfilesusedtocreatethemareincludedintheWizardssub
directoryofthedirectorycontainingyourPCDMISinstallation.Shouldyoudesiretoextendthe
capabilityofPCDMISorcreateyourowncustomapplicationthatinterfaceswithPCDMIS,you
mayusethesourcecodeprovidedasaguidetoassistyou.Youcanalsoenhancethewizardsto
performotherfunctionsnotincludedwiththeoriginalapplication.
PortableToolbar
Portabletoolbar
ThePortabletoolbarcontainsseveraliconsthatallowyoutoaccessvariousfrequentlyused
functionsandwindowsthatarehelpfulwhenprogrammingormeasuringwithportabledevices.
Forinformationonworkingwithportablemachines,seethe"PCDMISPortable"documentation.
Theavailabletoolbariconsaredescribedinthistable:
Icon Description
Execute Executesthemeasurementprocessfor
anycurrentlymarkedfeature(s).See
"Execute"inthe"UsingAdvancedFile
Options"chapter.
ExecuteFeature Executestheselectedfeature.See
"ExecuteFeature"inthe"Using
AdvancedFileOptions"chapter.
ExecutefromCursor Executesthepartprogramstartingatthe
selectedfeatureandthenworkingdown

theEditwindow.See"ExecuteFrom
Cursor"inthe"UsingAdvancedFile
Options"chapter.
Mark Markstheselectedfeaturewiththe
specifiedmarkcolorandpreparesitfor
execution.See"Mark"inthe"Editinga
PartProgram"chapter.
MarkAll MarksallfeaturesintheEditwindow.
See"MarkAll"inthe"EditingaPart
Program"chapter.
ClearMarked Removesallhighlightsfromcurrently
markedfeatureswithintheEditwindow.
See"ClearAll"inthe"EditingaPart
Program"chapter.
EditDialog Accessesthedialogboxassociatedwith
thecurrentlyselectedcommandifone
exists.
ImportIGESFiles BeginstheimportoperationfortheIGES
CADfiletype(.igsor.iges).See
"ImportinganIGESFile"inthe"Using
SetAlignment LinkstheCADdatatothemeasured
data.See"CADEqualsPart"inthe
chapter.
LeapFrogAlignment PerformsaLeapfrogoperation.See
"PerformingaLeapfrogOperation"inthe
chapter.
CurveMode PlacesPCDMISintoCurvemode(for
usewithwireframe).See"Switching
SurfaceMode PlacesPCDMISintoSurfacemode(for
usewithsurfacedata).See"Switching
ScaletoFit Enlargesorshrinkstheviewsofthe
graphicintheGraphicsDisplaywindow
tofityourscreen.See"Scalingthe
Drawing"inthe"EditingtheCAD
Display"chapter.
TranslateMode PlacesPCDMISintotranslatemode.
See"TranslateMode"inthe"Editingthe
CADDisplay"chapter.
3DRotateMode Threedimensionallyrotatesthepartfor
ProgramMode Usestheprobeeitherinofflineoronline
modetolearnandedityourpart
program.See"ProgramMode"inthe
VirtualKeyboard DisplaysaVirtualKeyboard.See"Using

theVirtualKeyboard"inthe"UsingOther
Windows,Editors,andTools"chapter.
ProbeReadouts DisplaysorhidestheProbeReadout
window.See"UsingtheProbeReadout
Window"inthe"UsingOtherWindows,
Editors,andTools"chapter.
LargeStatusWindow DisplaysorhidestheStatuswindow.
See"UsingtheStatusWindow"inthe
"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,and
Tools"chapter.
ReportWindow DisplaysorhidestheReportwindow.
See"AbouttheReportWindow"inthe
"ReportingMeasurementResults"
chapter.
ActiveArmsToolbar
ActiveArmstoolbar
TheActiveArmstoolbarcontainsiconsdepictingmultiplearms.TheArm1Activeicon(toolbar
buttonwiththenumberone)correspondstothe'Master'arm.TheArm2Activeiconindicates
the'Slave'arm.Onlyonearmcanbeactiveatatime.Theselectediconisconsideredactive.
Youcanalsoexecutecommandstiedtoaspecificarmbyclickingthecoloredcheckmarkicon
thatcorrespondstotheactivearm.
Currently,theActiveArmstoolbarwillonlybeavailableforselectioniftheMultipleArmmode
addonpackagehasbeenpurchasedforyoursystem.
YoucanalsodisplaythistoolbarbyaccessingtheOperation|EnterMultipleArmModemenu
option.
Seethe"UsingMultipleArmMode"chapterformoreinformationonsettingupandusingmultiple
armCMMs.Also,seethe"AssigningaCommandtoanArm"topicfromthatchapterforadditional
informationonusingthistoolbar.
ActiveRotaryTableToolbar
ActiveRotaryTabletoolbar
TheActiveRotaryTabletoolbarallowsyoutoselectwhichofthetworotarytablesistheactive
table.Selectionforthistoolbarremainsunavailableuntilyousetuptherotarytablesusingthe
Edit|Preferences|RotaryTableSetupmenuoption.See"DefiningtheRotaryTable"inthe
"SettingYourPreferences"chapterformoreinformation.

WindowLayoutsToolbar
WindowLayoutstoolbar
TheWindowLayoutstoolbarallowsyoutostorethelayoutoftheanyopenwindows,editors,
andtoolbars,andthenrestoretheminyourcurrentpartprogrambyclickingonanicon.
Important:Beawarethatlayoutsdon'tonlystorepositionsoftoolbarsandwindows,butthey
alsostoresettingsandoptionsassociatedwiththewindowsandtoolbars.Ifalayouthasacertain
settingselected,andyouthensavethatlayout,thesettinggetssavedwiththelayout.Ifyoulater
deselectthatwindowsetting,withoutoverwritingthestoredlayout,thenexttimeyouselectthe
layout,PCDMISwillrestorethesavedsetting.
TheMinimizeiconminimizestheEditwindowssize
TheMaximizeiconmaximizestheEditwindowssize.
TheSaveicondisplaystheEnterWindowLayoutName
dialogboxthatallowsyoutosavethecurrentpositionand
sizeofanyopenwindows,editors,ortoolbarsundera
desiredlayoutname:
TheWindowLayoutNameboxallowsyoutospecifythe
nameofthelayout.PCDMISalsodisplaysthisnameasa
ToolTipfortheiconassociatedwiththelayout.Ifyoudon't
includealayoutname,PCDMISusesadefaultnameof
"RecallWindowLayout".
OnceyouclickOK,thelayoutgetssavedandanicon
representingthatlayoutappearsonthetoolbarwithyour
layoutconfiguration.
Youcannotoverwriteanexistinglayoutwithanewlayout
bygivingitthesamename.Ifyouwanttooverwritean
existinglayout,firstdeletetheexistinglayout,andthen
giveitthesamename.
Therestoresavedlayouticonrestoresthestoredlayout.
Anywindows,editors,andtoolbarsarerestoredtotheir
savedpositions.Hoveringyourmouseovertheiconshows
thenameofthestoredlayout.

Note:Ifyouhavemultiplepartprogramsopenandhavecreatedastoredlayoutusingoneofthe
partprograms,precedenceisgiventothepartprogramonwhichthelayoutwascreated.The
partprogramusedtocreatethestoredlayoutthenbecomestheactivepartprogramanddisplays
thestoredwindowlayout.
DeletingSavedUserLayouts
Todeleteasaveduserlayout:
1. Rightclickonthetoolbararea,andselectCustomize.TheCustomizedialog
boxappears.
3. ClickandholdthemouseovertheiconontheWindowLayoutstoolbar.The
iconbecomesmovable.
4. Dragtheiconoutsideofthetoolbar'sboundaries.
Theiconandthelayoutassociatedwiththeiconaredeleted.

DefiningHardware
DefiningHardware:Introduction
Thischapterdescribesalloftheoptionsassociatedwithdefiningthehardwareusedtomeasure
parts.Theseincludethecreationandcalibrationofyourprobewithitsprobetipsthecreationand
useofavirtualmachine,thecreation,positioning,anduseofquickfixturesthecalibrationof
probechangersandthecreationanimatedprobechangersandinformationonworkingwith
rotarytables.
Thesearediscussedinthefollowingtopics:
DefiningProbes
DefiningMachines
InsertingQuickFixtures
DefiningProbeChangers
WorkingwithRotaryTables
DefiningProbes
Oneofthefirststepsinpartprogrammingistodefinewhichprobeswillbeusedduringthe
inspectionprocess.Becauseprobedefinitionandcalibrationprocessesareoftendifferent,
dependingonyourspecificconfigurationofPCDMIS,thisinformationisinsteadcoveredinthe
documentationsetforyourconfiguration.Consulttheappropriatedocumentationsetbelowfor
informationonsettingup,calibrating,andusinganappropriateprobeforyourspecificsituation:

PCDMISVision
PCDMISLaser
PCDMISPortable
DefiningprobesusestheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox,describedbelow.
Hint:ClickthisiconfromtheWizardstoolbar toaccessthePCDMIS'sProbeWizard.
UnderstandingtheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox
SelectInsert|HardwareDefinition|Probe...TheProbeUtilitiesdialogboxdisplaysprobe
datafortheactivetip.Itallowsyoutocreatenewprobefiles,accesspreviouslydefinedfiles,and
editaprobefileasneeded.Thisoptionalsoallowsyoutocalibrateprobes.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual DefiningHardware 505

ProbeUtilitiesdialogbox
ProbeFileName
TheProbeFiledropdownlistdisplaysthecurrentprobefile.Probefilesarestoredinthe
directorywherePCDMISwasinstalled.Thedefaultdirectoryisthefilenameanddirectoryin
whichyouinstalledPCDMIS(usually"PCDMISW"onthelocal"C:\"drive).WhenPCDMIS
searchesforaprobefiletoload,itwillsearchinthisdirectoryunlessyou'vechangedthesearch
path.See"SpecifyingExternalDirectoriestoSearch"inthe"SettingyourPreferences"chapterof
thePCDMISCoredocumentationformoreinformation.
TocreateanewProbeFile,
1. HighlightthecurrentnameintheProbeFiledropdownlist.
2. Typeinanewname.
Ifaprobefilehasalreadybeensavedunderthekeyedinname,PCDMISwillloadthepreviously
savedfileintothecurrentpartprogram.
UseWristMapIfAvailablecheckbox
TheUseWristMapIfAvailablecheckboxdetermineswhetherornotPCDMISusesawrist
map(alsoknownasan"errormap")filewhencalibratingABangletipsonprobeconfigurations
thatuseanindexablewrist.Ifyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISwillsearchforthewristmap
file(afilenamedabcomp.dat)onyourcomputer,andiffound,willcompensateforthewrist's
errordatawhencalibratingtheABangletips.
506 DefiningHardware PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Forinformationoncreatingthewristmapfile,seethe"CalculateErrorMap"topicfromthe"Using
aWristDevice"appendix.
UsePartialCalibration
UsePartialCalibrationcheckbox
WhenusingtheRenishawscanbasedmethodtocalibrateaRenishawanalogprobe(suchasthe
SP25,SP600,orSP80),thefirsttimeit'scalibratedusingtheScanmethodmustbethefull
calibrationthatrunsthewholeseriesofscans.Afterthisfullcalibration,youcanchooseamore
simplifiedcalibrationifdesired.
Fullcalibrationcalculatesalltheanalogprobingcoefficientsinadditiontothetip
offsetandtipsize.
Partial(simplified)calibrationworksjustlikeanonanalogprobecalibration:it
consistsofdiscretehits(noscans)andonlycalculatesthetipoffsetandtipsizethe
analogprobingcoefficientsremainunchanged.
Toperformthesimplifiedcalibration,
1. AccesstheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.
2. LoadaRenishawanalogprobefromtheProbeFilelist.
3. SelecttheUsePartialCalibrationcheckbox.Thisremainsdisabledforprobes
thatdonotapply.
4. SelectoneormorealreadycalibratedprobetipsfromActiveTipsList.
5. ClicktheMeasurebutton.TheMeasuredialogboxappears.
6. MakechangesasneededontheMeasuredialogbox.Ifyoudefineanynamed
parametersetsPCDMISwillstorethestateoftheUsePartialCalibrationcheck
boxinthesetforfutureuse.
7. ClickMeasure.Followanyonscreenprompts.PCDMISwillperformthe
simplifiedcalibration.
Note:AregistryentryintheProbeCalsectioncalledProbeUsePartialCalibration storesthe
defaultforwhetherornotthischeckboxisselectedwhenyoudefineanewprobefile.
UseTRAXCalibration
Whencalibratingananalogprobeonsomemachinetypes,particularlywhenusingtheLeitz
interface,thereistypicallyachoiceofwhetherornottousetheTRAXcalibrationalgorithmfor

calculatingthecalibrationcoefficients.Youcanchoosewhichcalibrationalgorithmisusedby
selectingorclearingtheUseTRAXCalibrationcheckbox.
Ifyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISusestheTRAXcalibrationalgorithm.
Ifyouclearthischeckbox,PCDMISusesthePMMcalibrationalgorithm.
Thischeckboxdoesnotchangetheactualcalibrationprocessinanywayinstead,itdefinesto
themathalgorithmusedtoprocessthedataafterthediscretehitbasedanalogprobecalibration
processfinishes.
Note:Ifyouneedtoknowwhentoswitchcalibrationalgorithms,youshouldconsultwiththe
creatorsofyourparticularmachine.Theycanrecommendthebestpracticefortheirparticular
machineforaparticularsituation.
UserDefinedCalibrationOrdercheckbox
TheUserDefinedCalibrationOrdercheckboxallowsyoutodeterminetheorderPCDMIS
takestomeasureselectedtips.
Ifyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISwillmeasurethetipsintheorderdefinedbytheuser
whenmarkingthetipsforcalibrationintheActiveTipList.(See"ActiveTipList")Ifnotips
arechosen,PCDMISwillusetheI,J,K vectorsdefinedintheSearchI,J,Kboxesinthe
EditToolorAddTooldialogboxestodeterminethemostefficientordertomeasureallthe
tips.
Ifyoudonotselectthischeckbox,PCDMISwillmeasurethetipsinanorderthatit
determinestobethemostefficient.Whenthishappens,PCDMISignorestheorderthatwas
giventoselectedtipsintheActiveTipList.PCDMISwillalsousethecalibrationtoolvector
todeterminethemostefficientordertomeasure.
ActiveTipList
PCDMISallowsyoutostoredatadescribingalargenumberofprobetips.Thisdataincludesthe
probetip'sID,rotation,type,location,direction,diameterandthickness,dateandtimeof
calibration,andanynoncalibratedtips.TheseareallstoredinsidetheActiveTipList.
ActiveTipList
Therecanbeasmanyas32767probetipsstored.Thisnumbermaybelimitedbytheamountof
diskspaceavailableonyoursystem.
PCDMISdescribesaprobeaccordingtothefollowingcriteria:

1.TIPID#
Thisisthe
permanentnumber
thatPCDMIS
assignstoatip
whenitisloaded
intomemory.
2.TipRotation
Thisfielddisplays
therotationofthetip
inthevertical(A)
andhorizontal(B)
direction
3.TipType
Thisfielddisplays
theprobetype
(BALL,DISK,
TAPER,SHANK,
OPTICAL).
4.X,Y,ZLocation
Thesevalues
describethe
locationofthetip.
Thislocationisin
relationtothe
bottomoftheZrail.
5.I,J,KDirection
Thesevalues
describethe
directionofthe
probetip.This
vectorgoesfromthe
centeroftheprobe
tiptowardstheZ
rail.
6.Diameterand
Thickness
Thesevalues
describethe
diameterofthetip
andthethicknessof
SHANKandDISK

probes.PCDMIS
definesthesevalues
whentheprobeis
loaded.(Tochange
afieldsee"Edit
Tool".)
7.DateandTime
Theseboxes
indicatethemost
recentdateandtime
theprobetipwas
calibrated.Ifanew
tipiscreatedwithout
beingcalibrated,
PCDMISwill
display"NEW"for
thedateandtime
values.Ifanold
probetipisloaded
andthedateand
timeinformationis
unavailable,PC
DMISwilldisplay
"UNKNOWN"forthe
values.Onlyprobe
tipsthatareactually
calibratedhavetheir
timeanddate
valuesupdated.
Onlyonetipmaybe
editedatatime.
*(asterisk)
NoncalibratedTip
Anasterisk(*)tothe
leftofthetip
identifiesany
noncalibratedtips.
TipListDescription
AddingTipstotheList
Youcandefinenewtips,addingthemtothelist,byusingtheAddAnglesbutton.Seethe"Add
Angles"topic.
EditingTipData
1. HighlightthedesiredactivetipintheActiveTipList.
2. PresstheEditbutton.

AnEditdialogboxwillappear,allowingyoutochangethedisplayedvalues.
Note:noncalibratedtipshaveanasteriskbeforetheirTipID#intheActiveTipList.
SettingtheCalibrationOrder
Thecalibrationorderisdeterminedbytheorderinwhichthetipsarechosenfromthelistbox.
Tosetthecalibrationorder:
1. SelecttheUserDefinedoptionintheMeasureProbedialogbox(Seethe
"Measure"topic).
2. HolddowntheCTRLkey.
3. Withyourleftmousebutton,selectthetipsfromtheActiveTipListforcalibration.
Anumberrepresentingtheindexofthetipmeasurementorderappearsnexttoeach
TipIDasitisselected.
Ifnotipsarechosen,PCDMISwillaskyouifyouwanttomeasurealltips.
SelectingaTiptoUse
Youcandefineaspecificprobetiptouseinyourpartprogramintheseways:
TypingTIPintheEditwindow'sCommandmodeandpressingTAB.
SelectingtheprobetipfromthelistontheSettingstoolbar.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasampletipwouldread:
UntilPCDMISencountersanotherTIPcommandintheprogramflow,itwillusethattip.
ProbeDescription
ProbeDescriptionarea
TheProbeDescriptionarea(consistingofthedropdownlistandsubsequentbox)allowsyouto
definetheprobe,extensionsandtip(s)thatwillbeusedinthepartprogram.TheProbe
Descriptiondropdownlistdisplaystheavailableprobeoptionsinalphabeticalorder.
EditProbeComponents

DoubleclickingonalinewithintheProbeDescriptionareawillaccesstheEditProbe
Componentdialogbox.
EditProbeComponentdialogbox
Thisoptionallowsyoutoremovespecificportionsoftheprobegraphicsfromdisplayanddefinea
rotationangleabouttheconnection.Incaseswherethepartgeometryisparticularlydense,
selectingthisoptionallowsyoutotemporarilyremovesomeofthegraphicsprovidingabetter
viewofthefeatures.
Toremoveprobegraphics:
1. Doubleclickonthespecificfeaturedescription(intheProbeDescriptionbox)
thatneedstoberemovedfromview.PCDMISwilldisplaytheEditProbeComponent
dialogbox.
2. CleartheDrawthiscomponentcheckbox.
3. ClicktheOKbutton.TheEditProbeComponentdialogboxcloses.Noticethat
PCDMISredrawstheprobegraphicswithouttheindicatedcomponentandallother
componentsaboveitintheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.
Tochangetherotationangleabouttheconnection,typeavalueintheDefaultrotationangle
aboutconnectionbox.Thisisprimarilyusedtomanuallydefinetheangleofknuckle
attachments.Typeinthedesiredangle(anyanglefrom+180 to180)andclickOK.0isthe
defaultangle.
PreviewingyourProbeConfiguration
Graphicalviewofaprobeandsliders
ThegraphicalviewoftheProbeUtilitiesdialogboxprovidesyouwiththeabilitytopreview
graphically:

Thecomponentscomprisingyourprobe.
ThevariousABanglepositionsintheActiveTipListbox.
Acomplete3Drotationoftheprobe.
ViewingComponents:Onceselectedasapartoftheprobe,acomponentoftheprobes
configurationautomaticallyappearsinthegraphicalviewoftheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.
ViewingABAnglePositions:SelectanABanglepositionfromtheActiveTipListandthe
graphicalviewoftheprobedynamicallychangestomatchwhatthecurrentprobeconfiguration
wouldlooklikeusingtheselectedABangle.
RotatingtheProbein3D:Movethesliderslocatedbelowandtotheleftoftheprobesgraphical
viewtorotatetheviewoftheprobe.Thesliderbelowrotatestheprobehorizontally.Thesliderto
theleftrotatestheprobevertically.
HorizontalSliderRotatesdisplay VerticalSliderRotatesdisplay
horizontally. vertically
AddTool
TheAddToolbuttondisplaystheAddTooldialogbox.

AddTooldialogbox
Thisdialogboxallowsyoutostoredatadescribingthequalificationtools.Eachtoolisassigneda
sequentialIDnumber.AlongwiththeID#,PCDMISdisplaysthetooltype(SPHERE,
POLYHEDRALorRING),thetooloffset,shankvector,overridevector,thediameter(for
SPHERE)orlength(forPOLYHEDRAL).
Onceyoudefineanewtool,itwillappearintheListofAvailableToolsdropdownlistlocatedin
theMeasureProbedialogbox.
Atleastoneprobetipmust ToaddatooltotheListofAvailableToolsdropdownlist,clickon
bedefinedintheActiveTip theAddToolbutton.TheAddTooldialogboxappears,allowing
Listbeforemeasuringatool. youtoeditanynecessaryinformation:
TheAddTooldialogbox,givesyouaccesstothesameinformationusedwhenyoucreateanew
tool.YoucanchangetheToolID,theToolType,theOffsetvalues,theShankVectorIJK,andthe
Diameter/Lengthofthetool.
ToolID
Thisboxallowsyoutonamethetoolyouaredefining.
ToolType
Thisdropdownwindowallowsyoutodefinethetypeofcalibrationtoolyouwilluse.Youcan
selectonofthesetypes:

SPHERE
SLAVESPHERE
POLYHEDRAL
SLAVEPOLYHEDRAL
RING
SLAVERING
CalibratingwithRingTools
RingToolsareoftenusedwithVisionprobingsystems.However,youcanalsousethemto
calibratecontactprobes.SeethePCDMISVisiondocumentationforinformationonhowto
dothis.
OffsetX,Y,Z
TheseX,Y,andZvaluesgivethelocationoftheCalibrationToolinmachinecoordinates
Torecalibrateatip,simplyhighlightthedesiredtipintheActiveTiplist.Proceedtocalibratethe
probetipusingtheMeasurebutton.(See"PreviewingyourProbeConfiguration".)
ShankVectorI,J,K
Thisboxdisplaysthevectoroftheshaftonthetool.PCDMISusesthesevaluesduring
calibrationtoavoidtheshaft.
ItemAdepictstheshaftonasphericaltool
SearchOverrideI,J,K
TheseboxesallowyoutospecifyavectorusedbyPCDMIStodeterminethemostefficientorder
tomeasureallthetipswhenyouselecttheUserDefinedCalibrationOrdercheckboxinthe
ProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.See"CalibrationOrder".
Diameter/Length
Thisboxdisplaysthediameter/lengthofaspheretool.
Tochangethisvalue:
1. SelecttheDiameter/Lengthbox.
2. Enterinanewvalue.

Measure
TheMeasurecommandbuttonallowsyoutocalibrateprobetipsselectedfromtheActiveTips
areaoftheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.See"CalibratingProbeTips"forinformationonhowtodo
this.
EditTool
TheEditToolcommandbuttonallowsyoutoeditatoolthatalreadyexistsinthe"Listof
AvailableTools".SimplyclicktheEditToolbuttonandthisEditTooldialogboxwillappear:
EditTooldialogbox
TheEditTooldialogboxhasthesameoptionsastheAddTooldialogbox.
DeleteTool
TheDeleteToolcommandbuttonallowsyoutoremoveatoolthatisnolongerneededinthe
ListofAvailableToolsdropdownlist.

Toremoveatool:
1. SelectthedesiredToolID.
2. ClicktheDeleteToolbutton.
ListofAvailableTools
TheListofAvailableToolsdropdownlistdisplaystheavailabletools,allowingyoutospecify
whichtoolwillbeusedincalibratingtheprobe.PCDMISonlyusessphericaltools.
SphericalToolandBallTip
PCDMISpromptsyoutoenterthenumberofhitstobetakenonthetoolandthenasksyouto
takethehits.
SphericalToolandDiskTip
IfMode=MANUAL,PCDMISwillpromptyoutotakesixhitsonthecalibrationtool.Takethree
hitsabovetheequatorofthesphereandthreebelowtheequator.
IfMode=DCC,thelocationofthecalibrationtoolmustpreviouslybeknown.
SphericalToolandTaperTip
PCDMISwillpromptyoutotakesixhitsonthespherewiththetaperedpartoftheprobe.The
sphericaltoolis,ineffect,beingusedastheprobetomeasurethetapertipasacone.Thefirst
threehitsneedtoformaplanethatisapproximatelyperpendiculartotheconecenterline.Ifa
smalltaperprobeisbeingused,itisbesttouseasmallsphericaltooltoperformthisoperation.
SphericalToolandBarrel/ShankTip
PCDMISwillpromptyoutotakefourhitsinaplanarcrosssectionofthespheretoformacircle.
Thehitsmustbemadewiththesamepartoftheprobethatwillbeusedforinspection.Whenthe
fourhitshavebeentaken,PCDMISwillpromptyoutotouchthesphereoncewiththebottom
surfaceoftheprobe.
SphericalToolandOpticalTip
Thisoptionisonlyavailableiftheopticaltipisdefinedasahardprobe.
Edit
AnyactivetipcanbeupdatedbysimplyhighlightingthedesiredtipintheActiveTipListand
selectingtheEditbutton.TheEditProbeDatadialogboxwillappear.

EditProbeDatadialogbox
Youcanmakechangestothefollowinginformation:
TIPID
ThisboxcontainsthepermanentnumberthatPCDMISassignstoatipwhenitisloadedinto
memory.Youcannoteditthisvalue.Itisshownfordisplaypurposesonlyhowever,youcan
defineamoredescriptiveidentificationbyusingtheNicknamebox.
DMISLabel
ThisboxdisplaystheDMISlabel.WhenimportingDMISfiles,PCDMISusesthisvaluetoidentify
anySNSDEFstatementinsidetheimportedDMISfile.
X,Y,andZCenter
Thesevaluesdescribethelocationofthetip.ThislocationisinrelationtothebottomoftheZrail.
Shank/OpticalVectorI,J,K
Thesevaluesdescribethedirectionoftheprobetipshankifyou'reusingaprobetip.Thisvector
goesfromthecenteroftheprobetiptowardstheZrail.Ifyou'reusinganopticalprobe,these
valuesdescribethedirectionoftheopticaldevice.
Diameteroftheballtip
Thisboxcontainsdiameterofthetip.
Thicknessoftheballtip
Thisboxcontainsthethicknessofthetip.Itdefinestheuseableandgraphicalheight/thicknessof
therubytip.PCDMISappliesthisvalueduringthediskprobecalibrationproceduretomovethe
probenorthorsouthoftheequator.Inthecaseofadiskprobe,forexample,youmightneedto
adjustthisvaluedowntomaketheprobequalifybetter.

PrbRdv
ThePrbRdvboxontheEditProbeDatadialogboxallowsyoutosetaradialdeviationforthe
calibratedsizeofthetip.
Whenyouexecutetheprobecalibration,PCDMISdoesoneoftwothings:
1. IfyouhaveamachineconfigurationwherePrbRdvapplies,thecalibrationprocess
automaticallysetsthetipsizetothetheoreticalvalue,calculates,andthensavesa
PrbRdvvalue.
2. IfyourhaveamachinewherePrbRdvdoesnotapply,thecalibrationautomaticallysets
thePrbRdvvaluetozero,calculatesandthensavesatipsizeslightlydifferentfromthe
theoreticalvalue.
TheEditProbeDatadialogboxmerelyallowsyoutoeditthetipsizeand/orPrbRdvifneededfor
somereasonaftercalibration.Ifyourecalibrate,theresultingvalueswillcomefromthe
calibration,notfromwhatevermayhavebeenmanuallyenteredintothisdialogboxpriorto
calibrating.
Note:Thisboxisonlyavailableforselectionifyouuseananalogprobeoncertainmachines.
CalibrationDateandTime
Thesevaluesindicatethemostrecentdateandtimetheprobetipwascalibrated.Thesevalues
areavailableforviewingintheEditProbeDatadialogbox.Ifanewtipiscreatedwithoutbeing
calibrated,PCDMISwilldisplayNEWforthedateandtimevalues.Ifanoldprobetipisloaded
andthedateandtimeinformationisunavailable,PCDMISwilldisplayUNKNOWNforthevalues.
Onlyprobetipsthatareactuallycalibratedhavetheirtimeanddatavaluesupdated.
Nickname
TheNicknameboxontheEditProbeDatadialogboxletsyougiveamoredescriptivenameto
theselectedprobeTipID.Forexample,ifyounamedyourprobetip,"MyTip"intheNickname
box,PCDMISwouldthenuse"MyTip"intheuserinterfaceforthatprobetipindialogboxes,
messages,onreports,etc.Ifyoudon'tdefineanID,PCDMISwillusethedefaultgeneratedTip
IDinstead.
TodeleteatipfromtheActiveTiplist:
TodeleteatipfromtheActiveTipList:
1. Selecttheitemtoberemoved.
2. SelecttheDeletebutton.
Ifthereisonlyonetiphighlighted,PCDMISwillautomaticallydeleteit.Multipleitemscanbe
deletediftheyareallhighlightedwhentheDeletebuttonisselected.
PCDMISalsoallowsspecificPH9anglestoberemovedfromtheActiveTipList.
Todeleteawristangle:

Todeleteawristangle:
1. Selecttheangletoberemoved.
2. SelecttheDeletebutton.
Ifatiporprobeheadisdeleted,allrelatedPH9angleswillalsobedeletedfromthefile.
Note:ThisoptionwilldeletethetipfromtheActiveTipListandremoveitfromthefileoftips
knowntothesystem
AddAngles
WhentheAddAnglesbuttonisselectedtheAddAnglesdialogboxappears.
AddNewAnglesdialogbox
Usingtheboxesandbuttonsavailable,PCDMISallowsyoutocreatealistofABpositions.Once
apositionhasbeencalibrateditcanberecalledatanytimeduringanypartprogram.Therefore,
bycalibratingfrequentlyusedpositions,theycanberecalledatwillwhilelearningormanually
inspectingapartprogram.
ABpositionsarestoredinpartcoordinates.Therefore,duringExecuteMode,PCDMISwill
automaticallyfindtheclosestcalibratedABpositionappropriatetotheorientationoftheparton
themachine.TheAutomaticallyAdjustProbeHeadWristcheckbox(See"Automatically
AdjustProbeHeadWrist"inthe"SettingyourPreferences"chapterofthePCDMISCore
documentation)mustbeselectedinorderfortheABpositionstobeavailable.TheEditwindow
mustalsoreflectaprobechangecommandpriortothefeature.
Sincethemechanicalpositioningoftheprobewillchangeovertime,itisrecommendedthatthe
probebeperiodicallyrecalibrated.WhentheAddAnglesbuttonisselected,PCDMISdisplays
theAddNewAnglesdialogbox.
ThisdialogboxallowsyoutospecifysingularABorientations.PCDMISwillalsocreatealistof
equallyspacedABorientationsusingtheparametersspecifiedintheboxesoftheEqually
SpacedAnglesDataarea.
TheAddAnglesdialogboxprovidesthefollowingparameters.

NewAnglesListbox
TheNewAnglesListboxcontainsalistingofABanglesfromeithertheIndividualAngleData
areaorEquallySpacedAnglesDataarea.
IndividualAngleData
TheIndividualAngleDataareaallowsyoutoaddABpositionsoneatatimeintotheNew
AnglesListbox.
Toaddindividualangles:
1. Placeyourcursorinthebox(es)youwanttochange
2. Enterinanewangle.
3. ClicktheAddAnglesbutton.
TheindividualangleyouspecifiedwillappearintheNewAnglesListbox.
EquallySpacedAnglesData

TheAddAnglesbuttonassociatedwiththeseboxesautomaticallymarksalloftherequested
equallyspacedABpositionsintheNewAnglesListbox.Thedefaultpositionfortheprobe
configurationisautomaticallyincludedinthefinallist.APH9pointingstraightdown(A=0,
B=any)isautomaticallydefinedandthereforedoesn'tneedtoberedefinedinthisdialogbox.
PCDMISeasilyallowsyoutomeasurealltheABpositionsfrom0to90intheAaxiswith15
incrementsandfrom180to180intheBaxiswith45increments.
AaxisanglerangeFrontviewofCMMwithB=90.
1Front
2BAxis
Baxisanglerangetopview
withA=90
ToaddanglestotheNewAnglesListbox:
1. Enterthenecessaryinformationineachavailableanglebox(StartingA,Ending
A,IncrementinA,StartingB,EndingB,IncrementinB).
2. ClicktheAddAnglesbuttonandPCDMISwillautomaticallydisplaythe
requestedABorientations,intheNewAnglesListbox.

ABorientationsdisplayedintheNewAnglesListbox
WorkingwiththeAngleGrid
PCDMISallowsyoutoviewandselectanglesforthedefinedwristbyusingananglegridfrom
theAddNewAnglesdialogbox.TheanglegriddisplaysallavailableAanglepositionsdownthe
sideofthedialogboxandtheBanglepositionsalongthetopofthedialogbox.
AportionoftheAddNewAnglesdialogboxshowingpreviouslyselectedABangles(darkgrey)
andABanglesinsertedbeforetheAddNewAnglesdialogboxisclosed(red)
Toaddnewanglesbyclickingonthegrid,
1. FindtherowoftheAangleyouwanttoadd.Thenfindthecolumnwiththe
appropriateBangle.
2. ClicktheboxinthegridwherethedesiredAandBanglesintersect.The
selectedboxturnsred,andtheselectedABanglepositionsareinsertedintotheNew
Angleslistbox.
ToclearaselectedABangleposition,simplyclickoneoftheredboxesagain,PCDMISremoves
theABanglepositionsassociatedwiththatboxfromtheNewAngleslistbox.
UnderstandingtheGridColors

Therearefourpossiblegridboxcolorsthatyoumayseewhenworkingwiththeanglegrid:dark
grey,red,yellow,andgreen.Probeheadsthathaveenoughgridblockstoshowthecomplete
rangeoftheprobehead'sangularadjustment,willonlyshowanglegridboxesindarkgreyorred.
However,ifyou'reusingawristdevice(suchasaPHSorCW43L)youmayhaveangleswith
incrementsthatexceedthenumberofangleincrementsusedintheanglegrid.Inthesecases
PCDMIScolorstheclosestmatchinganglegridlocationingreenoryellow.
Color Description
DarkGrey AdarkgreygridboxindicatesthattheABangleposition
alreadyexistsintheActiveTiplistoftheProbe
Utilitiesdialogbox.TheABangleperfectlymatchesthe
gridbox'sangle.
Red Aredgridboxindicatesthatyouhavespecifiedanew
ABanglepositionusingtheAddAnglesdialogbox,but
theanglehasn'tyetbeenaddedtotheActiveTiplist.
TheABangleperfectlymatchesthegridbox'sangle.
Yellow AyellowgridboxindicatesthattheABangleposition
alreadyexistsintheActiveTiplistoftheProbe
UtilitiesdialogboxandthatPCDMISchosetheclosest
matchinggridlocationfortheABangle.
Green Agreengridboxindicatesthatyouhavespecifieda
newABanglepositionusingtheAddAnglesdialog
box,buttheanglehasn'tyetbeenaddedtotheActive
Tiplist.PCDMISchoosestheclosestmatchinggrid
locationfortheABangle.
NotesontheAddAngleoption
Automaticprobecalibrationcanonlybedoneusingasphericalprobeand
sphericalqualificationtool.
TheX,Y,andZcoordinateofthecenterofthetoolthatisbeingusedmust
reflectthecurrentpositionofthetoolonthetable.Ifthisisnotthecase,theresponse
shouldbeYEStothequestion"Hasprobepositionmoved?"
WhenmeasuringABpositionsunderoperatorcontrol,PCDMISwill
automaticallyrotatetheprobeheadtothenextmanualpositionwhenthecurrent
positioniscompleted.Pleasebesuretheprobeclearsthetoolbeforepressingthe
ENDkey.
Ifthecalibrationtoolpositionhaschangedornewanglesneedtobeappended
tothelistoftips,marktheneededanglesintheNewAnglesListbox.Thedefault
positionoftheprobetip(normaltotheshaftofthetool)mustalsobemarked.PC
DMISwillfirstexecutetheanglethatisnormaltothetool,andthenexecutetheother
markedangles.
IftheautomaticABcalibrationisstoppedbeforeithasfinishedmeasuringallthe
appendedpositions,PCDMISwillaskyouifyouwanttokeepthepartialcalibrated
databeforequitting.
Results
TheResultsbuttondisplaystheresultsofthemostrecentprobecalibrationintheCalibration
Resultsdialogbox.

Resultsdialogbox
Inadditiontodisplayingtheprobe'sdiameterandthickness,thedialogboxalsoprovidesthe
actualangleandroundnessofthesphere.Thesemeasuredresultsletyouverifytheaccuracyof
thecalibration.
Inversion3.7andabove,PCDMISshowsresultsuptosixdecimalplaces.
MarkUsed
ThisoptionwillautomaticallysearchthecurrentpartprogramforABangles.PCDMISthenadds
anyABanglesthatarefoundtothecurrentprobeconfiguration.
Note: BeawarethatifyouselecttheAutomaticallyAdjustProbeHeadWristoption(foundinthe
GeneraltabintheSetupdialogbox)andclicktheMarkUsedbutton,PCDMISmaynotselect
alltheprobetipsforcalibration(seethe"AutomaticallyAdjustProbeHeadWrist"topicinthe
"SettingyourPreferences"chapter).
GlobalUsed
TheGlobalUsedbuttonsearchesfortipsusedinotherpartprogramsbythecurrentlyactive
probefile.ItthenaddsthemtotheActiveTipListandmarksthemforcalibration.
Bydefault,thisbuttonsearchesthroughanypartprogramsubdirectories.Youcancontrol
whetherornotthissearchessubdirectoriesofthedefinedsearchdirectorybyusingthe
ProbeGlobalUsedIsRecursiveregistryentrydescribedinthe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"
chapter.
FileFormat

TheFileFormatbuttonsavestheexistingprobefileintoaformatcompatiblewithprevious
versionsofPCDMIS.WhenyouclicktheFileFormat button,theConvertProbeFileFormat
dialogboxappears.
ConvertProbeFileFormatdialogbox
Thedialogboxcontainsthesetwoitems:
CurrentVersionboxThisliststhecurrentversionofPCDMIS.
VersionforSavinglistThiscontainstheprobefileformattypesyoucansavethe
probefileas.
UseUnitCalibrationData
TheUseUnitCalibDatacheckboxonlyappearsonthedialogboxifyouhavealreadyperformed
aunitcalibration.Ifthischeckboxisnotselected,PCDMISwillusethestandardcalibration.
Selectingthischeckboxallowsyoutousetheunitcalibrationdata.See"CalibratetheUnit"inthe
"CalibratingProbeTips"topicforadditionalinformation.
AvailableTipTypes
PCDMISprovidesthefollowingtypesoftipsintheProbeDescriptiondropdownlist:
Ifatipneedstobeaddedtothelistofavailabletips,pleasecontactyourPCDMISsoftware
supportrepresentative.Onlyauthorizedpersonnelareallowedtocreateadditionaltipfiles.
Ball
Thisdefinesasphericalprobe.Theuserisabletoeditthenominaldiameterandthicknessofthe
probeusingtheEditbutton.Thedirectionoftheprobemustalsobedefined.
Disk
Thisdefinesadiskprobe.Theuserisabletoeditthenominaldiameterandthicknessofthe
probeusingtheEditbutton.Thedirectionoftheprobemustalsobedefined.
Optical

Thisoptionisonlyavailableiftheopticaltipisdefinedasahardprobe.
Thisoptiondefinesanopticalprobe.Theuserisabletoeditthenominaldiameteroftheprobe
usingtheEditbutton.Thedirectionoftheprobemustalsobedefined.
Shank
Thisdefinesashankorbarrelprobe.Theuserisabletoeditthenominaldiameterandthickness
oftheprobeusingtheEditbutton.Thedirectionoftheprobemustalsobedefined.
CollisionTolerance
TheCDmoduleinAvail/NT CollisionDetection(CD)inPCDMISisdesignedtodetectcollisions
willnotworkunlessthereis betweentheprobeandCADsurfaces.
anOPENGL(shaded)view
onthescreen. CollisiontolerancesarespecifiedintheCollisionTolerancesdialog
box.ThisoptioncanbeaccessedbyclickingontheTolerances
buttonintheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.
CollisionTolerancesdialogbox
SeeDetectingCollisionsinthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapterforadditionaldocumentation
regardingtheCollisionDetectionoption.
SpecifyingCollisionTolerances
CollisiontolerancesarespecifiedintheCollisionTolerancedialogbox.Thisdialogboxcanbe
activatedbyclickingtheTolerancesbuttonintheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.
Intheeditboxyoucanspecifyapositiveornegativevalueforeachprobecomponentselected
fromthedropdownlist.Thiseffectivelychangesthesizeofthatcomponent.
Apositivenumberwillincreasethesizeofthecomponentsoacollisionwillbe
detectedifthatcomponentcomeswithinthespecifieddistanceofthepart.
Anegativedistancedecreasesthesizeofthatportionoftheprobe,havingthe
oppositeeffectofapositivedistance.

YoucanalsochoosetoignoreaprobecomponentbyselectingtheIgnorecheckbox.PCDMIS
willthenignorethatprobecomponentwhencheckingforcollisions.Thismaybeusefulwithatip,
wherecollisionsareexpectedtooccurwhentakinghits.
OnceyoustartcollisiondetectionbyselectingtheCollisionDetectionmenuoption,PCDMIS's
internalCADengineperformsallthecalculationsrequiredtodetectacollision.Anycollisions
detectedaredisplayedintheCollisionDetectiondialogbox.Thisdialogboxreportstheresultsin
theProbeDisplaywindowofthedialogbox,andsavesthemforlateruseindrawingtheEditPath
lines.
SeeDetectingCollisionsinthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapterinthePCDMISCore
documentationforadditionaldocumentationregardingtheCollisionDetectionoption.
ProbeSetup
TheSetupbuttonontheProbeUtilitiesdialogboxdisplaystheProbeSetupdialogbox.
ProbeSetupdialogbox
Thisdialogboxallowsyoutofurthercustomizeyourprobesettings.Usingtheoptionsinthis
dialogboxyoucanchangeorselectthefollowinginformation:
Giveawarningwhenusingtipsthathavenotbeencalibratedinxdays.
Wherexisthenumberofdays.
Giveawarningwhenusingtipsthatwerenotallcalibratedwithinxhoursofeach
other.
Wherexisthenumberofhours.
Clearancedistancealongthequalificationtoolshankvector:x
Wherexistheclearancedistance
Clearancedistancealongthequalificationtoolshankvectorforcontinuouswrist
probes:x
ClearancedistanceinZwhenqualificationtoolshankisperpendiculartotheZ
axis:x

Giveawarningduringqualificationwhenthestandarddeviationofthesphereis
morethan:x
Wherexisthestandarddeviation
Giveawarningwhenthediametererrorfortheprobetipismorethan:x.
Wherexisthediametererror
Don'taskoperatorforcurrentlyloadedprobefilewhenusingaprobechanger.
Currentlyloadedprobefile:file
Wherefileistheappropriateprobefile
Appendthecalibrationresultstotheresultsfile.
ProbeFileUsedwithProbeChangertoForceUnloadOnly:file
Wherefileisadummyprobefile
Thisisusedtoforceanunloadofthecurrentprobewithoutloadinganewprobefrom
theprobechanger.Seethe"ToDropoffaProbewithoutPickingupaNewProbe"
topicinthe"SettingYourPreferences"chaptersection.
ClickOKtoacceptyourchanges.
PrintList
ThePrintListbuttondisplaysthePrintdialogbox.IfyouthenclicktheOKbutton,PCDMIS
printsalistofcalibratedandnoncalibratedtipanglesinatable.Thesearethesametipangles
listedintheActiveTipList.Eachrowofthetablecontainsatipanglewhilethecolumnsdisplay
theXYZ,IJK,diameter,andthicknessvaluesforeachtipangle.Italsodisplaysthedateandtime
ofthecalibratedtipangles.
Ifatipanglehasn'tbeencalibratedorifthere'saDiameter,Date,orTimeerror,thelistwillshow
thetipinredtext.
ExamplePrintout
Belowyoucanseeanexampleprintoutoftheactivetiplist:
ExamplePrintoutofActiveTipsforaPH9probe

AutoCalibrateProbe
PCDMISprovidesacommandthatautomaticallycalibratesthecurrentprobeduringpart
programexecution.PCDMISwillbeginthecalibrationroutineonceitexecutesthecommand.
Toinsertthiscommand,selecttheInsert|Calibrate|AutoCalibrateProbe menuoption
TheEditwindowcodeforthiscommandreads:
AUTOCALIBRATE/PROBE,PARAMETER_SET=,QUALTOOL_MOVED=Y/N,SHOW_SUMMARY=Y/N,
OVERWRITE_RESULTSFILE=Y/N
PARAMETER_SET= Thisfieldspecifiesthenameofadefinedsetofprobequalification
parameters.AdefaultsetnamedALLTIPSWITHDEFAULTSisalwaysavailableandwill
calibratealltipsdefinedinthecurrentprobeusingthedefaultsetofqualificationparameters,
whicharethelastonesthatwereusedinteractively.Tocreateyourownparametersets,see
the"ParameterSets".
QUALTOOL_MOVED=ThisYES/NOfieldsetsyourresponsetothecomputersqueryof
whetherornotthecalibrationtoolhasmoved.
SHOW_SUMMARY=ThisYES/NOfielddetermineswhetherornotPCDMISdisplaysa
summaryofthecalibration.
OVERWRITE_RESULTSFILE=ThisYES/NOfielddetermineswhetherornotPCDMIS
overwritesorappendsinformationsenttotheresultsfile.Thisisthesameresultsfilethats
referencedwhencalibratinginteractively.
PressingF9onthiscommandblockallowsyoutoeditthecommandblockusingtheCalibrate
TiporCalibrateProbedialogbox.
Youcanalsoinsertacommandtoautomaticallycalibratemultiplearms.See"Performingan
AutomaticCalibration"inthe"UsingMultipleArmMode"chapterofthePCDMISCore
documentationformoreinformation.
ToAutomaticallyCalibrateaSingleTip
Youcanalsoperformanautomaticcalibrationoftheactivetipbyfollowingthisprocedure:
1. Makesureyouhaveatleastonespherefeatureinyourpartprogram.PCDMIS
requiresaspherefeatureinordertodothistypeofcalibration.
2. AccesstheEditwindowandplaceitintoCommandmode.
3. FromtheSettingstoolbar,selectthetipyouwanttocalibrate.AnewTIP
commandappearsintheEditwindow.MakesurethisnewTIPcommandappearsin
theEditwindowafterthespherefeatureyouwillusewiththiscalibration.
4. OnanylinefollowingthisTIPcommand,accesstheInsert|Calibrate|Single
Tipmenuoption.
5. PCDMISinsertsaCALIBRATEACTIVETIPWITHFEAT_ID commandblock
intotheEditwindow.
6. Clickanywhereonthiscommandblock,andpressF9.TheCalibrateTipdialog
boxappears.

CalibrateTipdialogbox
7. SelectthespherefeaturetousefromtheSphereFeaturelist.
8. SelectthedesiredcalibrationtoolfromtheQualificationToollist.
9. Ifthecalibrationtoolhasmovedsinceyourlastcalibration,selectthe
QualificationToolHasMovedcheckbox.
10. ClickOKtoupdatethecalibrationcommandblockwithyourchanges.For
example,thisexamplecommandblockshowsthatthecalibrationtoolisnamed
MyTool,andthatthespherefeaturetouseforthiscalibrationisSPH1.
CALIBRATEACTIVETIPWITHFEAT_ID=SPH1,
QUALTOOL_ID=MyTool,MOVED=NO
AXIS THEO MEAS DEV STDDEV
X 0.0000 8.0080 8.0080
Y 0.0000 1.0000 1.0000
Z 0.0000 0.9500 0.9500
DIAM 2.0000 1.0000 1.0000 0.0000
11. Markthiscommandblock,andexecutethepartprogram.PCDMISwillcalibrate
theactivetipwhenitreachesthiscommandblock.
DefiningMachines

Machinedialogbox
TheInsert|HardwareDefinition|MachinemenuoptionbringsuptheMachinedialogbox.
ThisdialogboxallowsyoutoselectorcreateaCMMmachinethatcanbedisplayedand
animatedintheGraphicsDisplaywindowalongwiththeprobewheninprogrammode.
Thelistofmachinesinthisdialogboxiscreatedusingthefiles"machine.dat"and
"usermachine.dat"locatedinthedirectorywhereyouinstalledPCDMIS.
Thefile"machine.dat"containsmachinedescriptionssuppliedbyPCDMIS's
developers.
Thefile"usermachine.dat"containsthemachinedescriptionsofanymachines
theuserhascreatedandsaved.
IfyouselectanentryfromtheMachineNamelistthat wasinthe"machine.dat"filethenthe
selectionisdisplayedinthepreviewarea(blankbluescreen).
Ifthereisno"machine.dat"file,theuserwillonlyhavetheNoMachineitemintheMachine
Namelist.
CreatingaNewMachineforDisplay
Tocreateanewmachine:
1. TypeanameforthemachineintheMachineNamelist.
2. SelectthetypeofmachinefromaMachineTypelist.
3. Determinethedimensionsofthemachinebyspecifyingthelength,width,and
heightoftheaxes:
Specifythe1st axisbyselectingX,Y,orZfromthe1st Axislist.Typethelength

ofthemachine'sbaseinthe1st Axisbox.
Specifythe2nd axisbyselectingX,Y,orZfromthe2nd Axislist.Typethewidth
ofthemachine'sbasesecondaxisinthe2nd Axisbox.
Specifythe3rd axisbyselectingX,Y,orZfromthe3rd Axislist.Typetheheight
ofthemachineinthe3rd Axisbox.
4. Specifythemachine'shomepositionbytypingvaluesintheHomePosition
area.Thisareaisonlyeditableforuserdefinedmachinesyoucannotuseitfor
machinessuppliedbyPCDMIS.
5. ClicktheSavebutton.PCDMISincludesthenewlycreatedmachineinthe
MachineNamelist.
Note:The"usermachine.dat"fileisnotactuallymodifieduntilyouclickApplyorOK.Ifyouclick
Cancelallchangesareignored.
AdditionalInformationontheMachine'sAxes
The1st axisdefinesthelengthofthemachine'sbaseinthedirectionthatthebridgemoves
(forbridgemachines),orthelengthofthebaseinthedirectionthattheverticalcarriage
moves(forhorizontalarmmachines).ThisisusuallytheXaxisformosthorizontalarm
machines,andeithertheXortheYaxisformostverticalarmmachines.

nd
The2 axisdefinesthewidthofthebaseinthedirectionthatthecarriagemoves(fora
bridgemachine)orthedirectionthearmmoves(forahorizontalarmmachine).Thisisthe
verticalZaxisformosthorizontalarmmachinesandeithertheXortheYaxisformost
verticalarmmachines.Thisdiffersfromthemachinevolume.Thevolumedefinesthe
distancethearmcanreach.Mostarmmachineshaveavolumejustover50%ofthewidth.
The3rd axisdefinestheheightofthemachinefromthetopofthebasetothebottomsideof
thebridgeforabridgemachine,ortheextentoftheverticalaxisforahorizontalarm
machine.ThisistheverticalZaxisformostbridgemachinesandtheYaxisformost
horizontalarmmachines.Atthistimeonlythefollowingaxisconfigurationsareallowed:
GenericBridgewithY,X,ZorX,Y,Z
GenericArmwithX,Y,Z
AdditionalInformationontheMachine'sHomePositionarea
Thesethreeboxesdefinethehomepositionofthemachine.Thex,y,zvaluesdefinewherethe
homepositionisforthemachine.Thecenterofthemachinebaseis0,0,0.Butthesecoordinates
arenotusedtoshowthehomepositiononmostmachines.Thex,y,zvaluesareoffsetfromthe
0,0,0machinebaseposition.
Forexample,ifthemachine'sdimensionsare1000,700,and700withtheactualhomeposition
intheupperleftcornerinback,themachinesoffsetswouldbe:350,500,350forthe1st,2nd,and
3rd axesrespectively.
Note:TheHomePositionareaisonlyeditableforuserdefinedmachinesyoucannotuseitfor
machinessuppliedbyPCDMIS.
AdditionalInformationforCreatingMultipleArmMachines
YoucanalsocreateandplaceasimulatedmultiplearmmachineintotheGraphicsDisplay
window.
1. FollowPCDMISmultiplearmsetupprocedures.
2. Entermultiplearmmode.TheActiveArmstoolbarappears.Thisenablesthe
DualHorizontalArmoptionfromtheMachineTypearea.
3. Createamultiplearmpartprogram.
4. Followthe"CreatingaNewMachineforDisplay"procedure(makesureyou
selecttheDualHorizontalArmoptionbuttonfromtheMachineTypearea).
5. TheGraphicsDisplaywindowshouldnowshowadualarmmachinewhen
finished.
DisplayingExistingMachinesintheGraphicsDisplayWindow
TodisplayamachineintheGraphicsDisplaywindow,accesstheMachinedialogbox,selecta
machinefromtheMachineNamelist,andthenclickOK.Thegraphicalrepresentationofthe
selectedmachineappearsintheGraphicsDisplaywindowalongwiththeCADofthepart.
PCDMISalsoinsertsaLOADMACHINE/NAMEcommandintotheEditwindow,whereNAMEis
themachine'sname.
CreatingaRelationshipbetweentheMachineandthePart

YoucancreatearelationshipbetweenthemachinemodelandtheCADmodelbychangingthe
XYZoffsetsandrotationstoestablishtheproperorientationbetweenthetwomodels.Youcando
thisbyusingtheQuickFixtureModetochangethepart'sorientationorbyusingthe
Part/MachinetaboftheSetupOptionsdialogbox.Oryoucanuseacombinationofthetwo
approaches.
UsingtheQuickFixtureMode
1. ClicktheQuickFixtureModeicon fromtheGraphicsModestoolbar.
2. UsethemouseandQuickFixture'sshortcutmenutoproperlyorientyourpart.
RightclickonyourpartmodelandselectLevelObject.Thislevelsyourpartto
themachinemodel'stablesurface.
RightclickonyourpartmodelandselectDropObject.Thissetsyourpartonto
themachinemodel'stablesurface.
Rightclickonyourpartmodelandrotateandmoveyourparttofurtherpositionit
asneeded.
3. Switchtoadifferentmode.Thepartmodelwillremainedfixedatitsfinalposition.
Seethe"QuickFixtureMode'sMouseandKeyboardCommands"forinformationonusingthis
modetomoveyourmodel.
UsingthePart/MachineTab
1. PressF5toaccesstheSetUpOptionsdialogbox.
3. InthePartSetupareaclicktheAutoPositionbuttontohavePCDMISautomatically
positionyourpartmodelonthemachinemodel'stablesurface.
4. Ifyouwantmoredirectcontroloverplacementofyourpartmodelyoucanmodifythe
itemsdirectlyinthePartSetuparea.
See"SetupOptionsMode:Part/Machinetab"topicinthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapter.
RemovingtheAnimatedMachinefromtheGraphicsDisplayWindow
YoucangetridoftheCMM'sgraphicaldisplayatanytimebyfollowingoneoftheseprocedures:
Selectingthe'NoMachine'Item
1. AccesstheMachinedialogbox.
2. SelectNoMachinefromtheMachineNamelist.
3. ClickApplyorOK.PCDMISremovesthedisplayofthemachine.
DeletingtheLOADMACHINECommand
2. PlaceitinSummaryorCommandmode.
3. DeletetheentireLOADMACHINE/command.PCDMISremovesthedisplayof
themachine.
DeletingtheMachine

1. AccesstheMachinedialogbox.
2. SelectingthemachinetodeletefromtheMachineNamelist.
4. ClickApplyorOK.PCDMISremovesthemachinefromtheMachineNamelist
andremovesthedisplayofthemachine.Thisalsodeletesthemachinefromthe
"usermachine.dat"file.
Note:The"usermachine.dat"fileisnotactuallymodifieduntilyouclickApplyorOK.Ifyouclick
Cancelallchangesareignored.
InsertingQuickFixtures
WithPCDMIS3.6MR1andlateryoucanquicklyandeasilyinsertaselectionofpredefined(or
custom)fixturesintotheGraphicsDisplaywindowbyusingtheQuickFixdialogbox.
Toaccessthisdialogbox,selecttheInsert|HardwareDefinition|QuickFixturemenuitem.
QuickFixdialogbox
Thisdialogboxcontainstheseoptions:
AvailableFixturesThislistdisplaysavailablefixturesthatyoucanimportintotheGraphics
Displaywindow.ThesefixturesarestoredintheModels\QuickFix\PCDMISinstallationsub
directory.
DisplayedFixturesThislistdisplaysfixturescurrentlydisplayedintheGraphicsDisplay
window.TorepositionfixturesinsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow,see"QuickFixtureMode's
MouseandKeyboardCommands".
InsertThisbuttonmovestheselectedfixturefromtheAvailableFixtureslistintothe
DisplayedFixtureslist,allowingyoutodisplaytheselectedfeatureintheGraphicsDisplay
window.
RemoveThisbuttonremovestheselectedfixturefromtheDisplayedFixtureslist.

NewFixtureThisarealetsyouaddyourownfixturesintotheAvailableFixtureslist.New
fixturesmustbeanIGESfile.TheFilenameboxdisplaysthecompletepathwayforthe
fixtureyouwanttoadd,theBrowsebuttonletsyoubrowsetotheIGESfileyouwantadded
andtheAddbuttonactuallyinsertstonewfixtureintothelistofavailablefixtures.
FixturePreviewTheareabelowtheNewFixtureareagivesyouapreviewofthefixture
currentlyselectedfromtheAvailableFixtureslist.
InsertingandRemovingQuickFixtures
ToinsertaquickfixtureintotheGraphicsDisplaywindow:
1. AccesstheQuickFixdialogbox.
2. SelectthefixtureyouwanttoaddfromtheAvailableFixtureslist.PCDMIS
showsadisplayofthefixtureinthefixturepreviewareaofthedialogbox
3. ClicktheInsertbutton.ThefixturenameappearsintheDisplayedFixtureslist
andthefixture'smodelappearsintheGraphicsDisplaywindow
ToremoveaquickfixturefromtheGraphicsDisplaywindow:
2. SelectthefixtureyouwanttoremovefromtheDisplayedFixtureslist.
3. ClicktheRemovebutton.PCDMISremovesthequickfixture'smodelfromthe
Torepositionquickfixtures,seethe"QuickFixtureMode'sMouseandKeyboardCommands"
AddingCustomFixtures
ToaddyourowncustomfixturesintotheAvailableFixtureslist:
2. IntheNewFixturearea,clicktheBrowsebutton.AnOpendialogboxappears.
3. Navigatetoyourfixture'smodel.Itcanbeofanysupportedgraphicalformats.
PCDMISdefaultstoshowinganIGESfileformatintheFilesoftypelist.Youcan
changethistoanyoftheselectedformats.
4. SelectyourmodelandclickOpen.TheOpendialogboxclosesandPCDMIS
displaysthefullpathtothefileyouselectedinsidetheNewFixturearea.
5. ClicktheAddbutton.PCDMISaddsthefixtureintotheAvailableFixtureslist.
Thisfixturewillappearinthislistevenforotherpartprograms.
QuickFixtureMode'sMouseandKeyboardCommands
Tousethedifferentmouseandkeyboardcommandsforquickfixtures,firstPlacePCDMISinto
QuickFixturemodebyclickingtheQuickFixtureModeiconfromtheGraphicsModestoolbar.
LeftMouseDragMovesthefixtureobjectunderneaththemouseuntilyou
releasethebutton.Nothinghappensunlessyoustartontopoftheobject.Only
fixtureobjectsandCADobjectsmove.
PressCTRLkey+LeftMouseDragRotatestheobjectin3Dunderneaththe
cursorinthedirectionyoudragthemouseuntilyoureleasethebutton.Onlyfixture
objectsandCADobjectsrotate.

RightbuttonclickDisplaysthequickfixtureshortcutmenu.See"QuickFixture
ShortcutMenu"in"UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus".
UsingExistingQuickFixtures
PCDMISstoresquickfixturefileswitha.DRAWfilenameextensioninthemodels\quickfixsub
directorywhereyouinstalledPCDMIS.
Inaddition,PCDMISstoresadefinitionofeachquickfixtureinaspecialdatafile(.datfilename
extension)locatedinthedirectorywhereyouinstalledPCDMIS.
IfthequickfixturewasoriginallyshippedwithPCDMIS,itisstoredintheQuickFix.dat
file.
Ifthequickfixtureisausercreatedfixture,itsdefinitionisstoredintheUserQuickFix.dat
file.
Atypicalquickfixturedatafileconsistsoftwolinesforeachquickfixture,anITEM: lineanda
cadgeomline.Inatexteditor,thisfilemightlooksomethinglikethis:
ASmallSampleoftheQuickFix.DatFile
ToUseCustomQuickFixturesfromaPreviousInstallation
1. ClosedownPCDMISandopenWindowsExplorer.
2. Beforecreatingnewcustomfixturesforyournewinstallation,copythe.DRAW
filesfromthemodels\quickfixsubdirectoryofyourpreviousinstallation,andpaste
themintothemodels\quickfixsubdirectoryofyourcurrentPCDMISinstallation.
3. Copytheuserquickfix.datfilefromthedirectoryofyourpreviousinstallationand
pasteitintothedirectoryofyourcurrentPCDMISinstallation.
4. RestartPCDMIS.ThecustomquickfixtureswillnowappearintheQuickFix
dialogboxalongwiththefixturessuppliedbyyourcurrentPCDMISinstallation.
Note:The.DRAWquickfixturefileswillnotappearinsideoftheQuickFixdialogboxunlessthe
userquickfix.datfilecontainsthenecessarydefinitionsforthefile.Thesedefinitionsgetadded
wheneveryouimportyourowncustomIGESfilesasquickfixturesusingtheQuickFixdialogbox
(seeAddingCustomFixtures).
Ifyouwanttodirectlyusethe.DRAWfilescreatedbyanotheruser,butyoudon'twantto
overwriteyourownquickfixturesbysimplycopyingtheother'sdatafile,youwouldneedtousea
texteditortomergethenecessaryITEM:andcadgeomlinesfortheotheruser'sdatafileinto
yourdatafile.

DefiningProbeChangers
Tobeginusingyourprobechanger,youmustfirstdefinethechanger'sportlocationsthroughthe
followingprobechangercalibrationprocedure.WhilePCDMISsupportsavarietyofprobe
changers,onlytheFCR25calibrationprocessisdiscussedhere.Ifyouhaveadifferentprobe
changertype,pleaseusethisprocedureasaguide,asitwillbesimilarenoughforallsupported
types.
Tobeginthiscalibrationprocess,youneedtoaccesstheProbeChangerdialogbox.SelectEdit
|Preferences|ProbeChanger.
TerminologyNote: WhiletheProbeChangerdialogboxusestheterm"slot"insteadof"port",
thecalibrationpromptsyouwillreceiveusetheterm"port".Forthisreason,thisdocumentation
willusetheterm"port"exceptwhenreferringtoProbeChangerdialogboxitemsthatusethe
term"slot".
CalibratingtheFCR25ProbeChanger
ThecalibrationprocessforRenishaw'sFCR25probechangerrepresentsthestepsthatwouldbe
takentoprepareforusinganyoftheprobechangerssupportedbyPCDMIS.Theprocess
discussedhereisspecifictotheFCR25probechanger.
TwoinsertsareusedwiththeFCR25racktoaccommodatedifferentprobetypes,thePA25SH
andthePA2520.
PA25SHandPA2520Inserts
Forexample,thefollowingimageofanFCR25probechangershowsthreeports,twowithinserts
andonewithout(probesarealsoshown).TheleftportshowsaPA25SHinsertandtheporton
therightshowsaPA2520insert.Themiddleportdoesnothaveaninsert.

FCR25ProbeChangerShowinginsertsandprobetypes
Important:TheFCR25ProbeChangermustbemountedonthemachinetableparalleltoeither
theXorYaxisforsuccessfulcalibration.TheFCR25ProbeChangercanbemountedtoyour
tablewiththeMRSrackorthe3and6portstandaloneracks.
Formountinginstructions,consultthedocumentationthatcamewithyourprobechanger.
ToCalibrateyourFCR25ProbeChanger:
Step1SelecttheFCR25ProbeChanger
Step2DefinetheMountPoint
Step3DefinePorts
Step4BeginCalibration
Step5PrepareProbeChanger
Step6MeasuringPort1/PA25SHInsert
Step7MeasuringPort3/PA2520Insert
Step8MeasuringPort2/NoInsert
Step9ReviewCalibrationResults
Step1SelecttheFCR25ProbeChanger
Tobeginthecalibrationprocess,selectEdit|Preferences|ProbeChangertoopentheProbe
Changerdialogbox.

ProbeChangerdialogboxTypetab
ToselecttheFCR25ProbeChanger,followthesesteps:
1. SelecttheTypetabfromtheProbeChangerdialogbox.
2. SelectFCR25fromtheProbeChangerTypelist.
3. ClickApplytomakethisprobechangeractiveandtoloadsettingsthatarerelevantto
thisprobechanger.
4. SpecifythenumberofdifferenttypesofprobechangersintheNumberofProbe
Changersbox.
5. SpecifytheDockingSpeed.Thedefaultvalueof5%isappropriateformostmachine
configurations.
6. ClickApplytosaveyourchanges.
Inthenextstepyouwilldefinethelocationyourprobebodywillmovetowhenusingtheprobe
changertoswitchprobecomponents.
Step2DefinetheMountPoint
TheMountPointforyourFCR25ProbeChangeristhelocationinfrontofyourprobechanger
wherethemachinewillmovebeforeitpicksupordropsoffaprobe.Youshoulddeterminea
locationthatwillavoidcollisionwiththeprobechangerorpart.

ProbeChangerdialogboxMountPointtab
ToprovidetheMountPointforyourFCR25ProbeChanger,followthesesteps:
1. SelecttheMountPointtabfromtheProbeChangerdialogbox.
2. Select TYPE=FCR25fromtheActiveProbeChangerlist.
3. AltertheProbeHeadWristAngleforbothAAngleandBAngle.Typically,butnot
always,thesevalueswillbe0and0respectively.Youneedtouseacalibratedprobe
rotationthatwillensurethattheprobehastheabilitytomoveinandoutoftheproberack
duringthenecessarystepsoftheproberackcalibrationprocedure.
4. Usingyourjogbox,manuallymoveyourmachinetothedesiredmountpointposition.
5. ClicktheReadMachinebutton.ThiswillpopulatetheX,Y,andZMachinePosition
valueswiththecurrentposition.Youmayalsomanuallytypethesevalues.
Inthenextstepyouwilldefinetheportsusedbyyourprobechanger.
Step3DefinePorts
TheexampledescribedinthisdocumentationhasaPA25SHinsertinPort1(left),NOINSERTin
Port2(middle),andaPA2520insertinPort3(right).

TodefinetheportsofyourFCR25ProbeChanger,followthesesteps:
1. Select TYPE=FCR25fromtheActiveProbeChangerlist.
2. IntheNumberofSlotsbox,specifyinmultiplesofthreethenumberofports
yourFCR25probechanger(s)willhave.PCDMISthenliststhespecifiednumberof
portsas"slots"(forexampleSlot1,Slot2,Slot3,andsoforth).Untilyoudefinethe
portsthese"slot"entrieswilldisplay"UNDEFINED".
ProbeChangerdialogboxSlotstabshowingundefinedslots
3. SelectaslotfromthelistandclickEditSlotData.ThisopenstheProbe
ChangerSlotDatadialogbox.

ProbeChangerSlotDatadialogbox
4. SelectNOINSERT,PA25SH,orPA2520fromtheSlotTypelist.
5. YoumayspecifytheXYZ valuesforthecenterpositionoftheportorleavethose
valuesempty.Inanycase,PCDMISwillautomaticallypopulatethesevaluesupon
successfulcalibration.See"Step9ReviewCalibrationResults".
6. ClickOKtosavechangestoslotdata.Repeatsteps3through5forallportsin
yourchanger.
ProbeChangerdialogboxSlotstab
Youarenowreadytobegincalibration.Inthenextstepyouwillstartthecalibrationprocedure.

Beforeyoustartcalibrationyoumustspecify/verifytheprobesthatwillbeused.
ProbeChangerdialogboxCalibratetab
TospecifytheprobesusedinthecalibrationofyourFCR25ProbeChanger,followthesesteps:
1. SelecttheCalibratetabfromtheProbeChangerdialogbox.
2. SelecttheTYPE=FCR25fromtheActiveProbeChangerlist.
3. Determinethetypeofcalibration.SelecteithertheSinglePortCalibrationoptionto
calibrateoneportortheFullCalibrationoptiontocalibrateallFCR25ports.Ifyouselect
theSinglePortCalibration,youmustalsoselecttheneededportfromtheProbe
ChangerPortlist.ThisdocumentationdescribestheFullCalibrationoption.
4. Selectthecurrentlyattachedprobethatdefinesthecurrentprobeconfigurationfromthe
ActiveProbeFilelist,andselectthecurrenttipfromtheActiveTiplist.
5. Ifanyportsrequireasecondaryprobefiletopickupthattypeofstylus,selectthe
requiredprobefilethatdefinesthesecondaryprobeconfigurationfromtheSecond
ProbeFilelist.ThenselecttheneededtipfromtheSecondTip list.Forexample,a
PA2520insertwouldrequireyoutospecifysomethingliketheSO25TP20_3to
accommodatethesizeofstylususedwiththeinsert.
6. ClickCalibratewhenyouarereadytobegincalibration.
Inthenextstep,youwillpreparetheprobechangerforcalibration.
Step5PrepareforCalibration
Note:TheCalibrationprocessmayvaryslightlydependingonthetypesandlocationsofthe
insertsforeachport.TheprocessdescribedhereisintendedtoshowhowPCDMISmanages
calibrationforeachporttype.
OnceyouclickCalibratethefollowingmessageboxappears:

1. Readtheinstructionsfromtheprecedingprompt,andverifythatyouhavethe
correctnumberofportsandFCR25units(aunitisasetofthreeports).
2. Openthelidstoeachportandinsertshimstoholdthemopen.
A"shim"isataperedpieceofplastic
thatfitsinbetweentwoportstohold
opentheirlids.Thepicturetotheright
showsacloseupviewofashim
betweenports2and3,holdingopen
theirlids.Withoutashim,thelidswill
shut,asyoucanseeinport1.
3. Withthelidsopen,removeallofthemodulesandstylibyslidingthemforward
outoftheportsasshownbelow.

4. ClickOKwhenyouarereadytomeasurePort1.
Inthenextstep,PCDMISwillmeasurePort1.
Step6MeasuringPort1/PA25SHInsert
YouwillbepromptedthroughtheprocessofmeasuringPort1(leftmostport)throughaseriesof
messageboxes.Followthepromptsandtaketheneededhitsasshowninthepicturesforeach
hit.
Hit1onTopsurface

Usingyourmachine'sjogbox,
measurethefirsthitonthetop
surfaceofPort1asshowninthe
imagetotheright.
WhenyouclickOKyouwillbe
promptedtotakethehitwiththe
ExecutionModeOptionsdialog
box.
Hit2onFrontsurface
Usingyourmachinejogbox,
measurethesecondhitonthefront
imagetotheright.
box.
Hit3onInsidesurface

Usingyourmachine'sjogbox,
measurethethirdhitontheinside
imagetotheright.
box.
Thissetofthreehitsestablishesthelocationforthetoolchanger.Thesethreehitswouldbethe
sameiftheportdidn'thaveaninsert.IfyouusedaPA2520insertinthisport,thehitswouldbe
takenontheinsertinasimilarfashion.
Youwillnowbeaskedtocompleteafewstepsviathefollowingdialogbox.

Completetheinstructionsinthe
messageboxandremovethe
specifiedstylus(inthiscasetheSH
1/2/3stylus)andattachtheSHSPas
shownintheimagetotheright.
Note: Whenevertheinstructions
directthatyoushouldjogtheprobe
toa"safelocation"oralocation"with
aclearlineofapproach"youshould
movetheprobetoapositionthatis
infrontofandslightlyabovethe
rack.
Whenyouhavecompletedthese
steps,ClickOKandDCC
measurementwillbegin.
PCDMISwillautomaticallymeasurethethreehitswiththeSHSPthatwerepreviouslytakenwith
theSH1/2/3stylus.Itwillalsotakeahitontheoppositeinsideface.Thiscompletesthe
measurementofPort1.
Inthenextstep,PCDMISwillmeasurePort3.
Step7MeasuringPort3/PA2520Insert
BeforePCDMIScanmeasurePort3
(therightmostprobe),youmustfirst
changetheprobetotheprobefile
youpreviouslyspecifiedforthe
SecondProbeFileinStep4.
Whenprompted,removethecurrent
module,andaddtheTM2520
moduletotheendoftheprobebody.
Theimagetotherightshowsthe
TM2520moduleandTP20type
stylusafterthischange.
Note:ChangingprobesmaynotbenecessarydependingonyourFCR25probechanger
configuration.Forexample,iftherearenoinsertsinanyoftheports,thenthisprobechangemay
notbenecessary.Thechangespecifiedinthisstepisonlyrequiredtoaccommodatecalibration
ofPort3withthePA2520insert.

Afterchangingtheprobe,clickOK.PCDMISwillthendisplaythefollowingprompt:
Aftermovingtheprobetoasafelocation,clickOK,andPCDMISwillbeginautomatic
measurementoftheinsertinPort3.Thefollowingimagesshowtheprobetakingmeasurements.
PCDMISwillautomaticallytakehitstodeterminethelocationoftheinsert.
ThiscompletesthemeasurementofPort3.Inthenextstep,PCDMISwillmeasurePort2.
Step8MeasuringPort2/NoInsert
BeforemeasuringPort2,youwillbepromptedtoremovethemodulethatwasusedforthe
measurementofPort3.

Onceyouhaveremovedthemodule
andmovedtheprobetoasafe
location,clickOKtocontinuethe
process.
PCDMISwillmovetheprobebody
toapositionthatiscenteredabove
Port2asshowintheimagetothe
right.(Theimagealsoshowsthe
modulethatPCDMISwillhaveyou
addinthenextprompt.)
Note:Theprocedureformeasuring
Port2wouldbeusedforallportsif
youdidn'thaveaninsertinanyof
theports.Theportswouldalsobe
measuredinadifferentorder(Port1
first,followedbyPort2,andthen
)Port3)
Followtheprompttoplacethemoduleintotheport.Then,slowlylowertheprobebodytowards
themoduleuntilthemagneticattractioncausesthemoduletojumpuptowardstheprobebody.If
youhaveapooralignment,usethejogboxtorepositiontheprobebody,andrepeatthisprocess
untilyougetagoodalignment.
Thefollowingimagesshowtheprocessdescribedabove.
SlowlyLoweringtheProbe ModuleJumpsUpwardfora ModuleTiltedforaPoor

Body GoodAlignment Alignment

ClickOKwhenagoodalignmenthasbeenestablished.Thefollowingpromptisdisplayed.
Theimagetotherightshows
theprobebodythathasbeen
loweredjustbeforetheLEDis
lit.
Noticetheslightgapbetween
theprobebodyandtheSM25
2module.Fromthispoint,you
wouldcontinuetolowerthe
probebodyandstopwhenthe
LEDislit.Thiswillnotclose
thegapcompletely.ClickOK
tofinishtheprocess.
Atthispointtheprobebody
willautomaticallymovedown
therestofthewaytoseatthe
probemoduleandclosethe
gap.

Thefollowingpromptappears:
Movetheprobestraightoutfromthe
porttoapositioninfrontoftheport
asshowninthisimage.
ClickOK.Thiscompletesthe
measurementofPort2.
Youwillthenbepromptedtosettheconfigurationbacktotheoriginalprobeconfiguration.
Removethecurrentmoduleifneededandaddthemodulesandtipsthatmakeuptherequested
probefile.ClickOKwhenfinished.Thefollowingpromptisdisplayed:

ThiscompletestheFCR25probechanger'scalibration.Thenextstepdiscusseshowtoreview
yourcalibration.
Step9ReviewCalibrationResults
SelecttheSlotstabontheProbeChangerdialogbox,andyouwillseethatcalibration
informationnowexistsforthelocationofeachofthecalibratedports.
ProbeChangerdialogboxSlotstabwithcalibrationresults
Thiscalibrationprocessonlydiscussestheprocessforpreparingportsforcalibration.Seethe
SettingUpProbeChangerOptionstopicinthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapterfor
informationaboutaddingprobedefinitionstoeachoftheports.
Duringpartprogramexecution,probeentitiesthatareaddedtoeachoftheportswillbe
automaticallypickedupfromthatlocationwheneverPCDMISexecutesaLOADPROBE
commandforthatprobe.Theprobebodywillmovetothemountpoint,thenintotheport,pushing
thelidbackwards.Then,usingthemagneticattraction,itwillloadthenewmoduleandwill
continuemeasurement.
CalibratingtheCW43ProbeChanger

ThefollowingtopicsdescribehowtocalibratetheCW43LProbeChanger.Thisdocumentation
usestheterm"slot"torefertothe"port","station",or"garage"wheredifferentprobesor
extensionswillbeheld.
VerticalCW43ProbeChangerwithFiveSlots
TheCW43ProbeChangercanholdtwodifferentkindsofslots:normalslotsandthreeaxisslots
(slotsthatholdprobesthatcanrotateinthreeaxes).

ASlotfourinthispictureshows
athreeaxisslot.
BSlotfiveinthispictureshows
anormalslot.
Important:Beforestaringthecalibrationprocess,ensurethattheinstallationpersonnelhave
mechanicallyalignedalloftheslotssothatthefrontfaceandthetopoftheslotsareparallelto
themovementofthemachine'sram.Iftheslotsarenotproperlyalignedinthisfashion,youwill
experienceproblemsduringaprobechangeoperation.
Step1SelecttheCW43ProbeChanger
1. SelectEdit|Preferences|ProbeChangerSetuptoaccesstheProbeChangerdialog
box.
2. SelecttheTypetab.
3. Specifythenumberofprobechangers.Generallythiswillbe1.

4. FromtheProbeChangerTypelist,selectCW43L.
5. ClickApply.TheActiveProbeChangerlistnowreads:ProbeChanger1:
Type=CW43L
Step2DefineSlots
Inthisstepyouwilldefinethenumberofslotsforyourprobechangeraswellasthehardware
heldineachslot.
1. SelecttheSlotstab.
2. IntheNumberofSlotsbox,specifythenumberofslotsusedonyourprobechanger.
3. ClickApply.
4. Expandeachslotinthelist,anddefinetheprobefilenamesthatcorrespondtothe
hardware(probeorextension)thateachslotholds.Youcandothisnoworanytimeafter
thispoint.
5. ClickApplywhenfinished.
GettingAroundThreeAxisSlots
Ifyouhaveathreeaxisslot,youwillnoticeitsticksoutfromtherackamorethanthenormal
slots.Thismaycauseclearanceproblemswhenperformingaprobechangeoperation.Tohelp
avoidcrashingintotheseslots,werecommendthatyouinstallthistypeofslotontheendsofthe
probechanger:eitheronthetoporthebottomonaverticalprobechangerorontheleftorright
sidesofahorizontalprobechanger.Ifyoucannotdothisduetospaceconstraintsinyour
environment,youwillneedtomodifythedefaultclearancedistancethattheprobeuseswhen
movingtoandfromthedifferentslots.YoucandothisbyaccessingthePCDMISSettingsEditor
andmodifyingtheTCRackClearance entryortheTCRack3AxisClearance entryinthenextstep.
TCRackClearanceThisregistryentryistheclearancedistanceinfrontofanormalslot.
Ithasadefaultvalueof150mm.
TCRack3AxisClearanceThisregistryentryistheclearancedistanceinfrontofathree
axisslot.Ithasadefaultvalueof300mm.
Step3DefinetheThreeAxisSlotandChangeClearanceDistances
Youonlyneedtoperformthisstepifyouhaveathreeaxisslot(aslotcapableofstoringathree
axisprobe).Ifnot,gotothenextstep.Youcanperformthissteplater,butwerecommenddoing
itnow.ThisstepessentiallytellsPCDMISwhichslotisthethreeaxisslotandwhetherornotyou
intendtoperformloadorunloadoperationsautomaticallyforthatslot.
1. ClickOKtoclosedowntheProbeChangerdialogbox.
2. ExitfromPCDMIS.
3. LaunchthePCDMISSettingsEditor.
4. NavigatetotheLeitzsection.
5. SelecttheCW43LThirdAxisTCSlot registryentry.Bydefault,thisentryhasavalueof1
whichmeansathreeaxisslotisnotavailableontheprobechanger.
Ifyouplanonmanuallyloadingandunloadingthethreeaxisprobefromtheslot
yourself,youshouldsetthisvalueto0.
IfyouplanonhavingPCDMISautomaticallyloadandunloadtheprobe,you
shouldsetthisvaluetotheslotnumberholdingthethreeaxisprobe.
EnsurethattheCW43LTTest3AxisSlotTC registryentryissettoTrue.TherearetwoLEDlightsina
magneticrelaylocatedonthebackofathreeaxisslot,agreenlightandanamberlight.The

greenlightmeanstheslotrelayhaspower.Theamberlightisonlyilluminatedifthethreeaxis
jointisphysicallylocatedintheslot.ATrue valueforthisentrychecksfortheamberlight,andis
anindicationtotheCMMcontrollerthatitissafetoapplythe24voltDCmotorpowertothethree
axisjoint.
SolenoidConnectionwithGreenandAmberLEDLights
Warning:DuringaProbeChangeroperation,NEVERattempttomanuallychange
thethreeaxisprobewhilethegreenLEDlightonthetopofthethreeaxisjointis
illuminated.AnilluminatedgreenLEDlightsignifiesthatmotorpower(+24VDC)is
present.Ifaprobechangeisdonewhilethereismotorpower,itcouldcauseavoltage
spikethatwoulddamagethethirdaxismotor.Thesameispossibleforothervoltage
signals(+5VDC,+12VDC,andsoon)neededforitemsthatmayattachtothethirdaxis
(Perceptronprobe,NC100videoprobe,andsoforth).Thisappliesonlywhenthejointis
connectedtotheprobehead.
7. Ifneeded,youcanalsomodifytheclearancedistancesintheTCRackClearance and
TCRack3AxisClearance.Youshouldonlyneedtodothisifyourthreeaxisslotcouldnotbe
placedontheendsoftherack.
8. Saveanychangesmade.ThenclosethePCDMISSettingsEditor.
9. RestartPCDMISandreloadyourpartprogram.
10. SelectEdit|Preferences|ProbeChangerSetupaccesstheProbeChangerdialog
boxagain.
Step4PrepareforCalibration
Inthisstepyouwilldefinetheprobefileandtipangletouseduringthecalibrationprocess.
1. SelecttheCalibratetab.
2. SelecttheprobetousefromtheActiveProbelist.
3. SelecttipangletousefromtheActiveTiplist.Thetipangleyouusewilldependonyour
specificmachine.Thistipanglewillbeusedthroughouttheentirecalibrationprocess.
Inthisstepyouwilldecidetocalibrateeitherasingleslotintheprobechangerortocalibrateall
theslots.Youwillthenstartcalibration.

1. Decidethetypeofcalibrationtoperform,eitherSinglePortCalibrationorFull
Calibration.
IfyouselectedSinglePortCalibration,theProbeChangerPortlistbecomes
availableforselection.FromtheProbeChangerlist,selectthesingleprobeto
calibrate.
IfyouselectedFullCalibration,PCDMISwillcalibratealltheavailableportson
yourprobechangerstartingwiththefirstslotandmovingsequentiallythroughall
theslots.
2. ClicktheCalibratebutton.PCDMISwillaskifitisOKtorotatetothepreviouslydefined
probeangle.
3. ClickOK.Theproberotatestothedefinedangleandamessageboxappearsaskingyou
totakethreehits.
Step6CalibratebyTakingThreeHits
Inthisstepyouwillmanuallymovetheprobetotakethreehits,oneonthreedifferentfacesof
eachslotbeingcalibrated.Forafullcalibrationyouwilltakethehitsonthefirstdefinedslotand
thenmovesequentiallytothesecondslotandsoonuntilthelast.Forasingleportcalibration,
youwillonlyneedtotakethehitsontheoneslotbeingcalibrated.
ForaVerticalProbeChanger:
Takethefirsthitanywhereonthetopofthetopoftheslot.PressDone.
Takethesecondhitanywhereonthesideoftheslotnearesttheramofthemachine.
PressDone.
Takethethirdhitanywhereonthefrontfaceoftheslot.(Ifthisisthethreeaxisslot,take
thehitonthefacetowhichthehingesoftheslotcoverareattached).PressDone.
ExampleofTakingThreeHitsonaVerticalProbeChanger:
Thesetwopictures
provideexamplesofthe
surfaceswherethethree
hitsshouldbetakenfor
bothathreeaxisprobe
slotandanormalprobe
slot.
AFirsthitontop
surface
BSecondhitonthe
sideclosesttotheram
(dependingonwhere
yourCMMramislocated,
thiscouldbeontheother
side)
ThreeAxisProbeSlotonaVerticalRack CThirdhitonfrontface

NormalProbeSlotonaVerticalRack
ForaHorizontalProbeChanger:
Takethefirsthitanywhereonthetopofthetopoftheslot.PressDone.
Takethesecondhitanywhereoneithersideoftheslot.PressDone.
Takethethirdhitanywhereonthefrontfaceoftheslot.(Ifthisisthe3axisslot,takethe
hitonthefacetowhichthehingesoftheslotcoverareattached).PressDone.
Step7DefineaMountPoint
Inthisstepyouwilldefineasafelocationandprobeheadangleinfrontoftherackwherethe
CMMisabletoreachalltheslots.Thisiscalledthe"MountPoint".
Important:TheMountPointlocationisNOTthesamethingasthedistanceinfrontoftheprobe
changerdefinedintheTCRackClearance andTCRack3AxisClearance registryentries.
1. ClicktheMountPointtab.
2. IntheProbeHeadAngleboxes,usetheAAngleandBAngleboxestodefinethe
probeheadangletousewhentheprobeheadusattheMountPointlocation.
3. Usethejogbox,andmanuallymovetheprobetowhereyouwantyourmountpoint,then
clicktheReadMachinebutton.PCDMISwillpullintheXYZlocationfromtheCMM.
4. ClickApplyandthenclickOK.
YouarenowdonewiththeCW43ProbeChangercalibrationandcannowperformprobe
changes.
Warning:Remember,duringaProbeChangeroperation,NEVERattempttomanually
changeathreeaxisprobewhilethegreenLEDlightonthetopofthethreeaxisjointislit.
Thisappliesonlywhenthejointisconnectedtotheprobehead.

ShowinganAnimatedProbeChanger
PCDMISallowsyoutodisplayananimatedgraphicalrepresentationofapredefinedprobe
changerinsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
Note:Youcandefineaprobechangerfromthe"SettingUpProbeChangerOptions"topicinthe
ExampleofananimatedprobechangershownintheGraphicsDisplaywindowintheZ+view
(toppicture)andtheX+view(bottompicture)
YouwillusetheAnimatedProbeChangerdialogboxtospecifythepositionandorientationof
theprobechanger.AccessthisdialogboxbyselectingtheInsert|HardwareDefinition|
AnimatedProbeChangermenuitem.

AnimatedProbeChangerdialogbox
Theitemsinthisdialogboxarediscussedinthe"ToDisplaytheProbeChanger"procedure
below.
ToDisplaytheProbeChangerintheGraphicsDisplaywindow:
1. AccesstheAnimatedProbeChangerdialogbox(Insert|HardwareDefinition
|AnimatedProbeChanger).
2. SelectanexistingpredefinedprobechangerfromtheActiveProbeChanger
list.Ifyoudon'tseeanyprobechangersinthislist,youcandefineaprobechanger
fromthe"SettingUpProbeChangerOptions"topicinthe"SettingYourPreferences"
chapter.
3. Definethelocationandorientationoftheprobechanger.Youcandothisby
eitherusingcalibrationdataforthelocationandorientationorbyspecifyingtheXYZ
locationandorientationdirectlyintothedialogbox.
Touseexistingcalibrationdata,selecttheUseCalibrationDatacheckbox.PC
DMISfillsinthelocationboxeswiththeXYZvaluesfromthecalibration.
Todirectlyspecifythelocationandorientation,typevaluesintotheX,Y,andZ
boxes,andthenselectanorientationfromtheOrientationlist.
4. ClickApply.PCDMISdrawstheanimatedprobechangerinthespecified
positionandorientationintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.PCDMISalsoinsertsa
LOADPROBECHANGER commandintotheEditwindow.
5. ClickOKwhenyou'resatisfiedwiththeorientationandposition.
ToDeletetheProbeChangerfromtheGraphicsDisplaywindow:
AccesstheEditwindowanddeletetheLOADPROBECHANGERcommand.Thisdoesn'tdelete
yourpredefinedchanger,justtheanimationofitinsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
WorkingwithRotaryTables
Exceptwherespecified,thefollowingRotaryTablecommandsweredevelopedtosupportthe
PCDMIS/NC(NumericalControl)foruseonCNCmachinetools.However,youcanusethemin
regularCMMpartprogramsaswell.SeethePCDMIS/NChelpfileformoreinformationonusing
CNCmachineswithPCDMIS.
IgnoreRotaryTable

TheInsert|ParameterChange|Probe|IgnoreRotaryTable menuiteminsertsan
IGNOREROTAB commandintothepartprogram.Theonlytwooptionsare:
IGNOREROTAB/ON orIGNOREROTAB/OFF
Whenyouhavearotarytabledefinedforuse,PCDMISusuallyassumesthatyouwillplaceparts
tomeasureontherotarytable.Essentially,PCDMISexpectsyoutousetheRotarytable.This
meansitisnotignoringtherotarytable.AndsoIGNOREROTABissettoOFF:
IGNOREROTAB/OFF
Inthisstate,PCDMISadjustsanymeasureddatacollectedfromthemachinebyusingthedata
fromtherotarytable'scalibration.
IfyouinsertIGNOREROTAB/ON command,PCDMISignorestherotarytablecalibrationdata.Thus,
measureddatacollectedwillnothavearotarytableadjustmentappliedtoit.Thetwomost
commoncaseswherethismightbeusedare
Apartmeasurementwhereyouwanttomeasurethepartwithoutusingtherotarytable
eventhoughyourtableexists.
Apartprogramwhereyouwanttoexecuteanewtablecalibrationandyouneedtoignore
theoldcalibrationresults.
CalibratetheRotaryTable
TheInsert|Calibrate|RotaryTablefromFeaturesmenuiteminsertsaCALIBRATEROTAB
commandintothepartprogram:
CALIBRATEROTAB/PLANE=TABLE_PLN,CIRCLE=TABLE_CIR,
MEAS/XYZ=0,0,0,MEAS/IJK=0,0,0
Thiscommandtellsasuitablepartprogramtocalibratetherotarytableduringprogramexecution.
Tousethiscommand:
1. Attachapropercalibrationartifact(asphere)tothetable.
2. Measureinanappropriateseriesofangularpositions.
3. Youcreateaconstructedplaneandcirclethroughtheresultingspherecenters.
Onceyouhaveaconstructedtheplaneandcircle,youcanusethemasinputstothis
command.
4. InserttheCALIBRATEROTAB command.
PressF9onthecommandandaCalibrateRotabdialogboxappears.

CalibrateRotabdialogbox
5. FromtheConstructedPlanelist,selecttheconstructedplane.Fromthe
ConstructedCirclelist,selecttheconstructedcircle.
6. ClickOK.PCDMISupdatesthecommandtousetheconstructedfeatures.
7. Whenyouexecutethepartprogram,PCDMISwillusetheconstructedfeatures
toupdatetherotarytablecalibrationdata.TheMEAS/XYZ andMEAS/IJK portionsinthe
commandblockwillshowtheresultforthecenterpointandplaneofrotationforthe
table.
Forinformationonsettingupyourrotarytable,see"DefiningtheRotaryTable"in"SettingYour
Preferences"
RotatetheTabletotheActiveAngle(NotSupportedinPCDMISNC)
Theactualrotarytableangleonthemachineandtheactiveanglespecifiedinyourpartprogram
don'talwaysmatch.TheOperation|RotateTabletoActivemenuitemautomaticallycauses
theactualtabletorotateuntilitsanglematchestheactiveangleintheprogramatyourcursor's
location.

CreatingAutoFeatures
CreatingAutoFeatures:Introduction
PCDMISprovidesalibraryoffunctionsandroutinestofacilitatetheautomaticmeasurementof
parts.ThesefunctionsandroutinesallowPCDMIStoeasilyprogramformeasurementavariety
ofpartfeatures,addingthemintothepartprogramas"AutoFeatures".Inmanycasesthis
automaticfeaturerecognitionisassimpleassingleclickingwithyourmouseontheappropriate
featureintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Whileautofeatureshavetheirhistoryinmeasuringsheet
metalorotherthinwalledmaterialsusingPCDMIS'sDirectComputerControl(DCC),todayyou
canusetheminbothDCCandManualmodetomeasurepartsconstructedfromavarietyof
differentmaterials.
Toworkwithautofeatures,selecttheappropriateitemfromtheInsert|Feature|Autosubmenu.
TheAutoFeaturedialogboxfortheselecteditemwillappear.Youcantheninteractwiththis
dialogboxtocreatethenecessaryautofeatures.
QuickWaystoCreateAutoFeatures
TheAutoFeatureDialogBox
InsertingAutoFeatures
AutoFeatureFieldDefinitions
SettingUpRelativeMeasure
Note:DependingonyourspecificversionofPCDMIS,theAutoFeaturefunctionalitymayonlybe
accessibleasanaddedoptiontoyourbasicPCDMISgeometricsoftwarepackage.Consultyour
PCDMISvendortodetermineifyourversionsupportsthisfunctionality.
QuickWaystoCreateAutoFeatures
Inadditiontokeyinginvaluestocreateyourautofeatures,youcanalsodothefollowing:
BoxSelectingClickandthendragyourmousetoboxselectseveralCAD
entities.OnceyouclickCreatePCDMISwillcreateatoncemultipleautofeatures
fromtheselectedsetoffeatures.
SingleClickingClickthemouseonceonasupportedCADentitytopopulatethe
AutoFeaturedialogboxwiththeappropriatenominalvalues.
BoxSelectingtoCreateMultipleAutoFeatures
UnderstandingtheCADSelectDialogBox
ThisdialogboxappearsafteryouboxselectonaCADmodelwhiletheAutoFeaturesdialog
boxremainsopen.ItdisplaysthenumberofselectedCADelementsthatcanbeusedtogenerate
featuresoftheselectedtype.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual CreatingAutoFeatures 565

Create:Thisbuttoncreatesautofeaturesoftheselectedtype(currentlyonlyCircleorCylinder
autofeatures)fromtheselectedCADelements.PCDMISwillclosetheCADSelectdialogbox,
andfromeachboxselectedelement,PCDMISwillgeneratetheappropriatefeature.Thevector
willbedeterminedusingthemethodselectedfromtheVectorUsearea.
Close:Closesthisdialogbox,cancelingtheboxselectingoperation.
DisplayArrows:Thischeckboxdisplaysorhidescoloredarrowsshowingthedirectionof
vectorsusedbythemethodsintheVectorUsearea.
TheVectorUsearealetsyouchoosethemethodsPCDMISshouldusetodeterminethevectors
forthenearlycreatedautofeatures.
Workplane:Thismethodusesthevectorofthecurrentlyactiveworkplaneasthevector
foreachindividualfeature.
LastUsed:Thismethodusesthelastvectorthatwasplacedinthedialogboxforthe
AutoFeature.Thisletsyouspecifyonevectortobeusedforalltheselectedfeatures.
FromCAD:ThismethodusesthevectorthatisspecifiedbytheCADfeature.This
methodbecomesavailableifvectordataisavailableforeachfeature.
FindVector:ThismethodfindsthevectorusingtheCADsurfacedatathatisclosestto
thefeature.Thismethodisonlyavailableifsurfacedataisavailable.
'SingleClicking'AutoFeatureCreation
PCDMIScontinuallyincreasesitscapabilitytoselectautofeaturesonthescreenwithlessand
lessmouseclicks.ThefollowingtabledetailsforbothCurveandSurfacemodestheauto
featuresyoucanselectwithasinglemouseclick.Italsoliststhenumberofmouseclicksneeded
forfeaturesthatdon'tyetsupportthesingleclickcapability.
Note:Toturnoffthissingleclickfunctionality,accessthePCDMISSettingsEditor,andsetthe
SingleClickCadSelectionDisabled entry(locatedintheAutoFeaturessection)toTRUE.
AutoFeatureType Curvemode Surfacemode
566 CreatingAutoFeatures PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

AnglePoint No(2Clicks) Yes

Circle Yes Yes
Cone Yes Yes
CornerPoint Yes Yes
Cylinder Yes Yes
Ellipse Yes Yes
EdgePoint No(2Clicks) Yes
HighPoint Yes Yes
Line No(2Clicks) No(2Clicks)
Notch Yes Yes
Plane Yes Yes
Polygon Yes Yes
RoundSlot Yes Yes
SquareSlot Yes Yes
Sphere Yes Yes
SurfacePoint Yes Yes
VectorPoint Yes Yes
AnglePointFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,clickoncenearbutnotonwherethetwo
surfacesmeet.Ifusingsurfacemode,PCDMISgeneratespointontheangleofthetwo
surfaces.
CircleFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,clickonceontheplanarsurfacethatcontainsthecircle
forahole,onthefeature'swall,oronacylindricalendofastud.
Theedgeclosesttothemouseclickdetermineswhetherthecirclefeatureisaholeora
stud.(SeeNoteB).However,duetohowtheCADissometimesdefined,PCDMIS
cannotalwaysdeterminethisonitsown.
Ifthecirclehasalength(depth)likeacylinder,thenPCDMISusesthecircleclosestto
whereyouclickedthemousetodefinethecenterposition.
PCDMISautomaticallyfillsinthedialogboxanddeterminesthecircle'svector.
ConeFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,clickonceontheplanarsurfacethatcontainsthecone's
hole,onthefeature'swall,oronaconicalendofacone.
Theedgeclosesttothemouseclickdetermineswhethertheconefeatureisaninner
coneoranoutercone.(SeeNoteB).However,duetohowtheCADissometimes
defined,PCDMIScannotalwaysdeterminethisonitsown.
Thevectoroftheconepointsawayfromitsapex.
PCDMISautomaticallyfillsinthedialogboxanddeterminesthecenterpoint.Inner
conesusethelargerradiusforthecenterpoint.Outerconesusethesmallerradius.PC
DMISdoesthistoavoidshankcollisionswhenmeasuringthecone.

CylinderFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,clickonceontheplanarsurfacethatcontainsthe
cylinder,onthefeature'swall,oronacylindricalendofanoutercylinder.
Theedgeclosesttothemouseclickdetermineswhetherthecirclefeatureisaholeora
stud.(SeeNoteB).However,duetohowtheCADissometimesdefined,PCDMIS
cannotalwaysdeterminethisonitsown.
PCDMISautomaticallyfillsinthedialogboxanddeterminesthecylinder'svector.Ituses
thecenterlocationofthecylinderendclosesttowheretheusermouseclicked.
EdgePointFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,clickonceanywhere.PCDMISautomatically
fillsinthedialogbox.
Ifusingsurfacemode,PCDMISgeneratestheedgeonthenearestedgewhere
youclicked.
Ifusingwireframemode,theedgeisonlyselected.PCDMISrequiresasecond
clicktocreatetheedgepointonthewire.
EllipseFeatures:
SameasRoundSlot.
NotchFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,clickonceclosetothebackedgethenotch.Single
clickingtocreatenotchfeatures,alwaysdefinesitasaninnernotch.PCDMISautomaticallyfills
inthedialogbox.
PolygonFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,clickonceonapolygonfeaturethatcontainsfiveor
moresides.PCDMISautomaticallyfillsinthedialogboxanddeterminesthestartingsidebythe
edgeclosesttothemouseclick.
Youcanclickonapolygonwithlessthanthreesides,butdoingsowillrequireadditionalclicks.
CornerPointFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,clickoncenearanedgecontainingthecornerpoint.
Theclosestedgetothemouseclickdeterminestheclosestendpointtothemouseclick.
Thisendpointbecomesthecornerpoint.
PCDMISautomaticallyfillsinthedialogbox.
HowitWorks:
PCDMISfindsadjacentedgesrelativetothefirstedge.Ittestseachedgetoseeifithas
anendpointcoincidenttothecornerpoint.Ifso,thenitfindsapointonthatedgevery
nearthecornerpoint.Thiscontinuesuntiltwoedges(andtwopoints)arefoundthathave
uniquevectors(ideallyperpendicular)toeachotherandthefirstedge.

OncePCDMIShasthreepointsnearthecornerpoint,thesethreepointsareallondifferent
edges.Usingthetwodifferentpointsnearthecornerpoint,andthecornerpoint,PCDMIS
computesthreeplanes.Forexample,Inthisimage,theYELLOWcornerpointandtheREDand
WHITEpointscreateaplanewhosevectoristheBLUEarrow.Similarly,theYELLOW,WHITE,
andBLUEpointsgiveustheREDarrowandtheYELLOW,BLUE,andREDpointsgiveusthe
WHITEarrow.
RoundSlotFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,ifaninnerroundslot,clickonceontheplanarsurface
thatcontainstheroundededgeorthefeature'swall.Ifanouterroundslot,clickonthetopedge
oftheroundedend,awayfromwherethecurveendsandtheplanarsidesbeginoronthe
feature'swall.(SeeNoteA).
Theedgeclosesttotheclickdetermineswhetherthefeatureisaninnerroundslotoran
outerroundslot.(SeeNoteB).However,duetohowtheCADissometimesdefined,PC
DMIScannotalwaysdeterminethisonitsown.
PCDMISautomaticallyfillsinthedialogboxanddeterminestheslot'svectorand
orientation.
SquareSlotFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,ifaninnersquareslot,clickonceontheplanar
surfacenearanyedgeoftheslotoronthefeature'swall.Ifanoutersquareslot,clickon
anytopedgeoronthefeature'swall.(SeeNoteA).
Theedgeclosesttotheclickdetermineswhetherthefeatureisaninnersquare
slotoranoutersquareslot.(SeeNoteB).However,duetohowtheCADis
sometimesdefined,PCDMIScannotalwaysdeterminethisonitsown.
PCDMISautomaticallyfillsinthedialogboxanddeterminestheslot'svectorand
orientation.
SphereFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,clickonceonthesphere'sedge.PCDMISautomatically
fillsinthedialogbox.
SurfacePointFeatures:

WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,clickonceanywhere.PCDMISautomaticallyfillsinthe
dialogbox.
VectorPointFeatures:
WiththeAutoFeaturedialogboxopen,clickonceanywhere.PCDMISautomaticallyfillsinthe
dialogbox.
Ifusingcurvemode,PCDMISsnapsthepointtothenearestwire.
Ifusingsurfacemode,PCDMISgeneratesthepointwhereyouclicked.
NoteA
Inthisimage:
TheGREENmarksshouldworkbecausetheline/curve(oredgeifitisasurface)thatis
closesttothemarksisaline/curvethatisintheplanethatdefinestheslot.
TheREDmarkwillnotworkbecausetheline(oredgeifitisasurface)thatisclosestto
themarkisaline/curvethatisnotintheplanethatdefinestheslot.
TheYELLOWmarkwillworkifthesurfaceisacylinder.
NoteB
Inthisimage,showingaflippedover,ZorientationoftheHexagonmodel:
TheREDmarkswillproduceanODfeature.
TheWHITE markswillproduceanIDfeature.

TheAutoFeatureDialogBox
AutoFeatureDialogBoxNotes
AutofeaturesarecreatedusinganAutoFeaturedialogbox,accessiblebyselectingInsert|
Feature|AutoFeatureandthenselectinganitemfromthatmenu.
ProbeDeflectionandCADClickBehavior
IftheAutoFeaturedialogboxisopenandPCDMISdetectsaprobehit,itassumesyouare
tryingtolearnthecurrentlyselectedautofeaturetype.Itwillthenpromptyoutomeasurethe
remaininghits(ifany)tocompleteit.
Similarly,ifyouclickontheCADdatawhiletheAutoFeaturedialogboxisopen,PCDMISwill
assumethatthecurrentlyselectedfeaturetypeisbeinglearnedandwillpopulatethedialogbox
withthegatheredinformationfromtheCADmodel.
Changesin4.2
Inanefforttosupporttheexpandingroleofautofeaturesonawiderarrayofnoncontact
machinessuchasvisionandlasermachines,andtosimplifytheAutoFeaturedialogbox,the
followingchangeswereappliedbeginningwithversion4.2:
DialogboxcontrolsthatwerespecifictocontactprobessuchasNumberofHits,
NumberofSampleHits,Depth,andsoon,havebeenmovedtotheProbeToolbox.
Seethe"UsingtheProbeToolbox"topicinthe"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,and
Tools"chapterformoreinformation.
Severalcheckboxes,options,andbuttonsarenowdepictedasclickableicons.Youcan
hoveryourmouseovertheseicons,viewingtheirtooltipstodeterminetheirpurpose,and
thenusethemjustasyoudidwiththepreviousinterface.
Severalitems,suchasitemsspecifictoVisionorLaser,maynotbesupportedbyyour
currentconfiguration.Whiletheyremainvisibleonthedialogbox,theywillnotbe
unavailableforselection.Therequirementstomakethemavailableforselectionare
listedintheirrespectivetopics.
Changesin4.3
BecausetheitemsintheProbeToolboxaresofrequentlyusedwhencreatingAuto
Features,inversion4.3theProbeToolboxalsofunctionsasanembeddedportionofthe
AutoFeaturedialogbox.
TheAutoFeaturedialogboxdocksintotheleftandrightsidesofthescreenbydefault.
Ifdesired,yourcaneasilychangeitsstatetohoverovertheuserinterfaceinstead.Todo
this,
1. PresstheCTRLkey,thendragthedialogboxtoanewlocationandreleasethe
mouse.Thedialogboxisnowhoveringovertheinterface.

2. Onthetitlebar,ontherightside,clicktheleftmosticon.
3. Fromtheresultingmenu,chooseFloating.Thenexttimeyouopenthedialog
box,itwillremaininthisfloatingmode.Toreturnthedialogboxtoadockable
mode,selectDockablefromthatmenuinstead.
AutoFeatureTypelist
TheAutoFeatureTypelistshowsthecurrentlyselectedautofeaturetype.Youcanalsousethis
listtochangetoadifferentautofeaturetype.Allthesupportedautofeaturesforyour
configurationareavailablefromthislist.Ifyouchangetoadifferentautofeaturetype,theAuto
Featuredialogboxchangesitscontentwithitemsusedtocreatethenewlyselectedfeaturetype.
IDbox
TheIDboxshowsthecurrentIDfortheautofeaturebeingcreated.YoucanchangetheIDto
somethingdifferentbymodifyingthisvalue.
FeaturePropertiesarea
TheFeaturePropertiesareaoftheAutoFeaturedialogboxcontainssomeorallofthe
followingitems,dependingontheautofeaturebeingcreated.
XYZPointboxes IJKSurfaceboxes IJKEdgeboxes
IJKSurf1Vecboxes IJKSurf2Vecboxes IJKSurf3Vecboxes

IJKLineVecboxes IJKAngleboxes XYZStartPointboxes
XYZStart/Endboxes XYZCenterboxes
SomeExamples:
AutoLineVectors
XYZPointboxes
ForaHighPointfeature,theXYZPointboxesdisplaytheX,Y,andZnominalforthestartpoint.
Afterthenewvalueiscreated,PCDMISwilldrawtheanimatedprobeatthenewlocation.
Thislocationindicatesthebeginningpositionofthesearch.Aftertheexecutioniscomplete,

theXYZpointwillcontainthehighpointinthecurrentworkplane.Subsequentexecutions
howeverwillusetheoriginalstartpointforthesearch.
Forallotherfeaturetypes,theXYZPointboxesdisplaytheX,Y,andZnominalforthelocation
ofthefeature.
Afterthenewvalueiscreated,PCDMISwilldrawtheanimatedprobeatthenewlocation.
Thislocationindicateswhereitwillbetakingthehitonthepart.
ForinformationontheX,Y,andZaxescheckboxes,seethe"FindNearestCADElement"topic.
Icon Description
Polar/CartesianToggle
FindNearestCADElement
ReadPointfromMachine
IJKSurfaceboxes
ThisisausersuppliedI,J,Knormalvector.TheI,J,Kshouldalwayspointawayfromthe
surface.Afterthenewvalueiscreated,PCDMISwillnormalizethevector,makingitslengthone
unit.Thisvectorisusedforprobecompensation.PCDMISwilldisplayacorrespondingcolored
arrowshowingthesurfacevector.
Ifyoucan'tseethevectorarroworitappearstoosmall,trychangingthevalueinthePt.Sizebox
intheAnalysisarea.SettingPt.Sizeto0willgenerallysetboththepointandthearrowtoa
desirablesize.
ForVectorPoint,SurfacePoint,andHighPoints,theIJKSurfaceboxesdisplaythe
approachdirectionforthehitthatwastakentocreatetheautofeature.
ForHighPoints,afterexecution,theIJKNormalVectorwilldisplaytheapproachvectorfor
thehighpointinthecurrentworkplane
ForCircle,Cylinder,Sphere,andConeFeatures,theIJKSurfaceboxesdefinethefeature
centerline.Acone'svectorisveryimportant.Thenormalvectorofaconefeatureisthe
directionoftheconefromitstiptoitsbase.Theheightanddepthofaconearealways
relativetothisvector.
ForSquareSlot,RoundSlot,Ellipse,andNotchFeatures,theIJKSurfaceboxesdefinethe
surfacenormalvectoroftheplanethatthefeatureliesin(theplaneparalleltothefeature).
ForaPlanefeature,theIJKSurfaceboxesdefinetheapproachdirectionfortheplane'shits.

ForaLinefeature,theIJKSurfaceboxeshelpdefinetheedgefortheautolinehits.
Specifically,itdefinesthesurfaceperpendiculartothesurfaceonwhichthehitsfortheline
aretaken.Inotherwords,itisalwaysperpendiculartotheedgevector.See"ExampleofAuto
LineVectors".
Icon Description
FindVectors
FlipVector
UseThickness
UseProbeVector
ThisiconletsyouswitchyourcoordinatesystembetweeneitherCartesianorPolarmodes.
Thesechoicesallowyoutoselectthecoordinatesystemthatwillbeusedtodisplaythepointor
centervaluesfortheautofeature.
InCartesianmode,whentheiconisdepressed,thevaluesaredisplayedinXYZ.
InPolarmode,whentheiconisraised,thevaluesaredisplayedasradius,angleand
height(shownasR,A,andHinthedialogbox).Theheightdependsontheworkplane
currentlybeingused.IfthecurrentworkplaneisZPLUS,theheightistheZvalue.
TheFindNearestCADElementicontellsPCDMIStofindthenearestCADelementinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindowbasedontheXYZlocationandanyselectedaxis(oraxes).PCDMIS
allowsyoutoeithertypeorsurfaceselectthepertinentinformation.
UnderstandingAxesCheckBoxSelecting
ForVectorPointsorSurfacePointsIfyouselectanX,Y,orZaxischeck
box,PCDMISinterpretstheselectionastheaxisthatwillbemodifiedwhenyouclick
theFindNearestCADElementicon.
ForEdgePointsorAnglePointsIfyouselectanX,Y,orZaxischeckbox,
PCDMISinterpretstheselectionoftheaxisasaselectionoftheoneaxisthatwill
NOTbemodifiedwhenyouclicktheFindNearestCADElementicon.Forexample,
ifyouselecttheXcheckbox,PCDMISwillactuallycheckmarktheYandZcheck
boxessignifyingthattheYaxisandZaxisvalueswillbemodifiedbytheFind
process.
UnderstandingtheFindOperationwithoutSelectingAxesCheckBoxes
ForEdgePointsandAnglePointsIfyouclicktheFindNearestCAD
Elementiconwithoutanaxisselection,PCDMISwillfindtheclosestCADedgeor
anglepoint.

ForVectorPointsandSurfacePointsIfyouclicktheFindNearestCAD
Elementiconwithoutanaxisselection,PCDMISwillfindtheclosestCADalongthe
Normalvectorspecifiedinthedialogbox.PCDMISwillthenpopulatethedialogbox
withthefoundvector.
TheReadPointfromMachineiconimmediatelyreadstheprobe'scurrentpositionandfillsits
locationintotheXYZofthefeature.
FindVector(s)
Thisiconisavailableonlyon TheFindVector(s)iconwillpierceallsurfacesalongtheXYZ
theseautofeatures:Vector pointandIJKvectorlookingfortheclosestpoint.Thesurface
Point,SurfacePoint,and normalvectorwillbedisplayedastheIJKNOMVECbuttheXYZ
EdgePoint. valueswillnotchange.
FlipVector
TheFlipVectoriconallowsyoutoreversethedirectionofthesurfacevectors.ClickonFlip
Vectortoreversethedisplayedvalues.
UseThickness
TheUseThicknessicondisplaysaTlist(Tfor"thickness")andaboxwhereyoucantypethe
partthicknessvalue.

Whenmeasuringthesideof Definingathicknessamountisprimarilyusedforthinparts(plastic
thepartthatismodeledin orsheetmetal)wheretheCADdataonlydescribesonesideand
PCDMIS,thepartthickness youwanttomeasuretheotherside.
valueshouldbesettozero.
Thepartthicknessoption Oftenwiththinparts,theCADengineerwillonlydrawonesideof
shouldonlybeusedwhen thepart,andthenspecifythematerialthickness.PCDMISwill
measuringthesideofthepartapplythismaterialthicknessautomaticallywhenusingtheCAD
thatisnotdrawnintheCAD surfacedata.
data.
Positiveornegativevaluescanbeused.Thisthicknesswillbe
appliedautomaticallyalongthesurfacenormalvectoreachtime
CADdataisselected.Ifthefeaturehasmorethanonenormal
vector(i.e.anglepointsandcornerpoints),thethicknesswillbe
appliedalongthefirstnormalvector.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforthisoptionwouldread:
THEO_THICKNESS=n
or
ACTL_THICKNESS=n
n: anumericalvalueindicatingthethicknessofthepart.
FromtheTlist,selectTheo,andintheboxbelowtheTlist,typethethicknessvaluewhenthe
theoreticalvaluesneedtobeadjustedbyathicknessbecausemeasurementsarebeingdoneon
oppositesideofmaterial.
FromtheTlist,selectActual,andintheboxbelowtheTlist,typethethicknessvaluewhen
measurementsarebeingadjustedbythethicknessbacktotheoriginaltheoreticalXYZlocations.
Withthisoptionitwillappearthatthetheoreticalandmeasuredvalueshavenotbeenoffsetand
thetargetisoffset.YoustillneedtomodifyyourtargetsothatPCDMISdrivestothecorrect
location.
SelecttheNoneoptionifyoudon'tneedtoapplythickness.Formostmachines,athicknessof0
orselectingNonehasthesameeffect.Forportablearmmachines,however,selectingNoneand
specifyingavalueactuallyappliesthethicknesstoashankstylemeasurement.Inthistypeof
measurement,youusethecylindricalshankoftheprobetomeasureinsteadoftheprobetip.To
dothisyouneedtofirstdefinesamplehits.PCDMIScanthendeterminethelocationofthe
supportedfeature(Circles,Ellipses,Slots,andNotches)usingtheshank.
Note: Whenswitchingbetweentheoreticalandactualthickness,themeasurementlocationwill
notchange.Whenusingtheoreticalthickness,PCDMISmodifiesthetheoretical,measured,and
targetlocationstoincludethe(theoretical)thickness.Whenusingactualthickness,PCDMIS
modifiesonlythetargetlocationbyaddingthe(actual)thicknessvaluetotheoriginaltheoretical
location.Later,afterfeaturemeasurement,PCDMISsubtractsthe(actual)thicknessfromthe
measuredvalue.Bothmethodsyieldthesamemeasurementlocation.ItissimplyhowPCDMIS
reportsthefeature'stheoretical,actual,andtargetvaluesthatchanges.
UseProbeVector

TheUseProbeVectoriconappearsforselectionontheAutoFeaturedialogboxforanAuto
Spherefeature.ThisicontellsPCDMIStousetheprobe'svectorfortheIJKSurfaceboxes
usedtodefinethesurfacevector.
IJKEdgeboxes
Theseboxesareonly TheIJKEdgeboxesdisplaytheapproachdirection(vector)forthe
availablefortheEdgePoint edgehitorforthepointsofanautoline.ThisisausersuppliedI,J,
andLinefeatures. Kmeasuredvector.TheI,J,Kshouldalwayspointawayfromthe
edgeandbeperpendiculartotheedgethatisbeingmeasured.
Tochangetheapproachvector:
1. Selecttheexistingvalue.
2. Typeanewvalue.
Afteranewvalueiscreated,PCDMISwillnormalizethevector,makingitslengthoneunit.
Icon Description
SwapVectors
FlipVector
UseThickness
SwapVectors
TheSwapVectorsiconcausesthecurrentEdgevectorandSurfacevectortoswitchvectors
witheachother.
IJKSurf1Vecboxes

Theseboxesareonly TheIJKSurf1Vecboxesdisplaythesurfacenormalvectorofthe
availablefortheseauto firstsurfacethatwillbemeasured.TheI,J,Kvectorisexpectedto
features:AnglePointor pointawayfromthesurfacethatisbeingmeasured.PCDMISwill
CornerPoint displayacorrespondingcoloredarrowshowingthesurfacevector.
Ifyoucan'tseethevectorarroworitappearstoosmall,try
changingthevalueinthePt.SizeboxintheAnalysisarea.Setting
Pt.Sizeto0willgenerallysetboththepointandthearrowtoa
desirablesize.
Tochangeavalue:
1. Selectaboxtochange.
2. Typeanewvalue.
IJKSurf2Vecboxes
availablefortheseauto secondsurfacethatwillbemeasured.TheI,J,Kvectoris
features:AnglePointor expectedtopointawayfromthesurfacethatisbeingmeasured.
CornerPoint PCDMISwilldisplayacorrespondingcoloredarrowshowingthe
surfacevector.
changingthevalueinthePt.SizeboxintheAnalysisarea.
SettingPt.Sizeto0willgenerallysetboththepointandthearrow
toadesirablesize.
Tochangeavalue:
1. Selecttheboxtochange.
2. Typeanewvalue.
Icon Description
FlipVector
IJKSurf3Vecboxes

availablefortheCornerPoint thirdplanethatwillbemeasured.TheI,J,Kvectorisexpectedto
feature. pointawayfromtheplanethatisbeingmeasured.PCDMISwill
displayacorrespondingcoloredarrowshowingthesurfacevector.
changingthevalueinthePt.SizeboxintheAnalysisarea.
SettingPt.Sizeto0willgenerallysetboththepointandthearrow
toadesirablesize.
Tochangethisvalue:
1. SelecttheSurf3Vecboxestobechanged
2. Typeanewvalue.
Icon Description
FlipVector
IJKLineVecboxes
Theseboxesareonly TheIJKLineVecboxesdisplaythevectorofthelineonwhichthe
availablefortheAnglePoint anglepointorlinelies.ThisisausersuppliedI,J,Knormalvector.
andLinefeatures.
Tochangetheapproachvector:
2. Typeanew value.
Icon Description
FlipVector
IJKAngleboxes

ForCircle,Cylinder,Sphere,andConefeatures,theAngleboxesdefinethe0 positionaboutthe
normalvector.Thestartandendanglesarecalculatedrelativetothisvector.Ifthevectorsare
notperpendicular,theanglevectorisadjustedtothenormalvector.
ForSquareSlot,RoundSlot,andEllipsefeatures,theAngleboxesdefinethefeature's
secondaryvector.ThisisausersuppliedI,J,Knormalvector.Thefeaturecenterlineandnormal
vectormustbeperpendiculartoeachother.
ForaNotchfeature,theAngleboxesdefinethenotch'ssecondaryvectororientation.This isa
usersuppliedI,J,Knormalvectoralongthebacksideoftheslot.Thenotchanglevectorand
notchnormalvectormustbeperpendiculartoeachother.
ForaPlanefeature,theAngleboxesdefinetheplane'ssecondaryvector.Thishelpscontrolthe
orientationoftheplane'spath.
TochangetheAngleVector:
1. Selecttheboxesyouwanttoupdate.
2. Typeanewvalue.
Afteranewvalueiscreated,PCDMISwillnormalizethevector,makingitalengthof1.
Icon Description
FlipVector
XYZStartPointboxes
TheXYZStartPointboxesdefinetheXYZlocationwherethesearchwillbeginforthehighest
pointinthesearchregion.
Icon Description

XYZStart/Endboxes
TheXYZStartandXYZEndboxesdisplaythestartingandendingpointsforanAutoLine
feature.YoucanclickontheReadPointfromMachineiconstogetthecurrentprobe'sXYZ
location.Oryoucansimplytakehitspointsontheparttoshowthestartandendpointvalues.
NotethattheEndboxesonlyappearifyouselectYesfromtheBoundedlistfromthe
MeasurementPropertiesarea.
Seethe"BoundedList"topic.
Icon Description
XYZCenterboxes
Theseboxesareonly ForPlane,Circle,Ellipse,RoundSlot,SquareSlot,
availablewiththeseauto Polygon,Cylinder,andSphere,theXYZCenterboxes
featuretypes:HighPoint, indicatethenominalcenterlocationofthefeature.
Plane,Circle,Ellipse,Round
Slot,SquareSlot,Notch,
Polygon,Cylinder,and
Sphere
ForaNotch,theseboxesindicatethemidpointofthe
notchalongthenonparallelside.
ForaHighPoint,theseboxesindicatethecenterof
thesearchregion.
Tochangethisvalue:

2. Typeanewvalue
Afterthevalueiscreated,PCDMISwilldrawtheanimatedprobeatthenewlocation.
CylinderNote:Itisimportanttorememberthatifacylinderisdefinedasahole,thecenterpoint
mustbedefinedatthetopofthecylinder.Ifthecylinderisdefinedasastudthenthecenterpoint
mustbedefinedatthebottomofthecylinder.
Icon Description
ExampleofAutoLineVectors
1IJKSurface,2IJKLineVec,3IJKEdge
MeasurementPropertiesarea
TheMeasurementPropertiesareaofthedialogboxcontainssomeorallofthefollowingitems,
dependingontheautofeaturebeingcreated.
Snaplist
TheSnaplistonlybecomesenabledwhenworkingwithaVectorPointorSurfacePoint.Because
snaponlyworksfunctionswellafteraroughalignment,itisdisableduntilanalignmentis
established.
TheSnaplistdetermineswhetherornotmeasuredvalues"snapto"thetheoreticalvectorfora
VectorPointoraSurfacePoint.Thissimulatesaperfectmachinestayingexactlyonthe
approachvector,notdeviatingbyasmuchasamicronwhenmeasuringthepoint.Ifyousetthis
toYes,thenthemeasuredvaluessnaptothetheoreticalvectorwithallthedeviationalongthe
vectorofthepoint.Thisisusefulforfocusingonadeviationalongoneparticularvector.
Forexample,supposeyouwanttomeasuretheheight(inZ)ofatable'stop.Youdontreallycare
aboutyourXandY(secondaryandtertiary)axiserrorswhichcanoccurfrommachinedrift

(tunnelingerror).Inthiscase,withSnapsettoYes,youwillonlybereportingtheZvalue.Any
errorsinXandYwillbeignoredasthemeasuredXandYvalueswillequaltheirtheoretical
counterparts.
MeasureOrderlist
ThisisonlyavailablewiththeTheMeasureOrderlistintheMeasurementPropertiesarea
edgepointfeature. allowsyoutochoosetheorderinwhichthesamplepointswillbe
takenbeforethefinalhitistaken.Thechoicesare:SURFACE,
EDGE,orBOTH.
SURFACE SURFACEmeasuresthethreehits,firstonthe
surface,thenontheedge.
EDGE EDGEmeasuresthetwohits,firstontheedgethen
thesurface.
BOTH BOTHmeasuresthesurface,thentheedge,andthen
thesurfaceagain.
Interior/Exteriorlist
Thislistisavailableonlyon TheInterior/Exteriorlistdefinestheangleaseitherinterioror
theAnglePointautofeature. exterior.
Interiorangleshavethesolidangleofthepartlessthan180,while
exterioranglesaregreaterthan180.
Itisveryimportanttomakesurethisoptionissetcorrectlybecause
ofthedifferencesinmeasurementsequenceforeachtype.
Incrementbox
Thisboxisavailableonlyon TheIncrementboxallowsyoutodefinetheincrementusedwhen
theHighPointautofeature. forthehighestpointinthesearcharea.DuringexecutionPCDMIS
beginssearchingfromthestartpoint(orsearchpoint)bythe
amountspecifiedintheIncrementbox.
Tolerancebox

Thisboxisavailableonlyon TheToleranceboxallowsyoutodefineatolerancevaluethat
theHighPointautofeature. essentiallytellsPCDMISwhentostopsearchingforahighpoint
withinagivenarea.Thetolerancevalueshouldalwaysbeless
thantheincrementvalue.Duringthesearchprocess,PCDMIS
decreasestheincrementvalueuntilitislessthanorequaltothe
Tolerancevaluesupplied,indicatingthatthehighestpointinthe
currentworkplanehasbeenlocated.
Box/Circularlist
Thislistisonlyavailablefor TheBox/Circularlistallowsyoutodefinethesearchmodethat
theHighPointfeature. PCDMISwillusetoreturnthehighestpoint.YoucanchooseBox
modeoraCircularmode.
BoxMode
SelectingBoxdefinesarectangularsearchregionfortheHighPointfeature.Therectangleis
definedbytheWidthandLengthvalues.PCDMISwillreportthehighestpointwithinthatarea.
CircularMode
SelectingCircularswitchestheWidthandLengthboxestoOuterRadandInnerRadboxes.
ThesearchregionfortheHighPointfeaturebecomesacircularsearchbandspecifiedbythe
OuterRadandInnerRadvalues.
Ifacompletecircularregionisdesired,settheinnerradiusto0.
Ifacircularsearchlineisdesired,settheinnerandouterradiitothesamevalue.
Thehighestpointalongthecircumferencewillbereported.
Nomatterwhichmodeyouselect,thestartpointshouldliewithinthedefinedsearchregion.For
thespecialcasesoflinesearching,thestartpointwillautomaticallybeadjustedtobeontheline.
Widthbox
HighPoint TheWidthdefinesthewidthofthesearch
region.IfyouhaveavalueforLengthbut
leavetheWidthvalue0,thentheWidth
valuecorrespondstothelengthalongthe
majoraxisofthecurrentworkplane.
SquareSlot,RoundSlot, TheWidthboxdisplaysthewidthofthe
Ellipse,orNotch feature.

Boundedlist
Thislistiscurrentlyonly TheBoundedlistdefineswhetherornottheautolineisbounded
availablefortheLinefeature.byanendingpointoranunbounded,openline.
IfyouselectYes,thensomeEndboxeswillappearintheFeaturePropertiesareawiththeXYZ
valuesfortheendingpoint.PCDMISautomaticallycalculatesthelengthofthelinebasedoffof
thedistancebetweentheStartandEndpointsanddisplaystheline'slengthintheLengthbox.
IfyouselectNo,thenPCDMISexpectsyoutotypeavalueintheLengthbox.Itthencalculates
thelinefromthestartingpoint,alongthelinevectorforthedistancespecifiedintheLengthbox.
See"XYZStart/EndPointBoxes"and"Lengthbox"foradditionalinformation.
Lengthbox
HighPoint TheLengthdefinesthelengthofthesearch
region.IfyouhaveavalueforWidth,but
leavetheLengthvalue0,theLength value
correspondstothelengthalongtheminor
axisofthecurrentworkplane.
SquareSlot,RoundSlot, TheLengthboxdisplaysthelengthofthe
Ellipse,Notch,orLine feature.
Cone TheLengthboxdisplaysthelengthofthe
cone.
ApositiveLengthvalueindicatesthatthe
centroidistowardsthecone'stip(theendof
theconefeaturethathasthesmaller
diameter).
AnegativeLengthvalueindicatesthatthe
centroidistowardsthecone'sbase(theend
oftheconefeaturethathasthelarger
diameter).
Cylinder Forahole,theLengthboxdefinesthe
nominallengthofthefeature.Ifyouentera
Length valuebutdonotdefineadepth,PC
DMISequallydividestheLength valueby
thenumberofrowsindicatedintheLevels
box.
Theprobethenworksitswaydownthe
cylinderinincrementsuntilitreachesthe
indicatedlengthvalue.

Ifadepthvalueisdefined,theactual
measuredfeaturebecomesthelength
minusthedepthvalue.
Forastud,iftheSampleHitslistselectsa
nonzerovalue,thisoptionwillallowforan
extrahitonthetopofthestudinthecenter.
Ifthisvalueisanythingbut0,PCDMISwill
takeanextrahitinthecenterofthestud.It
thenwillcomputethelengthofthestud.
Patternlist
FortheAutoPlanefeature,theSquareandRadialoptionsinthePatternlistallowyouto
determinewhetherthehits fortheplanefeaturearetakeninasquareorradialpattern.
IfyouselectRadial,PCDMISwillcreatethehitsinrowscomingfromtheplanecenterina
circularorradialpattern.PCDMIStakes360degreesanddividesitbythevalueinthe#
Rowsboxtodeterminetheanglebetweeneachrow.Forexample,ifthe#Rowsboxhad6
andyour#Hitsboxhad3,PCDMISwouldgeneratearowofthreehitsevery60degrees,
foratotalof18hits.
IfyouselectSquare,PCDMISwillcreatethehitsinagridpatternaboutthecenterpointof
theplane.Forexample,ifthe#Rowsboxhad3andthe#Hitsboxhad4,PCDMISwould
takeatotalof12hitsinagridpatternwiththeplanecenterpointatthecenter.
Displaylist
ForanAutoPlanefeature,theDisplaylistdetermineshowtheplanewillbedisplayedinthe
SelectingTrianglewillcausetheplanetoappearasatrianglesymbolaroundtheregionwhere
theplanehitswillbetaken.

SelectingOutlinewillcausetheplanetoappearasasquareorrectangularoutlinearoundthe
regionwheretheplanehitswillbetaken.
StartandEndAngles
Foracircularfeature,thedifferentStartAngleandEndAngleboxesdefinewherePCDMIS
probesthefeature.Formanysituationsthedefaultvaluesaresufficient,buttheremaybetimes
whenyouneedtomeasureacircularfeaturethatispartiallyobstructedbyanotherfeatureor
otherwiseonlypartiallyavailableforprobing.Inversion4.2andlateryoushouldenterthestart
andendanglesinacounterclockwisemanner.
StartandEndAngleExamples
Forexample,ifyoumeasureaholewithsixhitsandaStartAngleof0andanEndAngleof
360,itwilllooksomethinglikethis:

NoticethattheStartAngleandtheEndAnglearethesame:0and360.Also,thesixpoints
makingupthecirclefeatureareequallydistributedbetweenthetwoangles.Inthiscaseeach
pointistakenat60degreeintervalswiththelastpointtakenat300degrees.
However,changingtheStartAngleto45(redarrow)andtheEndAngleto270(orangearrow)
limitsthehitstoacertainportionofthecircularfeature:
StartandEndAngleBoxes
AngleType Description Notes
StartAngle Theseboxesletyouchangethedefaultstarting Theseboxesareonly
andEnd andendinganglesonthefeature.Thisisauser availableforCircle,
Angleboxes suppliedangleindecimaldegrees.Thestarting Cylinder,Ellipse,
andendinganglesarerelativetothevaluesin Cone,andSphere
theIJKAngleVectorboxes. autofeatures.
Ifyourotatetheviewofthefeaturesothatyou
lookdownitscenter,PCDMISwillspacethe
desirednumberofhitsbeginningattheStart
Angleinacounterclockwisedirectionaroundthe
centerlineuntilitreachestheEndAngleas
showninthisexample:
SupposeyouhaveaspherefeaturewithaStart
Angleof0,anendangleof90,andanIJKAngle
Vectorof1,0,0(alongtheX+axis).Thestarting
andendinganglesarerelativetotheangle
vector.Measurementwillproceedina
counterclockwisemanner,equallyspaced

between0and90degrees:
ScreencaptureofanAutoSphereshowingpath
linesandhitlocationsfromStartAngleof0(atA)
andEndAngleof90(atB).
TheStartAngle2andEndAngle2boxeslet Thisboxisonly
youdeterminethesecondarystartingandending availableforSphere
StartAngle angleonaspherefeature.Thisangleisin autofeatures.
2andEnd decimaldegrees.
Angle2
boxes Thesecondaryangle,iflookingatasideviewof
asphere,startsatthesphere'sequatorandthen
movestowardsthetoppoleastheangle
increasesto90degreesandthenbackdownto
theequatorontheoppositesideofthesphereat
180degrees.
Theseanglesallowyoutoplacethehitsinan
areawheretheprobecanreachthemwithout
obstruction.
Supposeyouhaveanexternalspherethat's

halfwayvisibleabovethesurroundingsurface.If
youuseaStartAngle2valueof0degrees,the
probewouldcollidewiththesurroundingsurface
whenitattemptedtotakethehitsaroundthe
sphere'sequator.AslightadjustmentintheStart
Angle2valuewillresolvethisproblem.
Ifyoucreatethespherewith20hits,andgiveita
StartAngleof45,anEndAngleof270,aStart
Angle2of20,andanEndAngle2to90,PC
DMISwouldspace19hitsaroundthesphere20
degreesupfromtheequatorofthespherelike
this:
ATopViewoftheSphere
ASideViewoftheSphere
Thisprovidestheprobewithplentyofroomto
measurethesphere.Thesphere'ssecondlevel
wouldonlyconsistofonehitontopofthesphere.
IfyouadjustedEndAngle2tosomethinglike
110degrees,thesecondlevelofhitswouldhave
5hitsadjusted20degreesdownfromthetopof
thesphere:

OffsetInformation: Whengeneratinganarcusingoneofthecircularautofeatures(Circle,
Cylinder,Cone,Sphere,orRoundSlot),PCDMISwilloffsetthestartandendangleseachbytwo
degrees.ThiswayarcsretrievedfromtheCADaren'tprobedontheirstartingandendingangles,
possiblycatchingacorner.Thisshouldn'tbeanissueforthemostpartunlessyouareattempting
togenerateasmallarcofonlyafewdegrees.Forexample,ifyouwanttogenerateafourdegree
arcofanAutoCircleyouwillneedtotypeinaneightdegreearcparameterintheStartAngle
andEndAngleboxes,knowingthatPCDMISwillshortenthearcbytwodegreesoneachangle.
Inner/Outerlist
TheInner/OuterlisttellsPCDMIStoconstructtheAutoFeatureaseitheraninternalfeatureor
anexternalfeature.
IfyouselectOut,PCDMISconstructsthecircleasanexternalfeaturethat
protrudesfromitssurroundingsurface.
IfyouselectIn,PCDMISconstructsthefeatureasaninternalfeaturethatsinks
intoitssurroundingsurface.
Diameterbox
Thisboxisonlyavailablefor TheDiameterboxdefinesthediameterofthefeature.Inthecase
theseautofeatures:Circle, ofastud,thediameterboxdisplaysthenominal,usersupplied
Cylinder,Sphere,Cone, value.
Polygon
Foracone,thisvaluerepresentsthenominaldiameterattheendoftheconewhereyou've
definedtheX,Y,andZlocation.

Forapolygon,thediameteristhedistancebetweentwoopposingsidesofevensided
polygons.Forotherpolygons,suchasanequilateraltriangle,itistwicetheradiusofthe
largestcircleyoucaninscribeinsidethepolygon.
Tochangethefeature'sdiameter:
2. Typeanewvalue.
Oncethefeatureiscreated,PCDMISupdatesthesizeofthefeatureintheGraphicsDisplay
window.
Directionlist
TheDirectionlistspecifiesthedirectioninwhichthehitsaretaken.
CCWCounterclockwise
CWClockwise

MeasAngbox
Roundslotshavetworoundedends,eachhavingupto180degreesofmeasurementradius.The
valueintheMeasAngboxdefineshowmuchoftheradiustomeasure.PCDMIStakestheinput
valueanddividesitintwo,measuringhalfoneachsideoftheslotanglevector.
Example:Supposeyoutype90inthisbox.WhencreatingtheRoundSlot,PCDMISwouldthen
measure45degreestotheleft,and45degreestotherightoftheanglevector(orviceversa
dependingontheanglevector).
MeasWidthlist
Thislistisavailableonlyon WhenyouselectYesfromMeasWidthandthenclicktheCreate
theSquareSlotautofeature. button,PCDMISwilldothefollowingduringmeasurement:
Measuretwohitsonthesideoftheslot.
Adjusttheanglevector.
Measuretwohitsontheoppositesidetocalculatethewidth.
Adjustthepositionofthelasttwohitsateachendforthewidth.
Note:Generally,SquareSlotsonlyrequirefivehits.Withthisoption,however,takingsixhitswill
yieldabettermeasurementofthewidth.
NumSideslist

TheNumSideslistdefinesthenumberofsidesmakingupthepolygonfeature.
CornerRad(Radius)Box
Thisboxisonlyavailablefor SquareSlots,Notches,andPolygonsarenotalwaysexactly
thesefeaturetypes:Square square.Theyoftenhaveradiiinsteadofcorners.TheCornerRad
SlotNotch,Polygon. boxholdsavaluethesizeofthatradius.Theradiusvaluecontrols
wherethehitstakeplaceonthesefeatures.
ForaSquareSlot,itisusedtodeterminethelocationofeachhit
duringthemeasurementoftheslottoavoidhittingontheradii.
ForaNotchSlot,hitsalongtheedgeoppositetheopensidewillbe
adjustedofftheradius.
ForaPolygon,hitsalongthepolygonedgeareadjustedfromthe
cornersofthefeatureadjustedofftheradius.
AutoFeatureToggleBar
TheAutoFeaturedialogboxinversion4.2andhighercontainsatogglebaraseriesoftoggle
iconsthatallowyoutoturncertainfunctionalityonoroff.ThisbarappearsintheMeasurement
Propertiesareaandcontainstheseicons.
Icon Description
MeasureNowToggle
ReMeasureToggle
AutoWristToggle
ClearPlaneToggle
CircularMovesToggle
ManualPrePositionToggle
ShowHitTargetsToggle
ViewNormalToggle
ViewPerpendicularToggle

VoidDetectionToggle
ProbeToolboxToggle
ShowMeasuredPointsToggle
ShowFilteredPointsToggle
MeasureNowToggleandReMeasureToggle
Ifselected,thisiconbeginsthe
MeasureNowToggleicon
measurementprocessforthisautofeature
immediatelyafteryouclicktheCreate
button.PCDMISwillmeasurethepart
basedonthevaluesspecifiedintheAuto
Featuredialogbox.
Ifselected,thisiconautomaticallyre
ReMeasureToggleicon
measuresthefeatureagainstthemeasured
valuesobtainedthefirsttimethefeatureis
Thisiconisavailablefortheseauto measured.
features:Circle,Cylinder,SquareSlot,
RoundSlot,andNotch.
AutoWristToggle
ThisiconchoosesthebestwristpositiontomeasurethisAutoFeature'shits.Uponcreation,it
willautomaticallyinsertatipcommandbeforetheAutoFeature.
ThisicontellsPCDMIStochoosethebestwristpositiontomeasuretheAutoFeature.Upon
featurecreation,thesoftwareinsertsthetipcommandbeforetheAutoFeature.
Ifthethisiconisselected,PCDMISwillchooseapositionthatmostclosely
approximatesthebestapproachdirection:
o Foredgeandanglepointfeatures,thebestapproachdirectionistheaverageof
thetwosurfacevectors.
o Forcornerpointfeatures,thebestapproachdirectionistheaverageofthethree
surfacevectors.
o Forallotherautotypes,thebestapproachdirectionisthefeaturesurfacevector.
Ifthisiconisnotselected,PCDMISwillusethecurrentwristpositionforallhitsmade.
YoucanalsoturnthisoptionongloballybyselectingtheAutomaticallyAdjustProbeHead
Wristcheckbox.Seethe"AutomaticallyAdjustProbeHeadWrist"topicinthe"Settingyour

ClearPlaneToggle
ThisiconletsyoudeterminewhetherornotPCDMISinsertsanautomaticMOVE/CLEARPLANE
commandbeforemeasuringthefirstautomatichitofanyautofeaturescreatedafterselectingthe
toggleicon.
Note:ThisicononlybecomesavailableforselectionifyourpartprogramisinDCCModeandif
youhaveaclearanceplanealreadydefined.
Ifselected,PCDMISwillautomaticallyinsertaMOVE/CLEARPLANE command (relativeto

thecurrentcoordinatesystemandpartorigin)intotheEditwindowbeforethefirst
automatichitofthefeature.Thiscausestheprobetomovetothedefinedclearance
planebeforemeasuringthefeature.Afterthelasthitonthefeatureismeasured,the
probewillstayatprobedepthuntilcalledtothenextfeature.
Ifnotselected,PCDMIScreatesAutoFeaturesnormallywithoutinsertingany
MOVE/CLEARPLANE commands.
Usingclearanceplanesreducesprogrammingtimebecausetheneedtodefineintermediate
movesisreduced.Itcanalsohelpprotectyourhardwarefromaninadvertentcollisionwiththe
part. (See"ParameterSettings:ClearPlanetab"inthe"SettingyourPreferences"chapterfor
additionalinformationonClearancePlanes.
Important: Whenmeasuringstuds,besuretosetthespacervaluetoadistancethatwillallow
theprobetomovearoundthestud.
CircularMovesToggle
Thisicondetermineswhetherornottheprobewillmovealonganarcasopposedtousually
movinginastraightlinewhenmovingfromonehittothenext.Thisoptionisparticularlyhelpful
whenworkingwithringgrooves.
Thistoggleiconisavailablefortheseautofeatures:Circle,Cylinder,Cone,Sphere,andPlane.
ForaPlanefeatureitbecomesavailableifyouareusingaradialpatternforthefeature'shits.
See"InsertingaMoveCircularCommand"inthe"InsertingMoves"chapterforinformationon
insertingcircularmovesintotheEditwindow.
ManualPrePositionToggle
ThisicononlyfunctionsifyouhavePCDMISVisionenabledonyourportlock.
Ifselected,thisiconpromptstheusertomovethecameratothepositionthatisoverthe
targetbeforecontinuing.Seethedocumentationforadditionalinformation.
ShowHitTargetsToggle
Clickingthisiconshowsthepathlinesandthehitlocationsforthecurrentfeature.Ifthe
ProbeToolboxisvisible,italsodisplaysthetoolbox's HitTargetstab.Deselectingithides
thisinformation.

ThepathlinesappearasgreenlinesontheCADmodel.Theredlineindicatesthe
startinghitandtheorangeline,theendinghit.Youcanalsomodifyhitlocationsbysimply
selectinganddraggingthelineswithyourmouse.
Youcanalsorightclickonanypathlineorhitanduseashortcutmenutoperforma
varietyoffunctions.Seethe"AutoFeaturePathLinesShortcutMenu"topicinthe"Using
ShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus"appendixformoreinformation.
Thefollowingtableexplainsthisfunctionalitybyusinganautocirclefeatureasan
example.
Inthisexample,thestarting
andendinganglesaresetto
measureonly180degreesof
thecirclewithfourhits.
Ifyoueditthestartingor
endingangleboxes,thehits
displaychangesaswell.
Forexample,changingthe
endinganglefrom180to
360,PCDMISthenwould
thenshowthehitsaround
theentirecircle.
Alternately,withsupported
autofeatures,youcanclick
onahittargetanddragitto
anewlocation.Thestartor
endingangleanglesinthe
dialogboxwillupdate
themselvesaccordingly.
Youcanclickonapathline
anddraganyhittoanew
location.
Tomodifyapathline,move
themouseoverthepathline
untilPCDMIShighlightsitin
red,thenclickanddragthe
hittoanewlocation.
Supposeyourautocircleuses
threesamplehitstolocatethe
surfacearoundthecircle.PC
DMISshowstheselinesas
well.
Tomodifysamplehitpath
lines,clickonanddragthese

linestoanewlocation.
Ifyoudon'thave
userdefinedhits,PC
DMISdynamically
updatestheSpacer
valueaswellasthe
featurehits.
Ifyoualready
haveuserdefined
hits,PCDMISwill
modifyonlythatone
samplehit'slocation.
ViewNormalToggle
ThisiconisunavailableforselectionifyourpartprogramisinManualmode.
ClickingthisiconorientsthatCADsothatyoulookdownonthefeature.Deselectingitreturns
theCADtothepreviousview.Youcanalsoselectthisbyrightclickingonthepathandselecting
ViewNormalfromtheresultingmenu.
ExampleCirclewithViewNormal
ViewPerpendicularToggle
ThisiconisgrayedoutandunavailableforselectionifyourpartprogramisinManualmode.
ClickingthisiconorientstheCADsothatyoulookatthesideofthefeature.Thisisidealfor
definingafeature'sdepthoraddingadditionalrowsofhitsforfeaturesthatsupportadditional
levelssuchasconesorcylinders.Tosetadditionalrows,rightclickandselectAddRowfromthe
resultingmenu.

ExampleCylinderafterViewPerpendicular
DeselectingViewPerpendicularTogglereturnstheCADtothepreviousview.Youcanalso
settheviewtoperpendicular,byrightclickingonthepathandselectingViewPerpendicular
fromtheresultingmenu.
WithShowPath
ToggleandView
Perpendicular
selected,youcan
viewthefeatureinits
perpendicularview
andseeatwhat
depthPCDMISwill
takethehits.
Tomodifythedepth,
highlightthegreen
lineofhitsinthis
viewandthenclick
anddrageitherupor
downtosetthenew
depth.
VoidDetectionToggle
ThisicononlyfunctionsifyouhaveInspectionPlannerandIPMeasureenabledonyourportlock
andifyouareworkingwithoneofthesesupportedfeatures:SurfacePoint,EdgePoint,Line,
Plane,Circle,Cylinder,andRoundSlot.
Ifselected,PCDMISdetectshittargetsthatwouldnormallyoccurinvoids(emptyspaces)on
theCADmodelandrepositionsthemtoasafelocation,usuallyneartheedgeofthevoid.Thisis
oftenusedwithPCDMISInspectionPlanner.Seethedocumentationforadditionalinformation.
ProbeToolboxToggle

Ifselected,theProbeToolboxgetsdisplayed.PCDMISremembersthetoolboxstatesothat
thereafter,wheneveryouopenorclosethatAutoFeaturedialogbox,theProbeToolboxwill
alsoopenandcloserespectively.Youwillfindthistoggleiconusefulbecausestartingwith
version4.2someitemshavebeenmovedtotheProbeToolboxthatusedtobeontheAuto
Featuredialogbox.
Seethe"UsingtheProbeToolbox"topicinthe"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools"
chapter.
ShowMeasuredPointsToggle
Thisicononlyfunctionswithfeaturesthatarealreadymeasured.Untilafeatureismeasured,
eitherwiththeTestbuttonontheAutoFeaturedialogboxorwiththeactualpartprogram
execution,theiconremainsunavailableforselection.
SelectthisicontoshowintheGraphicsDisplaywindowavisualdepictionofthedatapoints
usedtomeasurethefeature.
ExampleofShowingMeasuredPointsforanAutoLinefeature
ShowFilteredPointsToggle
ThisicononlyfunctionsifyouhavePCDMISVisionenabledonyourportlock.

SelectthisicontoshowontheLiveandCADViewsimageprocessingdatapointsthatwere
acquiredandthendiscardedbythecurrentfiltersettings.Seethe documentationforadditional
information.
ExtendedSheetMetalOptionsarea
ExtendedSheetMetalOptionsarea
Thisareacontainssomeofthelessfrequentlyusedsheetmetaloptionsforsupportedauto
features.
ShowingExtendedSheetMetalOptions
TheExtendedsheetmetaloptionsarearemainshiddenuntilthefollowingconditionsaremet:
YoumustselecttheShowExtendedSheetMetalOptionscheckboxfromtheGeneral
taboftheSetUpOptionsdialogbox(selectEdit|Preferences|Setup).
Thetypeofautofeaturemustsupporttheextendedoptions.Supportedfeaturesinclude:
VectorPoint,SurfacePoint,EdgePoint,Circle,RoundSlot,andSquareSlot
Youmustselectthe>>buttonontheAutoFeaturedialogboxforShowAdvancedSheet
MetalOptions.
Youmustselectthe>>buttonontheAutoFeaturedialogboxforShowExtendedSheet
MetalOptions.Thisbuttononlyappearsforsupportedfeatures.
ThiswilldisplayarathertallAutoFeaturedialogboxwithallavailableoptionsvisible.
TheExtendedSheetMetalOptions
Dependingonthefeatureselected,thefollowingitemsappearintheExtendedsheetmetal
optionsarea.
Supported
Item Description Auto
Features
Theseboxesdisplaythevectorusedfor
reportingdeviation.Thisisauser
IJK suppliedI,J,Kvector.TheLocation
Edge DimensionoptionRTwilldisplaythe
EdgePoint
Report deviationcalculatedalongthisvector.
boxes Afterthenewvalueiscreated,PCDMIS
willnormalizethevector,makingits
lengthoneunit.
Theseboxesdisplaytheupdatevectorto
beusedtopiercetheCADsurface,ifthe
optionisactivebysettingtheSETNOM
IJK AXmode.ThisisausersuppliedI,J,K
Update normalvector.TheI,J,Kshouldalways VectorPoint
boxes pointawayfromthesurface.Afterthe
newvalueiscreated,PCDMISwill
normalizethevector,makingitslength
oneunit.

Theseboxesdisplaythevectorusedfor
reportingdeviation.Thisisauser
suppliedI,J,Kvector.
Afterthenewvalueiscreatedandyou
exitthedialogbox,PCDMISwill
normalizethevector,makingitslength
IJK oneunit.
Surf
All
Rpt
boxes TheLocationdimension'sRScheckbox
displaysthedeviationcalculatedalong
thisvector.
TheLocationdimension'sRTcheckbox
displaysthemeasureddeviationinthe
surfacevectordirectionalongthisdefined
reportvector.
BysettingtheUsePinlisttoYes,theIJK
PunchandIJKPinboxesbecome
availableforediting. Circle,
Use
SquareSlot,
Pinlist
RoundSlot
ThedefaultvalueforthisfornewAuto
FeaturesisNo.
Theseboxesdefinethevectorofthestud
throughtheholeformedbythepunch.
Whenpinsarecreatedonasheetmetal
surfacetheyarenotalwaysperpendicular Circle,
IJKPin
tothesurface.Thisnaturallycreatesan SquareSlot,
boxes
ellipticalshapeatthesurfaceofthe RoundSlot
metal,eventhougharoundpinmayhave
beenused.ThePin vectorthenallowsfor
moreaccuratemeasurementanddata
analysisinthissituation.
Theseboxesdefinethevectorofthe
punchthroughthesheetmetal.This
vectorispositionedattheXYZcenter,
plushalfthethicknessalongthesurface
normalvector.
Thepunchesusedtoplaceholesinsheet
IJK metalarenotalwaysperpendiculartothe Circle,
Punch surface.Thisnaturallycreatesanelliptical SquareSlot,
boxes shapeatthesurfaceofthemetal,even RoundSlot
thougharoundpunchmayhavebeen
used.ThePunchvectorthenallowsfor
moreaccuratemeasurementanddata
analysisinthissituation.
FortheCirclefeature,thediameterofthe
featureisalsoalongthisvector.
Formoreinformationonthesevectorboxessee"ExtendedSheetMetalVectorDiagrams"below.

Icon Description
FlipVector
ResetVectortoUseSurfaceVector
ResetVectortoSurfaceVector
TheResetVectortoSurfaceVectoriconwillsetthevectortomatchthenormalIJKSurface
vectorvalues.
ExtendedSheetMetalVectorDiagrams
Thistopiccontainsvariousdiagramsillustratingthevectorsthatyoucanusewhenyouchoose
theshowextendedsheetmetalfeatureoptions:
NormalVector:Thenormalvectoristhevectorperpendiculartothesurfaceatapointfeatures
location.Seethediagrambelow:
=NormalVector
=Surface
=PointLocation
DiagramofaNormalVector
UpdateVector:Theupdatevectoristhevectorusedtodeterminethedirectiontofollowwhen
updatingapointtoanewsurface.Thisupdatevectorisderivedfromthereferencelineusedin
theinitialcreationofthefeature.Seethediagrambelow:
=Updatedornewsurface
=Originaloroldsurface

=Originalpointlocation
=Updatedpointlocation
=Referencelineusedto
generatepointlocation.Also
knowntheupdatevector.
DiagramofanUpdateVector
ReportVector:Thereportvectorisusedtospecifythereportingdirectionofafeature.Itmaybe
differentfromthesurfacenormal,usuallyalongaspecifiedaxis(shownbelowaseitherYrorXr).
Seethediagrambelow:
=Theoreticalsurface
=Nominalpointlocation
=Actualpointlocation
=DeviationinXaxis
=DeviationinYaxis
DiagramofaReportVector
PinVector:Appliedtoslotsandholes,thepinvectorspecifiesthevectorofthepinasitlocates
theproduct.Seethediagrambelow:

A =Pinvector
DiagramofaPinVector
PunchVector:Appliedtoslotsandholes,thepunchvectorspecifiesthedirectionofthepunch
usedtocreatethefeature.Thisvectorisusuallyclosetothesurfacenormalwithinafewdegrees.
Seethediagrambelow:
A =Punchvector.Closetothe
surfacenormalwithin+or5
degrees
B =ThePunch
DiagramofaPunchVector
AdvancedMeasurementOptionsarea
TheMeasurementPropertiesareaofthedialogboxcontainssomeorallofthefollowingitems,
dependingontheautofeaturebeingcreated.
Calculationlist

Thislistisonlyavailablefor TheCalculationlistintheAdvancedMeasurementOptionsarea
theseautofeatures:Circle allowstheusertospecifyhowheorshewouldlikethefeature
andCylinder calculatedfromthemeasuredhits.Theavailableoptionsare:
LEAST_SQR,MIN_SEP,MAX_INSC,MIN_CIRCSC,and
FIXED_RAD.
ForlegacyCircularityandCylindricitydimensionsaswellasaLocationdimension'sRNLine,the
featuresolutionisusedtocomputethedimension.BydefaultthisisLeastSquares.However,
youcanchoosetosolvethefeatureusingMinimumSeparation,MaximumInscribed,Minimum
Circumscribed,orFixedRadiusregressionalgorithms.
FCFCircularityandCylindricitydimensionsontheotherhandarecomputedusingtheChebychev
algorithm(Min/Max)asrequiredbytheY14.5standard.Becauseofthechangeincalculation,
CircularityandCylindricityFCFdimensionswillgenerallycomputetoaslightlysmallervaluethan
theirlegacycounterparts.
Thesecalculationtypesarealreadydiscussedindetailinthe"BestFitType"topicinthe
"ConstructingNewFeaturesfromExistingFeatures"chapter
Modelist
TheModelistintheAdvancedMeasurementOptionsareadetermineshowthenominalswill
becomputedforagivenpoint.PCDMISallowsyoutochoosebetweenFINDNOMS,MASTER,
andNOMINALS.
IfMODE=NOMINALS isactive,PCDMISwillcomparethemeasuredfeaturewiththe
theoreticaldatainthedialogbox,usingthemeasureddataforcalculations.
IfMODE=MASTERisactive,thenPCDMISwillusethemeasuredfeatureasthenominal,but
willnotupdatetheX,Y,Zanddiameterdatainthedialogbox.
IfMODE=VECTORisactive,thenPCDMISwilluseyourfirstthreehitstocalculatethe
appropriatevectortouseforthefeature.PCDMISwillnotadjustthelocationofthefeature.You
musttakethehitswiththeAutoFeaturesdialogboxactive.NotethatVECTORmodeisonly
availableforVectorandSurfacepoints.
Note:Ifanominalvalueisnotknown,simplyselectFINDNOMS fromthelist.Whilethisoptionis
active,everytimeavalueisselectedtobechanged,PCDMISwillpromptyoutotakethe
appropriatemeasurementsontheparttoobtainthevaluesneeded.
ListItem Description
FindNoms WhenyouselectFINDNOMSfromtheModelist,
PCDMISwillpiercetheCADmodeltofindthe
closestlocationonaCADedge(orsurface)to
themeasuredpoint,andsetthenominalstothat
locationontheCADelement.

TofindthenominalsusingCADdata:
1. VerifythatPCDMISissetto
CurvemodeorSurfacemode
(availablefromtheGraphics
Modestoolbar),asisappropriatefor
theparticularpartprogram.
2. ClickonthedesiredCAD
elementintheGraphicsDisplay
window.PCDMISwillpiercethe
CADelementtoobtainthelocation,
butwillnotcreateafeature.Once
thedesiredelementshavebeen
selected,PCDMISwillautomatically
fillintheX,Y,ZandI,J,Kvalues.
3. Ifthevaluesaresatisfactory,
selecttheCreatecommandbutton.
CAUTION:IfyouselecttheMeasurebox,PC
DMISwillmeasurethepart.
IfahitistakenonthepartwhileinFINDNOMS
mode,PCDMISwillsearchthroughtheCAD
elementsandfindthenominalCADinformation
thatisclosesttothemeasuredpoint.If
necessary,PCDMISwillpromptyoutotakeany
additionalhitsonthepart.
Thenexttimethepartismeasured,PCDMISwill
setthenominaldatatothenearestCADelement
itcanfind.Themodeswitchwillthenberesetto
NOMINALS.
UsingFindNomswithFixedProbes:
FaroorRomerarmsusingafixedprobedon't
generategoodapproachvectors.Becauseof
this,PCDMIScannoteasilydeterminewhereto
lookforthesurfaces.
Toimprovevectorsfromfixedprobes:
1. Placethefixedprobeonthe
part.
2. PresstheHitbutton.
3. Movetheprobeawayfromthe
partalongtheapproximatesurface
vector.
4. PresstheEndbutton.
PCDMISwillcalculateandthenusethevector
betweenthehitandtheprobetip'sposition.

Also,becausethedefaultvectorfromaFaroarm
usestheaxisofthefixedprobe,themoreyou
positionthevectornormaltothesurfacethe
moreusefulthevectorisforFindNoms
operations.
Master IfapointiscreatedwhentheModelistissetto
MASTER,thenthenexttimethepartis
measured,PCDMISwillsetthenominaldata
equaltothemeasureddata.TheModelistwill
thenberesettoNOMINALS.
Nominals TheNOMINALSoptionalsorequiresyoutohave
nominaldatabeforethemeasurementprocess
begins.PCDMISwillcomparethemeasured
featurewiththetheoreticaldatainthedialogbox,
usingthemeasuredfeatureforanynecessary
calculations.
Vector TheVECTORoptionallowsyoutoupdateonly
thefeature'svectorduringlearnmodeitwillnot
updatethenominalXYZvalues.
Thisoptionhelpsyoutosetafeature'svector
thatyoumaynotbeabletoobtainotherwise.
Withthedialogboxopen,takethreehitsonthe
feature.Thiswilldetermineitsvector.
Youcanusethismodeaslongasthedialogbox
remainsopen.Onceyouclosethedialogbox,
theoptionisnotavailableforthefeatureinthe
Editwindow.
SupportedFeatures:VectorPoint,Surface
Point,CornerPoint,Line,Plane,Circle,Ellipse,
RoundSlot,SquareSlot,NotchSlot,Polygon,
Cylinder,Cone,Sphere
RelativeTo
RelativeToallowsyoutokeeptherelativepositionandorientationbetweenagivenfeature(or
features)andtheautofeature.
Beforeselectingarelativeautofeature,youshouldfirstchooseyourrelativemeasuremode.See
"SettingUpRelativeMeasure".
Clickingthe...buttonwilldisplayaRelativeFeaturedialogbox:

RelativeFeaturedialogbox
Fromthisdialogboxyoucanchoosetoselecteither:
Asinglefeaturefromthelisttotheright
Multiplefeatures(oneforeachaxis)fromtheliststotheright
Afteryouselectthefeature(s)andclickOK,theRelativeToboxwillthendisplaytheselected
feature(s).ThisoptionsupportstheDMISV3.0RMEASformats1,3and6.
AnalysisArea
TheAnalysisareaallowsyoutodeterminehoweachmeasuredhit/pointisdisplayedandhow
analysisimagesarecapturedanddisplayedinreports.
ThisfunctionalitywasoriginallycreatedforPCDMISVision.Forindepthinformationonits
usage,seethetopicinthe documentation.
ANoteonPointandArrowVectorSize
IfyourvectorarrowsforyourAutoPointfeaturesseemtoosmall,increasingthePt.Size value
willincreaseboththesizeofthepointintheGraphicsDisplaywindowand,correspondingly,the
sizeofthevectorarrow.SinceAutoFeaturesareusedonwidelydifferingmachines,noone
defaultsizewillworkforallusers.Howeveryoucandecidewhatsizeworksbestforyou.PC
DMISwillthendefaulttoyourlastenteredvalue.

Ifyourpointappearslikealargeblobonyourscreen,youmightwanttosimplysetthesizeto0.
Thisgenerallyproducesagoodlookingpointsizeandvectorarrow.
AutoFeatureCommandButtons
CommandButtons Description
ClickingtheMoveTobuttonmoves
thefieldofviewintheGraphics
Displaywindowandcentersitonthe
MoveTobutton currentfeature'sXYZlocation.
Insomecases,suchasaVector
Point,theXYZlocationisactually
offsetalongthenormalvectorbythe
prehitvalue.Thispreventstheprobe
fromcrashingintothepart.
Ifafeatureiscomposedofmorethan
onepoint(suchasaline),then
clickingthisbuttonswitchesbetween
thepointsmakingupthefeature.
ClickingtheTestbuttonallowsyouto
testafeature'screationandpreview
itsdimensionaldatabeforeit's
Testbutton actuallycreated.
Clickingthisbuttonperformsa
measurementusingthecurrent
parameters.
Youcanchangeparametersandclick
Testrepeatedlyuntilyouhavean
acceptablemeasurement.Thenwhen
youclickCreate,thesoftware
convertsthetemporaryfeatureintoa
normalfeatureinthepartprogram.
ClickingtheCreatebuttoninsertsthe
definedAutoFeatureintotheEdit
Windowatthecurrentposition.
Createbutton
ClickingtheClosebuttonexitsthe
AutoFeaturedialogbox.
Closebutton

Clickingthe>>buttonextendsthe
dialogboxanddisplaysanyadvanced
ShowAdvancedMeasurement measurementoptions.Thebutton
thenchangesto<<.
Options
Clickingthe<<buttonshortensthe
and dialogboxandonlyshowsthebasic
optionsforthatautofeature.The
HideAdvancedMeasurement buttonthenchangesto>>.
Options
ShowExtendedSheetMetal Forsupportedfeatures,clickingthe
<<buttonhidestheExtendedSheet
MeasurementOptions MetalOptionsarea.Thebuttonthen
changesto>>.
and
Clickingthe>>buttondisplaysthe
HideExtendedSheetMetal ExtendedSheetMetalOptionsarea.
MeasurementOptions Thebuttonthenchangesto<<.
InsertingAutoFeatures
ThePCDMISconfigurationsthatsupportAutoFeaturesdifferinwhichAutoFeaturesthey
supportaswellashowthosefeaturesarecreated.Becauseofthis,informationoncreatingand
insertingAutoFeaturesintoyourpartprogramisnotcoveredhere.Instead,consultthe
documentationsetforyourPCDMISconfiguration:
Contact(PCDMISCMM) Vision(PCDMISVision) Laser(PCDMISLaser)

AutoVectorPoint
AutoSurfacePoint AutoSurfacePoint AutoSurfacePoint
AutoEdgePoint AutoEdgePoint AutoEdgePoint
AutoAnglePoint
AutoCornerPoint
AutoHighPoint
AutoLine AutoLine
AutoPlane AutoPlane
AutoCircle AutoCircle AutoCircle
AutoEllipse AutoEllipse
AutoSquareSlot AutoSquareSlot AutoSquareSlot
AutoRoundSlot AutoRoundSlot AutoRoundSlot
AutoNotchSlot AutoNotchSlot
AutoPolygon AutoPolygon
AutoCylinder AutoCylinder
AutoCone

AutoSphere AutoSphere
OnceanAutoFeatureiscreated,itscommandappearsinsidetheEditwindow(see"Auto
FeatureFieldDefinitions").YoucanthenmarkthecommandandhavePCDMISexecuteitlike
anyothercommandorfeature.
AutoFeatureFieldDefinitions
WhenyoucreateanAutoFeature,PCDMISinsertsthecommandforthatfeatureintotheEdit
window.ThistopicdocumentsthedifferentfieldsthatmayappearintheCommandmodeofthe
Editwindowforthedifferentfeatures.
Inthetablebelow,locatethefieldorcommandlineusedinyourAutoFeaturetoseewhatitdoes.
VectorPoint|SurfacePoint|EdgePoint|AnglePoint|CornerPoint|HighPoint|Line|Plane|
Circle|Ellipse|RoundSlot|SquareSlot|NotchSlot|Cylinder|Cone|Sphere|Polygon
AutoPolygonFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoPolygonfeaturewouldread:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/POLYGON,CARTESIAN,IN
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TAI,TAJ,TAK,TDIAM
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,AI,AJ,AK,DIAM
TARG/targX,targY,targZ,targI,targJ,targK,targAI,targAJ,targAK
NUMSIDES=n,RADIUS=n
REMEASURE=NO,SURFACE/THICKNESS_NONE,0
MEASUREMODE/NOMINALS
RMEAS/NONE,NONE,NONE
AUTOWRIST/YES
CIRCULARMOVES/NO
CLEARPLANE/NO
GRAPHICALANALYSIS/NO
SCREENCAPTURE/CAD,OUTTOL,50%,HIGH
FEATURELOCATOR/NO,NO,""
SHOW_CONTACT_PARAMETERS=YES
NUMHITS=n,DEPTH=n
SAMPLEHITS=n,SPACER=n
AVOIDANCEMOVE=BEFORE,DISTANCE=n
FINDHOLE=DISABLED,ONERROR=YES,READPOS=YES
SHOWHITS=YES
HIT/BASIC,TX,TY,TZ,I,J,K,X,Y,Z
AutoSphereFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoSpherefeaturewouldread:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/SPHERE,CARTESIAN,IN,LEAST_SQR
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TDIAM
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,DIAM
TARG/targX,targY,targZ,targI,targJ,targK
STARTANG1=n,ENDANG1=n
STARTANG2=n,ENDANG2=n
ANGLEVEC=I,J,K
AUTOWRIST/YES
CIRCULARMOVES/NO
CLEARPLANE/NO

NUMHITS=n,NUMLROWS=n,
SAMPLEHITS=n,
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoConeFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoConefeaturewouldread:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/CONE,CARTESIAN,IN
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TANGLE,TLENGTH,TDIAM
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,ANGLE,LENGTH,DIAM
STARTANG=n,ENDANG=n
ANGLEVEC=I,J,K
SURFACE/ACTL_THICKNESS,n
AUTOWRIST/YES
CIRCULARMOVES/NO
CLEARPLANE/NO
NUMHITS=n,NUMLEVELS=n,STARTINGDEPTH=n,ENDINGDEPTH=n
ONERROR=NO,READPOS=YES
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoCylinderFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoCylinderfeaturewouldread:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/CYLINDER,CARTESIAN,IN,LEAST_SQR
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TDIAM,TLENGTH
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,DIAM,LENGTH
STARTANG=n,ENDANG=n
REMEASURE=NO,USETHEO=YES
ANGLEVEC=I,J,K
DIRECTION=CCW
AUTOWRIST/YES
CIRCULARMOVES/NO
CLEARPLANE/NO
NUMHITS=n,NUMLEVELS=n,STARTINGDEPTH=n,ENDINGDEPTH=n,PITCH=n
FINDHOLE=DISABLED,ONERROR=NO,READPOS=YES
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoNotchSlotFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoNotchSlotfeaturewouldread:

ID=FEAT/CONTACT/NOTCHSLOT,CARTESIAN
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TAI,TAJ,TAK,TWIDTH,TLENGTH
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,AI,AJ,AK,WIDTH,LENGTH
REMEASURE=NO
AUTOWRIST/YES
CIRCULARMOVES/NO
CLEARPLANE/NO
DEPTH=n
SAMPLEHITS=n,SPACER=n,INDENT1=n
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoSquareSlotFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoSquareSlotfeaturewithextendedoptionswould
read:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/SQUARESLOT,CARTESIAN,IN
MEASWIDTH=YES,RADIUS=n
REMEASURE=NO
PUNCH=I,J,K,PIN=I,J,KSURFACE/ACTL_THICKNESS,n
AUTOWRIST/YES
CIRCULARMOVES/NO
CLEARPLANE/NO
DEPTH=n
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoRoundSlotFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoRoundSlotfeaturewithextendedoptionswouldread:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/ROUNDSLOT,CARTESIAN,IN
MEASANGLE=n
REMEASURE=NO
PUNCH=I,J,K,PIN=I,J,KSURFACE/ACTL_THICKNESS,n
AUTOWRIST/YES
CIRCULARMOVES/NO
CLEARPLANE/NO

NUMHITS=n,DEPTH=n
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoEllipseFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoEllipsefeaturewouldread:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/ELLIPSE,CARTESIAN,IN
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TDIAM,TDIAM2,TAI,TAJ,TAK
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,DIAM,DIAM2,AI,AJ,AK
STARTANG=n,ENDANG=n
AUTOWRIST/YES
CIRCULARMOVES/NO
CLEARPLANE/NO
NUMHITS=n,DEPTH=n
ONERROR=NO,READPOS=NO
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoCircleFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoCirclefeaturewithextendedoptionswouldread:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/CIRCLE,CARTESIAN,IN,LEAST_SQR
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TDIAM,TANG1,TANG2
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,DIAM,ANG1,ANG2
ANGLEVEC=I,J,K
DIRECTION=CCW
REMEASURE=NO
PUNCH=I,J,K,PIN=I,J,K
AUTOWRIST/YES
CIRCULARMOVES/NO
CLEARPLANE/NO
NUMHITS=n,DEPTH=n,PITCH=n
FINDHOLE=DISABLED,ONERROR=NO,READPOS=NO
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoPlaneFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoPlanefeaturewouldread:

ID=FEAT/CONTACT/PLANE,CARTESIAN,TRIANGLE
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K
ANGLEVEC=I,J,K,SQUARE
SURFACE/THEO_THICKNESS,n
AUTOWRIST/YES
CLEARPLANE/NO
NUMHITS=n,NUMROWS=n
SPACER=n
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoLineFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoLinefeaturewouldread:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/LINE,CARTESIAN
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TLI,TLJ,TLK,TEI,TEJ,TEK,TSI,TSJ,TSK,TLENGTH
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,LI,LJ,LK,EI,EJ,EK,SI,SJ,SK,TLENGTH
BOUNDED
REPORTVEC=I,J,K
EDGE/THEO_THICKNESS,n
AUTOWRIST/YES
CLEARPLANE/YES
GRAPHICALANALYSIS/YES,n,n,n
NUMHITS=n,DEPTH=n
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoHighPointFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoHighPointfeaturewouldread:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/HIGHPOINT,CARTESIAN
MEAS/X,Y,Z,I,J,K
INCREMENT=n,TOL=n,CIRCULAR,OUTERRADIUS=n,INNERRADIUS=n
CENTER=X,Y,Z
AUTOWRIST/YES
CLEARPLANE/NO
AutoCornerPointFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanAutoCornerPointfeaturewouldread:

ID=FEAT/CONTACT/CORNERPOINT,CARTESIAN
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TSI,TSJ,TSK,TS2I,TS2J,TS2K,TS3I,TS3J,TS3K
MEAS/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,SI,SJ,SK,S2I,S2J,S2K,S2I,S2J,S2K
EXTERIOR
SURFACE2/THEO_THICKNESS,n
AUTOWRIST/YES
CLEARPLANE/NO
SPACER=n,INDENT1=n,INDENT2=n,INDENT3=n
ONERROR=YES
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoAnglePointFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandblockforanAutoAnglePointwouldread:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/ANGLEPOINT,CARTESIAN
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TSI,TSJ,TSK,TS2I,TS2J,TS2K
MEAS/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,SI,SJ,SK,S2I,S2J,S2K
EXTERIOR
MEASUREMODE/FINDNOMS
AUTOWRIST/YES
CLEARPLANE/NO
SAMPLEHITS=n,SPACER=n,INDENT1=n,INDENT2=n
ONERROR=YES
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoEdgePointFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandblockforanAutoEdgePointfeaturewithextendedoptionswould
read:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/EDGEPOINT,CARTESIAN
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K
EDGE/THEO_THICKNESS,n
REPORT=I,J,K,SURFACE_REPORT=I,J,K
MEASUREORDER=SURFACE
/THEO_THICKNESS,n
MEASUREMODE/FINDNOMS
AUTOWRIST/YES
CLEARPLANE/NO
DEPTH=n

SAMPLEHITS=n,SPACER=n,INDENT1=n
ONERROR=YES
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoSurfacePointFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandblockforanAutoSurfacePointfeaturewithextendedoptionswould
read:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/SURFACEPOINT,CARTESIAN
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K
REPORTVEC=I,J,K
AUTOWRIST/YES
CLEARPLANE/YES
GRAPHICALANALYSIS/YES,n,n,n
SAMPLEHITS=n
SPACER=n
SHOWHITS=YES
AutoVectorPointFieldDefinitions
TheEditwindowcommandblockforanAutoVectorPointfeaturewithextendedoptionswould
read:
ID=FEAT/CONTACT/VECTORPOINT,CARTESIAN
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K
REPORTVEC=I,J,K,UPDATEVEC=I,J,K
AUTOWRIST/YES
CLEARPLANE/NO
SHOWHITS=YES
UsedonOnly
Extended
FieldorCommand these Description
Field
Features
Thisfieldshowsthefeature's
ID identificationlabel.See"ID
box".
Thiscommanddisplaysthe
FEAT/CONTACT typeofprobingandtheAuto
Featuretype.See"Auto

FeatureTypelist".
Thisfieldswitchesbetween
POLARandCARTESIANand
POLARor displaystheX,Y,Z,I,J,K values
CARTESIAN intheselectedcoordinate
system.See"Polar/Cartesian
Toggle".
ForaPlanefeature,thisfield
switchesbetweenTRIANGLE
TRIANGLEor orOUTLINE.Itdetermineshow
OUTLINE PLANE
theplanegetsdisplayedinthe
"Displaylist".
CIRCLE,
ELLIPSE,
ThisfieldswitchesbetweenIN
ROUNDSLOT,
orOUT.Itdetermineswhether
SQUARE
INor ornotthefeatureisaninternal
OUT SLOT,
feature(suchasahole)oran
CYLINDER,
externalfeature(suchasa
CONE,
stud).See"Inner/Outer".
SPHERE,
POLYGON
Thisfielddeterminesthe
calculationroutineusedto
createthefeaturefromthe
CIRCLE, measuredhits.Itcantoggle
LEAST_SQR CYLINDER, betweenLEAST_SQR,
SPHERE MIN_SEP,MAX_INSC,
MIN_CIRCSC,and
FIXED_RAD.See"Calculation
list".
Thisstandsfor"theoretical".
TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK
representthetheoretical(or
nominal)hitlocationand
vector.
TLI,TLJ,TLKrepresentthe
theoreticallinevector.
TEI,TEJ,TEKrepresentthe
theoreticaledgevector.
TSI,TSJ,TSKrepresentthe
surfacetheoreticalvector.
TS2I,TS2J,TS2Krepresentthe
THEO/
theoreticalvectorforthe
secondsurface.
TLENGTHrepresentsthe
feature'stheoreticallength.
TDIAMrepresentsthefeature's
theoreticaldiameter.For
ellipses,thisisthemajor
diameter.TDIAM2isan
ellipse'sminordiameter.
TANG1representsthefeature's
theoreticalstartingangle.
TANG2representsthefeature's

theoreticalendingangle.
TAI,TAJ,TAKrepresentsthe
theoreticalanglevector.
TWIDTHandTLENGTH
representthetheoreticalwidth
andlengthofthefeature.
TANGLErepresentsthe
feature'sangle.
Thisstandsfor"actual".
X,Y,Z,I,J,Krepresentthe
actualmeasuredhitlocation
andvector.
SI,SJ,SK,representthe
measuredvectorforthe
surface.
LI,LJ,LKrepresentthe
measuredlinevector.
EI,EJ,EKrepresentthe
measurededgevector.
LENGTHrepresentsthe
feature'smeasuredlength.
ACTL/
DIAMrepresentsthefeature's
measureddiameter.ANG1
representsthefeature'sactual
startingangle.TANG2
representsthefeature'sactual
endingangle.
AI,AJ,AKrepresentsthe
measuredanglevector.
WIDTHandLENGTHrepresent
themeasuredwidthandlength
ofthefeature.
ANGLErepresentsthe
feature'sangle.
Thisstandsfor"target".The
fieldstargX,targY,targZ,targI,
targJ,targKallowyoutocontrol
themeasurementlocationand
vectorapproachdirectionfor
TARG/ executionwhilehavingthe
abilitytohaveacompletely
differentTHEOvalue.
ThefieldstargAI,targAJ,
targAKletyoumodifythe
target'sangleIJKvector.
Thisstandsfor"measured".
ThefieldsX,Y,Z,I,J,K
representtheactualmeasured
hitlocationandvector.
MEAS/ SI,SJ,SKrepresentthe
measuredvectorforthe
surface.S2I,S2J,S2Krepresent
themeasuredvectorforthe
secondsurface.
NUMSIDES POLYGON Thiseditablevaluemustbean

integerofthreeorhigher.It
defineshowmanysidesarein
thepolygon.See"NumSides
list".
Thiseditablevaluedefinesa
radiusforeachcornerinthe
polygonorsquareslot.When
POLYGON, takinghits,PCDMISwillmove
RADIUS SQUARE inalongthesidebythat
SLOT amountbeforetakinghits.This
helpsavoidtakinghitsdirectly
inthecorner.See"Radius
box".
ELLIPSE, Thisfielddefinesthefeature's
STARTANG CONE, startingangle.See"Startand
CYLINDER EndAngles".
Thisfielddefinesthefeature's
startinganglehorizontally,
STARTANG1 SPHERE
aroundtheequatorofasphere.
See"StartandEndAngles".
startinganglevertically,around
STARTANG2 SPHERE
thepolesofasphere.See
"StartandEndAngles".
ELLIPSE, Thisfielddefinesthefeature's
ENDANG CONE, endingangle.See"Startand
CYLINDER EndAngles".
endinganglehorizontally,
ENDANG1 SPHERE
aroundtheequatorofasphere.
See"StartandEndAngles".
endinganglevertically,around
ENDANG2 SPHERE
thepolesofasphere.See
"StartandEndAngles".
Thisfielddefinesanangle
valuedetermininghowmuchof
thearcmakinguptherounded
MEASANGLE ROUNDSLOT
edgesoftheRoundSlotto
measure.See"MeasAngle
box".
Thisfielddefinestheincrement
distanceawayfromthestart
INCREMENT HIGHPOINT pointthattheprobewillmove
whenfollowingitssearch
pattern.See"Incrementbox".
Thisdefinesthetolerance
TOL HIGHPOINT valuetouseduringthesearch
process.See"Tolerancebox".
Thisfieldswitchesbetween
CIRCULARor CIRCULARorBOX.Itdefines
BOX HIGHPOINT
thesearchregion.See"Box/
Circularlist".

ForaCIRCULARsearch
region,thisfielddefinesthe
OUTERRADIUS HIGHPOINT
searchregion'souterradius.
See"Inner/Outerlist".
ForaCIRCULARsearch
region,thisfielddefinesthe
INNERRADIUS HIGHPOINT
searchregion'sinnerradius.
See"Inner/Outerlist".
ForaBOXsearchregion,this
fielddefinesthewidthofthe
WIDTH HIGHPOINT
rectangularsearchregion.See
"Widthbox".
ForaBOXsearchregion,this
fielddefinesthelengthofthe
LENGTH HIGHPOINT
rectangularsearchregion.See
"Lengthbox".
ThisfieldappearsforLine
features.Itdeterminesthetype
BOUNDEDor ofLinefeature.Itswitches
UNBOUNDED LINE
betweenBOUNDEDand
UNBOUNDED.See"Bounded
list".
ANGLE Thisfieldswitchesbetween
EXTERIORor POINT, EXTERIORandINTERIORit
INTERIOR CORNER describesthetypeofangle.
POINT See"Interior/Exteriorlist".
LINE,
Thiscommandindicatesthe
SURFACE
vectorusedforreporting
REPORTVEC POINT,
deviation. See"Extended
VECTOR
SheetMetalOptionsarea".
POINT
Thiscommandindicatesthe
updatevectorthatwillbeused
VECTOR
UPDATEVEC topiercetheCADsurface. See
POINT
"ExtendedSheetMetalOptions
area".
Thisdefinestheanglevector
ANGLEVEC forthefeature.See"IJKAngle
boxes".
CIRCLE,
NOTCHSLOT, ThisfieldifsettoYESre
SQUARE measuresthefeatureagainst
REMEASURE SLOT,ROUND thefeature'smeasuredvalues.
SLOT, See"MeasureNowandRe
CYLINDER, MeasureToggle".
POLYGON
Thisfieldindicatesthedirection
CIRCLE,
ofthepunchthroughthesheet
SQUARE
PUNCH metal.Itisaneditablevalue.
SLOT,ROUND
See"ExtendedSheetMetal
SLOT
Optionsarea".
CIRCLE, Thisfieldindicatesthedirection
PIN
SQUARE ofthepointthroughthehole

SLOT,ROUND formedbythepunch.See
SLOT "ExtendedSheetMetalOptions
area".
Thisfieldindicatesthevector
usedforreportingdeviation.
REPORT EDGEPOINT
Optionsarea".
Thisfieldindicatesthevector
usedforreportingdeviation.
SURFACE_REPORT EDGEPOINT
Optionsarea".
Thistogglefielddisplaysthe
orderofmeasuringthesample
MEASUREORDER EDGEPOINT hits.Theavailablechoicesare
SURFACE,EDGEorBOTH.
See"MeasureOrderlist".
ForaPlanefeature,thisfield
switchesbetweenSQUARE
SQUAREor
RADIAL PLANE andRADIAL.Itdefinesthehit
patternforhitsmakingupthe
feature.See"Patternlist".
Anyofthesecommandlines
switchesbetweeneither
THEO_THICKNESS,
ACTL_THICKNESS,or
SURFACE/
THICKNESS_NONE.Ifthe
SURFACE2/
SURFACE3 latterthennothicknessisused.
Otherwise,thisdisplaysthe
thicknessofthepartforthe
Positiveornegativevaluescan
beused.See"UseThickness".
ForaLinefeature,this
commanddeterminestheedge
EDGE/ LINE
thicknessoftheline.See"Use
Thickness".
Thiscommandswitches
betweenthesemeasuring
MEASUREMODE/ modes:FINDNOMS,VECTOR,
NOMINAL,MASTER.See
"NominalsModelist".
Thiscommandhasthreefields
separatedbycommas.Ifyou
haveasingleRMEASfeature,
itwilloccupyallthreefields.If
youhaveanRMEASfeature,
oneforeachaxis,theywill
RMEAS/
occupythethreefieldsleftto
right:XaxisRMEASfeature,Y
axisRMEASfeature,andZ
axisRMEASfeature.See
"SettingUpRelativeMeasure
(RMEAS)".
CIRCLE, Thiscommanddefinesthe
DIRECTION
CYLINDER directioninwhichhitsare

taken.Itswitchesbetween
CCW(counterclockwise)and
CW(clockwise).See"Direction
List".
CIRCLE,
ELLIPSE,
ROUNDSLOT,
Thiscommandhasasingle
SQUARE
YES/NOtogglefield.Ifsetto
SLOT,NOTCH
CIRCULARMOVES/ yes,thenPCDMISwillmove
SLOT,
theprobeinacircularmotion.
CYLINDER,
See"CircularMovesToggle".
CONE,
SPHERE,
POLYGON
YES,thenduringfeature
creationPCDMISwill
automaticallychoosethebest
AUTOWRIST/
probeangletousefor
measuringthefeatureandwill
inserttheappropriateTIP/
commandbeforethefeature.
See"AutoWristToggle".
YES,thenduringfeature
creationPCDMISwill
automaticallyinserta
CLEARPLANE/
MOVE/CLEARPLANE command
(relativetothecurrent
coordinatesystemandpart
origin)beforethefeature.See
"ClearPlaneToggle".
ThiscommandhasaYES/NO
togglefield.IfsettoYES,then
PCDMISwilldisplaya
graphicalanalysisofthe
featureintheGraphicsDisplay
window.Threeotherfields
GRAPHICALANALYSIS/
becomeenabled.Thesethree
fields,fromlefttoright,allow
youtodeterminetheGraphical
AnalysisPointSize,thePlus
Tolerance,andtheMinus
Tolerance.See"Analysisarea".
Thiscommandbydefault
containsasingleCAD/NO
togglefield.IfsettoCAD,then
PCDMISwilltakeandinsert
SCREENCAPTURE/ screencapturesofthecurrent
feature'sgraphicalanalysisinto
thereportwindow.Three
additionalfieldsbecome
availablewhenthefirstfieldis

settoCAD.
Fromlefttorightthesedothe
following:
Field2Determineswhat
featuresgetoutput.Thosethat
areoutoftolerance(OUTTOL)
orallfeatures(ALL).
Field3Determinesthesizeof
thescreenshot:25%,50%,
75%,or100%ofthecurrent
screenview,orTOFITtofitthe
currentwindow.
Field4Determinesthequality
ofthescreenshot:LOW,
GOOD,orHIGH.See"Analysis
area".
Initially,thiscommandlooks
likethis:FEATURE
LOCATOR/NO,NO,"<text
instructions>"
TheleftmostYES/NOtoggle
fieldindicateswhetherornot
theFeatureLocatortabwill
displayabitmapimageIfyou
setthistoYES,anadditional
fieldboundedbyquotation
marksbecomesenabled,
allowingyoutotypethefull
pathwaytothebitmapimageto
display:
FEATURE
LOCATOR/YES,"<pathway
tobitmap
file>",NO,"<text
instructions>"
FEATURELOCATOR/ ThenextYES/NOtogglefield
indicateswhetherornotthe
FeatureLocatortabwillplay
anaudiofile(.wav).Ifyouset
thistoYES,anadditionalfield
boundedbyquotationmarks
becomesenabled,allowingyou
totypethefullpathwaytothe
audiofiletoplay:
FEATURE
LOCATOR/YES,"<pathway
tobitmap
file>",YES,"pathwayto
audiofile","<text
instructions>"
Thefinalfield,"<text
instructions>",letsyoudisplay
textualinstructionsinthe
FeatureLocatortab. See
"FeatureLocatorarea".
ThisYES/NOtogglefield
SHOW_CONTAC
determineswhetherornotPC
T_PARAMETERS DMISdisplaysadditional

contactparametersusedwith
theautofeatureintheEdit
window.SettingthistoYESwill
displaythefollowingfieldsif
applicabletotheautofeature:
NUMHITS,NUMROWS,
PITCH,DEPTH,STARTING
DEPTH,ENDINGDEPTH,
SAMPLEHITS,SPACER,
INDENT,AVOIDANCEMOVE,
FINDHOLE,ONERROR,
READPOS.
SURFACE
POINT,EDGE
POINT,
Forfeaturesthatsupport
ANGLE
samplehits,thisvaluedefines
POINT,
thenumberofsamplehitsto
CIRCLE,
takeduringfeature
ELLIPSE,
SAMPLEHITS measurement.Acceptable
ROUNDSLOT,
valuesdependonthetypeof
SQUARE
feature.See"Workingwith
SLOT,NOTCH
ContactSampleHits
SLOT,
Properties"
CYLINDER,
CONE,
POLYGON
SURFACE
POINT,EDGE
POINT,
ANGLE
POINT,
CORNER Thisfielddefinesthedistance
POINT, fromthenominalpointlocation
PLANE, thatPCDMISwilluseto
SPACER CIRCLE, measureaplaneifsamplehits
ELLIPSE, arespecified.See"Working
ROUNDSLOT, withContactSampleHits
SQUARE Properties"
SLOT,NOTCH
SLOT,
CYLINDER,
CONE,
POLYGON
EDGEPOINT, Thisdefinesminimumoffset
ANGLE distancefromthefeature's
INDENT1
POINT, pointorcenterlocationtothe
INDENT2
INDENT3 CORNER firstsamplehit.See"Working
POINT, withContactSampleHits
NOTCHSLOT Properties".
LINE,PLANE,
CIRCLE,
numberofhitstotakewhen
ELLIPSE,
NUMHITS measuringthefeature.See
ROUNDSLOT,
"WorkingwithContactPath
CYLINDER,
Properties".
CONE,

SPHERE,
POLYGON
Thisfielddetermineshowmany
rowsofhitstousewhen
NUMROWS PLANE measuringthefeature.See
Properties".
Thisfielddetermineshowmany
levelsofhitstousewhen
CYLINDER,
NUMLEVELS measuringfeatureswith
CONE
multiplelevels.See"Working
withContactPathProperties".
EDGEPOINT,
Thisfielddeterminestheoffset
LINE,CIRCLE,
distanceeitherbelowasurface
ELLIPSE,
orupfromthebottomofa
ROUNDSLOT,
DEPTH featurewherePCDMISwill
SQUARE
measurethefeature.See
SLOT,NOTCH
SLOT,
Properties".
POLYGON
Thisfielddefinesthestarting
depthofthefirstlevelofhitsfor
CYLINDER, featureswithmultiplelevels.
STARTINGDEPTH
CONE Thisdepthisoffsetfromthetop
ofthefeature.See"Working
Thisfielddefinestheending
depthofthelastlevelofhitsfor
CYLINDER, featureswithmultiplelevels.
ENDINGDEPTH
CONE Thisdepthisoffsetfromthetop
ofthefeature.See"Working
distancebetweenthreads
CIRCLE,
PITCH alongtheaxisofthefeature.
CYLINDER
See"WorkingwithContact
PathProperties".
Thiscommandindicateswhen
toapplyanavoidancemove
andtheamounttomove.It
containstwofields.Theleft
fieldtogglesbetweenNO(no
avoidancemove),BOTH(move
bothbeforeandafterthe
featureismeasured),BEFORE
AVOIDANCEMOVE/ (moveonlybeforethefeatureis
measured)andAFTER(move
onlyafterthefeatureis
measured)andtherightfield
(DISTANCE=n)letsyou
defineanumbervaluethat
determinesthedistanceofthe
avoidancemove.See"Working
withContactAutoMove

Properties".
CIRCLE, Thistogglefielddeterminesthe
ROUNDSLOT, methodPCDMISusestofind
SQUARE holefeatures.Availableoptions
FINDHOLE SLOT,NOTCH include:DISABLED,CENTER,
SLOT, SINGLEHIT,orNOCENTER.
CYLINDER, See"WorkingwithContactFind
POLYGON HoleProperties".
ThisYES/NOfielddetermines
whetherornotPCDMISuses
improvederrorcheckingwhen
itdetectsanunexpectedor
missedhit.
ANGLE
POINT, IfsettoYESandamachine
CIRCLE, error(suchasanunexpected
EDGEPOINT, hit)occurs,thenPCDMISwill
CORNER displaytheReadPosition
POINT, dialogbox.Youcanthenuse
ELLIPSE, yourjogboxtomovethe
ONERROR
ROUNDSLOT, machinetothefeature's
SQUARE locationandattempttore
SLOT,NOTCH measureit.
SLOT,
CYLINDER, IfsettoNO,theusual
CONE, "MovementInterrupted"
POLYGON messageappearsinstead.
See"WorkingwithContactFind
HoleProperties".
CIRCLE,
ThisYES/NOfielddetermines
ELLIPSE,
whetherornotPCDMIS
ROUNDSLOT,
pausesexecutionabovethe
SQUARE
surfacefeaturedisplayinga
READPOS SLOT,NOTCH
message,askingifyouwantto
SLOT,
usethecurrentdata.See
CYLINDER,
"WorkingwithContactFind
CONE,
HoleProperties".
POLYGON
ThisYES/NOtogglefield
determineswhetherornotPC
DMISdisplaysallthehits
makingupthefeature.Ifsetto
YES,thenPCDMISwilldisplay
SHOWHITS aHIT/BASICcommandlinefor
eachhit.
Ifyouwanttoseethehitsinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow,see
"ShowHitTargetsToggle".
Thiscommandlinedisplaysthe
HIT/BASIC
theoreticalXYZ,thetheoretical

IJK,andthemeasuredIJK
valuesforthehit.
SettingUpRelativeMeasure(RMEAS)
TheInsert|ParameterChange|AutoRelativeMeasuremenuoptionsetstherelative
measurementmodeforautofeatures.Whenyouselectthismenuoption,PCDMISinsertsan
RMEAScommandintotheEditwindowandbydefaultsetsittousetheDEFAULT(I,J,K,Z)
mode.YoucanthenchangeittotheLEGACY(I,J,K,X,Y,Z)modeifdesired:
Default(I,J,K,Z)RMEASMode (previouslycalledAbsoluteMode)usesthe
RMEASfeaturesmeasuredpositionandvector,applyinganypositionaloffsets
alongthatvector.
Legacy(I,J,K,X,Y,Z)RMEASMode(previouslycalledNormalMode)usesthe
deviationoftheRMEASfeaturespositionandorientation.
Note:RMEASismostlyusedforadjustingfeatureorientation.Default(I,J,K,Z)modeshouldbe
selectedinthesecases.Legacy(I,J,K,X,Y,Z)modeshouldonlybeusedinrareinstanceswhere
adjustmentsinbothorientationandpositionareneeded.
YoushouldinserttheRMEAScommandintothepartprogrambeforeusingtheRelative
MeasurementareaintheAutoFeaturedialogbox.Formoreinformation,see"Relative
Measurementarea".
Default(I,J,K,Z)RMEASMode
WhenanAutoFeaturehasarelativemeasurefeatureassociatedwithit(see"Relative
Measurementarea"),PCDMISmeasurestheAutoFeatureinalocationthatisadjustedtobeon
theplaneoftheRMEASfeature.
Example:Supposeyoumeasuredaplane(PLN),andanAutoCircle(CIR1)referencedtheplane
asitsRMEASfeature.WhenyoumeasureCIR1PCDMISwillmeasureitinthereferencedplane
(PLN).See"MathProcessoftheDefaultRMEASMode:".
TheEditwindowcommandforthisoptionreads:
RMEAS/DEFAULT(I,J,K,Z)
ThisisthedefaultandusualRMEASmodeforsheetmetalfeatures.
MathProcessoftheDefault(I,J,K,Z)RMEASMode:
ThismodecontrolsI,J,K,Z(T)andthereforeworkswellwithRMEASfeatureslikeplanes.
Usingthenumericalvaluestakenfromtheexamplefeaturesinthetablebelow,followthesesteps
tounderstandhowRMEAS/DEFAULT(I,J,K,Z)functions.

1. Createacoordinatesystem(translationmatrix)usingtheactualRMEASfeature's
XYZIJK.
2. MovethenominalAutoFeatureXYZintotheRMEAScoordinatesystem.
3. ZeroouttheZvalueandmovetheXYZbackintothePARTcoordinatesystem.
4. CopytheRMEASfeature'sIJKvaluestotheAutoFeatureiftheRMEASfeature
isplanereducible.
ExampleFeature XYZ IJK

ActualRMEASfeature(plane): 2,2,1 0,0,1
NominalAutoFeature(circle): 0,0,0 0,.7071,.7071
NewNominalAutoFeature: 0,0,1 0,0,1
Legacy(I,J,K,X,Y,Z)RMEASMode
TheLegacy(I,J,K,X,Y,Z)RMEASmodetakesintoaccounttheorientationofthereference
feature.
Tounderstandthis,examineanAutoCirclewiththreesamplehits.PCDMISfirsttakesthreehits
onthesurfacearoundthecircleandthenmeasuresthecirclebasedontheplane'slocationand
thesurfacenormalvector'sorientation.Therefore,iftheplaneisata45degreeangle,PCDMIS
alsomeasurestheAutoCircleata45degreeangle.
Similarly,iftherelativemeasurefeatureisrotatedfromitsoriginalorientation,thentheassociated
featurewillalsobemeasuredwiththesamerotationaloffset.
LegacymodeisalsoslightlysmarterthanDefaultmode,becausewhenitlooksatthereference
featureitonlyoffsetsthemainfeaturebyvalidaxesforthereferencefeaturetype.Forexample,
foraplaneitdoesn'tmakemuchsensetoshiftinalldirections,butonlybytheplane'snormal
vector.
RMEAS/LEGACY(I,J,K,X,Y,Z)
Legacymodeshouldonlybeusedinrareinstanceswhereadjustmentsinbothorientationand
positionareneeded.
MathProcessoftheLegacy(I,J,K,X,Y,Z)RMEASmode
ThismodecontrolsI,J,K,X,Y,Z(T)andthereforeworkswellwith3dRMEASfeatureslike
circleswithsamplehits.
Usingthenumericalvaluestakenfromtheexamplefeaturesinthetablebelow,followthesesteps
tounderstandhowRMEAS/LEGACY(I,J,K,X,Y,Z)functions.
1. Createacoordinatesystem(translationmatrix)giventhenominalRMEAS
featureXYZIJK.
2. MovethenominalAutoFeatureXYZandIJKintotheRMEAScoordinatesystem.
3. CreateanewcoordinatesystemgiventheactualRMEASfeatureXYZIJK.
4. NowmovethetranslatedAutoFeatureXYZandIJKbackintothePART
coordinatesystemusingthenewRMEAScoordinatesystem.
5. UsethenewnominalXYZandIJKtomeasuretheAutoFeature.

ExampleFeature XYZ IJK

NominalRMEAS 0,0,2 0,0,1
feature(circle):
NominalAutoFeature 2,1,0 .7071,0,.7071
(circle):
ActualRMEASfeature: 1,0,1 .7071,0,.7071
NewNominalAuto 1.8284,1,1 0,0,1
Feature:

CreatingMeasuredFeatures
CreatingMeasuredFeatures:Introduction
Wheneveryoutakehitsonapart,PCDMISinterpretsthosehitsintodifferentfeaturesdepending
onthenumberofthehits,theirvectors,etc.PCDMIScreatesmeasuredfeaturesfromthesehits.
PCDMISsupportsthefollowingmeasuredfeatures:
MeasuredPoint
MeasuredLine
MeasuredPlane
MeasuredCircle
MeasuredSphere
MeasuredCone
MeasuredCylinder
MeasuredRoundSlot
MeasuredSquareSlot
Thesefeaturesaredescribedindetailinthe"UnderstandingtheCommandFormat"topic.
Thefollowingmajortopicsarecoveredinthischapter.
UnderstandingtheCommandFormat
InsertingaMeasuredFeature
EditingaMeasuredFeature
OverridingaGuessedMeasuredFeature
CreatingMeasuredFeatureSets
Note:YoucanalsouseinsertmeasuredfeaturesintoyourpartprogrambyusingtheQuick
Starttoolbar.Forinformation,seethe"QuickStart:MeasureToolbar"topicinthe"Using
Toolbars"chapter.
UnderstandingtheCommandFormat
AllmeasuredfeaturesaredisplayedinthefollowingformatintheCommandmodeoftheEdit
window.Therewillbeslightvariationsthatareexplainedmorethoroughlyinthefollowing
sections.TheactualEditreportwillbedisplayedusingallCAPS.
Forexample
feature_name=FEAT/FEATURE_TYPE,TOG1,TOG4
THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TD,TL
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,D,L
MEAS/TOG2,TOG3,
HIT/TOG5,TX,TY,YZ,TI,TJ,TK,X,Y,Z,USE_THEO=TOG6
ENDMEAS/
feature_name: Thisdisplaysthenameofthefeature.Thisisausereditablefield.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual Creating MeasuredFeatures 633

FEATURE_TYPE: ThisdenotesthetypeoffeatureandisthesameasTOG2butisnon
editableandcannotbetoggled.
......: Thisindicatesthatwhatfollowsisuniquetoeachfeature.
TOG1: ThisfieldispresentinallfeaturesandcanbetoggledbetweenRECT/POLR.Ifthis
featureisRECT,allpointsarerepresentedinCartesiansystem(x,y,z).IfthefieldisPOLR,
allthepointsaredisplayedinpolarsystem(x_radius,y_angle,z_height).Vectorsdonot
change.
TOG2: Thisfieldispresentinallmeasuredfeaturesandcanbeswitchedbetween:
CIRCLE/CONE/CURVE/CYLINDER/LINE/PLANE/POINT/SET/SLOT/SPHERE
POINTisthedefaultfeaturetypewhenthemeasuredcommandlineisopenedforthe
firsttimeinapartprogram.Thedefaultfeaturetypethenbecomesthelastmeasuredfeature
type.
TOG3: Thisfieldrepresentsthenumberofhitsthatwillbetakenaccordingtothetypeof
featuredisplayedinTOG2.TheHITlineisvaried,basedonthenumberofhitssetupbythe
user.Forexample1hit=1HIT/BASICline,3hits=3HIT/BASIClines.Therequired
minimumnumberwillbeindicatedasthedefault.
TOG4: Thisfieldalsotakesuniquevaluesaccordingtothetypeoffeaturerepresentedin
TOG2.LinearfeatureswillallowyoutotogglebetweenBOUND/UNBOUND.Circular
featureswillallowyoutoswitchbetweenIN/OUT.Angularfeatureswillallowyoutoswitch
betweenLENGTH/ANGLE.
TOG5: Thisfieldrepresentsthetypeofhitthatistobetaken:
BASIC.
TOG6:Thisfieldallowsyoutodeterminewhetherornottousethetheoreticalvectorasthe
approachvectorforthehit.ThisdefaultstoYES.IfsettoNO,PCDMIScalculatesthe
approachvectorbysubtractingthetheoreticalhitpoint(X,Y,Z)fromthecurrentprobe
position.
TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK:Thesenumbers(TX,TY,TZ)representthetheoreticaltargetvectorand
thetheoreticalapproachvector(TI,TJ,TK)andareeditablebytheuser.
TD:Forcircularfeaturesthisnumberisthetheoreticaldiameter.
X,Y,Z,I,J,K:Thesenumbersarenoneditableandrepresentthemeasuredpointand
measuredapproachvector.
D: Forcircularfeaturesthisnumberisthemeasureddiameter.
TL:Thisisthetheoreticallengthoffeaturesthathavealength.
L: Thisisthemeasuredlengthoffeaturesthathavealength.
BasicMeasurementFormatforaPoint
634 CreatingMeasuredFeatures PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Theonlynumberofhitsfor Feature_name=FEAT/POINT,TOG1
apointisone. THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K
MEAS/POINT,TOG3
HIT/...
ENDMEAS/
TOG1=ThisfieldcanbetoggledbetweenRECT/POLR.
TOG3=ThislistthenumberofhitsthatPCDMISshouldtaketomeasurethisfeature.Since
apointcanonlyhaveonepoint,youcannoteditthisvalueforthisfeature.
...=Asinglehitisenteredattheellipsis.
BasicMeasurementFormatforaLine
Theminimumnumberof Feature_name=FEAT/LINE,TOG1,TOG4
hitsforalineistwo. THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K
MEAS/LINE,TOG3,TOG7
...
ENDMEAS/
TOG3=Thisvalueisusereditableandisdeterminedbythefeaturebeingmeasured.TheHIT
lineisvaried,basedonthenumberofhitssetupbytheuser.Forexample,2hits=2
HIT/BASIClines,3hits=3HIT/BASIClines.
TOG4=ThisfieldcanbetoggledbetweenBND/UNBND.IfsettoBND,theTHEOandACTL
fields,nolongerdisplaythevectorinformation,butinsteadshowtheXYZvaluesforthe
secondpointalongwiththefirst.See"LineDefinitionFormat"laterinthischapter.
TOG7=Thisfieldswitchesbetweenthevariousreferencetypes.TheseincludeFEATURE,
3D,WORKPLANE,XPLUS,YPLUS,ZPLUS,XMINUS,YMINUS,ZMINUS.
...=Asmanyhitsasarenecessaryareenteredattheellipsis.
Whencreatingameasuredline,PCDMISexpectsthehitsforthelinetobetakenatavector
perpendiculartothecurrentworkingplane.
Forexample,ifyourcurrentworkingplaneisZPLUS(withavector0,0,1),andyouhaveablock
likepart,thehitsforthemeasuredlinemustbeonaverticalwallofthatpart,suchasthefrontor
side.
Ifyouthenwantedtomeasurealinefeatureonthetopsurfaceofthepart,youwouldneedto
switchtheworkingplanetoXPLUS,XMINUS,YPLUS,orYMINUS,dependingonthedirectionof
theline.
BasicMeasurementFormatforaPlane

Theminimumnumberof Feature_name=FEAT/PLANE,TOG1
hitsforaplaneisthree. THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K
MEAS/PLANE,TOG3
...
ENDMEAS/
BasicMeasurementFormatforaCircle
Theminimumnumberof Feature_name=FEAT/CIRCLE,TOG1,TOG4,TOG6
hitsforacircleisthree. THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TD
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,D
MEAS/CIRCLE,TOG3,TOG7
...
ENDMEAS/
TOG4=ThisfieldcanbetoggledbetweenIN/OUT.
TOG6=ThisfieldswitchesbetweenthevariousBestFittypesavailable.Theseinclude:
LEAST_SQR,MIN_SEP,MAX_INSC,MIN_CIRCSC,FIXED_RAD
TOG7=Thisfieldswitchesbetweenthevariousreferencetypes.TheseincludeFEATURE,
3D,WORKPLANE,XPLUS,YPLUS,ZPLUS,XMINUS,YMINUS,ZMINUS.
BasicMeasurementFormatforaSphere
Theminimumnumberof Feature_name=FEAT/SPHERE,TOG1,TOG4
hitsforasphereisfour. THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TD
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,D
MEAS/SPHERE,TOG3
...
ENDMEAS/

BasicMeasurementFormatforaCone
Theminimumnumberof Feature_name=FEAT/CONE,TOG1,TOG4,TOG5
hitsforaconeissix. THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TL,TD1,TD2
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,L,D1,D2
MEAS/CONE,TOG3
...
ENDMEAS/
TOG5=ThisfieldcanbetoggledbetweenLENGTH/ANGLE.
TD1,TD2=Thesearethecone'stwotheoreticaldiameters.
D1,D2=Thesearetheactualmeasuredvaluesforthecone'stwodiameters
BasicMeasurementFormatforaCylinder
Theminimumnumberof Feature_name=FEAT/CYLINDER,TOG1,TOG4,TOG6
hitsforacylinderissix. THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,TD,TL
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,D,L
MEAS/CYLINDER,TOG3
...
ENDMEAS/
TOG6=ThisfieldswitchesbetweenthevariousBestFittypesavailable.Theseinclude:
LEAST_SQR,MIN_SEP,MAX_INSC,MIN_CIRCSC,FIXED_RAD

Note:Ifyoucreateameasuredcylinderwithmorethantworows,andlaterchangetheNumber
ofHitsintheMeasuredCylinderdialogbox,PCDMISwillkeepthenumberofrowsthesame.
BasicMeasurementFormatforaRoundSlot
Theminimumnumberof Feature_name=FEAT/SLOT,TOG1,TOG2
hitsforaroundslotissix. THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,SI,SJ,SK,TW,TL
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,MI,MJ,MK,W,L
MEAS/SLOT,TOG3,TOG4
...
ENDMEAS/
TX,TY,TZTheoreticalXYZ
TI,TJ,TKTheoreticalIJKvector
SI,SJ,SKTheoreticalIJKslotvector
TW Theoreticalwidth
TLTheoreticallength
X,Y,ZActualmeasuredXYZ
I,J,KActualmeasuredIJK
MI,MJ,MKMeasuredIJKslotvector
WActualmeasuredwidth
LActualmeasuredlength
TOG4=Thisvalueletsyouchoosethereferencetypefortheslot.
BasicMeasurementFormatforaSquareSlot

Theminimumnumberof Feature_name=FEAT/SLOT,TOG1,TOG2
hitsforasquareslotis THEO/TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,SI,SJ,SK,TW,TL
five. ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K,MI,MJ,MK,W,L
MEAS/SLOT,TOG3,TOG4
...
ENDMEAS/
TX,TY,TZTheoreticalXYZ
TI,TJ,TKTheoreticalIJKvector
SI,SJ,SKTheoreticalIJKslotvector
TW Theoreticalwidth
TLTheoreticallength
X,Y,ZActualmeasuredXYZ
I,J,KActualmeasuredIJK
MI,MJ,MKMeasuredIJKslotvector
WActualmeasuredwidth
LActualmeasuredlength
HIT/BASIClines.
TOG4=Thisvalueletsyouchoosethereferencetypefortheslot.
InsertingaMeasuredFeature
PCDMISallowsyoutoinsertmeasuredfeaturesintoyourpartprogrambyinterpretingyour
probehitsandguessingthecorrectfeaturetype.IfPCDMISguessesincorrectly,youcanforce
PCDMIStochoosethecorrectfeaturetypeaslongasyouhavetakentheminimumnumberof
hitsforthedesiredfeature.
Forinformationoncreatingthedifferentfeaturetypes,consultthedocumentationsetforyourPC
DMISconfiguration:

Theproceduresgiveninthefollowingtopicassumethatyouareworkinginofflinemode.
ToForcetheInsertionofaCertainMeasuredFeatureType
IfPCDMISguessesthewrongmeasuredfeaturetype,youcancauseittoinsertthedesiredtype
byselectingthecorrectmeasuredfeaturefromtheMeasuredFeaturestoolbarorsubmenuprior
topressingtheENDkey.OnceyoupresstheENDkey,PCDMISwillinserttheselectedfeature
typeintotheEditwindow.
GuessingaMeasuredFeatureType
ThefollowingtableshowstheminimumnumberofhitsPCDMISneedstoguessaparticular
MeasuredFeatureandthatfeature'sdimensiontype.
Minimum Feature Dimension

#ofHits
1 Point 1D
2 Line 2D
3 Circle 2D
3 Plane 3D
6 Cylinder 3D
6 Cone 3D
4 Sphere 3D
MeasuredPointRules:
Probecompensationisinthenearestaxis(X,Y,orZ).Thisisdeterminedbasedonthe
directionofmachinemotionatthetimethehitistaken.Alwaysapproachnormaltothe
surface.
OnlymeasurepointsonsurfacesperpendiculartotheX,Y,orZaxistoensureaccurate
probecompensation.
Note:UseVectororSurfacepointsforothersurfaces(AutoFeature).
MeasuredPointsare1D,thereforedimensionalinformationisonlyvalidinoneaxis(X,Y,
orZ).
MeasuredLineRules:
MeasuredLinesare2D,thereforetheyaredependentontheactiveworkplanefor
calculationpurposes.Youmustactivatetheappropriateworkplanebeforemeasuringa
line.
Youcontrolthedirectionofthemeasuredline.Thedirectionwillgofromthefirsthit
towardsthesecondhit.
ThedimensionalinformationintheX,Y,orZaxisisfromthecentroidoftheline.
MeasuredCircleRules:
MeasuredCirclesare2D,thereforetheyaredependentontheactiveworkplanefor
calculationpurposes.Youmustactivatetheappropriateworkplanebeforemeasuringa
circle.
Aminimumarcof90degreesisrequiredtoaccuratelycalculateameasuredcircle.

ThedimensionalinformationintheX,Y,orZaxisisfromthecentroidofthecircle,and
thediameteristheaveragediameterbydefault(leastsquares).
MeasuredPlaneRules:
MeasuredPlanesare3D,thereforetheyarenotdependentontheactiveworkplanefor
calculationpurposes.
TheIJKvectorfortheplaneisperpendiculartotheplane,anditsdirectionpointsaway
fromthematerialofthepart.
ThedimensionalinformationintheX,Y,orZaxisisfromthecentroidoftheplane.
MeasuredCylinderRules:
MeasuredCylindersare3D,thereforetheyarenotdependentontheactiveworkplanefor
YoucontrolthedirectionoftheIJKvectorforthecylinder.Itgoesfromthefirstcircular
crosssectiontowardsthesecondcircular crosssection.
Note:Youshouldtakethreecircularcrosssectionswhenpossibletoincreasethehit
datausedtocalculatethecylinder.
ThedimensionalinformationintheX,Y,orZaxisisfromthecentroidofthecylinder,and
thediameteristheaveragebydefault(leastsquares).
MeasuredConeRules:
MeasuredConesare3Dthereforetheyarenotdependentontheactiveworkplanefor
YoudonotcontrolthedirectionoftheIJKvectorforthecone.TheIJKvectoralways
pointsawayfromthevertexofthecone.Note:Itisrecommendedtotakethreecircular
crosssectionswhenpossibletoincreasethehitdatausedtocalculatethecone.
ThedimensionalinformationinX,Y,orZaxisisfromthecentroidofthecone.
MeasuredSphereRules:
MeasuredSpheresare3D,thereforetheyarenotdependentontheactiveworkplanefor
Insomecasesitisnotpossibletotakeahitontopofthesphere.Inthesecasestake
threecircularcrosssectionsandtheIJKvectordirectionwillgofromthefirsttowardthe
lastcrosssection.
ThedimensionalinformationintheX,Y,orZaxisisfromthecentroidofthesphereand
thediameteristheaverage.
UsingGuessMode
1. AccesstheEditwindow,andplaceitineitherCommandorSummarymode.
2. PlacePCDMISintoProgramMode,andsettheappropriateprobedepth.
3. AccesstheMeasuredFeaturestoolbar,andthenclicktheGuessModeicon.
4. Clickonthemodelofthepartatthelocationwhereyouwanttoinsertthefeature.
Ifyou'reusinganimportedwireframeCADmodel,PCDMISwillautomatically
usethenearestwireasthebasisforthefeatureyouselected.
Ifyou'reusinganimportedsolidCADmodel,eachmouseclickiscountedasan
individualhit.
5. PresstheENDkey.PCDMISinterpretsyourhitsandplacestheguessedfeature
intotheEditwindow.

ForinformationabouttheGuessModeiconandtheMeasuredFeaturestoolbar,seethe
"MeasuredFeaturesToolbar"topicinthe"UsingToolbars"chapter.
EditingaMeasuredFeature
PCDMISwillallowyoutoselectthedesiredmeasuredfeatureintheEditwindowandmakeany
correctionsdirectlytotheEditwindow.TheMeasuredFeaturedialogboxwascreatedtooffera
userfriendlyalternativetoeditingtheeditwindow.
ToopenaMeasuredFeaturedialogbox:
1. Placethecursorwithinthefirstfourlinesofthedesiredmeasuredfeature.
2. PresstheF9key.
ASampleMeasuredCircledialogbox
Note:GenerallyaMeasuredFeaturedialogboxwillopenbasedonthefeaturetype.However,if
thecursorisplacedonalistedhit(i.e.HIT/BASIC)withinthemeasuredfeatureandtheF9keyis
pressed,PCDMISwillinsteaddisplaytheMeasuredHitsdialogboxfortheselectedhit.
MeasuredFeatureDialogBoxDescription
TheMeasuredFeaturedialogboxallowsyoutoedittheselectedmeasuredfeature.The
followingtopicsdescribetheMeasuredFeaturedialogbox.
FeatureName
TheFeatureNameboxallowsyoutochangethenameofthedisplayedfeature.Simplyhighlight
thefeatureIDintheEditwindow,typeinanewidentificationandpresstheENTERkey.PC
DMISallowsyoutoduplicatefeatureidentifications.Cautionshouldthereforebeusedin
changingfeaturenamesifidenticalIDsarenotdesired.
NumberofHits

TheNumberofHitsboxallowsyoutochangethenumberofhitsforaspecifiedfeature.
Forexample:Currentlyfourhitsarelistedintheeditbox.Ifyoudeleteahit,thelasthit(#4)inthe
featurelistwillbedeleted.Iftwohitsaredeleted,thelasttwohits(#4and#3)willbedeleted.PC
DMISwillrenumbertheremaininghitsbasedonitscurrentnumberingassignment.
Ifyouaddahit,PCDMISwillincreasetheHitTargetlistbyone,displayinganextrahitatthe
endofthehitlist.Thishitwillnotindicateanyx,y,z,i,j,kvaluesuntiltheprogramisexecuted.
AtthattimePCDMISwillprompttheoperatortotaketheadditionalhit.PCDMISwillaskifthe
hitsaretobeequallyspaced.
AnswerbyclickingYes,andPCDMISwilltakethehitsinequallyspaced
intervals.Onacone,sphere,orcylinderfeature,PCDMISdisplaysaLevelsdialog
box.YoucanusethisdialogboxtospecifythenumberoflevelsPCDMISwilluseto
equallyspacethehits.Thedefaultistwo.
IfyouclicktheNobutton,PCDMISwilldisplaythehitvaluesas0,0,0,0,0,1.
Youwillthenneedtomanuallyenterthehitvalues.
ReferenceType
TheReferenceTypelistcontrolswhetherornotthemeasuredfeatureis3D,projectedtothe
currentworkplane,projectedtoaspecifiedplane,orprojectedrelativetoanotherfeature.This
affectsmathematicallyhowthefinalcharacteristicsofthefeaturearederived.
BestFitMathType
ThisBestFitMathTypelistindicatesthetypeofmathalgorithmthatwillbeusedtomeasurethe
feature.LEAST_SQRisthestandardBestFitmethod.
See"CalculationList"inthe"CreatingAutoFeatures"chapterforadiscussiononthesetypes.
RegenerateHitTargets
TheRegenerateHitTargetscheckboxregeneratesthisfeature'sHIT/BASIC commandsso
thattheyareupdatedwithchangeddatafromtheFeatureTheoreticalsarea.
CopytoActuals
TheCopytoActualscheckboxcopiesanychangesmadetotheFeatureTheoreticalsareaof
thedialogboxandappliesthesamechangestotheactualmeasureddata.

CoordinateSystem
TheCoordinateSystemareaallowsyoutochoosebetweenrectangleandpolarcoordinates.If
theRectoptionisselected,allpointsarerepresentedinCartesiansystem(x,y,z).IfPolaris
selected,allpointsaredisplayedinpolarsystem(x_radius,y_angle,z_height).Vectorsdonot
change.
AngularDefinitionFormat
Ifanangularfeatureisdisplayed,PCDMISwillallowyoutochoosebetweenLENGTHand
ANGLE.
Thelengthoptiondisplaysthediametersoftwocircles.Italsowilldisplaythelength
betweenthetwocircles.
Theangleoptionwilldisplaythenominal(x,y,z)andvector(i,j,k)ofthepoint.Italso
willdisplaytheanglevalue.
CircularFeatureType
Ifacircularfeatureisdisplayed,PCDMISwillallowyoutochoosebetweenINandOUT.
LineDefinitionFormat
Ifalinearfeatureisdisplayed,PCDMISwillallowyoutochoosebetweentheBoundand
UnboundoptionsintheLinearDefinitionFormatarea.
SelectingBoundcausesPCDMIStodisplaythetwoendpointsthatmakeupthelineinthe
FeatureTheoreticalsarea,likethis:
X,Y,Z
and
X2Nom,Y2Nom,andZ2
ForBoundedlines,theLength valueisgrayedoutandunavailableformodification.
SelectingUnboundcausesPCDMIStodisplaytheline'snominalinformationintheFeature
Theoreticalsarea,likethis:
X,Y,Z,andlength
and
INom,JNom, andK
FeatureTheoreticals

Thisareacontainsthetheoreticaldataforthefeature.Youcanupdatethisdatabymaking
changesandclickingOK.Notethatthiswillonlyupdatethetheoreticaldata.Ifyouwanttoaffect
thehitsandtheactualmeasureddata,selecttheRegenerateHitsandCopytoActualscheck
boxesdescribedabove.
HitTargets
Supportedfeatures: Forsupportedmeasuredfeatures,theHitTargetsbuttonallowsyou
MeasuredCircle tovieworchangehitdataforthefeature.
MeasuredCylinder
MeasuredPoint ClickingtheHitTargetsbuttonopenstheFeatureHitTargets
MeasuredPlane dialogbox.
MeasuredSphere
MeasuredLine
MeasuredCone
FeatureHitTargetsdialogbox
Thisdialogboxliststhehitdatabyrows.Thenumberstotheleftoftherowsindicatestheorder
ofthehits.Youcanchangethehitdatabydoubleclickingonarowandeditingitsvaluesinthe
resultingMeasuredHitsdialogbox.
TheFeatureHitsTargetsdialogboxalsoletsyouviewandedithitdatabyusingtheGraphics
Displaywindow.AslongastheFeatureHitTargetsdialogboxremainsopen,youcandothe
following:
Viewindividualhitswithredcoloredarrows.Clickanyoftherowswithhitdatalistedin
theFeatureHitTargetsdialogboxandtheassociatedarrowintheGraphicsDisplayarea
turnsred.
Clickanddragforeachhittoanewposition.Youcanmoveahitbyselectingthered
coloredarrowontheGraphicDisplayareaanddraggingittoanewlocation.Releasingthe
mouseplacesthehitatthatpointandcalculatesthedata,updatingtheFeatureHitTargets
dialogbox.

Insertnewhits.Youcanalsoinsertnewhitsintoanexistingfeature.Selectalocation
withinthehitlist,andthentakeanydesiredhits.OnceyoupresstheENDkey,PCDMIS
asksifyouwanttoinsertthehit(s)atthecurrentlocation.IfyouselectYes,PCDMISwill
insertthenewhit(s)intothatlocationofthecurrentfeature.IfyouselectNo,PCDMISwill
movetheinsertcursortothenextvalidpositioninthepartprogram(generallyimmediately
belowthecurrentfeatureintheEditwindow)andcreateanewfeature.
Note:DataintheFeatureHitTargetsdialogboxandintheEditwindowisntupdated
dynamicallywhenyoumakechangesusinganyofthesemethods.Youneedtofirstclosethe
dialogboxandthenreopenittoseethechangedhitdata.
DeleteHitbutton
TheDeleteHitbuttoninsidetheFeatureHitTargetsdialogboxonlybecomesenabledwhen
editingthehitsforsupportedautofeatures.Todeleteanexistinghit,selectthehitandclick
DeleteHit.PCDMISremovesthehitfromthedialogboxandfromthepartprogram.Seethe
"DisplayHitsbutton"topicinthe"CreatingAutoFeatures"chapter.
MeasuredHitsDialogBoxDescription
SampleMeasuredHitsdialogbox
TheMeasuredHitsdialogboxallowsyoutoeditindividualhitsofameasuredfeature.Toaccess
thisdialogbox,selectoneoftheBASIChitsinsidetheEditwindowandpressF9.Youcanedit
thefollowingitems:
HitType
X,Y,andZposition.
Variousvectors
Spacer
Indent
Depth
HitsperSurface

Someitemsareunavailableunlessyouselectaspecifichittype.Toupdatehitdataforthe
selectedmeasuredfeature,editthevaluesinthisdialogbox,andclickOK.
EditingBasicHitsbyProbing:
YoucanalsoupdateBasichitsbyprobingthepartinonlinemode,orclickingontheCADin
offlinemodewiththeMeasuredHitsdialogboxopen.PCDMISwillautomaticallyupdatethe
dialogboxwiththenewresults.
ForBasichits,thesecheckboxesappear:
UseTheoreticalVectorAsApproach Thischeckboxallowsyoutospecify
Vector whetherornotthetheoreticalvector
shouldbeusedastheapproach
vector.Ifdeselected,PCDMIS
calculatestheapproachvectorby
subtractingthetheoreticalhitpoint
(X,Y,Z)fromthecurrentprobe
position.
LearnHitDuringExecution Thischeckboxallowsyoutospecify
whetherornotPCDMISshould
relearnthebasichitduringpart
programexecution.
OverridingaGuessedMeasuredFeature
TheOverridesubmenuallowsyoutochangethetypeoffeaturethatwasguessed.Forexample,
ifthelastfeatureyouwereattemptingtomeasurewascircleandPCDMISguessedthatitwasa
plane,thisoptioncanbeusedtoconvertthefeaturetothepropertype.Ifyouintendtooverridea
guessedfeature,youmustdosobeforeyoucreateanyotherfeatures.
TousetheOverridefeature:
2. PlaceyourcursorontheincorrectfeaturetypeintheEditwindow.
3. AccesstheEdit|OverrideGuesssubmenutobegintheOverrideprocess.
4. Selectthecorrectfeaturetype.
YouwillseethatthefeaturechangeswillbemadeintheEditwindow.
CreatingMeasuredFeatureSets
TheInsert|Feature|Measured|FeatureSetmenuiteminsertsaMeasuredFeatureSet
command(alsocalledaPointSet)intotheEditwindow.Thiscommandcreatesascanofasingle
pointthatwillmeasurethesamepointadefinednumberoftimesinordertoobtainanaveraged
(andhopefullymoreaccurate)representationofthepointmeasurement.

PointSetsaremostoftenusedasinputswhenperformingLeapfrogalignmentoperationswitha
manualarmmachine.See"PerformingaLeapfrogOperation"inthe"CreatingandUsing
Alignments"chapterformoreinformation.
InCommandmode,theMeasuredFeatureSetlookslikethis:
SCN1 =FEAT/SET,RECT
THEO/0,0,0,0,0,1
ACTL/0,0,0,0,0,1
MEAS/SET,0
ENDMEAS/
PressingF9whileyourcursorlieswithinthiscommanddisplaystheMeasuredSetdialogbox:
MeasuredSetdialogbox
Forinformationonthisdialogbox,seethe"EditingaMeasuredFeature"topicabovethisdialog
boxcontainsmanyofthesameitemsarealreadydiscussedinthattopic.
ToCreateaMeasuredFeatureSet(PointSet):
1. PressF9ontheinsertedmeasurefeaturesetcommand.
2. Inthedialogbox,typeinthepoint'stheoreticalXYZlocationandIJKvector.
3. IntheNumberofHitsbox,specifythenumberofmeasurementsyouwantPC
DMIStotakeonthispoint.Thehigherthenumber,thebetteraverageyouwill
receive.
4. Selectotheroptionsinthedialogboxasdesired.
5. ClickOK.PCDMISupdatesthecommandintheEditwindow.
Forexample,afinishedpointsetscanwith5iterationsmightlooklikethis:
SCN1 =FEAT/SET,RECT
THEO/107,11,21,0,0,1
ACTL/0,0,0,0,0,1
MEAS/SET,5
HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,107,11,21,0,0,1,0,0,0,USETHEO=YES

ENDMEAS/

ConstructingNewFeaturesfromExistingFeatures
ConstructingNewFeaturesfromExistingFeatures:Introduction
TheInsert|Feature|Constructedsubmenuisusedwhenprobingonarequiredelementisnot
possible(forexample,theintersectionpointoftwoedges).
Theitemsfromthismenuallowyoutocreatefeatures(points,lines,circles,etc.)fromexisting
features(onesalreadyprobedorconstructed).The"NavigatingtheUserInterface"chapter
describestheseveralwaystospecifytheinputfeature(s).Seethe"SelectingFeaturesUsingthe
GraphicsDisplayWindow"topicinthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapterforadescriptionofthe
severalwaystospecifytheinputfeature(s).
FeaturescanbeconstructedbyselectingfeaturesinthedialogboxesortheEditwindow(see
"ToconstructafeaturefromtheEditwindow"and"Toconstructafeatureusingtheconstruction
dialogboxes:"below).Thespecificrulesforconstructingafeaturefromotherfeaturesarefound
intheappropriatesections,andapplytobothmethodsofconstruction.Thedefaultmethodfor
constructingafeatureisAuto.Inthiscase,PCDMISautomaticallydeterminesthebest
constructiontypebasedontheinputfeature(s).Theorderofselection(unlessnotedotherwise)is
usuallynotimportant.Itisonlynecessarythatthecorrectfeaturetype(s)bechosen.For
example,toconstructanintersectpointbetweenalineandaslot,simplyselectthenecessary
lineandslot.PCDMISwillcreateapointwherethelineintersectstheslot.
ItisimportanttonotethattheExampleofthecommandlineshowingaconstructedpointinthe
documentedconventionsareEditwindow:
simplyatoolallowingyouto
becomefamiliarwiththe CONSTR/POINT,INTOF,line_id,slot_id
rulesgoverningtheEdit or,CONSTR/POINT,INTOF,slot_id,line_id.
window.TheactualEdit
reportwillbedisplayedusing
allCAPITALLETTERS.
Themaintopicsdiscussedinthischapterinclude:
UnderstandingtheGeneralCommandFormat
SpecifyingFeatureTheoreticals
ConstructingaPointFeature
ConstructingaCircleFeature
ConstructinganEllipseFeature
ConstructingaSphereFeature
ConstructingaLineFeature
ConstructingaConeFeature
ConstructingaCylinderFeature
ConstructingaPlaneFeature
ConstructingaSlotFeature
ConstructingaCurve
ConstructingaSurface
ConstructingaSetofFeatures
ConstructingaFilterSet
ConstructinganAdjustedFilter
ToconstructafeaturefromtheEditwindow
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual ConstructingNew FeaturesfromExistingFeatures 651

1. AccesstheEditwindow(View|EditWindow).
2. PlacethecursorwhereyouwanttoconstructthefeatureintheEditwindow.
3. TypethecommandCONSTR/... followedbytheappropriatetext.(Seethe
exampleofthecommandlineforaconstructedpointshownabove.)
Toconstructafeatureusingtheconstructiondialogboxes:
1. SelecttheInsert|Feature|Constructedsubmenu.
2. Selectthetypeoffeaturetobeconstructed.Availableoptionsare:
Point
Circle
Ellipse
Sphere
Line
Cone
Cylinder
Plane
Slot
Curve
Surface
FeatureSet
FilterSet
3. Oncetheselectionoftheinputfeaturesiscompletedwithinthedialogbox,select
theCreatebutton.
PCDMISwillconstructthefeatureanddisplayitonthescreen.Itwillalsodisplaythefeature's
centerpointintheEditwindow.PCDMISwillconstructtherequestedfeature,leavingthedialog
boxopen,addingthenewlyconstructedfeatureintothedialogbox.Thisallowsyoutoconstruct
multiplefeaturesbasedonnewlyconstructedfeatures.
UnderstandingtheGeneralCommandFormat
IntheEditwindowallconstructedfeaturesaredisplayedinthefollowingformat.Therewillbe
slightvariationsthatareexplainedmorethoroughlyinthefollowingsections.
TheactualEditreportwill Forexample:
bedisplayedusingall
CAPS. Feature_name=FEAT/TYPEOFFEATURE,TOG1,.....
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,......
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,......
CONSTR/TOG2,TOG3,......
feature_name: nameoffeature.Thisisausereditablefield.
TYPEOFFEATURE: Thisfielddenotesthefeaturetype.Thisfeaturetypeisthesameas
TOG2butisnoneditableandisnotatogglefield.
652 ConstructingNew FeaturesfromExistingFeatures PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Thisindicatesthatwhatfollowsisuniquetoeachfeature.Thisisexplainedmore
......:
thoroughlyinthenecessaryareasofthemanualhelpfile.
TOG1: ThisfieldispresentinallfeaturesandcanbeswitchedbetweenRECT/POLR.If
thisfeatureisRECT,allpointsarerepresentedinCartesiansystem(x,y,z).IffieldisPOLR,
allpointsaredisplayedinpolarsystem(x_radius,y_angle,z_height).Vectorsdonotchange.
TOG2: Thisfieldispresentinallfeaturesandcanbeswitchedbetweenthedifferenttypes
offeaturestakingthefollowingvalues:
CIRCLE/CONE/CYLINDER/LINE/PLANE/POINT/SPHERE/CURVE/SURFACE/
SET/
POINTisthedefaultfeaturetypewhentheconstructcommandlineisopenedforthe
firsttimeinapartprogram.Thedefaultfeaturetypethenbecomesthelastconstructed
featuretype.
TOG3: Thisfieldisalsopresentinallfeatures,buttakesuniquevaluesaccordingtothe
typeoffeature.(Seespecificfeaturetypeforadditionalinformation.)
AccessingtheDialogBox
ToaccessthecorrespondingconstructiondialogboxfromwhichanEditwindow'sfeaturewas
created:
1. MakesuretheEditwindowisopen.
2. IntheEditwindow,clickthemouseonthefeature'sname.
3. PressF9.Aconstructiondialogboxwillappear.
Usingthisdialogboxyoucanmakeanydesiredchanges,andwhenyouclicktheCreatebutton
theupdatedchangeswillbemadetotheEditwindow.
DecimalPlacementConventions
Pleasenotethefollowinginformationregardingdecimalplaceconventionsforconstructed
features:
Allvectors(i_vect,j_vect,k_vect)arerepresentedbyamaximumof5placesto
therightofthedecimal.
Alllengthsanddistances(x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,diam,height,length,etc.)are
representedbyamaximumof5placestotherightofthedecimal.
Allanglesarerepresentedbyamaximumof5placestotherightofthedecimal.
Ifthedecimalplaceiszero,thenthenumberisrepresentedasaninteger.
Note:DecimalplacescanbechangedthroughtheDimensiontab(F5)ontheSetupdialogbox.
SettingthedecimalplacelimitinsertsaDISPLAYPRECISIONcommandintheEditwindow.All
featuresfollowingthiscommandconformtothenumberofdecimalplacesspecified.
SpecifyingFeatureTheoreticals

PCDMISVersion4.2andaboveprovidestheabilitytospecifytheoreticalinformationformostof
theconstructedfeaturetypesinPCDMIS.Traditionally,PCDMIShasusedthetheoretical
valuesfromtheinputfeaturestocalculateatheoreticalvaluefortheconstructedfeature.Insome
circumstances,however,youmaynotwantthisresult.Tomakeconstructedfeaturesmore
flexible,youcanoverridethetraditionalbehaviorandspecifyyourowntheoreticalvaluesforthe
feature.
AtthebottomtheconstructedfeaturesdialogboxyouwillseethenewFeatureTheoreticals
area.ThisarearemainsunavailableforselectionuntilyouselecttheSpecifyTheoscheckbox.
Thisenablestheotheritemsinthearea,allowingyoutooverridethecalculatedtheoreticalvalues
fromtheinputfeatureswithspecifiedtheoreticalvalues.
FeatureTheoreticalsarea
TheitemsthatappearintheFeatureTheoreticalsareachangedependingonthefeatureyou
areconstructing.EachfeaturewilldisplayatleasttheX,Y,andZboxes(thelocation)andtheI,
J,andKboxes(theorientation).Forfeatureswithcharacteristicsizes,suchascircles,slots,
cones,andsoforth,additionalitemswillappearinthisarea.
ToOverrideFeatureTheoreticals
Tochangeanexistingfeaturefromthetraditionalmethod,tothenewtheoreticaloverride:
1. OpenthefeaturebypressingF9.Thedialogboxforthatconstructedwillappear.
2. SelecttheSpecifyTheoscheckbox.TheFeatureTheoreticalareabecomes
enabledforedit.
3. Changethetheoreticalvaluesbyeditingtheavailableitems.
4. ClicktheCreatebuttonwhenfinished.
Alternately,youcaneditthefeaturefromtheEditwindowbychangingtheappropriatefield.
InCommandModeyouwouldsetthelastfieldonthefirstlineofthefeaturetoYESandthen
manuallytypethevaluesintheTHEOline.
SampleConstructedFeatureinCommandMode
InSummaryModeyouwouldsettheUserSpecifiedTheosvaluetoYESandthenmodifythe
Theoreticalsgroup.

SampleConstructedFeatureinCommandMode
TohavePCDMISautomaticallycalculatethefeatureinformationbasedontheinputfeatures(the
traditionalmethod),simplycleartheSpecifyTheoscheckboxinthedialogboxorchangethe
appropriatevalueintheEditwindow.Thefeatureswillupdateaccordingly.
Becauseyouareeditingyourfeaturetheoreticalvalues,PCDMISwillaskifyouwanttoupdate
yourmeasuredvaluesandthetheoreticalvaluesofanyassociateddimensions.Thisisstandard
PCDMISbehavior.
Allconstructedfeatureshavethiscapabilityexceptfor:
Curve
Surface
Filter
Set
AdjustFilter
ConstructingaPointFeature

ConstructPointdialogbox
ThereareanumberofwaystoconstructapointusingPCDMIS.Thefollowingtableliststhe
varioustypesofconstructedpoints,alongwiththeirnecessaryinputs.Somefeaturesmayrequire
noinputswhileothersmayrequirethreeinputsormore.Inthetable,theterm'Any'indicatesthat
theconstructioncantakeanytypeoffeatureasinputforconstruction.PCDMISallowsthe
featurestobeselectedinanyorder.
CONSTRUCT SYMBOL # OF FEAT FEAT FEAT COMMENTS

FEATURE INEDIT INPUT #1: #2: #3:
TYPE WINDOW FEATS
CastPoint CAST 1 Any Constructs
pointat
centroidof
inputfeature
CornerPoint CORNER 3 Plane Plane Plane Constructs
pointatthe
intersectionof
3planes
DropPoint DROP 2 Any Cone, Firstfeatureis
Cylinder, droppedonto
Line, thesecond
Slot linefeature
IntersectPoint INTOF 2 Circle, Circle, Constructs
Cone, Cone, pointatthe
Cylinder,Cylinder, intersectionof
Line, Line, thelinear
Slot Slot attributeof2
features

MidPoint MID 2 Any Any ConstructsMid

Pointbetween
centroidsof
theinputs
OffsetPoint OFFSET 1 Any Requires3
offsets
corresponding
toX,Y,&Z
OriginPoint ORIGIN 0 Constructs
pointat
alignment
origin
PiercePoint PIERCE 2 Cone, Cone, Constructs
Cylinder,Cylinder, pointwhere
Line, Plane, feat_1pierces
Slot, Sphere, surfaceof
Circle, Circle, feat_2.Order
Ellipse Ellipse ofselectionis
important.If
firstfeatureis
line,direction
isimportant.
Vector VECT_DIST 2 Any Any Constructs
DistancePoint pointata
distancefrom
thesecond
featurealong
thelinefrom
thetwoinput
features.
ProjectPoint PROJ 1or2 Any Plane 1inputfeature
willproject
pointtowork
plane
Note:Ifyouselectinappropriatefeaturetypes,PCDMISdisplays"Cannotconstruct[feature].
Combinationofinputfeaturesnotaccepted."ontheStatusBar.
Toconstructapoint:
1. AccesstheConstructPointdialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Point).
2. Inputthedesiredfeatures.
3. Selectthemethodofconstruction.Availableoptionsinclude:
CastPoint
CornerPoint
DropPoint
IntersectPoint
MidPoint
OffsetPoint
OriginPoint
PiercePoint
VectorDistancePoint

ProjectPoint
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasamplepointconstructionwouldread:
feature_name=FEAT/POINT,TOG1
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec
CONSTR/TOG2,TOG3,......\
Note:TheactualEditreportwillbedisplayedinallCAPS.
TOG1=POLRorRECT
TOG2=POINT
TOG3=CAST/CORNER/DROP/INTOF/MID/OFFSET/ORIG/PIERCE/PROJ
ThefirstthreelinesdisplayedintheEditwindowwillbethesameforallconstructedpoints.The
fourthlinewillbeslightlydifferent,accordingtothetypeoffeaturebeingconstructed.Youcan
switchbetweenthedifferenttypesofpointsbyplacingthecursoronTOG3andpressingF7or
F8.(See"CommandModeKeyboardFunctions"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter.)
Whentwoormorefeaturesareinvolved,PCDMISautomaticallydeterminesthenecessaryorder
oftheinputfeatures.Thisimprovestheaccuracyofthemeasurementprocess.
AUTOisthedefaultmethod Thefollowingparagraphsdescribetheavailableoptionsfor
ofconstruction.Thisoption constructingapoint.
automaticallydeterminesthe
bestwaytoconstructapoint
usingtheinputfeature(s).
See"AutoPoint
Construction".
ConstructingaCastPoint
Apointcanbeconstructedbychanginganygivenfeatureintothepoint.PCDMISwillconstruct
thepointatthecentroidoftheinputfeature.
ToconstructaCastPoint:
2. SelecttheCastoptionfromthelistofoptions.
3. Selectanyfeature.
CONSTR/POINT,CAST,feat_1

ConstructingaCastPointfromaCircle
ConstructingaCornerPoint
Apointcanbeconstructedfromthreeplanes.PCDMIScreatesapointattheirintersection.The
vectoroftheconstructedcornerpointisthecrossproductofthesecondinputvectorintothethird
inputvector.
ToconstructaCornerPoint:
2. SelecttheCornerPointoptionfromthelistofoptions.
3. Selectthreedifferentplanes.
CONSTR/POINT,CORNER,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3
APointconstructed
attheintersectionof
threeplanes(PLN1,
PLN2,andPLN3).
ConstructingaCornerPointfrom
threePlanes
ConstructingaDropPoint
Apointcanbeconstructedfromanyfeatureandaline(cone,cylinderorslot).PCDMISwilldrop
thecentroidofthefirstfeatureontothesecondfeature.The"dropped"pointwillbedroppedona
linethatisperpendiculartotheline,centerline,orplane.Iftwolinefeaturesareselected,PC
DMISwilldropthecentroidofthefirstlinefeatureontothesecondlinefeature.

Note:Forthisconstructionmethodyoumustselectfeaturetypesinthecorrectorder.
ToconstructaDropPoint:
2. SelecttheDropPointoptionfromthelistofoptions.
3. Selectthefirstfeature.Itmaybeofanytype.
4. Selectthesecondfeature.Itmustbeofcone,cylinder,line,orslot.
CONSTR/POINT,DROP,feat_1,feat_2
APointis
constructedby
normally
projectingcircle,
CIR1(the
designated
point)toline,
LINE1.
ConstructingaDropPointfromaCircleandaLine
Note:Ifyouselectaslotasoneofyourinputfeatures,PCDMISwillusetheslotcenterline
vectorwhenconstructingthispointinsteadoftheslotnormalvector(in versions3.2andearlier
PCDMISusedtheslotnormalvector).Ifyouwanttousetheolderslotnormalvector,youwill
needtomodifythevaluefortheUseLegacySlotVectorentryinthePCDMISSettingsEditor.
Forinformationonhowtodothis,seethe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendix.
ConstructinganIntersectPoint
Apointcanbeconstructedbetweenaline(circle,cone,cylinder,orslot)andaline,(circle,cone,
cylinder,orslot).Thepointiscreatedwherethelines(centerlines)ofthetwofeaturesintersect.It
isalsopossibletointersecttwocirclefeaturesoralinefeatureandaconstructedcurve.

APoint
constructed
from2lines
(LINE1and
LINE2).
ConstructinganIntersectPointfromTwoLines
Ifyouwanttointersectorpierceacirclewithaline,see"ConstructingaPiercePoint".
ToConstructanIntersectPoint:
2. SelecttheIntersectoptionfromthelistofoptions.
3. Selecttwofeaturesofthistype(circle,cone,cylinder,line,slot,curve).
CONSTR/POINT,INTOF,feat_1,feat_2
Ifthetwofeaturesdonotintersect,thepointisconstructedmidwaybetweenthetwofeaturesat
theapparentintersection.Inotherwords,theintersectpointisthemidpointoftheshortestline
connectingthetwoinputfeatures.
ConstructinganIntersectPointfromTwoLinesThatDoNotIntersect
Youcanintersecttwocirclefeaturesandaslongastheyhavethesame(orverysimilar)vectors,
PCDMISwillgenerateaconstructedpointfeatureatoneoftheintersectionpoints.Ifyouswitch
theorderoftheselectedinputfeaturesintheConstructPointModedialogbox,PCDMISwill
constructapointattheotherintersectionpoint.
Youcanintersectalinefeaturewithaconstructedcurve.Thelineandcurvearefirstprojected
ontothecurrentworkplane,wheretheintersectioniscomputed.Ifthereisnointersection,an

errormessageisdisplayed.Eventhoughtheremaybemanyintersectionpoints,onlytheone
closesttothestartofthecurveisreported.Togettheotherintersectionpointsitmaybepossible
tosubdividethecurveandcomputeintersectionsonthesubcurves.
Note:Ifyouselectaslotasoneofyourinputfeatures,PCDMISwillusetheslotcenterline
vectorwhenconstructingthispointinsteadoftheslotnormalvector(inversions3.2andearlier
PCDMISusedtheslotnormalvector).Ifyouwanttousetheolderslotnormalvector,youwill
needtomodifythevaluefortheUseLegacySlotVectorentryinthePCDMISSettingsEditor.
Forinformationonhowtodothis,seethe"ModifyingtheRegistry"appendix.
ConstructingaMidPoint
Apointcanbeconstructedfromanytwofeatureswithoutdirection.PCDMIScreatesamidpoint
betweenthecentroidsofthetwoinputfeatures.
ToconstructaMidPoint:
2. SelecttheMidPointoptionfromthelistofoptions.
3. Selectanytwofeatures.
CONSTR/POINT,MID,feat_1,feat_2
APoint
constructed
midway
between
twocircles,
CIR1and
CIR2.
ConstructingaMidPointfromTwoCircles
ConstructinganOffsetPoint
Apointcanbeconstructedaspecifieddistancefromanyinputfeature.
ToconstructanOffsetPoint:

2. SelecttheOffsetPointoptionfromthelistofoptions.
3. Selectafeaturefromwhichtocreatetheoffsetpoint.
Tocreateanoffsetpointfromtheorigin,selecttheAtOriginoption.Tocreateanoffsetpoint
relativetoaparticularfeature,selectthedesiredfeatureandkeyintheX,Y,andZOFFSET.
XYZOffset
ThesefieldsallowyoutoenterinoffsetdistancesfortheX,Y,andZ,axes.Theseoptionsare
onlyavailableiftheOffsetoptionisselectedfirst.
CONSTR/POINT,OFFSET,feat_1,dx,dy,dz
ConstructingaPointattheOrigin
Apointcanbeconstructedatthecurrentalignmentorigin.
ToconstructanOriginPoint:
2. SelecttheAtOriginoption.
3. Donotselectanyinputfeatures.
CONSTR/POINT,ORIG
APoint
constructed
attheorigin
(0,0,0).
ConstructingaPointattheOrigin
ConstructingaPiercePoint
Apointcanbeconstructedusingaline(circle,cone,ellipse,slot,orcylinder)andacircle,ellipse
orplane(cone,cylinder,orsphere).PCDMISwillcreateapointwherefeat_1piercesthesurface
offeat_2.
Note:Forthisconstructionmethodyoumustselectfeaturetypesinthecorrectorder.

Ifthepiercedfeatureisacircleoranellipse,PCDMIScreatesacylindrical
circumferenceaboutthecenterline,andconstructsthepiercepoint.Iftwosimilar
features(twocylindersforexample)areprovided,PCDMISwillpiercethesecond
featurewiththefirstfeature.
Ifthepiercedfeatureisasphere,circle,cone,orcylinderthepiercepointis
constructedwherethepiercinginputfeaturefirstintersectsthesurfaceofthepierced
element.Thefirstintersectionpointisdeterminedbythedirectionoftheline.Itis
importanttoknowthedirectioninwhichthelinewasdefined.Ifthewrongpointis
constructed,createanew,flippedline(see"ChangingtheDirectionofaLine"),and
useittoconstructthepoint.
ToconstructaPiercePoint:
2. SelectthePierceoptionfromthelistofoptions.
3. Selectthefirstfeature.Itmustbeeitheracone,cylinder,line,slot,circle,or
ellipse.
4. Selectthesecondfeature.Itmustbeeitheranellipse,circle,cone,cylinder,
plane,orsphere.
CONSTR/POINT,PIERCE,feat_1,feat_2
APoint
constructedatthe
intersectionofaline
andsphere
BSpherefeature
CLine(please
notedirection)
ConstructingaPiercePointfromaLineandaSphere
ConstructingaVectorDistancePoint
Apointcanbeconstructedataspecifieddistancealonganimaginarylinecreatedfromtwoinput
features.PCDMISconstructsthepointalongthelinefromthefirstinputtothesecondinputata
specifieddistancefromthesecondinput.

Forexample,ifyourtwoinputfeatureswereinorder,PNT1andPNT2,andyoudefineda
distanceof10mm,PCDMISwouldconstructthepoint(PNT3)likethis:
ConstructedVectorDistancePoint,PNT3,CreatedfromInputFeaturesPNT1andPNT2
ToconstructaVectorDistancePoint:
2. SelecttheVectorDistanceoptionfromthelistofoptions.
3. Selectthefirstfeature.
4. Selectthesecondfeature.
5. SpecifyadistanceintheDistancebox.Youcantypeanegativevalueto
constructthepointbetweenthetwoinputfeatures.
6. ClicktheCreatebutton.PCDMISwillconstructapointatthespecifieddistance
fromthesecondinputfeaturealongthelinefromthefirstfeaturetothesecond
feature.
CONSTR/POINT,VECT_DIST,feat_1,feat_2,distance
ConstructingaProjectedPoint
Apointcanbeconstructedfromanyfeatureandaplane.PCDMISwillprojectthepointwhere
theplaneintersectsthepoint.Ifthereisonlyoneinputfeature,theprojectionwillbetothework
plane.
ToconstructaProjectedPoint:
2. SelecttheProjectionoptionfromthelistofoptions.
3. Selectafeaturefromwhichtocreatetheprojectpoint.
CONSTR/POINT,PROJ,feat_1,(feat_2)
AProjectedpoint
constructedfroma
point,PNT1,anda
plane,PLN1.
ConstructingaProjectedPointfromaPointandaPlane

AutoPointConstruction
Thefollowingtableindicatesthetypeofpointthatwillbeconstructedwhenthespecifiedinputs
areselectedandtheAUTOoptionischosen.Theorderoftheselectedfeaturesisnotimportant.
Ifanincorrectinputfeature(s)isselected,PCDMISwilldisplayanerrormessageandwillnot
automaticallyconstructtheindicatedfeaturetype.
ToallowPCDMIStoautomaticallydeterminethebestmethodofconstruction:
1. AccesstheConstructPointdialogbox.
2. SelecttheAutooptionfromthelistofoptions.
3. Selectthedesiredfeature(s)basedonthetablebelow.
InputFeature(s) Constructs
Any1Feature= CastPoint
Circle+Circle= MidPoint
Circle+Cone= DropPoint
Circle+Cylinder= DropPoint
Circle+Ellipse MidPoint
Circle+Line= PiercePoint
Circle+Plane= ProjectPoint
Circle+Set= MidPoint
Circle+Slot= MidPoint
Circle+Sphere= MidPoint
Cone+Cone= IntersectPoint
Cone+Cylinder= IntersectPoint
Cone+Ellipse DropPoint
Cone+Plane= PiercePoint
Cone+Set= DropPoint
Cone+Slot= IntersectPoint
Cylinder+Ellipse DropPoint
Cylinder+Plane= PiercePoint
Cylinder+Set= DropPoint
Cylinder+Slot= IntersectPoint
Ellipse+Ellipse MidPoint
Line+Cone= IntersectPoint
Line+Cylinder= IntersectPoint
Line+Ellipse DropPoint
Line+Line= IntersectPoint
Line+Plane= PiercePoint
Line+Set= DropPoint
Line+Slot= IntersectPoint
Line+Sphere= DropPoint
Plane+Ellipse ProjectPoint
Plane+Plane= ProjectPoint
Plane+Set= ProjectPoint
3Points= CornerPoint
Point+Circle= MidPoint
Point+Cone= DropPoint
Point+Cylinder= DropPoint
Point+Ellipse= MidPoint

Point+Line= DropPoint
Point+Plane= ProjectPoint
Point+Point= MidPoint
Point+Set= MidPoint
Point+Slot= MidPoint
Point+Sphere= MidPoint
Set+Ellipse MidPoint
Set+Set= MidPoint
Slot+Ellipse MidPoint
Slot+Plane= ProjectPoint
Slot+Set= MidPoint
Slot+Slot= IntersectPoint
Sphere+Cone= DropPoint
Sphere+Cylinder= DropPoint
Sphere+Ellipse MidPoint
Sphere+Plane= ProjectPoint
Sphere+Set= MidPoint
Sphere+Slot= MidPoint
Sphere+Sphere= MidPoint
ConstructingaCircleFeature

ConstructCircledialogbox
ThereareseveralwaystoconstructacircleusingPCDMIS.Thefollowingtableliststhevarious
typesofconstructedcircles,alongwiththeirnecessaryinputs.Somefeaturesmayrequireno
inputswhileothersmayrequirethreeinputsormore.Theterm'Any'inthefollowingtable
indicatesthattheconstructioncantakeanytypeoffeatureasinputforconstruction.PCDMIS
allowsthefeaturestobeselectedinanyorder.
CONSTRUCT SYMBOLINEDIT# OF FEAT#1: FEAT#2: COMMENTS

FEATURE WINDOW INPUT
TYPE FEATS
BestfitCircle BF Atleast3 Constructs
inputsare bestfitcircle
needed. usinggiven
inputs
Bestfitwith BFRE Atleast3 Constructs
Recompensate inputsare bestfitcircle
Circle needed.(1 usinggiven
mustbea inputs
point)

CastCircle CAST 1 Any Constructs

circleat
centroidof
inputfeature
ConeCircle CONE 1 Cone Constructs
(alsoknownas circleatthe
Gage specified
Diameter) diameteror
heightofthe
cone
IntersectCircle INTOF 2 Circle, Plane Constructs
Sphere, circleatthe
Cone,or intersectionof
Cylinder acircularfeat
withaplane,
cone,or
cylinder
Plane Circle,
Sphere,
Cone,or
Cylinder
Cone Coneor
Cylinder
Cylinder Cone
ProjectCircle PROJ 1or2 Any Plane 1input
featurewill
projectcircle
toworkplane
ReverseCircleREV 1 Circle Constructs
circlewitha
reversed
vector
Tangent2 TANLINES 2 Line Line Constructs
Lines circletangent
tothetwo
linesata
given
diameter.
Tangent3 TANLINES 3 Line Line Line Constructs
Lines circletangent
tothethree
lines.
Tangent3 TANCIRCLES 3 Circle Circle Circle Constructs
Circles circletangent
tothethree
circles.
ScanSegment SCAN_SEGMENT1 Scan Constructs
Circle arcfroma
partofa
LinearOpen
orLinear
Closescan.

Combinationofinputfeaturesnotaccepted."onthestatusbar.
Toconstructacircle:
1. AccesstheConstructCircledialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|
Circle).
3. SelecttheInorOutoption.
AutoCircle
BestFitorBestFitRecompensateCircle
IntersectCircle
CastCircle
ProjectedCircle
ReversedirectionCircle
ScanSegment
Tangent2Lines
Tangent3Lines
Tangent3Circles
CirclefromaCone
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasampleCircleConstructionwouldread:
feature_name=FEAT/CIRCLE,TOG1,TOG4,TOG5
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,diam
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,diam
CONSTR/TOG2,TOG3
IfTOG2=CIRCLEandTOG3=BForBFREthenthecommandhasthefollowingformat:
feature_name=FEAT/CIRCLE,TOG1,TOG4,TOG5
CONSTR/CIRCLE,TOG3
OUTLIER_REMOVAL/TOG6,stdDevMultiplier
FILTER/TOG6,UPR=cutoffFrequency

Autoisthedefaultmethodof TOG1=POLRorRECT
construction.See"Auto
CircleConstruction". TOG2=CIRCLE
TOG3=BF/BFRE/CAST/CONE/INTOF/PROJ/REV/
TANLINES/TANCIRCLES/SCAN_SEGMENT
TOG4=IN/OUT
TOG5=LEAST_SQR/MAX_INSC/MIN_CIRCSC/MIN_SEP
/FIXED_RAD(only formeasured,BFandBFREcircles)
TOG6=ON/OFF
stdDevMultiplier=Thismultipliervaluedetermineswhetheror
notameasuredpointisanoutlier.Ifthepointfromthecircleis
furtherthanthestandarddeviationmultipliedbythis,thenitis
anoutlierandwillberemovedifyouhaveselectedtheRemove
Outlieroption.
cutoffWavelength=Thisvaluecontrolstheamountofdata
smoothing.Thelongerthewavelengththemorethesmoothing.
ThefirstthreelinesdisplayedintheEditwindowwillbethesame
forconstructedcircles.Thefourthlinewillbeslightlydifferent,
accordingtothetypeoffeaturebeingconstructed.Youcanswitch
betweenthedifferenttypesofcirclesbyplacingthecursoronTOG3
andpressingF7orF8.(See"CommandModeKeyboardFunctions"
inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter.)
Whentwoormorefeaturesareinvolved,PCDMISautomatically
determinesthenecessaryorderoftheinputfeatures.Thisimproves
theaccuracyofthemeasurementprocess.
Thefollowingparagraphsdescribetheavailableoptionsfor
constructingacircle:
In/OutCircle
TheInandOutoptionstellPCDMISwhethertoconstructthecircleasaninternaloranexternal
circle.
IfyouselectIn,PCDMISconstructsthecircleasaninternalcircle.
IfyouselectOut,PCDMISconstructsthecircleasanexternalcircle,orpin.
AutoCircleConstruction
Thefollowingtableindicatesthetypeofcirclethatwillbeconstructedwhenthespecifiedinputs

Circle).
Any1Set= BestFitCircle
Any1Circle= ReverseCircle
Any1Cone=(w/Diameter) ConeCircle
Any1Feature=(except CastCircle
Circle/Cone/Set)
Cone+Cone= IntersectCircle
Cone+Cylinder= IntersectCircle
Cone+Plane= IntersectCircle
Cone+Sphere= IntersectCircle
Cylinder+Sphere= IntersectCircle
Plane+Circle= ProjectCircle
Plane+Ellipse= ProjectCircle
Plane+Line= ProjectCircle
Plane+Plane= ProjectCircle
Plane+Point= ProjectCircle
Plane+Set= ProjectCircle
Plane+Slot= ProjectCircle
Plane+Sphere= IntersectCircle
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateCircle
A"bestfit"circlecanbeconstructedfromthreeormorefeatures.Theconstructedcircle'svector
isnormaltothecurrentworkingplane.Thebestfitconstructionmethodtakestheactual
measuredpoints,ratherthantheball'scenter(asisthecaseofbestfitrecompensate).
ToconstructaBestFitCircleoraBestFitRecompensateCircle:
Circle).
2. SelecteithertheBestFitorBestFitRecompensateoption(shownasBestFit
andBFRecomp).
3. SelectthetypeofBestFitconstructionfromtheBestFitTypelist.
4. Selectatleast3features.
CONSTR/CIRCLE,BF,feat_1,feat_2,...
OUTLIER_REMOVAL/(OFF|ON),stdDevMultiple
FILTER/(OFF|ON),UPR=cutoffFrequency

ABestfitcircle
constructedfrom
threeormore
features(inthis
examplefrom
threeormore
circlefeatures)
OutlierremovalandFilteringaredescribedinthesetopicsbelow:
BestFitType
ThislistbecomesavailableifyouselectBestFitorBFRecompoptionswhenconstructingthe
circle.ItallowsyoutospecifythetypeofBestFitconstructionused.Availabletypesinclude:
LEAST_SQR
MAX_INSC
MIN_CIRCSC
MIN_SEP
FIXED_RAD
Thesetypesarediscussedinthetablebelow:
ListItem Description
LEAST_SQR LeastSquaresThiscalculationtypeprovidesa
methodoffittinginwhichtheaveragesquaredradial
distancefromthedatapointstothecircleis
minimized.Thesquarerootofthisquantityisthe
RootMeanSquare(RMS)distance.SincetheRMS
distanceisbasedonanaverage,somepointsmay
befurtherthantheRMSdistancefromthecomputed
circle.
MIN_SEP MinimumSeparationThiscalculationtype
generatesacirclethatishalfwaybetweentwo
concentriccirclescontainingthedatapoints,withthe
differenceoftheirradiiassmallaspossible.The
Min/MaxmathusedbytheMIN_SEPcalculation
minimizesthemaximumerror,ordeviation,fromthe
inputdatatothecircle.TheMin/Maxerrorisonehalf
oftheminimalseparation.Noinputdatapoints(or

inputfeatures)liefartherthantheMin/Maxerrorfrom
theMin/Maxcircle.Thiscalculationdetermines
whetherornotalltheinputdata(orinputfeatures)
arewithinthegiventolerances.
MAX_INSC MaximumInscribedThiscalculationtypegenerates
anemptycirclewiththelargestpossiblediameter
thatlieswithinthedata.PCDMISfirstcomputesa
MinimumCircumscribedcircleandrequiresthatthe
centeroftheMaximumInscribedcirclelieswithinit.
Thisoptioncouldbeusedforacircularfeaturethat
requiresamatingstud.Forexample,iftheinputdata
representsahole,thenthiscalculationreturnsa
circlewiththediameterofthelargeststudthatwillfit
insidethehole.
MIN_CIRCSC MinimumCircumscribedThiscalculationtype
generatesacirclewiththesmallestpossible
diameterthatenclosestheinputdata(orinput
features).Thisoptioncouldbeusedwhenmeasuring
astudthatwouldfitintoamatingcircularfeature.
Theresultingfeaturewouldbethesmallestholeinto
whichthestudwouldfit.
FIXED_RAD FixedRadiusThiscalculationtypecreatesacircle
ofagivendiameter,positionedsothatthemaximal
radialdistancefromthedatapointstothecircleis
minimized.ItissimilartotheMax/Minmathusedin
theMIN_SEPcalculationexceptthat,sincethe
diameterisknowninadvance,theradiuscannot
vary.Onlythecircle'spositionisallowedtovary.
RemoveOutliers/StandardDeviationMultipleforaConstructedCircle
Forabestfit(BF)orbestfitrecompensate(BFRE)circleyoucanchoosetoremoveoutliers
basedonthedistancefromthebestfitfeature.Thisallowstheremovalofanomaliesthatarisein
themeasurementprocess.
PCDMISfirstfitsacircletothedata,thendetermineswhichpointsareoutliersbasedonthe
standarddeviationmultiple.Itthendoesthefollowing:
Recalculatesthebestfitcirclewiththoseoutliersremoved.
Checksforoutliersagain.
Recalculatesthebestfitcircle.
ContinuesrepeatingthisprocessuntilnomoreoutliersexistoruntilPCDMIS
cannotcomputethecircle(PCDMIScan'tcomputethecircleiftherearefewerthan
3datapoints).

ApplyGaussFilter/CutoffFrequency
TheBestFit(BF)andBestFitRecompensate(BFRE)constructedcircleshavetheoptionof
filteringthedeviationsofthemeasureddatapointsfromthebestfitcirclecomputedfromthe
measureddata.TheApplyGaussFiltercheckboxisaGaussianfilterwithacutofffrequency
inputasundulationsperrevolution(UPR).Generally,alowercutofffrequencyproducessmoother
filtereddata.Ifyou'veselectedtheRemoveOutlierscheckboxandarefilteringthedata,then
outlierdataisremovedpriortofiltering.
ConstructinganIntersectCircle
Acirclecanbeconstructedbetweenacone(circle,cylinder,sphere)andaplane.Itcanalsobe
createdbetweentwoconcentricconesoraconcentriccone/cylindercombination.
PCDMIScreatesacircleattheintersectionofthecircularfeatureandtheplaneorbetweenthe
cone/coneorcone/cylindercombinations.
Inthecaseofacircularfeatureandaplaneintersection,PCDMISalwaysmakes
atruecircle(notanellipse)evenifthecircularfeatureisnotexactlyperpendicularto
theplane.Thecenterpointofthenewcircleisatthepiercepointofthecircular
feature'scenterlineandtheplane.Thevectorofthecircleisthevectorofthepiercing
circularfeature.
Inthecaseofacone/coneorcone/cylindercombination,atruecircleiscreated
eveniftheintersectingfeaturesdonotformatruecircle.
ToconstructanIntersectCircle:
Circle).
2. SelecttheIntersectoption.
3. Selectthefirstfeature.Itmustbeeitheracircle,cone,cylinder,orsphere.
4. Selectthesecondfeature.Itmustbeaplane.
CONSTR/CIRCLE,INTOF,feat_1,feat_2

ACircle
Constructed
fromthe
intersection
ofacone
anda
plane.
BCone
feature
CPlane
feature
ConstructingaCirclefromaConeandaPlane
ConstructingaCastCircle
Acirclecanbeconstructedbychanginganygivenfeatureintoacircle.PCDMISwillconstruct
thecircleatthecentroidoftheinputfeature.Ifasheetmetalpointisused,thediameterwillbe
theprobediameter.Forsomesheetmetalfeatures(suchasslotsandnotches)thewidthwillbe
usedasthediameter.Forfeaturesthatdonothavediameters(lines,points,etc.),avaluethatis
fourtimestheprobediameterwillbeused.
YoucanmodifythediameterofthecirclethiswillchangethecirclefromDEPENDENTto
INDEPENDENT.Thismeansthatwhenthecircleisexecuted,thediameterwillnotchangebased
ontheinputfeaturebutwillbeindependentoftheinputfeature,whilethepositionandvector
remaindependentontheinputfeature.Thisallowsyoutohavecontroloverthediameterincases
wheretheinputfeaturedoesntreallyhaveadiameter,suchasapoint.The
DEPENDENT/INDEPENDENTfieldisatogglefieldyoumaychange.
PCDMISwillusethisdiametervalueforallcalculationsinsteadofusingthedefaultdiameter
valueasdescribedabove.
ToconstructaCastCircle:
Circle).
2. SelecttheCastoption.
3. Selectatleastonefeaturesofanytype.
CONSTR/CIRCLE,CAST,feat_1,(DEPENDENT|INDEPENDENT)
ConstructingaProjectedCircle
Acirclecanbeconstructedfromanyfeatureandaplane.PCDMISwillprojectthecentroidofthe
givenfeatureontotheplane,creatingacircle.Ifthereisonlyoneinputfeature,theprojectionwill

betothecurrentworkplane.Thediameteroftheprojectedcirclewillbefourtimestheprobe's
diameter.
ToconstructaProjectedCircle:
Circle).
2. SelecttheProjectionoption.
3. Selectafeatureofanytype.
Note:Asecondfeaturecanalsobeselected.Itmustbeaplane.
CONSTR/CIRCLE,PROJ,feat_1,feat_2
ACircle
constructedfrom
theprojectionof
acircleanda
plane.
BPlane
feature.
ConstructingaCirclefromaCircleandaPlane
ChangingtheDirectionofaCircle
Acirclecanbeconstructedwithareversedvector.
Tochangethedirectionofacircle:
Circle).
2. SelecttheReverseoption.
3. Selectonefeature.Itmustbeacircle.

CONSTR/CIRCLE,REV,feat_1
ConstructingaTangentCircle
YoucanconstructthefollowingthreetypesoftangentcirclesusingtheConstructCircledialog
box(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Circle):
Tangent2LinesThisoptionconstructsacircletangenttotwolines.Theexactlocation
isdeterminedbythesizeofthecircleandthedirectionofthelines.TypeaDiameter
valuefortheconstructedafterselectingthetwoinputlines,andthenclickCreate.Ifthe
constructedcircledoesn'tappearwereexpected,trychangingthedirectionofoneofthe
lines.
ExamplesofaCircleFeatureConstructedTangentto2Lines
Circle7
Constructed
Tangentto
Lines5and
6
Circle7
Constructed
Tangentto
Lines5and
7

Circle7
Constructed
Tangentto
Lines6and
7
Circle7
Constructed
Tangentto
Lines6and
7.
Notethe
difference
fromthe
above
example:
Line6's
direction
has
changed,
thereby
changing
thelocation
ofthe
constructed
circle.
Tangent3LinesThisoptionconstructsacircletangenttothethreeinputlinesthat
formatriangle.Selectthethreeinputlines,andthenclickCreate.
ExampleofaCircleFeatureConstructedTangentto3Lines

Tangent3CirclesThisoptionconstructsacircletangenttothethreeinputcircles.Selectthe
threeinputcircles,andthenclickCreate.Thetangentcirclecaneithercontainallthreecircles
(circumscribedcircle)ornoneofthethree(inscribedcircle).
Exampleofaninscribedcircletangenttothreeinputcircles
Exampleofacircumscribedcircletangenttothreeinputcircles
ConstructinganArcfromPartofaScan
AcirclecanbeconstructedfromasegmentofaLinearOpen,LinearClose,orBasicCirclescan.
PCDMISwillcreateanarcfrompartofthescan.Thedetailsoftheconstructionareincluded
furtherinthisdiscussion.

ToconstructaScanSegmentCircle:
Circle).
2. SelecttheScanSegmentoption.
3. SelectapreviouslycreatedLinearOpen,LinearClose,orBasicCirclescan.
4. ClicktheSegmentDatabutton.TheScanSegmentdialogwillappear.
ScanSegmentdialogbox
5. SelecteithertheBestFitorBFRecompoption.
6. Selecttheportionofthescanusedintheconstructionfromthisdialogbox.
7. Typethenumberofpointstopotentiallydiscardbyenteringvaluesinthe
DiscardStartandDiscardEndMaximumboxes.
8. TypeadistancefromthebestfitcircleintotheDiscardTolerancebox.This
toleranceisaformtoleranceitallowsyoutocontrolwhatendpointsareacceptedas
partofthearc.Ifthedistancefromthescanpointtothebestfitarcisgreaterthan
thistolerancevalue,thentheendpointwillbediscarded.
9. InputtheApproximateStartandEndPointsofthescanbymarkingtheSelect
Pointscheckbox,andthenclickingintheGraphicsDisplaywindowtofillintheX,Y,
andZfields.YoucanclickanywhereintheGraphicsDisplaywindow,however,PC
DMISwillplacethepointonthescannearesttowhereyouclicked.Youcanalsoedit
thepointvaluesbyusingthekeyboard.
10. ClickOKtoacceptthedataandclosetheScanSegmentdialogbox.
11. ClickCreatetoconstructthearcfromthescan.
CONSTR/CIRCLE,SCAN_SEGMENT,fit_type,feat_1,start_x,start_y,start_z,end_x,end_y,end_z,disc
ard_start,discard_end,tolerance
Ifyouwantmorethanonearcorlinefromagivenscan,thenyouwillneedtoaddanother
commandforadifferentsectionofthescan.
DeterminingtheDataUsedtoConstructtheArc
Thedatausedtoconstructthearcisdeterminedasfollows:
First,asegmentofthescanisdeterminedusingastartingpointandanending
pointwithinthescan.Thestartingandendingpointsarechosenasthepointinthe

scannearest[start_x,start_y,start_z]andthepointnearest[end_x,
end_y,end_z]respectively.
Pointsarethendiscardedfromthestartandendpointsofthescan.Thenumber
ofpointsdiscardedfromthestartisdiscard_startandfromtheendis
discard_end.Anarcisthenfittedtothissetofpoints.
Finally,thestartingandendingpointsareaddedbackiniftheyarewithinthe
definedtolerance.Thearcisthenrefittedoncemoretothenewsetofpoints.
Thevalueoffit_type maybeBF(BestFit)orBFRE(BestFitRecompensate).Thisdetermines
whetherabestfitorbestfitwithrecompensationisdonewhencalculatingthearc.Fora
descriptionofBestFitandBestFitRecompensate,see"ConstructingaBestFitorBestFit
RecompensateCircle".
ConstructingaCircleataScan'sMinimumPoint
Thisfeatureletsyouconstructa2Dcircleofagivenradiusataminimumpointalongalinear
scan.PCDMISfindstheminimumpointbyusingastartingpointandadownwarddirection
vector(asshowninfigure1below).
AScan
BStart
Point
CDown
Vector
DFinal
Position
Figure1:Minimumpointofacirclealongascanwithadefineddownward
vectorandstartingpoint.
PCDMISprojectsthescantothecurrentworkplaneandthecirclewilllieinaplaneparalleltothe
workplane.Thescanwillbeinterpretedasalinebetweenconsecutivepoints(piecewiselinear).
Thus,thecirclethatisplacedattheminimumpointalongthescanwillnotfallbetweentwo
consecutivescanpoints,butinsteadwillbeconstrainedtotouchalineconnectingthetwopoints.
ValidInputTypes
Theinputforthisconstructionmustbealinetypescan.Thisexcludesallscansdesignedtoscan
asurface:Patch,UV,Grid,Multisection,ManualLaser,andCylinder.
ConstructionProcedure

Tostartthisconstruction:
Circle).
2. SelecttheScanMinimumoption.
3. Selectalinearscanfromthefeaturelist.Youcannotuseasurfacescan.
4. ClicktheSearchSetupbutton.
5. TheCircleMinimumSearchSetupdialogboxappears:
6. Definethecirclesstartpoint,itsdowndirection,anditsdiameter.
7. ClickOKtoconstructthecircle.PCDMISconstructsthecircleandinsertsthe
constructioncommandintotheEditwindow.
RulesforConstruction
Avalidstartingpointandvectorforwillfollowtworules:
First,acircleofthegivendiameterandstartingpointshouldnotintersectthescan. Figure2
showsaviolationofthisrule.
AScan
BStartPoint
CDown
Vector
Figure2:Invalidstartingpointduetointersectionwiththescan.

Second,thecircleprojectedfromthestartpointalongthedownvectormustintersectthescan.
Figure3showsaviolationofthisrule.
AScan
BStartPoint
CDown
Vector
Figure3:Invalidstartingpointduetothecirclemissingthescan.
NoLocalMinimum
Ifthescanhasnolocalminimum,oranaturalrestingplaceforthecircle,thenthecirclewillfollow
thescantoitslowestpointwhilestillincontactwiththescan(seefigure4).
AScan
BStartPoint
CDown
Vector
Figure4:AScanwithoutalocalminimum.

EditWindowCommandforaConstructedScanMinimumCircle
CIR1 =FEAT/CIRCLE,RECT,OUT
THEO/tx,ty,tz,ti,tj,tk,td
ACTL/mx,my,mz,mi,mj,mk,md
CONSTR/CIRCLE,SCAN_MINIMUM,ScanID
START/xSP,xSP,xSP
DOWN/iDV,iDV,iDV
Where:
tx,ty,tz isthetheoreticalcircleposition
ti,tj,tk isthetheoreticalcirclevector
td isthetheoreticalcirclediameter
mx,my,mz isthemeasuredcircleposition
mi,mj,mk isthemeasuredcirclevector
md isthemeasuredcirclediameter
ScanID istheidofthescantobeused
xSP,xSP, isthestartingpointforfindingtheminimum.
xSP
iDV,iDV,iDV isthedownwarddirectionvector.
AdditionalExamples
AScan
BStartingPoint
CDownVector
Figure:Startingpointinsideofascan

AScan
BStartingPoint
CDownVector
Figure:Scanwherenotallpointsarereachablegiventhecircle
size.
ConstructingaCirclefromaCone
Acirclecanbeconstructedfromaconeataspecifieddiameterofthecone,oritcanbe
constructedatagivenheightfromthecurrentalignmentplane.AConeCirclefeatureatagiven
diameterisalsocommonlyknownasaGageDiameter.
UnderstandingtheHeightValue
Ifconstructingacircleatagivenheight,PCDMIScalculatesthecircleinthisway.Itcreatesa
planefromthereferencepointandthereferencevector. Itthencreatesaparalleloffsetplane
fromthisplanebytheheightvalue.Thisparallelplaneintersectswiththeconeaxis,andthe
intersectioncreatesthelocationoftheresultingcirclefeature.Thediameterofthecircleisthe
diameteroftheconeatthatintersectionpoint.
Availablereferencepoint Availablereferencevector
(REF_POINT)options: (REF_VECTOR)options:
CONE_VERTEX CONE_VECTOR
CONE_START
CONE_END WORKPLANE

ORIGIN ZPLUS
ZMINUS
XPLUS
XMINUS
YPLUS
YMINUS
Forexample,ifyouusetheoriginasareferencepoint,andZPLUSasyourreferencevector,PC
DMISwouldcreateaplanefromtheoriginpointandtheZPLUSvector.Thenitwouldcreatea
parallelplaneatthegivenheightvalue,andwhereitintersectswiththecone,itcreatesthecircle
feature.YourEditwindow'scodemightlooksomethinglikethis:
CIR2 =FEAT/CIRCLE,RECT,OUT
THEO/67.295,2.595,7.152,0.0310723,0.0214397,0.9992872,29.411
ACTL/67.295,2.595,7.152,0.0310723,0.0214397,0.9992872,29.411
CONSTR/CIRCLE,CONE,CON2,HEIGHT,5,REF_POINT=ORIGIN,REF_VECTOR=ZPLUS
ProceduretoConstructaConeCircle:
Circle).
2. SelecttheConeoption.
3. Selectonefeature.Thetypemustbeacone.
4. SelecteitherDIAMETERorHEIGHTfromtheTypedropdownlist.
5. TypeavalueforthediameterorheightintotheValuebox.
6. IfyouselectedHeight:
SelectareferencepointfromthePointlist.
SelectareferencevectorfromtheVectorlist.
CONSTR/CIRCLE,CONE,DIAMETER,feat_1
Or
CONSTR/CIRCLE,CONE,HEIGHT,value,REF_POINT=point,REF_VECTOR=vector,feat_1
ConstructinganEllipseFeature

ConstructEllipsedialogbox
ThereareseveralwaystoconstructanellipseusingPCDMIS.Thefollowingtableliststhe
varioustypesofconstructedellipses,alongwiththeirnecessaryinputs.Somefeaturesmay
requirenoinputswhileothersmayrequirethreeinputsormore.Theterm'Any' inthefollowing
tableindicatesthattheconstructioncantakeanytypeoffeatureasinputforconstruction.PC
DMISallowsthefeaturestobeselectedinanyorder.
CONSTRUCT SYMBOLIN# OF FEAT#1: FEAT#2: COMMENTS

FEATURE EDIT INPUT
TYPE WINDOW FEATS
BestfitEllipse BF Atleast4 Constructs
inputsare bestfitellipse
neededora usinggiven
scanorset inputs
with4
points.
Bestfitwith BFRE Atleast4 Constructs
Recompensate inputswith bestfitellipse
Ellipse oneinput usinggiven
beinga inputs
pointare
neededora
scanorset
comprised
ofatleast4
points.

Intersection INT 2 Cylinder Plane Constructsan

ellipseatthe
intersectionof
theinput
features
CastEllipse CAST 1 Any Constructs
ellipseat
centroidof
inputfeature
ProjectEllipse PROJ 1or2 Any Plane 1input
featurewill
projectellipse
toworkplane
ReverseCircleREV 1 Circle Constructs
circlewitha
reversed
vector
Toconstructanellipse:
1. AccesstheConstructEllipsedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|
Ellipse).
3. SelecttheInorOutoption.
AutoCircle
BestFitorBestFitRecompensateEllipse
CastEllipse
ProjectionEllipse
ReversedirectionEllipse
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasampleEllipseConstructionwouldread:
feature_name=FEAT/Ellipse,TOG1,TOG4
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,majordiam,minordiam,ianglevec,jangle
vec,kanglevec
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,majordiam,minordiam,ianglevec,jangle
vec,kanglevec
CONSTR/TOG2,TOG3

Autoisthedefaultmethodof TOG1=POLRorRECT
construction.See"Auto
CircleConstruction". TOG2=ELLIPSE
TOG3=BF/BFRE/CAST/INT/PROJ/REV
TOG4=IN/OUT
forconstructedellipses.Thefourthlinewillbeslightlydifferent,
betweenthedifferenttypesofellipsesbyplacingthecursoron
TOG3andpressingF7andF8.(See"CommandModeKeyboard
Functions"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter.)
constructinganellipse:
In/OutEllipse
TheInandOutoptionstellPCDMISwhethertoconstructtheellipseasaninternaloranexternal
ellipse.
IfyouselectIn,PCDMISconstructstheellipseasaninternalellipse.
IfyouselectOut,PCDMISconstructstheellipseasanexternalellipse,orpin.
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateEllipse
A"bestfit"ellipsecanbeconstructedfromthreeormorefeatures.Theellipseliesinthecurrent
workingplane.Thebestfitconstructionmethodtakestheactualmeasuredpoints,ratherthanthe
ball'scenter(asisthecaseofbestfitrecompensate).InbothcasesPCDMIScomputesaleast
squaresellipse,oneforwhichPCDMISminimizestheaveragesquareddistancefromthedata
pointstotheellipse.
ToconstructaBestFitEllipseoraBestFitRecompensateEllipse:
Ellipse).
andBFRecomp).
3. Selectatleast4featuresorascanorasetcomprisedofatleastfourpoints.

CONSTR/ELLIPSE,BF,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3...
(Usestheactualmeasuredpointsforconstruction.)
or
CONSTR/ELLIPSE,BFRE,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3...
(Usesthecenterofprobeformeasurement.)
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateEllipse
A"bestfit"ellipsecanbeconstructedfromthreeormorefeatures.Theellipseliesinthecurrent
workingplane.Thebestfitconstructionmethodtakestheactualmeasuredpoints,ratherthanthe
ball'scenter(asisthecaseofbestfitrecompensate).InbothcasesPCDMIScomputesaleast
squaresellipse,oneforwhichPCDMISminimizestheaveragesquareddistancefromthedata
pointstotheellipse.
ToconstructaBestFitEllipseoraBestFitRecompensateEllipse:
Ellipse).
andBFRecomp).
3. Selectatleast4featuresorascanorasetcomprisedofatleastfourpoints.
CONSTR/ELLIPSE,BF,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3...
or
CONSTR/ELLIPSE,BFRE,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3...
(Usesthecenterofprobeformeasurement.)
RemoveOutliers/StandardDeviationMultipleforaConstructedEllipse
Forabestfit(BF)orbestfitrecompensate(BFRE)ellipseyoucanchoosetoremoveoutliers
PCDMISfirstfitsanellipsetothedata,thendetermineswhichpointsareoutliersbasedonthe
Recalculatesthebestfitellipsewiththoseoutliersremoved.
Recalculatesthebestfitellipse.
cannotcomputetheellipse(PCDMIScan'tcomputetheellipseiftherearefewer
than4datapoints).
ConstructinganIntersectEllipse
Anellipsecanbeconstructedfromtheintersectionofanonparallelplaneandcylinder.
ToconstructanIntersectEllipse:

Ellipse).
3. Selectthefirstfeatureitcanbeeitheracylinderoraplane.
4. Selectthesecondfeature.
Ifyouselectedacylinderasthefirstfeature,thenthismustbeaplane.
Ifyouselectedaplaneasthefirstfeature,thenthismustbeacylinder.
5. ClicktheCreatebutton.PCDMISwillconstructtheellipseattheintersectionof
thetwofeatures.Theconstructedellipsewillhavetheplane'snormalvector.
TheEditwindowcommandblockforasampleellipsewouldlooksomethinglikethis:
ID=FEAT/ELLIPSE,CARTESIAN,OUT,NO
THEO/X,Y,Z,I,J,K
ACTL/X,Y,Z,I,J,K
CONSTR/ELLIPSE,INT,feat1,feat2
ConstructingaCastEllipse
Anellipsecanbeconstructedbychanginganygivenfeatureintoanellipse.PCDMISwill
constructtheellipseatthecentroidoftheinputfeature.Ifasheetmetalpointisused,themajor
diameterwillbetheprobediameter.Forsomesheetmetalfeatures(suchasslotsandnotches)
thewidthwillbeusedasthemajordiameter.Forfeaturesthatdonothaveawidth(lines,points,
etc.),avaluethatisfourtimestheprobediameterwillbeused.Theminordiameterwillbethe
lengthoftheinputfeature.Forfeaturesthatdonothavealength(points,circles,etc)adefault
lengthof1willbeused.
Youcanmodifythemajorandminordiametersoftheellipsethiswillchangetheellipsefrom
DEPENDENTtoINDEPENDENT.Thismeansthatwhentheellipseisexecutedthatthemajor
andminordiameterswillnotchangebasedontheinputfeaturebutwillbeindependentofthe
inputfeature,whilethepositionandvectorremaindependentontheinputfeature.Thisallows
youtohavecontroloverthediametersincaseswheretheinputfeaturedoesntreallyhavea
diameter,suchasapoint.TheDEPENDENT/INDEPENDENTfieldisatogglefieldyoumay
change.
PCDMISwillusethesediametervaluesforallcalculationsinsteadofusingthedefaultdiameter
valuesasdescribedabove.
ToconstructaCastEllipse:
Ellipse).
3. Selectatleastonefeaturesofanytype.
CONSTR/ELLIPSE,CAST,feat_1,(DEPENDENT|INDEPENDENT)

ConstructingaProjectedEllipse
Anellipsecanbeprojectedontoaplane.PCDMISprojectsthecentroidofthegivenfeatureonto
theplane,creatinganellipse.Ifthereisonlyoneinputfeature,theprojectionwillbetothecurrent
workplane.Themajordiameteroftheprojectedellipsewillbethewidthoftheprojectedfeature,
ortheprobe'sdiameter(forfeaturewithoutadefinedwidth).Theminordiameterwillbethelength
oftheinputfeature,orofunit1(forfeatureswithoutalengthdefined).
ToconstructaProjectedEllipse:
Ellipse).
3. Selectafeatureofanytype.
Note:Asecondfeaturecanalsobeselected.Itmustbeaplane.
CONSTR/ELLIPSE,PROJ,feat_1,feat_2
ChangingtheDirectionofanEllipse
AnEllipsecanbeconstructedwithareversedvector.
Tochangethedirectionofaellipse:
Ellipse).
3. Selectonefeature.Itmustbeanellipse.
CONSTR/ELLIPSE,REV,feat_1
AutoEllipseConstruction
Thefollowingtableindicatesthetypeofellipsethatwillbeconstructedwhenthespecifiedinputs
Ellipse).

Any1Set= BestFitEllipse
Any1Ellipse= ReverseEllipse
Any1Feature=(except CastEllipse
Ellipse/Set)
Plane+AnyFeature ProjectedEllipse
Set+Set BestFitEllipse
3ormoreFeatures BestFitEllipse
ConstructingaSphereFeature
ConstructSpheredialogbox
ThereareseveralwaystoconstructasphereusingPCDMIS.Thefollowingtableliststhe
varioustypesofconstructedspheres,alongwiththeirnecessaryinputs.Somefeaturesmay
requirenoinputswhileothersmayrequirefiveinputsormore.Theterm'Any'indicatesthatthe
constructioncantakeanytypeoffeatureasinputforconstruction.PCDMISallowsthefeatures
tobeselectedinanyorder.

FEATURE EDIT INPUT
TYPE WINDOW FEATS
BestFitSphere BF Atleast5 Constructs
inputsare bestfitsphere
needed. usinggiven
inputs
BestFitwith BFRE Atleast5 Constructs
Recomp inputsare bestfitsphere
Sphere needed.(1 usinggiven
mustbea inputs
point)

CastSphere CAST 1 Any Constructs

sphereat
centroidof
inputfeature
ProjectSphere PROJ 1or2 Any Plane 1input
featurewill
projectsphere
toworkplane
Reverse REV 1 Sphere Constructs
Sphere spherewitha
reversed
vector
Toconstructasphere:
1. AccesstheConstructSpheredialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|
Sphere).
BestFitorBestFitRecompensateSphere
CastSphere
ProjectedSphere
ReverseddirectionSphere
AutoSphere
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasampleSphereConstructionwouldread:
feature_name=FEAT/SPHERE,TOG1,TOG4
CONSTR/TOG2,TOG3

AUTOisthedefaultmethod TOG1=POLRorRECT
ofconstruction.Thisoption
automaticallydeterminesthe TOG2=SPHERE
bestwaytoconstructa
sphereusingtheinput
TOG3=BF/BFRE/CAST/PROJ/REV
feature(s).See"AutoSphere
Construction".
TOG4=IN/OUT
forconstructedspheres.Thefourthlinewillbeslightlydifferent,
betweenthedifferenttypesofspheresbyplacingthecursoron
TOG3andpressingF7orF8.(See"CommandModeKeyboard
constructingasphere.
In/OutSphere
TheInandOutoptionstellPCDMISwhethertoconstructthesphereasaninternaloran
externalsphere.
IfyouselectIn,PCDMISconstructsthesphereasaninternalsphere.
IfyouselectOut,PCDMISconstructsthesphereasanexternalsphere.
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateSphere
A"bestfit"spherecanbeconstructedusingfiveormorefeatures.Thebestfitconstruction
methodtakestheactualmeasuredpoints,ratherthantheball'scenter(asisthecaseofbestfit
recompensate).InbothcasesPCDMIScomputesaleastsquaressphere,oneforwhichPC
DMISminimizestheaveragesquareddistancefromthedatapointstothesphere.
ToconstructaBestFitoraBestFitRecompensateSphere:
Sphere).
andBFRecomp).
3. Selectfiveormorefeatures.
Note:OnBestFitRecompensate,oneofthefivefeaturesmustbeapoint.

CONSTR/SPHERE,BF,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3,feat_4,feat_5...
or
CONSTR/SPHERE,BFRE,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3,feat_4,feat_5...
(Usesthecenteroftheprobeformeasurement.)
ABestfit
sphere
constructed
fromfive
points.
ConstructingaSpherefromfiveorMore
Points
ConstructingaCastSphere
Aspherecanbeconstructedbychanginganygivenfeatureintoasphere.PCDMISwillconstruct
thecircleatthecentroidoftheinputfeature.Ifasheetmetalpointisused,thediameterwillbe
theprobediameter.Forsomesheetmetalfeatures(suchasslotsandnotches)thewidthwillbe
usedasthediameter.Forfeaturesthatdonothavediameters(lines,points,etc.),avaluethatis
fourtimestheprobediameterwillbeused.
YoucanmodifythediameterofthespherethischangesthespherefromDEPENDENTto
INDEPENDENT.Thismeansthatwhenthesphereisexecutedthatdiameterwillnotchange
basedontheinputfeaturebutwillbeindependentoftheinputfeature,whilethepositionand
vectorremaindependentontheinputfeature.Thisallowsyoutohavecontroloverthediameter
incaseswheretheinputfeaturedoesntreallyhaveadiameter,suchasapoint.The
DEPENDENT/INDEPENDENTfieldisatogglefieldyoumaychange.
PCDMISwillusethisdiametervalueforallcalculationsinsteadofusingthedefaultdiameter
valueasdescribedabove.
ToconstructaCastSphere:

Sphere).
3. Selectonefeatureofanytype.
CONSTR/SPHERE,CAST,feat_1,(Dependent|Independent)
ConstructingaProjectedSphere
Aspherecanbeconstructedbyprojectinganyfeatureintothecurrentworkingplane.PCDMIS
willprojectthepointwheretheplaneintersectsthepoint.Ifthereisonlyoneinputfeature,the
projectionwillbetotheworkplane.Youshouldinputthedesireddiameterwhenprojectinga
featureintotheworkingplaneotherwisePCDMISwillusetheprobes'diameter.
ToconstructaProjectedSphere:
Sphere).
3. Selecteitheroneortwofeatures.Thefirstfeaturecanbeofanytype.The
secondfeaturemustbeaplane.
CONSTR/SPHERE,PROJ,feat_1,feat_2
ChangingtheDirectionofaSphere
Aspherecanbeconstructedwithareversedvector.
ToconstructaReverseSphere:
Sphere).
3. Selectonefeature.Itmustbeasphere.
CONSTR/SPHERE,REV,feat_1
AutoSphereConstruction
Thefollowingtableindicatesthetypeofspherethatwillbeconstructedwhenthespecifiedinputs

Sphere).
4ormoreFeatures= BestFitSphere
Any1Feature= CastSphere
(exceptSphere/Set)
Any1Set= BestFitSphere
Plane+AnyFeature= ProjectSphere
Sphere= Reverse
Sphere
ConstructingaLineFeature
ConstructLinedialogbox

TherearemanymethodstoconstructalineusingPCDMIS.Thefollowingtableliststhevarious
typesofconstructedlines,alongwiththeirnecessaryinputs.Somefeaturesmayrequireno
inputswhileothersmayrequirethreeinputsormore.Theterm'Any'inthetablebelowindicates
thattheconstructioncantakeanytypeoffeatureasinputforconstruction.PCDMISallowsthe
CONSTRUCT SYMBOLINEDIT# OF FEAT FEAT COMMENTS

FEATURE WINDOW INPUT #1: #2:
TYPE FEATS
AlignmentLine ALIGN 0 Constructs
linethrough
alignment
origin
BestFitLine BF Atleast Constructs
2inputs bestfitline
are usinginputs
needed.
BestFitwith BFRE Atleast Constructs
RecompLine 2inputs bestfitline
are usinginputs
needed.
(1must
bea
point)
CastLine CAST 1 Any Constructs
lineat
centroidof
inputfeature
IntersectLine INTOF 2 Plane Plane Constructs
lineatthe
intersection
of2planes
MidLine MID 2 Line, Line, Constructsa
Cone, Cone, midline
Cylinder, Cylinder,betweenthe
Slot, Slot, inputfeatures
Plane Plane
OffsetLine OFFSET Atleast Any Any Buildsline
2inputs throughfirst
are featureand
needed. offsetfrom
second
featureby
specified
amount
ParallelLine PLTO 2 Any Any Constructs
lineparallel
tofirstfeature
andpassing
through
second
feature

Perpendicular PRTO 2 Any Any Constructs

Line line
perpendicular
tofirstfeature
andpassing
through
second
feature
ProjectLine PROJ 1or2 Any Plane Using1input
featurewill
projectlineto
workplane
ReverseLine REV 1 Line Constructs
linepassing
throughinput
withreversed
vector
ScanSegment SCAN_SEGMENT1 Scan Constructs
Line linefroma
partofa
LinearOpen
orLinear
Closescan.
Combinationofinputfeaturesnotaccepted."ontheStatusBar.
Toconstructaline:
1. SelectConstructfromthemenubar(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Line).
2. AccesstheConstructLinedialogbox.
AutoLine
AlignmentLine
BestFitorBestFitRecompensateLine
CastLine
IntersectLine
MidLine
OffsetLine
ParallelLine
PerpendicularLine
ProjectedLine
ReverseddirectionLine
ScanSegmentLine
OffsetLine
feature_name=FEAT/LINE,TOG1,TOG4
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,length

ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,length
CONSTR/TOG2,TOG3,...
IfTOG2=LINEandTOG3=BForBFREthenthecommandhasthefollowingformat:
feature_name=FEAT/LINE,TOG1,TOG4
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,length
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,length
CONSTR/LINE,TOG3
FILTER/TOG5,WAVELENGTH=cutoffWavelength
TOG1=POLRorRECT
TOG2=LINE
TOG3=ALIGN/BF/BFRE/CAST/INTOF/MID/OFFSET/PLTO/PROJ/PRTO/REV/
SCAN_SEGMENT
TOG4=BND/UNBND
TOG5=OFF/ON
Length=Thisvaluerepresentsthetheoreticaloractuallengthoftheline.
stdDevMultiplier=Thismultipliervaluedetermineswhetherornotameasuredpointisan
outlier.Ifthepointfromthelineisfurtherthanthestandarddeviationmultipliedbythis,thenitis
anoutlierandwillberemovedifyouhaveselectedtheRemoveOutlieroption.
cutoffWavelength=Thisvaluecontrolstheamountofdatasmoothing.Thelongerthe
wavelengththemoresmoothingtherewillbe.
ThefirstthreelinesdisplayedintheEditwindowwillbethesameforconstructedlines.Thefourth
linewillbeslightlydifferent,accordingtothetypeoffeaturebeingconstructed.Youcanswitch
betweenthedifferenttypesoflinesbyplacingthecursoronTOG3andpressingF7orF8.(See
"CommandModeKeyboardFunctions"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter.)
AUTOisthedefaultmethod Thefollowingparagraphsdescribetheavailableoptionsfor
ofconstruction.See"Auto constructingaline:
LineConstruction"
Variations
ThefirstexampleshownbelowisoftheEditwindowwhentheuserswitchesTOG4toBND.The
firstx,y,zindicatesthefirstpointontheline.Thesecondx,y,zindicatestheendingpointonthe
sameline.Thelastvaluerepresentsthetheoreticaloractuallengthoftheline.
Theunboundedlineformatisdisplayedinthesecondexample.

feature_name=FEAT/LINE,TOG1,BND
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,length
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,length
CONSTR/TOG2,TOG3,...,length
feature_name=FEAT/LINE,TOG1,UNBND
CONSTR/TOG2,TOG3,...
AutoLineConstruction
Thefollowingtableindicatesthetypeoflinethatwillbeconstructedwhenthespecifiedinputsare
selectedandtheAUTOoptionischosen.Theorderoftheselectedfeaturesisnotimportant.Ifan
incorrectinputfeature(s)isselected,PCDMISwilldisplayanerrormessageandwillnot
1. AccesstheConstructLinedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Line).
3ormoreFeatures= BestFitLine
Any1Feature(except CastLine
line/set)=
Any1Set= BestFitLine
Any2Features+offsetvalue OffsetLine
=
Circle+Circle= BestFitLine
Circle+Ellipse BestFitLine
Circle+Point BestFitLine
Circle+Set= BestFitLine
Circle+Slot= BestFitLine
Circle+Sphere= BestFitLine
Cone+Circle= ParalleltoLine
Cone+Cone= MidLine
Cone+Cylinder= MidLine
Cone+Ellipse Paralleltoline
Cone+Point= ParalleltoLine
Cone+Set= ParalleltoLine
Cone+Sphere= ParalleltoLine
Cylinder+Circle= ParalleltoLine
Cylinder+Cylinder= MidLine
Cylinder+Ellipse ParalleltoLine
Cylinder+Point= ParalleltoLine
Cylinder+Set= ParalleltoLine
Cylinder+Sphere= ParalleltoLine
Ellipse+Ellipse BestFitLine
Ellipse+Set BestFitLine

Ellipse+Sphere BestFitLine
Line= ReverseLine
Line+Circle= ParalleltoLine
Line+Cone= MidLine
Line+Cylinder= MidLine
Line+Ellipse ParalleltoLine
Line+Line= MidLine
Line+Point= ParalleltoLine
Line+Set= ParalleltoLine
Line+Slot= MidLine
Line+Sphere= ParalleltoLine
Point+Ellipse BestFitLine
Point+Point BestFitLine
Point+Sphere BestFitLine
Point+Slot BestFitLine
Point+Set BestFitLine
Plane+AnyFeature(except ProjectLine
plane)=
Plane+Plane= IntersectLine
Slot+Cone= MidLine
Slot+Cylinder= MidLine
Slot+Ellipse ParalleltoLine
Slot+Slot= BestFitLine
ConstructinganAlignmentLine
Alinecanbeconstructedthroughthecurrentorigin,normaltothecurrentworkplane.(Input
featuresdonotneedtobeprovided.)
ToConstructanAlignmentLine:
2. SelecttheAlignmentoption.
3. Donotenteranyfeatures.
CONSTR/LINE,ALIGN,length

ALinethrough
thecurrent
originnormalto
thecurrentwork
plane.
BCurrent
workplane.
COrigin
ConstructingaLineNormaltotheWorkPlane
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateLine
BestFitRecompensateis A'bestfit'2or3dimensionallinecanbeconstructedfromtwoor
onlyaccuratewhen morefeatures.Thebestfitconstructionmethodtakestheactual
constructingalineusing measuredpointswhilethebestfitrecompensatemethodtakesthe
points. ball'scenter.Inbothcasestheaveragesquarederrorisminimized
intheleastsquaresmethodandthemaximalerrorisminimizedin
theminmaxmethod.Youcanalsochoosetoremoveoutliersor
applyaGaussianfiltertotheconstructedline.
TheBestfitoptioncompensatespriortofittingbyusingthe
ballcenterdatashiftedonetipradiusinthedirectionofthe
negatedhitvector.
TheBFRecompoptionusestheballcenterdataandthe
tipcompensationispartofthefittingprocess.
ToconstructaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateLine:
3. Enterinatleasttwofeatures.
4. Selecteitherthe2Dlineor3Dlineoption.
Note:ForBestFitRecompensate,onefeaturemustbeapoint.
5. Ifdesired,clicktheRemoveOutlierscheckboxandspecifyavalueinthe
StandardDeviationMultiplebox.
6. Ifdesired,clicktheApplyGaussFiltercheckboxandspecifyavalueinthe
CuttoffWavelengthbox.
CONSTR/LINE,BF,feat_1,feat_2,...
OUTLIER_REMOVAL/(ON|OFF),stdDevMultiple
FILTER/(ON|OFF),WAVELENGTH=ctfoffWavelength
or

CONSTR/LINE,BFRE,feat_1,feat_2,...
FILTER/(ON|OFF),WAVELENGTH=cutoffWavelength
(Usesthecenteroftheprobeformeasurement,recompensatingaftermeasuringthefeatures.)
ConstructingaLinefromTwoorMoreFeatures
RemoveOutliers/StandardDeviationMultiple
Forabestfit(BF)orbestfitrecompensate(BFRE)lineyoucanchoosetoremoveoutliersbased
onthedistancefromthebestfitfeature.Thisallowstheremovalofanomaliesthatariseinthe
measurementprocess.
PCDMISfirstfitsalinetothedata,andthendetermineswhichpointsareoutliersbasedonthe
valueintheStandardDeviationMultiplebox.Itthendoesthefollowing:
Recalculatesthebestfitlinewiththoseoutliersremoved.
Recalculatesthebestfitline.
cannotcomputetheline(PCDMIScan'tcomputethelineiftherearefewerthan3
datapoints).
For2Dlines,thedeviationiscalculatedinaplaneparalleltotheworkplane.
For3Dlines,thedeviationiscomputedasthedistancefromthemeasuredpointtothe
nearestpointalongtheline.
ApplyGaussFilter/CutoffWavelength
TheBestFit(BF)andBestFitRecompensate(BFRE)constructedlineshavetheoptionof
filteringthedeviationsofthemeasureddatapointsfromthebestfitlinecomputedfromthe
measureddata.TheApplyGaussFiltercheckboxisaGaussianfilterwiththesmoothing
controlledbythecutoffwavelength.Generally,alongercutoffwavelengthproducessmoother
filtereddata.Ifyou'veselectedtheRemoveOutlierscheckboxandarefilteringthedata,then
outlierdataisremovedpriortofiltering.
For2Dlines,PCDMISfiltersthedeviationsinaplaneparalleltotheworkplane.

For3Dlines,PCDMISfiltersthedeviationsintwoplanesperpendiculartoeachother,both
planescontainingtheline.PCDMISfiltersthesedeviationsin3D.
ConstructingaCastLine
Alinecanbeconstructedbychanginganygivenfeatureintoaline.PCDMISwillconstructthe
lineatthecentroidoftheinputfeature.
YoucanmodifythelengthofthelinethischangesthelinefromDEPENDENTto
INDEPENDENT.Thismeansthatwhenthelineisexecutedthatthelengthwillnotchangebased
ontheinputfeature,butwillbeindependentoftheinputfeature,whilethepositionandvectorwill
remaindependentontheinputfeature.Thisallowsyoutohavecontroloverthelinelengthin
caseswheretheinputfeaturedoesntreallyhavealength,suchasapoint.The
DEPENDENT/INDEPENDENTfieldisatogglefieldthatyoumaychange.
Tochangethelengthofaline:
1. OpentheEditwindow.
2. Clickonthelinefeature.
3. PresstheTABkeyuntilthelengthfieldisselected.
4. Typeinanewlength.
5. PressTAB.PCDMISwillupdatethelength.
PCDMISwillusethislengthvalueforallcalculationsinsteadofusingadefaultlength.
ToconstructaCastLine:
3. Enterinonefeatureofanytype.
CONSTR/LINE,CAST,feat_1,length,(DEPENDENT|INDEPENDENT)
ConstructingaLinefromaCylinder
ConstructinganIntersectLine
Alinecanbeconstructedattheintersectionoftwoplanes.
ToconstructanIntersectLine:

3. Enterinthefirstfeature.Itmustbeaplane.
4. Enterinthesecondfeature.Itmustbeaplane.
CONSTR/LINE,INTOF,feat_1,feat_2,length
ALine
constructed
atthe
intersection
oftwo
planes
(PLN1and
PLN2).
ConstructingaLinefromTwoPlanes
ConstructingaMidLine
Amidlinecanbeconstructedbetweenaline(cone,slot,cylinder,orplane)andaline(cone,slot,
cylinderorplane).PCDMIScreatesaline(midline)suchthateachofitspointsisthesame
distancefrombothinputlines.Youcanconstructmidlinesfromlinesthatareparallelaswellas
lineswithanyanglebetweenthem.Thelinesdonothavetointersect.
Themidlinecentroidisapointonthelinesegmentbetweenthecentroidsoftheinputlinesthatis
thesamedistancefrombothlines(itisnotnecessarilythemidpointofthelinesegment).
Thedirectionofthemidlinevectordependsonthelocationofthemidlinecentroidandonthe
twoinputvectors,withthesenseofthemidlinevectordeterminedbythefirstlinevector.
Expressedmathematically,ifthefirstlinevectorisV1andthesecondlinevectorisV2thenthe
directionofthemidlinevectorisgenerallyeitherV1+V2orV1V2.
ToconstructaMidLine:
2. SelecttheMidoption.

3. Enterinthefirstfeature.Itmustbeeitheraline,cone,cylinder,orslot.
4. Enterinthesecondfeature.Itmustbeeitheraline,cone,cylinder,orslot.
CONSTR/LINE,MID,feat_1,feat_2,length
A
Constructed
line(amid
line)equally
spaced
between
twolines
(FRONT
andBACK).
BFRONT
CBACK
ConstructingaMidLinefrom2Lines
ConstructingaParallelLine
Alinecanbeconstructedparalleltoanytwofeatures.PCDMIScreatesalineparalleltothefirst
inputfeatureandpassingthroughthecenterofthesecondinputfeature.
ToconstructaParallelLine:
2. SelecttheParalleloption.
3. Selecttwofeaturesofanytype.
5. TheEditwindowcommandlineforthisoptionwouldread:
CONSTR/LINE,PLTO,feat_1,feat_2,
length

ALine
constructed
parallelto
thefirst
featureand
throughthe
second
feature.
BFirst
feature
CSecond
feature
ConstructingaParallelLine
DFRONT
ConstructingaPerpendicularLine
Alinecanbeconstructedperpendiculartothefirstinputfeatureandpassingthroughthecentroid
ofthesecondinputfeature.
ToconstructaPerpendicularLine:
2. SelectthePerpendicularoption.
CONSTR/LINE,PRTO,feat_1,feat_2,length
ALine
constructed
perpendicular
tothefirst
featureand
throughthe
centerofthe
second
feature.
BFirst
feature
CSecond
ConstructingaPerpendicularLine feature
DFRONT

ConstructingaProjectedLine
Alinecanbeconstructedfromanyfeatureandaplane.PCDMISwillprojectthelinewherethe
planeintersectstheline.Ifthereisonlyoneinputfeature,theprojectionwillbetotheworkplane.
ToconstructaProjectedLine:
3. Selecteitheroneortwofeatures.Thefirstfeaturemaybeofanytype.Iftwo
featuresareselected,thesecondfeaturemustbeaplane.
CONSTR/LINE,PROJ,feat_1,feat_2,
length
A
Constructed
Line
projected
fromthea
linefeature
(LIN1)onto
aplane
feature
(PLN1).
ConstructingaLinefromaLineandaPlane
ChangingtheDirectionofaLine
Alinecanbeconstructedwithareversedvector.
ToconstructaReverseLine:
3. Selectonefeature.Itmustbealine.
4. ClicktheCreatebutton.PCDMISreversesthevectorofthelineandalsoflips
thestartandendpoints.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforthisoptionwouldread:CONSTR/LINE,REV,feat_1,length
ConstructingaLinefromPartofaScan
AlinecanbeconstructedfromasegmentofaLinearOpenorLinearClosescan.PCDMISwill
createalinefrompartofthescan.Thedetailsoftheconstructionareincludedfurtherinthis
discussion.

ToconstructaScanSegmentLine:
2. SelecttheScanSegmentoption.
3. SelectapreviouslycreatedLinearOpenorLinearClosescan.
4. ClicktheSegmentDatabutton.TheScanSegmentdialogboxwillappear.
6. Selecttheportionofthescanusedintheconstructionfromthisdialogbox.
7. Typethenumberofpointstopotentiallydiscardbyenteringvaluesinthe
DiscardStartandDiscardEndMaximumboxes.
8. TypeadistancefromthebestfitlineintotheDiscardTolerancebox.This
toleranceisaformtoleranceitallowsyoutocontrolwhatendpointsareacceptedas
partoftheline.Ifthedistancefromthescanpointtothebestfitlineisgreaterthan
thistolerancevalue,thentheendpointwillbediscarded.
9. InputtheApproximateStartandEndPointsofthescanbymarkingtheSelect
Pointscheckbox,andthenclickingintheGraphicsDisplaywindowtofillintheX,Y,
andZfields.YoucanclickanywhereintheGraphicsDisplaywindow,however,PC
DMISwillplacethepointonthescannearesttowhereyouclicked.Youcanalsoedit
thepointvaluesbyusingthekeyboard.
10. ClickOKtoacceptthedataandclosetheScanSegmentdialogbox.
11. ClickCreatetoconstructthelinefromthescan.
CONSTR/LINE,SCAN_SEGMENT,fit_type,feat_1,start_x,start_y,start_z,end_x,end_y,end_z,discar
d_start,discard_end,tolerance
Ifyouwantmorethanonearcorlinefromagivenscan,thenyouwillneedtoaddanother
commandforadifferentsectionofthescan.
DeterminingtheDataUsedtoConstructtheLine
Thedatausedtoconstructthelineisdeterminedasfollows:
Firstasegmentofthescanisdeterminedusingastartingpointandanending
pointwithinthescan.Thestartingandendingpointarechosenasthepointinthe

scannearest[start_x,start_y,start_z]andthepointnearest[end_x,
end_y,end_z],respectively.
PointsarethendiscardedfromtheStartandEndPointsofthescan.Thenumber
ofpointsdiscardedisdiscard_start anddiscard_endfromthestartandend,
respectively.Alineisthenfittedtothissetofpoints.
Finally,thestartingandendingpointsareaddedbackiniftheyarewithinthe
tolerancedefined.Thelineisthenrefittedoncemoretothenewsetofpoints.
Thevalueoffit_type maybeBF (BestFit)orBFRE (BestFitRecompensate).Thisdetermines

whetherabestfitorbestfitwithrecompensationisdonewhencalculatingtheline.Fora
descriptionofBestFitandBestFitRecompensate,see"ConstructingaBestFitorBestFit
RecompensateLine"
ConstructinganOffsetLine
Alinecanbeconstructedaspecifieddistancefromtheinputfeatures.
ToconstructanOffsetLine:
2. SelecttheOffsetoption.
3. Selectatleasttwofeaturesfromwhichtocreatetheoffsetline.Theycanbeof
anytype.
4. ClicktheOffsetsbutton.TheLineOffsetsdialogboxwillappear.
LineOffsetsdialogbox
5. ClicktheCalculateNomsoptionandentertheoffsetvaluesforthedesired
featuresintheoffsetfieldorClicktheCalculateOffsetsoptionandchangethe
nominalvalues(seetheproceduresbelow).
6. ClicktheOKbutton.TheLineOffsetsdialogboxwillclose.
PCDMISwilliterateandconstructalinesuchthattheshortestdistancefromeachinputfeature
tothelineisthecorrespondingoffsetamount.PCDMISwillmakealloffsetsinadirection
perpendiculartothegivensurfacenormaldirection.PCDMISwillapplynegativeoffsetsinthe
samegeneraldirectionthatthepointsaremeasured.Positiveoffsetvalueswillbeapplied
oppositetheprobingdirection.Ifthereisnoprobingdirection(i.e.,theinputpointswere
constructed),PCDMISusesthecurrentworkplanetodeterminethegeneraldirectionfor
applyingtheoffsets.Positiveoffsetswillbeappliedintheplusdirectionofthethirdaxisofthe

currentworkplane.Negativeoffsetswillbeappliedintheminusdirectionofthethirdaxisofthe
currentworkplane.
Note:Thesign(positiveornegative)oftheoffsetvalue,controlonwhichsideoftheinput
featuresthelineisconstructed.Ifyougettheoppositelinethanwasexpected,cancelthefeature
andreconstructit,reversingthesignofthekeyedinoffsets.Forexample,iftheoffsetsare1.0,
2.5,3.5,changethemto1.0,2.5,3.5.
CONSTR/LINE,OFFSET
SURFACENORMAL=i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,TOG1
ID=id1,id2,...
OFFSET=val1,val2,...
Note:TOG1=changesbetweenMULTIPOINTandTWOPOINT.TheTWOPOINTalgorithmis
onlyavailableforpartscreatedusingPCDMISversion2.1orearlier.
Youcancalculatetheoffsetvalueintwoways:
Changingtheoffsetdirectlyfortheinputfeatureofyourchoice,andthenclickthe
Calculatebuttontoupdatingthenominalvalues.
Changethenominalvaluesfortheselectedfeature,andthenclicktheCalculate
buttontoupdatetheoffsetvalues.
Thesearedescribedbelow.
ChangingOffsetsDirectlytoCalculateNominals
Toenternewoffsetvalues:
1. OpentheLineOffsetsdialogboxbyclickingtheOffsetbuttonfromthe
ConstructLinedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Line).
2. SelecttheCalculateNomsoption.Theoffsetsportionofthedialogbox
becomeseditable.
3. IntheOffsetcolumn,clickonthe"0.000000"value(orcurrentvalue)tohighlight
it.
4. Clickagainontheoffset.
5. Typeanewvalue.
6. PresstheENTERkey.
7. ClickCalculatetoupdatethenominalvaluesbasedonanyoffset(s)youchose.
8. ClickOKtosavetheoffset.
ExampleofCalculatingNominals
TheCalculatebuttoncalculatestheX,Y,andZnominalvaluesfromnewoffsetsentered.
Forexample,supposeyouconstructanoffsetlinebetweentwocircles(CIR1andCIR2).After
selectingthefeaturesandclickingtheOffsetsbutton,youhaveX,Y,andZnominalsof:
X=4.5040

Y=3
Z=0.1582
IfyouchangetheoffsetvaluesbytwoforeachcircleandclicktheCalculateNomsbutton,theX,
Y,andZareupdatedto:
X=4.5040
Y=5
Z=0.1582
IfyouthenclickOKandconstructtheoffsetline,you'llnoticethatthenewlyconstructedlinelies
2unitshigherintheYaxis.
OnlytheYaxisisoffsetforLineOffsets.
ChangingNominalsDirectlytoCalculateOffsets
1. OpentheLineOffsetsdialogboxbyclickingtheOffsetbuttonfromtheConstruct
Linedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Line).
2. SelecttheCalculateOffsetsoption.TheNominalsportionofthedialogbox
becomeseditable.
3. ChangetheXYZ,IJK,orsurfaceIJKvalues.
4. ClickCalculatetoupdatetheoffsetvaluesbasedonanynominalsyou'vechanged.
ExampleofCalculatingOffsets
TheCalculateOffsetsbuttoncalculatestheoffsetvaluesappearingintheOffsetcolumnwhen
youchangethenominalvalue.
Forexample,supposeyouconstructanoffsetlinebetweentwocircles(CIR1andCIR2).After
selectingthefeaturesandclickingtheOffsetsbutton,youhaveX,Y,andZnominalsof:
X=4.5040
Y=3
Z=0.1582
IfyouchangetheX,Y,andZnominalsto:
X=4.5040

Y=4.5
Z=0.1582
andclicktheCalculateOffsetsbuttontheoffsetsforthetwocirclesareupdatedto:
1.500000CIR1
1.500000CIR2
IfyouthenclickOKandconstructtheoffsetline,you'llnoticethatthelineisconstructedat1.5
unitshigherintheYaxis.
ConstructingaConeFeature
ConstructConedialogbox
PCDMISallowsseveralmethodsforconstructingacone.Thefollowingtableliststhevarious
typesofconstructedcones,alongwiththeirnecessaryinputs.Somefeaturesmayrequireno
inputswhileothersmayrequiresixinputsormore.Theterm'Any'inthetablebelowindicatesthat
theconstructioncantakeanytypeoffeatureasinputforconstruction.PCDMISallowsthe

FEATURE EDIT INPUT
TYPE WINDOW FEATS
BestFitCone BF Atleast6 Constructs
inputsare bestfitcone
needed. usinggiven
inputs


RecompCone inputsare bestfitcone
needed.(1 usinggiven
mustbea inputs
point)
CastCone CAST 1 Any Constructs
coneat
centroidof
inputfeature
ProjectCone PROJ 1or2 Any Plane Using1input
featurewill
projectconeto
workplane
ReverseCone REV 1 Cone Constructs
conewitha
reversed
vectorforthe
axis
Toconstructacone:
1. AccesstheConstructConedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Cone).
BestFitorBestFitRecompensateCone
CastCone
ProjectedCone
ReverseddirectionCone
AutoCone
feature_name=FEAT/CONE,TOG1,TOG4,ANG
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,ang
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,ang
feature_name=FEAT/CONE,TOG1,TOG4,LENG
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cor,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,leng,diam_1,diam_2
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cor,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,leng,diam_1,diam_2
TOG1=POLRorRECT
TOG2=CONE

TOG4=IN/OUT
TOG5=ANG/LENG
ThefirstthreelinesdisplayedintheEditwindowaresimilarforconstructedcones.Ifthefeature
isboundorunbound,thetheoreticalandactualvaluesthataredisplayedwillvary.Thefourthline
willbeslightlydifferent,accordingtothetypeoffeaturebeingconstructed.Youcanswitch
betweenthedifferenttypesofconesbyplacingthecursoronTOGandclickingtheleftmouse
button.Thekeyboardcanalsobeusedtoswitchtogglefields.(See"CommandModeKeyboard
Autoisthedefaultmethodof Thefollowingparagraphsdescribetheavailableoptionsfor
construction.Thisoption constructingacone:
automaticallydeterminesthe
bestwaytoconstructacone
See"AutoCone
Construction"
In/OutCone
TheInandOutoptionstellPCDMISwhethertoconstructtheconeasaninternaloranexternal
cone.
IfyouselectIn,PCDMISconstructstheconeasaninternalcone.
IfyouselectOut,PCDMISconstructstheconeasanexternalcone.
Variations
ThefirstexampleshownbelowisoftheEditwindowwhentheuserchangesTOG5toANG.The
unboundedconeformatisdisplayedinthisfirstexample.Thesecondexampleshowsthedisplay
whenyouchangeTOG5toLENG.Diam_1isdefinedasthediameteroftheheightofthefirst
threehits.Diam_2isthediameterofthefurthestpointawayfromthefirstdiameter.Lengthisthe
distancebetweenthetwodiameters.
Theboundedconeformatisshowninthesecondexample.
feature_name=FEAT/CONE,TOG1,TOG4,ANG
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,ang
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,ang
feature_name=FEAT/CONE,TOG1,TOG4,LENG
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,length,diam_1,diam_2
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,length,diam_1,diam_2
CONSTR/TOG2,TOG3,.......

ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateCone
Abestfitconecanbeconstructedusingsixormorefeatures.Thefirstthreeinputsmustbeonan
approximatelyplanarcrosssectionoftheconethatisnormaltoitscenterline.Theremainderof
thepointsshouldlieeitheraboveorbelowtheplanedefinedbythefirstthreepoints,butnoton
bothsidesoftheplane.Thismethodofmeasuringwillyieldthebestresults.Thebestfit
constructionmethodtakestheactualmeasuredpoints,ratherthantheball'scenter(asinthe
caseofbestfitrecompensate).InbothcasesPCDMIScomputesaleastsquarescone,onefor
whichPCDMISminimizestheaveragesquareddistancefromthedatapointstothecone.
ToConstructaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateCone:
3. Enterinatleastsixfeatures.
Note:IfyouchooseBestFitRecompensateatleastonefeaturemustbeapoint.
CONSTR/CONE,BF,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3,feat_4,feat_5,feat_6
or
CONSTR/CONE,BFRE,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3,feat_4,feat_5,feat_6
ABestFit
cone
constructed
fromnine
points.
ConstructingaConefromSixorMorePoints
ConstructingaCastCone

Aconecanbeconstructedbychanginganygivenfeatureintoacone.PCDMISwillconstructthe
coneatthecentroidoftheinputfeature.Iftheinputfeatureisnotacone,PCDMISwillusea
defaultvaluefortheincludedangle.Iftheinputfeatureisnotalineelement(line,cylinder,or
slot),PCDMISwilluseadefaultlengthfortheaxislength.
YoucanchangethesizeoftheconethischangestheconefromDEPENDENTto
INDEPENDENT.Thismeansthatwhentheconeisexecutedthatthesizewillnotchangebased
ontheinputfeature,butwillbeindependentoftheinputfeature,whilethepositionandvector
remaindependentontheinputfeature.Thisallowsyoutohavecontroloverthecone'ssizein
caseswheretheinputfeaturedoesn'treallyhaveasize,suchasapoint.The
DEPENDENT/INDEPENDENTfieldisatogglefieldthatyoumaychange.
PCDMISwillusethenewattributesforallcalculations(forexample,ifthehalfangleischanged)
insteadofthedefaultvaluesasdescribedabove.
ToconstructaCastCone:
CONSTR/CONE,CAST,feat_1,(DEPENDENT|INDEPENDENT)
ConstructingaProjectedCone
Aconecanbeconstructedbyprojectinganyfeatureontoaplane.Iftheprojectedinputfeatureis
notacone,PCDMISwillusedefaultvaluesfortheincludedangleandtwoaxislengths.Thefirst
lengthisthedistancebetweenthevertexandthefirstcircle.Thesecondlengthisthedistance
betweenthetwocircles.Ifthereisonlyoneinput,theprojectionwillbetothecurrentworkplane.
ToconstructaProjectedCone:
3. Selecteitheroneortwofeatures.Ifonefeatureisselected,thefeaturecanbeof
anytype.Iftwofeaturesareselected,thefirstfeaturecanbeofanytype.Thesecond
featuremustbeaplane.
CONSTR/CONE,PROJ,feat_1,feat_2
ChangingtheDirectionofaCone
Aconecanbeconstructedwithareversedvector.
ToconstructaReverseCone:
3. Selectonefeature.Itmustbeacone.

CONSTR/CONE,REV,feat_1
AutoConeConstruction
Thefollowingtableindicatesthetypeofconethatwillbeconstructedwhenthespecifiedinputs
2. SelecttheAutooptionthelistofoptions.
6ormoreFeatures= BestFitCone
Plane+AnyFeature= ProjectCone
Cone= ReverseCone
Any1Feature= CastCone
(otherthanCone/Set)
Any1Set= BestFitCone
ConstructingaCylinderFeature
CylinderConstructiondialogbox

PCDMISallowsseveralmethodsforconstructingacylinder.Thefollowingtableliststhevarious
typesofconstructedcylinders,alongwiththeirnecessaryinputs.Somefeaturesmayrequireno
inputswhileothersmayrequiresixinputsormore.Inthefollowingtable,theterm'Any'indicates
thattheconstructioncantakeanytypeoffeatureasinputforconstruction.PCDMISallowsthe

FEATURE EDIT INPUT
TYPE WINDOW FEATS
BestFit BF Atleast6 Constructs
Cylinder inputsare bestfit
needed. cylinderusing
SeeNote giveninputs
below.
BestFit BFRE Atleast6 Constructs
Recomp inputsare bestfit
Cylinder needed.(1 cylinderusing
mustbea giveninputs
point)See
Notebelow.
CastCylinder CAST 1 Any Constructs
cylinderat
centroidof
inputfeature
Project PROJ 1or2 Any Plane 1inputfeature
Cylinder willproject
cylinderto
workplane
Reverse REV 1 Cylinder, Constructsa
Cylinder Cone,Line, cylinderwitha
Slot reversed
vector
Note:BestFitandBestFitRecompCylinderscannowbeconstructedfromtwocircles.Theinput
circlesmustbeoftypeConstructedBestFit(BF)/BestFitRecompensate(BFRE)orMeasured
circles.Thetotalamountofhitsineachcirclemustbeatleastthree.
Toconstructacylinder:
1. AccesstheConstructCylinderdialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|
Cylinder).
BestFitorBestFitRecompensateCylinder
CastCylinder
ProjectedCylinder
ReverseddirectionCylinder

AutoCylinder
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasampleCylinderConstructionwouldread:
feature_name=FEAT/CYLINDER,TOG1,TOG4,TOG5
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,diam,length
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,diam,length
AUTOisthedefaultmethod Thefollowingtextisthebasicformatforcylinders.
automaticallydeterminesthe TOG1=POLRorRECT
bestwaytoconstructa
cylinderusingtheinput
TOG2=CYLINDER
feature(s).See"Auto
CylinderConstruction"
TOG4=IN/OUT
TOG5=LEAST_SQR/MAX_INSC/MIN_CIRCSC/MIN_SEP
/FIXED_RAD(onlyformeasured,BFandBFREcircles)
length=ismeasuredbetweenthefirstmeasuredcircle(first
threehits)andthefurthestpointawayfromthefirstthreehits.
forconstructedcylinders.Thefourthlinewillbeslightlydifferent,
betweenthedifferenttypesofcylindersbyplacingthecursoron
constructingacylinder:
In/OutCylinder
TheInandOutoptionstellPCDMISwhethertoconstructthecylinderasaninternaloran
externalcylinder.

IfyouselectIn,PCDMISconstructsthecylinderasaninternalcylinder.
IfyouselectOut,PCDMISconstructsthecylinderasanexternalcylinder.
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateCylinder
Abestfitcylindercanbeconstructedfromsixormorepoints.Thefirstthreepointsmustbeonan
approximatelyplanarcrosssectionofthecylinderthatisnormaltoitscenterline.Thebestfit
constructionmethodtakestheactualmeasuredpoints,ratherthantheball'scenter(asinthe
caseofbestfitrecompensate).InbothcasesPCDMIScomputesaleastsquarescylinder,one
forwhichPCDMISminimizestheaveragesquareddistancefromthedatapointstothecylinder.
Note:Beawarethatcertainpatternsofpoints(i.e.tworowsofthreeequallyspacedpointsortwo
rowsoffourequallyspacedpoints)resultinmultiplewaystoconstructormeasureaperfect
cylinder,andPCDMIS'SBestFitalgorithmmayconstructormeasurethecylinderusingan
unexpectedsolution.Forbestresults,measuredorconstructedcylindersshoulduseaunique
patternofpoints.
ToConstructaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateCylinder:
Cylinder).
3. Enteryourinputfeaturesbyeitherchoosingatleasttwoappropriatecircle
featuresoratleastsixfeaturesofanytype.
Foratleasttwocirclefeatures,theymustbemeasuredcircles.Thetotalamountofhitsin
eachcirclemustbeatleastthree.
Foratleastsixfeatures,theycanbeofanytype.However,ifyouselectedBFRecomp,at
leastonefeaturemustbeapoint.
Note:ThemathroutinethatPCDMISusestogetsthepointsfromtheinputfeaturesbehaves
differentlydependingonthetypeofinputfeature.Constructedfeaturesotherthantheappropriate
inputcirclesdescribedabovereturnasinglepoint.TheconstructedBFcircles,constructedBFRE
circles,ormeasuredcirclesdescribedabovereturntheirinputpoints.
CONSTR/CYLINDER,BF,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3,feat_4,feat_5,feat_6
or
CONSTR/CYLINDER,BFRE,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3,feat_4,feat_5,...

ABestFit
Cylinder
constructed
fromeight
points.
ConstructingaCylinderfromSixorMorePoints
BestFitType
ThislistbecomesavailableifyouselectBestFitorBFRecompoptionswhenconstructingthe
cylinder.ItallowsyoutospecifythetypeofBestFitconstructionused.Availabletypesinclude:
LEAST_SQR
MAX_INSC
MIN_CIRCSC
MIN_SEP
FIXED_RAD
Thesecalculationtypesarealreadydiscussedinthe"BestFitType".
ConstructingaCastCylinder
Acylindercanbeconstructedbychanginganygivenfeatureintoacylinder.PCDMISwill
constructthecylinderatthecentroidoftheinputfeature.Ifasheetmetalpointisused,the
diameterwillbetheprobediameter.Forsomesheetmetalfeatures(suchasslotsandnotches)
thewidthwillbeusedasthediameter.Forfeaturesthatdonothavediameters(lines,points,
etc.),avaluethatisfourtimestheprobediameterwillbeused.
YoucanchangethesizeofthecylinderthischangesthecylinderfromDEPENDENTto
INDEPENDENT.Thismeansthatwhenthecylinderisexecutedthatthelengthanddiameterwill
notchangebasedontheinputfeaturebutwillbeindependentoftheinputfeature,whilethe
positionandvectorwillremaindependentontheinputfeature. Thisallowsyoutohavecontrol

overthecylindersizeincaseswheretheinputfeaturedoesntreallyhavealengthanddiameter,
suchasapoint.TheDEPENDENT/INDEPENDENTfieldisatogglefieldthatyoumaychange.
PCDMISwillusethenewattributesforallcalculations(forexample,ifthediameterischanged)
insteadofthedefaultvaluesasdescribedabove.
ToconstructaCastCylinder:
Cylinder).
3. Selectonefeature.Thefeaturecanbeofanytype.
CONSTR/CYLINDER,CAST,feat_1,(DEPENDENT|INDEPENDENT)
ConstructingaProjectedCylinder
Acylindercanbeconstructedfromanyfeatureandaplane.Thediameteroftheprojected
cylinderwillbethediameterofthefirstinputfeature(ifcircular)ortwicetheprobediameterifnot
acircularfeature.Youwillneedtoinputthelengthanddiameterforboundmeasurements.If
thereisonlyoneinputfeature,theprojectionwillbetotheworkplane.
ToconstructaProjectedCylinder:
Cylinder).
3. Selecteitheroneortwofeatures.Ifonefeatureisselected,thefeaturecanbeof
anytype.Iftwofeaturesareselected,thefirstfeaturecanbeofanytype.Thesecond
featuremustbeaplane.
CONSTR/CYLINDER,PROJ,feat_1,feat_2
ChangingtheDirectionofaCylinder
Acylindercanbeconstructedwithareversedvector.
ToconstructaReverseCylinder:
Cylinder).
3. Selectonefeature.Itmustbeacylinder.
CONSTR/CYLINDER,REV,feat_1
AutoCylinderConstruction

Thefollowingtableindicatesthetypeofcylinderthatwillbeconstructedwhenthespecifiedinputs
5ormoreFeatures= BestFit
Cylinder
Any1Feature= CastCylinder
(otherthanCylinder/Set)
Any1Set= BestFit
Cylinder
Cylinder= Reverse
Cylinder
Plane+AnyFeature= ProjectCylinder
Note:Beawarethatcertainpatternsofpoints(i.e.tworowsofthreeequallyspacedpointsortwo
rowsoffourequallyspacedpoints)resultinmultiplewaystoconstructormeasureaperfect
cylinder,andPCDMIS'SBestFitalgorithmmayconstructormeasurethecylinderusingan
unexpectedsolution.Forbestresults,measuredorconstructedcylindersshoulduseaunique
patternofpoints.
Cylinder).
ConstructingaPlaneFeature

PlaneConstructiondialogbox
ThereareseveralmethodsforconstructingaplaneusingPCDMIS.Thefollowingtableliststhe
varioustypesofconstructedplanes,alongwiththeirnecessaryinputs.Somefeaturesmay
requirenoinputs,whileothersmayrequirethreeinputsormore.Inthefollowingtable,theterm
'Any'indicatesthattheconstructioncantakeanytypeoffeatureasinputforconstruction.PC
DMISallowsthefeaturestobeselectedinanyorder.
CONSTRUCT SYMBOL # OF FEAT FEAT FEAT COMMENTS

FEATURE INEDIT INPUT #1: #2: #3:
TYPE WINDOW FEATS
Alignment ALIGN 0 Constructs
Plane planeat
alignment
origin
BestFitPlane BF Atleast3 Constructs
inputsare bestfitplane
needed. usinginputs
RecompPlane inputsare bestfitplane
needed. usinginputs
(1must
bea
point)

CastPlane CAST 1 Any Constructs

planeat
centroidof
inputfeature
HighPoint HIPNT Either1 Ifinputis Constructs
Plane set(usingaset, planeusing
a useany thehighest
minimum ifinputis available
of3 ascan, points.
features) usea
or1scan.Patch
scan.
MidPlane MID 2 Any Any Constructs
midplane
between
centroidsof
theinputs
OffsetPlane OFFSET Atleast3 Any Any Any Buildsplane
inputsare offsetfrom
needed. eachofthe
inputfeatures
ParallelPlane PLTO 2 Any Any Constructs
planeparallel
tofirstfeatand
passing
through
secondfeature
Perpendicular PRTO 2 Any Any Constructs
Plane plane
perpendicular
tofirstfeature
andpassing
through
secondfeature
ReversePlane REV 1 Plane Constructs
planepassing
throughinput
withreversed
vector
Toconstructaplane:
1. SelectConstructfromthemenubar(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Plane).
2. SelectPlane.TheConstructPlanedialogboxwillappear.
AlignmentPlane
BestFitorBestFitRecompensatePlane
CastPlane
HighPointPlane
MidPlane
OffsetPlane
ParallelPlane
PerpendicularPlane

ReverseddirectionPlane
AutoPlane
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasamplePlaneConstructionwouldread:
feature_name=FEAT/PLANE,TOG1
IfTOG2=PLANEandTOG3=BForBFREthenthecommandhasthefollowingformat:
feature_name=FEAT/PLANE,TOG1
CONSTR/PLANE,TOG3
FILTER/TOG5,WAVELENGTH=cutoffWavelength
AUTOisthedefaultmethod TOG1=POLRorRECT
automaticallydeterminesthe TOG2=PLANE
bestwaytoconstructaplane
TOG3=ALIGN/BF/BFRE/CAST/HIPNT/MID/OFFSET/
See"AutoPlane
PLTO/PROJ/PRTO/REV
Construction".
TOG5=ON/OFF
stdDevMultiplier=Thismultipliervaluedetermineswhetheror
notameasuredpointisanoutlier.Ifthepointfromtheplaneis
furtherthanthestandarddeviationmultipliedbythis,thenitis
anoutlierandwillberemovedifyouhaveselectedtheRemove
Outlieroption.
cutoffWavelength=Thisvaluecontrolstheamountofdata
smoothing.Thelongerthewavelengththemoresmoothing
therewillbe.
forconstructedplanes.Thefourthlinewillbeslightlydifferent,
betweenthedifferenttypesofplanesbyplacingthecursoron
constructingaplane:

ConstructingaPlanefromanAlignment
Aplanecanbeconstructedthroughthecurrentoriginandparalleltothecurrentworkplane.
(Inputfeaturesdonotneedtobeprovided.)
Toconstructanalignmentplane:
1. AccesstheConstructPlanedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Plane).
2. SelecttheAlignmentoption.
3. Donotselectanyfeatures.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforthisoptionwouldread:CONSTR/PLANE,ALIGN
APlane
constructed
parallelto
thetop
(XY+Z)
workplane
and
throughthe
origin.
BOrigin
(0,0,0)
CCurrent
workplane
ConstructingaPlanefromanAlignment
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensatePlane
A'bestfit'planecanbeconstructedthroughthreeormorefeatures.Thebestfitconstruction
methodtakestheactualmeasuredpoints,ratherthantheball'scenter(asinthecaseofbestfit
recompensate).InbothcasesPCDMIScomputesaleastsquaresplane,oneforwhichPCDMIS
minimizestheaveragesquaredperpendiculardistancefromthedatapointstotheplane.
ToConstructaBestFitoraBestFitRecompensatePlane:
1. AccesstheConstructPlanedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|
Plane).

3. Selectatleastthreefeatures.
Note:IfyouchooseBestFitRecompensateatleastonefeaturemustbeapoint.
CONSTR/PLANE,BF,feat_1,feat_2,...
FILTER/(ON|OFF),WAVELENGTH=cufoffWavelength
or
CONSTR/PLANE,BFRE,feat_1,feat_2,...
FILTER/(ON|OFF),WAVELENGTH=ctfoffWavelength
(Usestheprobe'scenterformeasurementpurposes.)
ABestfit
plane
constructed
fromfour
points
(PNT1,
PNT2,
PNT3,and
PNT4).
ConstructingaPlanefromThreeorMorePoints
RemoveOutliers/StandardDeviationMultiple
ForaBestFit(BF)orBestFitRecompensate(BFRE)planeyoucanchoosetoremoveoutliers
PCDMISfirstfitsaplanetothedata,thendetermineswhichpointsareoutliersbasedonthe

1. Recalculatesthebestfitplanewiththoseoutliersremoved.
2. Checksforoutliersagain.
3. Recalculatesthebestfitplane.
4. ContinuesrepeatingthisprocessuntilnomoreoutliersexistoruntilPCDMIS
cannotcomputetheplane(PCDMIScan'tcomputetheplaneiftherearefewerthan
3datapoints).
ApplyGaussFilter/CutoffWavelength
TheBestFit(BF)andBestFitRecompensate(BFRE)constructedplaneshavetheoptionof
filteringthedeviationsofthemeasureddatapointsfromthebestfitplanecomputedfromthe
measureddata.TheApplyGaussFiltercheckboxletsyouapplyaGaussianfilterwithacutoff
wavelength.Generally,alargercutoffwavelengthproducessmootherfiltereddata.Ifyou've
selectedtheRemoveOutlierscheckboxandarefilteringthedata,thenoutlierdataisremoved
priortofiltering.ForadditionalinformationonGaussianfiltering,seethe"Gaussian"topicunder
"ConstructingaFilterSet".
ConstructingaCastPlane
Aplanecanbeconstructedbychanginganyfeatureintoaplane.PCDMISwillconstructthe
planeatthecentroidoftheinputfeature.
Plane).
CONSTR/PLANE,CAST,feat_1
ConstructingaHighPointPlane
PCDMISisonlyableto AHighPointplanecanbeconstructedusingfeaturesformingaset
constructaHighPointPlaneorapatchscan.
fromasetoffeatures.The
setmustcontainatleast ToconstructaHighPointPlane:
threefeatures.
1. AccesstheConstructPlanedialogbox(Insert|
Feature|Constructed|Plane).
2. SelecttheHighPointoption.
3. Selectthreeormorefeatures(anyfeaturetypemay
beused).Asetusingatleastthreefeaturesorapatch
scancanalsobeused.See"ConstructingaSetof
Features"or"PerformingaPatchAdvanced"inthe
"ScanningYourPart"chapter.
5. First,PCDMISwillconstructaBestFitplanefrom
theinputfeatures.Next,PCDMISrotatestotheBestFit
plane.Itthenfindsthehighestthreepointsonthisplane
(fromtheselectedfeatures)andusesthemtocreatethe
highpointplane.

Thecentroidoftheinputfeaturesusedtoconstructthehighpointplanedefinesthecenterof
gravity.PCDMISautomaticallycreatesasecondplaneifthefirsthighpointplanedoesn'tinclude
thecenterofgravity.
CONSTR/PLANE,HIPNT,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3,...
AInput
Features
BHigh
pointplane
(using
highest
points)
CSecond
highpoint
ConstructingaHighPointPlane plane
createdto
include
centerof
gravity
DCenter
ofGravity
ConstructingaMidPlane
Aplanecanbeconstructedfromanytwofeatures.Theresultantplane(midplane)isequally
spacedfromthecentroidsofthetwospecifiedinputfeatures.
ToconstructaMidPlane:
Plane).
2. SelecttheMidplaneoption.
CONSTR/PLANE,MID,feat_1,feat_2

A
Constructed
plane
equally
spaced
between
twoplanes
(PLN1and
PLN2).
ConstructingaPlanefromTwoPlanes
Theconstructedplaneandit'svectordependsontheinputfeaturesused:
Ifyouselectplanesforbothinputfeatures,thenthemidplaneislocatedwhereitbisects
thesmallerincludedanglebetweenthetwoinputplanes.
Ifyoudon'tselectaplaneforbothinputfeatures,thentheconstructedmidplanepasses
throughthepointmidwaybetweenthecentroidsofthetwoinputfeatures. Theconstructed
plane'svectorrunsfromthefirstinputfeature'scentroidtothesecondinputfeature's
centroid.
ConstructinganOffsetPlane
Aplanecanbeconstructedaspecifieddistancefromtheinputfeatures.
ToconstructanOffsetPlane:
Plane).
2. SelecttheOffsetoption.
3. Selectatleastthreefeaturesofanytype.
4. SelecttheOffsetsbutton.ThePlaneOffsetsdialogboxwillappear.

PlaneOffsetsdialogbox
5. ClicktheCalculateNomsoptionandentertheoffsetvaluesforthedesired
featuresintheoffsetfieldorClicktheCalculateOffsetsoptionandchangethe
nominalvalues(seetheproceduresbelow).
6. ClickCalculatetocalculateeitherthenominalvaluesortheoffsetvalues.
7. ClicktheOKbutton.ThePlaneOffsetsdialogboxwillclose.
PCDMISwilliterateandconstructaplanesuchthattheshortestdistancefromeachinputfeature
totheplaneisthecorrespondingoffsetamount.PCDMISwillapplynegativeoffsetsinthesame
generaldirectionthatthepointsaremeasured.Positiveoffsetvalueswillbeappliedoppositethe
probingdirection.Ifthereisnoprobingdirection(i.e.,theinputpointswereconstructed),PC
DMISusesthecurrentworkplanetodeterminethegeneraldirectionforapplyingtheoffsets.
Positiveoffsetswillbeappliedintheplusdirectionofthethirdaxisofthecurrentworkplane.
Negativeoffsetswillbeappliedintheminusdirectionofthethirdaxisofthecurrentworkplane.
Note:Thesign(positiveornegative)oftheoffsetvalue,controlonwhichsideoftheinput
featurestheplaneisconstructed.Ifyougettheoppositeplanethanwasexpected,CANCELthe
featureandreconstructit,reversingthesignofthekeyedinoffsets.Forexample,iftheoffsets
are1.0,2.5,3.5,changethemto1.0,2.5,3.5.
CONSTR/PLANE,OFFSET
ID=id1,id2,id3,...
OFFSET=val1,val2,val3,...
1. OpenthePlaneOffsetsdialogboxbyclickingtheOffsetsbuttonfromthe
ConstructPlanedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Plane).
2. IntheOffsetcolumn,clickonthe"0.000000"value(orcurrentvalue)toselectit.
3. Clickagainontheoffset.
4. Typeanewvalue.
6. ClickCalculatetoupdatethenominalvaluesbasedonanyoffset(s)youchose.
ExampleofCalculatingNominals

TheCalculateNomsbuttoncalculatestheX,Y,andZnominalvaluesfromnewoffsetsentered.
Forexample,supposeyouconstructanoffsetplanebetweenthreecircles(CIR1,CIR2,and
CIR3).AfterselectingthefeaturesandclickingtheOffsetsbutton,youhaveX,Y,andZnominals
of:
X=6
Y=2
Z=0.95
Ifyouchangetheoffsetvaluesby3.0foreachcircleandclicktheCalculateNomsbutton,theX,
Y,andZareupdatedto:
X=6
Y=2
Z=3.95
IfyouthenclickOKandconstructtheoffsetline,you'llnoticethatthenewlyconstructedlinelies
3.0unitshigherintheZaxis.
PlaneoffsetsonlyapplytheoffsetintheZaxis.
ChangingNominalsDirectlytoCalculateOffsets
1. OpenthePlaneOffsetsdialogboxbyclickingtheOffsetsbuttonfromthe
ConstructPlanedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Plane).
2. SelecttheCalculateOffsetsoption.TheNominalsportionofthedialogbox
becomeseditable.
3. ChangetheXYZorIJKvalues.
4. ClickCalculatetoupdatetheoffsetvaluesbasedonanynominalsyou've
changed.
ExampleofCalculatingOffsets
TheCalculateOffsetsbuttoncalculatestheoffsetvaluesappearingintheOffsetcolumnwhen
youchangethenominalvalue.
Forexample,supposeyouconstructanoffsetplanebetweenthreecircles(CIR1,CIR2,and
CIR3).AfterselectingthefeaturesandclickingtheOffsetsbutton,youhaveX,Y,andZnominals
of:
X=6
Y=2

Z=0.95
IfyouchangetheX,Y,andZnominalsto:
X=6
Y=2
Z=3.95
andclicktheCalculateOffsetsbutton,theoffsetsforthethreecirclesareupdatedto:
3.000000CIR1
3.000000CIR2
3.000000CIR3
IfyouthenclickOKandconstructtheoffsetline,you'llnoticethattheplaneisconstructedat3.0
unitshigherintheZaxis.
ConstructingaParallelPlane
Aplanecanbeconstructedparalleltoanytwofeatures.PCDMIScreatesaplaneparalleltothe
firstinputfeatureandpassingthroughthecentroidofthesecondinputfeature.
ToconstructaParallelPlane:
Plane).
2. SelecttheParalleloption.
CONSTR/PLANE,PLTO,feat_1,feat_2,

APlane
constructed
parallelto
thefirst
feature,a
plane
(PLN1)and
throughthe
second
feature,a
circle
(CIR2).
ConstructingaParallelPlaneUsingTwoPlanes
APlane
constructed
throughthe
first
feature,a
line
(LINE1)
and
paralleltoa
secondline
(LINE2).
ConstructingaParallelPlaneUsingTwoLines
ConstructingaPerpendicularPlane

Aplanecanbeconstructedbetweenanytwofeatures.PCDMIScreatesaplaneperpendicularto
thefirstinputfeatureandpassingthroughthecentroidofthesecondinputfeature.
ToconstructaPerpendicularPlane:
Plane).
2. SelectthePerpendicularoption.
CONSTR/PLANE,PRTO,feat_1,feat_2
APlane
constructed
perpendicular
tothefirst
featureand
throughthe
second
feature.
ConstructingaPerpendicularPlane
ChangingtheDirectionofaPlane
Aplanecanbeconstructedwithareversedvector.
ToconstructaReversePlane:
Plane).
3. Selectonefeature.Itmustbeaplane.
CONSTR/PLANE,REV,feat_1
AutoPlaneConstruction

Plane).
Thefollowingtableindicatesthetypeofplanethatwillbeconstructedwhenthespecifiedinputs
3ormoreFeaturesthataren'tBestFitPlane
allmeasured points=
1plane= ReversePlane
Any1feature= CastPlane
(exceptPlane/Set)
Any1Set= BestFitPlane
Allaremeasuredpoints= BestFit
Recompensate
Plane
ConstructingaSlotFeature
ConstructSlotdialogbox

TherearetwoslottypesinPCDMIS:aslotcreatedfromtwocircles(Circlesoption),andaslot
createdfromfourormoreinputs(BestFitorBFRecompoption).Thetablebelowshowsthe
inputsfortheslotandtheeditordefinitions.
CONSTRUCT SYMBOL # OF FEAT FEAT COMMENTS

FEATURE INEDIT INPUT #1: #2:
TYPE WINDOW FEATS
Slot ROUND 2 Circle Circle Constructsaslot
SLOT intheplaneofthe
firstcirclefrom
centertocenter.
Slot BF 4or ConstructsaBest
more Fitslotusingthe
giveninputs
Slot BFRE 4or ConstructsaBest
more FitRecompensate
slotusingthe
giveninputs
ToconstructaSlot:
1. AccesstheConstructSlotdialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|Slot).
2. SelecttheInorOutoptiontodefinetheconstructedslotasaholeorstudslot
respectively.
3. Selectoneofthefollowingconstructionmethods:Circles,BestFit,orBF
Recomp.
4. Selectyourinputsbasedonthetypeofslotyouwillconstruct.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasampleSlotConstructionwouldread:
feature_name=FEAT/SLOT,TOG1,TOG2
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,width,length
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,width,length
CONSTR/TOG3,TOG4,feat_1,feat_2,...
Note:TheactualreportwillbedisplayedinallCAPS.
TOG1=POLRorRECT
TOG2=OUTorIN
TOG3=SLOT
TOG4=CIRCLESorBForBFRE
In/OutSlot

TheInandOutoptionstellPCDMISwhethertoconstructtheslotasaninternaloranexternal
slot.
IfyouselectIn,PCDMISconstructstheslotasaninternalslot.
IfyouselectOut,PCDMISconstructstheslotasanexternalslot.
ConstructingaCircleSlot
Theroundslotconstructedfromtwocirclesisdefinedmostlybythefirstcircleselected.Theslot
isconstructedinthesameplaneasthefirstcircle.Thewidthoftheslotisalsodeterminedbythe
diameterofthefirstcircle.Thesecondcircleisonlyusedtodeterminethelengthoftheslot.The
lengthisthedistancefromthecenterofthefirstcircletocenterofthesecondplusthediameterof
thefirstcircle.
Ifthetwoinputcirclesarenotcoplanar,thecenterofthesecondcircleisprojected
perpendicularlyontotheplaneofthefirstcircle.Thedistanceisthencalculatedfromthecenterof
thefirstcircletotheprojectedcenterofthesecond.
ToconstructaRoundSlotfromCircles:
2. SelectInorOut.
3. SelecttheCirclesoption.
4. SelecttwoCirclefeaturesforinputs.
TheEditwindowcommandlinefortheRoundSlotwouldread:
CONSTR/SLOT,CIRCLES,feat_1,feat_2
ConstructingaBestFitorBestFitRecompensateSlot
TheBestFit(BF)andtheBestFitRecompensate(BFRE)areconstructedfrom4ormore
features.Theconstructedslotsvectorisnormal(perpendicular)totheworkingplane.TheBFRE
constructionusestheballcentercombinedwiththeproberadiustocomputetheslot.The
compensationisanintegralpartofthefitting. TheBFconstructioncompensatesthemeasured
pointspriortofitting.
Theheightoftheslotfromtheworkplaneistheaverageofalltheinputfeatures.
ToconstructaBForBFRESlot:
2. SelectInorOut.
3. SelecttheBForBFREoption.
4. Selectatleast4features.Theycanbeanyfeaturetype.
TheEditwindowcommandlinefortheBestFitorBestFitRecompensateSlotwouldread:

CONSTR/SLOT,BF(orBFRE),feat_1,feat_2,...
ConstructingaCurve
ConstructCurvedialogbox
Therearetwotypesofconstructedcurves(IndependentCurvesandDependentCurves)
availableinPCDMIS.Thefollowingtabledisplaysthetwocurves,alongwiththeirnecessary
inputs.Allcurvesrequireasetasinput.Thesetcanbeameasuredset,aconstructedset,ora
scan.Theinputsetmustcontainatleastfourfeatures(orinputpointsinthecaseofascan).
CONSTRUCT SYMBOLIN # OF INPUT#1: COMMENTS

FEATURE EDITWINDOWINPUT
TYPE SETS
Dependent DEPENDENT 1 Set Curvewillupdateas
Curve containing inputfeaturechanges
atleast4 Note:Editingacurve
inputs willchangedependent
curvetoindependent
curve.
Independent INDEPENDENT1 Set Usesinputfeaturefor
Curve containing constructiononly.User
atleast4 canmanuallyedit
inputs controlpointsofcurve.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasampleCurveConstructionusingadependentcurvetype
wouldread:

feature_name =FEAT/CURVE,DEPENDENT,
num_control_points,num_input_feats,
thinning_parameter
CONSTR/CURVE,INPUT_TYPE,input_id
ForanindependentcurvetypetheEditwindowcommandlinewouldread:
feature_name =FEAT/CURVE,INDEPENDENT,
num_control_points,num_input_feats,
thinning_parameter
CONSTR/CURVE,
num_control_points=Thisisthenumberofcontrolpointsdefiningthecurve.Morecontrol
pointsallowthecurvetomorecloselypassthroughthefeatures,buttoomaycause
unexpectedbehavior
num_input_feats=Thisisthenumberoffeaturesthatthecurveisattemptingtofit.
Note:ThesetwoparametersarenoteditableintheEditwindow.
input_id=ThisistheIDofthesetcontainingthefeaturestobefitted.
thinning_parameter=Thisisdescribedinthe"ThinningParameters"topicdescribedbelow.
Note:TheactualEditreportwillbedisplayedinallCAPS
ConstructingaDependent/IndependentCurve
Toconstructacurve:
1. AccesstheConstructCurvedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|
Curve).
2. Inputthedesiredset.
3. SetthevalueintheThinningTolerancebox.
4. EdittheControlpointsifnecessary.
AllconstructedcurvesstartoutasDEPENDENTcurvesandmustbecreatedfromasingleinput,
aset.Thesetcanbeoneofthreetypes:
Ameasuredset
Aconstructedset
Ascancontainingasinglerowofpoints.(See"ConstructingaSetofFeatures".)
Theinputsetmustcontainatleastfourfeaturesorpoints(inthecaseofascan).

Note:Theresultingcurvedependsontheorderthatthefeaturesareaddedtotheset(firstto
last).
Youcanalsoconstructacurvebysimplyselectingmultiplefeaturesfromthefeaturelistbox
ratherthanselectingaconstructedsetfromthelist.Inthiscasethecommand'sINPUT_TYPE
fieldwillbeemptywhenviewingthecommandintheEditwindow.
Thefollowingparagraphsdescribetheavailableoptionsforconstructingacurve.
ThinningParameters
Youcanuseoneoftwotypesofthinningparameters,eitherThinningToleranceorThinning
Proportion.AUserTolerancecheckboxontheConstructSurfaceandConstructCurvedialog
boxesletsyouswitchbetweeneithertoleranceorproportion:
Thinningtolerancecontrolsthetightness(orexactness)ofthecurveorsurfacefit.Valid
thinningtolerancesrangefrom0.0to5.0,withthedefaultbeing0.01.Thesmallerthe
thinningtolerance,thecloserthecurvecomestopassingthroughthecentroidsofthe
featuresincludedintheinputset.Ifthethinningtoleranceis0.0,thecurveorsurfacewill
passthroughallofthecentroids.Alargerthinningtolerancewillresultinacurveor
surfacethathasfewerfluctuations(attheexpenseofnotlyingneartheinputset's
features).Theseethis,constructacurveorsurfaceandthenchangetheinputtolerance
andexaminehowitsshapechanges.
Thinningproportion,alternately,maybeusedtocontrolthequalityofthefit.Valid
thinningproportionsrangefrombetween0.0and1.0,withadefaultvalueof0.33.The
thinningproportiondeterminesthenumberofdegreesoffreedomavailableinfittingthe
curveorsurfacetothecentroids.Atthelowerextremeof0thealgorithmwillattempttofit
astraightlineorplanetothecentroids.At1itwillcomputeafitthatpassesthroughallof
thecentroids.
TomakeaDEPENDENTcurveanINDEPENDENTcurve(sothatitisnolongerassociatedwith
theinputset:
1. OpentheEditwindow
2. Selectthecurvefeatureyouconstructed.
3. NavigatetotheDEPENDENTfieldofthatfeature.
4. PressF7.ItwillchangefromDEPENDENTtoINDEPENDENT.
Theshapeofthecurvecanbechangedbyeditingitscontrolpoints.
EditControlPoint
Ifapreexistingcurveisselected,thedialogboxwillalsocontainalistofcontrolpointswithinthe
ControlPointlist.SelectoneofthecontrolpointsandPCDMISwillplacethecorresponding
valuesintheX,Y,andZboxessothattheycanbeedited.
Toeditthesecontrolpoints:

1. Makesureacurvefeaturealreadyexists.
3. SelectthecurveintheEditwindow.
4. PressF9toactivatetheCurvedialogbox.
5. SelectthecontrolpointtobechangedintheControlPointlist.
6. EdittheindividualX,Y,Zcomponentsofthepoint.
Thecurvewillthenbeupdatedtoreflectthechanges.
Note:Ifthecontrolpointsonadependentcurveareedited,itautomaticallybecomesan
independentcurvebecauseitisnolongerbasedontheinputset.
ControlPointList
TheControlPointlistisonlyvisiblewhenthereisanexistingcurveassociatedwiththedialog
box.Ifacurveexistsandyouwanttoeditthecontrolpointsofthatcurve,theControlPointlist
willdisplayallofthecontrolpointsforthatcurve.
DeterminingtheLengthBetweenTwoPointsonaScan
Todeterminethelengthbetweentwopointsonascan,dothefollowing:
1. AccesstheConstructCurvedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|
Curve).
2. Selectapreviouslycreatedscanforyourinput.
3. ClicktheCreatebutton.PCDMISwillinsertaconstructedcurveintotheEdit
window.
4. OntheEditwindow,inCommandmode,locatethelastlineoftheconstructed
curvecodeblock:
CONSTR/CURVE
5. PressTABuntilPCDMIShighlightstheIDforthescanyouselectedtouseas
theinput.
6. ChangetheinputIDtousespecificpointsfromthescanbytyping
SCN1.HITS[n..m] whereSCN1representsyourscanIDandnandmrepresenta
rangebetweentwopoints(orhits)onthescan.Forexample,ifyouwantedtogetthe
lengthbetweenhits50and80ofthescanwithanIDofSCN12,youwouldtype,
SCN12.HITS[50..80].
7. CreateaLocationdimensionandusetheconstructedcurveastheinput.Usethe
dimensiontoreporttheLaxis(LforLength).Thelocationdimensionswouldthen
displaythelengthofthesplinebetweenthetwohitsyouspecified.
Ifyouomitsteps4,5,and6,PCDMISwillreporttheentirelengthofthescan(orcurve).
ConstructingaSurface

ConstructSurfacedialogbox
Therearetwotypesofconstructedsurfaces(IndependentSurfaceandDependentSurface)
availableinPCDMIS.Thefollowingtableshowsthetwosurfaces,alongwiththeirnecessary
inputs.Theonlyinputthatthesurfacewilltakeisapatchscan.Thescanmustcontainatleast
tworowsoffourpointsperrow.
Note:Afuturereleasewillallowforcloudsofpointswhenconstructingasurface.
CONSTRUCT SYMBOLIN # OF INPUT#1: COMMENTS

FEATURE EDITWINDOWINPUT
TYPE SETS
Dependent DEPENDENT 1 Patchscan Surfacewill
Surface containingat updateasinput
least2rowswithfeaturechanges
4pointsperrow
Independent INDEPENDENT1 Patchscan Usesinput
Surface containingat featurefor
least2rowswithconstruction
4pointsperrow.only
ToconstructaSurface:
1. AccesstheConstructSurfacedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|
Surface).
2. Inputthedesiredpatchscan.
3. Selectthevariousconstructionoptions.

TheEditwindowcommandlineforasampleSurfaceConstructionwouldread:
feature_name=FEAT/SURFACE,TOG1,CONTROLPOINTSU,
CONTROLPOINTSV,NUMPOINTSFIT,TOG2
THINNINGPARAMETERU,THINNINGPARAMETERV
CONSTR/SURFACE,INPUTTYPE,INPUTID
DEPENDENTisthedefault TOG1=DependentorIndependent.
methodofconstruction.
TOG2=ToleranceorProportion
constructingasurface:
ConstructingaDependent/IndependentSurface
Allconstructedsurfacesstartoutasdependentsurfacesandmustbecreatedfromasingleinput
apatchscan.Thepatchscanmustcontainatleasttworowswithfourpointsperrow.Thinning
tolerancesareusedtocontrolthetightnessofthesurfacefit.
Smalltolerances:Ifthethinningtolerancesaresmall,thealgorithmwillattempt
tofitthesurfacethroughallofthepointsinthescan.
Largetolerances:Ifthethinningtolerancesarelarge,thesurfacewillbemoreof
anapproximationtothescan.Thebestwaytoseethisistoconstructasurfaceand
thenchangethethinningtolerancesandseehowtheshapeofthesurfacechanges.
Note:Thesmallerthethinningtolerancethelongeritwilltaketocreatethesurface.Beaware
thatthesmalltolerances(.01.05)maytakeaconsiderableamountoftime(onehour)tocreate
thesurfaceiftheinputscanislargeornotwellbehaved.Validthinningtolerancesrangefrom
0.01to5.0withthedefaultbeing0.5.
Theappearanceofthesurfacecanbecontrolledbythesurfacegriddensityvalues.Thesurface
willbedisplayedasanNxMmeshofpolylineswiththedefaultbeinga5x5meshandthelowest
valuebeinga2x2mesh.Tomakeadependentsurfaceindependentsothatitisnolonger
associatedwiththeinputscan,changetheDEPENDENTfieldintheEditwindow.
Note:Theshapeofthesurfacecannotbechanged.
ToconstructaDependent/IndependentSurface:
1. AccesstheConstructSurfacedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|
Surface).
2. Setthevalueforthe ThinningTolU:box
3. Setthevalueforthe ThinningTolV:box.ThisappliesatolerancevaluetotheV
axis.
4. Setthevaluesforthesurfacegriddensity.
5. Checkmarkthedesiredconstructionsoptions.Theseinclude:
OptimizeSurface
ApplyTensionFactor
CreateCorners

SmoothBadData
6. Selectapatchscanfeaturesetcontainingatleast2rowswith4pointsperrow.
ThinningParameters
Youcanuseoneoftwotypesofthinningparameters,eitherThinningToleranceorThinning
Proportion.AUserTolerancecheckboxontheConstructSurfaceandConstructCurvedialog
boxesletsyouswitchbetweeneithertoleranceorproportion:
Thinningtolerancecontrolsthetightness(orexactness)ofthecurveorsurfacefit.Valid
thinningtolerancesrangefrom0.0to5.0,withthedefaultbeing0.01.Thesmallerthe
thinningtolerance,thecloserthecurvecomestopassingthroughthecentroidsofthe
featuresincludedintheinputset.Ifthethinningtoleranceis0.0,thecurveorsurfacewill
passthroughallofthecentroids.Alargerthinningtolerancewillresultinacurveor
surfacethathasfewerfluctuations(attheexpenseofnotlyingneartheinputset's
features).Theseethis,constructacurveorsurfaceandthenchangetheinputtolerance
andexaminehowitsshapechanges.
Thinningproportion,alternately,maybeusedtocontrolthequalityofthefit.Valid
thinningproportionsrangefrombetween0.0and1.0,withadefaultvalueof0.33.The
thinningproportiondeterminesthenumberofdegreesoffreedomavailableinfittingthe
curveorsurfacetothecentroids.Atthelowerextremeof0thealgorithmwillattempttofit
astraightlineorplanetothecentroids.At1itwillcomputeafitthatpassesthroughallof
thecentroids.
TomakeaDEPENDENTcurveanINDEPENDENTcurve(sothatitisnolongerassociatedwith
theinputset:
1. OpentheEditwindow
2. Selectthecurvefeatureyouconstructed.
3. NavigatetotheDEPENDENTfieldofthatfeature.
4. PressF7.ItwillchangefromDEPENDENTtoINDEPENDENT.
Theshapeofthecurvecanbechangedbyeditingitscontrolpoints.
ThinningParameterU
ThisboxallowsyoutosetathinningparametervalueapplyingtotheUaxisofthesurface.
ThinningParameterV
ThisboxallowsyoutosetathinningparametervalueapplyingtotheVaxisofthesurface.
SurfaceGridDensity

Thisboxallowsyoutosetthedensityofasurfacescan.Thehigherthevalues,themoresplines
therewillbe.
OptimizeSurface
ControlPointsarepoints Thischeckboxwillattempttooptimizetheknotsandcontrolpoints
thatmarkbeginandend oftheinitialsplinesfromwhichthesurfacewillbeconstructed.
pointsofsplinesinasurface
grid.
SurfaceGridwithControlPoints(A),Knots(B),andSplines(C)
ApplyTensionFactor
SurfacescreatedusingtheApplyTensionFactorcheckboxwilltendtobetauter(tighter)and
shorter,butmayfitthedataslightlylessclosely.
CreateCorners
Thischeckboxallowsforcornerstobeaddedtothesurfaceatareaswherethedataappearsto
makeanabruptchangeindirection.
SmoothBadData
Thischeckboxattemptstothrowoutbaddata.Baddataisevaluatedasdatathathasanabrupt
changeindirection.ThisoptionisalmosttheoppositeoftheCreateCornersoptionabove.
ConstructingaSetofFeatures

ConstructFeatureSetdialogbox
TheSet menucommandallowsyoutoconstructasetoffeatures.Thisisdonebyselecting(or
keyingin)allthefeaturestobeusedintheset.WhenyouclicktheCreatebutton,PCDMISwill
averagealltheinputcentroids,anddisplayasetmarkeralongwiththenewIDfortheset.
ToconstructaFeatureSet:
1. AccesstheConstructFeatureSetdialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed|
Set).
2. Selectthefeaturesyouwantinyourfeatureset.
3. ClicktheCreatebutton.ThenewfeaturesetisgivenafeatureIDandisplaced
intheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasampleSurfaceConstructionwouldread:
feature_name=FEAT/SET,TOG1,
THEO/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,
ACTL/x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,i_vec,j_vec,k_vec,
CONSTR/TOG2,feat_1,feat_2,feat_3...
TOG1=POLRorRECT
TOG2=SET
ThefirstthreelinesdisplayedintheEditwindowwillbethesameforconstructedsets.Thefourth
linewillbeslightlydifferent,accordingtothenumberoffeaturesusedintheset.
TherearecurrentlytwousesforsetsinPCDMISforWindows:
ProfileErrorfromaSet

IfCADdataisbeingused,asetcanbeconstructedfrommeasuredpointsonasurface.When
youaskforthePROFILEofthefeatureset,PCDMISwillreportthezonebetweentheminimum
normaltosurfaceerrorandthemaximumnormaltosurfaceerror.(See"DimensioningSurfaceor
LineProfile"inthe"DimensioningFeatures"chapterformoreinformation.)
AverageValuesfromaSet
Whenasetismadefrominputfeatures,PCDMISaveragestheX,Y,andZvaluesoftheinput
features.Forexample,thesetcanbeusedtogettheaverageZvalueofaseriesofmeasured
points.
UsingaRangeofHitsfromaScanasInputs
Version3.6andhigherallowsyoutousearangeofhitsfromanexistingscanforyourfeatureset
inputsinsteadofselectingindividualfeatures.
Todothis:
1. AccesstheConstructFeatureSetdialogbox.
2. Selectascantouseastheinput.
3. ClickOK.ThecommandappearsintheEditwindow.
4. PlacetheEditwindowintoCommandmode.
5. NavigatetothefeaturesetcommandintheEditwindow.
6. SelectthescanIDontheCONSTR/SETcommandline.
7. ModifythescanIDtotakearangeofhits,usingasyntaxlikethis:
<ID>.HIT<STARTHIT>..<ENDHIT>
<ID>SpecifiestheIDofthescan.
<STARTHIT>Numberthatspecifiesthebeginninghitintherangeofhits.
<ENDHIT>Numberthatspecifiestheendinghitintherangeofhits.
Forexample,thefollowingcodeshowsaconstructedsetusinghits1through10ofascannamed
SCN1foritsinputfeatures.
SET1 =FEAT/SET,RECT
THEO/2.2953,3.7467,0.95,0,0,1
ACTL/2.2953,3.7467,0.95,0,0,1
CONSTR/SET,BASIC,SCN1.HIT[1..10],,
Youcanuseanactualexpression(similartotheinputcode)toassigntheXvaluesofthefirstfive
featuresoftheconstructedsetintoanarray.Forexample,thefollowingcodewouldassignjust

theXvaluesofthefirstfivehitstovariableV2andthendisplaythevaluesinanoperator
comment.
ASSIGN/V2=SET1.HIT[1..5].X
COMMENT/OPER,YES,V2is:
,V2
Forinformationonusingexpressionstoreturnarangeofhitsasanarray,seethe"HitArrays"
topicinthe"UsingExpressionsandVariables"chapter.
ConstructingaFilterSet
ConstructFilterFeaturedialogbox
Thiscommandallowsyoutoconstructafiltersetfromascan,certainconstructedfeatures,or
anotherfilterset.Thisisdonebyselecting(orkeyingin)theinputfeature,thetypeoffilter
desired,andtheparameterstobeusedwiththefilter.WhenyouclicktheCreatebutton,PC
DMISwillapplythefilterroutinetothedataintheinputfeatureanddisplayasetmarkeralong
withthenewIDfortheset.
Thiscommandistypicallyusedtosmoothballcenterdatafromascan.PCDMISappliesa
lowpassGaussianoranotherlowpassfiltertosmooththedata.
Note:Ifyouselectinappropriatefeaturetypes,PCDMISdisplaysanerrormessagesayingit
cannotconstructthefeature.
ToconstructaFilterSet:
1. AccesstheConstructFilterFeaturedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Constructed
|Filter).
2. Selectaninputforthefilterset.
3. SelecteitherthePolarorLinearoptiontosmoothcircleorlineardata,
respectively.
4. SelectthetypeoffilterfromtheFilterTypelist.

5. Typeinvaluesforanyofthefilterparameters.
6. Ifyouwanttoremoveoutliersbeforefiltering,selecttheOutlierRemovalcheck
boxandtheStandardDeviationMultiplecheckbox.
CONSTR/SET/FILTER,TOG1,TOG2,feat_1,
VAL1,VAL2,OUTLIER_REMOVAL/TOG3,VAL3
Forexample:
CONSTR/SET,FILTER,GAUSSIAN,POLAR,SCN1,
WIDTH=3,UPR=50,OUTLIER_REMOVAL/ON,3
TOG1=Gaussian/Spline/Uniform/Triangle/Cylindrical
TOG2=Polar/Linear
Feat_1=Thisistheinputfeatureforthisfilter.
VAL1=Filterwidth.
VAL2=Cutofffrequencyinundulationsperrevolution(UPR).
TOG3=ThisvalueswitchesbetweenONorOFF.Itdeterminesifoutliersshouldberemoved
beforefiltering.
VAL3=Standarddeviationmultiplier.IfTOG3isONthenallthepointsintheinputthathave
morethanthisnumberofstandarddeviationsfromtheleastsquaressubstitutefeature(for
example,circle,orline)willberemovedbeforefiltering.
Theoptionssuppliedinthisdialogboxarediscussedbelow.
Linearoption
TheLinearoptionallowsyoutofilterthedatainafeaturethatisnotacircularscan.The
deviationsaffectedinthiscaseareperpendiculartotheworkplane.
Note:Forthelinearfilters,thenumberofpoints inthefiltersetmaybelessthanthenumberof
inputpoints.PCDMISremovespointsatbothendsforwhichnotenoughdata(totheleftorright)
isavailable.Tocomputeavalidoutputpoint,seethe"FilterWidthbox".
Polaroption
ThePolaroptionallowsyoutoapplyafiltertodatainacircularscan.PCDMISassumesthatthe
dataisperiodic(meaningitformsonecomplete,closedcircle).Thedeviationsaffectedinthis
caseareradialdeviations.

FilterTypelist
TheFilterTypelistallowsyoutoselectfromthefollowingfiltertypes:
GAUSSIAN
SPLINE
UNIFORM
TRIANGLE
CYLINDRICAL.
IfyouselectGAUSSIAN,UNIFORM,orTRIANGLEthentheworkplaneiscritical.Forthesethree
filtertypes,thefollowingapplies:
IfyouselecttheLinearoption,thefilteringoccursnormal(i.e.,perpendicular)tothe
workplane.
IfyouselectPolaroptionthenthefilteringoccursinaradialdirectionwithintheworkplane.
Gaussian
TheGaussianfilteroptionis TheGaussian filteroptionallowsyoutosmooththedataby

themostwidelyusedfilter applyingaLinearorPolarGaussianlowpassfiltertoitaccordingto
option. theISO11562standard.Theamountofsmoothingiscontrolledby
theCutoffWavelength,theCutoffFrequency,ortheFilter
Width values.
ForthepolarGaussianfilter,thedatashouldbeacompletecirclescan,withradial
deviations.Apartialcirclescanwillnotworkcorrectlywiththisfilter.Theappropriatefilterfor
apartialcirclescanisthecylindricalfilterdiscussedbelow.
ForthelinearGaussianfilter,thedatashouldnominallylieinaplanewiththedeviations
perpendiculartotheplane.Forthisfilter,thecutoffwavelengthisinunitsoflength.The
followingparagraphsdescribehowalinearGaussfilterfunctions:
ItestimatesthepointspacingdeltaastheaveragedistancebetweentheX,Y
coordinatesofthe3Dpoints.Theseshouldbeevenlyspacedandcoplanar.Itwill
smooththeZcoordinates.
Ifthesmoothingparameteris
m=filterwidth (i.e.,thesmoothedvalueisatthecenterof2m+1 pointsusedina
weightedaverage,startingatpointm),thenthecutoffwavelengthlambdais
computedas:
lambda=m*delta/const,(whereconstisanumericalconstant.)
Iftheinputparameterislambda=cutoffwavelength,thenthefilterwidthmis
computedas:
m=lambda*const/delta(actually,thenexthigherintegervalue).

So,thecutoffwavelengthhasthesameunitsasthepointspacing,butthefilterwidthisa
purenumber.
Spline
TheSplinefilteroptionallowsyoutosmooththedatabyfittingasmoothingsplinetoit.The
SmoothingParametervaluecontrolstheamountofsmoothing.However,ifyouwanttousethe
"optimal"valuecomputedbyGeneralizedCrossValidation(GCV)technique,youshouldsetthis
valueto0.TheSplinefilteroptionisa3Dfilteringoptiondeviationsinalldirections
perpendiculartothelineareaffected.
HowItWorks:Thesplinefilterfitsasplineapproximationtothedataandresamplesit.Thisway,
itsmoothesthedatainalldirections,notjustradiallyorperpendicularlytotheworkplane.The
fittedsplineisanaturalsmoothingspline.Ithasaparameterthatmediatesbetweeninterpolating
thedatatryingtopassthrougheverydatapoint,whichwouldretainalloftheoscillationsand
approximatingthedatawithasuccessivelysmootherspline,inthesensethattheoscillationsare
damped.Thetwolimitsofthesmoothingparameteryieldaninterpolator(withalloftheoriginal
oscillations)andastraightline.Azerovalueforthesplinefilterresultsinasplinethat
(asymptotically)minimizestheexpectedmeansquareerrorbetweenitandtheunderlying,
unknown,curve.Youshouldusuallyusethezerovaluesincethisremovesthenoiseyetleaves
theunderlyingshapereasonablyintact.
MathInformation:Sincetherangeofinterestfortheactual(internal)smoothingparameter
lambdausuallyinvolvessmallvalues,theConstructFilterFeaturedialogboxaccepts
log10(lambda).
So,insteadof1e6,youjusttype6.Yougetmoresmoothingforsmallervaluesofthe
smoothingparameter.Forexample,avalueof5forthesplinefilterwouldgiveyoumore
smoothingthanavalueof6.
Uniform
TheUniformfilteroptionfiltersthedatabyaveragingallthepointsinamovingwindow.The
widthofthewindowcanbespecifiedbyeithertheSmoothingParameterortheFilter
Width values.
IftheFilterWidthvalueism,thenthewindowis2m*delta wide,wheredeltaisthepoint
spacing.
Triangle
TheTrianglefilteroptionfiltersthedatabyaweightedmovingaverageofallthepointsina
movingwindow.Theweightsaredeterminedbyatrianglefunctionwiththepeakinthemiddleof
thewindow.ThewidthofthewindowcanbespecifiedbyeithertheSmoothingParameterorthe
FilterWidth values.
IftheFilterWidthismthenthewindowis2m*delta wide,wheredeltaisthepointspacing.
Cylindrical

TheCylindricalfilteroptionfiltersdatainaspiralscanoracircularscanthatspansmoreorless
thanafullcircle.Thedeviationsinthiscaseareradial.AsPCDMISdoesnotconsiderthedatato
beperiodic(meaningitdoesnotformacomplete,closedcircle),anumberofpointsequaltothe
filterwidthatthebeginningandattheendofthescanwillbeabsentfromthefilterset.
FilterWidthbox
TheFilterWidthvalueisanoptionalsmoothingparameterforallofthefiltertypesexceptthe
Splinefilter.Thevalueinthisboxdeterminesthenumberofdatapointsusedforfilteringtothe
rightandtotheleftofeachsmootheddatapoint.Forexample,iftheFilterWidthvalueismthen
thewindowis2m*delta wide,wheredeltaisthepointspacing.Thedefaultvalueforthis
parameteris3.
Thevalueyoutypecanbezerooranypositivevalue.
Ifthere'snovalueatall(orifthevalueiszero),eithertheCutoffFrequencyor
theCutoffWavelengthvaluewillbeusedtosettheamountofsmoothing.
IfeithertheCutoffFrequencyortheCutoffWavelengthvalueisanynonzero,
positivevalue,thenthefilterwidthcorrespondingtothecutofffrequencyenteredis
displayed.
IftheFilterWidthandtheCutoffFrequencyorCutoffWavelengthdon'thave
values(orarezero),PCDMISwillnotfilterthedata.
TheFilterWidthvaluealsodetermineshowmanypointswillbeabsentfromthefiltersetwhen
doinglinearfiltering.PCDMISremovesthosepointsthatdon'thaveenoughdatatotherightor
lefttofillupthedatawindow.
Note:Alowpassfilter,onethatfiltersouthighfrequencynoisebuttransmitsthelowerfrequency
formandwaviness,worksbyreplacingthevalueatadatapointbyaweightedaverageofthe
valuesatasequenceofitsneighbors.FortheGaussfilter,forinstance,theFilterWidthspecifies
howmanypointstotheleftandrightofapointareincludedintheweightedaverage.Theweights
(whicharepositiveandaddupto1)arevaluesofaGaussiandistributionfunction(alsoknownas
aBellCurve).IftheFilterWidthisequaltom,thenthesmoothedpointisatthecenterof2m+1
pointsusedintheweightedaverage.Ifthedataisperiodic,thenthepointswraparoundand
therearealwaysenoughpointstotheleftandrightofapointtocomputethisaverage.Thisisthe
caseforaPolarfilter.ButforaLinearfilter,thefirstandlastmpointsdonothaveenough
neighborstocomputethefullweightedaverage,sothesepointsareleftoutofthefiltereddataset.
CutoffWavelengthbox
TheCutoffWavelengthvaluedeterminesthewavelengthoftheoscillationsinthedatabelow
whichtheamplitudesoftheoscillationswillbereducedwhenapplyingalinearGaussianfilter.
CutoffFrequencybox
TheCutoffFrequencyvaluedeterminesthenumberof"undulationsperrevolution"(orUPR)in
thecircledataabovewhichtheamplitudesoftheoscillationsinthedatawillbereducedwhen
applyingapolarGaussianfilteroracylindricalfilter.
SmoothingParameterbox

TheSmoothingParametervaluedeterminesthedegreeofsmoothingappliedtothedataforthe
spline,uniform,andtriangle filters.
Forthesplinefilter,itisbesttosetthisvalueto0toindicatethatthevaluecomputed via
GCVshouldbeused.Thecomputedvaluethenreplacesthe0intheeditwindow.
Foruniformandtrianglefilters,thesmoothingparameterrepresentsonehalfofthewidthof
thewindowusedinthe(weighted)movingaverage.
RemoveOutlierscheckbox
IfyouselecttheRemoveOutlierscheckbox,PCDMISattemptstoremoveallpointsagiven
numberofstandarddeviationsfromthesubstitutefeature(usuallyacircleoraline).Youspecify
thenumberofstandarddeviationsintheStandardDeviationMultiplebox.Seethe"Standard
DeviationMultiplebox".
Outlierremovalbehavessimilartofiltering:
IfyouselecttheLinearoption,outlierremovalisbasedonthe3ddistancefromthepointin
questiontotheline(bestfitlinethroughthedata).
IfyouselectthePolaroption,outlierremovaloccursintheradialdirection(paralleltothe
workplane).
StandardDeviationMultiplebox
TheStandardDeviationMultiple valuedeterminesthenumberofstandarddeviationsfromthe
substitute(leastsquares)featurebeyondwhichpointsareidentifiedasoutliers.Thedefaultvalue
is3.
ConstructinganAdjustedFilter
TheAdjustFilterconstructiontypeletsyouadjustscandatathatwasgatheredwhilescanning
aroundthesestandardgeometricfeatures:
Sphere
Cone
Cylinder
Generally,youwillperformthesescansusingananalogprobe,suchasanSP600.Ifyouimagine
ascanaroundthetopquarterofasphere,forexample,youwouldideallygetpointsthatliewithin
aplanethatcutsthroughthesphere,likethis:
AScanPath

However,inreality,astheprobescansaroundthesphereitisphysicallyimpossibleforallthe
pointstoremaininsidethecutplaneduetoanaturalriseandfallfloatingmotionoftheCMM.
TheAdjustFilterconstructioncantakethepreexistingscannedpointsand,usingtheknown
mathematicalpropertiesofthefeature,canbettercompensatethepointsgatheredduringthe
measurementprocess,adjustingthemtoliemorewithinthecutplane.YouusetheAdjustFilter
dialogboxtodothis.Toaccessthisdialogbox,selectInsert|Feature|Constructed|Adjust
Filterfromthemenubar.
AdjustFilterdialogbox
Thisdefinestheprimitive(simplegeometricfeature)being
FeatureType
scanned.YoucanonlyselectSphere,Cone,orCylinder.
Thisdefinesthetypeoffiltertouse.YoucanselectAxial
FilterType
orRadial(usedforConeandCylinderfeature).
Thisletsyoudefinetheinformationaboutthefeature.
XYZThefeature'snominalposition.
FeatureInfo
IJKThefeature'snormalvector.
Radius/AngleThissetstheRadiusoftheSphere
orCylinderortheangleoftheCone.
Thisareadefinesthelocationandvectorofthecutplane.
CutPlaneInfo XYZLocationofthecutplane
IJKVectorofthecutplane

ToAdjustScanData:
Tocorrectlyadjustthedatainthescan,youneedtogiveenoughinformationtomathematically
definethefeature.
1. Selecttheactualsphere,cone,orcylinderfeaturefromthelistoffeaturesinthe
AdjustFilterdialogbox.
2. Selectapreexistingscanfeaturefromthelist.Generallyyourscannedfeature
willbeapreexistinglinearclosedscan.Thescanmustbeofasphere,cone,or
cylinder.
3. ChoosethefeaturetypeyouscannedwiththeselectedscanfromtheFeature
Typelist.
4. FromtheFilterTypelist,choosethecorrectfiltertypeforaConeorCylinder
feature.Thefilterindicateshowtocompensatethedata.
IfyouarescanningperpendiculartotheaxisoftheCylinderorCone,
choosetheRadialfilter.Thisdefinesthecirclethatwillbeusedtoadjustthe
points.
Ifyouarescanningparalleltothefeature'saxis,choosetheAxialfilter.
Thisdefinesalinethatwillbeusedtoadjustthepoints.
5. Definethefeature'snominalXYZlocationbytypingthevaluesintheXYZboxes.
6. Definethefeature'snormalvectorbytypingthevaluesintheIJKboxes.
7. Definethefeature'ssizebytypingavalueintheRadiusorAnglebox.
8. IntheCutPlaneInfoarea,definethescan'scutplane.Onceyouspecifyallthe
nominalinformationforthescannedfeature,youcancreatetheconstruction.
9. ClickCreate.Allthepointsareprojectedintothecutplanealongthefeatures
theoreticaldefinition(takingintoaccounttheknowngeometry)ratherthanastraight
projectionalongthefeaturesnormalvector.

CreatingGenericFeatures
CreatingGenericFeatures:Introduction
Thischaptercoverstheabilitytoaddgenericfeaturesintoyoupartprogramandtheabilityto
createpointfeaturesattheprobe'scurrentposition.
Genericfeaturesareoftenusedtocontrolthemeasuredandtheoreticalvaluesofaspecific
featureinordertoperformcalculationsthatPCDMIS'sconstructedfeaturesdon'tcurrently
support.Forexample,supposeyouwanttocreatetheshortestlinebetweentwolines(3D)that
don'tintersect.PCDMISdoesn'thavethatconstructionoption.However,youcandothemath
yourselfusingthePCDMISExpressionlanguageandthenassignthetheoreticalandmeasured
valuesofagenericlinetotheappropriatevalues.Inthisway,youcancreateyourown
construction.
Thissectioncontainsthesemajortopics:
GenericFeatureCommandFormat
CreatingaGenericFeature
CreatingaReadPointfromtheProbe'sPosition
DescriptionofGenericFeatures
Usuallywhenmeasuringfeaturesonyourpart,PCDMISguessesthecorrectfeaturetype
dependentonthenumberofhitstakenandtheinherentfeaturetypeavailableontheimported
CADmodelitself.
GenericfeaturesarenotguessedbyPCDMIS,butareinsertedandcreatedbytheuser.
PurposeofGenericFeatures
Genericfeaturesareusedtoholdandtransformvalues.Thesevaluescanbeusedtocreatenew
constructedfeaturesormodifyexistingfeaturesviatheCALCULATIONcommand.
Forinformationoncreatingnewconstructedfeaturesseethe"ConstructingNewFeaturesfrom
ExistingFeatures"chapter.
GenericFeatureCommandFormat
AllgenericfeatureshaveXYZandIJKvalues,andmayhaveANGLE,DIAMETER/RADIUSor
DISTANCEvaluesdependingonthetypeassignedtothefeature.
TheNominal/MeasuredValuestogglebuttonindicatesthevaluesthatwillbeusedinthegeneric
feature.
CommandlineintheEditwindow(aconeisshown):
feature_name=GENERIC/TOG1,TOG2,TOG3,TOG4
NOM/XYZ,x_cord,y_cord,z_cord
MEAS/XYZ,x_cord,y_cord,z_cord
NOM/IJK,i_cord,j_cord,k_cord
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual CreatingGenericFeatures 763

MEAS/IJK,i_cord,j_cord,k_cord
[RADIUS/radius]|[DIAMETER/diameter]
[ANGLE/ang]
[DISTANCE/dist]
TOG1=POINT,PLANE,LINE,CIRCLE,SPHERE,CYLINDER,CONE,SLOTorNONE
TOG2=indicateswhetherthegenericfeatureisalignmentdependent,orindependent.
TOG3=indicateswhetherthefeatureusesPolarorRectangularcoordinates
TOG4=indicateswhetherthefeatureisanIN(hole)orOUT(stud)feature.
[ ]=optionsshowninbracketsarediscretionaryandareavailablebasedonthetype
assignedtothefeaturebyTOG1.RADIUSandDIAMETERaremutuallyexclusive
representationsforthevaluerepresentedastheradiusorthediameter.
CreatingaGenericFeature
Whileit'sentirelypossibletocreateagenericfeaturebytypingthewordGENERIC andpressing
TABintheEditwindow'sCommandmode,PCDMISprovidesamucheasierwaytocreatenew
genericfeatures.TheConstructGenericFeaturedialogbox(Insert|Feature|Generic)
providesamuchmoreintuitivewaytocreatenewgenericfeatures.
ToAddaGenericFeature
ToaddaGenericFeature:
1. PlaceyourcursorinanewlineoftheEditwindow.
2. AccesstheConstructGenericFeaturedialogboxbyoneofthefollowing:
SelecttheInsert|Feature|Genericmenuitem.
TypeGENERICintheCommandmodeoftheEditwindow.
SelectGenericFeaturefromthelistthatappearsinSummarymodeafter
selectingAddCommand.
3. Makethechangesyoudesire.
4. ClicktheOKbuttontocreatethefeature.PCDMISwillsavethegenericfeature
andupdatetheinformationforthefeatureintheEditwindowandtheGraphics
Displaywindow.
DescriptionoftheConstructGenericFeatureDialogBox
764 CreatingGenericFeatures PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

ConstructGenericFeaturedialogbox
Usethisdialogboxtocreatenewfeatures.YoucanaccessthisdialogboxbyselectingtheInsert
|Feature|Generic menuoption.Thefollowingtopicsdescribetheoptionsavailableonthis
dialogbox.
FeatureType
Thisareaallowsyoutocreatethesegenericfeaturetypes:
Point
Plane
Line
Circle
Sphere
Cylinder
RoundSlot
SquareSlot
Cone
None
Dependingonthetypeoffeatureselectedotherareasofthisdialogboxaredisabledorenabled
forselection.
DataType
TheDataTypeareaallowsyoutodeterminewhatvaluesofthegenericfeatureareaffectedby
thechangesmadeinthedialogbox.ThechoicesincludeMeasuredValuesortheNominal
Values.
XYZBoxes

TheX,Y,andZboxesallowyoutodeterminetheX,Y,andZpositionforthegenericfeature.
IJKBoxes
TheI,J,andKboxesallowyoutodeterminethevectorforthegenericfeature.
AlignmentDependentGenericFeature
Alignmentdependentgenericfeatureshavevaluesdependentuponthealignmentfromwhich
theyarereferenced.Theychangesothattheyarealwaysrelativetothecurrentalignment.Their
locationisconstantin3Dspace.
Examplein2D:Suppose0,0isyourmachineorigin.Analignmentissetupthatlocatesthe
originat5,5.Now,analignmentdependentfeatureisdefinedafterthealignmentwiththevalues
of2forxand2fory.Relativetothealignment,itsvaluesare2and2.Relativetotheorigin,its
valuesare7and7.Nomatterwhatalignmentthenumbersaregivenrelativeto,thepointwill
alwaysbelocatedat7,7relativetothetrueorigin.
AlignmentIndependentGenericFeature
Independentgenericfeatureshavevaluesthatremainthesameregardlessofwhichalignment
theyarereferencedfrom(thereforeconsidered"independent").Theirlocationin3Dspace
changesasthealignmentchanges.
Examplein2D:Next,considerthesameexampleof2,2(asshownintheAlignmentDependent
exampleabove)butthistimewithanalignmentindependentgenericfeature.Ifyouaskforthex
andyvaluesrelativetothealignment,theobjectwillreport2,2.Ifyouaskforitsvaluesrelativeto
theorigin,theobjectwillstillreport2,2.Theset2,2relativetothealignmentislocatedat7,7
relativetothetrueorigin.Theset2,2relativetotheoriginisexactlythat:2,2.Thus,thepoint
appearstomovein2Dspace.
Note:TheindependentoptionwasaddedsothatagenericfeaturenamedXAXIS,forexample,
couldalwaysbeusedasaninputfeaturetoaconstructionoradatumtoadimensionanditwould
alwayshavethevaluesof1,0,0independentofthecurrentalignment.
Polar/Rect
Thislistallowsyoutopickwhattypeofcoordinatesystemisusedinthegenericfeature.Youcan
selecteitherPOLARorRECT.
FeatureName
Thisboxallowsyoutonameyourfeature.ThisistheIDthatappearsontheFeatureIDlabeland
insidetheEditwindow.
Radius/Diameter
Thisallowsyoutodefineeitheraradiusoradiameterforacircularfeature.Selecteitherthe
RadiusoptionortheDiameteroption,andthentypeavalueintheboxprovided.
Angle
766 CreatingGenericFeatures PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

TheAngleboxallowsyoutodefinetheangleofaCone.Thisboxalsobecomesavailableifyou
selectedNone fromtheFeatureTypearea.
Distance
TheDistanceboxallowsyoutodefinetheheightorlengthofanygenericfeaturesthathavea
lengthorheight.
CreatingaReadPointfromtheProbe'sPosition
TheReadPointmenuoptiontellsPCDMIStoreadtheprobe'scurrentpositionandtoinserta
pointintheEditwindowatthereadinposition.
Thefollowingsyntaxillustrateswhat'sinsertedintotheEditwindow.
F_ID= FEAT/POINT,TOG1
THEO/x,y,z,i,j,k
ACTL/x,y,z,i,j,k
READPOINT
F_IDThisistheFeatureID.
TOG1ThistogglefieldthatallowsyoutoswitchbetweenthePOLRandRECTcoordinate
systems.
X,Y,ZThisistheX,Y,Zlocationfortheconstructedpoint.
I,J,KThisistheI,J,Kapproachvectoroftheprobe.
READPOINTIdentifiesthisfeatureasareadpointcreatedfromtheprobe'sposition.
BelowisanexampleofaReadPointfeature:
F7 =FEAT/POINT,RECT
THEO/7.4982,2.0111,0.95,0,0,1
ACTL/7.4982,2.0111,0.95,0,0,1
READPOINT/

CreatingandUsingAlignments
CreatingandUsingAlignments:Introduction
Onceatiphasbeenactivatedandfeaturesmeasured,acoordinatesystem(oralignment)can
becreated.PCDMISprovidesyouwithavarietyoftoolsforcreatingandmanagingcoordinate
systems.Toaccessthetoolsthatallowyoutoworkwithalignments,selectthedesiredmenu
optionsavailablefromtheInsert|Alignmentsubmenu.
Themajortopicsdiscussedinthischapterdescribehowtousethesetoolstoeffectivelycreate
andmanagealignmentsinyourpartprogram.Thesetopicsinclude:
AlignmentOverview
AlignmentCommandFormat
DescriptionoftheAlignmentUtilitiesDialogBox
Creatinga321Alignment
CreatingaBestFitAlignment
CreatinganIterativeAlignment
SavinganAlignment
RecallinganExistingAlignment
UsinganAlignmentinsideLoops
EquatinganAlignment
EquatingCADtoMeasuredPartData
PerformingaLeapFrogOperation
ChangingAlignmentNominalValues
CreatingaBundleAlignment
AlignmentOverview
Analignmentallowsyoutodefineyourpart'slocationandorientationin3Dspace.Itallowsyour
measuringmachinetoknowwherethepartislocated.Apartwithoutanyalignmenthassix
degreesoffreedom:
Threedegreesofrotation(abouttheX,Y,andZaxes).
Threedegreesoftranslation(origininX,Y,andZaxes).
ADatumReferenceFrame(DRF)constrainsthesixdegreesoffreedom,fixingthepartin3D
space.
ApartalignmentrepresentstheDRFspecifiedonthedrawing.Theprimary,secondary,and
tertiarydatumsdefinetheDRFandidentifythefeaturestobemeasuredandusedtocreatethe
alignment.
ThethreedegreesofrotationareconstrainedbytheI,J,Kvector(s)ofthedatum
feature(s).
ThethreedegreesoftranslationareconstrainedbytheX,Y,Zlocation(s)ofthedatum
feature(s).
Alignment Definition Notes

Command
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual CreatingandUsingAlignments 769

LEVEL Constrainstwodegreesof Thiswillalwaysbetheprimarydatum

rotationsuchthattheleveled andmustbea3Dfeaturewitha
axismatchesthevectorofthe vector.
selectedfeature.
TypicalFeatures:Plane,Cylinder,
Coneoraconstructed3Dfeature.
ROTATE Constrainsonedegreeof Thiswillalwaysbethesecondaryor
rotationabouttheleveledaxis tertiarydatumandmustbea2Dor3D
suchthattherotatedaxis featurewithavector.
matchesthevectorofthe
selectedfeature. TypicalFeatures: Plane,Line,
Cylinder,Coneoraconstructed
2D/3Dfeature.
Youcanalsoselectanytwopoint
typefeaturestosimulatealinethat
canbeusedtoRotate.ForExample:
twopoints,twocircles,twospheres,
oracombinationthereof.The
directionofthesimulatedlineisbased
ontheorderoftheselectedfeatures.
ORIGIN Constrainsthreedegreesof Thissetstheoriginonprimary,
translation(origin)inX,Yand secondary,andtertiarydatumsoras
Zaxis. perdrawingrequirements.
TypicalFeatures:Anyfeature.
AlignmentTips:
LEVELfirst,ROTATEsecond,andthensettheORIGINfortheX,Y,andZaxes.Never
RotatebeforeLeveling!
AlwaysLEVELbeforemeasuring2Dfeatures(linesandcircles).
AlwaysLEVELandROTATEbeforemeasuringpoints(measuredpointinX,YorZaxis)
Thereisnolimitonthenumberofalignmentssavedinaprogram.
AnalignmentcanbesavedtoafileusingtheSAVEALIGNMENTcommand.Thisis
typicallydonetocreateafullyautomatedprogramdependentonaholdingfixtureforthe
part.
ForExample:
1. Createaprogramthatestablishesanalignmentonafixture,andthensavethe
alignmenttoafile.
2. Createapartprogram,RECALLthealignmentfileatthebeginningofprogram
andsettheprogramtoruninDCCmodebeforemeasuringthefirstfeature.
3. Duringpartprogramexecution,theCMMpauses,promptstheoperatortoload
part,thenautomaticallymeasuresthepart(nomanualalignment).
RightHandRuleofRotationPointyourrighthand'sthumbinthepositivedirectionof
theaxisyouarerotatingabout(+X,+Y,or+Z).Thedirectionyourhandnaturallycurlsis
thepositiverotationaboutthataxis.Negativerotationistheoppositedirection.
AlignmentCommandFormat
770 CreatingandUsingAlignments PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

AllalignmentsaredisplayedinthefollowingformatintheEditwindow'scommandmode.There
willbeslightvariationsthatareexplainedmorethoroughlyinthefollowingsections.
Forexample
A1=ALIGNMENT/START,RECALL:,LIST=YES/NO
ALIGNMENT/LEVEL,'feature_name'
ALIGNMENT/ROTATE,XPLUS,TO,feat_name,ABOUT,ZPLUS
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,XAXIS,feature_name
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,YAXIS,feature_name
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,ZAXIS,feature_name
ALIGNMENT/END
See"Conventions" belowforfieldrules.
Descriptionsofthealignmentcommandsareavailableattheselocations:
FortheStartcommand,see"StartAlignmentCommand".
FortheEndcommand,see"EndAlignmentCommand".
FortheRecallcommand,see"Recall".
FortheLevelcommand,see"Level".
FortheRotatecommand,see"Rotate".
FortheTranslatecommand,see"Origin".
StartAlignmentCommand
Thelinethatstartsthealignmentis:
ALIGN_ID=ALIGNMENT/START,RECALL:ID,LIST=YES/NO
Changeablefields:
"Align_ID"
ThisistheIDthealignmentwillbestoredas.TheIDisassignedbytheoperator.Adefault
namewillbeassignedifanIDisnotspecified.Example:A1.
"ID"
IDisapreviousinternalalignmentthatwillberecalledtostartanewalignment.Notethatin
version3.6andaboveyoucanalsousetheUSE_ACTIVE_ALIGNMENT keywordinthisfield
tocausePCDMIStousetheactivealignmentinsteadofrecallingastoredalignment.Thisis
usefulwhenusingalignmentswithloopingandconditionalbranching.Seethe"Usingan
AlignmentInsideLoops"topic.
"LIST"
SettingthisfieldtoYESorNOletsyoudeterminewhetherornotPCDMISshoulddisplaythe
alignmentIDintheAlignmentslistontheSettingstoolbarforlaterinsertioninthepart
program.ThedefaultsettingisYES.SettingthisfieldtoNOisusefulifyouhavealotof
temporaryalignmentsandyoudon'twantthemalllistedintheAlignmentslistonthe
Settingstoolbar(see"ActiveAlignmentList").
EndAlignmentCommand

ALIGNMENT/END
Therearenochangeablefieldsinthiscommand.Thiscommandmustbeusedwheneverthe
ALIGNMENT/START commandhasbeenused.
AddingLines
Toaddaline,placethecursorinthedesiredlocationandpresstheENTERkey.Beginbytyping
thewordALIGNMENT.PresstheTABkey.PCDMISaddsthenewlinedependingonwherethe
cursorislocated.Ifthecursorisinthemiddleofacommand,anewlineiscreatedbelowthe
currentline.Ifthecursorisplacedatthebeginningofacommandline,PCDMISwillplacethe
newlineabovethecurrentcursorposition.
Thefirstnewlinethatiscreatedwillalwaysdisplaytheminorcommand:LEVEL.Enteringanew
commandcaneasilychangethis.Additionallinescreatedaftertheinitiallinewilldisplaythemost
recentcommand.
DeletingLines
Todeleteablankline,presstheDOWNARROWorENTERkey.Thelinemayalsobe
highlightedanddeleted.(See"CommandModeKeyboardFunctions"inthe"UsingtheEdit
Window"chapter.)
Conventions
Allalignmenttextcommandsareinamacrotypeformatwithastartandend
command.
TheALIGNMENT/STARTcommandisalwaysthefirstlineandthe
ALIGNMENT/ENDcommandisthelastlineofthealignmentstatement.
Allalignmentfunctionsmustbeinsidethestartandendcommands.Theone
exceptionisthe"ALIGNMENT/RECALL"command,inwhichthestartandend
commandsareexecutedasone.
Ineachofthecommands(except"Start,""End"and"Recall")thesecondfield
allowsyoutochangefromonechoicetoanother.Alloftheotheroperatordependent
fieldswillthenchangetorepresentthefieldthatiscurrentlyactive.
DescriptionoftheAlignmentUtilitiesDialogBox

AlignmentUtilitiesdialogbox
Ifyouarecreatinganewpartprogram,thedialogboxwilldisplaytheSTARTUPcommandthefirst
timetheAlignmentUtilitiesdialogboxisopened(Insert|Alignment|New).
IfthecursorislocatedinthelastlineoftheEditwindow,thealignmentIDwilldisplayanew
identificationandthecurrentalignment.
Forexample,inCommandmode,theEditwindowreads:
AlignmentID=A5
RecallAlignmentID=A4
YoualsohavetheoptionofrecallinganyavailablealignmentlistedintheRecalldropdownbox.
Onlyalignmentscreatedpriortothecurrentcursorspositionwillbeavailable.
ALIGNMENT/START
ALIGNMENT/BF2D,'feat_id'
ALIGNMENT/END
Note:AnalignmentisnotconsideredcompleteduntiltheOKbuttonisselectedandPCDMIS
updatestheActiveAlignmentListbox.
Oncethealignmentprocedureiscomplete,PCDMISwillindicatetherotationofthealignmentin
theleftcorneroftheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Asthegraphicalimageofthepartisscaledtofit
thescreen,thealignmentoffsetbecomesaccurate(oncetheaxesreferenceleavesthecornerof
thewindow).
Ifanyofyouraxesarenotconstrainedonyourcreatedalignment,PCDMISwillwarnyouby
causingtheredXYandZoriginsymbol(ortrihedron)tocontinuallymovebetweenthoseaxeson
theGraphicsDisplaywindow.Oncethealignmentiscompletelyconstrained,PCDMISdisplays
thetrihedroninafixedlocationtorepresentthealignmentposition:

AlignmentTrihedron
PCDMISallowsyoutoaccesstheAlignmentdialogboxfromwithintheEditwindow.Todothis:
1. OpentheEditwindow(View|EditWindow).
2. IntheEditwindownavigatetotheAlignmentblock.
3. Placeyourcursoronthefirstline.
4. PresstheshortcutkeyF9.Thedialogboxassociatedwiththealignmentblock
willappear.
Thedialogboxwilldisplaythecurrentfeature'salignment,allowingyoutomakechanges.
AlignmentID
ThisboxdisplaystheIDforthecurrentalignment.
Tochangethisvalue:
1. Highlightthepreviousvalue.
2. TypeinanewID.
3. PresstheTABkey.
ActiveAlignmentList
Duringalignmentcreationoranytimeyouwishtovieworeditanalignment,thislistboxdisplays
thevariouscomponentsmakingupthecurrentalignment,suchasthealignment'sID,anyrecall
alignmentsused,thetypeofalignment,andthefeaturesusedbythealignment'saxestoperform
itsrotationandtranslation.
EditinganAlignment

WhileyoucaneditanyalignmentalreadycreatedinsidetheSummaryorCommandmodesofthe
Editwindow,youcanalsoeditanexistingalignmentbyclickingonanelementinthislistand
makingtheneededchange.Onceyouselectanitem,theappropriateareaoftheAlignment
Utilitiesdialogboxbecomesavailabletoedit.Aftermakingyourchange,clickOKtomodifythe
alignment.
Forexample,ifyouwantedtomodifythefeaturetowhichthealignmentwasleveled,youwould
selectthe"leveledto"linefromthelist.Asshowninthefollowingfigure,PCDMISwoulddisplay
thecurrentfeatureusedforthelevelingportionofthealignment,andthenitwouldmakethe
Levelbuttonandlistofaxesavailable.
ExampleoftheActiveAlignmentlistusedtoeditanexistingalignment
Simplyselectthenewfeature,andaxis,clickLevel,andPCDMISupdatestheActive
Alignment listtoreflectyourchange.ThenclickOKtosavethechange.
DropDownAxes
Thesedropdownlists,allowyoutoselectaxesthatareusedinthedifferentstagesofcreatinga
newalignment.Theavailableaxesforeachdropdownlistare:
XPLUS
XMINUS
YPLUS
YMINUS
ZPLUS
ZMINUS
Level

TheLevelbuttonallowsyoutoestablishtheorientationofthenormalaxisofthecurrentworking
plane.
Tochooseafeatureto"level"to:
1. SpecifythefeaturetobeusedfromtheFeatureListbox.
2. ClicktheLeveloption.
Youmayalsospecifytheaxistobeusedinestablishingtheorientationbyselectingitfromthe
dropdownlist.
ALIGNMENT/LEVEL,ZPLUS,'feat_id'
Changeablefields:
"ZPLUS"
ThisisafieldthatallowsyoutoswitchbetweenthefieldsZPLUS,XPLUS,YPLUS,ZMINUS,
XMINUS,andYMINUSintheEditwindow.Thisfieldrepresentsthedirectionofthespecified
axisthatthefeatureisleveledto.
"feat_id"
Thealignmentlevelstothespecifiedfeature.
Example:PLANE1.
Rotate
TheRotatebuttonallowsyoutorotatethedefinedaxisoftheworkplanetothefeatureorparallel
tothefeature.PCDMISrotatesthedefinedaxisaroundthecentroidusedastheorigin.Youcan
definewhichaxistorotateandwhichaxistorotatearound.
Tochooseafeaturetorotateto:
1. SelecttheproperreferencefeaturefromtheFeatureListbox.
2. ClicktheRotatebutton.
ALIGNMENT/ROTATE,XPLUS,to,'feat_id',about,ZPLUS
Changeablefields:
"XPLUS","ZPLUS"
ThisisatogglefieldthatallowsyoutotogglebetweenthesefieldsintheEditwindow:
ZPLUS
XPLUS
YPLUS

ZMINUS
XMINUS
YMINUS
PCDMISwillsetthisaxisparalleltothespecifiedinputfeature.Itwillthenrotateaboutthe
secondaxis.
"feat_id"
Thealignmentrotatesparalleltothespecifiedfeature.Example:LINE1.
RotatebyanOffset
Torotatebyanoffset,selecttheOFFSEToptionbytypingthedesiredangleintheOffsetAngle
box.Thenewvaluewillreplacetheoldrotationoffset.
ALIGNMENT/ROTATE_OFFSET,'numeric_value'
Changeablefield:"numeric_value"
Thisisthevaluethealignmentwillberotatedbyindegreesofangle(forexample14.36).
Therotationwillbeabouttheaxis,perpendiculartotheactiveworkplane.Therotationwillbe
clockwiseiftheangleisnegativeandcounterclockwiseiftheangleispositive.
RotatetoaLinebetweenTwoCircles
Torotatetothelinebetweentwocircles,selecttwocirclesintheFeatureListboxandclickthe
Rotatebutton.Asintheothertypeofrotate,selecttheaxistorotate,theaxistorotatearound,
andentertheoffsetvalue(ifdesired).
ALIGNMENT/ROTATE_CIRCLE,ID,ID
Changeablefields:"ID"
Thisisoneofthetwoidstowhichtorotate.
SetOriginOffsetDistance
TheOffsetDistanceboxallowsyoutosettheoriginbyaspecificoffsetdistance.
TousetheSetOriginOffset:
1. ClickintheOffsetDistancebox.
2. Typeadesiredvaluefortheoffsetdistance.
3. PresstheTABkey.

4. ClicktheSetOriginbutton.
Origin
TheOriginbuttonallowsyoutomovethepartorigintoaspecificlocationorbyaspecificoffset.
Tomovethepartorigin:
1. Choosetheoriginthatistobemovedbyselectingtheappropriatecheckbox(X,
Y,Z,orAUTO).
2. ClicktheOriginbutton.AUTOwillchoosetheaxestomovebasedonthefeature
type,theorientationofthatfeature,andtheworkplane.
MovetoaFeature
Tomovetoafeature,simplyselectthefeature.
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,ZAXIS,'feat_id'
Changeablefields:
"ZAXIS"
ThisisEditwindowfieldallowsyoutoswitchbetweenthefields ZAXIS,XAXIS,andYAXIS.
Thisfieldrepresentstheaxisthattheoriginwillbemovedalongtomatchtheinput'feat_id'.
"feat_id"
Thisisthefeaturethealignmentwillsettheoriginto,alongthegivenaxis.Example:
CIRCLE1.
MovebyanOffset
Tomovebyanoffset,selecttheOFFSEToptionbyenteringanewoffsetvalue.
ALIGNMENT/TRANS_OFFSET,ZAXIS,'numeric_value'
Changeablefields:
"ZAXIS"
ThisEditwindowfieldallowsyoutotogglebetweenthefieldsZAXIS,XAXIS,andYAXIS.
Thesefieldsrepresenttheaxisthattheoriginwillmovealongbytheinput'numeric_value'.
"numeric_value"
Thisisthevaluethealignmentwillbeoffsetby(forexample:5.12).Thepositivevaluemoves
inthepositivedirection,andthenegativevaluemovesinthenegativedirection.
Recall
TheRecallbuttonrecallssavedalignmentsandusestheminyourcurrentpartprogram.Seethe
"RecallinganExistingAlignment".

Iterative
TheIterativebuttonaccessestheIterativeAlignment dialogbox.Usethisdialogboxtocreate
Iterativealignments.Seethe"CreatinganIterativeAlignment".
BestFit
TheBestFitbuttonaccessestheBestFitdialogbox.UsethisdialogboxtocreateBestFit
alignments.Seethe"CreatingaBestFitAlignment".
AutoAlign
TheAutoAlignbuttonallowsyoutoselectthreefeaturesfromwhichPCDMISwillautomatically
createanalignment.Theorderinwhichthethreefeaturesareselectedisextremelyimportant.
Thefirstofthethreefeatureswillbeusedtoestablishtheorientationofthe
normalaxis tothecurrentworkingplane.
Thecurrentworkingplanewillthenberotatedtothesecondfeature.
Lastly,thepartoriginwillbesetaccordingtothethirdfeaturetype.
Forexample,ifyouselecta:
Plane,LineandaPointwithaZPLUSworkplane:
TheplanewillestablishtheZPLUSorientationofthepart.Themeasuredlinebecomesthe
XPLUSmajoraxis.TheoriginissetwiththeZzeroequaltothatoftheplane.TheYisequal
tothatofthelineandtheXisequaltothatofthepoint.
Plane,LineandaMeasuredCirclewithaYMINUSworkplane:
TheplanewillestablishtheYMINUSorientationofthepart.Themeasuredlinebecomesthe
ZMINUSmajoraxis.TheoriginissetwiththeYzeroequaltothatoftheplane.TheXandZ
zeros(origins)areequaltothecenterofthecircle.
IfPCDMISisunabletocreateanewalignmentbasedonthethreeselectedfeatures,apop
windowwillappearwithanerrormessage.
Important:InanAutoAlignmenttheoriginofthealignmentisbasedonthethirdfeatureused.
Ifit'sapoint,PCDMISsetstheaxesorigin.Ifnot,PCDMISchecksthefeature'sdefaultaxes.
Ifit'sanAutoLine,PCDMISreturnsX,Y,andZandsetstheoriginontheX,Y,andZ.
Ifit'saMeasuredLine,PCDMISdetermineswhichaxistheapproachvectormostclosely
followsandthenzerosouttheothertwoaxes.
Ifit'sanAutoCircle,PCDMISsetsallthreeaxes.
Ifit'saMeasuredCircle,PCDMISlooksattheworkplaneandonlysetstwoaxes.

CADEqualsPart
TheCadEqualsPartbuttonishelpfulwhenusingCADdataonline.
TosettheCADequaltothepart:
1. Measurefeaturesonthepartorfixture.
2. Usethealignmentoptions(LEVEL,ROTATEandSETORIGIN)tocreatean
alignment.
3. SelecttheCadEqualsPartbutton.
PCDMISwillcreateabridgebetweentheCADdataandthemeasureddata.Thisallowsthe
measureddatatobedisplayedontopoftheCADdata.ItalsousestheCADdatatohelpinspect
thepart.Thisoptionisonlyavailableafteracreatedalignmentplacesthepartorigin/orientationat
thesamelocationastheCADorigin/orientation.
AftertheCadEqualsPartbuttonisselectedforapart,theCADEqualsPartmenuitemwillbe
selected.
Creatinga321Alignment
Theinformationpresentedheredescribesthestepsyou'llneedtotaketocreateastandard321
alignment.
Hint:ClickthisiconfromtheWizardstoolbar toaccessPCDMIS's321AlignmentWizard.
Step1:MeasuretheAlignmentFeatures
Thefirstthingyouwillneedtodoismeasurethefeaturesusedtocreatethe321alignment.A
321alignmentusesthreestandardfeaturetypesforitscreation.Thenumbers3,2,and1refer
totheminimumnumberofhitsyouneedtotakeoninordertomeasurethesefeatures.
MeasureaPlane.Thefirstfeatureisthelevelingfeatureandshouldbeaplane
composedofthreehits.PCDMISwillleveltheparttothisfeature.Thisdefinesthe
originanddirectionofthefirstaxis(usuallytheZaxis).
MeasureaLine.Thesecondfeatureistherotationfeatureandshouldbealine
composedoftwohits.PCDMISwillrotatetheparttothisfeature,orientingthe
secondaxis.Thesecondhitofthisfeatureshouldbeinthepositivedirectionofthe
axis,relativetoyourfirsthit.Thisfeaturedefinesthedirectionofthesecondaxis
(usuallytheXaxis)andtheoriginofthethirdaxis(usuallytheYaxis).
MeasureaPoint.Thethirdandfinalfeatureistheoriginfeaturecomposedof
justonehit.SincePCDMIScreatestheoriginforthisaxisfromyourfirsttwo
features,thethirdpointmerelyestablishestheoriginoftheentirealignment.PC
DMISwilltranslatetheparttothisfeature,makingittheX=0,Y=0,andZ=0location.
Onceyou'vemeasuredthenecessaryfeatures,you'rereadytocreateyouralignment.

Step2:Level,Rotate,andTranslatetotheFeatures
ThisstepusestheAlignmentUtilitiesdialogboxtolevel,rotate,andtranslateyourparttothe
featuresmeasuredinthepreviousstep.
1. AccesstheAlignmentUtilitiesdialogbox(Insert|Alignment|New).Notice
thattheFeaturelistshowsallthepossiblefeaturesthatcanbeusedtolevel,rotate,
ortranslatethepart.
2. FromtheFeaturelist,clickontheplanefeatureyoucreatedinthepreviousstep.
OncePCDMISselectsthefeature,selecttheaxistowhichPCDMISshouldlevel
thepart,andthenclicktheLevelbutton.PCDMISwilldisplayalineoftextinsidethe
AlignmentUtilitiesdialogboxinformingyouofthefeatureandaxistobeusedinthe
levelingprocess.
3. FromtheFeaturelist,clickonthelinefeatureyoucreatedinthepreviousstep.
OncePCDMISselectsthefeature,selectwhataxistorotatetoandwhataxisto
rotateabout,andthenclicktheRotatebutton.Again,PCDMISdisplaysthefeature
andaxistobeusedfortherotationprocess.
4. FromtheFeaturelist,clickonthepointfeatureyoucreatedinthepreviousstep.
OncePCDMISselectsthefeature,selecttheappropriateaxischeckboxto
determinewhichaxis(oraxes)youwanttomovetothisoriginfeature,andclickthe
Originbutton.
Note:Alternately,youcanselectallthreeofthefeaturesfromtheFeaturelistandclicktheAuto
AlignbuttontohavePCDMISautomaticallyleveltothefirstfeatureselected,rotatetothe
secondfeatureselected,andtranslatetheaxestothethirdfeatureselected.
Nowyou'rereadytocompletethealignmentcreationprocess.
Step3:CompletingtheAlignment
Tocompletethealignment:
1. Ensurethattheinformationinthedialogboxiscorrect.
2. Whenyou'reready,clicktheOKbutton.PCDMISclosesthedialogbox.Ifthis
newalignmentdiffersfromtheexistingalignment,PCDMISwilldisplayaprompt
askingifyouwanttoupdateaffectedcommandsintheEditwindowtousethenew
alignment.Ifthealignmentdoesn'tchange(orthechangeistoosmalltomatter),PC
DMISsimplyinsertsthealignmentwithoutdisplayingthepromptorupdatingany
commands.
3. PCDMISinsertsthecodeforthealignmentintotheEditwindow,andgraphically
showsthealignmentontheCADmodelinsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
4. Youcaneditthealignment'scodeatanytimebyusingthetechniquesdescribed
inthe"UsingtheEditwindow"chapter.
CreatinganIterativeAlignment

IterativeAlignmentdialogbox
Inautomotiveterms,an WhentheIterativebuttonisselectedfromtheAlignmentUtilities
IterativeAlignmentwillgive dialogbox(Insert|Alignment|New)
"body"coordinates. ,PCDMISwilldisplaytheIterativeAlignmentdialogbox.This
dialogboxprovidesawayforyoutothreedimensionally"bestfit"
themeasureddatatothenominalpoints(orsurfaces,ifavailable).
Thistechniquerequiresatleastthreefeaturestobemeasured.
Certainfeaturetypes,suchaspointsandlines,havepoorthree
dimensionallocations.Ifoneofthesetypesoffeaturesisselected,
additionalfeaturesareneededtoprovideaccuratemeasureddata.
Thefirstsetoffeaturesestablishestheorientationofthenormalaxisofthe
currentworkingplanebyfittingaplanethroughthefeaturecentroids.Atleastthree
featuresmustbeusedinthissection(LEVEL3+).
Thenextsetoffeaturesrotatesthedefinedaxisoftheworkplanetothefeatures,
fittingalinethroughthefeatures.Atleasttwofeaturesneedtobeusedinthissection
(ROTATE2+).
Ifnofeatureshavebeenmarked,thealignmentwillusefeaturesfromtheLEVEL
section.(ThetwofeaturesusedfromtheLEVELsectionarethesecondandthird
fromlastfeature.)
Thelastsetoffeaturestranslatesthepartorigintoaspecificlocation(SET
ORIGIN1).
Ifnofeatureshavebeenmarked,thealignmentwillusethelastfeaturefromthe
LEVELsection.
UnderstandingIterativeAlignments
Toproperlycreateyouriterativealignment,firstconsidertheinformationpresentedherethese
topicswillhelpyoutounderstandimportantaspectsofiterativealignments.
IterativeAlignmentCommandFormat

ALIGNMENT/ITERATE,'feat_id'
,PNTTARGETRAD=n,STARTLABEL=label,FIXTURETOL=n,ERRORLABEL=label
MEASALLFEAT=NO/ALWAYS/ONCE,
MAXITERATIONS=n
LEVELAXIS=axis,ROTATEAXIS=axis,ORIGINAXIS=axis
LEVEL=id,id,id,...
ROTATE=id,id,...
ORIGIN=id,...
Changeablefield:"feat_id"
Thesearethefeaturesthatwillbeusedtodotheiterativealignment.Currently,atleastthree
differentfeaturesmustbeselectedforthecalibration.Featuresthatcanestablishadatum
axisinmorethanonedirection(suchasacircleoraslot)canbespecifiedinmorethanone
datumaxis.Forexample,acirclecouldbeusedbothtoestablishthelevelaxisaswellasthe
rotationaxis.Typically,measuredpoints(includingvectorandsurfacepoints)canonlybe
usedtoestablishonedatumaxis.
PNTTARGETRAD=Thisoptionspecifiesthetargetradiusvalueforthemeasuredpoint
featuresusedinthealignment.See"PointTargetRadius"forcompleteinformation.
STARTLABEL=PCDMISstartsatthelabelspecifiedherewhenremeasuringalignment
features.YoumustsetMEASALLFEATtoALWAYSforthistowork.See"StartLabel"for
completeinformation.
FIXTURETOL=ThisisthefittingtolerancethatPCDMISusestocomparemeasured
alignmentfeaturestotheirtheoreticalvalues.See"FixtureTolerance"forcomplete
information.
ERRORLABEL=PCDMISgoestothelabelspecifiedherewhenthefixturetolerancelevel
isexceeded.Ifyoudon'tdefinealabel,PCDMISwillgenerateanerrormessageshowingthe
amountoferroroneachoftheinputfeatures.See"ErrorLabel"forcompleteinformation.
LEVELAXIS=PCDMISusestheLEVELinputfeaturestosettheorientationandoriginof
theaxisspecifiedhere.See"Level"forcompleteinformation.
ROTATEAXIS=PCDMISusestheROTATEinputfeaturestosettherotationoftheaxis
specifiedhereaboutthelevelaxis.TheoriginoftheaxisspecifiedhereisalsosetbyPC
DMISusingtheROTATE inputfeatures.See"Rotate"forcompleteinformation.
ORIGINAXIS=PCDMISusestheORIGINinputfeaturestosettheoriginoftheaxis
specifiedhere.See"Origin"forcompleteinformation.
MEASUREALLFEATURES= ThisoptiondetermineshowPCDMISproceedsbyeitherre
measuringtheinputfeaturesorautomaticallyreexecutingaportionofthepartprogramin
DCCmode.Therearethreepossiblesettingsforthisoption.Theyare:
NO. See"PointTargetRadius"forcompleteinformation.
ONCE. See"MeasAllOnce"forcompleteinformation.
ALWAYS. See"MeasAllAlways"forcompleteinformation.

MAXITERATIONS=ThisoptiondeterminesthemaximumnumberofiterationsthatPC
DMISwillperformforthisiterativealignment.
IterativeAlignmentRules
Therearesomegeneralruleswhendoinganiterativealignment:
PCDMISneedsboththemeasuredvaluesandtheoreticalvaluesforeachoftheelementsinthe
sets.Thenormalvectorsforthefirstsetofelementsmustbeapproximatelyparallel.Theone
exceptiontothisruleisifonlythreefeaturesarebeingusedintheset.
Ifmeasuredpoints(VECTOR,EDGE,orSURFACE)arebeingused,thenallthreesetsof
elementsareneeded(threefeaturestoLevel,twofeaturestoRotate,andonefeaturetoSet
Origin)todefinethealignment.Anyfeaturetypecanbeused,butthreedimensionalelementsare
betterdefinedelementsandthereforeimprovetheaccuracy.Someofthepossible3Delements
aresheetmetalcircle,slot,cylinder,sphere,oracornerpoint.
Note:Thesheetmetalcircle,slot,andcylinderneedatleastthreesamplehits.
Thedifficultyofusingmeasuredpointsliesinnotknowingwheretotakethemeasurementuntil
afterthealignment.Thisposesaproblemasthepointsmustbemeasuredbeforethealignment.
Threedimensionalelements,bydefinitionforthisuse,areelementsthatcanbemeasured
preciselythefirsttime.
Further,ifmeasuredpoints(VECTORS,EDGE,orSURFACE)arebeingused,thenormal
vectorsofthefeaturesintheROTATEsetmusthavenormalvectorsthatareapproximately
perpendiculartothevectorsofthefeaturesintheLEVELset.ThefeaturesintheORIGINset
musthaveanormalvectorthatisapproximatelyperpendiculartoboththevectorsfromthe
LEVELsetandtheROTATEset.
Ifmeasuredpoints(VECTORS,EDGEorSURFACE)arebeingusedaspartoftheset,PCDMIS
mayaskthattheyberemeasurediftheyweretakentoofarfromthenominallocation.PCDMIS
first"bestfits"themeasureddatatothenominaldata.Next,PCDMIScheckstoseehowfaroff
eachmeasuredpointis.IfthedistanceisgreaterthantheamountspecifiedinthePointTarget
Radiusbox(seebelow),PCDMISwillrequestthatthepointberemeasured.PCDMISineffect
putsacylindricaltolerancezonearoundthetheoreticallocationofeachvector,surface,oredge
point.Theradiusofthistolerancezoneisthepointtolerancespecifiedinthedialog.PCDMISwill
continuetoremeasurepointfeaturesuntilallthemeasuredpointsfallinto'tolerance'.The
tolerancezoneonlyaffectsmeasuredpoints.
AspecialcapabilityofPCDMISallowsthecenterpointofaslottoslideupordowntheaxisas
needed.Forthisreason,aniterativealignmentcannotconvergewhenaslotisusedaspartofthe
ORIGINset.ItispossibletouseaslotaspartoftheORIGINsetbyfirstconstructingapointfrom
theslotandthenusingthatconstructedpointintheORIGINset.
AslotisnotrecommendedaspartoftheORIGINsetofaniterativealignment.
Typeof Minimum#ofFeaturesneeded:
Feature
used:
Circle 3circles: Thismethoduses3DCCcirclesforthealignment.
Line Thisfeaturetypeisnotrecommended.

Point 6points: Thepointsareusedasa321alignment.

Slot ThisfeaturetypeisnotrecommendedaspartoftheORIGINset.
Sphere 3 Thismethoduses3setspheresforthealignment.
spheres:
ToCreateanIterativeAlignment
Hint:ClickthisiconfromtheWizardstoolbartoaccessPCDMIS'sIterativeAlignmentWizard.
Tocreateaniterativealignment:
1. AccesstheAlignmentUtilitiesdialogbox(Insert|Alignment|New).
2. ClicktheIterativebutton.TheIterativeAlignmentdialogboxappears.Youwill
usethisdialogboxtocreatetheiterativealignment.See"DescriptionoftheIterative
AlignmentDialogBox"ifyouneedinformationaboutthedialogbox.
3. FromtheFeatureListbox,selectthefirstsetoffeatures(atleastthreefeatures)
tobeusedinestablishingtheorientationofthenormalaxisonthecurrentworking
plane.
4. VerifythattheLeveloptionisselected.
5. ClicktheSelectbutton.
6. Selectwiththemousethesecondsetoffeatures(atleasttwofeatures)tobe
usedintherotationprocess.
7. VerifythattheRotateoptionisselected.
9. Selectthefinalsetoffeatures(atleastonefeature)thatindicatethedesired
locationofthepartorigin.(Thesamefeaturesmaybeusedinmorethanone
process.)
10. VerifythattheOriginoptionisselected.
12. ClicktheOKbutton.TheIterativeAlignmentdialogboxcloses.
13. ClicktheOKbuttonontheAlignmentUtilitiesdialogboxtocompletethe
alignment.Thedialogboxcloses.Ifthisnewalignmentdiffersfromtheexisting
alignment,PCDMISwilldisplayapromptaskingifyouwanttoupdateaffected
commandsintheEditwindowtousethenewalignment.Ifthealignmentdoesn't
change(orthechangeistoosmalltomatter),PCDMISsimplyinsertsthealignment
withoutdisplayingthepromptorupdatinganycommands.
Note:SelectingtheLevel,Rotation,orOriginoptionsafterthey'vealreadybeenassigned
featureswilldisplaytheindicatedinputfeaturesforthatoption.
Afterthisprocessiscomplete,PCDMISwillthreedimensionally"bestfit"themeasureddataand
displaythenewalignmentintheGraphicsDisplaywindowandintheEditwindow.Seethe
"IterativeAlignmentCommandFormat".
DescriptionoftheIterativeAlignmentDialogBox
ThefollowingdescribestheitemsincludedintheIterativeAlignmentdialogbox.
Level

TheLevel3optionisusedinconjunctionwithatleastthreefeaturesselectedfromtheFeature
Listbox.Thissetoffeaturesestablishestheorientationofthenormalaxisofthecurrentworking
planebyfittingaplanethroughthefeaturecentroids.
Atleastthreefeatures mustbeusedtolevel.
Rotate
TheRotate2optionisusedinconjunctionwithatleasttwofeaturesselectedfromtheFeature
Listbox.Thissetoffeaturesrotatesthedefinedaxisoftheworkplanetothefeatures,fittinga
linethroughthefeatures.
Atleasttwofeaturesneedtobeusedtorotate.
Note:Ifnofeatureshavebeenmarked,thealignmentwillusefeaturesfromtheLEVELsection.
(ThetwofeaturesusedfromtheLEVELsectionarethesecondandthirdfromlastfeature.)
Origin
TheOrigin1optionisusedinconjunctionwithonefeatureselectedfromtheFeatureListbox.
Thisfeaturesettranslates(ormoves)thepartorigintoaspecificlocation
Onefeaturemustbeusedtosettheorigin.
Note:Ifnofeatureshavebeenmarked,thealignmentwillusethelastfeaturefromtheLEVEL
section.
Select
TheSelectbuttonallowsyoutouseselectedfeaturesfromtheFeatureListboxtoperformthe
Leveling,Rotating,andtranslating(ormoving)totheOriginoperationsforaniterativealignment.
MeasAllOnce
IfyouselecttheMeasAllOncecheckbox,
PCDMISwillremeasurealltheinputfeaturesatleastonceinDCCmode.
Theywillbemeasuredintheorderspecifiedbytheiterativealignmentcommand
intheEditwindow.
PCDMISwilldisplaywhichfeatureisabouttobemeasuredinamessagebox.
Beforeacceptingthemove,ensurethattheprobecanreachtheindicated
feature(s)withoutcollidingwiththepart.
Storedmovesfoundbeforeoraftereachfeaturewillnotbeexecuted.

Afterallthefeatureshavebeenmeasuredatleastonce,remeasurementofthe
featureswillcontinueformeasuredpointtypesoffeaturesandthosepointsthat
missedtheirPointTargetRadiustarget(see"PointTargetRadius").
Note:PCDMISwillnotmeasurecirclesmorethanonetimewhileinthismodesincetheir
locationneverchanges.
MeasAllAlways
IfyouselecttheMeasAllAlwayscheckbox,PCDMISwillreexecuteaportionofthecurrent
partprogramatleastonceinDCCmode.TheportionthatisreexecuteddependsontheStart
Label(see"StartLabel")
Ifyouprovideastartlabel,
PCDMISwillreexecutefromthatdefinedlabeltotheALIGNMENT/START
commandthatcontainsthecurrentlyexecutingiterativealignmentcommand.
Ifyoudon'tprovideastartlabel,
PCDMISwillbeginthisreexecutionfromthefirstfeaturemeasuredinthe
programthatisusedbytheiterativealignmentcommand.
Ifthefirstfeaturehasstoredmovepointsprecedingit,thenPCDMISwillalso
executethesemovepoints.
Thereexecutionwillcontinueuntilthelastmeasuredfeatureusedbythe
iterativealignmentcommand.
Ifthereareanystoredmovesafterthiscommand,theywillnotbeexecuted.
Oncethereexecutionfinishes,PCDMISwillrecalculatethealignmentandtestanymeasured
inputpointstoseeiftheyareallwithinthetoleranceradiusspecifiedinthePointTargetRadius
value.
Iftheyareallintarget,reexecutiondoesnotneedtocontinueandPCDMISwill
considertheiterativealignmentcommandcomplete.
Ifanypointsmissedthetargetarea,thenthesameportionoftheprogramwillbe
reexecutedasdescribedabove.
PointTargetRadius
ThePointTargetRadiusboxallowsyoutospecifythetargetradiustoleranceformeasured
pointfeaturesusedasinputsinthealignment.Measuredinputpointsincludethefollowing:
MEAS/POINT
AUTO/VECTOR
AUTO/EDGE
AUTO/SURFACE
AUTO/ANGLE

Whileyoucaneasilyseethelocationneededtomeasureacircleonapart,determiningtheexact
locationtomeasureapointonthesurfaceisn'teasilydone.Withoutanyvisualindicatorstelling
youwheretomeasurethepoint,itisdifficulttomanuallymeasurethepointinanexactspot.The
PointTargetRadiusallowsyoutospecifyanimaginarytolerancezone(ortarget)thesizeofthe
radius,aroundeachpoint.Thisallowsyoutotouchanywherewithintheindicatedtolerance.Ifthe
measuredpointdidnottouchwithinthiszone,PCDMISwillremeasurethepointinDCCmode.
PCDMISwillattempttoremeasuretheinputfeaturesbasedontheselectedcheckboxesinthe
IterativeAlignmentdialogbox(See"MeasAllOnce"and"MeasAllAlways").
IfyoudontselecttheMeasAllAlwaysorMeasAllOncecheckbox(orifyoumanuallyset
MEASUREALLFEAT=NO intheEditwindow),
PCDMISwillfitthedatumsandchecktoseeifanymeasuredinputpoints
missedtheirtargets.Ifso,onlythesefeatureswillberemeasuredinDCCmode.
PCDMISwilldisplayadialogboxindicatingthefeaturethatisabouttobe
measured.Thiswillletyouensurethattheprobecanreachthedesiredfeature
withoutcollidingwiththepart.
Onceallpointfeaturesareintarget,PCDMISconsiderstheiterativealignment
commandcomplete.
Ifthereareanymeasuredpointfeaturesthatmissedtheirtargets,PCDMISwill
continuetoremeasurethesefeaturesuntiltheyareintarget.
Note:ItisimportantnottosetthevectorPointTargetRadius valuetoosmall(forexample50
microns).ManyCMMsareunabletoaccuratelypositiontheprobetotoucheachmeasuredpoint
onaminusculetarget.Abetterchoicewouldbeatoleranceofabout.5millimeters.Ifthe
remeasurementcontinuesindefinitely,youshouldincreasethisvalue.
FixtureTolerance
TheFixtureToleranceboxallowsyoutotypeafittingtolerancevalueagainstwhichPCDMIS
comparesfeatureelementsmakinguptheiterativealignmenttotheirtheoreticalvalues.
Ifafterfittingthemeasurementvaluestothetheoreticalvalues,oneormoreoftheinputfeatures
haveanerroralongtheirassigneddatumaxisthatexceedsthistolerancevalue,PCDMIS
automaticallygoestotheerrorlabel(ifoneexists).See"ErrorLabel".
Ifyoudon'tprovideanerrorlabel,PCDMISdisplaysanerrormessageshowingtheerrorsalong
eachofthedatums.Youwillhavethechoicetoacceptthedatumasitisandcontinuewiththe
restofthepartprogram,ortocancelthepartprogramexecution.
PCDMIScanonlyusethefixturetolerancevalueifyouusedmorethantheminimumnumberof
pointsneededtocreatethefeature.Forexample,ifyouaremeasuringaplane,theminimum
numberofpointsneededforthatplaneisusuallythreepoints.However,ifyouwantedtousethe
fixturetolerancevalue,youwouldneedtomeasureatleastfourpoints.Ifyouuseonlythree
pointsthenonlyonesolutionexistsandPCDMIScannotadjustorreiterate.
MaxIterations

ThisdeterminesthemaximumnumberofrepetitionsthatPCDMISwillperformwhencreatingthe
iterativealignment.
StartLabel
TheStartLabelboxallowsyoutodefinealabelthatPCDMISwillgotowhenremeasuring
iterativealignmentfeaturesaslongasyouselecttheMeasAllAlwayscheckbox.
PCDMISwillremeasureinDCCmode,startingatthedesignatedlabeland
endingattheALIGNMENT/STARTcommand(precedingtheALIGNMENT/ITERATE
command).ThisismoreconsistentwithhowDMISexpectsthiscommandto
function.
Ifyoudon'tdefineastartlabel,
PCDMISgoestothefirstfeaturemakinguptheiterativealignmentandbegins
DCCmeasurementthere(PCDMISalsoincludesanymovesjustbeforethis
feature).
PCDMISwillcontinuetoreexecutepartprogramcommandsinorderuntilit
reachesthelastfeaturemakinguptheiterativealignment.Ifthereareanymoves
afterthisendingfeature,theywillnotbeexecuted.
Tocreatealabel,see"CreatingLabels"inthe"BranchingbyUsingFlowControl"chapter.
ErrorLabel
TheErrorLabelboxallowsyoutodefinealabelthatPCDMISwillgotowhentheerroralong
thedatumforeachoftheinputfeaturesexceedsthefixturetoleranceleveldefinedintheFixture
Tolerancebox.
Note:Ifyousupplytheminimumnumberofinputsforeachofthedatumaxes(threefortheLevel
datum,twofortheRotatedatum,andonefortheOrigindatum),PCDMIScanfittheinput
featuremeasurementvaluetoitstheoreticalvalueswithouterrors.InthiscasePCDMISdoesn't
reallyneedthefixturetolerance.Ifyousupplymorethantheminimumnumberofinputsforanyof
thedefineddatums,theneitherpartorfixtureerrorsmaymakeitimpossibletofitthe
measurementvaluestothetheoreticalvalueswithlesserrorthenthesuppliedfixturetolerance.
Ifyoudon'tdefineanerrorlabel,PCDMISwillgenerateanerrormessagedisplayingtheamount
oferrorforeachofthedatumfeatures,givingyoutheoptiontocancelorcontinueexecutionwith
thedatumsastheyare.
Tocreatealabel,see"CreatingLabels"inthe"BranchingbyUsingFlowControl"chapter.
CreatingaBestFitAlignment

BestFitAlignmentdialogbox
WhenyouclicktheBestFitbuttonfromtheAlignmentUtilitiesdialogbox,
PCDMISdisplaystheBestFitAlignmentdialogbox.Thisdialogboxprovidesawayforyouto
"bestfit"themeasureddatatothenominalpoints.WiththeexceptionoftheVectormethod,
whichrequiresatleasttwopoints,youneedatleastonepointfeaturetocreateabestfit
alignment.
ToCreateaBestFitAlignment
TocreateaBestFitalignment:
1. AccesstheAlignmentUtilitiesdialogbox(Insert|Alignment|New).
2. ClicktheBestFitbutton.TheBestFitAlignmentdialogboxappears.Youwill
usethisdialogboxtocreatetheBestFitalignment.See"DescriptionoftheBestFit
AlignmentDialogBox"ifyouneedinformationaboutthedialogbox.
3. SelectthefeaturestobeusedoutoftheFeatureListbox.Thesewillbe
displayedintheInputListbox.
4. Selecttheorientationofalignmentbyselectingeitherthe2Dor3Doptionsinthe
Orientationarea.Fora2Dalignment,alsoselectthecorrectactiveplanefromthe
ActivePlanedropdownlist.
5. SelectthebestfittypebychoosingtheappropriateoptionsfromtheBestFit
Methodarea.Inthecaseofa3Dalignment,alsochoosetheappropriateconstraint
alsofromtheBestFitMethodarea.

6. Toedittheweightsofthefeatures,selecttheCreate Weightsbutton.Selectthe
featurewhoseweightistobechanged.ClicktheEditWeightbutton.Typethenew
weightintheNewValueboxintheWeightEditorarea,andclicktheEnterbutton.
7. Tosetthepointofrotationaboutagivenfeature,selectthefeaturefromthe
InputList,andclicktheRotateAboutbutton.Alternately,avaluecanbeentered
intotheTheoreticalandMeasuredboxesintheRotateAboutareaofthedialog
box.
8. ClicktheOKbutton.TheBestFitAlignmentdialogboxcloses.
9. ClicktheOKbuttonontheAlignmentUtilitiesdialogbox.Thedialogbox
closes.Ifthisnewalignmentdiffersfromtheexistingalignment,PCDMISwilldisplay
apromptaskingifyouwanttoupdateaffectedcommandsintheEditwindowtouse
thenewalignment.Ifthealignmentdoesn'tchange(orthechangeistoosmallto
matter),PCDMISsimplyinsertsthealignmentwithoutdisplayingthepromptor
updatinganycommands.Followingexecution,PCDMISwilldisplaya3DAlignment
BestFitGraphicalAnalysisintheReportwindow.
UnderstandingBestFitAlignments
Toproperlycreateyourbestfitalignment,considertheinformationpresentedhere:
Abestfitalignmentis,firstofall,analignmentthatcausesasetofmeasuredpointsorasetof
actualfeaturecentroidstomatch,ascloselyaspossibletoitsnominallocationortheoretical
counterpart.Incertaincasesitisalsopossibleforabestfitalignmenttooptimallymatchasetof
pointstoaCADcurveorsurface.
TheLeastSquaresbestfitalignmentalgorithmalignsthetwopointsetsbytransformingoneof
thesetssothatthesumofthesquareddistancesbetweenmatchingpointsinthetwosetsis
minimal.TounderstandhowtheLeastSquaresalignmentworks,visualizeaspring(ofinitial
lengthzero)betweeneachmeasuredpointanditsnominalcounterpart.Thespringsarestretched
asthedistancebetweenthetwopointsincreases.Thepositionthepointsetendsupinwhenyou
releaseitandletthespringsactisthesolutiontotheleastsquaresalignmentproblem.
Similarly,theMin/Maxalgorithmalignstwopointsetsbyminimizingthemaximumdistance
betweenmatchingpointsinthetwosets.AfteraMin/Maxalignment,themaximumdistanceis
exhibitedbyenoughpointpairs(usuallythree),inenoughdirectionssothatanychangeinthe
positionofeithersetwouldcauseanincreaseindistancebetweenatleastonepairofpoints.In
PCDMIS,Min/Maxalignmentsarestrictly2D.
However,sometimestheremightbepreferreddirectionsinwhichtoalignthetwopointsets.For
instance,ifthepointsareonthesurfaceofacarhoodoronitsboundary,thenmotionalongthe
surfaceoralongtheboundaryisnotasimportantasmotioninaperpendiculardirection.The
Vectorfitalignmentgivesyousomecontroloverpreferreddirectionsbyminimizingthesquared
lengthsofthedistancevectorsprojectedontothegivennominalvectors.
Inallthreecases(Min/Max,LeastSquares,andVector),weightscanbespecifiedbytheuser
and/orgeneratedfromtolerances.Apointwithalargerweightisgivenmorepriorityinoptimizing
thealignment.
ThesetopicswillhelpyoutounderstandimportantaspectsofBestFitalignments.
ComparingBestFitAlignments

LastSquaresFit
TheLeastSquaresfitminimizesthesumofthesquarederrors,whichisthesameasminimizing
theaveragesquarederror.AweightedLeastSquaresfitminimizesaweightedaverageofthe
squarederrors.Itcanbe2Dor3DinPCDMIS.
VectorFit
TheVectorfitisakindofLeastSquaresfit,exceptthattheerrorvectorsareprojectedontogiven
directionvectors(usuallythenormals),andtheseprojecteddistancesareusedintheLeast
Squaresfit.Ifthenormalvectorsareused,thenmotionperpendiculartothenormalisallowed
withoutaffectingthe"goodness"ofthefit.Thiscanbeusedtomimicahardgage.
MinMaxFit
Currently,PCDMISonlyallows2DMin/Maxfits.AMin/Maxfitminimizesthemaximumerror.For
thisreasonitcanbeusedinanaccept/rejectprocedureifthemaximalerrorissmallthenall
errorsaresmall,whereasasmallleastsquareserror,beinganaverage,doesn'tguaranteethat
allerrorsaresmall.
IfweightsbasedontolerancesareusedthenaMin/Maxfitreducesthepercentageofavailable
toleranceusedbyeachfeature.TheLeastSquaresfitreducesthe"average"amountoftolerance
usedbyallfeatures.Sincetheweightsgeneratedarereciprocalsofthetolerances,afeaturewith
arelativelysmallweight(orlowerpriority)correspondstoalargetolerancezone,whichgivesit
morefreedomtomovewithoutaffectingtheotherfeatures.Afeaturewitharelativelylargeweight
(orsmalltolerancezone)getsahighpriorityinthealignmentprocess.
2DBestFitCommandLineFormat
TheEditwindowcommandlinefortheBestFit2Doptionreads:
ALIGNMENT/BF2D,TOG1,TOG2,CREATEWEIGHTS=YES,TOG3,0,0,0,0
CENTEROFROTATION,MEAS_X,MEAS_Y,MEAS_Z,THEO_X,THEO_Y,THEO_Z
SHOWALLINPUTS=YES,SHOWALLPARAMS=YES
ID=
AvailableFields:
"TOG1"Thisfieldallowsyoutoswitchbetweentheavailableworkplanes.Thecurrent
workingplaneshouldbedisplayed.
"TOG2"Thisfieldallowsyoutoswitchbetweentheavailabletypesofbestfits:LEASTSQR,
VECFIT,andMINMAX.See"AvailableBestFitTypes"forinformation.
CREATEWEIGHTS=ThisoptionletsyoudeterminewhetherornotPCDMIScreates
weightsforthefeaturesusedinthebestfitalignment.AvailableoptionsareYESorNO.See
"FeatureWeights".
"TOG3"Thisfielddeterminesthedegreesoffreedomforthe2Dalignment.Availableoptions
are:ROTONLY(rotationonly),ROTANDTRANS(rotationandtranslation),andTRANSONLY
(translationonly).

CENTEROFROTATIONThisfieldandthemeasuredandtheoreticalXYZvaluesassociated
withit,representthecenterofrotation.TheyonlyappearifROTONLYorROTANDTRANSis
usedfortheTOG2field.
SHOWALLINPUTS=Thisoptionletsyoudeterminewhetherornotthealignmentcodeblock
displaysthefeatureinputsusedtocreatethealignment.AvailableoptionsareYESorNO.
SHOWALLPARAMS=Thisoptionletsyoudeterminewhetherornotthealignmentcode
blockdisplaysalltheparametersforthefeatureinputs.AvailableoptionsareYESorNO.
IfsettoYES,thenPCDMISwilldisplaythisinformationforeachinputfeature:FeatureID,
FeatureType,DimensionID,FeatureWeight,FeatureUse.
Forexample,itmightlooksomethinglikethis.
ID=CIR2,Circles,LOC12,2.000000,YES
IfsettoNO,thenPCDMISwilldisplayonlytheIDoftheinputfeature
ID=CIR2
ID=Eachlinebeganwith"ID="representsaninputfeatureusedinthealignment.
3DBestFitCommandLineFormat
TheEditwindowcommandlinefortheBestFit3Doptionreads:
ALIGNMENT/BF3D,TOG1,CREATEWEIGHTS=YES,TOG2,USESCALING=YES,0,0,0,0,0,0,1
CENTEROFROTATION,MEAS_X,MEAS_Y,MEAS_Z,THEO_X,THEO_Y,THEO_Z
ID=
AvailableFields:
"TOG1"Thisfieldallowsyoutoswitchbetweentheavailabletypesofbestfits.
"TOG2"Thisfieldallowsyoutoswitchbetweentheavailabletypesofconstraintsforthe3D
alignment.Availableoptionsare:ROTONLY(rotationonly),ROTANDTRANS(rotationand
translation),andTRANSONLY(translationonly).
CENTEROFROTATIONThisfieldandthemeasuredandtheoreticalXYZvaluesassociated
withit,representthecenterofrotation.TheyonlyappearifROTONLYorROTANDTRANSis
usedfortheTOG2field.
SHOWALLINPUTS=Thisoptionletsyoudeterminewhetherornotthealignmentcodeblock
displaysthefeatureinputsusedtocreatethealignment.AvailableoptionsareYESorNO.
SHOWALLPARAMS=Thisoptionletsyoudeterminewhetherornotthealignmentcode
blockdisplaysalltheparametersforthefeatureinputs.AvailableoptionsareYESorNO.
IfsettoYES,thenPCDMISwilldisplaythisinformationforeachinputfeature:FeatureID,
FeatureType,DimensionID,FeatureWeight,FeatureUse.

Forexample,itmightlooksomethinglikethis:
ID=CIR2,Circles,LOC12,2.000000,YES
IfsettoNO,thenPCDMISwilldisplayonlytheIDoftheinputfeature,likethis:
D=CIR2
ID=Eachlinestartingwith"ID="representsaninputfeatureusedinthealignment.
2Dor3DBestFitAlignments
BestFitAlignmentscanbeeithertwoorthreedimensional.Thereisaverysignificantdifference
betweena2Danda3Dbestfit.
A2DBestFitalignmentrequiresaninitialalignment.Thealignmentiscreatedin
thespecifiedworkplaneandisbasedonthecurrentalignment.
A3DBestFitalignmentusestheraw(machine)dataandcorrelatesittothe
theoreticalvalues.ItdoesNOTuseapreviousalignmentbutcreatesacompletely
newone.
AvailableBestFitTypes
ThereareseveraloptionsavailablewhencreatingaBestFitAlignment.Therearethreedifferent
typesofBestFitoptions:
1. LeastSquares(default)minimizestheaveragesquarederrorofthefitamong
allofthefeaturesincludedinthebestfit.Thisisthemostcommonbestfittype.
Theerrorvalueisthesumofthesquareddistances.Outliersdon'thaveasbad
aneffectanddirectionoferrorplaysnoroleinthisfit.
2. Vector(alsoknownasProjectedLeastSquares)alsominimizestheaverage
squarederroramongthefeaturesbeingfithowever,itfirstsnaps(orprojects)
thepointsbackontothenominalvectorsofthefeature.Therefore,allerrorwillbe
alongthenominalvectors.Theerrorvalueisthesumofthesquaredprojected
distances.Thistypeoffitistypicallyusedwhenasetofpointsisbeingfitto
curvesand/orsurfaces.Withthistypeoffit,PCDMISallowspointsto'slide'
alongthesurfacebutdiscouragesthemfrompullingawayfromthesurface.
Example:IftheNominalpointis:1.1.1withthevector:0,0,1,andMeasure
values4,2,0.95,thenthemeasureddatawillbeadjustedto1,1,0.95,snappedto
thevectorof0,0,1.
3. Min/Maxminimizesthemaximumerror(thelargestdistance)amongthe
featuresbeingfit.Badmeasurementscanaffectthiserrorvaluedrastically.You
canusethiskindofalignmenttodetermineifthereisanalignmentthatwillallow
allfeaturesinputtotheBestFitalignmenttobewithinthegiventolerances.This
typeoffitisspecifiedbyY14.5.
Note:TheMin/Maxoptionisonlyavailablefor2DBestFitalignments.
Constraintsfor3DBestFitAlignments
Therearealsoconstraintsthatcanbeappliedto3DBestFitalignments.Theconstraintoptions
are:

1. RotateandTranslate(default)Thisallowsthealignmentfullflexibilitywhile
correlatingthemachinedatatothetheoreticalvalues.
2. RotateOnlyThisoptionrestrictsthealignmenttorotationonly,without
applyinganytranslations.
3. TranslateOnlyThisoptionrestrictsthealignmenttotranslationonly,without
applyinganyrotations.
FeatureWeights
Eachfeatureusedasaninputhasanassociatedweight.Thedefaultvaluefortheseweightsis1.
Youcanmodifytheweightsintheeditwindoworinthedialogbox.Thevaluesoftheseweights
affecttheresultingalignment.Thelargertheweightofaparticularfeature,themoretheresulting
alignmentwillattempttomatchthemeasuredvalueofthatfeaturetoitstheoreticalvalue.This
allowsyoutoassignprioritiestothefeaturesinthealignment.Iftheweightsofalltheinput
featuresareequalthenthefeatureswillbetreatedequally,regardlessofthevalueoftheweight.
AnyoftheweightscanbeeditedbyselectingthefeatureintheInputListandclickingtheEdit
Weightbutton.Thenewweightwillbeassignedtothatfeatureandusedduringthecalculations.
Weights mayalsobeassignedtoeachfeaturebasedonitsassociateddimension.Ifthereisno
associateddimension,itwillbeassignedadefaulttolerance.Theweightsareassignedby
clickingtheCreate Weightsbutton.Acompositeweightforthefeatureisthencomputedby
multiplyingtheuserdefinedweightswiththetoleranceweights.
FeatureSetsasBestFitAlignmentInputs
Whenusingfeaturesets(constructedsetsorscans)asinputstotheBestFitalignment,aplus(+)
signwillappearnexttothefeatureIDintheInputListbox.Byclickingonceontheplus(+)sign,
thefeaturesthatcreatethatsetwillbedisplayed.Initiallytheweights foreachfeaturewillbethe
sameasitsparentfeature(theoriginalset).
FeatureSetExpandedtoShowFeaturesintheSet
Theweightforeachchildfeatureofthesetcanbeeditedinthesamefashionasoutlinedabove.
Tochangetheweightofallofthefeaturesintheset,simplyedittheweightonthefeatureset
itself,andthatweightwillbetransferredtoallofitschildren.
ScansasBestFitAlignmentInputs
Whenworkingwithascan,thereisoneextracomponentthanwhenworkingwithafeatureset.
Scansarecomposedofbasicscans.Eachbasicscaniscomposedofindividualpoints.When
clickingaplus(+)signnexttoascan,itwillexposeallofthebasicscansassociatedwithit.A
plus(+)signwillappearnexttoeachbasicscan.Byclickingtheplus(+)signnexttoeachbasic

scan,itwillexposealloftheindividualpointsassociatedwiththebasicscan.Theweightforeach
pointcanbeedited,theweightofthebasicscan(andallofitspoints)canbeedited,ortheweight
ofthescanitselfcanbeedited.
TaggedFeaturesinaFeatureSetorScan
Also,individualmemberswithinafeaturesetcanbetaggedsothattheyarenotused.Totaga
memberofasettonotbeusedinthebestfitalignment,doubleclickitintheInputListbox.This
willchangethe"YES"intheUsecolumnoftheInputListboxto"NO".Ifabasicscanisdouble
clicked,itandallofitsassociatedpointswillbetaggedwith"NO"andwillnotgetusedinthe
calculations.
3DAlignmentCenterofRotation
ForcertainBestFitalignments,youcanspecifyacenterofrotation.Thiscanbedoneoneoftwo
ways.
1. SelectafeaturefromtheInputListbox.NextclicktheRotatebutton.The
theoreticalandmeasuredvalueswillautomaticallybeenteredintotheappropriate
boxesintheRotateAboutarea.
2. Ifaspecificcoordinateisdesired,thevaluecanbeenteredmanuallybytyping
theXYZcoordinateintothe TheoreticalandMeasuredboxes.Thevaluemustbein
acommadelimitedformatinordertobevalid.Forexample,Xtheo,Ytheo,Ztheo.
PointSettoCADAlignments
Bydefault,PCDMISmatchesthemeasuredpointsinyourbestfitalignmenttotheoriginal
nominalpointset.However,byenablingIterateandRePierceCAD(seeIterateandRePierce
CADareaintheDescriptionoftheBestFitAlignmentDialogBoxtopicbelow)youcanhavethe
bestfitalignmentmatchthemeasuredpointstoCADcurvesorsurfacesinstead.Inthiscase,
afterthefirstbestfitalignmentiscomputed,updatednominalpointsontheCADcurveorsurface,
correspondingtothetransformedmeasuredpoints,arecalculated.Thisprocessisrepeateduntil
convergencetakesplace.Thisalignmentmethodchangesthetheoreticalvaluesofthepoints.
DescriptionoftheBestFitAlignmentDialogBox

BestFitAlignmentdialogbox
ThefollowingitemsappearontheBestFitAlignment dialogbox:
Item Description
Featureslist
TheFeatureslistcontainsallthe
featuresinyourpartprogram.
InputListbox
TheInputListboxcontainsthe
featuresthatwillbeusedinthecreation
oftheBestFitalignment.Itisalsoused
toeditthefeaturesbeforecreationof
thealignment.

EditWeightbutton TheEdit Weightbuttonputsthecurrent

weightoftheselectedfeatureintothe
NewValueboxoftheWeightEditor
area,allowingtheweighttobe
changed.
CreateWeightsbutton
TheCreateWeightsbutton
automaticallycreatesweightsforeach
featureintheInputListbox.
TheRotateAboutbuttontakesthe
theoreticalandmeasuredvaluesfrom
RotateAboutbutton theselectedfeatureintheInputList
boxandplacesthemintheTheoretical
andMeasuredboxesintheRotate
Aboutarea.Thisvalueisusedasthe
centerofrotationduringthecalculation
oftheBestFitalignment.
WeightEditorarea TheWeightEditorarearemains
unavailableforuseunlessyouselecta
featurefromtheInputListboxand
clickEditWeight.
ThenewweightisenteredintotheNew
Valuebox.TheEnterbuttonapplies
thenewlyenteredweighttothe
selectedfeatureintheInputListbox.
TheRotateAboutareacontainstwo
boxestodefinethetheoreticaland
RotateAboutarea
measuredcenterofrotation:
TheTheoreticalboxcontainsthe
theoreticalcenterofrotationfor3D
bestfitalignments.
ThisMeasuredboxcontainsthe
measuredcenterofrotationfor3D
bestfitalignments.
The3dimensionaloptioncausesthe
Orientationarea resultingalignmenttobea3D
alignment.
The2Dimensionaloptioncausesthe
resultingalignmenttobea2D
alignment.
TheActivePlanelistsetstheplanein
whicha2Dalignmentwillbe
calculated.
TheSpecifiedConstraintsoptionlets
youselectwhichofthesixdegreesof

freedom(rotationaboutX,Y,orZaxis,
andtranslationintheX,Y,orZ
direction)willconstrainthe3Dor2D
alignment.Whenyouselectthischeck
box,PCDMISwilldisplaytheSelect
AxestobeConstrainedareainthe
placeoftheBestFitMethodarea.
TheBestFitMethodareacontains
severalmethodsyoucanuseto
computethebestfitalignment:
TheLeastSquaresoptioncauses
theaveragesquarederrorforthe
inputfeaturestobeminimizedin
thealignment.
TheVectoroptionsnapstheerrors
intheinputfeaturesontothe
theoreticalvectorsbefore
minimizingtheaveragesquared
BestFitMethodarea error.
TheMin/Maxoptionattemptsto
orientthepartsothatPCDMIS
minimizesthemaximumerrorinall
oftheinputfeatures.
Note:Min/Maxisonlyvalidfor
2DBestFits.
TheRotate&Translateoption
allowsmaximumfreedominthe
calculationofthealignment,letting
itrotateandtranslatefreely.
TheRotateOnlyoptionlimitsthe
alignmenttorotationonlyinits
calculation.
TheTranslateOnlyoptionlimits
thealignmenttotranslationonlyin
itscalculation.
SelectAxestobeConstrainedarea TheSelectAxestobe
Constrainedarealetsyoudefine
theaxesaboutwhichandalong
whichtherotationandtranslation
willbeconstrained.
Thisareaonlyappearsifyouselect
theSpecifiedConstraintsoption
fromtheOrientationarea.

TheRotateaboutXoption
constrainsthealignmentsothatit
doesnotrotateabouttheXaxis.
TheRotateaboutYoption
doesnotrotateabouttheYaxis.
TheRotateaboutZoption
doesnotrotateabouttheZaxis.
TheTranslatealongXoption
doesnottranslatealongtheXaxis.
TheTranslatealongYoption
doesnottranslatealongtheYaxis.
TheTranslatealongZoption
doesnottranslatealongtheZaxis.
Forexample,torotateonlyabout
theZaxisandtranslateonlyinthe
Xdirection,youwouldneedto
selectRotateaboutXandRotate
aboutYtoconstrainrotationto
onlytheZaxis.Thenyouwould
needtoselectTranslatealongY
andTranslatealongZtoconstrain
translationtoonlytheXdirection.
TheUseScalingcheckboxbecomes
availableforselectionfor2Dor3D
alignmentswhenyouselecttheLeast
Squaresmethod.Itisnotavailablefor
alignmentswithspecifiedconstraints.
Whenyouusescaling,PCDMIS
computesatransformation(rotation
UseScalingcheckbox andtranslation)andascalefactorthat
optimallymatchesthenominaldatato
thescaledmeasureddata.
Thescaledalignmentalsoscalesallof
themeasureddataandsubsequent
measuredfeaturesinthepartprogram,
multiplyingitbythecomputedscale
factor. Note that once the scaling has
been applied to the measured data and

features in a part program, it cannot be

undone.
Youmayfindthisuseful,forexample,
incompensatingforexpansionor
contractionofapartdueto
temperature.
ThisarealetsyouperformanIterative
BestFitalignment.
EnableIfselected,PCDMIS
performsanIterativeBestFitalignment
whichpiercestheCADgeometryand
adjuststhefeaturenominalswitheach
iterationusingTolandMaxIterations
tocontroltheresult.Ifnotselected,PC
DMISdoesasingleBestFitalignment.
IterateandRePierceCADarea
TolThisboxallowsyoutoentera
tolerancevalue,whichPCDMISuses
insearchingforCADsurfacesto
pierce.Thenewnominalpointwillbe
theCADpointclosesttotheactual
feature,provideditiswithinthis
tolerance.IfnoCADsurfaceisfound
withinthisdistancefromtheactual
feature,thenthatfeatureisignoredin
subsequentiterations.
MaxIterationsThisdeterminesthe
maximumnumberoftimesthebestfit
alignmentalgorithmwilliterate.
SavinganAlignment
SaveAlignmentdialogbox

TheInsert|Alignment|Savemenuoptionsavesthecurrentalignmentinanexternalfilethat
canberecalledbyadifferentpartprogram.ThetopicspresentedheredescribetheSave
Alignmentdialogbox,andhowtosavethealignmentsoyoucanuseitinotherpartprograms.
ToSaveanAlignment
Notethatyouonlyneedtosavethealignmentusingthefollowingprocedureifthealignmentis
goingtoberecalledintoadifferentpartprogram.Allalignmentsareautomaticallysavedwhen
usedwithinapartprogram.
Tosaveanalignment,
1. SelectInsert|Alignment|Savefromthemenubar.TheSaveAlignment
dialogappears.
2. Typeanalignmentname(maximumtencharacters)intheFileNamebox.
3. SelecteithertheInchesorMillimetersoptiontosavethealignmentaseither
inchesormillimeters.Thedefaultunitofmeasurementforanyalignmentwillbethe
sameunitofmeasurementusedbythepartprogramforwhichthealignmentwas
created.Touseanalignmentinadifferentpartprogram,itisnotnecessarythatthe
alignment'sunitsofmeasurementbesavedintheunitstypeofthenewpartprogram.
Thealignmentwillautomaticallyconverttothesameunitsasthenewpartprogram
(see"Recall").
Ifyoudon'ttypeanameforthealignmentID,PCDMISwillautomaticallyduplicatethefile
nameforexternalsavingpurposes.Thealignmentcanbesavedtoanydirectory.However,
todisplaythealignmentonscreenitmustbesavedinthesamedirectoryasthepart
program.
SAVE/ALIGNMENT,align_name,filename,TOG1
TOG1
ThistogglefieldswitchesbetweenBOTHandMACHINETOPARTS.SelectBOTH tostoreboth
themachinetopartsandtheCADtopartstransformationmatrices.Select
MACHINETOPARTStostoreonlythemachinetopartstransformation.
EditingtheSave/AlignmentCommand
YoucaneditthecommandlineusingadifferentSaveAlignmentdialogboxbyplacingthe
mouseontheSAVE/ALIGNMENTcommandandpressingF9.

SaveAlignmentdialogbox
ThisSaveAlignmentdialogboxallowsyoutocreatenewfilenamesofthesavedalignment.
Simplyselectthealignmentfromthelist,makethefilenamechangeintheFileNamebox,and
clickOK.PCDMIScreatesanewfilenamebasedoffoftheoldoneyouchangedandmakesthe
changeintheEditwindow'sSAVE/ALIGNMENT command.
TheShowRootDirectoryandShowWorkDirectorycheckboxesarenoteditablefromthis
dialogboxtheymerelymirrorthesettingsintheSearchPathdialogboxforloadingalignments.
Youcanchangethesecheckboxesbyfollowingdocumentationdescribedinthe"Specifying
ExternalDirectoriestoSearch"inthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapter.
IftheShowWorkDirectoryisselected,thelistofalignmentswilldisplayallthe.alnfilesinthe
workdirectorylikethis:
WORK\filename1.aln
WORK\filename2.aln
WORK\filename3.aln
IfShowRootDirectoryisselected,itshoulddisplayallthe.alnfilesintherootdirectorylikethis:
ROOT\filename1.aln
ROOT\filename2.aln
ROOT\filename3.aln
DescriptionoftheSaveAlignmentDialogBox
ThefollowingtopicsdescribetheitemsusedinsidetheSaveAlignmentdialogbox.
FileName
TheFileNameboxallowsyoutonamethefileofthealignmentyouaresaving.

Directories
Thedirectorystructureallowsyoutonavigatetothedirectorytowhichyouwillbesavingthe
alignment.
ListFilesofType
TheListFilesofTypedropdownlist,showsallthefilesinthecurrentdirectorybasedona
particularfiletype.Thedefaultfiletypeis*.aln.Thismeansthatonlythosefileswiththe
alignmentextension(*.aln)willbeshowninthelist.
Drives
TheDrivesdropdownlistallowsyoutodefinewhichharddrive,orfloppydrivethealignmentis
savedto.
AlignmentName
TheAlignmentNameboxdisplaystheAlignmentIDofthealignmentyouaresaving.
IfanalignmentIDisnotentered,PCDMISwillautomaticallyduplicatethefilenameforexternal
savingpurposes.ThealignmentIDcanbesavedtoanydirectory.However,todisplaythe
alignmentonscreenitmustbesavedinthesamedirectoryasthepartprogram.
Usethisoptiononlyifthealignmentisgoingtoberecalledintoadifferentpartprogram.All
alignmentsareautomaticallysavedwhenusedwithinapartprogram.
Units
TheInchesorMillimetersoptionsintheUnitsareaallowyoutodeterminewhichunitof
measurementthealignmentwillbesavedas:inchesormillimeters.

TheAlignmentBlockisthe TheInsert|Alignment|Recall menuoptionallowsyoutorecall
blockoftextintheEdit analignmentthatwaspreviouslycreatedinthecurrentprogram
windowthatdefinesthe (InternalAlignment)orsavedfromanotherprogram(External
alignment.Itconsistsofthe Alignment).
ALIGNMENT/START
commandandendswiththe Thiscommandcanonlybeinsertedoutsideanalignmentblock.
ALIGNMENT/ENDcommand.
Note:TheRecallbuttoninsidetheAlignmentUtilitiesdialogboxalsoallowsyoutorecallan
existingalignment,butitonlyallowsyoutorecallalignmentspreviouslycreatedinthatpart
program(internalalignments).
Beforeanalignmentcanberecalledtoanotherpartprogram,itmustbesavedusingtheInsert|
Alignment|Savemenuoption.See"SavinganAlignment"
Ifthealignmentbeingrecalledwassavedwithdifferentunitsofmeasurementthanthecurrent
partprogram,thealignmentunitswillautomaticallybeconvertedtotheunitsofmeasurementof
thecurrentpartprogram.
ToRecallanAlignment
Torecallanalignment,
1. AccesstheInsert|Alignment|Recall menuoption(oraccesstheAlignment
UtilitiesdialogboxandclicktheRecallbutton).ASelectAlignmentselectionbox
appears.
2. Typethe15character(orless)savedalignmentID,orusethedropdownlistto
selectthedesiredalignment.
3. ClickOK.PCDMISinsertstheRECALL/ALIGNMENT commandintotheEdit
window.
RecallAlignmentCommandLineFormat
RECALL/ALIGNMENT,INTERNAL,'align_id'
RECALL/ALIGNMENT,EXTERNAL,'align_id',
FILE_NAME:'align_id'
CodeUsedtoRecallanInternalAlignment...

RECALL/ALIGNMENT,INTERNAL,'align_id'
align_id
Thisistheinternalalignmentthatwillberecalledfromwithinthecurrentpartprogram.PC
DMISmustfirstRECALLthespecifiedalignmentIDbeforeanyotheralignment
commandscanfunction.ThiscommanddoesnotneedtheALIGNMENT/STARTor
ALIGNMENT/END Editwindowcommands.
CodeUsedtoRecallanExternalAlignment...
RECALL/ALIGNMENT,EXTERNAL,'align_id',FILE_NAME:'align_id'
align_id
Thisistheexternalalignmentthatwillberecalledfromapartprogramotherthanthecurrent
partprogram.PCDMISmustfirstRECALLthespecifiedalignmentIDbeforeanyother
alignmentcommandscanfunction.ThiscommanddoesnotneedtheALIGNMENT/STARTor
ALIGNMENT/END Editwindowcommands.
FILE_NAME:
Thisisthe.alnfilenameusedforthesavedexternalalignment.
UsinganAlignmentInsideLoops
PCDMIS3.6andhigherfacilitateschangingalignmentsinsideapartprogramthatuseslooping
orconditionalbranchingbyusingtheUSE_ACTIVE_ALIGNMENTkeyword.
IfyoulookattheALIGNMENT/START commandlineinCommandmode,you'llseethatthefield
immediatelyfollowingtheRECALL:texttellstheprogramtouseastoredstartingalignmentfirst.
Inthefollowingexample,alignmentD_1startswiththealignmentfromD_0andthenexecutesa
45degreerotationaboutZPLUS:
D_1 =ALIGNMENT/START,RECALL:D_0,LIST=YES
ALIGNMENT/ROTATE_OFFSET,45.0,ABOUT,ZPLUS
ALIGNMENT/END
However,ifyouusetheUSE_ACTIVE_ALIGNMENTkeywordinstead,youcancausePCDMISto
rotate45degreesfromtheactivealignment:
D_1 =ALIGNMENT/START,RECALL:USE_ACTIVE_ALIGNMENT,LIST=YES
ALIGNMENT/ROTATE_OFFSET,45.0,ABOUT,ZPLUS
ALIGNMENT/END
Whenyouusethiskeywordforanalignmentinsidealoop:
Thefirsttimethroughthelooptheactivealignmentwillbethelastexecuted
alignmentprecedingtheloop.
Additionaltimesthroughthelooptheactivealignmentwillbeitselfandwillrotate
afurther45degreesfromtheprevioustimethroughtheloop.
WhenyouusetheUSE_ACTIVE_ALIGNMENT keywordyoushouldgenerallydeselecttheReset
globalsettingswhenbranchingcheckboxandselecttheTreattheovaluesasifstoredin

partcoordinates checkboxfromtheSetUpOptionsdialogbox, Generaltab.

Seethe"SettingYourPreferences"chapterforinformationonspecifyingsetuppreferences.
Forinformationonlooping,seethe"CreatingGenericLoops"topicinthe"BranchingbyUsing
FlowControl"chapter.
EquatinganAlignment
EquateAlignmentdialogbox
TheInsert|Alignment|Equateoptionequatestwoalignments.Thisoptionprovidesthemeans
to:
Changethepositionororientationofapartwhileretainingpreviousdimensional
information.
Realignthepartandsavepreviouslymeasureddataifthepartisaccidentally
bumpedormovedduringtheinspectionprocess.
Note:ForEquateAlignmenttofunctionproperly,thefeaturesreferencedinyournewalignment
mustbemeasuredafteryoumoveyourpart.Additionally,youshouldreferenceallofthefeatures
foryournewalignmentinasinglealignmentblock.
ToChangeaPart'sPositionandOrientation
Forexample,tomeasureadimensionthatreferences featuresontwosidesofthepartthatare
notaccessiblefromasinglepartorientation:
1. Measurethealignmentfeaturesonthefirstsideofthepart.
2. Createtheoriginalalignment.
3. Measureallrequiredfeaturesthatcanbereachedfromthefirstorientationofthe
part.
4. Movetheparttoitsnewposition.
5. Measurethenewalignment features.Theoriginmustbethesameandtheaxis
mustbeinthesamedirectionastheaxisofthealignmentyouareequatingto.Itis
easiesttounderstandthisifyouimaginethattheoriginaloriginandaxes'arrows
weregluedontothepartbeforemovingit.Thenewalignmentplacestheoriginand
axes'arrowsinthesamepositionwithrespecttothepart.
6. SelecttheInsert|Alignment|Equatemenuoption.TheEquateAlignment
dialogboxappears.
7. IntheEquateOriginalAlignmentlist,selecttheoriginalalignment.
8. IntheWithNewAlignmentlist,selectthenewalignment.
9. ClicktheOKbutton.TheCADmodelwon'tmoverelativetothealignmentaxes,
butthemeasuredvalueswillmoveoncePCDMISexecutestheequatealignment.

ToRecoverafterAccidentallyMovingaPart
Ifaparthasbeenmovedaccidentally,
1. SelecttheInsert|Alignment|Equatemenuoption.
2. EntertheIDofthealignmenttoberemeasuredasthefirstandsecond
alignmentID.
3. Remeasurethealignmentfeatures.Whenthisiscompleted,alldimensionaland
featureinformationwillbetranslatedtothenewpositionofthepart.TheCADmodel
won'tmoverelativetothealignmentaxes,butthemeasuredvalueswillmoveonce
PCDMISexecutestheequatealignment.
Ifthiscommandisusedtoequatethesamealignmentinapartprogram,PCDMISwillnot
displaythecommandlineintheEditwindow.
AcommandlinewillonlybedisplayedintheEditwindowiftwodifferentalignmentsareselected.
Anexternalalignmentcanbeusedifitisdifferentfromtheequatedalignment.Theexternal
alignmentmustberecalledusingtheRECALL/ALIGNMENT,EXTERNALcommandbeforeitwill
bedisplayed.
EQUATE/"name"TOALIGNMENT,"alignment_name"
DescriptionoftheEquateAlignmentDialogBox
ThefollowingtopicsdescribetheitemsusedintheEquateAlignmentdialogbox.
EquateOriginalAlignment
TheEquateAlignmentdropdownlistallowsyoutoselecttheoriginalalignmentthatyouwillbe
equating.Thisisapreviouslycreatedalignmentthatyouwanttoequatewithanexistingnew
alignment.
WithAlignment
TheWithNewAlignmentdropdownlistallowsyoutoselectthenewalignmenttowhichyouare
equating.Thisisannewalignmenttowhichyouwillequateyouroriginalcreatedalignment.
EquatingCADtoMeasuredPartData
TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|CadEqualsPartmenuoption(ortheCAD=Part
buttonontheAlignmentUtilitiesdialogbox)linksCADdatatothemeasureddata.Thisoptionis
onlyavailableafteracreatedalignmentplacesthepartorigin/orientationatthesamelocationas
theCADorigin/orientation.PCDMISofferstheCADEQUALSPARToptionintwoareas(also
see"CADEqualsPart"withintheAlignmentoption).SelectthisoptionandPCDMISwilldisplay
themeasureddataontopoftheCADdata.ItwillusetheCADdatatohelpinspectthepart.
OncetheCadEqualsPartoptionhasbeenusedonapartprogram,theCADEqualsPartmenu
optionwillbeselected.
PerformingaLeapfrogOperation

Leapfrog/Relocationdialogbox
Leapfrogisavailableforsomeportablemachines.CurrentlytheseincludeFARO,ROMER,
Garda,andGOM.Yourhardwarekey(portlock)alsoneedstobeprogrammedtosupportyour
portablemachine.
TheInsert|Alignment|LeapfrogmenuoptionbringsuptheLeapfrog/Relocationdialogbox.
ThisdialogboxallowsyoutomoveyourportableCMMinordertomeasurepartsthataretoo
largeforyourCMM.Youshouldbeawareofmachineaccuracylimitationsbeforeusingthis
method.
Thebasisforleapfrogistomeasureaseriesoffeatures,andthenaftermovingthemachine,re
measurethesamefeaturesinthesameorder.Thiscreatesatransformationandmakesthe
machinebehaveasifitwerethesamecoordinatesystembeforethemove.
PriortoPCDMISversion4.2,Leapfrogtransformationinformationwasstoredinaseparatefile
andwastherebyindependentofallpartprograms.ThismeanttheLeapfrogwasstillactivein
newlycreatedpartprogramsandyouhadtoremoveitbyclickingtheResetbuttononthe
Leapfrog/Relocationdialogbox.Inversion4.2andlater,however,thishaschanged.Leapfrog
transformationinformationisnowstoredwiththepartprogramthatusedtheLeapfrogoperation
younolongerhavetoremovetheLeapfrogfromnewpartprograms.
ALeapfrogcommandisenteredintotheEditwindowwhentheAcceptbuttonisclicked.
ThecommandlineintheEditwindowwouldread:
LEAPFROG/TOG1,NUM,TOG2
TOG1: ThisfirstparameterintheLeapfrogcommandisatogglefieldthatrelatestothedifferent
typesofmeasurementoptionsavailableinthedialogbox.Theseinclude:
1. SPHERES(Measure3Spheresoption)
2. PSETS(Measure3PointSetsoption)

3. POINTS(Measure3Pointsoption)
4. DATUMS(MeasureDatumsoption)
ThereisalsoanOFFvalueforthisparameter,inwhichcasetheothertwoparameterswillnotbe
displayed.TheOFFvaluewillturnoffleapfrogtranslation
NUM: ThissecondparameterintheLeapfrogcommandisthenumberofhitsyouwanttotake.
ThiscorrespondstotheHitsboxintheLeapfrogdialogbox.
TOG2: ThislastparameterintheLeapfrogcommandisatogglefieldallowingyoutoswitch
betweeneitheraFULLorPARTIALleapfrog.ThisparametercorrespondstotheHalfRelocation
optioninthedialogbox.
Whenthiscommandisexecutedyouwillbepromptedtotakeyourhits,andafterallthehitsare
taken,aleapfrogtranslationwillbeineffect.
MeasureOptions
TheavailableMeasureoptionbuttonsallowyoutoselectwhatmethodPCDMISwilluseto
performthetranslationcomparison.
TheMeasure3SpheresoptiontellsPCDMIStousespheresasthefeaturesfor
translationcomparison.Thismethodusesthecenterofeachmeasuredsphere.
TheMeasure3PointSetsoptiontellsPCDMIStousethecentroidofasetof
points.Itisrecommendedthatyouusethebottomofaninvertedconewithahard
probe.Thismethodisslightlymoreaccuratethanthespheresmethodandmuch
quickerfortheoperator.
TheMeasure3PointsoptiontellsPCDMIStouseonlythreepointsandisthe
leastaccurateofthethreemethods.
TheMeasureDatumsoptiontellsPCDMIStouseexistingdatumfeaturesfrom
apartprogramofyourchoice.Becausethedatumfeaturesarealreadyassumedto
havebeenmeasuredinyourexistingpartprogram,youonlyneedtomeasurethem
afterrelocatingyourmachine.
NumberofHits

TheNumberofHitsboxallowsyoutospecifythenumberofhitsyouwishtouseforeach
feature.Ofcoursethiswillnotbeusedinthepointmethod.
HalfRelocation
TheHalfRelocationcheckboxletsyoudeterminewhetherornotPCDMISperformsaFULL
RELOCATION(FULLLEAPFROG)operation(ifnotselected)orperformsaPARTIAL
RELOCATION(PARTIALLEAPFROG)operation(ifselected).
Relocationsimplyreferstomovingtheportablemeasuringmachinetoanewlocation.
Doingafullrelocation(clearingthischeckbox)meansyouwouldneedtomeasure
somethingbeforeyoumovetheportablemachineandthenremeasuresomeorallof
thoseitemsaftermovingthemachine.RemeasuringallowsPCDMIStodeterminethe
newlocationofthemachine.
Ahalfrelocation(selectingthischeckbox)meansyoumovetheportablemachinefirst
andthenmeasurethedatumfeatures.
DatumProgramFile
Thisarealetsyouspecifywhatprogramfiletouseasthedatumprogramfile.Thisboxbecomes
enabledwhenyouclicktheMeasureDatumFeaturesoptionbutton.Youcantypethefull
pathwaytothepartprogram(.PRG)fileoryoucanusetheBrowsebuttontonavigatethrough
yourdirectorystructureandselectonethatway.
Onceyouselectafile,thefeaturesavailableforuseintheLeapfrogoperationappearinthe
Availablelist.
AvailableandUsedLists
AvailableandUsedlists
TheAvailableandUsedlistsdisplay,respectively,datumfeaturesthatareavailableforuseor
datumfeaturesthatyouhavechosentouseintheLeapfrogoperation.
AvailableList

WhenyouselectaprogramfiletouseintheDatumProgramFilearea,theavailablefeatures
fromthatprogramfileappearintheAvailablelist.Youcanthenassignfeaturestothecurrent
Leapfrogoperationbyselectingthemandthenclickingthe>>>button.
UsedList
AssignedfeaturesthatappearintheUsedlistwillbemeasuredwhenyouclicktheMeasure
MarkedorMeasureAllbuttonsintheorderthattheyappearintheUsedlist.Youcanremove
themfromtheUsedlistbyclickingthe<<<button.Youcanchangeafeature'sorderofexecution
byselectingafeatureclickingtheupordownarrowbuttons.
MeasureMarked
TheMeasureMarkedbuttononlyfunctionswhenyouusetheMeasureDatumsoption.Itallows
youtomeasureanyselectedfeaturesfromtheUsed list.PCDMISwillusethesefeaturesinthe
Leapfrogoperation.Whenyouclickthisbutton,PCDMISdisplaystheExecutionModeOptions
dialogbox,promptingyoutomeasuretheselectedfeaturesonceyouhavemovedtheCMM,not
before.
Theresultsboxwilldisplaythe3Ddistancebetweenthefeaturestakenbeforethemoveandafter
themoveoftheCMM.Ifyoufindtheresultsunsatisfactorythenyoumayremeasurethelastset
offeaturesagainasthebuttonwillnowread:Remeasure.
Note:AfteryoumovetheCMM,thereisnotawaytoreverttothepreviousalignment.Ifthe
LeapfrogresultsareunsatisfactoryaftertheRemeasureprocess,youmustresettheLeapfrog
andrestarttheentirepartinspectionprocessbyexecutingthepartprogramfromtheinitial
alignment.ThephysicallimitationofusingasingleCMMdevicemakesthisconditionpossiblefor
allrelocationmethods.Youshouldtakegreatcareduringtheexecutionofanyrelocation
procedure.
MeasureAll
SimilartoMeasureMarked,theMeasureAllbuttonalsoopenstheExecutionModeOptions
dialogbox.
IfyouareusingMeasure3Spheres,Measure3PointSets,orMeasure3
Points,thenthisdialogboxwillfirstpromptyoutomeasurethethreefeaturesbefore
promptingyoutomovetheCMM.Aftermovingthemachine,youwillbepromptedto
remeasurethesamefeaturesinthesameorder.
IfyouareusingMeasureDatums,thentheExecutionModeOptionsdialog
boxpromptsyoutomeasureallthedatumfeaturesonceyouhavemovedtheCMM,
notbefore.

Theresultsboxwilldisplaythe3Ddistancebetweenthefeaturestakenbeforethemoveandafter
themoveoftheCMM.Ifyoufindtheresultsunsatisfactorythenyoumayremeasurethelastset
offeaturesagainasthebuttonwillnowread:Remeasure.
Note:Iftheremeasureprocessprovesunsatisfactory,thenyoumustresettheleapfrogandstart
againfromthebeginning.Thisisaproblemwithallleapfrogsystemsandshouldberemembered.
Resultsarea
Resultsarea
TheResultsareashowsthedeviationsbetweenthemachine'sfirstpositionanditssubsequent
position(s)bydisplayingthe3Ddistancebetweenthefeaturestakenbeforethemoveandafter
themoveoftheCMM.
Accept
OnceyouhaveafilledouttheLeapfrog/Relocationdialogbox,youmustclicktheAccept
buttonfromtheResultsareabeforetheleapfrogtransformationwillbeused.ClickingAcceptwill
addtheLEAPFROGcommandtothepartprogram.Ifyoudon'tclicktheAcceptbuttonbutclick
theXintheupperrightcornerorclickOK first,theconstructedleapfrogtranslationwillbelost.
Reset
TheResetbuttonremovesanytranslationbyaddingaLEAPFROG/OFF commandintotheEdit
window.
OK
ClickingOKclosestheLeapfrog/Relocationdialogbox.Ifyouclickthisbuttonbeforeclicking
theAcceptbutton,thedialogboxwillclosewithoutinsertingtheLEAPFROGcommand.
ChangingAlignmentNominalValues

Ifyoumodifyanalignmentfeature'stheoreticalvaluesduringexecutemode,PCDMISchanges
the CADtoPartsalignment.Thismeansthatfeaturesinyourpartprogramthatcomeafterthe
alignment,andaremeasuredrelativetothealignmentfeatures,shiftbytheamountofthe
changedtheoreticalvalues.
IfyouselecttheIgnoreCADtoPartcheckboxfromtheSetupOptionsdialogbox,theCADto
Partsalignmentdoesnotchangewhenyouralignmentfeaturetheoreticalvalueschange.The
featuresbelowthealignmentarethenmeasuredintheirsameposition.See"IgnoreCADtoPart"
inthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapter.
Note:YoucannotusetheIgnoreCADtoPartfunctionalityifyouusetruepositioninyourpart
program.
YoucanalsocontrolhowPCDMIShandlesyourfeatures'nominalvalueswhenyouupdatean
alignment'stheoreticalvaluesbyusingthe
UpdateBelowChangedAlignmentDuringExecutionentryinthePCDMISsettingseditor.
Foradditionalinformation,pleaseviewthe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendix.
CreatingaBundleAlignment
BundleAlignmentsareusedtoestablishtheorientationofeachtrackerposition(station)sothat
allmeasurementscanbebroughtintothesamecoordinatesystem.Commonpointsorfeatures
aremeasuredbetweenstationsthatarephysicallyfixedinspacetofindtheorientationofthe
stations.Atthesametime,asthecommonpointsaremeasuredfromdifferentstationsandthe
bundlealignmentupdatesthelocationofthepoints.ThisallowsPCDMIStoextendtherangeof
capabilitybyusingmultiplestationstomeasurethefeaturesinasinglepartprogram.
Asystemmaycontainasingletrackerwhichismovedtodifferentstations,oryoucouldhave
multipletrackers(currentlynotsupportedinPCDMISversion4.2)whichmaybemovedto
differentstations.Astationisdefinedasalocationwherethetrackerisplaced.
Note:BundleAlignmentsareonlyusedforLeicaTrackerdevices.
SelecttheInsert|Alignment|Bundle menuoptiontobegincreatingaBundleAlignment.The
followingtopicsdiscusstheprocessofcreatingaBundleAlignment:
AddingandRemovingStations
SettingFitOptions
BundleAlignmentSetup
BundleAlignmentResults
BundleAlignmentCommandText
AddingandRemovingStations
TheStationManagerdialogboxisaccessedbyclickingStationManagerfromtheBundle
Alignmentdialogbox,selectingtheTracker|StationManagement menuitemorclickingthe
activestationnameintheTrackerStatusBar.

StationManagerdialogbox
ClickAddtoaddanewstationtotheStationslistforinclusionintheBundlealignment.
SelectanexistingstationformtheStationslistandclickRemovetoremovethatstation.
Oriented WhenthevalueisYESintheOrientedcolumn,thestationlocationand
orientationhasbeencomputed.
Locked WhenthevalueisYESintheLockedcolumnthestationwillnotallowany
furthermeasurements.AstationbecomeslockedwhentheTrackerismovedfromthat
position.
Note:Theasterisknexttothestationnameindicatesthatitistheactivestation.
Note:Nomorethan99stationsareallowedinabundlealignmentcalculation.
SettingFitOptions
ClickFitOptionsfromtheBundleAlignmentdialogboxtoopentheFitOptionsdialogbox.

FitOptionsdialogbox
Typically,thedefaultoptions(shownabove)willbeused.Selectfromthefollowingoptionsto
determinehowtheBundleAlignmentsolutioniscalculated:
NormalSolutionComputestheorientationofeachstationandeachcommonpoint
basedonthecurrentorientationofthestationsandcommonpoints.
RecalculateallThisrecomputestheorientationofpointsandstationsdisregarding
currentorientationofstationsandcommonpoints
KeeporientedstationsfixedPreviouslyorientedstationswillremainunchangedand
onlythelaststationwillberecomputed.Thecommonpointswillberecomputed.
KeeppointsandorientedstationsfixedBothpreviouslymeasuredstationsandthe
commonpointswillremainfixed.
BalancednetworkThisisusedtobalancethesystemsothatasinglestationisnot
constrainedtobetheorigin.
BlunderAnalysisThisusedtocomputesituationswheretheusermayhave
mistakenlymeasuredthewrongpointwhenmeasuringthecommonfeatures.
BundleAlignmentSetup
BundleAlignmentdialogboxSetuptab
SettinguptheBundlealignmententailsassociatingfeaturesthatwillbemeasuredbymultiple
LeicaTrackerstations.Todothis:
1. ClickthecheckboxesnexttothefeaturesthatyouwouldliketoincludeintheBundle
Alignmentforanypreviouslyorientedstations.Checkedfeatureswillbeincludedinthe
bundlecalculation,notnecessarilymeasured.Ifthisisthefirst(reference)station,you
wouldselectallofthefeaturesthatyouwillmeasureinStep3.Onlyfeaturesthatare

addedtothelistontherightundertheActiveStationwillbemeasuredwhenyouclick
Measure.
Note:Byclickingthestationnameatthetopofthecolumn,youcaneitherselectof
deselectallthefeaturesunderthatcolumn.
2. SelectthereferencestationfromtheActiveStationdropdownbox.
Note:Stationsthatarelockedcannotbeselectedastheactivestation.
3. TodefinethefeaturesthatwillbemeasuredbytheActiveStationwhenyouclick
Measure,selectthemfromtheFeatureslistandclicktheMoveRightbutton .This
willaddthemtothelistfortheActiveStation.ToremovefeaturesfromtheActive
Stationfeaturelist,selectthefeatureandclicktheMoveLeftbutton .
4. ClickMeasuretobeginmeasuringtheselectedfeaturesfromtheActiveStation.The
BundleAlignmentiscomputeafterthemeasurementhascompleted.
5. Oncethestationhasbeenmeasured,movethemachine(LeicaTracker)toanext
location(Station).
6. Nowselectthepreviouslymeasuredfeaturesplusanynewfeaturesthatwillbe
measuredbythenewstationlocationfromtheFeatureslistbyclickingthecheckboxes
nexttothefeatures.ThesefeaturesareincludedintheBundlealignmentcalculation.
7. SelectthenamefromtheActiveStationdropdownboxthatrepresentsthenewlocation
whereyouhavemovedtheTracker.
8. RepeatStep3andincludeanyfeaturesmeasuredbythepreviousstation(s),plusany
newfeaturestobemeasuredbythecurrentActiveStation.
9. ClickMeasuretobeginmeasuringtheselectedfeaturesfromtheActiveStation.The
BundleAlignmentisrecomputedafterthemeasurementhascompleted.
10. ReviewtheresultsviatheResultstab(see"BundleAlignmentResults").
11. TorecomputetheBundleAlignmentwithouthavingtoremeasurefeatures,click
Compute.Thisisonlyneeded,whenyoudon'tliketheresults(Seethe"Bundle
AlignmentResults")andwanttomodifyparameters,suchaswhichfeaturestoinclude
(checkboxesintheFeaturesmulticolumnlistbox),orchangingtheFitOptionssettings
(likeabalancednetwork).Thiswillredothecomputationbasedonthechanged
parameterswithoutremeasuring.
BundleAlignmentResults

BundleAlignmentdialogboxResultstab
AfteryouhavemeasuredandcomputedtheconfiguredBundlealignment,youcanverifythe
resultsontheResulttab.Ifyouaresatisfiedwiththeresults,thenclickCreatetoinsertthe
alignmentintothepartprogram.Thealignmentwillbeexecutedasdefinedduringnormalpart
programexecution.
InterpretingBundleAlignmentResults:
Stations
IDNameoftheLeicaTrackerstation
XYZShowsthetranslatedpositionofthestationwithrespecttotheoriginstation.
RxRyRzShowstherotationsabouttheoriginstationx,y,andzaxis.
Features
IDNameofthePartProgramfeaturename.
SourceStationnamefromwhichthefeaturewasoriginallymeasured.
RMSThisistherootmeansquareerror(averageerror)ofthegivenpoint.
ApexAngleThisprovidesthelargestanglebetweentwoobservationsofameasured
point.Ifapointismeasuredfrommorethantwotrackersthenthe anglewhichisclosest
to90degreesisgivenastheApexangle.
PointingerrorThisisameasureoftheangularerrorforagivenpoint.
XYZDisplaystheXYZlocationforthefeature.
DevXYZThesevaluesprovidethedeviationfromthemeasurementtakenfromeach
individualstationtotherespectivebestfittedvalue.
Dev3DThisvalueprovidesthemagnitudeoftheXYZdeviation.
SolutionStatusThisiseitherOKorFAILEDindicatingwhetherthealgorithmwasabletosolve
thebundlealignment.

RMSErrorThetotalRMSerrorofallofthepoints.
VarianceThevarianceofallthepointscombined.
WarningsSpecificmessagesareprovidedtoassistinmakingadjustmentstotheBundle
AlignmentSolution.
BundleAlignmentCommandText
BUNDLEALIGN/ID=1,SHOWDETAIL=TOG1
FITOPTIONS/TYPE=TOG2,BALANCED=TOG3,BLUNDERANALYSIS=TOG4
MEASUREFEATURES/PNT1,PNT2,PNT3,
BUNDLEDFEATURES/
STATION=1,PNT1,PNT2,PNT3,PNT4,
STATION=2,PNT1,PNT2,PNT3,,
STATION=3,PNT1,PNT2,PNT4,,
STATION=
IDThisfieldprovidestheactivestationnumber.Thisisthestationfromwhichfeatures
willbemeasured.
TOG1(SHOWDETAIL=YES/NO) WhenthisvalueissettoYES,adetailedlistingof
theBundleAlignmentisdisplayedintheEditWindow.Bydefault,thisvalueissettoNO,
whichwillnotdisplaytheFITOPTIONS.
TOG2(FITOPTIONS/TYPE=type)ChooseoneoffouravailableFitOptions:
NORMAL,POINTSANDSTATIONSFIXED,RECALCULATEALL,andSTATIONS
FIXED.See"SettingFitOptions".
TOG3(BALANCED=OFF/ON) WhenthisvalueissettoON,abalancednetwork
solutionisused.Bydefault,thisvalueissettoOFF.See"SettingFitOptions".
TOG4(BLUNDERANALYSIS=OFF/ON) WhenthisvalueissettoON,Blunder
Analysisisused.Bydefault,thisvalueissettoOFF.See"SettingFitOptions".
MEASUREFEATURESListsfeaturesthatwillbemeasuredfortheactivestation
number.
BUNDLEDFEATURESListsstationsandthefeaturesthatareincludedintheBundle
Alignmentcomputations.

DimensioningFeatures
DimensioningFeatures:Introduction
Oncefeatureshavebeenmeasuredorconstructed,theinspectionreportcanbegenerated.The
firststepinpreparingareportistocalculatedimensionsaccordingtospecificrequirements.
WhilethischapterherecoversPCDMIS'slegacydimensions,understandingtheinformation
heremayhelpyouincreatingthenewerFeatureControlFramedimensionsdiscussedinthenext
chapter.
Dimensionscanbecalculatedimmediatelyafterameasurementhasbeenmadeorlaterinthe
program.PCDMISdisplaystheresultofeachdimensioningoperationintheEditwindow.
Seethe"EditingaPart PCDMISalsoallowsyoutospecifynominalvalues,modifythe
Programchapterforgeneraloutputformat,and/orprintouttheresultsofthecalculations.
informationonhowtomodify
theEditwindowreport. Tochangethenominalortolerancevalues
displayedintheEditwindow,clickonthevaluetobe
changedandtypeinanewone.
Toshoworhidenominalsortolerancefieldsinthe
Editwindow,changetheselectedcheckboxesinthe
DimensionOutputFormatareaoftheDimensiontab
intheParametersdialogbox(Edit|Preferences|
Parameters).Seethe"ParameterSettings:Dimension
tab"topicinthe"SettingyourPreferences"chapter
Tochangethemeasuredvaluesofafeature(for
example,togettheradiusofacircletoprintout)see
the"ModifyingReportandMotionParameters"topicin
the"SettingyourPreferences"chapter.
Todimensionafeature,selecttheInsert|Dimensionsubmenufromthemenubaroraccessthe
Dimensiontoolbarandthenselectthedesireddimension.Thischaptercoversthelegacy
dimensionsfoundintheDimensionsubmenu.
DimensionCommandFormat
PrintingDimensionstotheInspectionReport
CommonDimensionDialogBoxOptions
DimensioningLocation
DimensioningTruePosition
DimensioningDistance
DimensioningAngle
DimensioningConcentricity
DimensioningCoaxiality
DimensioningRoundness
DimensioningStraightness
DimensioningFlatness
DimensioningPerpendicularity
DimensioningParallelism
DimensioningTotalorCircularRunout
DimensioningSurfaceorLineProfile
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual DimensioningFeatures 821

DimensioningAngularity
DimensioningSymmetry
DimensioningthroughKeyboardInput
DimensioningVariables
DimensionCommandFormat
Alldimensionedfeaturesaredisplayedinthefollowingformat.Therewillbeslightvariationsthat
areexplainedmorethoroughlyinthefollowingsections.
PCDMISwilldisplay Forexample,theEditwindowdisplaysdimensionsas:
dimensionsthataren't dimension_name=TYPEOFDIMENSION,feat_1UNITS=IN,$
linkedtoanyfeatures GRAPH=OFF TEXT=OFF MULT=1.00 OUTPUT=BOTH
withthecoloryouhave
definedforoutof
tolerancetext.
AX NOM +TOL TOL MEAS MAX MIN DEV OUT
TOL
x 8.0000 0.1000 0.10008.0000 8.5000 7.5000 0.0000 0.0000
y 3.0000 0.1000 0.1000 3.0000 3.5000 2.5000 0.0000 0.0000
z 0.4947 0.1000 0.1000 0.4947 0.1428 0.8466 0.0000 0.0000
d 1.0000 0.1000 0.1000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000
v 0.0000 0.5938 0.8046
ENDOFDIMENSIONdimension_name(forLOCATIONonly)
See"Conventions"forfieldrules.
TYPEOFDIMENSION: denotesthedimensiontype.Thisfieldcannotbechangedexceptby
changingthenameofthefeature.
feat_1: nameoffeaturetobedimensioned.Thisisausereditablefield.
Allnominalandtolerancevaluesinadimensionareeditable.Toeditthenominalandtolerance
values:
1. MovetothedesiredcellbypressingtheTABkey,ordoubleclickonthefield
usingtheleftmousebutton.
2. Typeinthedesiredvalue.
3. PresstheTABkeyagainorclickoutsideofthedimension.
PressingtheENTERkeywilladdaline.(See"DimensioningLocation")
AddingLines
Inordertocreateanadditionallinewithinthelocationdimension:
1. Placethecursorinthedesiredlocation.
3. Typeinthedesiredaxis(X,Y,Z,D,R,A,V,T,L,S,H,M,PR,PA,PD).
822 DimensioningFeatures PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

4. PresstheTABorENTERkey.
PCDMISwillthendisplaythevaluesfortheaddedaxis.PCDMISaddsthenewlinedepending
onwherethecursorislocated.Ifthecursorisinthemiddleofacommand,anewlineiscreated
belowthecurrentline.Ifthecursorisplacedatthebeginningofacommandline,PCDMISwill
createthenewlineabovethecurrentcursorposition.
DeletingLines
Todeleteasingleaxiswithinalocationdimension,highlightthedesiredaxisandthenpressthe
BACKSPACEorDELETEkey.(SeeCommandModeKeyboardFunctionsinthe"UsingtheEdit
Window"chapter.)
EditingLines
WhenthetolerancesofadimensionareeditedintheEditwindow,adialogboxappearsaskingif
youwanttocarrythechangedtolerancesforwardtoanyofthesamedimensiontypes.Ifthe
responseisYes,PCDMISwillsearchfromthatpointforwardinthepartprogramtocopythe
tolerancesintoanydimensionsthatwereofthesametypeandhadthesameoriginaltolerances.
WhenthenominalsofadimensionareeditedintheEditwindow,adialogboxappearsaskingif
youalsowanttocarrythechangednominalsbacktothedimensionsfeature.Iftheresponseis
Yes,PCDMISwillchangethefeaturenominalstothenewnominalvalues.
Conventions
TheDimensiontabontheSetup Optionsdialogbox(Edit|Preferences|Setup)allowsyouto
defineparametersforthedisplayeddimensions.
Allanglescanberepresented15placestotherightofthedecimal.Theactual
numberdisplayedisdeterminedbytheparameterssetintheDimensiontab.
Alllengths,distances(x_cord,y_cord,z_cord,diam,height,length,etc.),and
vectors(i_vec,j_vec,k_vec)inthedimensionsarerepresented15placestothe
rightofthedecimal.Theactualnominalthatwillbedisplayedisdeterminedbythe
parameterssetintheDimensiontab.
ForinformationonthisDimensiontab,seethe"SetupOptions:Dimensiontab"topicinthe
"SettingyourPreferences"chapter.
ToaccessthecorrespondingdimensiondialogboxfromwhichanEditwindow'sdimensionwas
created:
1. MakesuretheEditwindowisopen(View|EditWindow).
2. IntheEditwindow,clickthemouseonthedimension.
3. PressF9.Adimensiondialogboxwillappear.
Usingthisdialogbox,youcanmakeanydesiredchangestotheexistingdimension.Whenyou
clicktheCreatebutton,changeswillalsobeappliedtothedimensionstextintheEditwindow.

PrintingDimensionstotheInspectionReport
YoucaneasilygeneratedimensionsinsidetheEditwindow,which,inturn,willgeneratethese
dimensionsinsideyourinspectionreport.
ToAutomaticallyCreateDimensionsintheEditWindow
TohavePCDMISautomaticallycreatedimensionsintheEditwindow:
1. AccesstheEditwindow(View|EditWindow).
2. Placethecursorwhereyouwantthedimensioninformationtoappear.
3. Typeintheappropriatekeyword.
OR
1. SelectEdit|Preferences|SetupmenuoptiontoaccesstheSetupOptions
dialogbox.
2. ChoosetheDimensiontabfromthedialogbox.
3. SelecttheAutoCreateDimensionoption.
4. Selectanyotheroptions.
Thenexttimeyoumeasureafeatureanautomaticdimensionwillbecreatedandinsertedintothe
Editwindow.
ToModifytheDimensionPriortoPrinting
Inmanycases,thenominals,tolerances,oroutputformatmustbemodifiedbeforeprintingthe
results.
TochangethenominalsortolerancesfromtheEditwindow:
1. AccesstheEditwindowandplaceitinCommandmode(View|EditWindow).
2. ClickonthedimensionintheEditwindow.
3. PressTABtomovetothevalueyouwanttochange
4. Typeanewvalue.
Toeditthenominalsortolerancesusingthedimension'sdialogbox:
1. ClickonthedimensionintheEditwindow.
2. PressF9toaccessitsdialogbox.
3. Changethenecessaryvalues.
Tochangethecontentsofthedimensionreport,accesstheDimensiontabontheParameter
Settingsdialogbox(see"ParameterSettings:Dimensiontab"topicinthe"Settingyour
Preferences"chapter)andmodifythedimensioninformationPCDMISshoulddisplay.

Note:The"AnalysisSettings"sectionofeachdimension'sdialogboxallowsyoutodisplaythe
dimensionprintoutinaformatsuitableforcloseexamination.
DisplayingDimensionsinRTFandPDFFiles
YoucansendtheinspectionreportwithitsdimensionstoanexternalRTF(RichTextFormat)or
PDF(PortableDocumentFormat)filebyselectingtheoutputoptionsinthePrintOptionsdialog
boxfortheEditwindow.See"PrintingfromtheInspectionReport"inthe"UsingBasicFile
Options"chapter.
BeawarethatbecauseofformattinglimitationsbetweentheRTFandPDFoutputs,dimensions
aredisplayedsomewhatdifferentlyinthetwofiles.
InRTFfiles,dimensionsareprintedwithalightborderaroundtheheader,ablue
backgroundcolor,andthedimensionsymbol.
InPDFfiles,dimensionsareprintedwithoutaborder,thereisnobackground
color,andnodimensionsymbol.Dimensionsareprintedwithaleftmargin.
CommonDimensionDialogBoxOptions
ThereareseveraloptionsavailabletomanyoftheDimensiondialogboxes.
MaterialConditions
TheMaterialConditionsareacontainsthefollowingtolerancingmethods:
Optionbutton StandsFor Description

M MMC Maximummaterial
conditionappliedto
eitherthefeatureora
datum.
R RFS Regardlessoffeature
sizeappliedtoeitherthe
featureoradatum.
L LMC Leastmaterialcondition
appliedtoeitherthe
featureoradatum.
CurrentlyyoucanselectMaterialConditionmodifiers forTruePosition,Parallelism,and
Perpendicularitydimensions.
BeawarethatforTruePositiondimensions,selectingtheUseDatumscheckboxwillcausethe
XYZoutputvaluestousethealignmentofthedatums.

RecallButton
TheRecallbuttonintheMaterialConditionsareaallowsyoutoeasilyselectthesamedatums
usedinaprevioussimilardimension.Thisbuttonremainsunavailableforselectionuntilyou
selectafeaturetodimensionfromtheFeaturelist.
Forexample,supposeyouusedfourcircles,asyourdatumsinapreviousTruePosition
dimension.YoucaneasilytellPCDMIStousethesesamecirclesasyourfeaturesbyselecting
thefeaturetodimensionfromtheFeaturelist,andclickingtheRecallbutton.PCDMISwillthen
selectthedatumsfromtheFeaturelist.
DisplayDimensionInfo
TheDisplaycheckboxwillcreateaDIMINFOcommandintheEditwindowafterthedimension.
ThiscommandwillshowalldimensioninformationintheGraphicsDisplaywindownexttothe
featureselectedintheFeatureListbox.ThisDIMINFOcommandwillalsodisplaythesame
dimensionaxesthatareavailableintheEditwindowforthatparticulardimension.
TousetheDisplayoption:
1. SelecttheDisplaycheckbox.
2. Selectthefeaturetodimension.
DimensioninformationwillthenappearintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
DimensionalDataDisplayedintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
FormoreindepthinformationonDIMINFOboxesandonrulesgoverningtheircreation,see
"InsertingDimensionInfoBoxes"inthe"InsertingReportCommands"chapter.
EditDefaultDimensionInfo
TheEditbuttonwillbringuptheEditDefaultDimensionInfodialogbox.

EditDefaultDimensionInfodialogbox
ThesecheckboxesallowyoutoselectthetypeofinformationdisplayedintheGraphicsDisplay
windowforeachdimension.Theavailablecheckboxesare:
Auto TheAutocheckboxautomatically
displaysthefollowinginformation:
Measured,Nominal,Tolerances,
Deviation,MaxMin,OutTol.
Measured Thischeckboxdisplaystheactual
measureddimensions.
Nominal Thischeckboxdisplaysthetheoretical
valuesforthedimension.
Tolerances Thischeckboxdisplaystheacceptable
tolerancelevelseithergreaterthanorless
thanthenominal.
Deviation Thischeckboxdisplaysthedeviationof
themeasuredvaluefromthenominal.
MaxMin Thischeckboxdisplaysthemaximumand
minimumvalues forthedimension
OutTol Thischeckboxdisplayshowfaroutof
tolerancethemeasuredvalueisfromthe
nominalandtolerancevalues.
Mean Thischeckboxdisplaystheaverageofall
thedeviationsforthedimension.
StdDev Thischeckboxdisplaysthestandard
deviationofallthedeviationsforthe
dimension
Numberof Thischeckboxdisplaysthenumberof
Points pointsusedtomeasurethefeatureofthe
dimension.
Formoreindepthinformationoneditingdimensionsandonrulesgoverningtheircreation,see
"InsertingDimensionInfoBoxes"inthe"InsertingReportCommands"chapter.Thefollowingfive
buttons:OK,Cancel,Default,Recall,andResetalldealwiththeEditDefaultDimensionInfo
dialogbox.
ResetButton

TheResetbuttonclearsanyselectedcheckboxesintheEditDefaultDimensionInfodialog
boxandselectstheAutocheckbox.TheResetbuttoncompletesthedescriptionsofthebuttons
foundintheEditDefaultDimensionInfodialogbox.Thefollowingbuttonsandsectionsfinish
describingothercommonfunctionsfoundamongthevariousdimensiondialogboxes.
Units
TheUnitsareaallowsyoutochoosebetweenthefollowingtwooptions:
Inch=Inches
MM=Millimeters
Theunitofmeasurementselectedwillbeusedfordimensioningwhilethecurrentdialogboxis
stillopen.Thedefaultselectionisthecurrentunitofmeasurementofthecurrentpartprogram
AnalysisSettings
Analysisareaforall
otherdimensions
Analysisareafor
LocationandTrue
Positiondimensions
TheAnalysisareaallowsyoutosetthedimensionaloutputanalysisformattotextual,graphical,
orbothwhenviewingadimension'sdeviations.
UniquetoLocationandTruePositiondimensions,theAnalysisareaallowsyoutoanalyzenot
onlyafeature'slocation,butafeature'sformaswell.
Note:UsecautionwheninterpretingaLocationorTruePositiondimension'sgraphicaldataalong
withitsintegratedformdimension.You'llfindthatanalysistolerancelineswilllikelyoverlapand
makedistinguishingdifficult.
Textual
WhenyouselecttheTextualcheckbox(ortheOnoptionforLocationandTruePosition
dimensions),PCDMISwillprintoutthefollowingintheinspectionreportforeachindividualhit
usedinthedimension:

MeasuredX,Y,andZvalues
MeasuredI,J,andKvalues
Deviationofeachindividualhit
"MAX"or"MIN"markerattheendofthelinewheneverthehitproduceseithera
maximumorminimumdeviation.
ExampleoftheTextualAnalysisReport
Graphical
WhenyouselecttheGraphicalcheckbox(ortheOnoptionforLocationandTruePosition
dimensions),PCDMISletsyououtputthedimensionalprintoutinaformatsuitableforclose
examination.
Whenselected,PCDMISwillgraphicallydisplaythedeviationofeachindividualhitforthe
dimensionsusedonthepartintheGraphicalDisplaywindow.Theprogramdisplaystheerrorin
theformofindividualarrowsforeachhit.Thesearrows,withtheircolorsanddirections,indicate
therelativesizeoftheerror,aswellasitsdirection.
...GRAPH=ON TEXT=OFF MULT=1.00
Considerthisexamplewhichusesthedimensioninformationdisplayedinthetextualanalysis
examplein"Textual":
ExampleofaRoundnessDimensionusingGraphicalAnalysiswithamultiplieroften(ontheleft)
andone(ontheright)

TheRoundnessexampleabovecontainsvariouscoloredlines,arrows,andcircles.Thefollowing
tabledescribesthecoloredelementsintheexampleandwhattheymean:
ColoredElement Description
BlackCircle Showsthenominalcircle.
RedCircle Showsthemeasured,outof
tolerancecircle.
BlueCircles Showthetolerancebands.
ColoredLines Showthelinesbetweenhits.
Coloredarrows Showthehitsthemselves(thetipof
thearrow),therelativesizeofthe
deviationforeachhit(bythecolored
arrow),andinwhichdirection
deviationoccurs(thedirectionthe
arrowpoints).
Thecolorsusedinthisexamplearethedefaultdimensioncolors.Youcaneasilychangethese
colorsifdesired.Thecolorsusedwillalsocorrespondtothecolorsusedonthebargraphon
DimensionInfoandPointInfoboxes.See"EditingDimensionColors"inthe"EditingtheCAD
Display"chapter.
Multiplier
TheMultiplierboxisascalingfactorthatmagnifiesthedeviationarrowsandtolerancezoneby
thevaluetypedforthegraphicalanalysismode.Ifyoutypea2.0value,PCDMISwillscalethe
arrowstwotimesthecalculateddeviationforeachfeaturehit.
Thischangesthearrow'ssizeforviewingpurposesonly.Itdoesnotaffectthesizeofthe
deviationinthetextprintoutinanyway.
BothOption(forTruePositionandLocation)
Textual:SelectingBothdisplaysdeviationsforboththelocationandtheform
axesintheinspectionreport.
Graphical:SelectingBothdisplaystolerancinglinesforbothafeature'slocation
dimensionandtheintegratedformdimension,possiblyoverlappingoneanother.
FormOption(forTruePositionandLocation)
WiththeFormoptionyoucananalyzedimensionalinformationforafeature'slocationanda
feature'sformatthesametime(inversionsearlierthan3.25youwouldhavetodoaseparate
dimensiontogetafeature'sform).
Remember:YoumustselecttheFormcheckboxintheAxesareaofthedialogboxtousethe
Analysisareatoreportonafeature'sform.See"DefaultAxes"foradditionalinformation.
SelectingForm,actsasifyouautomaticallyselectedtheBothoptionaswell,sincebotha
graphicalandatextualanalysisaregenerated.
OutputTo

Dimensionoutputcanbeprintedtoeithertheinspectionreportortostatisticalfilesusedby
statisticssoftware,tobothofthese,ortononeatall.ThisiscontrolledthroughtheOutputTo
areaofthedialogbox,whichcontainstheseoptions:
Statisticssendsoutputtostatisticalfiles
Reportsendsoutputtoinspectionreport
Bothsendsoutputtobothinspectionreportandstatisticalfiles
Nonedoesn'tsenddimensionoutputanywhere
Uponthedimension'sexecution,theoutputwillgototheinspectionreport,thestatsfile,bothof
these,ornoneofthem(dependingontheselection).
NotethatifeithertheStatsoptionortheBothoptionisselected,aprecedingSTATS/ON
commandmustexistinsidetheEditwindowforthisdimensiontobesenttothestatsfile.
DimensioningLocation
FeatureLocationdialogbox
TheInsert|Dimension|LocationmenuoptioncalculatesthedistancefromthefeaturetotheX,
Y,Zorigin,paralleltoitsrespectiveaxis.Thefeature'sdiameter,angle,andvectorarealsopart
ofthecalculation.Thissectionrelatesonlytolocationorcoordinatedimensioning.Forposition
dimensions,see"DimensioningTruePosition".
LocationcanbecalculatedusingCartesianorPolarcoordinates,TruePositionorbox
tolerancing.
ToswitchbetweenCartesianandPolarcoordinates,selectPangorPrad inthe
FeatureLocationdialogbox.
ToswitchbetweenTRUEPOSITIONandRECT tolerancingmethodsseethe
"DimensioningTruePosition"dimensionoption.

ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheLOCATIONOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Locationfromthesubmenu.TheFeatureLocation
dialogboxwillappear.
2. Selectthefeature(s)todimensionfromtheFeatureListbox.
3. SelectthedesiredaxesfromtheAxesarea.TheAutocheckboxismarkedas
thedefault.
IftheAutocheckboxismarked,PCDMISwillautomaticallydeterminethedefaultaxesto
displayinthedimension.Thedefaultaxesarebasedonthefeaturetype,asshowninthetable
below.
Thedefaultoutputformatforthefollowingfeaturesis:
CIRCLE X,Y,D(basedontheworkplane).
CONE X,Y,Z,A
CYLINDER X,Y,Z,D,L(basedontheworkplane).
ELLIPSE X,Y,Z,D,A,L
LINE Basedontheaxisthatisperpendiculartothe
axisclosestto(andtheaxisrelatedto)thework
planethelineismeasuredin.
PLANE Basedontheaxismostcloselyrelatedtothe
plane.
POINT X,Y,Z,T
SLOT X,Y,D,R,L(basedontheworkplane).
SPHERE X,Y,Z,D
4. SelecttheaxesfromtheAxesdropdownlisttowhichyouwanttoapplyPlusand
Minustolerances.
5. TypethePlustolerancevalueinthePlusbox.
6. TypetheMinustolerancevalueintheMinusbox.
7. TypeavaluefortheNominalsizeintheNominalSizebox.
8. SelectaToleranceClassfromtheToleranceClassdropdownlist.
9. SelectaToleranceGradefromtheToleranceGradedropdownlist.
10. SelecttheoptionalDisplaycheckboxifyouwanttoviewdimensioninformation
11. SelecteithertheInchorMMoptionfromtheUnitsareaofthedialogbox.
12. Selectwheretooutputthedimensioninformation.SelecttheStatistics,Report,
Both,orNoneoption.

13. SelectthedesiredAnalysisoptionsbyselectingtheTextualcheckboxorthe
Graphicalcheckbox.IftheGraphicalcheckboxwasselected,typetheMultiplier
valueintheMultiplierbox.
14. Ifdesired,selecttheDisplaycheckboxintheDimensionInfoareaandclick
EdittoselecttheDimensionInfoFormatyouwouldlikedisplayedintheGraphics
Displaywindow.
15. ClicktheCreatebutton.IfyoudidnotselectanycheckboxesfromtheAxes
area,theCreatebuttonwillbeunavailableforselection.
ThedimensionwillappearintheEditwindowwiththisinformation:
dimension_name=TYPEOFDIMENSION,feat_1UNITS=IN,$
GRAPH=OFF TEXT=OFF MULT=1.00 OUTPUT=BOTH
NOM +TOL TOL MEAS MAX MIN DEV OUT

TOL
x 8.0000 0.1000 0.1000 8.0000 8.5000 7.5000 0.0000 0.0000
y 3.0000 0.1000 0.1000 3.0000 3.5000 2.5000 0.0000 0.0000
z 0.4947 0.1000 0.1000 0.4947 0.1428 0.8466 0.0000 0.0000
d 1.0000 0.1000 0.1000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000
v 0.0000 0.5938 0.8046
ENDOFDIMENSIONdimension_name(forLOCATIONonly)
DefaultAxesforLocationDimensions
WhentheAutocheckboxintheAxesareaischecked,theaxesdisplayedinthedimensionare
selectedaccordingtothedefaultaxesofthefeaturetype,butaregrayedout:
Ifyouselectmultiplefeaturesofdifferenttypes(forexampleacirclefeatureandapointfeature),
theAxesareawillselecttheaxestouseforthelastselectedfeature:

Insomecircumstancesitmaybenecessarytooverridethedefaultsetting.TheDefaultcheck
boxremainsavailablesoyoucanaltertheformatofthedefaultoutput.
Toalterthedefaultoutput:
1. Selectthefeature(s)todimension.
2. SelecttheDefaultcheckbox.TheAutocheckboxisclearedandallaxes
becomeavailableforselection.
3. Selecttheappropriateaxesasneeded.
X=printsXaxisvalue.
Y=printsYaxisvalue.
Z=printsZaxisvalue.
Prad=printsthePolarRadius.
Pang=printsthePolarAngle.
D=printsDiametervalue.Foranellipse,thisistheminordiameter value
(sameasH).
R=printsRadius(halfofDiameter)value.
A=printsAnglevalue.
L=printsLength(usedforcylinder,cones,slots,andellipses.)Foran
ellipse,Lgivesyouthemajordiametervalue.
H=printstheHeight(usedoncones,cylinders,andellipses).Foranellipse,
Hgivesyoutheminordiametervalue.
V=printstheVectorlocation.
Form=printsthefeature'sintegratedformdimensionwiththelocation
dimension
Foracircle,cylinder,orconefeature,thisistheRoundness(RN)
dimension.
ForaplanefeaturethisistheFlatness(FL)dimension.
ForalinefeaturethisistheStraightness(ST)dimension.
Oncetheoutputvalueshavebeenchangedtosomethingotherthanthedefault,PCDMISwill
usethenewsettingforallsubsequentdimensions.IfyouwanttoPCDMIStothenusethe
originaldefaultaxes,youmustresettheformattothedefaultsettings.

Toresettheformattothedefaultsettings:
1. SelecttheDefaultcheckbox.
2. SelecttheAutocheckbox.Alltheaxescheckboxesbecomegrayedout.
3. Selectthefeature(s)todimension.Theoriginaldefaultaxesareselected.
PCDMISwillautomaticallyresetthedimensiontoprintthedefaultaxesaccordingtofeature
type.
SheetMetalAxes
TheSheetMetalAxesareacontainscheckboxesonlyavailablewhensheetmetalfeaturesare
beingdimensioned.
T=printserroralongapproachvector(forpointsoncurvedsurfaces).
S=printsthedeviationalongthesurfacevector.
RT=printsthedeviationalongthereportvector.
RS=printsthedeviationalongthesurfacereport.
PD=printsthediameterofacircle(perpendiculartothepinvector).
IfaT,RT,SorRSaxisisused,noneoftheotherlocationdimensionsareusedfortheanalysis
(graphicalortextual).
Thedefaultoutputformatforsheetmetalfeatures(AutoFeatures)is:
VECTORPOINT:RT
SURFACE:RT
EDGE:X,Y,Z,andT
CIRCLE:PD
LocationOptions
PCDMISalsoallowsyoutoprinttwospecialtyaxes:
RetrolinearOnly
GapOnly
EitheroptioncanbeselectedintheLocationsOptionsareaoftheFeatureLocationdialogbox.
Allfuturelocationsofvector,surface,andedgepointswithinthepartprogramwillbeprinted
usingtheappropriatespecialtyaxesuntiltheoptionisturnedOFF.

RetrolinearOnlyforLocationDimensions
Thischeckboxisavailablewhendimensioningvectorandsurfacepoints.Whentheretrolinear
onlyoptionhasbeenselectedforvalidpoints,thelocationaxesarecalculatedby:
Findingthelargestcomponentofthetheoreticalsurfacenormalvector(largestinx,
y,orzdirection).
Projectingthemeasuredpointtothislargestcomponentvectorinamannerthatthe
projectionisperpendiculartotheoriginaltheoreticalsurfacenormalvector.
Thelocationaxesarethencalculatedfromthisnewprojectedpoint.
GapOnlyforLocationDimensions
TheGapOnlycheckboxisavailablewhendimensioningedgepoints.WhenyouselecttheGap
Onlycheckbox,andanedgepointismeasured,thelocationaxesarecalculatedby:
Projectingthemeasuredpoint(1)tothetheoreticalsurface.
Projectingthisnewpointontothetheoreticalapproachvector.
Anylocationaxesarethencalculatedfromthisnewpoint.

A
Theoretical
Surface
Normal
B
Measured
Point
CTheo
Point
DGap
E
Theoretical
Approach
Vector
TolerancesforLocationDimensions
TheTolerancesareaallowsyoutotypeplusandminustolerancesforeachofthefollowingaxes
foundintheAxesdropdownlist.
ToEnterinplusandminustolerances:
1. SelecttheaxisforwhichyouwillenterthetolerancefromtheAxesdropdown
list.
2. InthePlusboxtypetheplustolerancevalueforthisaxis.
3. IntheMinusboxtypetheMinustolerancevalueforthisaxis.
PCDMISallowspositivelowertolerances(orapositivetoleranceinthenegativerange).Thisis
donebyenteringinaminussignbeforethevalueintheMinusbox.
PCDMISalsoallowsanegativeuppertolerance(oraminustoleranceinthepositiverange).
ThisisdonebyenteringinaminussignbeforethevalueinthePlusbox.
Example:If1.000isenteredforthenominal,.003isenteredfortheplustoleranceand.001is
enteredfortheminustoleranceitwouldbeinterpretedas1.000+.003/.001.Togetthelower
tolerancetobe+.001(signchange)simplytypein1.000(nominal),.003(plustol)and.001
(minustol)therebyachievingatolerancerangeof1.000+.003/+.001.

Note:NegativelowertolerancesmaybedisplayedwithaminussigniftheMinusTolsShow
Negativeoptionhasbeenselected.SeeMinusTolsShowNegativeinthe"SettingYour
AxesDropDownlist
TheAxesdropdownlistprovidesyouwithalistofavailableaxes,towhichyoucanapplyPlus
and/orMinustolerances.Thelistcontainsthefollowing:
ALL Alltheaxesandoptionsdisplayedinthedrop
downlist
X Xaxisvalue
Y Yaxisvalue.
Z Zaxisvalue.
D Diameter
R Radius(halfofDiameter)
A Angle(forcones)
L Length(usedforcylinders,slots,conesand
ellipses)
H Height
PR PolarRadius
PA PolarAngle
T Erroralongtheapproachvector(forpointson
curvedsurfaces)
RT Deviationalongthereportvector
S Deviationalongthesurfacevector
RS Deviationalongthesurfacereport
PD Diameterofacircle(perpendiculartothepin
vector)
FORM Feature'sintegratedformdimension.
Foracircleorcylinderfeature,thisisthe
Roundness(RN)dimension.
* ForaplanefeaturethisistheFlatness(FL)
dimension.
ForalinefeaturethisistheStraightness(ST)
dimension.
PlusTolerances
InthePlusboxyoucantypetheplusvaluesfortolerancesoftheaxisoraxesselectedfromthe
Axesdropdownlist.
MinusTolerances
IntheMinusboxyoucanentertheminusvaluesfortolerancesoftheaxisoraxesselectedfrom
theAxesdropdownlist.

ISOLimitsandFits
TheISOLimitsandFitsareaofthedialogboxallowsyoutoapplyISOstandardizedtolerances
tothediameterofcircularfeatures.Whenatoleranceclassandgradehavebeenselected,PC
DMISwilllookuptheappropriatetolerancesforthediameterofacylinderorcirclefromthe
InternationalOrganizationforStandardizationstablesofLimitsandFits.Thesetablesdefinethe
tolerancesforvariousdesignclassesandgradesofdiameters.AlthoughPCDMISallowsthe
calculationofISOtolerancesinEnglish(Inch)andmetric(mm)units,theyareonlydefinedby
ISOtobeappliedwithmetric(mm)units.Also,becausethesetablesusevariousclassesand
gradesofdiameters,cylindersandcirclesaretheonlyappropriatefeaturesforthisoption.Ifno
nominaldiameterisentered,PCDMISusesthefeaturesnominaldiameterforthetolerance
calculations.
NominalSize
TheNominalSizeboxallowsyoutoenterthenominaldiameterofthefeatureselected.
ToleranceClass
TheToleranceClassdropdownlistallowsyoutoselectfromthefollowingISOTolerance
classes:
A H T
B J U
C JS V
CD K X
D M Y
E N Z
EF P ZA
F R ZB
FG S ZC

ToleranceGrade
TheToleranceGradedropdownlistallowsyoutoselectfromthefollowingISOTolerance
grades:
IT1 IT7 IT13

IT2 IT8 IT14
IT3 IT9 IT15
IT4 IT10 IT16
IT5 IT11 IT17
IT6 IT12 IT18
DimensioningTruePosition
TruePositiondialogbox
TheInsert|Dimension|TruePosition menuoptioncalculatesthetruepositionfromthefeature
totheX,Y,orZoriginparalleltoitsrespectiveaxis.Thefeature'sdiameter,angle,andvectorare
alsopartofthecalculation.
Thissectionrelatesonlytotruepositiondimensions.Locationorcoordinatedimensioningis
discussedinthe"DimensioningLocation"section.
Important:Ifdatumsareused,themeasuredanddeviationXYZvaluesarecalculatedwith
respecttothealignmentofthedatums,butaredisplayedinthecurrentalignmentinorderto
interpretthevalues.Thismeansthatafeaturereportedwithonetruepositiondimensioncan
havedifferentmeasuredanddeviationvaluesthananothertruepositiondimensionifthe
dimensionshavedifferentornodatumsdefined,eveniftheyhavethesamenominalvalues.

ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheTRUEPOSITIONOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|TruePosition fromthesubmenu.TheTrue
Positiondialogboxwillappear.
3. Ifadatumisdesired,selecttheUseDatumscheckbox.Beawarethatselecting
thiswillcausethedimensiontobecalculatedwithrespecttothedatums.However,
theXYZoutputvalueswillbedisplayedwithrespecttothecurrentalignmentinthe
partprogram.
4. SelectanydesireddatumfeaturesfromtheFeatureListbox.
5. SettheMaterialConditionsforthefeature(s)anddatum(s)byselectingthe
appropriateoptionsintheMaterialConditionsarea.
6. SelectcheckboxesfromtheDeviationareaasdesired.
7. Ifyou'redimensioninganaxialfeature(suchasacylinder),typeavalueinthe
ReferenceLengthboxandselecttheappropriateoptionfromtheForAxial
Featuresarea.
8. SelectthedesiredaxesfromtheAxesarea.TheAutocheckboxisselectedas
thedefault.
9. Selecttheaxestowhichyouwanttoapplyplusandminustolerances.
10. TypetheplustolerancevalueinthePlusbox.
11. EntertheminustolerancevalueintheMinusbox.
12. SelecteithertheInchorMMoptionintheUnitsarea.
Both,orNoneoption.
14. SelectthedesiredanalysisoptionsbymarkingtheTextualcheckboxorthe
Graphicalcheckbox.IftheGraphicalcheckboxwasmarked,entertheMultiplier
Displaywindow.
16. ClicktheCreatebutton.IfyoudidnotselectanycheckboxesfromtheAxes
area,theCreatebuttonwillbeunavailableforselection.
DIMdimension_name=TRUEPOSITIONOFFEAT_IDUNITS=IN/MM,
GRAPH=ON/OFFTEXT=ON/OFFMULT=nOUTPUT=REPORT/STATS/BOTH/NONE
FITTODATUMS=ON/OFFDEVPERPENCENTERLINE=ON/OFFDISPLAY=DIAMETER/RADIUS
AX NOM MEAS +TOL TOL BON DEV DEVANG OUTTOL
X 0.7500 .07500 0.0000 0.0000
Y 3.0000 3.0000 0.0000 0.0000
DF 1.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
D1 PLANE P1ATRFS
D2 1.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 CIRCLE C1ATMMC
D3 1.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 CIRCLE C2ATMMC
TP MMC 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.000 0.0000
ENDOFdimension_name
ToApplyTruePositiononaGroupofCirclesorCylinders

1. CreateafeaturesetoftheholesfromtheInsert|Feature|Constructed|Set
menuoption(see"ConstructingaSetofFeatures"fromthe"ConstructingNew
FeaturesfromExistingFeatures"chapterforinstructionsoncreatingfeaturesets.).
2. SelecttheTruePositionmenuoption.TheTruePositiondialogboxappears.
3. FromtheTruePositiondialogbox,selectthecreatedfeaturesetastheinput
feature,andselectanyotheroptionsusedforthedimension.
4. SelecttheTextualcheckboxfromtheAnalysisarea.
5. AccesstheReportwindow(View|Reportwindow)andfromtheReporting
toolbar,selecttheViewReportModeicon.Youarenowabletoseethedeviationof
eachfeatureandthetranslationandrotationrequiredtobringthefeaturesinto
tolerance.ResultsarealwaysshownusingRegardlessofFeatureSize(RFS)on
Datumtoseethemaximumdeviation.
UsingDatums
AlthoughtherearemanydifferentcombinationsoffeaturesthatmaybeusedasdatumsforTrue
Positiondimensions,therearesomegeneralprinciplestofollowwhenselectingdatumfeatures.
OnecommonscenariofordesignsthatutilizeTruePositiondimensionsistouseacircleor
cylinderasthesoledatumfeature.
Anotheracceptedpracticeistoselectasetofdatumfeaturesthatfollow321alignment
principles.(Remember,theminimumdefinitionforadatumis3datumpointstodescribethefirst
datum,2datumpointstodescribetheseconddatumand1datumpointtodescribethethird
datum.)Thismeansthattheselectedfeatureswouldbeaplane,aline,andthenasinglepoint.
However,321alignmentprinciplescanalsobeusedwithplane/line/line,plane/line/circle,
plane/cylinder/cylinder,andmanyothercombinations.
WhenmultiplecircularfeatureshavebeenusedwiththeMaximumMaterialCondition(MMC)or
LeastMaterialCondition(LMC),
ThebonustolerancefromtheTPaxiswillnotlikelybeasimpleadditionofother
bonustolerances,asabestfitcalculationwilloccurtodeterminethecorrectbonus
tolerance.
AnycircularorslotfeaturesmaybemeasuredusingMMCorLMC.
AllnoncircularfeaturesaremeasuredRegardlessofFeatureSize(RFS).
Note: Whendatumfeatureshavebeenselected,theTruePosition'sX,Y,Z,PA,andPRaxesare
calculatedwithrespecttothealignmentofthedatums,butaredisplayedinthecurrentalignment
inordertointerpretthevalues.Also,thedatumfeaturesmustbeselectedusingthegeneralsteps
discussedinthistopicorelsethedimensionislikelytogiveunexpectedresults.
GeneralRulesforTruePositionDimensionswhenUseDatumsisSelected:
Selectallthedatumsspecifiedinthefeaturecontrolframesothatproperfittingis
performed.Thefeaturesselectedfordatum1,datum2anddatum3representthe
Primary,SecondaryandTertiaryDatumsandareusedtoconstrainuptosixdegrees
offreedom(3degreesoftranslationand3degreesofrotation).
EnsurethatallMeasuredFeaturecommands(datumsandfeature)containthe
correctnominalvalues(X,Y,Z,I,J,K)intheTHEOfield(fittingreferencesthe
measuredfeaturecommandstocalculatedatumconstraintsandthedimensional
results).

TheMeasuredFeaturecommandandtheassociatedTruePositionDimension
commandmustcomefromthesamealignment(ensuresthenominalvaluesare
correctandthesameaswhatiscalledoutasbasicdimensionsonthedrawing).This
iscriticalwhenprogrammingwithoutCADasitwillrequireeditingmeasuredfeature
commands(guessmode)toprovidethecorrectnominalvalues(usedforfitting).
DONOTuseIgnoreCADtoPartoptionintheSetupOptionsdialogbox
Generaltab.
Note: WerecommendthatyouusethenewerTruePositionFeatureControlFramemethodof
dimensioningwhentherearemodifier(s)(MMCorLMC)ontheDatum(s).TheLegacyTrue
PositioncommandwithUseDatumsselectedisavailableforprogrammigration.
UsingtheSameDatumswhenRepeatingDimensions
TousethesamedatumsfromapreviousTruePositiondimensioninyourcurrentTruePosition
dimension,selecttheFeaturetodimension,andclicktheRecallbuttonavailableintheMaterial
Conditionsarea.See"RecallButton".
ExamplesofUseDatumswithLegacyTruePositionDimension
TheUseDatumsoptionintheTruePositiondialogboxallowstheanalysistobeperformedin
threeways.
1. FromtheactiveAlignment.SeeOption#1Below
2. FromamathematicalVirtualHardGagesimulation(FittoDatums:ON).SeeOption#2
Below
3. FromaDatumReferenceFramesimulation(FittoDatums:OFF).SeeOption#3Below
Thesearediscussedinturn.Allexamplesreferencetheillustrationbelow(Features,Datums,and
Alignment):
Option#1:UseDatums:OFF

Application:Usethismethodwhentherearenomodifier(s)(MMCorLMC)onthedatum(s)and
whencheckingtheTruePositionofoneormultiplefeatures(singlefeatureorapattern)froma
DatumReferenceFrame(DRF).Bonustoleranceisonlyavailableonthefeature(s).
Results:TheTruePositionoftheselectedfeature(s)isevaluatedintheactivealignment.
Therefore,theactivealignmentmustbesetuptoreflectthespecifiedDRFbeforecreatingthe
TruePositiondimension(s).
ExampleofTruePosition"UseDatums"Off:
Option#2:UseDatums:ONandFittoDatums:ON
Application:Usethismethodwhentherearemodifier(s)(MMCorLMC)onthedatum(s)and
whencheckingtheTruePositionofasinglefeature(multiplefeaturesarenotsupportedinlegacy
dimensionmode).
Note:TruePositionofmultiplefeaturesandMMC/LMContheDatumfeature(s)issupported
whenusingthenewerTruePositionFeatureControlFramemethodofdimensioning.
Results:AVirtualHardGagesimulationisperformedmathematicallybytranslatingandrotating
basedontheamountofbonustolerancefromthedatum(s).Thisresultsinthemeasuredvalues
forthefeaturechangingbytheamountofdatumshiftwhichsimulatesthejigglingofthegage.In
manycases,themeasuredvaluesmaybethesameasthenominalvalueswhenthereis
sufficientbonusfromthedatumfeatures.Whenthefeatureisoutoftolerance,nofittingoccurs,
andthemeasuredvaluesanddeviationsreflecttheactuallocationofthefeaturesuchthat
processadjustmentscanbemadeoranengineeringanalysisofthenonconformancecanbe
performed.
Note:TheresultsarerepresentingPass/Failanalysisjustasafunctionalgagedoestherefore,
itisnotpossibletomonitorforprocessvariationorperformstatisticalstudies.
BonusColumn:Thebonuscolumninthereportshowsthecalculatedamountofbonusofthe
feature(DF)andthecalculatedamountofbonusofeachdatumfeatureofsize(D1primary,D2
secondary,D3tertiary).Thetotalbonusvalueisdeterminedbasedonthefollowingconditions:
Condition#1A:InTolerance
Whensufficientbonustolerancefromthedatum(s)allowsdatumshiftsuchthatthereisno
deviationfromthenominalvalueswithoututilizingupto100%oftheallowablebonusfromthe
datum(s),thetotalbonusamountisthesumofthebonusfromthefeatureandtheunused
amountofbonusfromthedatum(s).

ExampleofCondition#1AInTolerance:
Themeasuredvalueschangedbasedontheallowabledatumshiftderivedfromthebonusof
datumsD2andD3(simulatesafunctionalgage).Inthiscasethemeasuredvaluescheck
nominalresultinginzerodeviation,andthetotalbonusisthesumofthebonusfromthefeature
(.006)andtheunusedbonusfromthedatums(.002)foratotalof.008bonustolerance.
TwodegreesoffreedomfrombonusonD2(.008bonus):translationinXandYaxis
OnedegreeoffreedomfrombonusonD3(.008bonus):rotationaboutZaxis
Condition#1B:InTolerance
When100%ofthebonusfromthedatum(s)isusedthenthetotalbonusamountisonlythe
bonusfromthefeature.Typicallythiscasewouldshowsomeamountofdeviationfromthe
nominalvalues.
ExampleofCondition#1BInTolerance:
Note:ThetoleranceforD2andD3werechangedtoillustrateusing100%ofthebonusfromthe
datumswherethereisdeviationfromnominalyetstillanInTolerancecondition.

Condition#2:OutofTolerance
Whenthereisinsufficientbonusfromthedatum(s)toallowdatumshiftsuchthatthefeatureisIn
Tolerance,nofittingisperformed,themeasuredvaluesarenotalteredandthetotalbonusisonly
thebonusfromthefeature.
ExampleofCondition#2OutofTolerance:
Note:ThetolerancefortheDF,D2,D3andtheTPwerechangedtoillustratetheoutoftolerance
condition.
Option#3:UseDatums:ONandFittoDatums:OFF
Application:Usethismethodwhentherearemodifier(s)(MMCorLMC)ontheDatum(s)and
youdonotwantthemeasureddatafitted(nodatumshift).Thisoptionwasaddedbasedon
customerrequesttoprovidetheabilitytoincorporatebonusfromaDatumandstillmonitorfor
processvariation(themeasuredvaluesarenotalteredbecausenodatumshiftisapplied).
Note:ThismethodisnotcompliantwithY14.5M1994.
Results:ADatumReferenceFramesimulationisperformedmathematicallybyTranslatingand
RotatingbasedonthedegreesoffreedomconstrainedbytheselectedDatum(s).TheX,Y,orZ
measuredvaluesanddeviationsarefromtheactivealignmentandarenotalteredbasedonthe
bonusfromthedatumfeatures(nodatumshift).
BonusColumn:Thebonuscolumninthereportshowsthecalculatedamountofbonusofthe
feature(DF)andthecalculatedamountofbonusofeachdatumfeatureofsize(D1primary,D2
secondary,D3tertiary).Thetotalbonusvalueisthesumofthebonusfromthefeatureandthe
datumwiththesmallestamountofbonusamongsttheselecteddatums.
ExampleofCondition#1InTolerance:

ExampleofCondition#2OutofTolerance:
Note:ThetolerancefortheDF,D2,D3,andTPwerechangedtoillustratetheoutoftolerance
condition.
DefaultAxesforTruePositionDimensions
TheDefaultcheckboxallowsyoutoaltertheformatofthedefaultoutput.WhentheAutocheck
boxischecked,theaxesdisplayedinthedimensionareselectedaccordingtothedefaultaxesof
thefeaturetype.However,insomecircumstancesitmaybenecessarytooverridethedefault
setting.TodothisyouwouldselecttheDefaultcheckboxandanyotherdesiredaxes.
Toaltertheoutput,simplyselectthedesiredcheckboxes:
Auto=printsthedefaultaxesbasedonthefeaturetype.
X=printsXaxisvalue.
Y=printsYaxisvalue.
Z=printsZaxisvalue.

Form=printstheintegratedformdimensionforthefeature.
Foracircleorcylinderfeature,thisistheRoundness(RN)dimension.
ForaplanefeaturethisistheFlatness(FL)dimension.
ForalinefeaturethisistheStraightness(ST)dimension.
Pang=printspolarangle(PA)value.
Prad =printspolarradius(PR)value.
Default=Alterstheformatofthedefaultoutput.
Oncetheoutputvalueshavebeenchangedtosomethingotherthanthedefault,PCDMISwill
usethenewsettingforallsubsequentdimensions.IfyouwanttoPCDMIStothenusethe
originaldefaultaxes,youmustresettheformattothedefaultsettings.
Toresettheformattothedefaultsettings:
1. SelecttheAutocheckbox.
2. SelecttheDefaultcheckbox.
PCDMISwillautomaticallyresetthedimensiontoprintthedefaultaxesaccordingtofeature
type.
Note:IftheAutocheckboxismarked,PCDMISwillautomaticallydeterminethedefaultaxesto
print.Thedefaultoutputformatisbasedonthefeaturetype.PCDMISwillautomatically
determinethetruepositionoftheselectedfeatureusingthedocumented(seeboxabove)axis
format.
Deviation
TheDeviationareaallowsyoutoselectoptionsthatdeterminehowyouwantdeviations
performedandhowyouwantdeviationsdisplayedintheEditwindow.
FittoDatums
TheFitToDatumscheckboxdetermineswhetherornotPCDMIScallsthefittingalgorithm
whendatumsareused.
Whenselected,PCDMIScallsthefittingalgorithmwhendatumsarespecified.It
reportstheconsideredfeatureinthefittedpositionwiththetotalbonusbeingthe
remainingavailablebonusafterfitting.
Whencleared,PCDMISanalysestheTruePositionDimensionwithfeaturesin
theirmeasuredpositionwithnofittingapplied.Thereportedtotalbonusisthetotal
availablebonusfromtheconsideredfeatureandthedatumaccordingtothedatum
constraints.

DeviationPerpendiculartoCenterline
TheDeviationPerptoCenterlinecheckboxdetermineswhetherPCDMIScalculatesthe
deviationperpendiculartothefeature'stheoreticalcenterlineorperpendiculartothedirectX,Y,
andZvalues.
Ifselected,PCDMIScalculatesthedeviationperpendiculartothefeature's
theoreticalcenterline,ignoringanydeviationinthedirectionofthecenterline.
Ifdeselected,PCDMIScalculatesthedeviationperpendiculartotheX,Y,andZ
values.
Thischeckboxisespeciallyusefulwithsheetmetalpointswhichmayhaveapproachvectorsnot
orientedalongtheX,Y,orZaxis.Thischeckboxwillallowthedeviationtobefound
perpendiculartotheapproachvector.
DisplayAsRadius
TheDisplayAsRadiuscheckboxdetermineswhetherornotPCDMISwilldisplaytheradiiof
thefeaturesanddatumsinsteadofdisplayingtheirdiameters.
Ifselected,PCDMISdisplaystheradiiintheDF,D1,D2,D3,andTPlinesand
placestextintheEditwindow'sdimensionfieldshowingwhetherthedimensionis
displayingthefeatures'radiusordiameter.
Ifdeselected,PCDMISdisplaysthediametersasusual.
Important:Ifyouusethischeckbox,beawarethatitis notcompliantwithISOstandards.
AxialFeatures
Foraxialfeatures,suchascylinders,youcanspecifywherealongtheaxisPCDMISshould
createtheTruePositiondimension.YoucantellPCDMIStocreatethedimensionattheaxis'
average(orcentroid),attheaxis'startpoint,attheaxis'endpoint,attheaxis'worstend(theend
withthegreatestdeviation),oratbothendsoftheaxis.Youcanalsocreatethedimensionata
specifiedreferencelengthawayfromtheselectedpointontheaxis.
TousethereferencelengthwithaTruePositiondimension:
1. TypethedesiredvalueintheReferenceLengthbox.
2. Selectoneoftheoptionbuttons(FromAxisAverage,FromStartPointOf
Axis,FromEndPointOfAxis,FromWorstEndOfAxis,orFromBothEndsOf
Axis).

3. ClicktheCreatebutton.PCDMISlocatestheselectedpoint(orpointsifyou've
selectedFromBothEndsOfAxis)andthenmovesalongtheaxisthedistanceof
thespecifiedreferencelengthandcreatesthedimension(s)there.
Option Description
ReferenceLength Thevalueinthisboxspecifiesthe
lengthfromtheselectedpointoraxis
endwherePCDMISwillcreatethe
TruePositiondimension.
FromAxisAverage ThisoptiontellsPCDMISto
dimensiontheaxialfeature,fromthe
centroid(oraverage)oftheaxis.
FromStartPointofAxis ThisoptiontellsPCDMISto
dimensiontheaxialfeature fromthe
StartPointoftheaxis.
FromEndPointofAxis ThisoptiontellsPCDMISto
dimensiontheaxialfeaturefromthe
EndPointoftheaxis.
FromWorstEndofAxis ThisoptiontellsPCDMISto
dimensiontheaxialfeaturefromthe
startorendpointthatgivestheworst
casescenarioforthedimension.PC
DMIScreatesthedimensionatthe
axisendthatdeviatesthefarthest
fromthenominal.Forexampleifyour
partcontainsaskewedcylinder,the
startorendpointalongthecylinder's
axisthatdeviatesfarthestfromthe
nominalisthepointthatgivesthe
worstcasescenario.
FromBothEndsofAxis ThisoptiontellsPCDMISto
dimensiontheaxialfeature,fromboth
thestartandendpointoftheaxis
selected.PCDMIScreatesa
dimensionatbothendsoftheaxis.
TolerancesforTruePositionDimensions
TheTolerancesareaallowsyoutotypeplusandminustolerancesforeachaxisfoundinthe
Axesdropdownlistitalsoletsyoudefinecertainmaterialconditionmodifiers.
Toenterinaxestolerances:
1. Selecttheaxisforwhichyouwillenterthetolerance.
2. InthePlusboxenterintheplustolerancevalueforthisaxis.
3. IntheMinusboxenterintheminustolerancevalueforthisaxis.
4. SelectthematerialsconditionmodifiersfromtheMaterialsConditionarea.

Youcansettolerancesformultipleaxesfromthelist.PCDMISstoresyourdefinedtolerances
withtheselectedlistitem.EvenifyouselectadifferentitemfromtheAxeslistandgiveit
differenttolerances,youcanswitchbetweentheavailableaxestoviewandsettheirindividual
storedtolerances.
Axes
TheAxesdropdownlistprovidesyouwithalistofavailableaxes,towhichyoucanapplyplus
and/orminustolerances.Thelistcontainsthefollowing:
ALL Alltheaxesandoptionsdisplayedinthedropdown
list
D1 Diameter/Widthofthefirstdatum
D2 Diameter/Widthoftheseconddatum
D3 Diameter/Widthofthethirddatum
DF Diameter/Widthofthefeature
LF Lengthofthefeatureifthefeatureisaslot
WF Widthofthefeatureifthefeatureisaslot
LD Lengthofthedatumifthedatumisaslot
WD Widthofthedatumifthedatumisaslot
TP Truepositiontoleranceanditsassociateddeviation
FORM Theintegratedformdimensionforthefeature.
Foracircleorcylinderfeature,thisisthe
Roundness(RN)dimension.
ForaplanefeaturethisistheFlatness(FL)
dimension.
ForalinefeaturethisistheStraightness(ST)
dimension.
Plus
InthePlusboxyoucanentertheplusvaluesfortolerancesoftheaxisoraxesselectedfromthe
Axesdropdownlist.
Minus
IntheMinusboxyoucanentertheminusvaluesfortolerancesoftheaxisoraxesselectedfrom
theAxesdropdownlist.
DimensioningDistance

Distancedialogbox
TheInsert|Dimension|Distancemenuoptioncalculatesthedistancebetweentwofeatures.
Youcanselectathirdfeatureoranaxisforthedirectiontouseinthecalculation.
Calculatingdistanceisabitmoredifficulttovisualizethanmostoftheotherdimension
calculations.Distancethatiscalculatedbetweentwofeaturesuseseitherthedefaultorstraight
linemethod.Twodimensionaldistancesusingastraightlinewillbeparalleltotheworkplane.
Threedimensionaldistancesusingastraightlinewillbefromcentroidtocentroid.
ToDimensionaDistanceUsingtheDISTANCEoption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Distancefromthesubmenu.TheDistancedialog
boxwillappear.
3. Entertheplustolerance valueinthePlusbox.
4. EntertheminustolerancevalueintheMinusbox.
5. Selecteitherthe2Dimensionalor3Dimensionaloptioninordertospecifythe
distancetype.
6. SelecteitherInchorMMintheUnitsarea.
Both,orNoneoption.
8. SelecteithertheToFeature,ToXAxis,ToYAxisorToZAxisoptionto
determinetherelationshipthatdefinesthedistance.
9. SelecteitherthePerpenToortheParallelToradiobutton.
11. SelectthedesiredanalysisoptionsbyselectingtheTextualcheckboxorthe
Graphicalcheckbox.IftheGraphicalcheckboxwasselected,typethemultiplier
Displaywindow.
DIMdimension_name=2D_DISTANCEFROMfeat_1TOfeat_2TOG1TOTOG2,TOG3,UNITS=MM/IN,
GRAPH=ON/OFFTEXT=ON/OFFMULT=nOUTPUT=NONE/REPORT/STATS

or
DIMdimension_name=3D_DISTANCEFROMfeat_1TOfeat_2,TOG3,UNITS=MM/IN,
GRAPH=ON/OFFTEXT=ON/OFFMULT=nOUTPUT=NONE/REPORT/STATS
M 5.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
TOG1=PAR/PERP(ParallelorPerpendicular)
TOG2= XAXIS/YAXIS/ZAXIS/feature
workplane=thisfieldcanbechangedtoanyfeature.Thedefaultisthecurrentworkplane.
TOG3=NO_RADIUS/ADD_RADIUS/SUB_RADIUS
TolerancesforDistanceDimensions
TheTolerancesareaallowsyoutotypeplusandminustolerancesfordistancesalongtheplus
andminusdirections.
PlusTolerance
ThePlusboxallowsyoutoenteratolerancevaluealongtheplusdirection.Thismeansthatany
anglethatmeasuresmorethanyournominalortheoreticalanglecanstillbeavalidangleaslong
asitfallswithinthetolerancerangespecified.
MinusTolerance
ThisMinusboxallowsyoutoenteratolerancevaluealongtheminusdirection.Thismeansthat
anyanglethatmeasureslessthanyournominalortheoreticalanglecanstillbeavalidangleas
longasitfallswithinthetolerancerangespecified.
NominalforDistance
Nominalvaluesforthedistancebetweenfeaturesaren'talwaysbasedonCADdataormeasured
data.Oftenyouwillobtainthemfromahardcopyprintout,youcanusetheNominalboxtoenter
thenominaldistancevaluefromtheprintout.
GeneralRulesfor2Dand3DDistanceDimensions

2Dand3Ddistancedimensionsapplythefollowingrulesaccordingtotherelatedfeatures:
TreatmentofFeatures
Spheres,Points,andSetsaretreatedasPoints.
Slots,Cylinders,Cones,Lines,andCirclesaretreatedasLines.
Planesaretreatednormally,asPlanes.
OtherRules
Ifbothelementsarepoints(asdefinedabove),PCDMISgivestheshortest
distancefrompointtopoint.
Ifoneelementisaline(asdefinedabove)andtheotherisapoint,PCDMIS
givestheshortestdistancebetweentheline(orcenterline)andthepoint.
Ifbothelementsarelines,andtheShortestcheckboxisnotselected,PCDMIS
givestheshortestdistancebetweenthecentroidofthefirstlinetothesecondline.
Seethe"Shortestcheckbox"topicforwhathappenswhenitisselected.
Ifoneelementisaplaneandtheotherisaline,PCDMISgivestheshortest
distancebetweenthecentroidofthelineandtheplane
Ifoneelementisaplaneandtheotherisapoint,PCDMISgivestheshortest
distancebetweenthepointandtheplane.
Ifbothelementsareplanes,PCDMISgivestheshortestdistancebetweenthe
centroidofthesecondplanetothefirstplane.
2DDistance
Themaximumandminimum The2Dimensionaloptioncalculatesthetwodimensionaldistance
distanceisthemeasured betweenfeatures.Allfeaturesusedtocalculatethe2Ddistanceare
distancebetweentwolines firstprojectedintothecurrentworkplanebeforethedistanceis
overthelengthofthelines. computed.PCDMIScomputesthemaximum,minimum,and
averagedistancesbetweenthetwofeatures.Ifthedistanceis
betweentwolinesorplanes,themaximum,minimumandaverage
arecomputedusingthemeasurementpointdata.(Verifythatthe
distancetypeissetto2Dimensional.)
2Ddistancesthatarecalculatedusingthreefeatureswillbeeitherparallelorperpendiculartoa
datumfeature.Thedatumfeaturecanbeanypreviouslymeasuredorconstructedfeature.
Tocalculatethedistanceusingthreefeatures:
1. Selectthetwofeaturesthatwillbeusedtocalculatethedistance.
2. Selectthethird(datum)feature.(Usingalineforthethirdfeaturewillprovidethe
bestresults.)
3. Verifythatthecorrectorientationismarked.
4. SelecttheToFeaturecheckbox.

PCDMISwillcalculatethedistancebetweenthefirsttwofeaturesparallelorperpendiculartothe
third(datum)featureoraxis.
Note: WhentheClosebuttonisclicked,PCDMISwillclosetheDistancedialogboxwithout
creatinganotherdimension.
3DDistance
The3Dimensionaloptioncalculatesthethreedimensionaldistancebetweentwofeatures.
Ifoneoftheinputfeaturesisaline,centerline,orplane,PCDMIScomputesthe
3Ddistancenormaltothatfeature.
Ifbothfeaturesarelines,centerlines,orplanesthesecondfeatureisusedforthe
datum.
Ifneitherinputfeatureisaline,centerline,orplane,PCDMIScomputesthe
shortestdistancebetweenthetwofeatures.(Verifythatthemodeissetto3
Dimensional.)
ShortestCheckBox
DistanceDimensionshowingShortestcheckbox
TheShortestcheckbox,whenselected,calculatesthetrueshortestdistancebetweentwolines.
Thischeckboxbecomesenabledforselectionwhenyouchoose3Dimensionalfromthe
DistanceTypeareaandtheinputfeaturesforthedimensionaretwolines.
Bydefault,assumingyouareworkingonadimensioncreatedinversion4.3andlater,PCDMIS
automaticallyselectsthecheckboxwhentheaboveconditionsaremet.However,ifyouaccess
theDistancedialogboxforadistancedimensioncreatedpriorto4.3,thecheckboxwillnotbe
selectedbydefault.
IfyouselecttheShortestcheckbox,PCDMIScalculatesthedistancebetweentwolines
astheminimumdistancebetweenanypointonthefirstlineandanypointonthesecond
line.
Ifyoudonotselectthischeckbox,PCDMISbehavesasitdidpriorto4.3andreturns
theshortestdistancebetweenthecentroidofthefirstlinetothesecondline.
RelationshipforDistanceDimensions

ThecheckboxesintheRelationshipareaofthedialogboxallowyoutospecifywhetherthe
distancemeasuredbetweentwofeatureswillbeperpendiculartoorparalleltoaspecificaxis,or
perpendiculartoorparalleltoaselectedfeature:
ToFeaturecheckbox
WhenyouselecttheToFeaturecheckboxthePerpenTo,orParallelTooptionsinthe
Orientationareabecomeavailableforselection.TheseoptionstellPCDMIStocomputethe
distancebetweenthefirstselectedfeatureandthesecondselectedfeatureparallelto,or
perpendiculartoacertainfeature.
Ifonlytwofeaturesareselectedfromthelist,PCDMIScomputesthedistancebetween
feature1andfeature2,parallelorperpendiculartofeature2.
Ifthreefeaturesareselectedfromthelist,PCDMIScomputesthedistancebetweenfeature
1andfeature2,parallelorperpendiculartofeature3.
Thefeatureusedtoestablishtherelationshipshouldbealinearfeature.
ToXAxischeckbox
SelecttheToXAxischeckboxifyouaremeasuringthedistancefromthefirstselectedfeatureto
thesecondselectedfeature,perpendiculartoorparalleltotheXaxis.
ToYAxischeckbox
SelecttheToYAxischeckboxifyouaremeasuringthedistancefromthefirstselectedfeatureto
thesecondselectedfeature,perpendiculartoorparalleltotheYaxis.
ToZAxischeckbox
SelecttheToZAxischeckboxifyouaremeasuringthedistancefromthefirstselectedfeatureto
thesecondselectedfeature,perpendiculartoorparalleltotheZaxis.
OrientationforDistanceDimensions
Whenmeasuringthedistancebetweentwofeaturesyouhavetheoptionofdetermininghowthe
distanceistobemeasuredbyusingtheseorientationoptions.
Measurethedistancebetweenthefirstselectedfeatureparallelorperpendicular
toeitherthesecondoranotherselectedfeature.
Measurethedistancebetweenthefirstselectedfeatureandthesecondselected
featureparalleltoorperpendiculartoaspecificaxis.
ThePerpendicularToandtheParallelTooptionsallowyoutodeterminetheorientationofthe
features.

PerpendicularTo
SelectthePerpendicularTooptionifthedistancebetweenthetwofeaturesisperpendicularto
eitherthesecondfeature,orperpendiculartoaspecifiedaxis.
ParallelTo
SelecttheParallelTooptionifthedistancebetweenthetwofeaturesisparalleltoeitherthe
secondfeature,orparalleltoaspecifiedaxis.
CircleOptions
WiththeCircleOptionsareayoucanusetheAddRadiusandSubtractRadiusoptionstotell
PCDMIStoeitheraddorsubtracttheradiusofthemeasuredfeaturetothetotaldistancethatis
measured.Theamountthatisaddedorsubtractedwillalwaysbealongthesamevectorthat
calculatesthedistance.Onlyoneoptionisavailableatatime.
UsingtheNoRadiusoptiondoesnotapplytheradiusofthefeaturetothedistancemeasured.
DimensioningAngle
Angledialogbox

TheInsert|Dimension|Anglemenuoptioncalculatestheanglebetweentwoselected
features.(VerifythattheoptionToFeatureisselected.)Ifonlyonefeatureisspecified,theangle
iscalculatedbetweenthemajoraxisofthecurrentworkingplane(thedefaultaxisisX)andthe
selectedfeature.IftheanglereportedbyPCDMISisnotinthecorrectquadrant(youwant0.0,
not180.0),justtypethecorrectnominalangleintheEditwindow.PCDMISwillautomatically
convertthequadranttomatchthenominalangle.
Thedirectionofthelinesdeterminestheanglethatismeasured.
TheAngledimensioncalculatestheanglebetweenthespecifiedfeatures,andchecksiftheangle
iswithintolerances.TheAngledimension'stolerancebandisinradiansordegreesandformsan
angle.
Themeasuredvalueisanangle(blue).TheAngletolerancebandisanotherangle(black).
ImportantChanges:Inversion4.3,PCDMISimproveditsmethodofcalculatingAngle
dimensions.Ifyouloadapartprogramfrom3.7orearlierintothecurrentversion,PCDMISwill
displayamessageinformingyouthatthewayAngledimensionswerecalculatedhaschanged
andthatallAngledimensionsintheprogramwereupdated.
ToDimensiontheAngleBetweenTwoFeatures:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Anglefromthesubmenu.TheAngledialogboxwill
appear.

4. TypetheminustolerancevalueintheMinusbox.
5. Selecteitherthe2Dimensionalor3Dimensionaloptioninordertospecifythe
angletype.
Both,orNoneoption.
7. SelecteithertheToFeature,ToXAxis,ToYAxisorToZAxisoptionto
determinetherelationshipthatdefinestheangle.
Displaywindow.
dimension_name=2D_ANGLE,FROMfeat_1,TOfeat_2,
or
dimension_name=3D_ANGLE,FROMfeat_1,TOfeat_2
A 5.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
TolerancesforAngleDimensions
TheTolerancesareaallowsyoutotypeplusandminustolerancesalongtheplusandminus
directions.
PlusTolerance
profilethatmeasuresmorethanyournominalortheoreticalprofilecanstillbeavalid
measurementaslongasitfallswithinthetolerancerangespecified.
MinusTolerance
TheMinusboxallowsyoutoenteratolerancevaluealongtheminusdirection.Thismeansthat
anyprofilethatmeasureslessthanyournominalortheoreticalprofilecanstillbeavalid
donebytypingaminussignbeforethevalueintheMinusbox.
NominalforAngleBetween

NominalvaluesforAngledimensionsaren'talwaysbasedonCADdataormeasureddata.Often
youwillobtainthemfromahardcopyprintout,youcanusetheNominalboxtoenterthenominal
anglevaluefromtheprintout.
AngleType
TheAngleTypeareadetermineswhetherornottheangleis2or3dimensional.
2DimensionalAngleType
The2Dimensionaloptioncalculatesthetwodimensionalanglebetweenfeatures.
3DimensionalAngleType
The3Dimensionaloptioncalculatesthethreedimensionalanglebetweenfeatures.Ifonlyone
featureisselected,theangleiscalculatedbetweenthecurrentworkingplaneandtheselected
feature.See"DimensioningAngle"aboveforinstructionsonconvertingthequadrantofthe
reportedangle.
RelationshipforAngleBetweenDimensions
ThecheckboxesintheRelationshipareaofthedialogboxallowyoutospecifywhetherthe
Angledimensioncancalculatetheanglebetweentwofeatures,orbetweenonefeatureanda
particularaxis:Xaxis,Yaxis,andZaxis.
ToFeature
SelecttheToFeaturecheckboxifyouaremeasuringtheanglebetweentwofeatures.
Thesecondfeaturewillbethedatumfeature.
ToXAxis
SelecttheToXAxischeckboxifyouaremeasuringtheanglebetweenafeatureandtheXaxis.
ToYAxis
SelecttheToYAxischeckboxifyouaremeasuringtheanglebetweenafeatureandtheYaxis.
ToZAxis
SelecttheToZAxischeckboxifyouaremeasuringtheanglebetweenafeatureandtheZaxis.

DimensioningConcentricity
Concentricitydialogbox
IfasphereisselectedastheTheInsert|Dimension|Concentricitymenuoptioncalculatesthe
firstfeature,thesecond concentricityoftwocirclesorcylinders,cones,spheres.Thesecond
featuremustalsobea featurethatisenteredisalwaysthedatumfeatureandmaybea
sphere.PCDMISwillthen linefeaturethatrepresentsanaxis.Ifonlyonefeatureisselected,
threedimensionallycalculatethecurrentworkingplanebecomesthedatumfeature.This
theconcentricitybetweenthedimensiontypeisconsideredonesided,meaningasinglepositive
twofeatures. valuetoleranceisapplied.
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheCONCENTRICITYOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Concentricityfromthesubmenu.The
Concentricitydialogboxwillappear.
4. SelecteitherInchorMMintheUnitssection.
Both,orNoneoption.
Graphicalcheckbox.IftheGraphicalcheckboxwasmarked,typethemultiplier
Displaywindow.
dimension_name=CONCENTRICITY,FROMfeat_1,TOfeat_2
or
dimension_name=CONCENTRICITY,FROMfeat_1,TOTHEORIGIN

M 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 2.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
ToleranceforConcentricityDimensions
concentricitythatdiffersfromyournominalortheoreticalconcentricitycanstillbeavalid
DimensioningCoaxiality
Coaxialitydialogbox
TheInsert|Dimension|Coaxialitymenuoptioncalculatesthecoaxialityofacylinder,cone,or
linewithadatumfeature.Thesecondfeaturethatisenteredisalwaysthedatumfeature,and
maybeacylinder,cone,line,orcircle.Ifonlyonefeatureisselected,andyouclickCreate,PC
DMISwillclearthelistboxanddisplayamessageinformingyouthatitneedsasecondfeature.
Thisdimensiontypeisconsideredonesided,meaningasinglepositivevaluetoleranceis
applied.
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheCOAXIALITYOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Coaxialityfromthesubmenu.TheCoaxialitydialog
boxwillappear.
Both,orNoneoptions.
7. SelectthedesiredAnalysisoptionsbyselectingoneorbothofthecheckboxes.
IftheGraphicalcheckboxwasselected,entertheMultipliervalueintheMultiplier
box.

Displaywindow.
dimension_name=COAXIALITY,FROMfeat_1,TOfeat_2
or
dimension_name=COAXIALITY,FROMfeat_1,TOTHEORIGIN
M 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 2.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Note:Afterthedimensioniscreated,thedialogboxwillremainopen.Ifdesired,useyourEdit
buttonatthistimetoeditaspectsofyourdimension'sinformation.See"EditDefaultDimension
Info".
PlusToleranceforCoaxialityDimensions
ThisPlusboxallowsyoutoenteratolerancevaluealongtheplusdirection.Thismeansthatany
coaxialitythatdiffersfromyournominalortheoreticalcoaxialitycanstillbeavalidmeasurement
aslongasitfallswithinthetolerancerangespecified.
ProjectedDistanceforCoaxiality
PCDMISallowsyoutotypeareferencedistance.Thisoptionisusefulwhenyouwanttospecify
thepointsalongthefeatureaxistobeusedinthecoaxialitycalculations.Whenthisdistanceis
zero,thetwopointsusedwillbetheendpointsofthefeature'saxis.Whenthisdistanceis
nonzero,thetwopointsusedwillbethestartingpointoftheaxis,andalongtheaxisvectorthe
distancefromthestartingpoint.
Increasingtheprojecteddistancewillmagnifytheerror.Decreasingthedistancelessensthe
error.Forexample,supposetwotoothpickslayonatable,sharingthesamelineandtouching
eachotheratoneend.Attheotherendofthetoothpicks,abouttwoinchesapart,theerror
betweentheircenterlinesmightbe0.005inches.Nowimaginethosetoothpicksare20inches
long,theywouldstilltouchatoneendandtheerrorwouldbe0.005inchesat2inchesaway,but
at20inchesawayfromthefirstend,thetoothpicksmighthavea0.05incherror.
ThevalueyoutypeintheDistanceboxreflectsthetotallengthofthefeature.
DimensioningCircularity

Circularitydialogbox
Onehit,plusthefeature's TheInsert|Dimension|Circularitymenuoptiondeterminesthe
minimumhitrequirementis roundnessofacircle,sphericityofasphereortheconicityofa
necessarytodeterminethe cone.Thisdimensiontypeisconsideredonesided,meaninga
roundnessofthatfeature. singlepositivevaluetoleranceisapplied.
Additionalhitsprovidea
betterrepresentationofthe
roundnessoftheentire
feature.
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheCIRCULARITYOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Circularityfromthesubmenu.TheCircularity
Both,orNoneoption.
7. SelectthedesiredAnalysisoptionsbymarkingthe Textualcheckboxorthe
Displaywindow.

dimension_name=CIRCULARITY,OFfeat_1
M 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
PlusToleranceforCircularityDimensions
roundnessthatdiffersfromyournominalortheoreticalroundnesscanstillbeavalid
DimensioningCylindricity
Cylindricitydialogbox
TheInsert|Dimension|Cylindricitymenuoptiondeterminesthecylindricityofacylinder.This
dimensiontypeisconsideredonesided,meaningasinglepositivevaluetoleranceisapplied.
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheCYLINDRICITYOption
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Cylindricityfromthesubmenu.TheCylindricity
2. Selectthefeature(s)todimensionfromtheFeatureListbox.Youcanonlyselect
cylinderfeatures.

Both,orNoneoption.
Displaywindow.
dimension_name=CYLINDRICITY,OFfeat_1
M 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
PlusToleranceforCylindricityDimensions
cylindricitythatdiffersfromyournominalortheoreticalcylindricitycanstillbeavalid
DimensioningStraightness
Straightnessdialogbox
Aminimumofthreehitsare TheInsert|Dimension|Straightnessoptioncalculatesthe
necessarytodeterminethe straightnessofaline.Thisdimensiontypeisconsideredonesided,
straightnessofaline. meaningasinglepositivevaluetoleranceisapplied.
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheSTRAIGHTNESSOption:

1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Straightnessfromthesubmenu.TheStraightness
dialogboxappears.
Both,orNoneoption.
Displaywindow.
dimension_name=STRAIGHTNESS,OFfeat_1
M 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
PlusToleranceforStraightnessDimensions
straightnessthatdiffersfromyournominalortheoreticalstraightnesscanstillbeavalid
DimensioningFlatness
Flatnessdialogbox
Aminimumoffourhitsare TheInsert|Dimension|Flatnessmenuoptiondeterminesthe
necessarytodeterminethe flatnessofaplane.Thisdimensiontypeisconsideredonesided,
flatnessofaplane. meaningasinglepositivevaluetoleranceisapplied.

ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheFLATNESSOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Flatnessfromthesubmenu.TheFlatnessdialog
boxwillappear.
Both,orNoneoption.
Graphicalcheckbox.IftheGraphicalcheckboxwasmarked,enterthemultiplier
Displaywindow.
dimension_name=FLATNESS,OFfeat_1
M 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
PlusToleranceforFlatness
flatnessthatdiffersfromyournominalortheoreticalflatnesscanstillbeavalidmeasurementas
DimensioningPerpendicularity
Perpendicularitydialogbox

TheInsert|Dimension|Perpendicularity menuoptionmeasurestheperpendicularitybetween
twofeatures.Thesecondfeatureisalwaysthedatumfeature.Whenonlyonefeatureisselected,
thecurrentworkingplanebecomesthedatumfeature.Thisdimensiontypeisconsideredone
sided,meaningasinglepositivevaluetoleranceisapplied.
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingthePERPENDICULARITYOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Perpendicularity fromthesubmenu.The
Perpendicularitydialogboxwillappear.
3. SelecttheappropriateMaterialConditionoptionsforthefeature(s)anddatum.
4. Ifadatumfeatureisdesired,selecttheUseDatumscheckboxandselect
anotherfeatureintheFeatureListbox.
7. EntertheprojecteddistanceintheDistancebox.
Both,orNoneoption.
Graphicalcheckbox.IftheGraphicalcheckboxwasmarked,typetheMultiplier
Displaywindow.
dimension_name=PERPENDICULARITY,OFfeat_1,TOfeat_2
or
dimension_name=PERPENDICULARITY,OFfeat_1,TOworkplane
M 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
PlusToleranceforPerpendicularityDimensions
perpendicularitythatdiffersfromyournominalortheoreticalperpendicularitycanstillbeavalid
ProjectedDistanceforPerpendicularityDimensions

PCDMISallowsyoutotypeareferencedistanceintheDistancebox.Thisoptionisusefulwhen
thefeaturenotonlyneedstobeperpendiculartothedatumfeature,butneedstobecalculateda
certaindistanceawayfromthedatumaswell.
DimensioningParallelism
Parallelismdialogbox
TheInsert|Dimension|Parallelismmenuoptionmeasurestheparallelismbetweentwo
features.Thesecondfeatureisalwaysthedatumfeature.Whenonlyonefeatureisselected,the
currentworkingplanebecomesthedatumfeature.Thisdimensiontypeisconsideredonesided,
meaningasinglepositivevaluetoleranceisapplied.
ToPerformaDimensionUsingPARALLELISM:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Parallelismfromthesubmenu.TheParallelism
dialogboxappears.
3. Ifadatumfeatureisdesired,selecttheUseDatumscheckbox.
4. Ifadatumfeatureisdesired,selectanotherfeatureintheFeatureListbox.
7. TypetheprojectiondistanceintheDistancebox.
8. SelecteithertheInchorMMoptionintheUnitsarea.
Both,orNoneoption.
Displaywindow.

dimension_name=PARALLELISM,OFfeat_1,TOG1,TOfeat_2,TOG1
or
dimension_name=PARALLELISM,OFfeat_1,TOG1,TOworkplane
AX NOM +TOL TOL BON MEAS MAX DEV OUTTOL
DF 1.0000 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 1.0000 0.0000 0.0000

D1 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
M 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
TOG1=MMC/RFS/LMC
ExplanationofAxes
DFistheDiameter/Widthofthefeature.ThisappearswhenyousetLMCorMMCconditions.
D1istheDiameter/Widthofthefirstdatum.Thisappearswhenyousetadatumfeature.
Misthemeasuredvalue.Thisalwaysappears.
PlusToleranceforParallelismDimensions
parallelismthatdiffersfromyournominalortheoreticalparallelismcanstillbeavalid
ProjectedDistanceforParallelismDimensions
PCDMISallowsyoutotypeareferencedistanceintheDistancebox.PCDMISusesthisvalue
withcylinder,cone,andlinefeaturestocalculatetheparallelismdimension.
Forthesefeatures,thepointsusedfortheparallelismcalculationaretheendpointoftheaxisand
apointprojectedfromthisendpointalongthefeatureaxis.
Thedistancebetweenthesetwopointsisthereferenceddistance.Forotherfeatures,this
distancehasnoeffectonthedimension.Thisoptionisusefulwhenthedimensionneedstobe
calculatedacertaindistancealongthefeature.
UnderstandingParallelism'sDistanceProjection

Usuallyaparallelismdimensiontakesthedatumline'svector,andcheckstheendpointsofthe
dimensionedfeaturetoseeiftheyarewithintoleranceasshownhere:
ATolerancewidth(orcylinder).
BDatumvectorpositionedat
measuredfeature.
CDatumline.
Sometimes,however,youcantalwaysmeasurerighttotheedgeoftheline,soyouwillneedto
extendthelineoutbyacertaindistance.
Sincetheextremedeviationsareusuallyattheendsoftheline,ifyouextendoutthelinetoa
distancelongerthantheactuallengthofthelineyouwillusuallygetlargerdeviations.Youcan
alsoextendtheline'soppositedirectionbyusinganegativereferencelength.
Anextendedlinemaylooklikethis:
AReferenceLength
BExtendedpoint,
fromreferencelength
greaterthanline
length
CEndpointofline,
orreferencelength
sameaslinelength.
DStartpointofline,
or0.0reference
length.

YoucanalsousetheDistanceboxtospecifyareferencelengthtochecktheaxisofacylinder.
DimensioningTotalorCircularRunout
TotalRunoutorCircularRunoutdialogbox
TheInsert|Dimension|RunoutandTotalRun menuoptionsdeterminetherunoutofthefirst
featurewithrespecttothesecondfeature(i.e.,thesecondfeaturebecomesthedatumfeature).If
onlyonefeatureisselected,theoriginandtheworkplanebecomethedatumfeature.Inthis
case,PCDMISusesthepositionfromtheoriginandthedirectionfromtheworkplaneforthe
datum.ThetextintheEditwindowforthedatumfeaturewillread"THEORIGIN".
CircularRunoutworksforcircles,cones,cylinders,andspheres.
TotalRunoutworksforcylinders,cones,andplanes.
Thisdimensiontypeisconsideredonesided,meaningasinglepositivevaluetoleranceis
applied.
UnderstandingRunout
Runoutdimensioningisgenerallyusedincamshaftoperations.Acamshaftisdesignedtorotate
aroundacenterline.Sincetheseparatecylinderscomprisingthecamshaftareallonthesame
centerline,youneedtoensurethatthecenterlineisnotonlyparallel,butthatthecylindersare
alsocoaxial(orconcentric).
SampleCamshaft
Additionally,youneedtomakesurethesurfaceofthecylindersisroundandstraight(straight
whencomparedtoaseparatedatumaxis,notjustitsownaxis).

Themaindifferencebetweenrunoutandparallelismisthatrunoutischeckingpointsonasurface
ofacylinder,andnotjusttheaxisofthecylinder.Runoutalsodiffersfromacylinder's
straightnessbecauseitcomparesthesurfaceofthecylindertoadatumaxis,notjusttoitself.A
runoutdimensionchecksfortheseconditions.
HowRunoutisMeasured
Thetypical,nonCMMwaytomeasurerunoutistoputasmalldialindicatoronthesurfaceofthe
cylinder,zeroouttheindicator,andthenspinthecylinder.Thisindicatormeasuresanydifference
alongthatcircleasthecylinderrotates.
RunoutwithaDialIndicator
ACMMessentiallydoesthesamething.Insteadofspinningthecylinder,however,theCMM's
proberotatesaroundthecylinderandtakesafinitenumberofhits.
Thetolerancebandforrunoutwouldlooksomethinglikethis:
SampleRunoutToleranceBand(DottedLines)
Thetolerancebandhastheseproperties:
Ithasawidththesizeoftheplustolerance.
Itisparalleltothedatumvector(theaxisofsomeotherlineorcylinder).
Itisfixedatacertainradiusfromthecylindersaxis.
TwoCategoriesofRunout:CircularorTotal
Therearetwocategoriesforrunout:
CircularRunoutmeasuresjustonecircleonerowofhitsaroundthecylinder.
TotalRunoutmeasuresmultiplecirclesupanddowntheentiresurfaceofthe
cylinderwithmultiplerowsofhits.

Obviously,youaresomewhatlimitedusingaCMMfortotalrunoutbecauseyouprobablywillnot
take100rowsofhitsaroundyourcylinder,andsomethingaslittleas3rowsofhitsclearlyisnt
enoughfordeterminingtotalrunout.
Nevertheless,PCDMISprovidesyouwiththeabilitytodimensionbothcircularandtotalrunout
andletsyoudeterminewhetherornotyou'vemeasuredenoughrowsofthecylinder.
UsingRunouttoCheckaCylinderEnd
PCDMISalsoallowsyoutotestforanothercaseofrunoutspecifiedinthestandard:Checking
theplaneofoneofthecylinder'sends.Thetoleranceforthistypeofrunoutisatafixed
orientationperpendiculartothedatumaxis.
SameRunoutofaCylinder'sEnd
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheRUNOUTOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|TotalRunoutorCircularRunout fromthe
submenu.TheTotalRunoutorCircularRunoutdialogboxappears.
Both,orNoneoption.
Displaywindow.
dimension_name=RUNOUT,OFfeat_1,TOfeat_2
M 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
PlusToleranceforRunoutDimensions

runoutthatdiffersfromyournominalortheoreticalrunoutcanstillbeavalidmeasurementas
DimensioningSurfaceorLineProfile
SurfaceProfiledialogbox LineProfiledialogbox
Theprofile'sSurfaceoptioncomputesthethreedimensionalprofileerrorofasurfaceorcurve
feature(Insert|Dimension|Profile|Surface).
Theprofile'sLine menuoptioncomputesthetwodimensionalprofileerrorofacurve(Insert|
Dimension|Profile|Line).
Note:TheProfiledimensionhaschangedfromPCDMIS3.0andearlierversions.Youcannow
useanytypeoffeatureforaprofilescan.
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheSurfaceProfileOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Profile|Surfacefromthesubmenu.TheSurface
Profiledialogboxappears.
2. Selectthefeature(s)todimensionfromtheFeatureListbox.Ifadatumfeature
isselected,itmustbeaplane.
Both,orNoneoption.
8. SelecteitherFormOnlyorFormandLocation intheControlOptionsareaof
thedialogbox.
9. IfyouselectedFormOnly,selecttheUseBestFitcheckbox.Thiscausesthe
dimensiontousetheinternalbestfitalignmenttoallowtheshapetorotateor
translateuntilitfindsthebestfitforthefeature.

Displaywindow.
Ifyou'veselectedtheFormandLocationoptionearlier,besuretoselect
MaxMincheckboxfromtheDimensionInfoFormatareaoftheEditDefault
DimensionInfodialogbox.
Ifyou'veselectedtheFormOnlyoptionearlier,besuretoselecttheMeasured
checkboxfromtheDimensionInfoFormatareaoftheEditDefaultDimension
Infodialogbox.
dimension_name=PROFILE,OFfeat_1
AX NOM +TOL TOL MEAS MAX MIN DEV

OUT
TOL
M 5.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
DisplayingProfileContourPlots
PCDMISallowsyoutodisplayacoloredsurfacecontourplotthatwillrestonthesurfaceofthe
CADmodelintheGraphicsDisplaywindowwhenyouusePatchscansorUVscansandcreatea
profiledimensionfromthem.
Todothis:
1. ImportasolidCADmodel.
2. AccesstheViewSetupdialogbox.
3. ClicktheSolidcheckboxforoneofyourviewsandthenclosethedialogbox.
4. PlacePCDMISinSurfacemode.
5. CreateaPatchorUVscan(see"PerformingaPatchAdvancedScan"or
"PerformingaUVAdvancedScan"inthe"ScanningYourPart"chapter).
6. SelecttheInsert|ReportCommand|Analysismenuoption.TheAnalysis
dialogboxappears.
7. ClickViewWindowandthenselectOptions|DimensionOptions.The
DimensionAnalysisOptionsdialogboxappears.
8. SelecttheShowContourPlotoption,clickOKuntilyoureturntothemainPC
DMISscreen.
9. AccesstheSurfaceProfiledialogbox.
10. SelectthePatchorUVscanfromtheFeatureListbox.
11. SelecttheGraphicalcheckboxfromtheAnalysisarea.
12. MakeanyotherdesiredchangestotheSurfaceProfiledialogbox.
13. ClickCreatetogeneratethedimension.

You'llnoticethatPCDMISplacesacoloredcontourplotdirectlyontothemodelsurfacewhere
thescanwas.
ToDimensiona2DFeatureUsingtheLinePROFILEOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Profile|Linefromthesubmenu.TheLineProfile
dialogboxappears.
2. Selectthefeature(s)todimensionfromtheFeatureListbox.Youcanselectany
2Dfeature.Ifadatumfeatureisselected,itmustbeaplane.
Both,orNoneoption.
thedialogbox.
9. IfyouselectedtheFormOnlyoption,selecttheUseBestFitcheckbox.This
causesthedimensionusetheinternalbestfitalignmenttoallowtheshapetorotate
ortranslateuntilitfindsthebestfitforthefeature.
10. IfyouselectedtheUseBestFitcheckbox,selectthedesiredworkplanetoallow
rotationandtranslation. Usingtheworkplanewillrestrictthealignmenttobeatwo
dimensionalalignment.
Displaywindow.
Ifyou'veselectedtheFormandLocationoptionearlier,besuretoselect
MaxMincheckboxfromtheDimensionInfoFormatareaoftheEdit
Ifyou'veselectedtheFormOnlyoptionearlier,besuretoselecttheMeasured
checkboxfromtheDimensionInfoFormatareaoftheEditDimensionInfo
dialogbox.
dimension_name=PROFILE,OFfeat_1

M 5.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
DisplayingProfileContourPlots
PCDMISallowsyoutodisplayacoloredcontourplotthatwillrestonthesurfaceoftheCAD
modelintheGraphicsDisplaywindowforlinearorcurvefeatures.

Followtheinstructionslistedin"DisplayingProfileContourPlots"foraSurfaceProfile,andsimply
substitutetheinputfeaturewiththeappropriatelineorcurvefeature(orscan).
TolerancesforSurfaceProfileDimensions
Thisdimensiontypeisconsideredeitheronesided,meaningasinglepositivevaluetoleranceis
applied,ortwosided,meaningupperandlowertolerancevaluesareapplied.
IftheFormOnlyoptionhasbeenselected,onlyaplustolerancecanbeapplied.
IftheFormandLocationhasbeenselected,theprofiledimensioncanbeone
sidedortwosided.
PlusTolerance
profilethatmeasuresmorethanyournominalortheoreticalprofilecanstillbeavalid
MinusTolerance
TheMinusboxallowsyoutoenteratolerancevaluealongtheminusdirection.Thismeansthat
anyprofilethatmeasureslessthanyournominalortheoreticalprofilecanstillbeavalid
donebytypingaminussignbeforethevalueintheMinusbox.
TolerancesforLineProfileDimensions
Thisdimensiontypeisconsideredeitheronesided,meaningasinglepositivevaluetoleranceis
applied,ortwosided,meaningupperandlowertolerancevaluesareapplied.
IftheFormOnlyoptionhasbeenselected,onlyaplustolerancecanbeapplied.
IftheFormandLocationhasbeenselected,theprofiledimensioncanbeone
sidedortwosided.

PlusTolerance
ThePlusTolboxallowsyoutoenteratolerancevaluealongtheplusdirection.Thismeansthat
anymeasurementthatmeasuresmorethanyournominalortheoreticalmeasurementcanstillbe
avalidmeasurementaslongasitfallswithinthetolerancerangespecified.
MinusTolerance
TheMinusTolboxallowsyoutoenteratolerancevaluealongtheminusdirection.Thismeans
thatanymeasurementthatmeasureslessthanyournominalortheoreticalmeasurementcanstill
beavalidmeasurementaslongasitfallswithinthetolerancerangespecified.
ControlOptionsforSurfaceProfileDimensions
Theoptionsinthisareadetermineifaprofilematchesthesameform,orformandlocationasits
nominal.
FormOnly
Whendimensioningaprofile,selectingtheFormOnlyoption,youcantellPCDMIStoonly
determineifaparticularprofilematchesthesameformasitsnominal.Thisoptionignores
whetherthelocationoftheprofileisoutsideofacceptabletolerances.
ForaFormOnlydimension,payattentiontotheMeasuredvaluesinthegenerateddimension.
FormandLocation
Whendimensioningaprofile,usingtheFormandLocationoption,youcandetermineifa
particularprofilematchesthesameformandthesamelocationasitsnominal.Thisdiffersfrom
theFormOnlyoption,becausethelocationoftheprofilemustalsobewithinacceptable
tolerances.
ForaFormandLocationdimension,payattentiontoMax/Minvaluesinthegenerated
dimension.
ControlOptionsforLineProfileDimensions
Theoptionsinthisareadetermineifaprofilematchesthesameform,orformandlocationasits
nominal.
FormOnly

Whendimensioningaprofile,selectingtheFormOnlyoption,youcantellPCDMIStoonly
determineifaparticularprofilematchesthesameformasitsnominal.Thisoptionignores
whetherthelocationoftheprofileisoutsideofacceptabletolerances.
ForaFormOnlydimension,payattentiontotheMeasuredvaluesinthegenerateddimension.
FormandLocation
Whendimensioningaprofile,usingtheFormandLocationoption,youcandetermineifa
particularprofilematchesthesameformandthesamelocationasitsnominal.Thisdiffersfrom
theFormOnlyoption,becausethelocationoftheprofilemustalsobewithinacceptable
tolerances.
ForaFormandLocationdimension,payattentiontoMax/Minvaluesinthegenerated
dimension.
BestFitOptionsforSurfaceProfileDimensions
Note:ThisareaonlyappearsonthedialogboxifyouselecttheFormOnlyoptionfromthe
ControlOptionsarea.
TheBestFitOptionsarealetsyoucreateaninternalBestFitalignmentonthedimensioned
featureusingoneoftheseavailablemethods:
NoFitNoalignmentiscreated.
LeastSquaresThisfitfindsapositionwherethedeviationsareminimized.In
thisway,theFormOnlyoptioncanignorethelocationofthefeaturewhilechecking
thatthecurveisclosetothenominalshape.
Vector Thisfitsnapserrorsintheinputfeaturesontothetheoreticalvectors
beforeminimizingtheaveragesquarederror.
Min/MaxThisfitminimizesthemaximumerrorinalloftheinputfeatures.
OptimizedThisfitallowsthemeasureddatatoshiftandrotatewithinthe
tolerancedomainuntilthedatafits.Youcanalsospecifythelowertolerancevalue
whichtypicallyisnotallowedtochangefrom0.0fortheotherfittingtypes.
Seethe"CreatingaBestFitAlignment"topicinthe"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapter.
BestFitOptionsforLineProfileDimensions

Note:ThisareaonlyappearsonthedialogboxifyouselecttheFormOnlyoptionfromthe
ControlOptionsarea.
TheBestFitOptionsarealetsyoucreateaninternalBestFitalignmentonthedimensioned
featureusingoneoftheseavailablemethods:
Min/MaxThisfitminimizesthemaximumerrorinalloftheinputfeatures.
OptimizedThis fitallowsthemeasureddatatoshiftandrotatewithinthe
tolerancedomainuntilthedatafits.Youcanalsospecifythelowertolerancevalue
whichtypicallyisnotallowedtochangefrom0.0fortheotherfittingtypes.
WorkPlane
Whenyouusethelineprofiledimension,PCDMIScreatesaninternaltwodimensionalalignment
thatrotatesandtranslatesinalldirectionswithintheselectedworkplanetominimizethe
deviationsoftheindividualhits.Selectingaworkplanethatdiffersfromthetwodimensional
projectionofthecurveresultsinanincorrectcalculation.
Seethe"CreatingaBestFitAlignment"topicinthe"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapter.
DimensioningAngularity
Angularitydialogbox

TheInsert|Dimension|Angularitymenuoptioncomputestheangularityerrorofaplaneorline
toadatumplaneorline.(Ifonlyonefeatureisselectedorkeyedin,PCDMISusesthecurrent
workingplaneasthedatum.)
Similartoperpendicularityorparallelism,theAngularitydimensionallowsyoutospecifyanangle
thatisn't90degrees(perpendicularity)or0degrees(parallelism).Forexample,ifyouspecifya
45degreeangle,PCDMIScreatesatolerancebandat45degrees,andchecksthatthehitsare
withinthattoleranceband.
Themeasuredvalueisanangle(blue).Theangularity'stolerancebandistwoparallellinesor
planes(black)thatnevermeet.
ToComputetheAngularityErrorbyUsingtheANGULARITYOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Angularityfromthesubmenu.TheAngularity
2. TypethenominalanglefromthedatumintheAnglebox.
3. Selectortypetheplane/line,feature,anddatum.
5. TypetheprojectiondistanceintheDistancebox.
Both,orNoneoption.
thedialogbox.
Displaywindow.
dimension_name=ANGULARITYFROMfeat_1TOfeat_2EXTENDLENGTH=nANG=nUNITS=MM/IN

GRAPCH=ON/OFFTEXT=ON/OFFMULT=nOUTPUT=NONE/BOTH/STATS/REPORT
M 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
feat_2:LINEorPLANE.
PCDMISthencomputestheangularityerroranddisplaysitinthecurrentdimensionwindow.
ReferenceAngle
TheAngleboxallowsyoutotypethenominalanglefromthedatumfeature.Thisistheangle
betweenthetwofeatures.PCDMISthencalculatesthedeviationofonefeaturefromtheangle.
ClickingtheFindTheoAnglebuttoncalculatesthenominalreferenceangleyoushouldusefrom
thetheoreticalvaluesoftheselectedfeatures.Thismakesitsoyoudon'thavetogoandlookup
theangleintheEditwindow.
PlusToleranceforAngularityDimensions
ThePlusboxallowsyoutotypeatolerancevaluealongtheplusdirection.Thismeansthatany
angularityerrorthatdiffersfromyournominalortheoreticalangularityerrorcanstillbeavalid
ProjectedDistanceforAngularityDimensions
PCDMISallowsyoutoprojectareferencedistance.Thisoptionisusedwithlinefeaturesto
calculatetheangularitydimension.
Forthesefeatures,thepointsusedfortheangularitycalculationaretheendpointoftheaxisand
apointprojectedfromthisendpointalongthefeatureaxis.
Thedistancebetweenthesetwopointsisthereferenceddistance.Forotherfeatures,this
distancehasnoeffectonthedimension.Thisoptionisusefulwhenthedimensionneedstobe
calculatedacertaindistancealongthefeature.
DimensioningSymmetry

Symmetrydialogbox
TheInsert|Dimension|Symmetrymenuoptioncalculatesthesymmetryofasetofpointswith
adatumfeature,ortwoopposinglineswithadatumfeature.
Ifthefirstfeatureisaset,thesecondfeaturethatisenteredisthedatumfeature
andmustbeeitheraplaneoraline.
Ifthefirstfeatureisaline,thesecondfeaturemustalsobealineandthethird
featurethatisenteredisthedatumfeature.Inthiscasethethirdfeaturemustbea
planeoraline.Thisdimensiontypeisconsideredonesided,meaningasingle
positivevaluetoleranceisapplied.
Ifthethirdfeatureisaplane,thesymmetryalgorithmattemptstofindalineon
thatplanethatrepresentsthedatum.Tofindthecorrectline,itintersects(orcrosses)
thechosenplanewiththeworkplane.Forthisreason,youshouldensurethatyou
areusingthecorrectworkplane.
Accordingtothegeometricdimensioningandtolerancingstandard,thefollowinggraphic
indicateshowasymmetrydimensionisinterpretedanddisplayed.
GraphicShowinghowPCDMISInterpretsSymmetryDimensions

1Thecenter
planeofdatum
featureA.
2Orderof
point
measurements.
30.8wide
tolerancezone.
4Opposed
elements,with
alternating
points.
ExplanationofPreviousGraphic 5Derived
medianpoints.
WithinthelimitsofsizeandRFS,allmedianpointsofopposed
elementsoftheslotmustliebetweentwoparallelplanes0.8apart,the
twoplanesbeingequallydisposedaboutdatumplaneA.Thespecified
toleranceandthedatumreferencecanonlyapplyonanRFSbasis.
Becauseofthewaythesymmetryisdefined,PCDMISlimitsthefeaturesthatcanbeusedfor
thesymmetrydimension.Sincethepointsmustbeequallyarrangedaboutthedatuminorderto
findmidpointsbetweenthem,youmusteitherselectafeaturesetwithalternatingpointsortwo
opposinglineswiththesamenumberofpoints.
ToDimensionaFeatureUsingtheSYMMETRYOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Symmetryfromthesubmenu.TheSymmetry
Both,orNoneoptions.
7. SelectthedesiredAnalysisoptionsbyselectingoneorbothofthecheckboxes.
IftheGraphicalcheckboxwasselected,enterthemultipliervalueintheMultiplier
box.
Displaywindow.
dimension_name=SYMMETRY,FROMfeat_1TOfeat_2

or
dimension_name=SYMMETRY,FROMfeat_1ANDfeat2TOfeat3
M 0.0000 0.0100 0.0100 2.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Note:Afterthedimensioniscreated,thedialogboxwillremainopen.Ifdesired,useyourEdit
buttonatthistimetoeditaspectsofyourdimension'sinformation.See"EditDefaultDimension
Info".
PlusToleranceforSymmetry
symmetrythatdiffersfromyournominalortheoreticalsymmetrycanstillbeavalidmeasurement
aslongasitfallswithinthetolerancerangespecified.
DimensioningthroughKeyboardInput
DimensionalKeyindialogbox
TheInsert|Dimension|Keyin menuoptionallowsyoutocaptureand"keyin"throughthe
keyboarddatanotmeasuredwiththeCMM(forinstance,addingadimensionthatismeasured
withcalipers).Thisoptionallowsyoutoprintoutallinspectionresultsontheinspectionreport
(notjustfeaturesmeasuredwiththeCMM).Itisalsousefulwhencollectingdataforstatistical
analysis.
ToAddDimensionsUsingtheKEYINOption:
1. SelectInsert|Dimension|Keyin fromthesubmenu.TheDimensionalKeyin
2. TypetheIDnumberforthedimensionintheID=box.
3. TypethenominalvalueintheNominalbox.
4. TypetheactualvalueintheActualbox.
Both,orNoneoption.

ThedimensionwillthenappearintheEditwindowwiththisinformation:
dimension_name=KEYIN,feat_1
M 5.0000 0.0100 0.0100 5.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Nominal
TheNominalboxallowsyoutoenterinthenominal(ortheoreticallyperfect)measurementfora
feature.
Actual
TheActualboxallowsyoutoenterintheactualmeasurementforafeature.
TolerancesforKeyboardCreatedDimensions
Youcantypetolerancesalongtheplusandminusdirectionsofthenewlygenerateddimension.
PlusTolerance
ThePlusTolboxallowsyoutoenteratolerancevaluealongtheplusdirection.Thismeansthat
anymeasurementthatmeasuresmorethanyournominalortheoreticalmeasurementcanstillbe
avalidmeasurementaslongasitfallswithinthetolerancerangespecified.
MinusTolerance
TheMinusTolboxallowsyoutoenteratolerancevaluealongtheminusdirection.Thismeans
thatanymeasurementthatmeasureslessthanyournominalortheoreticalmeasurementcanstill
beavalidmeasurementaslongasitfallswithinthetolerancerangespecified.
DimensioningVariables
Theremaybeinstanceswhenworkingwithexpressionsandvariablesthatyouwanttocreate
dimensionsfromvariablesthatcontainstoredvalues.Onepopularwaytodothisistofirstcreate
agenericfeature,populatethefieldsoftheGenericFeaturewiththevariableexpressionsyou
wanttouse,andthencreateadimensionoftheGenericFeature.
ForinformationonGenericFeatures,seethe"CreatingGenericFeatures"chapter.For
informationonvariables,seethe"UsingExpressionsandVariables"chapter.

DimensioningaVariableExample
SupposethatyouhavethesevariablesandyouwantedtocreateaLocationdimensionusing
them:
ASSIGN/V_THEOX=10
ASSIGN/V_THEOY=5
ASSIGN/V_THEOZ=1
ASSIGN/V_MEASX=10.008
ASSIGN/V_MEASY=5.035
ASSIGN/V_MEASZ=0.997
Note:Foreaseofuse,thisexamplegivesthevariablesconstantvalues.Inreallifeapplication,
yourvariableswillmostlikelyhavedynamicvaluesthatchangebasedonuserinputorfromother
externalsources.
Todimensionthesevariables:
1. CreateagenericfeaturebyselectingtheInsert|Feature|Genericmenu
option.TheConstructGenericFeaturedialogboxappears.
2. SelectthePointoption.
3. SelecttheMeasuredValuesoptionandtypezerovaluesintotheX,Y,andZ
boxes,thenselectNominalValuesanddothesamething.
4. ClickOK.PCDMISwillinsertanemptyGenericFeature(usuallylabeledF1ifit's
yourfirstGenericFeature)intotheEditwindow.
5. PlacetheEditwindowinCommandmodeandyouwillseethis:
F1 =GENERIC/POINT,DEPENDENT,RECT,$
NOM/XYZ,0,0,0,$
MEAS/XYZ,0,0,0,$
NOM/IJK,0,0,1,$
MEAS/IJK,0,0,1
6. NownavigatetothelineNOM/XYZ,andinthefirstthreezerofields,type
V_THEOX,V_THEOY,andV_THEOZrespectively.Theseareyournominal
variables.
7. DothesamethingontheMEAS/XYZline,excepttypeV_MEASX,V_MEASY,
andVMEASZintothethreezerofieldsofthatline.Yourcommandshouldnowlook
likethis:
F1 =GENERIC/POINT,DEPENDENT,RECT,$
NOM/XYZ,V_THEOX,V_THEOY,V_THEOZ,$
MEAS/XYZ,V_MEASX,V_MEASY,V_MEASZ,$

NOM/IJK,0,0,1,$
MEAS/IJK,0,0,1
8. PressF3tomarktheGenericFeature.
9. CreateaLocationdimensionusingthisfeature.Giveitaplusandminus
toleranceof.02.
10. Executethepartprogram.
Youshouldgetadimensionthatlookssomethinglikethisinyourreport:
DimensioningTruePositionInBetween
TruePositionInBetween
TheInsert|Dimension|TruePositionInBetweenmenuoptioncomputestheinbetweentrue
positiondeviationanddeviationanglefromtwospecifiedTruePositiondimensions.This
dimensionisusefulwhenyouhaveasetoftruepositiondimensionsonapatternofholesand
youwanttoreportthetruepositiondeviationanddeviationangleofoneholerelativetoanother
whereeachindividualholeofthepatternhasbeendimensionedwithaseparatetrueposition
callout.
Note:TheANSIorISOstandardsdonotincludeTruePositionInBetween.Thisisspecial
implementationuniquetoPCDMIS.
Tocreatethisdimension:

1. AccesstheTruePositionInBetweenmenuoption.TheTruePositionInBetween
dialogboxappears.
2. Selecttwodimensionsfromthe TruePositionDimensionslist.Thislistincludesboth
legacyandFeatureControlFrame(FCF)TruePositiondimensions.Ifyouselecta
compositeFCFTruePositionoraFCFTruePositionwithtwosinglesegments,PCDMIS
willonlyusethePrimaryDimensiontocomputetheTruePositionInBetweendimension.
3. TypealabelIDforthedimensionbytypingintheID=box.
4. TypeatolerancevalueforthedimensionintheTolerancebox.
5. SelectthemeasurementunitstousefromtheUnitslist.
6. ClickCreate.
dimension_name=TRUEPOSITIONINBETWEENdim_1ANDdim_2,UNITS=IN/MM
AX NOMINAL MEAS +TOL TOL BONUS DEV DEVANG
OUTTOL
TP 0.0000 0.0000 0.0100 0.0000 172.4842
0.0000#
DEVisthedeviationoftheInBetweendimension.DEVANGisthedeviationangleoftheIn
Betweendimension.

UsingFeatureControlFrames
UsingFeatureControlFrames:Introduction
PCDMISletsyouinsertvaluabledimensioninginformationintheformofFeatureControlFrames
(FCFs)intoyourpartprogram.FCFsarespecial,rectangularboxesthathousestandardGD&T
symbolsandinformation.WhenyouinsertaFCFintotheEditwindow,PCDMISalsodrawsthe
actualframeintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
SampleFeatureControlFrame(seeFCF1)
ToinsertaFCFcommand,accesstheInsert|Dimensionsubmenu,ensurethattheUse
LegacyDimensionsmenuitemisnotselected,andthenselecttheappropriatedimension.PC
DMISdisplaystheGD&Tdialogboxforthatdimension.OnceyoucreatetheFCF,PCDMIS
insertsitalongwithdimensioninformationintothepartprogram.
Note:FCFsprovideyouwithanewwayofdimensioningyourpart.Allofthesameoptionsyou
hadwithpreviousDimensioningfunctionalitystillexistwithFCFs(seetheAdvancedtabinthe
GD&Tdialogbox).Ifyouprefertheoldwayofdoingdimensions,however,simplyselecttheUse
LegacyDimensionsmenuitemandPCDMISwillinsertdimensionstheoldway.Seethe
"DimensioningFeatures"chapterforinformationonlegacydimensions.
Also,sincetheLocation,Distance,Angle,andKeyindimensionsarenotpartoftheASMEand
ISOstandards,theyarealwayscreatedusinglegacydimensions,evenifyoudeselectedtheUse
LegacyDimensionsmenuitem.
Thischaptercoversthefollowingtopics:
WhatisaFeatureControlFrame?
RulesforUsingFeatureControlFrameDimensions
CreatingaFeatureControlFrameDimension
DefiningDatums
TheGD&TDialogBox
FeatureControlFrameCommandBlock
FeatureControlFrameTrihedron
SimultaneouslyEvaluatingFeatureControlFrames
FeatureControlFrameReportingTables
PCDMISandASMEY14.5M1994
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual UsingFeatureControlFrames 893

PCDMISGD&TfollowsASME(ANSI)Y14.5M1994.Themathematicsforthisstandardare
describedin"ASMEY14.5.1M1994MathematicalDefinitionofDimensioningandTolerancing
Principles".ThisstandardissimilartoISO1101.ThemaindifferenceisthatY14.5requiresTrue
Positiondatumfittingtofindthecandidatedatumreferenceframethatminimizesthedeviationof
theconsideredfeature.PCDMISallowstheusertoturnthisoffwiththeFittoDatumscheck
box.Inaddition,theregistrysettingUseISOCalculations, foundintheOptionssectionofthePC
DMISSettingsEditor,canbesetto1toreportprofileastwotimesthemaximumdeviation.
SomeCalculationDifferences
LegacydimensionsforroundnesssuchasaLocationdimension'sRNlineoralegacyCircularity
dimension,arecomputedusingtheLeastSquaresolution.Ontheotherhand,FCFdimensions
forroundness(CircularityandCylindricity)inversion4.2andhigherarecomputedusingthe
Chebychevalgorithm(min/max)asrequiredbytheY14.5standard.Becauseofthechangein
calculation,CircularityandCylindricityFCFdimensionswillgenerallycomputetoaslightly
smallervaluethantheirlegacycounterparts.
WhatisaFeatureControlFrame?
ASampleFeatureControlFrame
Afeaturecontrolframe(FCF)isarectangulargraphicthatrepresentsspecifieddimension
informationforoneormorefeatures.Itusuallyappearsonablueprintorcadfiletodefine
tolerancespecificationsforspecificdimensiontypes.TheASMEY14.51994Geometric
DimensioningandTolerancingdescribesappropriateuseoffeaturecontrolframes(FCFs).
WhenmultiplefeaturesareselectedintheFCF,PCDMIScreatesaconstructedsetinternalto
theFCF.Thissetusestheinputfeaturestocreateapatternfeature,wheretheprimary
dimensionlinewillapplytothepatternfeature,andthesecondarydimensionlinewillapplytothe
individualfeatures.Intheaboveexamplefeaturecontrolframe,thepatternwillhaveitsposition
tolerancedtowithin0.01,whiletheindividualfeatureswillhavetheirpositionstolerancedtowithin
0.005.SeeASMEY14.51994GeometricDimensioningandTolerancingformoreinformation
abouthowtheseareapplied.
TheElementsofaFCFinPCDMIS
AFCFinPCDMIShasfourdifferentlines,asdefinedbytheGD&Tstandards:
1. SizetolerancesThetoplinehasthenumberoffeatures,X,diameter
symbol,sizenominal,plustolerance,andminustolerance.
894 UsingFeatureControlFrames PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

2. PrimarydimensionsThesecondline(firstrowintherectangulargrid)
mustalwaysexist,eventhoughyoumaynotuseallofthefields.Thisline
hastheprimarydimensionsymbol,diametersymbol,maintolerance,feature
materialcondition,projectedtolerancezone,projectedtolerancezone
materialcondition,primarydatum,primarydatummaterialcondition,
secondarydatum,secondarydatummaterialcondition,tertiarydatum,and
tertiarydatummaterialcondition.Often,datums,materialconditions,and
projectedtolerancezonesarenotrequiredoravailable.
3. SecondarydimensionsThethirdline(secondrowintherectangulargrid)
onlyexistsforTruePositionandprofiletypes,andnotallofthefieldsare
necessary.Ithasthesecondarydimensionsymbol,diametersymbol,main
tolerance,featurematerialcondition,projectedtolerancezone,projected
tolerancezonematerialcondition,primarydatum,primarydatummaterial
condition,secondarydatum,secondarydatummaterialcondition,tertiary
datum,andtertiarydatummaterialcondition.
4. NotesThefourthlinecontainsatextfieldforwhereyoucantypefurther
descriptionorinstructionsoftheFCF.Bydefault,PCDMISplacestheFCF's
IDintothisfieldtohelpidentifytheFCFintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.You
canchangethisnotetodifferenttextifyoulike.
InordertoproperlyusetheGD&T/FeatureControlFrame(FCF)toolsprovidedinPCDMIS,
pleasefollowtheserules:
Forbestresults,useCADdata.
Explanation:
WhileyoucantechnicallyusethesetoolswithoutCAD,itmayrequire
additionaleditingofcommandstogetthemtofunctionproperly.Dimensions
thatusedatumsrequirecorrectnominal(THEO)values.Whenyoudonot
createfeaturesfromCADdata,youmayhavetoeditthenominal(THEO)
valuesoffeaturestoensurethattheyarecorrect.
Thisrulealsoappliestolegacydimensions.
Use3Dfeatureswithvectorsforprimarydatums.
Explanation:
WhencreatingaFCFdimension,youshouldnotreferencea2Dfeatureasa
primarydatumbecauseitdoesnothave vectorinformation.
Inversions4.1andabove,whenyouuseacircleasaprimarydatum,the
createddatumreferenceframealignmentwillnotleveltothecircle.PCDMIS
usesthecircleonlytopositiontheDatumReferenceFrame(DRF)alignment
origin(X,Y).TheDRFalignmentlevelinthiscaseisderivedfromthecurrent
activealignment.
However,ifyouwanttheDRFalignmenttoleveltoaprimarydatumcircle(for
example,thecircleisanAutoCirclemeasuredwithsamplepoints),youcan

usethePCDMISSettingsEditortosettheDatumLevelToCircle parameterto1
(bydefault,thisis0).
Thisalsoappliestolegacydimensions.
DONOTusetheoldstyletextreportwithFCFdimensions.
Explanation:
WhilethisreportfunctionswellwithLegacydimensions,FCFdimensionswill
experiencesomedatalossinthisreportingmode.
Toensurethatyoudisplaythereportproperly:
1. Rightclickonanywhitespaceofyourreport.
2. SelectEditObject.
3. IntheReportdialogbox,cleartheUseTextModeDimension
Reportingcheckbox.
UseMin/MaxreportingforProfileFCFdimensions.
Explanation:
EnsurethatyouarelookingattheMin/MaxvalueforProfiledimensions,not
theMeasuredvalue.
ToturnonMin/Maxreporting:
1. PressF10toaccesstheParametersdialogbox.
2. SelecttheDimensiontab,andthenselecttheMin/Maxcheck
box.
UsecorrectnominalX,Y,Z,I,J,KdataforDeviationPerptoCenterline
functionality.
Explanation:
NominaldataisneededforDeviationPerptoCenterlinefunctionalitytowork
properly.IfyouareusingCAD,thishappensautomatically.Ifnot,youwill
needtotypeintheneedednominalvaluesintotheTHEOfield.
FCFTruePositiondimensionsalwaysusetheDeviationPerptoCenterline
functionalityandwiththeAxissettoWORSTyoucannotmodifythis.
GeneralRulesforTruePositionFCFDimensions:
Selectallthespecifieddatumssothatproperfittingisperformed.
Explanation:

Thefeaturesselectedfordatum1,datum2,anddatum3representthe
primary,secondaryandtertiarydatumsandareusedtoconstrainuptosix
degreesoffreedom(3degreesoftranslationand3degreesofrotation).
Theprimarydatumconstrainsasmanyofthesixdegreesof
freedomastheprimarydatumfeatureallows.
Thesecondarydatumconstrainsasmanyoftheremaining
degreesoffreedomasthesecondarydatumfeatureallows.
Thetertiarydatumconstrainswhateverdegreesoffreedom
remain.
Therefore,theorderofprecedenceofthedatumsisessential.
Considertheseexamples:
Example1:Supposeforyourdatumsyouhaveaprimaryplane,asecondary
line,andatertiarycircle(assumethatthelineandcirclelieintheplane).The
planeconstrainsrotationaboutXandYandtranslationinZ.Theline,
constrainsrotationaboutZandtranslationinY.Thecircleconstrainsonly
translationinX.
Example2:Now,supposeforyourdatumsyouhaveaprimaryplane,
secondarycircle,andtertiaryline(again,assumethatthecircleandlineliein
theplane).TheplanestillconstrainsrotationaboutXandYandtranslationin
Z.ThecirclenowconstrainstranslationinXandY.Thelineconstrainsonly
rotationaboutZ.
Ensurethatfeaturecommandsusedforthedatumsandthedimensioncontain
correctnominalvalues.
Explanation:
Thesecommandsmustcontainthecorrectnominalvalues(X,Y,Z,I,J,K)inthe
THEOfield.Forproperfittingtooccur,PCDMISreferencesthesecommands
tocalculatedatumconstraintsandthedimensionalresults.
EnsurethatthemeasuredfeaturecommandandtheassociatedTPdimension
comefromthesamealignment.
Explanation:
Thisensuresthatthenominalvaluesarecorrectandthesameasthebasic
dimensioncalloutsfromthedrawing.WhenusingCAD,thenominalvaluesare
automaticallycalculated.WithoutCAD,youwillneedtoeditallthemeasured
featurecommandswiththeircorrectnominalvalues.
CreatingaFeatureControlFrameDimension
ThefollowingprocedureshowsyouhowtocreateaFeatureControlFrame(FCF)dimension:
1. Createthefeaturesthatwillbedatumfeatures.Thesecanbemeasured
features,autofeatures,orconstructedfeatures.

2. SelectInsert|Dimension|DatumDefinition.TheDatumDefinitiondialogbox
appears.
3. Usethedialogboxtoselectthedatumfeaturesandassociatethemwithdatum
letters.See"DefiningDatums"forinformationonhowtodothis.
4. Whenfinisheddefiningdatums,closethedialogbox.
5. MakesuretheInsert|Dimension|UseLegacyDimensionsmenuoptiondoes
notdisplayacheckmark.Ifitdoes,selectthemenuitemtoclearthischeckmark.
6. SelecttheappropriatedimensionfromtheInsert|Dimensionsubmenu.The
GD&Tdialogboxforthatdimensionappears.
7. Inthedialogbox,selecttheFeatureControlFrametab.
8. UsethistabtoselectthefeaturestodimensionandtoconstructyourFCF.See
"FeatureControlFrameTab"forinformationontheavailableoptionsinthistab.
9. SelecttheAdvancedtab.
10. Selecttheappropriateoptionsfromthistabtodefinehowthedimension
informationshouldbedisplayed.See"AdvancedTab"forinformationontheavailable
optionsinthistab.
11. ClickCreate.PCDMISinsertsaFCFcommandintothepartprogramandaFCF
graphicappearsintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Thegraphicwillhaveatransparent
background.YoucanclickanddragtheFCFtoanewlocationasneeded.
FCFCreationConditions
InorderforPCDMIStoproperlycreateaFCFdimension,itmustmeettheappropriateconditions
forthetypeofdimensionyouwanttocreate.Consultthefollowingtableasneeded:
DimensionType ConditionstoMeet
Formdimensions: Nodatums.
Nomaterialconditions.
Noprojectedzones.
Profiledimensions: Mayormaynothavedatums.
Noprojectedzones.
Orientationdimensions: Musthavedatums.
Mayhave materialconditions.
Mayhaveprojectedzones.
Runoutdimensions: Musthavedatums.
Noprojectedzones.
Positiondimensions: Mayhavedatums.
Mayhavematerialconditions.
Mayhaveprojectedzones.
Otherlocationdimensions Musthavedatums.
(theseincludesymmetry Nomaterialconditions.
concentricity,coaxiality): Noprojectedzones.
DefiningDatums
ADatumisatheoreticallyperfectplane,point,oraxisreferencefeature.ADimensional
measurementismadefromadatum.DatumsareusedbyFeatureControlFrames(FCFs)when
displayingGD&Tinformation.InordertodefinethedatumsusedinFCFs,youshouldfirstcreate
thefeaturesthatwillbecomethedatums.Thesefeaturescancomefromautofeatures,measured
features,orconstructedfeatures.Onceyoucreatethefeatures,useDatumDefinition(DATDEF)

commandstodefinethemasdatums.EachDATDEFcommandassociatesadatumletter(for
example,datumA)withafeatureinyourprogram.
CreatingaDatumDefinition
Todefineadatum,selectInsert|Dimension|DatumDefinitionorclicktheDatumDefinitions
buttonontheGD&Tdialogbox.PCDMISwilldisplaytheDatumDefinitiondialogbox.
DatumDefinitiondialogbox
Thedatumletter(intheaboveexampleA),defaultstothenextavailabledatumletter.PCDMIS
labelsdatumsfromAtoZandthenfromAAtoZZ.Simplyselectafeaturetobeassociated
withthisdatumletterfromtheListofFeatures,andclickCreate.TheCreatebuttonbecomes
activatedwheneveryouselectafeaturefromthelist.Whenyoucreateadefinition,PCDMIS
insertsaDATDEF commandintotheEditwindow.Forexample,ifyouhadselectedPLN1and
associateditwiththeletter"A",theEditwindowcommandwouldread:
DATDEF/FEATURE=PLN1,DATUM=A
IntheDatumDefinitiondialogbox,theDatumboxautomaticallyupdatestothenextavailable
datumletter,andthefeatureyouselectedwillappearintheListofFeatureswiththeassociated
datumletterinparentheses.FromtheabovePLN1example,itwouldnowappearinthelistas
PLN1(A).
TocreateadditionalDATDEFcommands,continuetoselectfeaturesandclickCreate.Ifyou
don'twanttocreateyourdatumsinthedefaultalphabeticalsequence,youcaneasilymodifythe
letterintheDatumboxbeforeclickingCreate.
OnceyouhavecreatedallyourdatumsusingtheDatumDefinitiondialogbox,youcanthen
createFeatureControlFrame(FCF)dimensionsusingtheGD&Tdialogboxandassignyour
defineddatumfeaturestothosedimensions.
SpecifyingCompoundDatumsintheFCF
Adrawing'scalloutwillshowacompounddatumusingtheformatAB(wherethedatumsare
labeledAandB).Thisindicatesthatthespecifieddatumsshouldbeusedtogetherasiftheywere
asingledatum.
Note:CompounddatumsonlyfunctionwithaTruePositionFCFdimensionorProfileFCF
dimension.
Tospecifycompounddatums:
1. Createtheindividualdatums.See"DefiningDatums"forinformationonhowtodothis.
2. SelectthemenuitemortoolbaricontocreateaTruePositionorProfileFCF.TheGD&T
dialogboxappears.
3. Specifythecompounddatuminthe<dat>fieldoftheFeatureControlFrameEditor
area.Whilethedropdownlistonlyshowsindividualdatums,youcan,however,typethe

requireddatumcombinationdirectly.Dothisbyselectingortypingthefirstdatum'sID,
typeadash,andthentypetheIDforthelastdatuminthecombination.Ifyourcompound
datumuseddatumsAandB,itwouldlooklikethis:
4. Selectthefeature(orfeatures)foryourFCF.
5. FilloutanythingelseneededforyourFCF.
6. ClickCreate.
TheGD&TDialogBox
GD&Tdialogbox
WiththeGD&Tdialogbox,youcancreateFeatureControlFrame(FCF)dimensionsandinsert
themintoyourpartprogram.ThisdialogboxappearswheneveryouselectasupportedFCF
dimensionfromtheInsert|DimensionsubmenuandtheUseLegacyDimensionsmenuitemis
notselected.
Thedialogboxconsistsoftwotabs,FeatureControlFrameandAdvanced,eachwithseveral
controlsthatallowyoutoconstructtheFCFanditsassociateddimensioninformation.
GD&TDialogBoxFeatureControlFrametab

GD&TdialogboxFeatureControlFrametab
TheFeatureControlFrametabgiveshelpsyouconstructaFeatureControlFrame(FCF).It
providesyouwiththetoolstodefinedatumfeatures,selectthefeaturesusedintheFCF
dimension,aneditortodefinethespecificsymbols,tolerances,anddatumsusedinyourFCF,
andapreviewareatoseethecurrentstateoftheFCFasyoubuildit.Forinformationonthe
variousitemsinthistab,seethelistofcontrolsbelow:
IDThisboxdisplaysthenamefortheFCF.Youcanedititifyouwantsomethingdifferent.
FeaturesThislistdisplaysavailablefeaturesfortheparticularFCFtype. Somefeatures
mayexistinthepartprogram,butarenotavailabletothefeaturecontrolframe. For
example,aplanefeatureisnotavailabletoCircularity.PCDMISupdatesthislistafteryou
selectthefirstfeature.ThisensuresthatwhenyoucreateapatternoffeaturesfortheFCF,
thosefeaturesarecompatiblefeatures.
DatumsTheDatumsshowsallthedatumsdefinedwithDATDEFcommands.Itonlylists
datumfeaturesabovethecurrentcursorpositionintheEditwindow.
LeaderLinesThislistshowsthesamefeaturesthatyouselectedfromtheFeatureslist.
Eachfeaturehasacheckboxassociatedwithit.Whenyouselectacheckbox,PCDMIS
drawsaleaderlineintheGraphicsDisplaywindowfromtheFCFtothatfeature.Bydefault,
PCDMISinitiallydisplaysallpossibleleaderlines,butyoucanclearcheckboxestoturnoff
leaderlinesaswell.
FeatureControlFrameEditorThisarealetsyouapplychangestotheFCF.Youcan
selectfieldswiththemouseorbypressingTABandthenENTERtoplacethefieldintoedit
mode.Ifthefieldiseditable,itwilleitherdisplayadropdownlistofavailableoptions,oritwill
displayaboxintowhichyoucantypetext.Whenfinishededitingafield,pressENTER,TAB,

orclickonadifferentfieldtoexittheeditmode.PressingSHIFT+TABwillmovebackwards
tothepreviousfield.
Whenafieldisemptyashortdescriptionisdisplayedwithbracketsarounditforidentification.
Thesedescriptionscorrespondtothesefields:
<MC>Materialcondition
<D>Diameter
<Dim>Dimensionorfeaturecontrolframetype
<PZ>Projectedzone
<num>Numberoffeatures
<nom>Nominaloffeaturesize
<+tol>Plustolerance
<tol>Minustolerance
<tol>Tolerance
<dat>Datum
<sym>Dimensionsymbol
<addnoteshere>Notefieldinthefirstline
<addoptionaldesignnotes>Optionaldesignnotesinthelastline
SphericalZoneYoucanuseasphericaltolerancezoneifyouhaveaTruePositionFCFfora
pointorspherefeature.Toenableasphericaltolerancezone,selectthefeaturetodimension,
thenintheFCFeditor,selectthediametersymbolandchangeittothesphericalzonesymbolas
shownhere:
PlanarZoneThisbuttonappearsintheFeatureControlFrameEditorareaofthistab,ifyou
haveaTruePositionFCFandthetolerancezoneissettoaplanarzone.Toenablethisbutton,
selectthediametersymbolfromtheFCFeditorandsetittoblankasshownhere:

OncethePlanarZonebuttonappears,youcanclickittoopenthePlanarZoneDirectiondialog
box.
ThePlanarZoneDirectiondialogboxletsyouspecifythedirectionvectorfortheplanar
zoneinoneoftwoways:
SelecttheAxisoption.ThenfromtheAxislist,selectanaxisfromthelist:X,Y,
orZ.
SelecttheVectoroption.ThenintheI,J,andKboxes,typethedirectionvector.
DatumDefinitionsThisbuttonprovidesyouwitheasyaccesstotheDatumDefinitions
dialogbox,allowingyoutodefinedatumsforyourcurrentFCFdimension.
FeatureControlFrameOptionsThisareacontainstheCompositecheckbox.Thischeck
boxcontrolswhetherornottheprimarydimensionrowandsecondarydimensionrowshould
usethesamesymbolinasinglemergedcellthatspansbothrows.Whenyouselectthis
checkbox,thesymboldisplayslikethis:
Ifyouclearthecheckbox,theprimaryandsecondaryrowsdisplaywithseparatesymbols,
evenifthesymbolrepresentsthesamething.

TheASMEY14.51994GeometricDimensioningandTolerancingdescribesthedifferences
ininterpretingtheseconditions.
TheFormOnlyorFormandLocationoptionsareavailablefromthisareaforprofile
dimensions:
FormOnlySelectthisoptionwhenyouonlywanttodetermineifaparticularprofile
matchesthesameformasitsnominal.Thisoptionignoreswhetherthelocationofthe
profileisoutsideofacceptabletolerances.ForaFormOnlydimension,payattention
tothemeasuredvaluesinthegenerateddimension.Also,definetheBestFitAlgorithm
intheProfileareaoftheAdvancedtab.Seethe"AdvancedTab"topic.
FormandLocationSelectthisoptionwhenyouwanttodetermineifaparticular
profilematchesthesameformandthesamelocationasitsnominal.Thisdiffersfrom
theFormOnlyoption,becausethelocationoftheprofilemustalsobewithin
acceptabletolerancesdefinedbythePlusandMinusTolerances.ForaFormand
Locationdimension,payattentiontoMax/Minvaluesinthegenerateddimension.
ActionsandProceduresThissectiondisplayshintsandinstructionstoassistyouin
buildingvalidFCFs.
PreviewThissectiondisplaysapreviewoftheFCFwiththecurrentsettings.Itwillnot
includeanyoftheemptyfieldsoremptydescriptionsthatappearintheFeatureControl
FrameEditorsection,forexamplefieldsthathavebrackets,suchas"
"<dat>".
NotesontheFeatureControlFrameEditor
IntheFeatureControlFrameEditorareabeawarethatsomeoftheiconfields,iftheyarenot
supportedwillnotappearforcertaindimensions.Forexample,ifyouhaveaCircularity
dimension,PCDMISdisplaysthetolerancefield,buthidesanydatumormodifierfields.
Formdimensions(Circularity,Cylindricity,Flatness)Thesedon'tsupportdatumsor
modifies,sothesefieldswillnotappear.Profileinsomecaseswillfallinthiscategorywhen
checkingfor"FormOnly".But"FormandLocation"forProfiledimensionsallowsthedisplay
ofmodifiers.
Orientationdimensions(Parallelism,Perpendicularity,Angularity,Runout,Concentricity,
Coaxiality)Theseallowdatumsandmodifiers.

Positiondimensions(TruePosition,ProfilewithFormandLocation)Theseallowdatums
andmodifiers.
Otherdimensions(DistanceandAngleBetween)Thesedon'tallowdatums.Symmetryisa
lotliketheformdimensions,anddoesn'tusedatums.
Also,onlythesedimensionscanhavemultiplelinesintheeditor:
TruePosition
Parallelism
Perpendicularity
GD&TDialogBoxAdvancedtab
GD&TdialogboxAdvancedtab
TheAdvancedtabprovidesyouwiththeabilitytosetoutputandanalysisoptionsforyour
FeatureControlFrame(FCF)dimensions.Fordocumentationonthistab,seethelistofdialog
boxitemsdiscussedbelow.Also,notethatmuchofthisfunctionalityalreadyexistsinthelegacy
dimensionsandisdiscussedindetailinthe"DimensioningFeatures"chapter.
OutputAreaTheReportandStatisticslistallowsthefeaturecontrolframeoutputtobe
printedtoeithertheinspectionreportortostatisticalfilesusedbystatisticssoftware(suchas
DataPage),tobothofthese,ortononeatall.
Statisticssendsoutputtostatisticalfiles
Reportsendsoutputtoinspectionreport

Bothsendsoutputtobothinspectionreportandstatisticalfiles
Nonedoesntsendoutputanywhere
WhenPCDMISexecutesaFCFcommand,theoutputwillgototheinspectionreport,the
statsfile,bothofthese,ornoneofthem,dependingonwhatyouselected.
Note:IfeithertheStatsoptionortheBothoptionisselected,aprecedingSTATS/ONcommand
mustexist insidetheEditwindowfortheFCFtobesenttothestatsfile.
TheUnitslistallowsyoutodeterminetheunitsofmeasurementyourFCFshoulduse.You
canchoosebetweentheseoptions:
Inch=Inches
MM=Millimeters
PCDMISusestheselectedunitofmeasurementfordimensioningaslongasthedialogbox
remainsopen.Bydefault,PCDMISusesthesameunitofmeasurementusedbythecurrent
partprogram.
AnalysisareaThisareasetsthedimensionaloutputanalysisformatfortheFCF.
ReportTextualAnalysis WhenyouselectOn(orBoth forTruePositionFCFs),

PCDMISwillprintoutthefollowinginthestandardinspectionreportandtheReport
windowforeachindividualhitusedintheFCF:
MeasuredX,Y,andZvalues
MeasuredI,J,andKvalues
Deviationofeachindividualhit
MAXorMINmarkerattheendofthelinewheneverthehitproduces
eitheramaximumorminimumdeviation.
ReportGraphicalAnalysisThis listdisplaystheoutputfortheFCFinyourreport.It
usesaformatsuitableforcloseexamination.WhenyouselectOn(orBoth),PCDMIS
willdisplay,inagraphicalformatthatusescoloredarrows,thedeviationofeach
individualhitfortheFCFusedonthepartinthereport.Thesearrows,withtheircolors
anddirections,indicatetherelativesizeoftheerror,aswellasitsdirection.
CADGraphicalAnalysisThislistworksthesameastheReportGraphical
Analysislist,exceptthatitdisplaysthegraphicalanalysisinsidetheGraphicsDisplay
window.
ArrowMultiplierTheMultiplierboxletyousetascalingfactorthatmagnifiesthe
deviationarrowsandtolerancezonefortheCADGraphicalAnalysis mode.Ifyou
typea2.0value,PCDMISwillscalethearrowstwotimesthecalculateddeviationfor
eachfeaturehit.TheMultiplierboxisusedforviewingpurposesonly,andisnot
reflectedinthetextprintout.
DimensionInfoareaThisarealetsyoucreateaDimensionInfotextboxfortheFCF.
WhenyouselecttheCreateDimensionInfowhenthisdialogclosescheckbox,PCDMIS
enablestheEditbutton.YoucanclicktheEditbuttontoopenupadialogboxthatletsyou

setdefaultoptionsfortheDimensionInfocommand(DIMINFO).SeeEditDefaultDimension
Infoformoreinformation.
WhenyoucreateyourFCF,thedialogboxclosesandPCDMIScreatesaDIMINFO
commandintheEditwindowaftertheFCF.ThisDIMINFOcommanddisplaysalldimension
informationintheGraphicsDisplaywindownexttothefeatureselectedfromtheFeaturelist
intheFeatureControlFrametab.Italsodisplaysthesameavailabledimensionaxesused
intheEditwindowforthatparticularFCF.
FormoreindepthinformationonDIMINFOboxesandonrulesgoverningtheircreation,see
InsertingDimensionInfoBoxesintheInsertingReportCommands chapter.
TruePositionareaThisareabecomeavailableonlywhencreatingaTruePositionFCF.
ForotherFCFtypesitremainsgrayedout.Itcontainstheseitems:
AlignmentSometimeswhenyouviewdimensioninformationrelativetothecurrent
alignment,thecalculationsofthedatumscansometimesbehardtodecipher.Thislist
letsyoudeterminehowthisinformationshouldgetdisplayed:relativetoaparticular
alignmentorrelativetothedatumreferenceframe.
FittoDatumsThischeckboxdetermineswhetherornottheFCFusesabestfit
calculationtofindtheoptimalpositionofthedatumreferenceframethatminimizesthe
error.
NominalsandAxesThisportionletsyoucustomizetheoutputbycontrollingwhich
axesPCDMISshoulddisplayinthereportandallowingyoutomanuallytypethe
nominalvalues.
FeatureListThelisttotheleftoftheNominalsandAxescolumnsdisplaysall
thefeaturesusedintheTruePositionFCF.SelectaFeatureSetorfeaturefrom
thislist.PCDMISthendisplaysthepossibleaxesforthatfeature.
ReportAxisThiscolumncontainscheckboxesforeachaxis.Aselected
checkboxsendsthataxistothereport.
AxisThiscolumnlistsavailableaxesfortheselectedfeature.
NominalThiscolumncontainsnominalvalues.Youcanoverwritethemby
clickingonthemandtypingdifferentvalues.
+Tol/TolTheplusandminustolerancecolumnsprovidefieldsintowhich
youcantypetolerancesforthevariousaxesusedinyourFCF.PCDMISonly

appliesthesetolerancevaluestoaxesthatrelatetosize,sincetheaxesthat
controlpositionusethemaintoleranceintheFCF.
UpdateFeatureNominalThiscolumnletsyouspecifywhetherornotany
changesyoumadetothenominalvaluesshouldgetappliednotonlytotheFCF
buttothefeatureaswell.
ProfileareaThisarealetsyoudefinetheBestFitAlgorithmtobeusedforProfile
dimensions.ThisisonlyenabledwhenyouarecreatingaProfileLineorSurfaceDimension
andyouhaveselecttheFormOnlyoptiononthe"FeatureControlFrametab"
UsingFlatnessPerUnitArea
TheXactMeasureGD&TFlatnessDimensiondialogboxcontainsaPerUnitcheckboxthat
letsyouspecifyaflatnessperunitarea:

XactMeasureGD&TFlatnessDimensiondialogbox
PerUnitcheckbox
WhenyouselectthePerUnitcheckbox,PCDMISchangestheFeatureControlFrameEditor
area,addinganadditionallinewhereyoucanenteratolerancevalueaswellastheunitarea
values:
FeatureControlFrameEditor
TheAdvancedtabcontainsaFormAnalysisareawithaPerUnitStepSizeboxwhereyoucan
specifyastepsizetotraversethesurface.Bydefault,PCDMISusesavalueof10:
PerUnitStepSizebox

OnceyouenterinthedesiredinformationandcreatetheFeatureControlFrame,PCDMISalso
appliestheflatnessperunitareaintheFeatureControlFrame:
ExampleofaFinishedFlatnessFCF
FeatureControlFrameCommandBlock
ThefollowingshowsthesyntaxofasampleFeatureControlFrame(FCF)commandblockusing
theEditwindow'scommandmode:
FCF6=TRUEPOSITIONOFCIR1,CIR2,CIR3,...
FEATCTRLFRAME/SHOWNOMS=YES,SHOWPARAMS=YES,SHOWEXPANDED=YES
CADGRAPH=BOTH REPORTGRAPH=OFF TEXT=BOTH MULT=10.00 OUTPUT=BOTH UNITS=IN
COMPOSITE=NO,FITTODATUMS=YES,OUTPUTALIGNMENT=DatumReferenceFrame
SIZETOLERANCES/4,DIAMETER,0.375,0.01,0.01
PRIMARYDIMENSION/TRUEPOSITION,DIAMETER,0.01,MMC,A,<MC>,B,MMC,C,<MC>
SECONDARYDIMENSION/TRUE
POSITION,DIAMETER,0.005,MMC,<PZ>,<len>,A,<MC>,B,MMC,<dat>,<MC>
NOTE/FCF6
FEATURES/CIR1,CIR2,CIR3,CIR4,,
FEATURESET
X:NOM=1
Y:NOM=6.0235
Z:NOM=0
<NEW>
CIR1
X:NOM=1
Y:NOM=5.07
Z:NOM=0
<NEW>
CIR2
X:NOM=2
Y:NOM=6.008
Z:NOM=0
<NEW>
CIR3
X:NOM=1
Y:NOM=7.008
Z:NOM=0
<NEW>
CIR4
X:NOM=0
Y:NOM=6.008

Z:NOM=0
<NEW>
DATUMS
D2:NOM=1,+TOL=0.01,TOL=0.01
FeatureControlFramename=FeatureControlFrame(FCF)type(Dimensiontype)OR
featurelist.
FeatureList=Listoffeatures.Iftherearemorethanthreefeatures,thenthelistprintsouta
setofellipsestoensurethatthelinewillfit.Forexample,FEAT1,FEAT2,FEAT3,andsoon.
Ifthereismorethanone,itistreatedasapatternset,andallfeaturesmustbethesame
featuretype.
SHOWNOMS=YES/NO. WhensettoYES,theFCFtypesthathavenominalswilldisplay
themTheseincludetrueposition,distances,anglebetween,andangularity.
SHOWPARAMS=YES/NO. WhensettoYES,thefollowingparameterswillbedisplayed
withthetext: CADGRAPH,REPORTGRAPH,TEXT,MULT,OUTPUT,UNITS,
COMPOSITE,FITTODATUMS,OUTPUTALIGNMENT.Whenoff,thesesameoptionswill
notbedisplayed.
SHOWEXPANDED=YES/NO. WhensettoYES,thefeaturecontrolframewilldisplayempty
fieldswithadescriptioninsidebrackets.Whenoff,theemptyfieldswilldisplayasblank.
<MC>Materialcondition
<D>Diameter
<Dim>Dimensionorfeaturecontrolframetype
<PZ>Projectedzone
<num>Numberoffeatures
<nom>Nominaloffeaturesize
<+tol>Plustolerance
<tol>Minustolerance
<tol>Tolerance
<dat>Datum
<sym>Dimensionsymbol
<addnoteshere>Notefield firstline
<addoptionaldesignnotes>Optionaldesignnotes lastline

CADGRAPH=OFF/ON/BOTH/FORMDisplaythegraphicalanalysisonthemodelinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.TruepositiondimensionsincludeBOTH/FORM,dependingon
whetherornottheyareusingtheintegratedformoption,butallotherdimensionsonlydisplay
OFF/ON.
REPORTGRAPH=OFF/ON/BOTH/FORMDisplaythegraphicalanalysisonreport.True
positiondimensionsincludeBOTH/FORM,dependingonwhetherornottheyareusingthe
integratedformoption,butallotherdimensionsonlydisplayOFF/ON.
TEXT=OFF/ON/BOTH/FORMDisplaythetextualanalysisonreport.Trueposition
dimensionsincludeBOTH/FORM,dependingonwhetherornottheyareusingtheintegrated
formoption,butallotherdimensionsonlydisplayOFF/ON.
MULT=Positivenumericvaluethatscalesthegraphicalanalysisinthemaincadgraphics.
OUTPUT=STATISTICS/REPORT/BOTH/NONEIncludethefeaturecontrolframe
calculationsinthexstats11.tmpfile,outputreport,both,orneither.
COMPOSITE=YES/NO. WhensettoYES,thefeaturecontrolframewilldisplaytheprimary
andsecondarydimensionlinesasacompositedimension.Thisisavailablefortrueposition
andprofiledimensions.
FITTODATUMS=YES/NO.ThisoptionisonlyavailablefortruepositionFCFs.Whensetto
YES,thecalculationswillallowabestfitcalculationonthedatumstofindanoptimalbestfit
thatminimizesthedatumshift.
OUTPUTALIGNMENT=DatumReferenceFrame/CurrentAlignment.Thisoptionisonly
availablefortruepositionFCFs.WhenDatumReferenceFrameisselected,theX,Y,Z
positionswillbedisplayedrelativetothedatumreferenceframe.WhenCurrentAlignmentis
selected,theX,Y,Zpositionswillbedisplayedrelativetothecurrentalignment.
UNITS=IN/MM.TheunitsthattheFCFwillusetodisplayitsinformation.
SIZETOLERANCES=Representsthetoplineofthefeaturecontrolframe.ForsomeFCF
typesthislineisnotshown.Thislinedisplaysthenumberoffeaturesselected,whetherornot
thediametersymbolisused,nominalsizeofthefeature(s),andsizetolerancesthatwillbe
appliedtothenominalvalue.
PRIMARYDIMENSIONorDIMENSION=RepresentsthesecondpossiblelineoftheFCF,
whichcontainstheprimarytypeofFCF.Notethatsomeofthefieldsareonlyvalidforsome
FCFtypes.ThislinedisplaystheFCFtype,whetherornotthediametersymbolisused,main
tolerancevalue,materialconditionappliedtothemaintolerance,projectedtolerancezone
symbol,projectedtolerancezonevalue,primarydatum,primarydatummaterialcondition,
secondarydatum,secondarydatummaterialcondition,tertiarydatum,andtertiarydatum
materialcondition.IfasecondarydimensionisnotpossiblefortheparticularFCFtype,then
thislinejustusesthetitleDIMENSION.
SECONDARYDIMENSION=RepresentsthethirdpossiblelineoftheFCF,whichcontains
theprimarytypeofFCF.ManyFCFtypesdisplaynothingforthesecondarydimension.In
addition,someofthefieldsareonlyvalidforsomeFCFtypes.Thislinedisplaysthefeature
type,whetherornotthediametersymbolisused,maintolerancevalue,materialcondition
appliedtothemaintolerance,projectedtolerancezonesymbol,projectedtolerancezone
value,primarydatum,primarydatummaterialcondition,secondarydatum,secondarydatum

materialcondition,tertiarydatum,andtertiarydatummaterialcondition.Ifasecondary
dimensionisvalid,thesecondarydimensionmustfollowtherulesofpracticebytheASME
Y14.51994DimensioningandTolerancingstandard.
NOTE=RepresentsthefinallineoftheFCF.Itdisplaystextnotes.Foreaseofidentifying
FCFsinthemaingraphics,thisfielddefaultstodisplaytheFCF'sID.
NOMINALLINES: ThesefieldsdisplaythenominalsofthedimensionsinternaltotheFCF.
First,itdisplaysthenominalpositionoftheresultingpatternfeatureset,ifmorethanone
featurewasselected.Second,itdisplaysthenominalpositionsoftheindividualfeatures.
Finally,itdisplaysthenominalsizeandtolerancesofthedatumsthathavesize.Ineachof
thesegroupsitwilllistthenominalsthathavebeenselectedfordisplayontheAdvancedtab
oftheGD&TdialogboxfortheFCF,soeachaxistobedisplayedcanbeturnedonoroff.To
turnonthedisplayofothernominalsintheeditwindow,togglethe<NEW> linetoseeaxes
thatareavailablebutnotcurrentlydisplayed.
FEATURESET
X:NOM=1
Y:NOM=6.0235
Z:NOM=0
<NEW>
CIR1
X:NOM=1
Y:NOM=5.07
Z:NOM=0
<NEW>
CIR2
X:NOM=2
Y:NOM=6.008
Z:NOM=0
<NEW>
CIR3
X:NOM=1
Y:NOM=7.008
Z:NOM=0
<NEW>
CIR4
X:NOM=0
Y:NOM=6.008
Z:NOM=0
<NEW>
DATUMS
D2:NOM=1,+TOL=0.01,TOL=0.01
FeatureControlFrameTrihedron
IfyouselectaFCFcommandintheEditwindow,andthatcommandusesadatumreference
frame,PCDMISdisplaysablueandyellowtrihedrontorepresentthereferenceframeforyour

FCF.Thisdiffersfromtheredandgreentrihedronusedtorepresentyourpart'scurrent
alignment.
Thefollowingscreenshotshowsthealignment'strihedroninredandgreenandtheFCF's
trihedroninblueandyellow:
ScreenShotofFCFTrihedron(above)andAlignmentTrihedron(below)
SimultaneouslyEvaluatingFeatureControlFrames
TheInsert|Dimension|SimultaneousEvaluation menuitemletsyoucreateaSimultaneous
Evaluationcommandinsideyourpartprogram.Thiscommandevaluatestwoormoretrue
positionFeatureControlFrames(FCFs)ortwoormoreprofile(lineorsurface)FCFs
simultaneously.
Example:Ifyouhavetwosetsofholesonapart,andtheholesofonesetareadifferentsize
thantheholesoftheotherset,butyouwanttoevaluatethetruepositionofalltheholesasifthey
werealloneset,youcanusetheSimultaneousEvaluationcommand.First,createtwo
separatetruepositionFCFs,oneforeachsetofholes.ThencreateaSimultaneousEvaluation
commandtoevaluatebothFCFstogether.
TheSimultaneousEvaluation menuitemdisplaystheSimultaneousEvaluationdialogbox.

SimultaneousEvaluationdialogbox
TherighthandlistshowsalltheFeatureControlFrame(FCF)commandsavailableforthe
SimultaneousEvaluationcommand.ItonlylistsFCFsfortruepositionorprofiledimensions.
SelectitemsintherighthandlistthatyouwanttoincludeintheSimultaneousEvaluation
command.Asyouselectitems,theAddbuttonbecomesactive.Youcanselectmultipleitemsby
holdingdowntheCTRLkeywhileselectingtheitems.ClicktheClearbuttontodeselectany
highlighteditems.
ClicktheAddbuttontoaddtheselecteditemstothelefthandlistintheFeatureControl
Framesarea.ThissecondlistdefinestheFCFsthatwillbeevaluatedbytheSimultaneous
Evaluationcommand.
Whenyouhaveaddeditemstothelefthandlist,youcanremovethemfromthislistbyselecting
theitemsinthelefthandlistandpressingDelete.Thisremovesitemsfromthelefthandlistand
redisplaysthemintherighthandlist.WhenyouhaveaddedatleasttwoFCFstothelefthand
list,theCreatebuttonbecomesactive.ClickCreatetocreatetheSimultaneousEvaluation
commandandinsertitintotheEditwindow.IntheCommandmode,itlookssomethinglikethis:
SIMUL1 =SIMULTANEOUS/FCF2,FCF3,FCF4,,
RulesofSimultaneousEvaluation:
TheFCFsyouevaluatemustallbethesamedimensiontype.Theymustallbetrue
positiondimensionsorallsurfaceprofiledimensionsoralllineprofiledimensions.
Simultaneousevaluationdoesnotworkwithorientationdimensions.IfyouaddFCFsof
differingtypesofdimensionstothelefthandlist,whenyouclickCreate,PCDMISwill
displayanerrormessageinformingyouthatyourFCFsshouldallbethesametype.
AlltheFCFsyouevaluatemusthavedimensionsthatreferencethesamedatumsinthe
sameorderofprecedence.IfyouaddtwotruepositionFCFstothelefthandlistthatuse
differentdatums,whenyouclickCreatePCDMISwilldisplayanerrormessage
informingyouthatyourFCFsmustreferencethesamedatumsandusethesame
precedence.
Allthedatumsusedmusthavethesamematerialconditions.Ifthedatumsarethesame,
buttherearedifferentmaterialconditionsonthedatums,whenyouclickCreate,PC
DMISwilldisplayanerrormessageinformingyouthatyoushouldusethesamematerial
conditions.

ReportingTruePositionFeatureControlFrames
ThemajorchangesinthereportingformatforTruePositionarethatPCDMIS4.0andlaternow
reportsthefollowingintheReportwindow:
Thedeviationofeachfeatureinasetandnotjustthedeviationoftheentireset.
Thiswillhelpyoubetterdeterminewhichfeatureisoutoftoleranceinapatternof
features.
Theshiftedpositionofthedatumasaresultofthedatumfitting(withdatumsof
size).
ThetotaldatumshiftinX,Y,ZandrotationinU,V,Wdonebythefitting
algorithm.
WhenreportingaTruePositionFeatureControlFrame(FCF)thereisalotofinformation
available.Toavoidconfusion,andtoseehowtheFCFaffectsthecalculations,PCDMIShas
splitthisinformationintofourparts.
1. Sizeinformation.Thisgetsevaluatedseparatelyfromthepositionofthefeature.
2. Bonustoleranceinformationofthemainfeatureorset
3. Datuminformationincludingthedatumshiftanddatumrotation
4. Featureorsetpositioninformation.
Theadditionalinformationismuchmoreusefulthaninversionspriorto4.0.Forexample,the
datumshiftinformationwasnotoutputpreviously,butitcanbeabigfactorforanoutoftolerance
TruePositiondimension.Now,youcantellwhetherthefeatureordatumisinthewrongplace.
Workingwiththe"DeviationPerpendiculartoCenterline"Functionality
Bydefault,theFCFTruePositiondialogboxhastheDeviationPerpendiculartoCenterline
functionalityenabledinthebackground,asthisisconsistentwiththeASMEY14.5standard.
WhileaDeviationPerpendiculartoCenterlinecheckboxwasnotaddedtotheFCFTrue
Positiondialogbox(asitisthelegacydimension's TruePositiondialogbox),youcanstillturn
offthisoptionbyhavingyourFCFTruePositionspecifyasphericalzone(ratherthanacylindrical
orplanarzone).InthiscasethedeviationiscalculatedfromtheX,Y,Zaxes.
Note:TheonlytimeyoucanselectasphericalzoneiswhenapplyingFCFTruePositiontoa
PointoraSphere.
CreatingaSymmetryFeatureControlFrameDimension
TheSymmetryFeatureControlFrame(FCF)dimensionhasbeenmodifiedtoallowanincreased
varietyofinputfeaturesanddatumsthanyoumayfindavailableusinglegacysymmetry
dimensions.Thesechangesinturngiveyoutheabilitytomoreeasilycreatesymmetry
dimensionsthatapplytoabroaderrangeofdimensioningproblems.TheGD&TSymmetrydialog
boxhasnotbeenmodifiedinanyway.Thechangesweremadeonlytotheinternalverificationof
consideredfeaturesanddatumsandtheinternaltoleranceanalysis.

YouneedtousedatumstoconstructadatumreferenceframealignmentwhichPCDMISwill
thenusetoevaluatethesymmetrypoints.Youcanspecifyasingleprimarydatumoraprimary
andsecondarydatumtoimposeaperpendicularityconstraint.
Ifyouspecifyasingleprimarydatum,itbecomesthelocatingdatumanddefinesthe
nominal(0deviation)positionofthesymmetrydimension.
Ifyouspecifytwodatums,itimposesaperpendicularityconstraintonthesecondary
datum.Inthiscase,thesecondarydatumbecomesthelocatingdatumanddefinesthe
nominal(0deviation)positionofthesymmetrydimension.Thedatumreferenceframe
alignmentsolvesthesecondarydatuminaconstrainedorientationtotheprimary(asis
donewithTruePositionevaluations).Ifthelocatingdatumisaplane,itmaybespecified
asacompounddatumreferencingtwoplanardatums,forexample,AB.Inthiscase,the
midplaneofAandBisusedastheplanedatum.DatumsarealwaysspecifiedatRFS.
SeetheDescriptioncolumninthetablebelowforspecificdatuminformationforthedifferent
symmetryinputfeatures.
FeatureTypesforSymmetryFCFDimensions
PCDMISnowconsidersanyofthefollowingfeaturetypesasvalidinputfeaturesforaSymmetry
FCFdimension:
ValidInputFeatures Description
Theseplanesmustbenominallyparallelandwillcreateamid
planefromwhichPCDMISwilldeterminethesymmetry
dimensionofthetwoplanes.
Thetwoplanesmustbenominallyparallel.TheFCFwill
usetheminternallytoconstructamidplane.Thismid
planemustnominallyliewithinthetolerancezoneabout
thelocatingdatum.
PCDMISchecksthecornerpointsofthemidplaneto
verifythattheyliewithintheaplanartolerancezoneof
twotimesthemaximumdeviationofthecornerpoints
fromthelocatingdatum.
Thesecornerpointsarecalculatedbyprojectingthe
1.)TwoPlanes actualprobehitsofeachofthetwoplanesontothemid
plane.
Themaximumdistanceoftheprojectedpoints
fromthecentroidofthemidplaneintheX
direction(ofthedatumreferenceframe)
determinesthelengthofthemidplane.
Themaximumdistanceoftheprojectedpoints
fromthecentroidofthemidplaneintheY
direction(ofthedatumreferenceframe)
determinesthewidthofthemidplane.
Thelengthandwidthcalculatethecornerpoints
relativetothecentroidofthemidplane.Ifthereareno
actualprobehitstoproject(forexample,thetwoplanes
arethemselvesconstructedplanes),thenonlythe

centroidofthemidplaneischeckedtoliewithinthe
tolerancezone.
DatumInformation
OneDatumThisisaplanenominallycoplanarwiththe
constructedmidplane.Thevectorofthedatumplane
definesthedirectionofmeasurement.
TwoDatumsFirstdatum:Thisisaplanenominally
coplanarwiththeconstructedmidplane.Seconddatum:
Thisiseitheraplanenominallycoplanarwiththe
constructedmidplaneoranaxistypefeaturewhoseaxis
nominallyliesintheconstructedmidplane.Ifaplane,
thevectorofthesecondarydatumplanedeterminesthe
directionofmeasurement.Ifanaxistypefeature,
"doublecrossing"thevectoroftheaxisdatumwiththe
midplanevectordeterminesthedirectionof
measurement.
2.)AConstructedMid Sinceyouhavealreadyconstructedamidplanesothe
Plane processinganddatuminformationisthesameascase1above.
Theselinesmustbenominallyparallelandwillcreateamidline
fromwhichPCDMISwilldeterminethesymmetrydimensionof
thetwolines.
Thetwolinesmustbenominallyparallel.TheFCFwill
usetheminternallytoconstructamidline.Thismidline
mustnominallyliewithinthetolerancezoneaboutthe
locatingdatum.
PCDMIScheckstheendpointsofthemidlinetoverify
thattheyliewithintheplanartolerancezoneoftwotimes
themaximumdeviationoftheendpointsfromthe
locatingdatum.
Theseendpointsarecalculatedbyprojectingtheactual
probehitsofthetwolinesontothemidline.The
3.)TwoLines projectedpointsfarthestawayfromthecentroidofthe
midlinedeterminetheendpoints. Iftherearenoactual
probehitstoproject(forexample,thetwolinesare
themselvesconstructedlines),thenonlythecentroidof
themidlineischeckedtoliewithinthetolerancezone.
DatumInformation
OneDatumThisdatumiseitheraplane,nominally
perpendiculartotheplaneofthetwolines,thatcontains
themidline,oranaxistypefeaturewhoseaxis
nominallyliesintheplanethatisperpendiculartothe
planeofthetwolinesandcontainsthemidline.Ifa
plane,thevectorofthedatumplanedeterminesthe
directionofmeasurement.Ifanaxistypefeature,the
directionofmeasurementisperpendiculartotheaxis
datuminthecurrentworkplane.

TwoDatumsFirstDatum:Aplanenominally
perpendiculartothemidline.SecondDatum:Thisis
eitheraplanefeatureoranaxisfeaturewhichsatisfies
thesamerequirementsasasingleprimarydatum.Ifa
plane,thevectoroftheplanedeterminesthedirectionof
measurement.Ifanaxistypefeature,thedirectionof
measurementisperpendiculartotheaxisdatuminthe
currentworkplane.
Withanalreadyconstructedmidline,theinternalprocessing
followswhatisdescribedincase3above.
DatumInformation
OneDatumThisdatumiseitheradatumplanewhich
4.)AConstructedMid nominallycontainsthemidlineoranaxistypefeature
Line whoseaxisnominallyisparalleltothemidline.
TwoDatumsPrimaryDatum:Thisisaplanenominally
perpendiculartothemidline.SecondaryDatum:Thisis
eitheraplaneoranaxisfeaturewhichsatisfiesthesame
requirementsasasingleprimarydatum.Thedirectionof
measurementisdeterminedthesamewayasforcase2
above.
TheFCFwillusethesetwopointsinternallytoconstructamid
pointthatnominallylieswithintheplanartolerancezoneabout
thelocatingdatum.Thereportedtolerancevalueistwotimes
themaximumdeviationofthemidpointfromthelocating
datum.
DatumInformation
5.)TwoPoints OneDatum:Youcanselecteitheraplaneoranaxis
typefeatureforyourdatum.Ifaplane,itshouldbe
nominallyperpendiculartothelineconnectingthetwo
pointsandcontainingthemidpoint.Thevectorofthe
datumplanedeterminesthedirectionofmeasurement.If
anaxisfeature,itshouldlineintheplaneperpendicular
tothelineconnectingthetwopointsandthemidpoint.
Thedirectionofmeasurementisperpendiculartothe
axisdatuminthecurrentworkplane.
Inthiscase,theuserhasalreadyconstructedamidpointand
theprocessingshallbethesameasforcase5above.
6.)AConstructedMid DatumInformation
Point OneDatum:Youcanspecifyeitheraplanethat
nominallycontainsthemidpointoranaxistypefeature.
PCDMISdeterminesthedirectionofmeasurementin
thewayascase4above.
PCDMISassumesthatthepointsmakingupthesetalternate
onoppositesidesofthelocatingdatum,suchthatthefirstpoint
andsecondpointhavetheirmidpointinsidetheplanar
7.)APointSet tolerancezone.Thisisthesameanalysisasforthelegacy
symmetrydimensionusingapointset.

DatumInformation
OneDatum:Youcanspecifyaplaneoranaxistype
feature.Theanalysisinthiscaseisthesameasforthe
legacysymmetrydimension.
PCDMISassumesthatbothpointsetsarethesamesize,that
thepointsineachsetresideonoppositesidesofthelocating
datum,andthatthepointswithineachsetareoppositeone
another.
PCDMISwillcomputemidpointsfromthepointsinside
thetwosetsinthisfashion:midpointniscalculatedfrom
pointnofthefirstsetandpointnofthesecondsetand
8.)TwoPointSets soonforeachpoint.Theresultingmidpointsshouldbe
insidetheplanartolerancezoneaboutthelocating
datum.Thisisthesameanalysisascase7aboveexcept
thatthepointsaretakenfromtwosets.
DatumInformation
OneDatum:Youcanspecifyaplaneoranaxistype
featurefortheprimarydatum.Theanalysisinthisisthe
sameasdescribedincase7above.
PCDMISwillcalculatea"circleset"(orsets)fromtheinput
featureandthenevaluatesforsymmetrythecentroidsofthe
sets.
Probepointswithin1mmofaplanethatisperpendicular
tothefeatureaxis,belongtothesamecircleset.PC
DMISsolvesthepointsasa2Dcircleinaplane
perpendiculartothefeatureaxis.Thecentroidsofallthe
circlesetsareevaluatedforsymmetrytoseeiftheyall
liewithinthetolerancezoneaboutthedatum.The
tolerancezonemaybecylindricalorplanardepending
onthedatumsused.Thereportedtolerancevalueistwo
timesthemaximumdeviationofthecentroidsofthe
circlesetsfromthelocatingdatum.
9.)AMeasuredorAuto DatumInformation
Circle,Cone,orCylinder OneDatumYoucanselectaplanethatnominally
containstheconsideredfeature'saxisoranaxistype
featurenominallycoincidentwiththeaxisofthe
consideredfeature.Ifaplane,thetolerancezoneis
planarandthevectoroftheplanedeterminesthe
directionofmeasurement.Ifanaxistypefeature,the
tolerancezoneiscylindrical.
TwoDatumsPrimaryDatum:Thisisaplanethat
nominallyperpendiculartotheconsideredfeature.
SecondaryDatum:Youcanselecteitheraplane
nominallycontainingtheconsideredfeaturesaxisoran
axistypefeaturenominallycoincidentwiththeaxisofthe
consideredfeature.Ifyouchooseaplane,thetolerance
zoneisplanarandthevectorofthedatumplane
determinesthedirectionofmeasurement.Ifyouchoose

anaxistypefeature,thetolerancezoneiscylindrical.
PCDMISwillcheckaconstructedconeorcylinderfeature's
endpointsoraconstructedcircle'scentroidforsymmetry.
Theendpointsmustallliewithinthetolerancezone
aboutthelocatingdatum.Thetolerancezonemaybe
10.)AConstructedCircle, cylindricalorplanardependingonthedatumsused.The
Cone,orCylinder reportedtolerancevalueshallbetwotimesthemaximum
deviationoftheendpointsfromthelocatingdatum.
DatumInformation
Thisisthesameascase9above.
FeatureControlFrameReportingTables
PCDMISprovidesyouwithavarietyofreportingtablesthatcanbeoutputwhenyougenerate
reportsforyourpartprogram.Thesereporttableslookdifferentfromhowlegacydimensions
appearinyourreport.Legacydimensionsallappearinonetable.FCFReportingtables,by
contrast,aredividedaccordingtodifferentsectionsoftheFCF,allowingforacleanerlooking
report.Forexample,youmighthaveonetablethatshowsthesizeportionoftheFCF,while
anothertableshowstheforminformation.
Asavisualexample,considerthislegacyTruePositiondimensionintheReportwindow:
SampleReportofaLegacyTruePositionDimensionasaSingleTable
Now,contrastthatwiththeFCFTruePositiondimensionintheReportwindowshownhere:

SampleReportofaTruePositionFCFDimensionShowingMultipleTables
NoticethattheFCFTruePositionisactuallycontainedindistincttablesdisplayingthefollowing
information:
Size
Position
DatumShift
Summary
AlloftheotherFCFdimensionsalsouseasimilarreportingstyle.Whilethesereportingtables
differfromthestyleusedforlegacydimensions,theyprovideacleaner,easiertoreadapproach
toreportingdimensioninginformation.

ScanningYourPart
ScanningyourPart:Introduction
PCDMISallowsapointmeasurementtobedefinedbyscanningthesurfaceofthepartat
specifiedincrements.Thisprovidesyouwithawaytoscananddigitizeyourpart'ssurfaces.
PCDMISsupportsscanninginthesesupportedproducts:
PCDMISCMMUsingatouchtriggeroranalogprobeonaCMM
PCDMISLaserUsingalaserprobe
PCDMISPortableUsinghardprobeonaportablearm
Forinformationontheaboveapproachestoscanning,consulttheappropriatedocumentation.
Thedocumentationforeachproductwilldiscusstheavailablescansandprocedurestofollow
withinthoseenvironmentstocreatethosescans.
Contact(PCDMISCMM) Laser(PCDMISLaser) Portable(PCDMIS

Portable)
AdvancedScans
LinearOpenAdvancedScan LinearOpenAdvancedScan
LinearClosedAdvanced
Scan
PatchAdvancedScan PatchAdvancedScan
PerimeterAdvancedScan PerimeterAdvancedScan
SectionAdvancedScan
RotaryAdvancedScan
FreeformAdvancedScan FreeformAdvancedScan
UVAdvancedScan
PerimeterAdvancedScan
GridAdvancedScan
BasicScans
CircleBasicScan
CylinderBasicScan
AxisBasicScan
CenterBasicScan
LineBasicScan
ManualScans
FixedDistanceManualScan ManualLaserScan FixedDistanceManual
Scan
FixedTime/DistanceManual FixedTime/Distance
Scan ManualScan
FixedTimeManualScan FixedTimeManualScan
BodyAxisManualScan BodyAxisManualScan
MultisectionManualScan MultisectionManualScan
FreeformManualScan FreeformManualScan
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual ScanningYourPart 923

Themaintopicsinthischapterdiscussinformationcommontoscanninginanyofthesupported
applicationsaswellascommonfunctionsofthescanningdialogboxes.Theydonot,however,
coverthespecificsonhowtocreateascan,sincethemethodsfordoingsodependonyour
specificapplication.
Themaintopicsdiscussedhereinclude:
ComponentsofaScan
WorkingwithCADSurfaces
LocatingPointsinaScan
CommonFunctionsoftheScanDialogbox
CommonFunctionsoftheBasicScanDialogBox
AdditionalManualScanOptions
ComponentsofaScan
AdvancedScansinPCDMISarecomposedofBasicScans.Forexample,aPATCHscanis
actuallymadeupofrowsofdata,eachrowbeingaBasicScan.TheBasicScansactasbuilding
blocksforthehigherlevelscanslikePATCHscans.AdvancedScansandBasicscansare
discussedinthePCDMISCMMdocumentation.
WorkingwithCADSurfaces
WhencreatingscansyouoftenneedtoselectoneormoresurfacesthatyouwantPCDMISto
scan.Selectedsurfacesareshowninaredhighlightcolor:
ASelectedSurface
Sometimesyouwillmakeamistakeandwillneedtodeselectsurfacesaswell.Ratherthan
redefiningtheentirescanbecauseyouselectedanincorrectsurface,youcannowdeselectthe
desiredCADelementsintheGraphicsDisplaywindowforanyscanthatrequiresyoutoselect
surfaces.Previously,youcouldonlydothiswithSectionscans.
Todeselect(orselect)adesiredsurface:
924 ScanningYourPart PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

1. EnsurethatyourpartisdisplayingsurfacedatabyselectingtheToggle
GraphicsWindowinSolidiconfromtheGraphicViewtoolbar.
2. Accesstheappropriatescandialogboxandstartdefiningthescan.
3. Asneeded,presstheCTRLkey,andclicktheleftmousebuttononthe
desiredsurfaceintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.PCDMISwilltoggletheselectionstate
ofthesurface.
LocatingPointsinaScan
Whenworkingwithscans,youmayfindithelpfultobeabletolocateindividualpointsofascanin
theEditwindow.
Followthisprocedure:
Note:Ifneeded,settheDrawScansAsPoints registryentry(foundintheOption list)toavalueof1

tobetteridentifyindividualpoints.
ExampleofaPatchScanwithDrawingScansAsPointssetto1
1. Createascan.
2. EnterSummaryModeintheEditwindow.
3. SelecttheTextBoxModeiconfromtheGraphicsModetoolbar.
4. RightclickonascanpointintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Ashortcutmenuappears.
5. SelecttheMoveCursorTomenuitem.
PCDMISwillmovethecursortotheappropriatepointintheEditwindow.Ifyoudecidetodothis
whileinCommandmode,itwillalsogototheappropriatepointaslongastheSHOWHITS
parameterissettoYES.
CommonFunctionsoftheScanDialogBox
Manyofthefunctionsdescribedbelowarecommontomanyofthescandialogboxesusedinthe
supportedapplications.Optionsthatrelatespecificallytoonescanmodeareappropriately
indicated.

ASampleScandialogbox
ScanType
TheScanTypelistletsyoueasilyswitchbetweenavailablescans.Selectinganewscanwill
changethedialogboxtotheselectedscantype.
Basic/Advancedbuttons
The<<BasicandAdvanced>>buttonsswitchbetweendisplayingbasicscanningoptionsonthe
scandialogboxormoreindepth,advancedoptions.ClickingAdvanced>>expandsthedialog
boxtoincludetheExecution,Graphics,andPathDefinitiontabsonthelowersectionofthe
dialogbox.Eachofthesetabscontainsadditionaloptionsyoucanusetodefineyourscan.

Clicking<<Basichidesthemoreadvanceditems,displayingthebasicinformationyouneedto
createthescan.
Basicitemsarevisible
Advanceditemsarevisible
ID
TheIDboxdisplaystheIDofthescantobecreated.
Measure
IftheMeasurecheckboxisselectedandtheCreatebuttonclicked,PCDMISwillstart
measuringthescanimmediately.IftheMeasurecheckboxisnotselectedwhentheCreate
buttonisclicked,PCDMISwillinsertascanobjectintotheEditwindowthatcanbemeasured
later.ThisallowsyoutosetupaseriesofscansthatcanbeinsertedintotheEditwindowand
measuredatalatertime.
Note:ThischeckboxisavailableonlywhenPCDMISisONLINE.
BoundaryPointsarea
Todefinetheboundaryofascan,PCDMISwillallowpointstobekeyedin,measured,orCAD
datatobeused.

AsampleBoundaryPointsarea
ThisfunctionisonlyavailableforDCCscans.
LINEAROPENThesescanscanalsobemeasuredwithoutanEndpoint.DeletetheEndpoint
andPCDMISwillkeepmeasuringthescanuntilyoumanuallystopthescan.Thestartingpoint
andthedirectionpointcannotbedeleted.
LINEARCLOSEThesescansneedtohavethestartanddirectionpoints.Youcannotdeleteor
addboundarypoints.
PATCHThesescansneedtohaveatleastthreeboundarypointstocreateatriangularpatchto
workwith.ExtrapointscanbeaddedordeletedbyusingtheAddandDeletebuttonsinthe
BoundaryPointarea.ItaddsaClosedScancheckboxtothisarea.
UsetheClosedPatchScancheckboxtoindicatethatyouwouldlike
toscanaclosedfeaturelikeacylinder,cone,slotetc.WhenthisischeckmarkedPC
DMISreducesthenumberofboundarypointsneededtodefinethescanboundary.You
wouldneedtoenteronlytheStartandDirectionpointsandanEndpoint.TheEndpointis
usedtoindicatehowfardown/upthefeaturethescanneedstoexecute.TheStartand
DirectionpointstogetherwiththeInitialVectordefinetheCutPlanevector.UsuallytheCut
Planevectorwillbeparalleltotheaxisofthefeaturebeingmeasured.
SECTIONSectionscansusethisareanotonlytosettheboundarypointsfortheSECTION
scan,butalsotofindholesdefinedintheCADdata,andtogglebetweendisplayingdataforholes
orforboundarypoints.SectionscansaddtheCutCad andShowCutbuttonstothisareaforthis
purpose:
AfteryoudefineaboundaryandclicktheCutCADbutton,PCDMISwill
automaticallysearchthroughtheCADdataforanyholefeaturesalongthescan'spath.
Anyholeedgesalongthescanspathwillbeindicatedwithaintegerforthepointfollowed
byaH(i.e.2H,3Hetc.).Theholeedgepointswillbesetatadefaultdistanceof0.0787
inchesfromthetheoreticalholeedge.
YoucancutCADwithspecific,userselectedsurfaces.Todothis,selecttheboundary
points,selecttheSelectcheckbox,selectthedesiredsurfaces,andthenclicktheCut
CADbutton.PCDMISwillthencutonlytheselectedsurfacestofindthehole(s).
Youdon'tneedtoclicktheCutCADbuttonifyourCADdoesnotcontainholefeatures.If
youdon'tusethisbutton,PCDMISwillscanthepartusingthegivenStartandEnd
Boundarypoints.
Whencuttingsurfaces,PCDMISusesonlythesurfacesthataredisplayedinthefirstView
(theBlueView). See"SettinguptheScreenView"inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"

chapter.WhenyouhaveacomplexCADdrawingwithmultiplesurfacesyoucanarrange
groupsofsurfacesintoCADlevels.(See"Displaying,Creating,andManipulatingLevels"
topicinthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter).DoingthishelpsyourestrictSectionCAD
CutoperationstospecificportionsoftheCADmodel.
TheShowCutbuttonallowsyoutoswitchbetweendisplayingboundaryorhole
data.AfteraboundaryisdefinedandtheCutCADbuttonhasbeenselected,clickthe
ShowCutbuttontoswitchtotheappropriatedisplay.
PERIMETERThesescansworksthesameastheLINEAROPENscan.
ROTARYThesescansrequireyoutohaveatleastastartpointandadirectionpoint(shownas
1andDrespectivelyintheBoundaryPointslistandontheCADdisplay).
Ifyoudon'thaveanendpoint(shownas2),PCDMISwillcontinuemeasuring
thescanalongthespecifieddirectionuntilitreturnstothestartpoint.
Ifyouhaveastartpointandanendpoint,PCDMISwillscanalongthespecified
directionuntilitreachestheendpoint.
PCDMISdefaultstoprovidingyouwithastart,direction,andendpointintheBoundary
Pointsarea.Whileyoucaneasilydeletetheendpoint,youcannotdeletethestartor
directionpoint.
Asyoudefineeachboundarypoint(byeitherclickingontheCADortypinginthevalues),
PCDMISwillautomaticallysnapeachpointtotheradiusdistancefromthecenterpoint
unlessyoudidn'tdefinearadius.Inthiscase,thefirstboundarypointyoudefinewillalso
definetheradius.
Note:TheBoundaryTypeareaontheExecutiontabreplacestheBoundarybuttonusedinthe
BoundaryPointsareapriortoversion4.0.TheBoundaryTypeareaisonlyavailableinDCC
modeforLinearOpen,LinearClose,Patch,Section,andRotaryscans.
SettingBoundaryPointsUsingtheKeyinMethod
Tosettheboundaryofascanusingthekeyinmethod:
1. Doubleclickthedesiredboundarypointinthe#column.Thiswilldisplaythe
EditScanItemdialogbox.
EditScanItemdialogbox
2. ManuallyedittheX,Y,orZvalue.
3. ClicktheOKbuttontoapplythechanges.

TheCancelbuttondisregardsanychangesthathavebeenmadeandwillclosethedialogbox.
TheNextbuttonacceptsthechangesandthenbringsupthenextboundarypointforediting.
SettingBoundaryPointsUsingtheMeasuredPointMethod
Tosettheboundaryofthescanusingmeasuredpoints,touchtheprobeonthepart.Thiswill
automaticallyupdatethevalueoftheBoundarypointthatiscurrentlyselectedintheBoundary
list.The focuswillthenmovetothenextboundarypoint(ifthereareanyinthelist).Inthecaseof
aPATCHscan,anextraboundarypointwillbeaddedautomaticallyifthecurrentpointisthelast
pointinthelist.ThePATCHscanwilldisplaythelastpoint(thisisthesameastheprevious
point).PCDMISwilldeletethislastpointwhentheOKbuttonisselectedinthedialogbox.
SettingBoundaryPointsUsingtheCADDataMethod
PCDMISallowstheselectionofboundarypoints usingbothwireframeandsurfacedata.
WhenusingCADsurfacedata:
1. MakesurethatyouhaveimportedsolidCADdata.
2. MakesurethattheDrawSurfacesicon isselected.
3. SelectaboundarypointbyclickingonthedesiredlocationintheGraphics
Displaywindow.
Theselectedsurfacewillbehighlighted.PCDMISwillthenautomaticallyupdatethevalueofthe
Boundarypointthatiscurrentlyselectedintheboundarylist.Thefocuswillthenmovetothenext
boundarypoint(ifanyareavailable).InthecaseofaPATCHscan,anextraboundarypointwill
beaddedautomaticallyifthecurrentpointisthelastpointinthelist.
WhenusingCADwireframedata,therearetwomodesofselectingCurveelements:
WireFrameDataMode1
DepthCurve
ADepthCurveisusedbyPCDMISduringFindNomsoperationstoformaplaneusingtwo
curves.Ideally,theDepthCurveisnormaltotheotherCurvesselectedsothatPCDMIScan
crossthetwovectors(vectoroftheDepthCurveandvectorofanyotherselectedcurve)andform
aplanefromwhichitcanfindthenominals.
ToindicateaDepthcurve,checktheDepthcheckboxandthenselectacurve.OnlyoneDepth
curveistobeselectedandthisshouldbedoneafterothercurveshavebeenselected.
1. MakesurethattheCurvemodeicon isselected.
2. SelecttheSelectcheckbox.
3. SelecttheDepthcheckbox.
4. Selectacurve.
5. IndicatethetwoCADedgesthatarenormaltoeachother.

6. Clearthecheckbox.
7. Clickonthepart.
IfaDepthcurveisprovided,PCDMISwillformaplanebycrossingthevectorofeachedgewith
thevectorofthedepthcurveandpiercingthatplanetocreateapoint.
WireFrameDataMode2
NoDepthCurve
1. CheckmarktheSelectcheckbox.
2. IndicatethetwoCADedgesthatarenormaltoeachother.
3. Deselectthecheckbox.
4. Clickonthepart.
IfadepthcurveisnotselectedPCDMISsimplydropstheselectedpointontothecurve.
Note:OnlyLINEAROPEN,LINEARCLOSEandPATCHscanscanusewireframedata.
AddingandDeletingBoundaryPoints
TheAddandDelbuttonsallowyoutoaddordeleteboundarypointstothelistofboundary
points.Therearesomerestrictionsregardingeachtypeofscan.Forexample,a
LINEARCLOSEscanwilltakeonlyaStartandDirectionpoint.Itwillnotallowyoutoaddmore
pointsordeletethesetwopoints.Pleaserefertoeachscanforspecificrestrictions.
EditingBoundaryPoints
Boundarypointscanbeeditedbydoubleclickingthenumberofthedesiredpointinthe#
column.
ThiswilldisplaytheEditScanItemdialogboxallowingyoutoedittheX,Y,Zvalues.

EditScanItemdialogboxesdepictingFlipbuttonandPointatHolecheckbox
ThecolumnwidthsoftheBoundaryPointlistcanbevariedbychangingthewidthofthelist
displaycolumnheader.Thisisdonebyselectingtherightorleftedgeofacolumnheaderwith
theleftmousebuttonandpullingtheedgetothedesiredsize.Thewidthofeachlistdisplayis
individuallysetanddeterminedbytheuser.ThisinformationissavedintheINIfiletobeused
eachtimethefieldsarechanged.
Flip:
TheFlipbuttonisonlyavailablewheneditingavector.Clickingthisbuttonflipstheselected
vector.
PointAtHole:
ThePointAtHolecheckboxonlybecomesavailablewhenyouworkwithSectionscans.It
allowsyoutochangeanonholepointtoaholepoint.
Aholepointdefineswherealinearsectionscanjumpsoveraholethat'sfoundinitspath.After
clickingtheCutCadbuttonPCDMISplacesholepointsoneithersideofanyholethatinterrupts
thesectionscan.
Holepointsaredefinedwiththeletter"H"followingthepointnumber(Forexample1H,2H,3H
etc.).Thesepoints,likeanyboundarypoint,areaddedtoboththeBoundaryPointslistandon
thepartmodelintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
Note:ThePointAtHolecheckboxisonlyavailablefornonholepointsthatyouneedtochange
toholepoints.Ifyouhaveaholepointthatneedstobechangedtoanonholepoint,deletethe
holepointandcreateanewnonholepoint.
ClearingBoundaryPoints
YoucaneasilycleartheBoundaryPointslistofanyofthescantypesbyrightclickingwhilethe
cursorisinsidetheBoundaryPointslist.AResetBoundaryPointsbuttonappears.Clicking
thisbuttonwillresetalltheboundarypointstozeroandthenumberofboundarypointswillbeset
totheminimumforeachscantype.
Note:PCDMISdoesn'tallowyoutocleartheboundarypointswhileyouareusingtheCutCAD
buttonavailableonSectionscans.InthiscaseyouwillneedtoclicktheShowBndbuttonto
showtheboundarypointsagainbeforeclearingtheboundarypoints.
DirectionTechniqueareas
TheDirection1TechandDirection2Techareas,letyouselectdirection
techniquesthatdeterminehowthescanwilltakeitshits.Mostscansonly

scaninoneroworline,so,theyonlyhaveonesetofdirectiontechniquesintheDirection1
Techlist.
Patchscansareuniqueinthattheyscanoveranareaandsohaveadditional
rowsofpointsanduseasecondsetofdirectiontechniquesintheDirection
2Techlist.IntheDirection2Tech list,theselectedtechniquedetermines
theincrementaltechniquethatwillbeappliedbetweenrows.
SelectthedesiredtechniqueandPCDMISwillautomaticallydisplaytheMax/MinorIncrement
boxes.
LineTechnique
ForLinearOpen,SectionandPatchscansPCDMIS
determineseachhitbasedonthesetincrementandthelasttwo
measuredhits.Theapproachoftheprobeisperpendiculartothe
linebetweenthelasttwomeasuredhits.Theprobewillstayonthe
cutplane.PCDMISwillstartatthefirstboundarypointand
continuetakinghitsatthesetincrement,stoppingwhenitreachestheendboundarypoint.
ForLinearClosedscansPCDMISdetermineseachhitbythelasttwohitsmeasured.The
approachoftheprobeisperpendiculartothelinebetweenthelasttwomeasuredhits.Theprobe
willstayonthecutplane.PCDMISwillnotaskfortheendingpointwhenusingthisscanning
technique.Thescanningprocessterminateswhentheprobereturnstothestartingpoint.
ForRotaryscansPCDMISdetermineseachhitbasedonthesetincrementandthelasttwo
measuredhits.Theapproachoftheprobeisperpendiculartothelinebetweenthelasttwo
measuredhits.Theprobewillalwaysmaintainthedefinedradialdistancefromthecenterpoint,
perpendiculartothecenterpointvector.PCDMISwillstartatthefirstboundarypointand
continuetakinghitsatthesetincrement,stoppingwhenitreachestheendboundarypoint.
BodyAxisTechnique
AvailabletoLinearOpen,Patch,andRotaryscans
PCDMISwilltakehitsatthesetincrementalongthecurrent
part'scoordinatesystem.Theapproachoftheprobeis
perpendiculartotheindicatedaxis.Theprobewillstayon
thecutplane.Theapproachvectorwillbenormaltothe
selectedaxisandonthecutplane.TheBODYAXIS
techniqueusesthesameapproachfortakingeachhit(unlike

theLINEtechniquewhichadjuststheapproachtobeperpendiculartothelinebetweenthe
previoustwohits).
VariableTechnique
AvailabletoLinearOpen,LinearClosed,Patch,Section,andRotaryscans
TheVARIABLEtechniqueallowsyoutosetspecificmaximumandminimumangleand
incrementvaluesthatwillbeusedindeterminingwherePCDMISwilltakeahit.Theprobe's
approachisperpendiculartothelinebetweenthelasttwo
measuredhits.
Enterthemaximumandminimumvaluesthatwillbeusedto
determinetheincrementsbetweenhits.Youalsomustenterthe
desiredvaluesfortheMAXandMINangles.PCDMISwilltake
threehitsusingtheminimumincrement.Itwillthenmeasurethe
anglebetweenhit's12and23.
Ifthemeasuredangleisbetweenthemaximumandminimumvaluesdefined,
PCDMISwillcontinuetotakehitsatthecurrentincrement.
Iftheangleisgreaterthanthemaximumvalue,PCDMISwillerasethelasthit
andmeasureitagainusingonequarterofthecurrentincrementvalue.
Iftheangleislessthantheminimumincrement,PCDMISwilltakethehitatthe
minimumincrementvalue.
PCDMISwillagainmeasuretheanglebetweenthenewesthitandthetwoprevioushits.Itwill
continuetoerasethelasthitanddroptheincrementvaluetoonequarteroftheincrementuntil
themeasuredangleiswithintherangedefined,ortheminimumvalueoftheincrementis
reached.
Ifthemeasuredangleislessthantheminimum
angle,PCDMISwilldoubletheincrementforthe
nexthit.
Ifthisisgreaterthanthemaximumincrement
value,itwilltakethehitatthemaximumincrement.
PCDMISwillagainmeasuretheanglebetweenthenewesthit
andthetwoprevioushits.Itwillcontinuetodoubletheincrement
valueuntilthemeasuredangleiswithintherangedefined,orthe
maximumincrementisreached.
IfANGLE >MAXANGthenINC=INC/4untilMININC
IfANGLE <MINANGthenINC=INC*2untilMAXINC
Note:Patchscansbydefaultalwaysstarteachnewscanlinewiththeminimumincrement.Ifyou
wouldpreferthateachnewlinestartwiththeincrementfromthepreviouslyscannedlineyoucan
selectthePatchScansMaintainLastIncrementcheckboxfoundintheGeneraltabofthe
SetupOptionsdialogbox(see"PatchScansMaintainLastIncrement"inthe"SettingYour
Preferences"chapter).

NullfilterTechnique
AvailabletoLinearOpen,LinearClose,Patch,Section,andRotaryscans
TheNULLFILTERtechniquedoesnotfilterdataatall.WhateverdataPCDMISreceivesfromthe
machinecontrolleristhedatagivenyou.AlthoughProbeCompensationandFindNomsarestill
appliedthereisnodatareduction.Thistechniqueletsyoucontroltheincrementofthehitsby
usingtheOPTIONPROBEcommandwhichsetsthepointincrementduringascan.Seethe
"ParameterSettings:OptionalProbetab"topicofthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapterformore
information.
PCDMISwillstartatthefirstboundarypointandcontinuetakinghitsatthesetincrement,
stoppingwhenitreachestheendboundarypoint.
NOTE:TheNULLFILTERtechniqueonlyappearsintheDirection1Tech.listifyou'reusingan
analogprobehead,suchastheSP600.
ForRotaryscans,theprobewillalwaysmaintainthedefinedradialdistancefromthecenterpoint,
perpendiculartothecenterpointvector.
Max/Minboxes
AvailabletoLinearOpen,LinearClose,Patch,andSectionscans
TheMax/Minincrementandangleboxesdescribedbelowareavailablewhenusingthe
VARIABLEscanningtechniquedescribedinthe"Direction1Technique(VariableMethod)"
topic.OnlytheMaxIncrboxisavailableforallthescanningtechniques.
MaxIncrement
TheMaxIncrboxallowsyoutosetthemaximumincrementdistance.Eventhough
incrementsmayincreasewhileusingtheVariableoption,theincrementswillneverbe
greaterthanthisdistance.
MinIncrement
TheMinIncrboxallowsyoutosettheminimumincrement.Eventhoughincrements may
decreaseusingtheVariableoption,theincrementswillneverbesmallerthanthisdistance.
MaxAngle

TheMaxAngboxallowsyoutosetthemaximumangle.Eventhoughanglesmeasured
mayincreasewhileusingtheVariableoption,theangleswillneverbegreaterthanthis
value.
MinAngle
TheMinAngboxallowsyoutosettheminimumangle.Eventhoughanglesmeasured
maydecreasewhileusingtheVariableoption,theangleswillneverbelessthanthisvalue.
Incrementbox
AvailabletoPatchscans
UsedwithPatchscans,theIncrementboxallowsyoutosettheincrementaldistancebetween
rowsonthepatchscan.Forexample,ifyouenter.5thenthescanwillsettherowsatincrements
of.5.
ScanConstructionarea(forPerimeterScan)
UsedwiththePerimeterScan
TheScanConstructionareaofthedialogboxallowsvariousoptionsforconstructinga
PerimeterScan.Theseinclude:
Increment
CADTol
Offset
OffsetTol(+/)
CalculateBoundary
Delete
IncrementboxforaPerimeterscan

TheIncrementboxindicatesthedistancebetweeneachofthehitpointsonthescan.
CADTol
TheCADTolboxisusefulindetectingneighboringsurfaces.Thelargerthetolerance,thefarther
aparttheCADsurfacescanbeandstillberecognizedasaneighboringsurface.
Offset
TheOffsetboxindicatesthedistanceinfromtheperimeterwherethescanwillbecreatedand
executed.
Offset+/
TheOffsetTol(+/)boxindicatestheamountofallowabledeviationfromtheoffsetvalue.Itisa
usersuppliedvalue.
CalculateBoundary
TheCalculateBoundarybuttondeterminesthecompositeboundaryoftheinputsurfaces.The
CalculatedboundaryappearsasreddotsintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
Delete
TheDeletebuttondeletesthepreviouslycreatedboundary.
SectionLocationarea(forSectionScan)
TheboxintheSectionLocationareaspecifiestheinitialsectionatwhichyouwouldwantthe
scantostart.Forexample,ifyouwantmultiplesectionsatX=5,X=5.5,X=6,etc.youmustfirst
specify5.0astheinitialsection.AftereachscanPCDMISwillautomaticallyjumptothenext
sectionat5.5andsoon.Thisvaluecanbeediteddirectly,oritcanbesetusingthefirst
boundarypoint.Thefirstboundarypoints'coordinatevaluecorrespondingtothecutaxisisthe

sectionlocation.Whenthefirstboundarypointisdefinedbyeithertakingahit,selectingfrom
CADdataorkeyinginavalue,thecoordinatevalueforthecutaxisisused.
Example:Ifthefirstboundarypointissetto45,37,100andthecutaxisisY,thesectionlocation
isat37.IfthecutaxisisX,thesectionlocationis45.
Axislist
TheAxislistallowsyoutoselecttheaxis(X,Y,orZ)whereyouwantmultiplesections.The
Noneoptionisalsoavailable.Itallowsyoutoselectasectionlineonscreen.Scansdonot
usuallyallowuserstoworkwithcurvedata.However,ifNoneischosen,asectionscanwilllet
youselectagraphicallydisplayedsectionlinethatwillthenbeusedtodefinethecutplaneand
scanningpath.
Increment
TheIncrementboxspecifiesthejumpdistancealongthesectionaxisaftereachscanisdone.
InitialVectorsarea
TheInitialVectorsareadisplaysalistofvectorsthatwillbeusedtostartandstopascan.Some
scansdonotuseanyinitialvectors.TheseareUV,Grid,Perimeter,andFreeFormscans.The
followingtableshowstheavailableinitialvectors,whentheyareused,andtheirdescriptions.
Vector UsedInScanType Description

Type
InitVec LinearOpen,Linear InitialTouchVector.Thevaluesthataredisplayedin
Closed,Section, theInitialTouchVectorrowindicatethesurface
Patch,Rotary,and vectorofthefirstpointinthescanningprocess.
Basicscans
CutVec LinearOpen,Linear CutPlaneVector.Acutplaneisusedinternallyfor
Closed,Patch, DCCscanningcalculations.Thiscutplaneisderived
Section,andseveral differentlyforeachsupportedscantype.
Basicscans
LinearOpen:TheCutPlanevector(CutVec)isthe
crossproductoftheInitialTouchvector(InitVec)

andthelinebetweenthestartandendpoint.Ifthere
isnoendpoint,thelinebetweenthestartpointand
directionpointisused.
LinearClosed:TheCutPlanevector(CutVec)is
thecrossproductoftheInitialTouchvector(InitVec)
andthelinebetweenthestartandendpoint.
PatchScan:Thecutplanevector(CutVec)is
derivedbycrossingtheInitialTouchvector(InitVect)
andthelinebetweenthefirstandsecondpoint.The
cutplanevectoristhensettothecorrectdirection
byusingthelinebetweenthesecondandthird
points.TheEndTouchvector(EndVec)isthevector
usedtotakethesecondboundarypointsandis
usedtojumptothesecondrowaftercompletingthe
firstrow.
SectionScan:TheCutPlaneandInitialTouch
vectorsareusedtomeasurethescan.TheCut
PlanevectoristhecrossproductoftheInitialTouch
vectorandthelinebetweenthestartingandend
point.Ifthereisnoendpoint,thenthelinebetween
startanddirectionpointisused.
EndVec LinearOpen,Patch, EndTouchVector.TheEndTouchvectoristhe
Section,Rotary,and approachvectorofthescanattheendoftherow.
LineBasicscan Thisisusedonlytostopthescanortomovetothe
nextrow(inthecaseofaPatchscan).
PlaneVec LinearOpen,Linear BoundaryPlaneVector. TheBoundaryPlanevector
Closed,Patch, andtheEndTouchvectorareusedwiththegiven
Section,andRotary BoundaryConditiontostopthescan.TheBoundary
PlaneVectorhasdifferentuseswhenappliedto
differentBoundaryConditions:
Plane
WhenusedwithaPlaneBoundaryConditionit
representsthenormalvectorofthePlane.
Sphere
ItisnotusedwiththeSphereBoundaryCondition.
Cylinder
WhenusedwithaCylinderBoundaryConditionit
representstheAxisoftheCylinder.
Cone
WhenusedwithaConeBoundaryConditionit
representstheAxisoftheCone.
DirVec Rotary,Manual,and InitialDirectionVector.Itrepresentsthedirectionin
LineBasicscan whichthescanwillbeginandisusedwiththeInitial
TouchvectortoderivetheCutPlanevector.
SurfVec LinearOpenand TopSurfaceVector.Thisappearswhenyouusethe

LinearClosed Edgehittype.Itisthevectoroftheinitialtopsurface
oftheedgeandisusedtostartthescan.
vector1 LinearOpenand Thisrowisthesurfacenormalvectorofthefirst
LinearClosed surfaceselectedforanglehits.Itappearswhenyou
usetheAnglehittype.ThiscorrespondstotheSurf
1VecvaluesintheAnglePointstabwhencreating
AutoFeatures.See"CreatinganAutoAnglePoint"
inthe"CreatingAutoFeatures"chapter.
vector2 LinearOpenand Thisrowisthesurfacenormalvectorofthesecond
LinearClosed surfaceselectedforanglehits.Itappearswhenyou
usetheAnglehittype.ThiscorrespondstotheSurf
2VecvaluesintheAnglePointstabwhencreating
AutoFeatures.See"CreatinganAutoAnglePoint"
inthe"CreatingAutoFeatures"chapter.
GraphicalRepresentationofVectors
Whensettingupthestart,direction,andendpointsofthescan,PCDMISallowsyoutoseea
graphicalrepresentationoftheinitialtouchvector,thedirectionvector,andthevectorthatis
normaltotheboundaryplanewherethescanwillstop.
Thesevectorsareshownasblue,green,andorangecoloredarrowsintheGraphicalDisplay
areaofyourpart.
Coloredarrowsshowingvectors
Vector GraphicalRepresentation
InitialTouch Bluearrow
Direction Greenarrow
BoundaryPlane Orangearrow
EditingVectors
Youcanediteachofthesevectorsbydoubleclickingonthevectortoeditinthevectorcolumn.

ThiswilldisplaytheEditScanItemdialogbox:
EditScanItemdialogbox
Usingthedifferentfields,youcanedittheI,J,Kvalues.
1. ClickingtheOKbuttonontheEditScanItemdialogboxwillapplyanychanges
thathavebeenmade.
2. ClickingtheCancelbuttonwillclosetheEditScanItemdialogboxwithout
applyinganychanges.
3. PressingtheNextbuttoncyclesthroughtheavailablevectorsintheInitial
Vectorslist.Someoftheinitialvectorscanbeflipped.Ifso,thentheFlipbutton
becomesavailableontheEditScanItemdialogbox.
4. PressingtheFlipbuttonallowsyoutoreversethedirectionoftheselected
vector.
SelectCenter(forRotaryScan)
ChoosingtheSelectCentercheckboxallowsyoutoclickontheCADtoindicatethecenter
point.Asurfacepointorawireframepointcanbeselected.PCDMISwillfillintheCenterPoint
boxeswiththeXYZinformationfortheselectedpoint.
Whenyouselectthischeckbox,beawarethattheboundarypointsofthescanwillnotbe
updated.OnlywhenyoudeselectthischeckboxwillPCDMISupdatetheboundarypoints.
CenterPointandRadius(forRotaryScan)
TheX,Y,andZ valuesofCenterdefinethecenterpointoftheROTARYscan.
YoucandirectlytypethecenterpointX,Y,andZvaluesoryoucanchoosetheSelectCenter
checkboxandclickontheCADdrawingtotakethecenterpointdirectlyfromtheCADmodel.
Rdefinestheradius.WhenPCDMISexecutesthescanitwillrotatearoundthecenterpoint
maintainingthisdistanceasthescanmovesfromtheStarttotheEndpoint.

IJK(forRotaryScan)
TheI,J,andKvaluesmakeupavectornormaltotheplaneinwhichtheRadiusismaintained
fromthecenterpoint.PCDMISwillfollowthisvectorwhenperformingthescan.
UVScanSettingsarea
UVScanSettingsarea
TheUVScanSettingsareaallowsyoutodefineyourUVscan.ItcontainstheUandVrowsand
allowsyoutodefinethefollowingcontrols.
TheHits valuesallowyoutospecifyhowmanyhitsthescanwilltakeonthe
surfaceintheUorVdirection.
TheStartandEnd valuesallowpositioningofthehitmatrixonthesurfacethatis
beingscanned.ThesevaluescanbesetforboththeU andVrowsandapplytothe
scanalongtheUandVaxes.NotethatUVspaceusesnumbersbetween0.0and
1.0torepresenttheentiresurface.So0.0,0.0willbeontheoppositediagonalcorner
from1.0,1.0.
ThenoneditablePosition fieldsindicatetheprobe'scurrentpositionalongthe
UandVaxes.
GridScanSettingsarea
TheGridScanSettingsarealetsyoudefinethenumberofhitstoequallyspaceintheAandB
directionsofaGridscan.TheAdirectionishorizontal,Bisvertical.Forexample,ifyoutyped20
intheAdirectionand20intheBdirection,PCDMISwouldattempttospace20rowsand20
columnsofpointsonthecombinedselectedsurfaceswithintherectangulararea.
Inthescreenshotbelow,onlythetopsurfaceontheHexagonblockisselected.PCDMISwill
onlydroppointsontothatsurface,nottheothers.

GridScanexample,showingtheAandBdirectionswith20pointsinbothdirections
ExecutionTab
Executiontabfromascandialogbox
TheoptionsontheExecutiontabletyoudeterminewhathappenswhenyouexecutethescan
beingcreated.Itcontainstheseareas:
ExecControlsarea
NominalsMethodarea
HitControlsarea
DisplayControlsarea
BoundaryTypearea
ExecControlsarea

Theoptionsinthisareaaren'tusedforallscantypes.Forexample, manualscansonlyuseafew
oftheseoptions.
Item Description
TheExecutelist ThislistletsyoudeterminehowPCDMISwillexecutea
scanafterthescanhasbeenlearned.
NormalPCDMISwillexecutethescaninits'normal'
manneritwilltriggerahitwhentheprobetouchesthe
part.
Example:IfaDCCscanisexecuted,PCDMISwilltake
hitsateachofthelearnedlocationsinstitchscanning
mode,storingthenewlymeasureddata.Thedisplayed
nominalswillbethesameaswhenthescanwaslearned
andcannotberecalculatedusingadifferentNominals
mode.
Relearn PCDMISwillexecutethescanasthoughit
islearningit.Alllearnedmeasureddatawillreplacethe
newmeasureddata.Thenominalwillberecalculated
dependingontheNominalsMode(see"Nominals
Mode")
Example:IfaDCCscanisbeingrelearned,PCDMIS
willrelearnthescanfromthebeginning,insteadoftaking
hitsatthelearnedlocations(asitwoulddointhecaseof
theNORMALmode).
DefinedPCDMISallowsthecontrollertodefinea
scan.PCDMISgathersallhitlocationsfromtheeditor
andpassesthemontothecontrollerforscanning.The
controllerwillthenadjustthepathallowingtheprobeto
passthroughallthepoints.Thedataisthenreduced
accordingtotheincrementprovidedandthenewdata
willreplaceanyoldmeasureddata.
WhenthisoptionisusedafterGeneratingthescan
Offline,thenominallocationsobtainedfromCADwillbe

usedeverytimetodrivetheCMM.
Thismodeisavailableonlywhenusinganalogprobe
headsthatcandocontinuouscontactscanning.
Important:TheDefined modewithPerimeterscans
doesnotsupportholeavoidance.Ensurethatthere
aren'tanyholesinyourscan'spathwaywiththis
executionmodeifthereare,eitheradjustyourPerimeter
scan'spathorswitchtotheNormalexecutionmode.
ClearPlanecheck TheClearPlanecheckboxinsertsaCLEARPMOVEa
box predetermineddistancerelativetothecurrentcoordinate
systemandpartoriginbeforetakingthefirsthit.
Afterthelastpointinthescanismeasured,theprobe
willstayatprobedepthuntilcalledtothenextfeature.
Usingclearanceplanesreducesprogramming
timebecausetheneedtodefineintermediatemovesis
reduced.(See"ParameterSettings:ClearplaneTab"in
the"SettingYourPreferences"chapterforadditional
informationonclearanceplanes.)Thisoptionisonly
availableforDCCscans.
SinglePoint TheSinglePointcheckboxconsiderseachhitasa
checkbox singlemeasuredpoint.
Ifthisoptionischeckmarked,PCDMISwillmakeeach
hitameasuredpointandinsertitintothepartprogram.
Thissequencewillhappenafterthemanualscanhas
beenreduced.IfthescanisinDCCmode,itwilltake
placeafterthescanhasbeenlearned.
TheAutoMovecheckboxwillletyouturnonAuto
Auto Movesforeachscan.Onceselected,youcantypethe
Movecheckbox distanceforthemoveintheAutoMovebox.
LINEAROPEN,LINEARCLOSE,PATCH,SECTION,
PERIMETERandBASICSCANAXIS
ForthesescantypesPCDMISwill
Generateanautomaticmoveatthe
distancespecifiedabovethescan'sstart
point.
Runthescan.
Generateanotherautomaticmoveatthe
distancespecifiedabovethelastscanpoint.
BASICSCANCIRCLE,CYLINDER,andCENTER
ForthesescantypesPCDMISwill
Beforethescanstarts,generatean
automaticmoveabovethecentroidofthe
featureatthedistancespecified.
Performthescan

Afterthescanends,generateanother
automaticmoveabovethecentroidofthe
featureatthedistancespecified.
TheProbeCompcheckboxallowsyoutodetermine
ProbeCompcheckbox whetherornotPCDMISturnsonprobecompensation
forthisspecificscan.
Inmostcasesyouprobablydon'tneedtoperformthis
compensationsinceascan'sFINDNOMSoperation
automaticallydoesit.However,ifyoudon'thaveCAD
andwanttoreverseengineerapart,youshouldselect
thischeckbox.
ThischeckboxdetermineswhetherornotPCDMIS
CadCompcheckbox compensatesforeachpointusingthe3Dsurfacevector
fromtheCADfile.Ifnotselected,PCDMISusesa2D
cutplaneasusual.
Thischeckboxbecomesavailableforselectionifyou
selectFINDNOMSfromthelistintheNominalsMethod
areaorifyouclickontheCADmodelintheGraphics
Displaywindow.
Thischeckboxallowsyoutodeterminewhetherornot
InnerBoundcheckbox PCDMISwillperformaninteriororanexteriorperimeter
scan.
Ifselected,PCDMISwillperforman
interiorperimeterscan.
Ifdeselected,PCDMISperformsan
exteriorperimeterscan.
Foradescriptionofinteriororexteriorscansseethe
"PerformingaPerimeterAdvancedScan"topic.
Thischeckboxdetermineswhetherornotthescanned
pointsalsogetaddedtoanexistingCloudofPoints
(COP)command.Ifyouselectthischeckbox,youcan
UseCOPcheckbox typetheIDfortheCOPcommandintowhichyouwantto
addthenewlyscannedpoints.IftheCOPcommand
doesn'tyetexist,PCDMISwillaskifitshouldgenerateit
foryou.
ForinformationonCOPcommands,accessthePC
DMISLaserdocumentationwherethiscommandis
discussed.

NominalsMethodarea
Thisareacontainstheseitems:
Item Description
TheNominalslistletsyoudeterminehowPCDMISwillgather
nominals forthemeasureddata.
Nominalslist
MasterScan
WhenMASTERisselectedfromtheNominalslist,PCDMIS
willconsiderthemeasureddataobtainedthefirsttimethescan
isbeinglearnedasnominaldata.Subsequentexecutionsof
thisscanwillbecomparedwiththismeasureddata.When
MASTERisusedwithaDCCscanandNormalModeis
selectedfromtheExecutelist,PCDMISwillexecuteaStitch
typescanusingthemeasureddata.
FindNoms
WhentheFINDNOMSoptionisselected,PCDMISwillpierce
theCADmodeltofindtheclosestlocationonaCADsurfaceto
themeasuredpoint.Itwillthensetthenominalstothelocation
foundontheCADsurface.
Note: WiththeCircle,Cylinder,andAxistypesofBasicScans,
thereisnoneedtohaveCADdatatofindthenominals.To
executetheBasicScan,PCDMISobtainsthenominalsfrom
thenominaldatayousupply.See"NominalsModeTab"for
moredetails.

IfpropernominalsarenotfoundPCDMISfirstasksyouto
provideanewFindNominaltolerance.
YoucantypeanewtoleranceintheToleranceboxandapplyit
toonlyforthecurrentscanorforthewholepartprogram.
IftheresponseisYes,thenewtolerancewillbeused
tofindnominals.
IftheresponseisNo,PCDMISwilldothefollowing:
Ifpropernominalscannotbefoundforanyhitevenafter
providinganewtolerance,PCDMISwillaskifthehitscanbe
deleted.
IftheresponseisYes,thehitswillbedeleted.
IftheresponseisNo,thehitswillremaininthescan.
Nominals
WhenNOMINALSisselectedfromtheNominalslist,PC
DMISwilluseanymeasureddatathefirsttimeitperformsthe
scanasnominaldata.Thisoptionallowsyoutorelearnthe
scanwithoutrelearningthenominals.Themaindifference
betweenselectingNOMINALSandMASTERisthatthe
NOMINALSoptionconstructsanominalcurvefromthe
nominaldata.PCDMISwillthencomparesubsequent
executionsofthescanagainstthisnominalcurveusingthe
valueintheFindNomsTolbox.
TheNominalsModecanbeusedwithRelearnModeinthe
ExecutelistintheExecControlsarea.See"ExecControls
area".
Note:IfyoutoggletoNOMINALSintheEditwindowfroma
differentmode,thenominalcurvewillautomaticallybecreated
fromthecurrenttheoreticaldata.Thismaytakesometime
dependingontheamountofdataused.AlsoiftheEditwindow
issettoNOMINALS andyoutoggletoadifferentmodethe
nominalcurvegetsdeleted.
TheToleranceboxallowsyoutosetanewnominaltoleranceifthe
propernominalsarenotfoundwhenusingtheFindNomsoptionfrom
Tolerancebox
theaboveNominalslist.
Besuretotypeatolerancevaluethatatleastcompensatesforthe
probe'sradius.Ifthisvalueistoolow,PCDMISmaydisplayanerror
messagethatitcannotfindthepartwhenitattemptstogeneratethe
scan
TheUseBestFitcheckboxperformsatemporaryBestFitalignment
UseBestFit onthescaninordertofindbetternominalsforthemeasureddata.
checkbox

SeeFindNomsintheNominalslistaboveformoreinformation.
PCDMISfollowsthissequenceforyourscan:
PCDMISperformsaFindNomsoperation.
PCDMISinternallycreatesaBestFitalignmentfromthe
foundnominalpointsandthemeasureddataofthescan.Ifit
isaPatchscan,theBestFitis3D.
PCDMISinternallycreatesaBestFitalignmentfromthe
foundnominalpointsandthemeasureddataofthescan.Ifit
isaPatchscan,theBestFitis3D.
PCDMISrestorestheoriginalalignment.
Forpartswithlargedeviationsfromnominalsthischeckboxhelpsfind
thenominaldatathatmoreaccuratelyrepresentsthepart.
FormoreinformationonBestFitalignments,see"CreatingaBestFit
Alignment"inthe"CreatingandUsingAlignments"chapter
Whenyouexecuteascaninyourpartprogram,andyouare
OnlySelected searchingforthenominalvaluesforthescan'smeasuredpoints,you
checkbox canusetheOnlySelectedcheckboxtohavePCDMISonlylookfor
thenominalsonthecurrentlyselectedsetofsurfaces.
Note:Ifanyofyourselectedsurfacesarealreadydefinedaspriority
surfaceswithintheEditCADElementsdialogbox,PCDMIS
maintainstheirpriorityovertheotherselectedsurfacesintheset(see
"EditingCAD"fromthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter).
HitControlsarea
TheHitControlsareacontainsalistthatcontrolswherehitsaretaken.Otherboxesinthisarea
gethiddenordisplayeddependingonthetypeofhitselectedfromthehittypelist.Thisarea
containstheseitems:

Item Description
TheHitTypelistcontainsthesehittypes:
VECTORThescanusesvectorhits.
SURFACEThescanistakenalongasurfaceanduses
Hit surfacehitdata.
Typelist EDGEThescanistakenalonganedge.WhenEdge hits
areusedandCADdataisavailable,PCDMISwillallowyou
toenteraflushthicknessforthenominals.Thisthicknessis
appliednormaltotheedgeapproachvectorwhenfindingthe
nominalsforthescan.(Thisiscontrarytotheregular
thicknessthatisappliedalongthesurfacenormal.)
ANGLEThisscanusesANGLEhitdata.
Thescanwillalwaysdoastitchscanregardlessoftheprobehead
type.
TheInitialboxallowsyoutosethowmanysamplehitsaretaken
Initial beforeeachactualpointismeasured.Thesesamplehitsaretaken
box onlythefirsttimeascanisrun.
ThePermboxallowsyoutosethowmanysamplehitsare
permanentlytakenbeforeeachactualpointismeasured.These
Permbox
samplehitsaretakeneachtimethescanisrun.
TheSpacerboxallowsyoutosetthedistancebetweensamplehits.
Spacerbox
TheDepthboxallowsyoutosetthedepthfromtheedgewherethe
samplehitswillbetaken.ThisoptionisonlyavailableifEDGE is
Depthbox
selectedfromtheHitTypelist.
TheIndentboxallowsyoutosettheindentonthetopsurfacefrom
theedgewherethesamplehitswillbetaken.Thisoptionisonly
Indentbox
availableifEDGEisselectedfromtheHitTypelist.
TheIndent1boxallowsyoutosettheindentonthetopsurface
fromtheedgewherethesamplehitswillbetaken.Thisoptionis
Indent1box
onlyavailableifANGLEisselectedfromtheHitTypelist.
TheIndent2boxallowsyoutosettheindentonthetopsurfacefrom
theedgewherethesamplehitswillbetaken.Thisoptionisonly
Indent2box
availableifANGLEisselectedfromtheHitTypelist.
TheFlushboxallowsyoutoenteraflushthicknessforthenominals
ifanEdgeorAnglehittypeisusedandCADdataisavailable.This
Flushbox thicknessisappliednormaltotheedgeapproachvectorwhen
findingthenominalsforthescan.(Thisdiffersfromtheregular
thicknesswhichisappliedalongthesurfacenormal.)
DisplayControlsarea

TheDisplayControlsarealetsyoudeterminewhatkindofinformationthescandisplaysinthe
Editwindow.Itcontainstheseitems:
Item Description
Ifyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISdisplayseachscanintheEdit
ShowHits windowasasetofthemeasuredhitssurroundedbyascanobjectandan
checkbox endmeasuredobject.Ifthisoptionischosen,allofthehitswillbe
displayedintheEditwindow.Ifyoudon'tselectit,thehitswillnotbe
shown.
Ifyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISwilldisplayintheEditwindowallof
ShowAll thescanparameters,suchas:
checkbox
Cutplanes
Boundarypoints
Directionvector
Initialapproachvector
Ifyoudon'tselectit,PCDMISonlydisplaysthesedatatypesintheEdit
window:
Increments
Techniques
HitTypes
BoundaryTypearea
TheBoundaryTypeareacreatesanimaginaryfeaturethatactsasaboundaryaroundascan's
endpoint.Bydefault,thisfeatureisaplaneattheendpointthatwhencrossedonetimestopsthe
scan.However,youcandefinetheendboundarytypetobeadifferenttypeoffeature.
BoundarytypesareonlyavailableforLinearOpen,LinearClose,Patch,Section,andRotary
scansinDCCmode.

Theareacontainstheseitems:
Item Description
Theboundarytypelistletsyouchoosehowascanends.Each
boundarytypeusesavaluefromtheCrossingsbox.
PlaneThescanwillstopaftertheprobecrossestheplaneattheend
pointthegivennumberoftimes.
SphereThescanwillstopaftertheprobecrosses(breaks)the
sphereattheendpointthegivennumberoftimes.
CylinderThescanwillstopaftertheprobecrosses(breaks)the
cylinder attheendpointthegivennumberoftimes.Thecylinderis
unbounded(i.e.isconsideredinfiniteinlength).
ConeThescanwouldstopaftertheprobecrosses(breaks)thecone
attheendpointthegivennumberoftimes.Thecone isunbounded
(i.e.isconsideredinfiniteinlength).
OldStyle(Retainedforbackwardscompatibility)
PreviousversionsofPCDMISusedacombinationofboundary
crossingsandscanincrementstostopthescan.OldStyleisnot
actuallyanoptionthatyouchoose,ratheritisaninternalsettingfor
scansthatwerecreatedinearlierversionsofPCDMIS.
WhenscansfromPCDMIS version2.3arereadintoversion3.0and
higher,theyareconvertedandtheirrespectiveboundaryconditions
aretaggedasOldType.
TheEditWindowcommandlinefortheoldstyleboundarytypereads:
BOUNDARY/OLDSTYLE,x,y,z,PlaneVec=i,j,k,EndVec=i,j,k
PlaneVec:Thisvectordefinestheplanenormal
vectorattheendpoint.
EndVec:Theapproachvectorattheendpoint.
TheCrossingsboxdetermineshowmanytimesascancrossesthe
Crossingsbox selectedboundarytypebeforestoppingthescan.Forexample,ifyou
specifythatthenumberofcrossingsistwo,thescanwillstoponcethe
probe'sBallCentercrossesthegivenconditionssurface(planar,
spherical,cylindrical,conicaletc.)twotimes.
Note:LinearClosedscansalwaysrequireatleasttwoboundary
crossingseveniftheCrossingsboxspecifiesalowernumber.
Radiusbox TheRadiusboxappearswhenyouselecteitherSphereorCylinder
asyourboundarytype.Itletsyoudefinetheradiusofthatboundary
typefeature.

Anglebox TheAngleboxappearswhenyouselectConeasyourboundary
type.Itletsyoudefinethecone'stotal'included'angle.
Note:Youcanchangetheboundaryconditionatanytimeforascan.Ifyouchooseanew
conditionforaDCCscan,PCDMISappliesittoallBasicScansmakinguptheDCCscan.If,
however,youchosetochangeaspecificvalueinacondition,forexample,maybetheradius of
thesphereboundarytype,PCDMISdoesnotpropagatethatchangetotheBasicScans.You
wouldhavetochangethatvalueineachBasicScanyourself.
GraphicsTab
Graphicstabfromascandialogbox
TheGraphicstabletsyouusetheonscreenCADmodeltoaidincreatingascan.Thistab
containstheCadControlsarea.ThisarealetsyouspecifytheCADsurface/wireframeelements
thatwillbeusedtofindnominalsaswellasthepart'sthickness.
Insomecases,ascanmightstartoveracertainsurfaceandtravelovermanyothersurfaces
beforecompletion.Insuchcases,PCDMISdoesnotknowwhichCADelementsaretobeused
tofindnominals.ItmustthereforesearchthrougheverysurfaceintheCADmodel.IftheCAD
modelhasmanysurfacesitmighttakealongtimebeforetheFINDNOMS operationis
successful.
Item Description
Selectingthischeckboxandclickingonsurfacesletsyou
Selectcheckbox definetheexactsurfacestoscan.Manuallydeterminingthe
surfacestoscanhelpsspeeduptheFINDNOMSprocess.
OnceaCADsurfaceisselected,itwillbehighlightedinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.TheStatusbarwilldisplaythe
numberofsurfacesthathavebeenselected.IftheSelect
checkboxisn'tselected,PCDMISwillassumeanyclickson
thesurfacetobeBoundaryPoints.
Example:Twoedgesthatarenormaltoeachothermustbe
selectedforeverysurfacethescanisgoingtotravelover.If
thescanisgoingoverthreesurfaces,sixedges
(representingthethreesurfaces)mustbeselectedinthe
properorder.Thefirsttwoedgeswillindicatesurfaceone.
Thethirdandfourthedgeswillindicatesurfacetwo.Edges'

fiveandsixwillmakeupthethirdsurface,andsoon.
Ifyouselectanincorrectsurface,clickonthatsurfacea
secondtime.Thiswilldeselectthesurface.Clickingthe
Deselectbutton
Deselectbuttonwilldeselectonesurfaceatatimewith
eachclickofthebuttonfromagroupofhighlightedsurfaces
untilallaredeselected.ClickingtheDeselectAllbuttonwill
deselectallhighlightedsurfacesatonce.
TheDeselectbuttonremovesonehighlightedCADelement
atatimefromagroupofCADelementsthatarecreated
usingtheSelectcheckbox.
TheDeselectAllbuttonremovesalltheselectedCAD
DeselectAll elementsthatarecreatedusingtheSelectcheckbox.
button
ThischeckboxisusedonlywhenselectingCurveelements.
YoucanindicateaparticularCADcurveelementasaDepth
Depthcheckbox element.
TousetheDepthcheckbox:
1. SelectallotherCADelementsfirst.
2. SelecttheDepthcheckbox.
3. SelectaCADelement.
TheDepthcurveisusedduringFINDNOMSoperations.
WheneverPCDMIShastofindnominalsfromcurve
elements,itwilltakethevectoroftheDepthCADelement,
crossitwiththevectorfromtheotherselectedCAD
elementstogetaplane.Itwillthenpiercetheplanetoget
thepropernominal.IfmanyCADelementsareselected,the
closestpiercepointisusedasthenominalpoint.WhenCAD
wireframedataisbeingused,PCDMISwilllookforthewire
framedatainpairs.
Thevector1checkboxonlyappearsifyouselectAngle
vector1checkbox fromtheHitTypelistandyouareusingsurfacedata.It
allowsyoutoselectCADsurfacesthatPCDMISwilluseto
findthenominal.Youcanindicatethegroupofsurfacesthat
PCDMISusestofindtheanglehitSurf1Vecbyselecting
thischeckboxandthenselectingCADsurfacesfromthe
Thevector2checkboxonlyappearsifyouselectAngle
vector2checkbox fromtheHitTypelistandyouareusingsurfacedata.It
allowsyoutoselectCADsurfacesthatPCDMISwilluseto
findthenominal.Youcanindicatethegroupofsurfacesthat
PCDMISusestofindtheanglehitSurf2Vecbyselecting
thischeckboxandthenselectingCADsurfacesfromthe
TheThicknessboxallowsyoutoinputthepartthickness.
Positiveornegativevaluescanbeused.Thisamountis
Thicknessbox
primarilyusedforthinparts(plasticorsheetmetal)where
theCADdataonlydescribesoneside.Oftenwiththinparts,

theCADengineerwillonlydrawonesideofthepart,and
thenspecifythematerialthickness.PCDMISwillapplythis
materialthicknessautomaticallywhenusingtheCAD
surfacedata.
Thisthicknesswillbeappliedalongthesurfacenormal
vectorwhenFINDNOMSmodeisselectedandPCDMIS
piercestheCADsurfacestogetthenominals,evenwhen
usingEdgehits.
ControlPointsTab
Note:TheControlPointstabonlyappearsifyouuseananalogprobeheadthatallows
continuouscontactscanning.
TheControlPointstaballowsyoutoaddcontrolpointstoyourscan.Controlpointsinterruptthe
normalscanfunctionsandallowyoutodefinespecificlocationsonthescanwhichalterthescan
speed,pointdensityorboth.Goodcontinuousscansoftenrequiredifferentscanspeedsand/or
pointdensitiesfordifferentpartsofthescan.
Theabilitytoaddcontrolpoints hasbeenaddedtothesetypesofscans:
LinearOpen
LinearClosed
Patch
Section
Line(BasicScan)
TheControlPointstabcontainstheControlPointsDefinitionarea.Thisarealetsyoudefine
eachcontrolpoint.Itcontainstheseitems:
Item Description
Typelist Thisdefinesthetypeofcontrolpoint.Availabletypesinclude:
1. Plane
PLANE,X,Y,Z,I,J,K,NumCrossings,ScanSpeed,
PointDensity
2. Sphere

SPHERE,X,Y,Z,I,J,K,NumCrossings,ScanSpeed,
PointDensity,Diameter
3. Cone
CONE,X,Y,Z,I,J,K,NumCrossings,ScanSpeed,Point
Density,Angle
4. Cylinder
CYLINDER,X,Y,Z,I,J,K,NumCrossings,ScanSpeed,
PointDensity,Diameter
Thesetypesaresimilartotheboundarypoints.
Numberof Thisboxdefinesthenumberoftimestheprobemustcrosstheinterrupt
Crossings boundarybeforeadjustingthespecifiedparameters.
box
Diameter ThisboxdefinesthediameteroftheCylinderorSpherecontrolpoint.
box
Anglebox ThisboxdefinesthehalfangleoftheConecontrolpoint.
Point Thisboxdefinesthedensityofthepointsthatarereadintothescandata
Densitybox duringacontinuouscontactscan.Thisislistedasnumberofpointsper
mm.
Speedbox Thisboxdefinesthespeedofthemachinewhileittraversesthepart
surfaceperformingscans.
From Ifyouselectthischeckbox,youcandefinethecontrolpoint'sXYZand
ManualHit IJKlocationbymanuallytakingahitwiththeprobe(orbyclickingonthe
checkbox partifworkinginofflinemode).
XYZboxes TheseboxesdefinetheXYZlocationofthecontrolpoint.
IJKboxes TheseboxesdefinetheIJKvectorofthecontrolpoint.
Addbutton Addsanew,undefinedcontrolpoint.
Delete Deletesthecurrentcontrolpoint.
button
Next button Goestothenextcontrolpoint.Theboxesintheareachangetoshowthe
newpoint'sdata.
Prev button Goestothepreviouscontrolpoint.Theboxesintheareachangetoshow
thenewpoint'sdata.
DeleteAll Deletesallthecontrolpointsinthescan.
button
Update Updatesallthecontrolpointsinthescanwiththesettingforthecurrent
button controlpoint.
AddingandUsingControlPoints
1. AccesstheScandialogbox.
2. Defineyourscan.Basedonyourtypeofscan,theminimumnumberofboundary
pointsforthefollowingscantypesareautomaticallydefined:
Plane

Sphere
Cone
Cylinder
3. ClicktheControlPointstab.
4. Addinterruptpointlocationsbyoneofthreeavailablemethods:
Method1:Keyinpointlocations.ClicktheAddbuttonandthentypethe
requiredvaluesforeachpoint.
Method2:SelecttheFromManualHitcheckboxandthenusethemachineto
touchthelocationsonthepartwhereyouwanttohavethecontrolpoints.PC
DMISaddstheinformationtotheControlPointsdialogbox.
Method3:IntheGraphicsDisplaywindow,leftmouseclickontheCADmodel
whereyouwanttohavethecontrolpoints.PCDMISaddstheinformationtothe
ControlPointsdialogbox.
Formethodstwoandthree,PCDMISautomaticallysnapsthechosenpointstothecut
planeofthescanforallscantypesexceptPatchscans.
5. Continueusingthemethodsinstep4todefinealldesiredcontrolpoints.
6. Onceyourcontrolpointsaredefined,clicktheCreatebutton.TheScandialog
boxwillcloseandcreateyourscan.
7. Ifyouwanttoedit,delete,oraddadditionalcontrolpoints,simplyclickthe
ControlPointstabatanytimeandmakemodificationsasneeded.
ScanningafterAddingControlPoints
Onceyou'vedefinedallthecontrolpointsandcreatedyourscan,duringexecution,PCDMIS
doesthefollowing.
1. ThescanwillinitiallyusethegloballysetScanSpeedandPointDensityvalues.
2. Asitscansalongthepathandpasseswithintheparametersdefinedbythe
controlpoints,thescanbehaviorchangesasdirectedbythecontrolpoints.
3. Oncethescaniscompleted,theScanSpeedandPointDensitywillreturnto
thegloballysetvalues.
PathDefinitionTab
SamplePathDefinitiontabfromaScanthatSupportstheSplinePathArea
Note:OnlysomescanssupporttheSplinePatharea.Theseinclude:LinearOpen,Linear
Closed,Patch,Section,andFreeform.OnotherscanstheSplinePathareawillnotappear.

ThePathDefinitiontabhasatmosttwoareas,TheoreticalPathandSplinePath.Youcanuse
theseareastogenerateatheoreticalpathwayforyourscan,and,onsupportedscans,youcanfit
thetheoreticaldatapointstoasecondarypath,calledasplinepath.Thisessentiallyfiltersthe
numberoftheoreticalpoints.
Tocreateatheoreticalpathwayandfitittoasplinepath:
1. Selectascantypethatsupportsasplinepath(LinearOpen,LinearClosed,
Patch,Section,orFreeform).
2. SelectthePathDefinitiontab.
3. Definethetheoreticalpath.InmostcasesyoucanusetheReadFilebuttonto
importapreexistingsetoftheoreticaldatapoints,orclicktheGeneratebutton.The
Generatebuttonautomaticallygeneratesasetoftheoreticaldatapointsinbetween
yourstartingpointandendingpointfromtheexistingCADdata.
Note:inthecaseoftheFreeformscan,theGeneratebuttondoesnotexist,instead
youclickyourmouseontheCADitselftoselectthetheoreticalpoints.
4. Thepointsappearsequentiallyinthelist,showingtheirXYZ,anIJKdata.As
longasyouhavemorethanfivepointsintheTheoreticalarea,youcanfitittoa
splinepathusingtheCalculatebuttonintheSplinePatharea.Youdon'thavetofit
thetheoreticalpathtoasplinepath,buttheinitialdatainthetheoreticallistgenerally
maycontainmanymorehitsthanyouneed.
5. Defineasplinepathtowhichyouwillfitthetheoreticalpath.Determinewhether
ornotthetheoreticalpointswillformanopenoraclosedpath,whetherthepath's
calculationisinterpolatedorapproximated,whetherornotthepointshaveaweight,
andwhetherthespacingofthepoints iscontrolledbyadefineddensityoracertain
numberofhits.
6. WhenbothareasarefilledoutclickCalculateintheSplinePatharea. PC
DMISchangesthetheoreticaldatatofittheparametersspecifiedintheSplinePath.
AnorangedotwillappearintheGraphicsDisplaywindowonthepartforeachpoint.
Ifyouhaveseveralpoints,thesedotsmaymeshtogethertoformanorangecolored
band.
7. Whenyouhavethepointsasyoulikethem,clickCreatetogeneratethescan.
TheoreticalPathArea
TheTheoreticalPathareacontainstheseitems:
Item Description
Theoretical Thislistdisplaysthetheoreticalpathwayyourscanwilltakewhenexecuted.

Pathlist ItdisplaystheXYZandIJKdataforeachpoint.Youcanimportpointsfroma
textfilebyclickingtheReadFilebutton(ifusingaFreeformscan)orPC
DMIScanautomaticallygeneratethetheoreticalpointsbyclicking
Generate.InthecaseofaFreeformscan,youcancreatethesepointsby
clickingthemontheCADmodel.
Thesetheoreticalpointsareusereditable.Toeditthevalueofthepoints:
1. Doubleclicktheappropriatepointnumberinthe#column.
TheEditTheoDatadialogboxwillappear.
2. ChangethevaluesinthedesiredX,Y,ZandI,J,K boxes.
3. ClickOK.ThechangewillbeupdatedintheTheoretical
Pathlist.
ClickingtheNextbuttonintheEditTheoDatadialogboxwillcyclethrough
thepointslistedintheTheoreticalPath list,allowingyoutoeditthemone
byone.
Generate ThisbuttontakesinformationfromtheCADmodelandautomatically
button generatesthetheoreticalpathwaywithinthescan'sboundaryforthese
supportedscans:LinearOpen,LinearClosed,Patch,andSection.This
oftengeneratesseveralpoints.
Afteryoudefinethescan'sboundaryandclickGeneratePCDMIShidesthe
dialogbox,allowingyoutoviewthescanasthesoftwaregeneratesiton
screen.Afterthescaniscompleted,PCDMISwillredisplaythedialogbox.
IftheCreatebuttonisthenpressed,ascanwiththenominalhitdatawillbe
insertedintothepartprogram.
PCDMISalwaysusestheFindNominalTolerancevalueindicatedinthe
SetupOptionsdialogbox,Generaltabwhengeneratingnominaldatafor
thescansandwhenfindingthenominalsforthelearnedscan.
Undobutton Thisbuttonletsyouremovethelastactiontakenwhenimporting,
generating,ormodifyingthepointsintheTheoreticalPathlist.
ReadFile ThisbuttononlyappearsforFreeformscans.Itletsyouimportpointsfroma
button textfilewitha.txtfilenameextension.Thetextfileshouldbeinacomma
delimitedformatwithonepointoneachline,likethis:
X,Y,Z,I,J,K
JumpHoles Thischeckboxdetermineswhetherornotthetheoreticalpathshouldjump
checkbox overholesandotherholelikefeaturesinthesurface.Ifselected,pointdata
thatdoesnotliewithintheselectedsurface(forexample,holefeatures)will
notappearintheTheoreticalPathlistandwillbeskippedduringscan
execution.Ifdeselected,thescanwillscanintoholelikefeatures.
ThisappearsonallscansbutPerimeterandFreeform.Itisnotsupportedin
thesescans.
Offsetbox TheOffsetboxletsyoudefinetheminimumdistanceawayfroma
boundary/edgewherescanpointsareconsideredvalid.Scanpointsthatare
closertotheboundarythatthespecifiedoffsetdistancewillnotbeallowed.
Forexample,ifyousetyouroffsetdistanceto.5mm,anyscanpointlocated
within.5mmoftheboundary/edgewillnotbeallowed.
Tol.box TheTol.boxletsyousetthetolerancevalue.PCDMISusesthisto

determinetheholelocationsinordertodetectholesfromCADdata.
Ifthedistancebetweenanytwosurfaceboundarypointsis
lessthanthetolerancedistance,PCDMISwillconsiderthisa
continuoussurfaceandscanintothehole.
Ifthedistanceisgreaterthanthetolerance,PCDMISwill
assumethatthereisaholebetweenthesurfaces,andduring
thelearningprocessitwillskipthehole.
ThisappearsonallscansbutPerimeterandFreeform.Itisnotsupportedin
thesescans.
TheGetNominalsbuttonletsyoufindthenominalafterascanhasbeen
Get learnedorexecuted.PCDMISwillfindthenominalsforthescanfromthe
Nominals CADdatathatisavailable.
button
TheToPointsbuttonrunsaprocesswherebytheindividualpointsthat
ToPoints makeupanexistingscancanbeconvertedintosinglepointsafter
button execution.Thescannedsetisthendeleted.
Forexample:
1. PlaceyourcursoronascanusinghitdataintheEdit
window.
2. PresstheF9keytodisplaytheScandialogbox.
3. SelecttheToPointsbutton.
PCDMISwillconvertallhitdataintosinglepointsanddeletethescanfrom
theEditwindow.
Note:ThisprocesscanalsobedonebyselectingtheSinglePointcheck
box,clickingtheOKbutton,andexecutingthescanfromtheEditwindow.
PCDMISwillexecutethescanandthenconvertthehitdataintosingle
points.
FlipandFlip TheFlipbuttonwillfliptheapproachvectorsofthetheoreticalscanpoint
Allbuttons selectedfromtheTheoreticalPathlist.PCDMISwillaskifallofthevectors
followingthatpointshouldbeflipped.
IfyouselectYes,thenthedirectionofallthevectors,
includingandfollowingtheindicatedpoint,willbereversed.
IfyouselectNo,thenonlytheindicatedvectorwillbe
reversed.
FlipAllreversesallthevectorsforallpointsinthelist.
TheseonlyappearwhenyouworkwithUVorGridscans.
Deletebutton ThisbuttonwilldeleteanyselectedpointsfromtheTheoreticalPathlist.It
onlyappearswhenyouworkwithUVorGridscans.
ThisonlyappearswhenyouworkwithUVorGridscans.
LabelHits ThischeckboxdetermineswhetherornotPCDMISshouldlabeleachhitin
checkbox

thescan.Labeledhitslookssomethinglikethis:
AUVscanwithlabeledhits
ThisonlyappearswhenyouworkwithUVorGridscans.
SplinePatharea
SplinePatharea
TheSplinePathareacontainsseveraloptionsthatyoucanusetocreateasplinepathtowhich
yourscan'stheoreticalpathwillbefitted.
ThisareadoesnotexistforPerimeter,Rotary,UV,orGridscans.
Usingthisarea,youcandeterminewhetherornotthesplinepathwillformanopenoraclosed
path,whetherthepath'scalculationisinterpolatedorapproximated,whetherornotthepoints
haveaweight,andwhetherthespacingofthepointsiscontrolledbyadefineddensityora
certainnumberofhits.
Whenyoufinallycalculatethesplinepath,theexistingTheoreticalPathlistgetsreplacedwith
anyfilteredpoints.Thesepointsbecomethebasisofthescan.
Thisareacontainstheseitems:
Item Description
Curvelist Thislistcontainstwooptions:OpenandClosed.Anopencurvepasses
throughthestart,control,andendpointsandthenstops.Aclosedcurve
doesthesamebutwhenthecurvepassesthroughtheendpoint,italso
returnstothestartpoint.
Calculation Thislistcontainstwooptions:ApproximateandInterpolated.It
list determineswhetherthesplinepathpassesthroughpointsinthespline
(interpolated)orsimplyapproachesthepoints(approximate).Interpolated
resultsinsharpercurvesandapproximateresultsinsmoothercurves.
Weightlist Thislistcontainstwooptions:YesandNo.Whatyouselectdetermines

whetherornotPCDMISshouldgivethepointsaweightwhenconstructing
thesplinepath.Ifsettoyes,thenPCDMISgivesthemaweightaccording
tohowclosetheyaretootherpointsonthecurve.Thefurthertheyare
fromotherpointsthegreaterweighttheyhaveinthefittingprocess.
Spacinglist Thislistcontainstwooptions:DensityandHits.
IfyouselectDensity,PCDMISwillcreatethesplinepathpointsat
agivenincrementdefinedbythevalueintheDensity box.
IfyouselectHits,PCDMISwillcreatethesplinepathpointsusing
andspacingthenumberofhitsyouspecifyintheHitsbox.
Densitybox Inthisboxyoutypetheincrementthatcontrolsthedensityofhits.The
smallertheincrementthegreaterthedensity.
Hitsbox Inthisboxyoutypethenumberofhitstospacealongthetheoretical
pathway.Ifyoutyped"50",forexample,PCDMISwouldattempttofitall
fiftypointsalongthescanpath.
Calculate Thisbuttoncalculatesthesplineandfitsthetheoreticaldatapointstothe
button spline,usuallyfilteringoutseveralhits.Thisbuttononlybecomesenabled
ifyouhaveatleastfivehitsintheTheoreticalPathlist.
SettingsTab
Note:TheSettingstabonlyappearsifyouuseananalogprobeheadthatallowscontinuous
contactscanning.
ThistabcontainstheScanProbingParametersarea.Usingtheitemsinthisarea,youcan
modifythesefrequentlyusedscanparameters,withouthavingtoleavethescandialog.
TheseoptionsarealsoincludedintheParametersdialogboxMotiontabortheOpt.Probe
tab.Seethe "ParameterSettings:OptionalProbetab"and"ParameterSettings:Motiontab"
topicsinthe"SettingYourPreferences"topicforinformation.
CommonFunctionsoftheBasicScanDialogBox
CommonFunctionsoftheBASICSCANDialogBox

AsampleBASICSCANdialogbox
ManyofthefunctionsdescribedinthissectionarecommontoBasicScans.Someofthese
optionsarethesameastheoptionsintheadvancedscansandhavealreadybeendiscussed.
(See"CommonFunctionsoftheScanDialogBox"inthischapterforadditionalinformation).
Optionsthatrelatespecificallytoonescanmodeareappropriatelyindicated.
ThefollowingoptionsareincludedonthefirsttabofeachoftheBasicscans.
Theothertabsonthedialogboxhelpyoutodefinethescan.Thesearedescribedbelow.
[BasicScan]Tab
The[BasicScan]tabisactuallythemaintabforeachBASICSCANfeature.Itisoneofthese
tabs:
TheCircletab
TheCylindertab
TheAxistab
TheCentertab
TheLinetab
Itemsfoundonthesetabsinclude:
#,X,Y,Zcolumns #Displaysthepointsusedtogeneratethescan.Theseinclude
StartPoint,DirectionPoint,EndPoint,andCentroid.
StartPoint:UsedwithAXIS,CENTER,andLINE
scans,thispointisthestartpointfromwhich
executionwillstart.
EndPoint:UsedwithAXIS,CENTER,andLINE
scans,thispointistheendpointatwhichexecution

willend.
D:UsedwithaLINEscan,theDirectionPointis
usedtostartthescanandcalculatethecutplane.
Theprobewillalwaysremainwithinthecutplane
whiledoingthescan.
Centroid:UsedwithCIRCLEandCYLINDER
scans,thispoint(foundinthefirstlist,underthe#
column)isthecenterofthecircleorcylinder.Youcan
typethecenterdirectlyorgetitfromtheMachineor
CAD.Foracylinder,thisisthecenterfromwhich
executionwillstart.
X,Y,ZThesecolumnsdisplaythecoordinatesfortheiteminthe
#column.
Vector,I,J,Kcolumns VectorDisplaysthetypeofvector.TheseincludeInitVecand
CutVec.
InitVec:Usedwithallthebasicscans,theinitial
touchvectorindicatesthesurfacevectorofthefirst
pointinthescanningprocess.
CutVec:UsedwiththeCIRCLE,CYLINDER,
CENTER,andLINEscans,thecutplanevectoristhe
crossproductoftheInitVecandthelinebetweenthe
startandendpoint.Ifthereisnoendpoint,theline
betweenthestartpointanddirectionpointisused.
EndVec:UsedwiththeLINEscan,theendvector
istheapproachvectorattheendpointofthescan.
DirVec:UsedwiththeLINEscan,thedirection
vectoristhevectorfromthestartpointtothedirection
point.
I,J,KDisplaystheIJKvectorinformationforthevector.
SurfaceThickbox Usedwithallthebasicscans,thisboxallowsyoutoinputpart
thickness.PCDMISwillapplythismaterialthickness
automaticallywhenusingCADsurfacedata.Thisthicknesswillbe
appliedalongthesurfacenormalvectorwhenFINDNOMSmode
isselectedandPCDMISpiercestheCADsurfacestogetthe
nominals.
ControlPointsbutton UsedwiththeLINEscan,thisbuttondisplaysaControlPoints
dialogbox.Thisdialogboxcontainscontrolswithsimilaritiesto
theControlPointstab.See"ControlPointsTab"tofind
equivalentdocumentationfortheControlPointsdialogbox.
Thisbuttonwillonlyappearifyouareusingacontinuouscontact
probe(analogprobe),suchastheSP600,andyoucanselectit
onceyou'vedefinedtheStart,DirectionandEndPointsofthe
LINEscan.
Typelist ThisdefinesthetypeofCIRCLE,CYLINDER,orCENTERscanto
perform.

WhenusedwithCIRCLEandCYLINDERscans,thisswitches
between:
IN:Definesthescanasahole
OUT:Definesthescanasastud
PLANE:Aplanecircleisexecutedontheplane
thecircleislyingon.
WhenusedwithCENTERscans,thisswitchesbetweenavailable
centeringmethods:
Axis:TheStartPoint(S)isprojectedonthe
definedAxis (A).Theresultingpointis (SP). The
InitVecisprojectedintheplanedefinedbythe
Projectedpoint (SP) andtheaxialdirection (A).The
direction (N) thusdefinedisverticaltotheaxial
direction.Thereafter,ascenteringisperformed,the
probescenterpointremainsintheplanedefinedby
theaxialdirectionand (SP).Centeringtakeswith/
againstthedirection (N) asaninput,andtheprobetip
isfreeinthedirectiondefinedbytheaxialdirection
(A)crossingthedirection(N).
S=StartPoint
A=DefinedAxis/Axialdirection
SP=ProjectedStartPoint
N=Directionverticaltotheaxialdirection
Plane:AfterprobingthepointdefinedbytheStart
Point,theCMMcenterswith/againsttheprobe
directionwhileremainingfreeintheplanedefinedby
theCutVec.
Diameterbox UsedwiththeCIRCLEorCYLINDERscans,thisisthediameter
valueofthefeaturetoscan.
Conicalcheckbox UsedwithCIRCLEscans,thischeckboxletsyouscanmore
quicklywhennotperpendiculartothepartsurface.PCDMIS
continuestomonitortheprobeforceasneeded.
StartAnglebox UsedwithaCIRCLEscan,thisdefinesthestartangle(indegrees
toscan)fromthestartpoint.Bothpositiveanglesandnegative
anglescanbeused.Positiveanglesareconsidered
counterclockwiseandnegativeanglesareconsideredclockwise.
TheCutVecisconsideredtheaxisaboutwhichtheanglerotates.
EndAnglebox UsedwithaCIRCLEscan,thisisthesameastheStartAngle
boxexceptitdefinestheendingangle.WithStartandEndAngles
youcandefineaspecificportionofaholeorstudtoscan.
Anglebox UsedwiththeCYLINDERscan,thisdefineshowfararoundthe
cylindertoscan.Forexample,ifyoutype360,itwillscanone
completerevolutionsifyoutype720,itwillscantworevolutions,
andsoforth.
Depthbox UsedwiththeCIRCLEandCYLINDERscans,thisisthedepth

appliedagainsttheCutVecdirection.Bothpositiveandnegative
valuescanbeused.
Pitchbox UsedwiththeCYLINDERscan,thePitchboxdefinesthe
distancebetweenthreadsalongtheaxisofthefeature.This
allowsyourscantomoveinaspirallikefashionalongthe
cylinder.
ExampleWireframeViewofCylinderScanUsingPitch
FilterTab
BASICSCANdialogboxFilterTab
AvailableoptionsfortheFiltertabarethefollowing:
DistanceFilterThisdoesthesamethingasthe"LineTechnique"withaLinear
Openscan.
VariableFilterSeeLinearOpenin"VariableTechnique".Thisscanning
techniqueisonlyavailablefortheLinescan.
NullFilterSee"NullFilterTechnique".

TheMaxIncrementboxintheFiltertaballowsyoutosettheincremental
distancebetweenhitsonascan.Forexample,if.5isenteredthenthescanwill
touchthepartatincrementsof.5.
HitTypeTab
BASICSCANdialogboxHitTypeTab
Thisdeterminesthetypeofhitsusedforthescan.AvailableoptionsfortheHitTypetabarethe
following:
VECTOR
SURFACE(OnlyavailableforLinescans)
TheHitTypecorrespondstotheHitTypeinscansdefinedpreviously.SeeHitTypein"Hit
Controlsarea"in"CommonFunctionsoftheScanDialogBox".
BoundaryTab

BASICSCANdialogboxBoundarytab
SomeoftheBasicScanslikeCircle,Cylinder,Axis,andCenterdonotneedaBoundarycondition
sincetheyareexecutedbythecontroller.AvailableoptionsfortheBoundaryarethefollowing:
Plane
Sphere
Cylinder
Cone
Oldstyle
See"BoundaryTypearea"foradescriptionofthesetypes.
ExecuteModeTab
BASICSCANdialogboxExecuteModetab

TheexecutemodesavailableintheExecuteModetabarethefollowing:
NORMAL
RELEARN
DEFINED
See"ExecControlsarea"in"ExecutionTab"formoreinformationontheNormal,Relearn,and
Definedmodes.
FEATUREThisexecutemodeisavailableonlyforAnalogProbeHeads.When
thisisselected,PCDMISusesthebuiltinHighSpeedscanningcapabilityofthe
controllertoexecuteascan.
Example:IfyouselectedaCirclescan,PCDMISwilluseacorrespondingCirclescanning
commandinthecontrollerandpassontheparameterstothecontrollertoexecute.Inthiscase,
PCDMISdoesnotcontrolexecutionofthescans.
TheFEATUREexecutemodealsoallowsyoutousethefollowingcheckboxestofurther
customizehowPCDMISBasicscansaredoneusingthismode:
UseHSSDATIfyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMISsendsadistinctsetofpointsdefining
thefeaturemeasurementpathtothecontroller.Ifyoudon'tselectthischeckbox,PCDMIS
willsendthefeaturespecificparameterstothecontroller.
UseStart/EnddelaypointsYoumustalsoselecttheUseHSSDATcheckboxtousethis
functionality.Ifyouselectthischeckbox,PCDMIStakesthepointssenttothecontrollerand
discardsthosepointstakenduringaccelerationanddecelerationoftheprobeduringthe
scan.Thishelpstoimprovetheoverallaccuracyofthescan.
Note:ThesecheckboxesonlyworkwithcontrollersusingLeitzinterfaces.
NominalsModeTab
BASICSCANdialogboxNominalsModetab

TheNominalModesavailablearethefollowing(SeeNominalslistinthe"NominalsMethod
area"):
MASTERcorrespondstoMastermodedescribedinthe"NominalsMode"
section.
FINDNOMScorrespondstoFindNomsmodedescribedinthe"NominalsMode"
section.YoucantypeinaFindNomsTolerancethatcanbeappliedwhenfinding
nominalsforaBasicScan.
UseBestfitThischeckboxcausesPCDMIStousebestfitalgorithmsonthedatafoundfrom
theoriginalFINDNOMSoperationandthenrepeattheFINDNOMSoperation.Thisfindsthe
nominaldatawithgreateraccuracywhentheactualparthasalotoferrorwithrespecttotheCAD
data.See"See"NominalsMode".
FindNomsOnlyOnSelectedSurfaceThischeckboxcausesPCDMIStolookfornominal
valuesforascan'smeasuredpointsononlytheselectedsetofsurfaces.
Note: WiththeCircle,Cylinder,andAxistypesofBasicScans,thereisnoneedtohaveCAD
datatofindthenominals.ToexecutetheBasicScan,PCDMISobtainsthenominalsfromthe
nominaldatayousupply.
Forexample,ifyoutypedinnominaldata,suchascenteranddiameter,toexecutethecircle,
thatdatawouldbeusedtofindthenominalsfortheCirclescan.
GeneralTab
BASICSCANdialogboxGeneraltab
Theoptionsinthisdialogboxhavebeendescribedin"CommonFunctionsoftheScanDialog
Box".
AdditionalManualScanOptions
Inadditiontothescanningoptionsdetailedin"CommonFunctionsoftheScanDialogBox",PC
DMISofferstheseadditionaloptionswhiledoingmanualscans.

NewRow
TheNewRowcommandbuttonallowsyoutostartanewrowforthescan.Thisbuttonisonly
availablewhenamanualscanisbeinglearned.ItislocatedintheExecutionModeOptions
dialogbox.
TousetheNewRowcommandbutton:
1. PressStoptopausethescan.
2. SelecttheNewRowbutton.Thiswillindicatethatanewrowisabouttobe
scanned.
Or
1. SelecttheNewRowbuttonfirst.PCDMISwillautomaticallypausethescan.
2. Movetheprobetothenextrow.
3. PresstheContinuebutton.
4. PCDMISwillbeginscanningthenewrow.
ScanDone
TheScanDonecommandbuttonalertsPCDMISthatthescaniscomplete.Thisbuttonisonly
availablewhenamanualscanisbeingexecuted(learned).ItislocatedintheExecutionMode
Optionsdialogbox.Asyouexecutethescan,dataisgatheredbyPCDMISfromtheCMM.
Simultaneously,PCDMISfilters(reduces)thedataaccordingtothemethod(FixedTime,Fixed
Distance,FixedTime/Distanceetc.)youprovide.Datathatdoesnotsatisfythecriteria(such
asFixedTimeorDistanceincrements)areexcludedanddatathatsatisfythecriteriaarekept.
Insomeearlierversions,aReducebuttonwasavailablebutinthisversionthatisnotused.
WhenyoupresstheScanDonecommandbutton,PCDMISstopscollectingdataandprocesses
thedataforfindingNominals,Vectorcompensationetc.

InsertingMoveCommands
InsertingMoveCommands:Introduction
Thischapterdiscussesthevariousmovecommandsthatcanbeplacedinyourpartprogram.
Movecommandsprovideyouwiththeabilitytoalterthemovementoftheprobebetweenhits.
Themaintopicscoveredinthischapterreflectthemovecommandsthatyoucaninsertfromthe
Insert|Movesubmenuandanyothermovecommands.Thesetopicsinclude:
InsertingaMovePointCommand
InsertingaMoveIncrementCommand
InsertingaClearancePlane
InsertingaMoveClearPlaneCommand
InsertingaMoveCircularCommand
InsertingaMoveSyncCommand
InsertingaMoveSweepCommand
InsertingaMoveAllCommand
InsertingaMoveRotaryTableCommand
InsertinganExclusionZoneCommand
Thesearediscussedbelowindetail.
InsertingaMovePointCommand
TheMovePointcommandallowsyoutoinsertamovepointintothepartprogram.WhenPC
DMISencountersthiscommandtheprobewillmovetothatlocation.
Tousethisoption,selecttheInsert|Move|MovePointmenuoptionortheOperation|Move
To menuoption.IfyouselectedMovePoint,PCDMISwillautomaticallyinsertamovepoint
commandatthecurrentprobelocationandyouwillneedtomodifytheXYZvalues.Ifyou
selectedMoveTo,PCDMISwilldisplaytheMovePointdialogboxallowingyoutofilloutthe
informationbeforethecommandisinserted.
IfyouattempttoinsertthemovepointinalocationthatPCDMISdoesn'tallow,thesoftwarewill
askyouifyouwanttoinsertthemovepointatthenextvalidlocation.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasampleMovePointwouldread:
MOVE/POINTtog1,x,y,z
tog1ThisfielddisplayseitherNORMALorRELEARN.
x,y,zThesefieldsdisplaythemovepointlocation.
TochangethedisplayedvaluesintheEditwindow,selectthedesiredvalueandtypeanew
value,orpressF9onthecommandtoaccessthe Movepointdialogbox.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual InsertingMoveCommands 973

MovePointdialogbox
ThisdialogboxprovidesyouwithamoreuserfriendlywayofcreatingoreditingtheMOVE/POINT
commandaswellasadditionaloptionsforthemovepoint.
Inversion3.5andlaterwhenyouinsertaMOVE/POINT command,PCDMISautomaticallymarksit
forexecution.
UsingMovePointsWhileAnimating
IfthismenuoptionisselectedduringprobepathanimationwiththeCMM,PCDMISwill
alwaysaskwhetherthemoveistobeinsertedbeforeorafterthecurrentposition.The
currentpositionwillbelistedinthestatusbar.
InsertingMovePointsBetweenAutoFeatureHits
YoucaninsertMOVE/POINT commandsbetweenautofeatures'HIT/BASIC commands.Youwill

needtousetheInsert|Move|MovePoint menuitemtodothis.Copyingandpastingthis
commandwillnotwork.TheEditwindowmustalsobeinCommandmode.
InsertingMovePointsfromtheStatusBar
TheabilitytoinsertamovepointcanalsobeaccessedwhilethesystemisinProgramMode,
byplacingthecursoronthestatusbaroverthereadoutsandclickingtheleftmousebutton.
InsertingMovePointsfromtheJogBox
974 Inserting MoveCommands PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

PressingthePRINTbuttononthejogbox(onSharpe32systems)whileinLearnmodewill
automaticallyinsertamoveintothepartprogram.ThePrintButtonentryoftheregistry
mustbesettoTRUEforthisfunctiontobeavailable.
Note:SelectingtheOperation|MoveTomenuoptionwilldisplaytheMovePointdialogbox
insteadofautomaticallyinsertingaMovePointintothepartprogram.Thisallowsyoutospecify
theXYZlocationtheprobeshouldmoveto.
XYZMove
TheXYZMoveboxesdisplaytheX,Y,andZnominalforthepositionoftheMOVE/POINTorthe
incrementdistanceoftheMOVE/INCREMENTcommand.
TochangetheX,Y,orZvalues:
1. Selectthefieldyouwanttochange.
2. Typeanewvalue.
Afteranewvalueisentered,PCDMISwilldrawtheanimatedprobeatthenewlocation.This
indicatesthelocationofthestoredmove.WhentheCreatebuttonisclicked,PCDMISwillinsert
theMovecommandandpositiontheCMMtothelocationspecified.Ifyoucreatedanoffset
move,itwillupdatethevaluesintheXYZboxestomatchthecomputedoffsetlocation.
OffsetMove
TheOffsetMovearealetsyoucreatemovepointsoffsetfromaselectedCADpointorfroma
selectedfeature'scentroid.
OffsetThisboxdeterminestheoffsetdistancefromtheCADpointorfeaturecentroid.The
unitofmeasurementisthesameasyourpartprogram.Thedefaultis50mmor1.96inches.
OffsetfromCADThisoptionwhenyouclickontheCADwillcomputethemovepointatthe
selectedpointonthesurfaceandwilloffsetthemovepointbythespecifieddistance.
Ifyoudon'tselectOffsetAlongTipVector,themovepointiscreatedoffset
awayfromthesurfacealongsurface'snormalvector.

Ifyoudoselectit,themovepointiscreatedinthedirectionoftheprobetip's
vector.
OffsetfromFeatureThisoption,ifyouclickonafeature,willcomputethemovepointby
theoffsetdistanceatthefeature'scentroid.
Ifyoudon'tselectOffsetAlongTipVector,themovepointiscreatedoffsetin
thedirectionofthefeature'svector.
Ifyoudoselectit,themovepointiscreatedinthedirectionoftheprobetip's
vector.
OffsetAlongTipVectorIfyouselectthisoption,PCDMISwilloffsetthemovepointalong
theactivetip'svector.Ifyoudon'tselectit,PCDMISwilloffsetthemovepointalongeither
theCAD'ssurfacevectororalongthefeature'svector.
Note:Differentfeaturetypeshavedifferentvectors,whenoffsettingalongavectorofthefeature,
PCDMISwillusethevectorthatgivesthebestrepresentationofbeing"outward"fromthe
surfaceofthepart.
StoreMove
IftheStoreMovecheckboxisselected,theappropriatemovecommand(MOVE/POINTor
MOVE/INCREMENT)forthegivenX,Y,Zvalueswillbeinsertedintothepartprogram.
OKtoMove
IftheOKtoMovecheckboxisselected,PCDMISwillimmediatelymovetheprobetotheX,Y,
Zposition(orbytheX,Y,Zincrementamount)whenyouclickOKorCreate.Thisallowsyouto
positiontheCMMwithoutstoringthemove.ThisoptionfillsintheX,Y,Zvalueswiththecurrent
positionoftheprobe.
LearnDuringExecution
IfyouselecttheLearnDuringExecutioncheckbox,PCDMISwillmovetoandrelearntheXYZ
pointlocationdisplayedinthedialogboxwhenitexecutesthepartprogram.Youmustalsoselect
theStoreMovecheckboxforthiscommandtowork.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanmovepointthatPCDMISwillrelearnduringprogram
execution,wouldread:
MOVE/POINT,RELEARN
InsertingaMoveIncrementCommand
TheInsert|Move|MoveIncrement... menuoptiondisplaystheMoveIncrementdialogbox.
Youwillusethisdialogboxtodefinethemoveincrementcommandbeforeyouinsertitintoyour
partprogram.

MoveIncrementdialogbox
WhenyouclickOK,PCDMISwillinserttheMoveIncrementcommand.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforaMoveIncrementwouldread:
MOVE/INCREMENT,x,y,z
WhenPCDMISencountersthiscommanditmovestheprobetheindicatedXYZdistance(notan
XYZlocationasinaMOVE/POINTcommand).YoumustselecttheStoreMovecheckboxfor
thiscommandtoappearintheEditwindow.
XYZMove
TheXYZMoveboxesdisplaytheX,Y,andZnominalforthepositionoftheMOVE/POINTorthe
incrementdistanceoftheMOVE/INCREMENTcommand.
TochangetheX,Y,orZvalues:
1. Selectthefieldyouwanttochange.
2. Typeanewvalue.
Afteranewvalueisentered,PCDMISwilldrawtheanimatedprobeatthenewlocation.This
indicatesthelocationofthestoredmove.WhentheCreatebuttonisclicked,PCDMISwillinsert
theMovecommandandpositiontheCMMtothelocationspecified.Ifyoucreatedanoffset
move,itwillupdatethevaluesintheXYZboxestomatchthecomputedoffsetlocation.
StoreMove
IftheStoreMovecheckboxisselected,theappropriatemovecommand(MOVE/POINTor
MOVE/INCREMENT)forthegivenX,Y,Zvalueswillbeinsertedintothepartprogram.
OKtoMove

IftheOKtoMovecheckboxisselected,PCDMISwillimmediatelymovetheprobetotheX,Y,
Zposition(orbytheX,Y,Zincrementamount)whenyouclickOKorCreate.Thisallowsyouto
positiontheCMMwithoutstoringthemove.ThisoptionfillsintheX,Y,Zvalueswiththecurrent
positionoftheprobe.
InsertingaClearancePlane
TheCLEARP command(Insert|ParameterChange|ClearancePlanes)allowsyoutodefinea
clearanceplanevalueforthecurrentworkingplane.Clearanceplanes,inessence,createan
envelopearoundapartwheretheprobewillalwaystraveltowhenmovingfromonefeatureto
another.
TheClearPlanetaboftheParametersdialogboxallowsyoutoturnclearanceplaneson
globally.TheCLEARPcommandonlydefinestheclearanceplaneforthefirsthitofafeature.To
setadditionalclearanceplanesforafeature,openanewlineatthedesiredlocationandtypethe
command:CLEARP.
Foranindepthdiscussionondefiningandworkingwithclearanceplanes,see"Parameter
Settings:ClearPlanetab"in"SettingYourPreferences".
InsertingaMoveClearPlaneCommand
TheInsert|Move|MoveClearplanecommandallowsyoutoinserttheMOVE/CLEARPLANE
commandbetweenblocksandwithinfeatures.
ThiscommandworksinconjunctionwiththeCLEARP/ command.Eachtimea
MOVE/CLEARPLANEcommandisencounteredduringexecution,itwillmovetheprobetothe
clearanceplanedefinedbytheCLEARP/ command.Theprobewillremainattheclearance
planeuntilacommandisencounteredthewillmovetheprobeawayfromtheclearanceplane
suchasaMEAS,HIT,orMOVE/POINTcommand.Ifyouwanttheprobetomovetothe
clearanceplanebeforeeachhitofameasuredcirclethenaMOVE/CLEARPLANEcommandmust
beinserteddirectlybeforeeachHIT/command.
YoucanalsoinsertMOVE/CLEARPLANE commandsbetweenautofeatures'HIT/BASIC commands.

YouwillneedtousetheInsert|Move|MoveClearplanemenuitemtodothiscopyingand
pastingthiscommandwillnotwork.TheEditwindowmustalsobeinCommandmode.
PCDMISwillsearchfortheclearanceplanedefinition.Forthiscommandtowork,the
parametersmusthavealreadybeenset.
TosettheparametersforaClearplanecommand:
2. SelecttheClearPlanetab.
3. TypethedistancefortheValueboxintheActivePlanearea.
4. TypethedistancefortheclearanceplaneintheValueboxofthePassThrough
area.
5. SelecttheClearancePlanesActivecheckbox.
Iftheparametershavenotbeenset,PCDMISwilldisplayanerrormessage.

TheEditwindowcommandlineforasampleMoveClearplanewouldread:
MOVE/CLEARPLANE
Foranindepthdiscussionondefiningandworkingwithclearanceplanes,see"Parameter
Settings:ClearPlanetab"in"SettingYourPreferences".
InsertingaMoveCircularCommand
TheInsert|Move|MoveCircularoptionallowsyoutoinsertaMOVE/CIRCULARcommandat
thecursor'slocationintheEditwindow.
WhenPCDMISencountersthiscommand,theprobefollowsacircularpathwhentakingthenext
hit.Itwillmovefromonepointtoanotherinacircularfashionbasedontheradiusofthefeature
beingmeasured.
Bytakingacircularpath,theprobemayavoidcollidingwithcertainfeaturesthatwouldotherwise
beinthewayofthestandardstraightlinepath.Forexample,ifyou'remeasuringaholethathas
asquarepininside,thatpinmayblockyourprobepathunlessMoveCircularisused.
A
Circular
path
avoids
inside
feature
B
Normal
path
collides
with
inside
feature
C
Probe
Hits
D
Probe
Path
Overall,thiscommandhasveryspecificuses,althoughusingittomeasureapinspeedsup
measurementsomewhatsincePCDMISdoesn'thavetomoveasfarawayfromitslasthit.
InsertingaMoveSyncCommand
Multiplearmpartprogramshavecommandsthatcontrolmultiplearms.Eachmachineexecutes
thesecommandsseparately,keepingbotharmsmoving.

TheInsert|Move|MoveSyncmenuoptionallowsyoutoinsertaMOVE/SYNC commandintothe
Editwindow.
Usingthiscommandondualarmmachinesallowyoutosynchronizethemotionofthearms.
WhicheverarmreachestheMOVE/SYNCcommandinthepartprogramfirstwillstopandwaituntil
theotherarmalsoarrivesbeforetheyproceedtogetherwiththerestofthepartprogram.
InsertingaMoveSweepCommand
TheInsert|Move|MoveSweepmenuiteminsertsthefollowingsweepblockintotheEdit
window.
SWEEPSTART/
SWEEPEND/
MOVE/SWEEP MovementcommandsinsertedbetweenSweepstartandSweependwillcausethe
probetomoveinallfiveaxessimultaneously(threeoftheseaxesaretheX,Y,andZaxes,used
whenmovingthemachineitself.Theothertwoaxesrefertotheprobe'sABanglemovement)if
usingaPHSwristforaSharpe32Zcontroller.
Note:Thiscommandwillfunctiononlywithacontinuous typewrist(CW43,CW43Light,orPHS)
andonlywithaRenishawSP600orWolf&BeckOTM3laserprobe(probedevicessuchasthose
fromPerceptronorMetrismayalsofunction).However,sinceSP600saren'tusuallysoldwith
infinitelyindexingwristdevices,thisfunctionalityisverymuchlimitedtotheOTM3laserprobe.
Movementinthesefiveaxestakesplacesimultaneously.ThisdiffersfromaPH9wrist,which
mustfirstmovethemachineintheX,Y,andZaxes.Then,whenthemachinestops,theprobe
orientation(ABangles)moves.
Example:SupposeyourcurrentCMM'spositionis10,10,10(intheX,Y,andZaxes),andyour
wrist'sorientation(ABposition)is0,0.IfyouwantedtomovetheCMMto20,20,20andthe
probe'sorientationto0,180,aPHSwristusingMoveSweepcommands,couldaccomplishboth
movementssimultaneously.APH9wrist,however,wouldfirstmovetheCMMandthenthewrist
orientation.
Forcomparison:
APH9wristisabletomovebetween0to110intheAaxisand+180to180
intheBaxis.
APHSwristisabletomovebetween180and+180inboththeAandBaxes
at.1degreeincrements.
AdvantagesofusingMoveSweepcommandsinclude:
Amuchmorefluidmovementavailable,makingiteasiertomeasurehardto
reachfeatures.
TimesavedsinceyounolongerhavetowaitfortheCMM'sramandarmtomove
totheX,Y,andZlocationbeforechangingtheProbe'sorientation.
Reducedvibrationslightlyimprovesaccuracy.

Note:PCDMISrequiresatleastthreeMOVE/SWEEPcommandsbetweentheSWEEPSTART/and
SWEEPEND/commandblock.Thesemovecommandsareessentialtogeneratetheelliptical
movementpath.
InsertingaMoveAllCommand
TheMOVE/ALL command TheInsert|Move|MoveAllmenuoptioninsertsaMOVE/ALL
willfunctionwithany commandintotheEditwindow.
motorizedprobehead
continuousor AMOVE/ALLcommandisthesameasaMOVE/POINTcommand
indexingandanyprobe combinedwithaTIP/command.Thiscommandhasthebenefitof
combination. rotatingtheprobeheadtogetherwithmachinemovement.
Whenusingawristdevice(PHS,CW43L,orCW43)thismovement
issynchronizedsuchthatthewrist'sABmovementwillstartand
enditsmotionatthesametimethatthemachinestartsandends
theX,Y,andZmovement.
WhenusingthiscommandwithanindexablewristsuchasaPH10M,thismovementcannotbe
synchronizedandwilloccuratanunspecifiedtimeduringthemachinemovement(dependingon
timedelaysinthesignalprocessingoftheelectronichardware).Becauseofthis,theABwrist
movementmaynotalwayscompletebythetimethemachineperformstheX,Y,andZmove.
TheMOVE/ALLEditwindowcommandlookslikethis:
MOVE/ALL,X,Y,Z,TIP=T1A0B0,SHANKIJK=0,0,1,ANGLE=0
X,Y,ZallowyoutospecifytheX,Y,andZcoordinatestowhichtomovethe
probe.
TIP=T1A0B0showstheABwristmovementtoperform.
SHANKIJK=IJKallowsyoutospecifytheshank'svector.
ANGLE=0specifiesthetheoreticalangle.
NotethattheprobeheadanglewillusuallybeapredefinedTIPposition.
InsertingaMoveRotaryTableCommand
TheInsert|Move|MoveRotaryTablemenuitemallowsyouinsertaMOVE/ROTABcommand
atthecursor'scurrentlocation.ThecompletecommandlineintheEditwindowis
MOVE/ROTAB,angle,DIRECTION
Direction=determinesthedirectionofthetablerotation.Availableoptionsare:
Clockwise: Rotatesthetableinaclockwisedirection
untilitreachestheangleenteredinthe
RotateTableAnglebox.
Counterclockwise: Rotatesthetableinacounterclockwise
directionuntilitreachestheangleentered
intheRotateTableAnglebox.
Shortest: Rotatestakingtheshortestroute(either

ClockwiseorCounterclockwise)untilit
reachestheangleenteredintheRotate
TableAnglebox.
Uponencounteringthiscommand,PCDMISwillrotatethetabletoapositiondeterminedby
whicheverMOVE/ROTAB commandisactive.
Example:ConsiderapartprogramthathasmultipledifferentMOVE/ROTAB commands.Ifyou
clickonaparticularportionofthepartprogramandselecttheMoveRotaryTablemenuoption,
PCDMISrotatesthetabletothepositiondeterminedbywhicheverMOVE/ROTAB commandis
activeatthatpointinthepartprogram.
Thismenuoptionisonlyavailableifyourportlockisconfiguredforrotarytables.
InsertinganExclusionZoneCommand
TheInsert|Move|ExclusionZone menuoptionallowsyoutoinsertanexclusionzonesothat
thetwoarmsonadualarmsystemdon'tcollidewitheachother.
SelectingthisoptionopenstheExclusiveMoveZonedialogbox.
ExclusiveMoveZonedialogbox
YoucanusethisdialogboxtoinsertaMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE commandintotheEditwindow.
TheMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE commandappliestoeitherthemasterortheslavearm.
BeforePCDMISexecutesthiscommanditmakessurethatthearmassignedtothecommand
hasnotalreadyrequestedanexclusivemovezonethatoverlapswiththenewrequest.
Ifthereisaconflictofmovement,theMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE commandwill
Waituntilthearmassignedtothecommandhasreleasedthecommanded
volume
ProceedtoexecutethemotioncommandslistedbelowtheMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE
command.

DefiningtheExclusionZone
Therearesomethingstokeepinmindwhiledefininganexclusion
zone:
ThereneedstobeaMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE commandbeforeeachsectionof
motioncommandsinthepartprogramthatcommandseitherarmintotheoverlapping
regionofthedualarmvolume.TheMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE commandshould
definea3Dboxaroundallthemotionthatisabouttobecommandedinthe
overlappedareaofthedualarmCMM.
TheremustbeanMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=OFFcommandaftertheprobehas
beenwithdrawnfromtheoverlappedpartofthedualarmCMM.
Forexampleifyouwanteacharmtocheckacommonsphereusingautomaticsphere
commands,youshouldsetupthepartprogramlikethis:
MOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=ON(forArm1)
AUTO/SPHERE(forArm1)
MOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=OFF(forArm1)
MOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=ON(forArm2)
AUTO/SPHERE(forArm2)
MOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=OFF(forArm2)
Thefollowingstepsdescribehowtodefinetheexclusionzone.
Step1TurnonExclusiveMove
SelecttheTurnexclusivemoveoncheckbox.ThisallowsyoutoedittheX,Y,andZvalues
undertheCornerPoint1andCornerPoint2options.
Alternately,ifyouclickonanalreadyinsertedMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE commandintheEditwindow
andpresstheF9key,theExclusiveMoveZonedialogboxopens,andyouareabletoselector
deselectthischeckbox.
IfthisboxisselectedwhenyouclicktheOKbutton,PCDMISwilldisplaythe
followingcommandintheEditwindow:
MOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=ON,CORNER1=x,y,z,CORNER2=x,y,z
IfthisboxisnotselectedwhenyouclicktheOKbutton,PCDMISwilldisplaythe
followingcommandintheEditwindow:
MOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=OFF
Step2EnterCornerPointValues
TypetheX,Y,andZvaluesforCorner1andCorner2.Youcanreadintheprobe'scurrentinto
theselectedcornerpointbyclickingtheReadPositionbutton.
Definingtwocornerssetsuptheexclusionzonebesuretoselectthecornerpointsthatwill
correctlydefinetheexclusionzone.Thetwopoints(corner1andcorner2)representtwocorners
thatarediagonalfromeachother.

Arectangularzonecanbecreatedin3Dspacefromtwopointsifyouusethecurrentcoordinate
systemtocreatethesides.Acombinationofdifferentpartsofthetwopointscanconstructthe
eightpointsneededtoformtherectangulararea.
Example:
Firstcorner=X1,Y1,Z1
Secondcorner=X2,Y2,Z2
Thirdcorner=X1,Y1,Z2
Forthcorner=X1,Y2,Z1
Fifthcorner=X1,Y2,Z2
Sixthcorner=X2,Y1,Z1
Seventhcorner=X2,Y1,Z2
Eightcorner=X2,Y2,Z1
Step3ClickOK
FinishdefiningtheExclusionZonebyclickingtheOKbutton.PCDMISthenplacesthedefined
informationintotheEditwindowwhichreads:
MOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=TOG1,CORNER1=X,Y,Z,CORNER2=X,Y,Z
TOG1 Thisdefineswhethertheexclusionzoneisin
effectornot.Thistogglefieldswitchesbetween
ONandOFF.
X,Y,Z Thesecoordinatesdefinethecornerpointsused
toformtheexclusionzone.
ClickingtheCancelbuttonclosesthedialogboxwithoutmakinganychangestoyourpart
program.
ExclusionZoneswithIterativeAlignments
Ifyouareusingexclusionzoneswithiterativealignments,PCDMISautomaticallycomputesthe
startingandendinglinesoftheprogramthataretobereexecuted.ThismeansPCDMISends
executionatthelastfeatureusedaspartoftheiterativealignment.Thiscouldpreventanarm
fromreleasingtheexclusionzonetotheotherarm,therebystoppingtheprogram.
Toresolvethis,insertastartlabelfortheiterativealignment.PCDMISwillexecutefromthelabel
tothecommandjustinfrontoftheiterativealignment,causingarmstoreleasetheexclusion
zone.
ee"StartLabel"under"DescriptionoftheIterativeAlignmentDialogBox"forinformationonhow
touseastartlabelwithiterativealignments.

BranchingbyUsingFlowControl
BranchingbyUsingFlowControl:Introduction
Supposeyouhaveapartwithmanyfeatures,butyoujustwanttomeasureafewfeaturesover
andovertogetacomprehensivestatisticalsetofdataforthosefeatures.Supposeyouwantto
jumptoaparticularpartinyourpartprogramdependentonaresponsefromtheuser.Youcan
accomplishtaskssuchasthese,andmanyothers,byusingflowcontrolcommands.Bysettingup
conditionsforcertaincommands,youcancontroltheflowofyourpartprogram.
Thischapterwillprovideyouwiththeinformationyouneedtoaccomplishsuchtasks.Itexplains
thesyntaxconditionalstatements,loops,andsubroutines.Italsoprovidesmanycodesamples.
Note: Whenloopingorbranchingoccursinthecodesamples,indentationhasbeenusedfor
claritytoshowstatementsassignedtoacertaincondition.IntheactualEditwindowcode,you
won'tseeanyindentation.
Themaintopicscoveredinthischapterincludethefollowing:
UsingControlPairs
CreatingGenericLoops
EndingGenericLoops
CreatingLabels
JumpingtoaLabel
JumpingtoaLabelBasedonConditions
BranchingonaCMMError
BranchingwithSubroutines
EndingaPartProgram
UsingControlPairs
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|ControlPairssubmenuoffersvariouspairedcommands
thatworkwithintheEditwindowtogovernor"control"theproperflowofthepartprogram.To
insertacontrolpairtypecommandintotheEditwindow,simplytypethecommand,orchoosea
commandfromthissubmenu.
Important: WhenusingaconditionalbranchingstatementtotestforathevalueofaYES/NO
comment,beawarethatyourtestshouldlookforanuppercase"YES"or"NO"value.A
lowercase"Yes"or"No"willnotwork.Forinformationoncomments,seethe"Inserting
ProgrammerComments"topicinthe"InsertingReportCommands"chapter.
If/EndIf
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|ControlPairs|If/EndIfmenuoptionallowsyoutoadd
aconditionalblocktothepartprogram.TheitemsbetweentheIFandtheENDIFcommandswill
onlyexecuteiftheexpressionfortheIFcommandevaluatestotrue(nonzero).Otherwise,flowof
executionwilljumptothefirstcommandaftertheEND/IFcommand.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual BranchingbyUsingFlowControl 985

TheEditwindowcommandlineforaIF/ENDIFstatementreads:
IF/expression
END_IF/
ToinserttheIf/EndIfcommands:
1. PlacethecursorinthedesiredlocationoftheEditwindow.
2. SelectIf/EndIffromthemenubar.TheIF/ENDIFstatementwillappearinthe
Editwindow.
CodeSampleofIf/EndIf
Considerthefollowingexamplethataskstheuserifheorshewouldlikemeasureapointfeature.
C1=COMMENT/YESNO,Wouldyouliketomeasurethepointfeature,PNT1?
IF/C1.INPUT=="YES"
PNT1=FEAT/POINT,RECT
...
...
ENDMEAS/
END_IF/
ExplanationofSampleCode
C1=COMMENT/YESNO
ThislinetakesandstorestheYESorNOresponsefromtheuser.
IF/C1.INPUT=="YES"
Thislineistheexpression.Itteststoseeiftheinputofcomment1isaYES.Ifit'saYESthen
theIFstatementisTRUEandcontinuesexecutingthestatementsaftertheIFstatement,in
thiscaseitmeasuresthePNT1 feature.IfNOitmovestotheEND_IFstatement.
END_IF
ThislineendstheexecutionofcommandsinsidetheIF/ENDIFblockofcode.Any
commandfollowingthislineiswherePCDMISwillgotoiftheuserclicksNoatthecomment.
ElseIf/EndElseIf
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|ControlPairs|ElseIf/EndElseIfmenuoptionallows
youtoaddaconditionalblocktothepartprogram.TheitemsbetweentheELSEIFandtheEND
ELSEIFcommandswillonlyexecuteiftheexpressionfortheELSEIFcommandevaluatesto
true(nonzero).TheELSEIF/ENDELSEIFblockmustbepositioneddirectlyafteranIF/ENDIF
blockoranotherELSEIF/ENDELSEIFblock.IfallIF/ELSEIFexpressionsabovethecurrent
blockhaveevaluatedtofalse,thentheexpressionwillbeevaluated.Iftheexpressionevaluates
tofalse(zero),thenexecutionwilljumptothenextcommandfollowingtheENDELSEIF
command.IfanyoftheIF/ELSE ifexpressionsabovethecurrentblockevaluatetotrue,all
subsequentELSEIF/ENDELSEIFblocksinthissequencewillbeskipped.
986 BranchingbyUsingFlowControl PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

TheEditwindowcommandlineforaELSEIF/ENDELSEIFstatementreads:
ELSE_IF/expression
END_ELSE_IF/
ToinserttheELSEIF/ENDELSEIFcommands:
1. PlacethecursorinthedesiredlocationoftheEditwindow,afteranexisting
IF/ENDIFstatementorELSEIF/ENDELSEIFstatement.
2. SelectElseIf/EndElseIf fromthemenubar.TheELSEIF/ENDELSEIF
statementwillappearintheEditwindow.
Note:ThistypeofblockisonlyvalidwhenpositionedafteranIF/ENDIForELSEIF/END
ELSEIFblock.InvalidlypositionedcontrolpairsareshowninredtextintheEditwindow.
CodeSampleofElseIf/EndElseIf
Considerthefollowingexamplethatdisplaysamessagenotifyingtheuserwhenanyoneofthe
X,Y,orZvaluesforameasuredpointexceedsdefinedtolerances:
...
...
ENDMEAS/
IF/PNT2.X<6.9ORPNT2.X>7.1
COMMENT/OPER,"ThemeasuredXvalueofPNT2:"+PNT2.X+"isoutoftolerance."
END_IF/
ELSE_IF/PNT2.Y<3.3ORPNT2.Y>3.5
COMMENT/OPER,"ThemeasuredYvalueforPNT2:"+PNT2.Y+"isoutoftolerance."
END_ELSEIF/
ELSE_IF/PNT2.Z<.9ORPNT2.Z>1.1
COMMENT/OPER,"ThemeasuredZvalueforPNT2:"+PNT2.Z+"isoutoftolerance."
END_ELSEIF/
ThiscodefirstteststheXvalueofthepoint.Iftheconditionevaluatestofalse,thenthecode
testsfortheYvalue.IftheconditionfortheYvalueevaluatestofalse,thenittestsfortheZ
value.
Ifanyoftheseconditionsevaluatestotrue,PCDMISdisplaysthecommentassociatedwithit
andskipstheremainingconditionalstatements.
IF/PNT2.X<6.9ORPNT2.X>7.1
Thislineistheexpression.ItteststoseeifthemeasuredXvalueislessthan6.9orgreater
than7.1.Ifitexceedseitheroftheseboundariesitexecutesthefirstcomment.
END_IF
commandfollowingthislineiswherePCDMISwillgotoiftheIFTHENconditionevaluates
tofalse.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual BranchingbyUsingFlow Control 987

ELSE_IF/PNT2.Y<3.3orPNT2.Y>3.5
ThislineistheexpressionforthefirstELSE_IFcommand.ItonlygetsexecutediftheIF/
ENDIFblockaboveitreturnsfalse.ItteststoseeifthemeasuredYvalueislessthan3.3or
greaterthan3.5.Ifitexceedseitheroftheseboundariesitexecutesthesecondcomment.
END_ELSEIF/
ThislineendstheexecutionofcommandsinsidethefirstELSEIF/ENDELSEIFblockof
code.
ELSE_IF/PNT2.Z<.9ORPNT2.Z>1.1
ThislineistheexpressionforthesecondELSEIFcommand.Itonlygetsexecutedifthe
ELSEIF/ENDELSEIFblockaboveitreturnsfalse.ItteststoseeifthemeasuredZvalueis
lessthan.9orgreaterthan1.1.Ifitexceedseitheroftheseboundariesitexecutesthethird
comment
END_ELSEIF/
ThislineendstheexecutionofcommandsinsidethesecondELSEIF/ENDELSEIFblock
ofcode.
Else/EndElse
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|ControlPairs|Else/EndElsemenuoptionallowsyou
toaddaconditionalblocktothepartprogram.TheitemsbetweentheELSEandtheENDELSE
commandswillexecuteonlyifallotherif/endifandelseif/endelseifblocksabovetheelse
blockhavefailed(Allevaluatedtozero).ELSE/ENDELSEblocksmustbelocatedattheendof
asetofIF/ENDIForELSEIF/ENDELSEIF blocksinordertobevalid.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforaELSE/ENDELSEstatementreads:
ELSE/
END_ELSE/
ToinsertElse/EndElsecommands:
1. PlacethecursorinthedesiredlocationoftheEditwindow.NotethatElse/END
ELSEblocksmustbepositionedafteraIF/ENDIForELSEIF/ENDELSEIF
blocks.
2. SelectElse/EndElsefromthemenubar.TheELSE/ENDELSEstatementwill
appearintheEditwindow.
CodeSampleofElse/EndElse
Considerthefollowingexamplethataskstheuserifheorshewouldlikemeasureapointfeature.
C1=COMMENT/YESNO,Wouldyouliketomeasurethepointfeature,PNT1?ClickingNomeasures
thenextfeature.
IF/C1.INPUT=="YES"
...
...
ENDMEAS/

END_IF/
ELSE
...
...
ENDMEAS/
ENDELSE
C1=COMMENT/YESNO
IF/C1.INPUT=="YES"
END_IF
commandfollowingthislineiswherePCDMISwillgotoiftheuserclicksNoatthecomment.
ELSE
IftheaboveIF/ENDIFblockevaluatestofalsethencommandlinesfallingafterthislineand
beforetheENDELSElinewillbeexecuted.Inthiscase,PNT2getsexecuted.
ENDELSE
ThislineendstheexecutionofcommandsinsidetheELSE/ENDELSEblockofcode.
While/EndWhile
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|ControlPairs|While/EndWhile menuoptionallows
youtoaddaconditionallooptothepartprogram.TheitemsbetweentheWHILEandtheEND
WHILEcommandwillcontinuetoexecuteinaloopuntilthecondition(orexpression)keeping
theloopactivatedisnolongermet,meaningtheexpressionforthewhileloopevaluatesto
FALSE(i.e.zero).TheWHILEcommandcanbeaddedanywhereinthepartprogram.The
expressionistestedatthestartofeachloop.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforaWHILE/ENDWHILEstatementreads:
WHILE/expression
END_WHILE/
ToinsertaWhile/EndWhileoption:
2. SelectWhile/EndWhilefromthemenubar.The WHILE/ENDWHILE
statementwillappearintheEditwindow.
CodeSampleofWhile/EndWhile

Considerthefollowingexamplethatmeasuresafeatureanamountspecifiedbythepartprogram
user.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,HowmanytimeswouldyouliketomeasurePNT1?Pleasetypeaninteger
only.
ASSIGN/COUNT=0
WHILE/COUNT<C1.INPUT
...
...
...
ENDMEAS/
ASSIGN/COUNT=COUNT+1
COMMENT/OPER,"Measured"+COUNT+"outof"+C1.INPUT+"times."
END_WHILE/
C1=COMMENT/INPUT
ThislinetakesandstorestheintegerinputfromtheuserintothevariableC1.INPUT.
ASSIGN/COUNT=0
ThislineinitializesCOUNT,auserdefinedvariable,andgivesitaninitialvalueof0.Thecode
usesthisvariabletocountthenumberoftimesPCDMISmeasuresthefeatureinsidethe
loop.
WHILE/COUNT<C1.INPUT
Thislineistheexpression.ItteststoifthevalueofCOUNT(initiallysetto0)islessthanthe
integerselectedbytheuser.Ifthisteststrue,thenthestatementsinfollowingWHILE/and
beforeEND_WHILE/areexecuted
ThislineincrementstheCOUNT variablebyonesothatiteventuallyexitstheloopwhenit
failstheconditiontest.
Thislinedisplaysamessageshowingthenumberoftimes,outofthetotal,thattheloopis
running.
END_WHILE
ThislineendstheexecutionofcommandsinsidetheWHILE/ENDWHILEblockaslongas
theconditionisfalse.OtherwisewhenPCDMISencountersthiscommanditloopsbackto
theWHILE statement.
Do/Until
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|ControlPairs|Do/Untilmenuoptionallowsyoutoadd
aconditionallooptothepartprogram.TheitemsbetweentheDOandtheUNTILcommandswill
continuetoexecuteinaloopuntiltheexpressionoftheUNTILcommandevaluatestoTRUE
(nonzero).TheDO/UNTILcommandscanbeaddedanywhereinthepartprogram.The
expressionistestedattheendofeachloop.

TheEditwindowcommandlineforaDO/UNTILstatementreads:
DO/
UNTIL/expression
ToinsertDO/UNTILcommands:
2. SelectDo/Untilfromthemenubar.TheDO/UNTILstatementswillappearin
theEditwindow.
CodeSampleofDo/Until
Considerthefollowingexamplethatmeasuresafeatureanamountspecifiedbythepartprogram
user.ThisissimilartotheexamplegivenundertheWhile/EndWhiletopic,exceptthatPCDMIS
testsfortheconditionattheendoftheloopinsteadofatthebeginning.
C1= COMMENT/INPUT,TypethenumberoftimesPCDMISshouldmeasurethePNT1
feature:(typeanintegeronly)
ASSIGN/COUNT=0
DO/
...
...
ENDMEAS/
COMMENT/OPER,"Measured"+COUNT+"outof"+ C1.INPUT+"times."
UNTIL/COUNT==C1.INPUT
C1=COMMENT/INPUT
ThislinetakesandstorestheintegerinputfromtheuserintothevariableC1.INPUT.
ASSIGN/COUNT=0
ThislineinitializesCOUNT,auserdefinedvariable,andgivesitaninitialvalueof0.Thecode
usesthisvariabletocountthenumberoftimesPCDMISmeasuresthefeatureinsidethe
loop.
DO/
BeginstheDO/UNTILloop.Allstatementsareexecutedatleastonceandprogramflow
exitsoutofthelooponcetheexpressionevaluatestofalse.
ThislineincrementstheCOUNT variablebyonesothatiteventuallyexitstheloopwhenit
failstheconditiontest.

Thislinedisplaysamessageshowingthenumberoftimes,outofthetotal,thattheloopis
running.
UNTIL/COUNT==C1.INPUT
ThislineendstheexecutionofcommandsinsidetheDO/UNTILloopaslongasthe
conditionevaluatestofalse.Otherwise,whenPCDMISencountersthiscommanditloops
backtotheDO statement.
Select/EndSelect
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|ControlPairs|Select/EndSelectmenuoptionallow
fortheadditionofaconditionalblockthatisusedinconjunctionwiththeCASE/ENDCASEand
DefaultCase/EndDefaultCasepairs.TheexpressionfortheSelectcommandprovidesdata
thatiscomparedagainsttheexpressionintheCasestatements.Ifthetwoexpressionsevaluate
tothesamething,thenthestatementswithintheCase/EndCaseBlockwillexecute.The
SELECT/ENDSELECTblocksurroundsthesetsofCASE/ENDCASEandDEFAULTCASE/
ENDDEFAULTCASEblocks.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforaSELECT/ENDSELECTstatementreads:
SELECT/expression
END_SELECT/
ToinserttheSelect/EndSelectcommands:
2. ChooseSelect/EndSelectfromthemenubar.TheSELECT/ENDSELECT
statementswillappearintheEditwindow.
CodeSampleofSelect/EndSelect
Thepairs, SELECT/END_SELECT,CASE /END_CASE,DEFAULTCASE/END_DEFAULTCASE,

allworktogetherevaluatemultipleconditionsprovidingawiderangeofalternatives.
Supposeyouhavefivecircles,labeledCIR1throughCIR5,andyouwanttheoperatortobeable
tomeasureacirclebysimplypressingakeyonthekeyboard.Youcouldusecodesimilartothe
following:
EntireCode
DO/
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Typeanumbertomeasurethatcircle:
,FORCIR1Type1
,FORCIR2Type2
,FORCIR3Type3
,FORCIR4Type4
,FORCIR5Type5
,Anyothercharacterexitstheloop
SELECT/C1.INPUT
CASE/1

CIR1=FEAT/CIRCLE
...
...
ENDMEAS/
END_CASE
CASE/2
CIR2=FEAT/CIRCLE
...
...
ENDMEAS/
END_CASE
CASE/3
CIR3=FEAT/CIRCLE
...
...
ENDMEAS/
END_CASE
CASE/4
CIR4=FEAT/CIRCLE
...
...
ENDMEAS/
END_CASE
CASE/5
CIR5=FEAT/CIRCLE
...
...
ENDMEAS/
END_CASE
DEFAULTCASE
COMMENT/OPER,Nowexitingloop.
END_DEFAULTCASE
END_SELECT
UNTILC1.INPUT<1ORC1.INPUT>5
SELECT/C1.INPUT
Thislineofcodetakesanumberorstringvalue(inthiscaseanumber)typedbytheuserand
determineswhichCASE/END_CASEblockwillexecutefromtheinput.NoticethatSELECT/
END_SELECT pairsurroundstheentirelistofcode.AllCASE/END_CASEandDEFAULT
CASE/END_DEFAULTCASEpairsmustresidewithinthesetwolines.
END_SELECT
ThismarkstheendofthecodeheldinsidetheSELECT/ENDSELECTpair.

CASE/1throughCASE/5
DependingonthevalueofC1.INPUT,oneoftheCASEcodeblocksexecutes.Forexample,
ifC1.INPUT evaluatesto1,theCASE1blockofcodeexecutes,measuringCIR1.Ifit
evaluatesto2,thentheCASE2blockofcodeexecutes,measuringCIR2,andsoforth.
END_CASE
Theselinesendthespecificcaseblocksofcode.
DEFAULTCASE
IfthevalueoftheC1.INPUTdoesntmatchanyofthedefinedCASEstatements(ifthevalue
isntanumberonethroughfive)thentheDEFAULTCASEcodeblockexecutes.Inthiscaseit
displaysamessagelettingyouknowthatyouareexitingtheloop.
NoticehowtheDO/UNTILloopsurroundstheentirecodesample.Thisallowstheuserto
continuetochoosefromthemenucreatedfromtheCOMMENT/INPUTlineuntiltheuserselectsa
characternotrecognizedbytheCASEstatements.
Case/EndCase
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|ControlPairs|Case/EndCasemenuoptionallows
youtoaddaconditionalblocktothepartprogram.TheitemsbetweentheCASEandtheEND
CASEcommandswillexecuteiftheexpressionforthecasestatementevaluatestoavalueequal
totheexpressionofthecorrespondingSELECTcommand.Otherwise,theblockofstatements
willbeskipped.TheCASE/ENDCASEstatementblockmustbelocateddirectlyafteraSELECT
commandoranENDCASEcommandofapreviousCASE/ENDCASEblock.Also,PCDMIS
cannotcomparemultipleexpressionsonasinglecasestatement.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforaCASE/ENDCASEstatementreads:
CASE/expression
END_CASE/
ToinserttheCase/EndCaseoption:
1. PlacethecursorinthedesiredlocationoftheEditwindow.Notethepositional
requirementsstatedabove.
2. SelectCase/EndCasefromthemenubar.TheCASE/ENDCASEstatements
willappearintheEditwindow.
DefaultCase/EndDefaultCase
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|ControlPairs|DefaultCase/EndDefaultCasemenu
optionallowsyoutoaddaconditionalblocktothepartprogram.Theitemsbetweenthe
DEFAULTCASEandtheENDDEFAULTCASEcommandswillexecuteifallotherexpressions
inpreviousCASE/ENDCASEblockswithinthecorrespondingSELECT/ENDSELECTblock
evaluatedtofalse.OnlyoneDEFAULTCASE/ENDDEFAULTCASEblockisallowedwithina
SELECT/ENDSELECTblock.TheDEFAULTCASE/ENDDEFAULTCASEblockmustbe
locatedafterallCASE/ENDCASEblockswithintheSELECT/ENDSELECTblock.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforaDEFAULTCASE/ENDDEFAULTCASEstatement
reads:
DEFAULTCASE/
END_DEFAULT_CASE/

ToinsertDEFAULTCASE/ENDDEFAULTCASEcommands:
1. PlacethecursorinthedesiredlocationoftheEditwindownotingpositional
limitationsasstatedabove.
2. SelectDefaultCase/EndDefaultCasefromthemenubar.TheDEFAULT
CASE/ENDDEFAULTCASEstatementswillappearintheEditwindow.
CreatingGenericLoops
LoopingParametersdialogbox
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|Loopingmenuoptionallowsyoutorepeatthepart
program(orportionsofthepartprogram)withorwithoutanyoftheoffsets.TheLOOPcommand
canbeaddedanywhereinthepartprogram,althoughthisfunctionismostusefulatthebeginning
andendoftheprogram.
UsesforLooping
Therearethreemainusesfortheloopingoption:
Youhaveamultiplepartfixturethatholdsagridofparts.Thefixtureshoulduse
consistentspacingbetweentherows.Thetranslation/rotationoffsetsallowyouto
indexfromoneparttothenextinthegridofparts.
Youhaveafixturethatholdsonepartandyouwanttoswapinanewpartbefore
eachloopoftheprogram.ACOMMENTcommandishelpfultostoptheCMMwhen
thepartisbeingreplacedwithanewone.Thecommandcanbeatthebeginningor
endoftheloop.
YouwanttousetheLOOPoptiontorotatethepartprogramtomeasurea
differentportionofthesamepart.Forexample,youcouldcreateapartprogramto
measureacomplicatedholepatternthatwasduplicated10timesonthepart.Your
partprogramwouldonlyneedtomeasureoneoftheholepatterns.TheLOOPoption
couldbeusedtooffsetthispartprogramtomeasuretheother9occurrencesofthe
pattern.
Note:Ifyou'reusinganalignmentinsideofaloopPCDMIS3.6andaboveallowsyoutousethe
activealignmentintheALIGNMENT/STARTcommandlineinsteadofalwaysrecallinga
previouslystoredalignment.Seethe"UsinganAlignmentInsideLoops"topicinthe"Creating
andUsingAlignments"chapter.

ToUseLooping:
1. SelectInsert|FlowControlCommand|Loopingfromthemenubar.The
LoopingParametersdialogboxwillappear.
2. Makeanynecessarychangestotheboxes.
3. Selectparametersasneeded(i.e.NumberofParts,StartNumber,Skip
Number,offsetsinXYorZ,Angle).
4. PlacethecursorinalocationintheEditwindowwhereyouwanttobeginthe
loop.
5. SelecttheOKbutton.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforloopingreads:
VARNAME=LOOP/START,ID=Y/N,NUMBER=0,START=1,SKIP=,
OFFSET:XAXIS=0,YAXIS=0,ZAXIS=0,ANGLE=0
Note:Tocompletetheloopingprocedure,youmusthaveanEndLoopcommandinsidetheEdit
window.PCDMISwillloopEditwindowcommandsthattheLOOP/STARTandLOOP/END
commandsencompass.See"EndLoop"formoreinformation.
EndNumber
TheEndNumberboxtellsPCDMIShowmanytimestoloopthroughthepartprogram.This
numberisusuallythesameasthenumberofpartsthatthefixtureholds(orpatternsonthepart)
inthex(yorz)direction.PCDMISwillalsoaskforthestartingpart(pattern)number.
Example:Youhave10partsinthex(yorz)direction,andyouwanttostartwithpositionnumber
5.Enter10(ten)fortheEndNumberboxand5(five)forintheStartNumberbox.
StartNumber
TheStartNumberboxtellsPCDMISthestartingpositionnumberinaseriesofparts.
Example:Youhave10parts,andyouwanttostartwithpositionnumber5,youwouldenter10
forthetotalnumberofpartsand5forthestartingposition.
SkipNumber
TheSkipNumberboxrepeatsapartprogramtheindicatednumberoftimes,allowingyoutoskip
aspecifiedincrement.
Example:Youcansettheparametertoskipeverythirdincrementoftheloop.Ifthenumber
threeisindicated,PCDMISwillmeasurethefirstandsecondpartandthenskiptothefourth
part.
AxesandAngleOffset

Theoffsetareacontainstheseboxes:
XAxis,YAxis,andZAxisboxes.Theseboxessetupthex,y,orzoffsetbetweenparts,or
patternsonthesamepart.Thesewilloffsetthepartbytheentereddistanceeachtimethe
loopruns.Thefirstoffsetisbasedonthepart'sorigin.
TheAngleboxsetsuptheangularoffsetbetweenparts,orpatternsonthesamepart.The
firstoffsetisbasedonthepart'sorigin.PCDMISoffsetsthepartbytheanglevalueeach
timetheloopruns.
LoopingOffsetsandAlignments
Ifyouhaveanalignmentcommandinsidealoopandtheloopisusingoffsets,youmustdefineall
axesforthatalignment.Additionallythealignmentinsidetheloopmustusefeaturesmeasured
insidetheloop.
LoopIds
Ifthisoptionisselected,PCDMISincrementsthefeatureID's(withintheloop)tocoincidewith
theloopincrement.
Example:CIR1willbecomeCIR1[1]onthefirstloop,CIR1[2]onthesecondloop,andsoon.
FeatureIDsinStatisticalDatabases
IfyouselecttheLoopIDscheckboxandaresendingstatisticaldatatoadatabase,PCDMISwill
sometimesremovetheseloopIDsfromthedatabase.
Considerthefollowing:
IfyouhaveaSTATS/ONcommandandaSTATS/UPDATEcommandinsideaprogramloop,
thenloopIDsarenotdisplayedinsidethedatabase.
IfyouhaveaSTATS/ONcommandoutsideaprogramloopandaSTATS/UPDATE
commandinsideaprogramloop,thenloopIDsarenotdisplayedinsidethedatabase.
IfyouhaveaSTATS/ONcommandoutsideaprogramloopandaSTATS/UPDATE
commandoutsideaprogramloop,thenloopIDsaredisplayedinsidethedatabase.

IfyouhaveaSTATS/ONcommandinsideaprogramloopandaSTATS/UPDATEcommand
outsideaprogramcommand,thenloopIDsaredisplayedinsidethedatabase.
VariableID
TheVariableIDboxallowsyoutodefinethevariablenameusedtotracktheloop'scurrent
iteration(orcurrentloopwithinthenumberofspecifiedloops).Duringthepartprogram's
execution,thisvariablewillbeequaltothecurrentiterationnumberoftheloop.
EndLoop
TheEndLoopbuttoncompletestheloopingprocess.ThecommandLOOP/STARTmustbe
followedbythecommandLOOP/ENDintheEditwindow.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforendingaloopreads:
LOOP/END
EndingGenericLoops
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|EndLoopmenuoptiondoesthesamethingastheEnd
LoopcommandbuttonintheLoopParametersdialogbox.ItinsertsaLOOP/END commandinthe
Editwindow,thuscompletingtheloopingprocess.
CreatingLabels
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|LabeloptionopenstheEditLabelNamedialogbox
whichallowsyoutocreateanameidentificationthatcanbeusedwithaGOTOorIFstatement.
EditLabelNamedialogbox
PCDMISwillallowyoutocreatetheIDusinguptofifteencharacters.TheIDwillbedisplayed
usingallcapitalletters.
TheEditwindowcommandlinefortheLabeloptionreads:
ID=LABEL/
Tocreatealabel:
1. SelectthelocationintheEditwindow.

2. SelectLabelfromthemenubar.
3. TypetheIDforthelabelintheNewLabelNamebox.
5. ThelabelIDwillappearinthenextpossiblelocationintheEditwindow.
JumpingtoaLabel
GoTodialogbox
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|GotooptionwillbringuptheGoTodialogboxwhich
allowsyoutocreateGOTOstatementswithinyourpartprogram.Whentheprogramisexecuted
andPCDMISencountersaGOTOstatement,itwillmovetothelocationofthelabel
identification.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforGOTOreads:
GOTO/label_ID
TocreateaGOTOStatementintheEditwindow:
1. SelectGoto fromthesubmenu.
2. SelectthelabelyouwanttousefromtheCurrentLabelsbox.
TheGotodialogboxalsoallowsyoutocreatenewlabelIDsthatcanthenbeattachedtoa
GOTOstatement.Todothis:
1. SelectGoto fromthesubmenu.
2. TypethenameofthelabelyouwillcreateintheGotoLabelbox.The
GOTO/labelcommandisenteredintheEditwindow.
Note:IfalabeliscreatedwithintheGoTodialogbox,youmustcreatethelabelidentification
usingtheLabelmenuoptionpriortoexecutingthepartprogram.
GoToLabel

TheGoToLabelboxallowsyoutotypeinanexistinglabelthatthepartprogramwillgotoduring
execution.
CurrentLabels
TheCurrentLabelsboxcontainsalistingofexistinglabelswhichyoucanselectwiththemouse.
JumpingtoaLabelBasedonConditions
IfExpressiondialogbox
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|IfGotooptionwillallowyoutocreateIFGOTO
statementswithinyourpartprogram.WhenthepartprogramisexecutedandPCDMIS
encountersanIFstatement,itwillGOTOthelocationofthelabelidentificationifthespecified
expressionevaluatestoanonzerovalue.Seethe"UsingExpressionsandVariables"chapterfor
informationoncreatingexpressions.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforanIF_GOTOstatementreads:
IF_GOTO/expression,GOTO=Label
Expression
TheExpressionbuttonbringsuptheexpressionbuilder.Withtheexpressionbuilderyoucan
createavarietyofdifferentexpressionsthatyoumayneedwithinyourpartprogram.Seethe
"UsingExpressionsandVariables"chapterforinformationonusingexpressions.
Label
1000 BranchingbyUsingFlow Control PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

TheLabelboxallowsyoutotypeintheLabelthatPCDMISwillusefortheGOTOcommand.
TheLabelbuttonbringsuptheGotodialogbox.Fromthisdialogboxyoucanchoosethelabelto
beused.ThelabelwillappearintheLabelbox.See"JumpingtoaLabel".
BranchingonanError
BranchingOnanError
OnErrordialogbox
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|OnErrorcommandcanbeusedtotellPCDMISwhat
actiontotakeinthecasethatamachineErroroccurs.
PCDMIStrackstheseerrorconditions:
UnexpectedProbeHit
MissedProbeHit
ReflectorNotFound(usedwiththeTrackerinPCDMISPortable)
Foreachoftheseerrorconditions,thesepossibleactionscanbetaken:
Jumptoalabel
Setavariable'svaluetoone
Donothing
Skipcommand
Bydefault,allpartprogramsstartwiththeactionforbothtypesoferrorssettothethirdoption
(Donothing).Theactionmodeforeacherrortypecanbechangedthroughouttheprogram.
Example:Ifduringexecution,PCDMISencountersanONERROR/UnexpectedHit/Jump
ToLabelcommand,anyunexpectedhitsthatoccurafterthatpointintheprogramwillcause
executiontojumptothespecifiedlabel.Theactionto'SetaVariablesvaluetoonecausesthe
variabletobesetassoonasthespecifiederrortypeoccurs.Thisvalueofthevariablecanthen
betestedusinganIFstatementtocauseexecutiontojumptoanewpointinthepartprogram.
TheEditwindowcommandlinefortheONERRORoptionreads:
ONERROR/UNEXPECTED_HIT,modeID

or,
ONERROR/PROBE_MISS,modeID
or,
ONERROR/REFLECTOR_NOT_FOUND,modeID
TousetheONERRORcommand:
1. SelectOnError.TheOnErrordialogboxwillappear.
2. SelecteitherUnexpectedProbeHitorMissedProbeHitfromtheErrorType
dropdownlist.
3. SelectoneofthefollowingErrorModeoptionstodefinewhatactionshouldtake
place.
4. ClicktheOKbuttontoapplytheONERRORoption.TheCancelbuttonwillclose
theOnErrordialogboxwithoutapplyinganychanges.
ErrorType
TheErrorTypedropdownwindowallowsyoutochooseoneoftheseErrorTypes:
UnexpectedProbeHit
MissedProbeHit
ReflectorNotFound(usedwiththeTrackerinPCDMISPortable)
ErrorMode
Whenanerrorconditionismet,selectingoneoftheseitemsdetermineswhatPCDMISwilldo.
Item Description
Offoption PCDMIStodonothing.
GoToLabel
Jumpstoadefinedlabel.
option
SetVariable
Setsavariable'svaluetoone.
option
Skip Skipsoverthecurrentcommand
Command andmovestothenextmarked
option commandinthepartprogram.
SupportedInterfaces

NotallinterfacessupporttheONERRORcommand.Consultthefollowingtabletoseeifyour
interfaceissupported.
Ifyourinterfaceislisted,asmallblackboxindicateswhaterrortypeissupported
bythatinterface.
Ifyourinterfaceisn'tlisted,thenit'snotabletousetheONERRORcommand.
Supported Unexpected MissedProbe ReflectorNot

Interfaces ProbeHit Hit Found
B&SStandard
Dea
Elm
Federal/Renault
Johansson
LeicaTracker
Leitz
LKDirect(also
knownas
LKRS232)
LKDriver
Metrolog
MitutoyoBright
Mitutoyo
Mora
Omnitech
Renishaw
Sharpe
Sheffield
Wenzel
Zeiss
EndingaPartProgram
TheInsert|FlowControlCommand|EndProgrammenuiteminsertsaPROGRAM/END
commandintotheEditwindow.WheneverPCDMISencountersthiscommandduringprogram
execution,itwillimmediatelystoppartprogramexecution.
Thiscommandisusefulwhenyouwanttoendapartprogramearlierthanusual,basedon
definedconditions.
BranchingwithSubroutines

Subroutinesareblocksofcodeinyourpartprogramorinanexternalpartprogramthatare
usuallyreferencedrepeatedly,allowingformoreconciseprogramming.PCDMISallowsyouto
passinformationto"arguments"(orlocalvariables)inthesubroutine.Thetypesofarguments
thatcanbepassedintoasubroutinearenumericvalues,variables,textstrings,andfeature
names.
Hint:SubroutinecommandblocksareenclosedwithinSUBROUTINEandENDSUBcommands.
Onceyouhavecreatedasubroutineinyourpartprogramyoucan"call"itfromyourcurrentpart
programor fromanotherpartprogram,causingthepartprogramexecutionflowtogointothe
specifiedsubroutine,executingcommandscontainedwithinthesubroutinecommandblock.
Programflowwillthenreturntothestatementimmediatelyfollowingthecallingstatement.
Hint:SubroutinesarecalledbyusingtheCALLSUBcommand.
ExternalSubroutines
Externalsubroutines,orsubroutineslocatedinapartprogramoutsideofthecallingpartprogram,
donothaveaccesstofeatures,variables,oralignmentsfromthecallingprogram.Thesubroutine
wouldstillhaveaccesstoitemswithinitsownpartprogram.Theexternalpartprogramandthe
callingpartprogrammustusethesameunitsofmeasurement.
NestingSubroutines
Youcannestsubroutineswithinothersubroutines.Theonlylimitationtothenumberof
argumentsandnestedsubroutinesistheamountofavailablememory.
CreatingaNewSubroutine
CreatingaSubroutinebyTypingSUBROUTINE
YoucaninsertthiscommandbysimplytypingSUBROUTINEintheEditwindow'sCommand
modeandthenpressingTAB.Oncethecommandisinserted,youwillneedtospecifythe
subroutine'snameandanyargumentsithas.Seethesubroutinesyntaxandexamplebelowfor
thisinformation.
TypetheENDSUBcommandandpressTABtoendthecommandblock.AnyEditwindow
commandsplacedwithinthiscommandblockwillbeconsideredpartofthesubroutineandwillbe
executedwhenthesubroutineiscalled.
CreatingaSubroutinebyUsingtheSubroutineMenuItem
1. SelectInsert|FlowControlCommand|Subroutinefromthesubmenu.This
bringsuptheSubroutineCreationdialogbox.Forinformationonthisdialogbox,
seethe"UnderstandingtheSubroutineCreationDialogBox"topic.

SubroutineCreationdialogbox
2. GivethesubroutineanamebytypingittheNamebox.
3. Ifyoursubroutineusesarguments,placeholdersforinformationpassedintothe
subroutine,addthemonebyonebyclickingtheAddArgbutton.TheArgument
Editdialogboxappears.Forinformationonthisdialogbox,seethe"Understanding
theArgumentEditDialogBox"topic.
ArgumentEditdialogbox
4. GiveyourargumentanamebytypingitintheNamebox.
5. GiveyourargumentadefaultvaluebytypingitintheValuebox.Thesubroutine
willusethedefaultvalueifnovaluesarepassedintothesubroutinefromthe
CALLSUBstatement.Validargumentvaluescanbenumericvalues,variables,text
strings,andfeaturenames.
6. Ifyouwanttogiveadescription,typeitintheDescriptionbox.
7. ClickOKintheArgumentEditdialogboxtocreatetheargument.
8. Repeatsteps3to7foreachargumentyouwantinyoursubroutine.
9. ClicktheOKbuttonintheSubroutineCreationdialogboxtofinishcreatingyour
subroutine.ThissubroutinewillappearinsidetheEditwindowwithanydefined
arguments.
10. Endyoursubroutine.SelectInsert|FlowControlCommand|EndSub menu
option.Thisplacesan"ENDSUB/"commandintheEditwindow,completingthe
subroutine'scommandblock.Anyotherpartprogramcommandsyouwantinyour
subroutinemustbeaddedinsidethesubroutine'scommandblock,beforethe
ENDSUBcommand.
SyntaxforaSubroutineCommandBlock
TheEditwindowcommandlinesyntaxforasamplesubroutinecommandblockwouldread:

SUBROUTINE/<Name>,
<A1>=<Arg1>:<Description>,
<A2>=<Arg2>:<Description>,
=
<Commands>
ENDSUB/
SUBROUTINE/isthecommandusedtostartthesubroutinecommandblock.
<Name>=thenameofthesubroutine.
<A1>=thefirstargument(orlocalvariable)usedinthesubroutine.Thisvariablegenerally
cannotbeaccessedoutsideofthesubroutine.
<A2>=secondargumentusedinthesubroutine.Thisvariablegenerallycannotbeaccessed
outsideofthesubroutine.Additionalargumentscanbeaddedasneeded.
<Arg1>=thedefaultvalueforthefirstargument.
<Arg2>=thedefaultvalueforthesecondargument.
<Description>=Thedescriptionfortheargument.
<Commands> =OtherEditwindowcommandscanbeinsertedasneededafterthe
argumentsandbeforetheENDSUBcommand.
ENDSUB/isthecommandusedtoendthesubroutinecommandblock.
ExampleSubroutineCommandBlock
Forexample,afinishedsubroutinethattakesoperatordataanddisplaysittothereportmight
looklikethis:
SUBROUTINE/GET_OPERATOR_INFO,
OPNAME=<Operator>:OPERATORNAME,
SHIFT=<Shift>:SHIFTTIME,
=
COMMENT/REPT,OPNAME
COMMENT/REPT,SHIFT
ENDSUB/
UnderstandingtheSubroutineCreationDialogBox

SubroutineCreationdialogbox
ThefollowingtabledescribesthevariousoptionsavailableintheSubroutineCreationdialog
box.
TheNameboxdefinesthe
yoursubroutine.Thisisthe
nameyouwillusewhen
callingthesubroutinelaterso
ifyouhavemultiple
subroutinesinasinglepart
programeachnamemustbe
unique.
TheNumberofArguments
listshowstheargumentsfor
thesubroutineyouare
creating.Argumentswill
appearinthisareainthis
form:
<NAME>=<VALUE>
:<DESCRIPTION>
So,ifoneofyourarguments
wasnamed"Diameter"witha
defaultvalueof3,your
argumentinthislistmight
appearas:
DIAMETER=3:The
hole'sdiameter
PCDMISwillusethedefault
valuewheneveranother
valueisnotpassedfromthe

CALLSUBcommand.
Toeditanargument,simply
doubleclickontheargument
youwanttochange.The
willopen,allowingyouto
maketheneededchanges.
TheAddArgbuttonadds
newargumentstoyour
subroutine.Simplyclickon
thisbuttonandthe
appears.See"Understanding
theArgumentEditDialog
Box"
TheDeleteArgbutton
allowsyoutodelete
argumentsfromyour
subroutine.Simplyselectthe
argumentfromthelist,and
clicktheDeleteArgbutton.
EditinganExistingSubroutine
ToeditanexistingsubroutineyoucanalwaysusetheEditwindow'sCommandmodeandedit
thesubroutinedirectly.Alternately,youcanaccesstheSubroutineCreationdialogboxby
placingyourcursoronthesubroutineintheEditwindowandpressingF9.Thisbringsupthe
SubroutineCreationdialogbox.Forinformationonthisdialogbox,seethe"Understandingthe
SubroutineCreationDialogBox"topic.
UnderstandingtheArgumentEditDialogBox
TheArgumentEditdialogboxappearswheneveryouchoosetocreateoreditanargumentwithin
eithertheSubroutineCreationdialogboxortheCallSubroutinedialogbox.
TheArgumentEditdialogboxcanbeusedinthesetwocontexts:
Todefineasubroutine'sargumentsandtheirdefaultvaluesinaSUBROUTINE
commandblock.
TodefinethevaluesthatwillbepassedintothesubroutinefromaCALLSUBcommand.

ThefollowingtabledescribesthevariousoptionsavailableintheArgumentEditdialogbox.
IntheNameboxyouenterthe
namefortheargumentyouare
creatingorediting.
IntheValueboxtypethevalue
oftheargument.
Ifcreatingoreditingthe
SUBROUTINEcommand,thisis
thedefaultvalueusedifno
valueispassedintothe
subroutinebytheCALLSUB
statement.
Ifcreatingoreditingthe
CALLSUBcommand,thisisthe
valuepassedintothe
subroutine.
Validvaluescanbe:
Numeric
Variable
TextString
Textstringsmustbe
enclosedindouble
quotationmarks..
FeatureName
Thefeaturename
mustbeboundedby
curlybrackets,for
example{F1}.
IntheDescriptionboxyoucan
enteradescriptionofthe
argumentforthesubroutine.
Thisdescriptionwillappearnext
totheargumentintheEdit
window'sSUBROUTINE
commandblock.
CallingaSubroutine
TocallasubroutineyouneedtoinsertaCALLSUBcommandintoyourpartprogramtocallan
existingsubroutinefromthecurrentpartprogramorasubroutinefromanexternalpartprogram.
CallingaSubroutinebyTypingCALLSUB

YoucaninsertthiscommandbysimplytypingCALLSUBintheeditwindowandthenpressing
TABwhereyouwantthecommandtoappearintheEditwindow.Oncethecommandisinserted,
youwillneedtospecifythesubroutine'sname,itslocationifit'sinanexternalpartprogram,as
wellasanyvaluestopasstoavailablearguments.See"PassingArgumentsintoaSubroutine"
forexamplesofpassingarguments.
CallingaSubroutineUsingtheCallSubMenuItem
SelecttheInsert|FlowControlCommand|CallSuboptionfromthesubmenu.TheCall
Subroutinedialogboxopens.SeeUnderstandingtheCallSubroutineDialogBox""for
informationonthisdialogbox.
CallSubroutinedialogbox
ClicktheSelectSubroutinebutton.TheSelectSubroutinedialogboxopens.
SelectSubroutinedialogbox

1. SelecteithertheUserDirectorycheckboxortheCurrentDirectorycheckbox
orboth.Ifthepartprogramthesubroutineisfromresidesinthedirectoryspecifiedto
besearchedforsubroutines,selecttheUserDirectorycheckbox.Ifitisfromthe
currentdirectory,marktheCurrentDirectorycheckbox.PCDMISlistsallthepart
programsavailableforselection.
2. Selectthepartprogramwhichcontainsthesubroutineyouwant.Youwillseeall
subroutinesassociatedwiththeselectedprogramappearintheSubroutineName
box.
3. Selectthesubroutineyouwanttocall.
4. ClicktheOKbutton.Thesubroutineinformationyouaregoingtocallwillappear
intheNameandFileboxesoftheCallSubroutinedialogbox.
5. Ifyouwanttopassinformationintothesubroutine,clicktheAddArgbutton,and
usetheArgumentEditdialogboxtodefineargumentsandvaluestopass.See
"UnderstandingtheArgumentEditDialogBox"forinformationonthisdialogbox.See
"PassingArgumentsintoaSubroutine"forexamplesofpassingarguments.
6. ClicktheOKbuttonagainandtheCALLSUBcommandwillappearinthe
selectedlocationoftheEditwindow.
SyntaxfortheCALLSUBCommand
TheEditwindowcommandlinesyntaxforcallingasubroutineisthis:
CS1 =CALLSUB/<Name>,<File>:<Arg1>,<Arg2>,
CS1=thelabelIDgiventotheCALLSUBcommand.
<Name>=thenameofthesubroutinetobecalled.
<File>=thefullpathwaytothepartprogramthatcontainsthesubroutinetocall.Ifthisfield
isblank,PCDMISwilllookinthecurrentpartprogramforthesubroutine.
<Arg1>=thevaluetobepassedtothefirstargumentinthesubroutine.Ifthisfieldisblank,
thedefaultvaluedefinedforthefirstargumentinthesubroutinewillbeusedinstead.
<Arg1>=thevaluetobepassedtothesecondargumentinthesubroutine.Ifthisfieldis
blank,thedefaultvaluedefinedforthesecondargumentinthesubroutinewillbeused
instead.Thissyntaxsampleshowsonlytwoarguments.Otherargumentscanbepassedif
neededtoyoursubroutine
Note:InyourCALLSUBcommandyoushouldkeepasetofpointerstoalloftheobjectsmadefor
thesubroutinesothatyoucaneasilyrefertothemafterwardsusingthesubroutine'sID.Formore
informationonpointers,see"Pointers"inthe"UsingExpressionsandVariables"chapter.
ExampleCALLSUBCommand
CS1 =CALLSUB/GET_OPERATOR_INFO,D:\PARTPROGRAMS\V42SUBROUTINETEST.PRG:V1,V2,,
ThisexampleCALLSUBcommand,CS1,callsasubroutinenamedGET_OPERATOR_INFO
locatedwithinthepartprogramV42SUBROUTINETEXT.PRGlocatedinthe
D:\PARTPROGRAMS\directory.ItpassestwovaluesinthiscasethevariablesV1andV2
intothesubroutine.

UnderstandingtheCallSubroutineDialogBox
CallSubroutinedialogbox
ThefollowingtopicsdescribethevariousoptionsavailableintheCallSubroutinedialogbox.
TheNameboxcontainsthename
ofthesubroutineyouhave
selectedafterusingtheSelect
Subroutinebutton.
TheFileboxcontainsthe
directorypathwaytothe
subroutine fileyouhavecalled.
IntheDescriptionboxyoucan
enteradescriptionofthe
argument.Thisdescriptionwill
appearnexttotheargumentin
theEditwindow.
TheValuesboxcontainsalistof
thevaluesofeachargument
associatedwiththesubroutine.
Thesevalueswillgetpassedinto
thesubroutinewhenthe
subroutineisexecuted.
Tochangethesevalues,simply
doubleclickonthevalueyou
wishtochangeandtheEdit
Argumentdialogboxwillappear.
TheSelectSubroutinebutton
bringsuptheSelectSubroutine
dialogbox.

SelectSubroutinedialogbox
Thisdialogboxallowsyoutocall
previouslycreatedsubroutinesby
searchingintheuserdirectoryor
thecurrentdirectory.See"Calling
aSubroutine"forinfoonthe
SelectSubroutinedialogbox.
Thisbuttondefinesavalueto
passtotheargumentsforthe
subroutine.
Thisbuttonwillallowyouto
deletetheargumentsfromthe
Valuesbox.Simplyselectthe
valuedisplayedandclickthe
DeleteArgbutton.Theargument
associatedwiththatvalueisthen
deleted.
ToaddanewargumentusingtheCallSubroutineDialogbox:
ToaddanewargumentintoyourCALLSUBcommandtopassintothesubroutine:
1. InsidetheCallSubroutinedialogbox,clicktheAddArgbutton.TheArgument
Editdialogboxwillappear.
2. ClickintheValuebox.
3. TypethevaluefortheargumentintheValuebox.
4. ClickOK.
ToeditexistingargumentsusingtheCallSubroutineDialogbox:
ToeditanexistingargumentinsideyourCALLSUBcommand:
1. IntheCallSubroutinedialogbox,doubleclickonthevalueoftheargumentyou
wanttochange.Avalueboxwillappearwhichshowsthedefaultvalueforthecalled
subroutine.
2. Typeanewvalue.

See"CreatingaNewSubroutine"and"EditinganExistingSubroutine"foradditionalinformation
onhowtoeditorcreatenewargumentsforasubroutine.
TodeleteargumentsfromaCALLSUBcommand:
1. PlacethecursorontheCALLSUB command.
2. PressF9toaccesstheCallSubroutinedialogbox.
3. Selectthedesiredargument(s)fromthelist.
4. ClicktheDeleteArgbutton.
5. ClickOK.
YoucanalsodeleteanargumentintheEditwindowtextdirectly.Todothis,
1. PlacePCDMISinCommandmode.
2. PlacethecursorontheCALLSUB command,andpressTABuntilyouhighlightthe
desiredargument.
3. Typetheletters"del".Thiswilldeletetheargument.PressingDELETEor
BACKSPACEwon'twork.Theymerelychangetheargumenttoanemptyargument.
UsingCALLSUBStatementsinMultipleArmMode
IfyoumarkaCALLSUB statementasMasterOnlyallofthecommandsinthesubroutinewill
bemarkedasMasterOnlywhenthesubroutineiscalled.
IfyoumarkaCALLSUB statementasSlaveOnlyallofthecommandsinthesubroutinewillbe
markedasSlaveOnlywhenthesubroutineiscalled.
IfyoumarkaCALLSUB statementforbotharms,PCDMISleavesthesubroutinemarkingsas
theywereoriginallyset.
IfasubroutinecontainsaMOVE/SYNC commandinit,andyoumarktheCALLSUB statementas

MasterOnlyorSlaveonly,atexecutiontimePCDMISdisplaysanerrorindicatingthatthisis
invalidandthesubroutineisnotcalled.
Forinformationonassigningacommandtoexecuteforaspecificarm,seethe"Assigninga
CommandtoanArm"topicinthe"UsingMultipleArmMode"chapter.
SubroutineExamples
SubroutineExamples
Considertheinformationinthefollowingtopicsforsomeexamplesofpassingargumentsand
subroutinesingeneral.
PassingArgumentsintoaSubroutine
CodeSampleofaSubroutine
PassingArgumentsintoaSubroutine
Thetypesofargumentsthatcanbepassedintoasubroutinearenumericvalues,variables,text
strings,andfeaturenames.Topassvaluesintoarguments,typethevaluewithintheValuebox

oftheArgumentEditdialogbox,ordirectlyintoaninsertedCALLSUBcommandinCommand
mode.See"CreatingaNewSubroutine"formoredetails.
PassingVariablesintoaSubroutine
Argumentsthatcanpassdatabackarevariables.Whenyouuseavariableasanargumenttoa
subroutine,anychangesthatoccurtothecorrespondingvariableinthesubroutinearepassed
backandbecomethevalueofthevariablethatwaspassedin.
ExampleofPassingVariables:
Thisexampleshowshowavariable'svalue,usedasanargumenttoasubroutine,is
modifiedandpassedbackfromasubroutine:
ThevariableV1isassignedthevalue6:
ASSIGN/V1=6.
AsubroutinecallpassesV1asthefirstargument:
CS1 =CALLSUB/MYSUB,:V1,,,
Thesubroutineisdefinedasfollows:
SUBROUTINE/MYSUB,
A1=0:FIRSTARGUMENT,
=
ASSIGN/A1=A1+1
ENDSUB/
A1isthenameforthefirstargumentsowhenthecallismade,A1willhavethesame
valuethatV1didatthetimeofthecall,6.
Thesubroutinecontainsthisonestatement:
ASSIGN/A1=A1+1.
ThisincrementsthevalueofA1to7.
ThensubroutineendswiththeENDSUB/ command.
FlowofexecutionreturnstothestatementdirectlyfollowingtheCALLSUBcommand.As
executionjumpsback,any variablesthatwereusedasarguments,V1inthiscase,are
updatedtothevalueofthecorrespondingvariablesinthesubroutine,A1inthiscase.So,
V1nowhasavalueof7.Thevaluewaspassedbackfromthesubroutine.
PassingNumberValuesintoaSubroutine
Argumentscanalsotakenumericcharacters.
ExampleofPassingNumberValues:

Thisexampleshowshowtopassnumbervaluesintoasubroutine.Itpassesuptotwo
numbersandthenaddsthemtogether.
CS1 =CALLSUB/SUM_NUMBERS,:,,,
CS2 =CALLSUB/SUM_NUMBERS,:5,10,,
SUBROUTINE/SUM_NUMBERS,
NUM1=1:FIRSTNUMBER,
NUM2=1:SECONDNUMBER,
=
COMMENT/OPER,NO,"Thesumofthefirstnumber,"+NUM1+",plusthe
secondnumber,"+NUM2+",is:"
,NUM1+NUM2
ENDSUB/
InthefirstCALLSUBcommand(CS1)nonumbervaluesarepassedintothesubroutine.
Thedefaultnumbers,1forNUM1and1forNUM2areusedinstead,andthegenerated
sumwouldbe2.
InthesecondCALLSUBcommand(CS2)twonumbervaluesarepassed,5and10.So
NUM1wouldbe5andNUM2wouldbe10,withageneratedsumof15.
PassingTextStringsintoaSubroutine
Argumentscanalsotakeatextstring.Topassatextstring,makesurethealphanumeric
charactersareplacedwithindoublequotationmarks.
ExampleofPassingTextStrings:
Thisexampleshowshowtopassstringvaluesintoasubroutine.Itpassestwostring
valuesintothetwoparametersandthendisplaystheminthereport:
CS1 =CALLSUB/GET_OPERATOR_INFO,:"BOBJONES","MORNING",,
...
SUBROUTINE/GET_OPERATOR_INFO,
OPNAME=<Operator>:OPERATORNAME,
SHIFT=<Shift>:SHIFTTIME,
COMMENT/REPT,OPNAME
COMMENT/REPT,SHIFT
ENDSUB/
Thefirstargument,OPNAME,receivesthepassedvalueof"BOBJONES"andthesecond
argument,SHIFT,receives"MORNING".TheCOMMENTcommandsthensendthe
passedstringstotheinspectionreport.

PassingFeatureNamesintoaSubroutine
Featurenamesarepassedwithincurlybrackets,forexample{F1}wouldbeusedtocallthe
featuredesignatedasF1intotheEditwindow.Also,whenyoupassthefeaturename,the
subroutinehasfullaccesstothatfeature.
ExampleofPassingFeatureNames:
ThisexamplepassesinthePNT1featurenameintothesubroutine,givingyoursubroutine
completeaccesstothefeature.IfnovalueispassedthenthedefaultfeaturenameofF1is
used.ThissubroutinethenqueriesyouforanewvalueandchangesthetheoreticalX
valueforthefeature.
CS1 =CALLSUB/CHANGE_THEO_X,:{PNT1},,
SUBROUTINE/CHANGE_THEO_X,
FEAT1={F1}:PASSEDFEATURENAME,
=
C1 =COMMENT/INPUT,NO,"PASSEDFEATURE:"
,FEAT1
,"ThecurrenttheoXis:"+FEAT1.TX
,"TypeanewtheoXvalue:"
ASSIGN/FEAT1.TX=C1.INPUT
COMMENT/OPER,NO,"Featureupdatedto"+FEAT1.TX
ENDSUB/
Becausethesubroutinehasaccesstothepassedfeature,thestatementASSIGN/FEAT1.TX
=C1.INPUT modifiesthe theoreticalXvalueoftheactualPNT1feature.PNT1willnow
permanentlyhaveitstheoretical Xvaluechanged.
CodeSampleofaSubroutine
ThefollowingcodesampleallowstheoperatortohaveachoiceofchangingthetheoreticalX,Y,
andZvaluesofafeatureafterits measurement.Subsequentrunswillthenusetheupdated
theoreticalvalues.
...
...
ENDMEAS/
C1=COMMENT/YESNO,DoyouwanttochangethetheoreticalvaluesforPNT1?
IF/C1.INPUT=="YES"
CS1=CALLSUB/CHANGETHEO,:,

END_IF/
COMMENT/OPER,TheXYZtheoreticalandactualvaluesforPNT1are:
,"TheoX="+PNT1.TX
,"TheoY="+PNT1.TY
,"TheoZ="+PNT1.TZ
,
,"ActlX="+PNT1.X
,"ActlY="+PNT1.Y
,"ActlZ="+PNT1.Z
PROGRAM/END
SUBROUTINE/CHANGETHEO,
POINT1={PNT1}:,
=
DIMINFO/DIMID,FEATIDHEADINGS,GRAPHAXISMEAS,NOM,TOL,DEV,MAXMIN,OUTTOL,,,
C2=COMMENT/INPUT,TypethenewXtheovalueforPNT1.
,"It'scurrentvalueis:"+PNT1.TX
ASSIGN/PNT1.TX=C2.INPUT
C3=COMMENT/INPUT,TypethenewYtheovalueforPNT1.
,"It'scurrentvalueis:"+PNT1.TY
ASSIGN/PNT1.TY=C3.INPUT
C4=COMMENT/INPUT,TypethenewZtheovalueforPNT1.
,"It'scurrentvalueis:"+PNT1.TZ
ASSIGN/PNT1.TZ=C4.INPUT
ENDSUB/
C1=COMMENT/YESNO
IF/C1.INPUT=="YES"
CS1=CALLSUB/CHANGETHEO,:,
ThislinecallsthesubroutinenamedCHANGETHEO.Theflowofthepartprogramnow
jumpstotheSUBROUTINE/CHANGETHEO line.
SUBROUTINE/CHANGETHEO
ThislineinitializestheCHANGETHEOsubroutine.Programflowcontinueswiththeexecution
ofcodebetweenthislineandtheENDSUB/ line.
POINT1={PNT1}:,
Thisistheonlyargumentofthesubroutine.Itallowsthesubroutinetoaccessinformation
fromthePNT1feature.

C2=COMMENT/INPUT,C3=COMMENT/INPUT,C4=COMMENT/INPUT
TheseinputcommentsalltakethenewtheoreticalX,Y,andZvaluesfromtheuserandstore
theminC2.INPUT,C3.INPUT,andC4.INPUTrespectively.
ASSIGN/PNT1.TX=C2.INPUT
ThislinetakesthetheoreticalXvaluefromC2.INPUTandassignsittothePNT1.TX variable.
PNT1.TXisaPCDMISvariablethatholdsthetheoreticalXvalue(denotedbyTX)forthe
pointwiththeIDlabelofPNT1.
ASSIGN/PNT1.TY=C3.INPUT
ThislinetakesthetheoreticalYvaluefromC3.INPUTandassignsittothePNT1.TY variable.
PNT1.TYisaPCDMISvariablethatholdsthetheoreticalYvalue(denotedbyTY)forthe
ASSIGN/PNT1.TZ=C4.INPUT
ThislinetakesthetheoreticalZvaluefromC4.INPUTandassignsittothePNT1.TZ variable.
PNT1.TZisaPCDMISvariablethatholdsthetheoreticalZvalue(denotedbyTZ)forthe
ENDSUB/
Thislineendsthesubroutine,andprogramflowreturnstothelineimmediatelyfollowingthe
subroutinecall.InthiscasetheEND_IF/statement.Theprogramflowthencontinueswith
thenextoperatorcommentwhichdisplaysthetheoreticalandactualX,Y,andZvalues,and
thenthepartprogramendswiththePROGRAM/ENDcommand.

TrackingStatisticalData
TrackingStatisticalData:Introduction
PCDMISallowsyoutotrackandmanagestatisticaldataforyourmeasuredparts.Informationin
anydimensionortracefieldcanbesenttoaselectedstatisticalsoftwarepackagebyinsertinga
STATScommandbeforethedimensionortracefield.
Themaintopicsinthischapterincludethefollowing:
UsingTraceFields
SendingCurrentStatstoaFile
UsingtheStatisticsOptionsDialogBox
UsingTraceFields
TraceFielddialogbox
TheInsert|StatisticsCommand|TraceFieldmenuoptiondisplaystheTraceFielddialogbox.
ThisdialogboxletsyouestablishtracefieldsintheEditwindow.Thisinformationwillbeusedin
theSTATSdatabase(seetheXSTATS11.TMP file).WiththetracefieldintheEditwindow,the
nameofatracefieldandthecurrentvalueforthattracefieldcanbechanged.
TochangethevaluesassociatedwithaTraceField:
1. Placeyourcursorintheboxyouwantchanged.
2. Selectthepreviousvalue.
3. Typeanewvalue.
IftheDisplayoptionisselected,theTraceFielddialogboxwillappeareverytimethepart
programisexecuted. IftheNoDisplayoptionisselected,itwillnotappearduringexecution.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforatracefieldoptionreads:
TRACEFIELD/DISPLAYSTATEfieldname:value
DISPLAYSTATE=Thistogglefieldcontrolswhetherornotthetracefielddialogboxis
displayedduringexecution.ThisfieldswitchesbetweenDISPLAYandNODISPLAY.
fieldname=Thisstringrepresentsthenameofthetracefield.Thereisa15characterlimit.
value=Thisdisplaysthecurrentvalueofthetracefield.Thereisa15characterlimit.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TrackingStatisticalData 1021

Important:TheTRACEFIELDcommandshouldcomeaftertheSTATS/ONcommand.
Options
TheOptionsareacontrolstheoptionsofthetracefield:
NoDisplay
Display
ValueLimit
NoDisplay
SelectingtheNoDisplayoptionindicatesthatadialogboxwillnotbedisplayedwhenthetrace
fieldisexecuted.Thiswillallowtracefieldstobecontrolledbyvariableswithoutrequiringinput
fromtheuser.
Display
SelectingtheDisplayoptionindicatesthatadialogboxwillbedisplayedwhenthetracefieldis
executed.Thisrequiresthetracefieldtohaveinputfromtheuserduringexecution.
Note:TracefieldsthatareenteredusingtheLogo.datwillnotprintwhenencounteredbyan
execution.Theyarehowever,stillsenttothestatsfile.
ValueLimit
TheValueLimitboxdeterminesthemaximumnumberofcharactersallowedforthetracefield's
value.SoifyouspecifyaValueLimitof5,youwon'tbeabletotypemorethanfivecharacters
intotheValuebox.
SendingCurrentStatstoaFile
TheOperation|SendCurrentStatsToFilemenuoptionallowsyoutosenddatatoadatabase
ortheXSTATS11.tmpfilewithouthavingtoexecutethepartprogram.
Selectingthisoptionimmediatelysendsallofthedimensionsandtracefieldsthatfollowa
STATS/ONcommandtotheselecteddatabase.Statisticsonlygetsenttoadatabaseifyouhave
adatabaseregisteredandhavetheSTATS/ON commandmarked.Otherwise,PCDMISsends
statisticaldatatotheXSTATS11.tmp file.
UsingtheStatisticsOptionsDialogBox
1022 TrackingStatisticalData PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

StatisticsOptionsdialogbox
TheInsert|StatisticsCommand|Statisticsmenuoptionallowsyoutomanagestatistical
informationthatisreceivedfrommeasuringapart.ThisisdonebyinsertingaSTATScommandin
apartprogrambeforeanydesireddimensionortracefieldcommands.Thisinformationcanthen
besenttoaselectedstatisticalsoftwarepackage.
StatsOptions
TheStatsOptionsareaisalwaysavailableontheStatisticsOptionsdialogbox.TheStats
Optionsareaallowsyoutousethefollowingcommands.
Turnstatsoff
Turnstatson
Transferstatstoanotherdirectory
Updatethestats
StatsOff
SelectingtheOffoptionstopsstatisticalinformationfrombeingsentfromyourpartprogram.
Withstatsoff,DimensionorTraceFieldcommandswillnotsendstatisticalinformationtothe
databaseunlessyouselecttheStatsOnoption.
StatsOn
SelectingtheOnoptionallowsstatisticalinformationtogofromyourpartprogramtothe
database.Withstatson,youcansenddatatothestatsfile,transfertheinformationtoadifferent
directory,orstoretheinformationinadatabaseapplication.

AnydimensionsthatfollowaSTATS/ONcommandandprecedethenextSTATS/OFFcommand
willbesenttothestatsfileordatabaseuponexecutionofthenextSTATS/TRANSFER,
STATS/UPDATE,orfinalcommandofthepartprogram.WiththeSTATS/ONcommandyoucan
sendtheoutputinformationtomultipledatabases,evenwithinthesamepartprogram.
UponeachexecutionofapartprogramthatincludesatleastoneSTATS/ONcommand,PC
DMISwillaskwhetherornottosendtheoutputinformationtoanystatisticaldatabasedirectories.
ThispromptcanbebypassedbyselectingtheALWAYSUpdateDatabasecheckboxaccessible
fromtheDimensiontaboftheSetupOptionsdialogbox.Seethe"SetupOptions:Dimension
tab"topicinthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapter.
Note:IfyouselectedDataPagefromDatabaseOptions,PCDMISautomaticallycallsthe
DPUPDATE.exeexecutabletoinsertthedataintheXSTATS11.tmpfileintoanyselected
DataPagedirectories.
TurningstatsoninsidealoopcanresultinslightlydifferentoutputtotheXSTATS11.tmpfilefor
thedimensionandfeatureIDs.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforSTATSONreads:
STATS/ON,databaseoption
directoryorDSN,
userID,readlock,writelock,memorypages,usermode,variablename
databaseoption=Thistogglefieldindicatesthedatabasetypetowhichthestatswillbesent.
ThisfieldcanbeDATAPAGE,DES,orSPC_DATABASE.
DirectoryorDSN=IfthedatabaseoptionisDATAPAGEorDES,thisstringindicatesthe
databasedirectoriestowhichthestatisticswillbesent.Thismustbeavaliddatabase
directory.IfthedatabaseoptionisSPC_DATABASE,thisstringindicatestheDSNnameof
thedatabase.ThisDSNnamecanbecreatedintheODBCoptionsofthecomputerscontrol
panel.ThisDSNmustbecreatedtolinktoavalidSPCdatabase.
userID=Thisninedigitstringindicatestheportlockserialnumber.Thisfieldisonlyusedfor
theDataPagedatabaseoption.
readlock=ThisfieldindicatesthemaximumnumberofsecondsPCDMISwillwaitfor
databaseaccesswhenreading.Thedefaultsettingis10seconds.Thisfieldisonlyusedfor
writelock=ThisfieldindicatesthemaximumnumberofsecondsPCDMISwillwaitfor
databaseaccesswhenwriting.Thedefaultsettingis20seconds.Thisfieldisonlyusedfor
memorypages=Thisfieldindicatesthenumberof4Kpagestoreservefordatabasetables
whenopeningdatabase.Thisoptionwillaffectperformance.Theminimumnumberthatcan
beenteredis4(alsodefault).ThisfieldisonlyusedfortheDataPagedatabaseoption.
usermode=Thisfieldindicatestheusermodesetting.Singleusermodewillonlyallowa
singleuseraccesstothedatabase.Thevalue0(zero)signifiesthatsingleusermodeisset.
Avalueof1(one)signifiesthatmultiusermodeison.Singleusermodewillimprove
performance.ThisfieldisonlyusedfortheDataPagedatabaseoption.

variablename=Thisfieldindicatesthevariablenamesetting.Thevalue0(zero)indicates
thatdimensionnameswillbedisplayed.Avalueof1(one)indicatesthatfeatureID'swillbe
displayed.ThisfieldisonlyusedfortheDataPagedatabaseoption.
Transfer
TheTransferoptionallowsstatisticalinformationfromapartprogramtobetransferredtoa
specifieddirectoryuponexecutionoftheSTATS/TRANSFERcommand.
Note:ThisoptionmaybeespeciallyusefulwiththeAutoUpdateoptionofDataPage.
Totransferyourstatstoadifferentdirectory:
1. ClicktheTransferoption.
2. IntheTransferDirectorybox,enterthedirectorypathofthedirectorytowhich
youwilltransferyourstatsfile.
Update
TheUpdateoptioncreatesaSTATS/UPDATEcommandthattellsPCDMIStoupdatethe
statisticaldatabaseeverytimethecommandisexecuted.Thestatisticalsoftwareapplication
mustbeinstalledandON.
Note:TheAlwaysUpdateDatabasecheckboxfromtheDimensiontaboftheSetupOptions
dialogboxallowsyoutobypassthe"UpdateDatabaseNow?"messagethatPCDMISshowsat
theendofapartprogramexecutionthatcontainsaSTATS/ONcommand.Seethe"Setup
Options:Dimensiontab"inthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapter.
DatabaseOptions
TheDatabaseOptionsallowyouspecifyoneof thefollowingstatisticalsoftwarepackagesto
sendthemeasurementinformation:
DataPage
DES
SPCDatabase
TheStatisticsOptionsdialogwillchangewhenoneoftheDatabaseOptionsisselected.
DataPageOption
WhenyouselecttheDatapageoption,theStatisticsOptionsdialogboxchangestoaddthe
following:
DatabaseDirectorieslist
AddDirectoryToListbutton
DeleteDirectoryFromListbutton
DeleteCurrentStatsFilebutton

DataPageVariableNamearea
DoControlCalculationsarea
ReadLockbox
WriteLockbox
MemoryPagesbox
StatisticsOptionsdialogboxDataPageoption
DatabaseDirectories
TheDatabaseDirectorieslistshowsthedifferentdirectoriesinwhichadatabaseapplication
couldreside.Youcanaddordeletedirectoriesfromthislist.Amaximumoftendirectoriesper
STATS/ONcommandcanbeselectedtowhichstatisticalinformationcanbesent.
AddDirectorytoList
IfyouwanttoaddanewdirectorytotheDatabaseDirectorieslist:
1. ClicktheAddDirectoryToListbutton.Aboxwillappearinwhichyoucanenter
thedirectorypathway.
2. Typethedirectorypathwayforthedatabase.
3. ClicktheOKbutton.Thedirectorywillnowappearinthelist.
DeleteDirectoryfromList
Ifyouwanttodeleteadatabasedirectory fromtheDatabaseDirectorieslist:

1. SelectthedirectoryyouwanttodeletefromtheDatabaseDirectorieslist.
2. ClicktheDeleteDirectoryfromListbutton.Thedirectorywillbedeletedfrom
thelist.
DeleteCurrentStatsFile
Ifyouwanttodeleteyourxstats11.tmpfile,clicktheDeleteCurrentStatsFilebutton.
DataPageVariableName
Theseoptionsonlyfunction TheoptionsintheDataPageVariableNameareaindicatewhether
withtheDataPage thedimensionnameorfeaturenamewillbeusedtoidentifyentries
statisticaldatabaseprogram.inDataPage.Themaximumlengthofthenameis10characters.
Tochooseeitherthedimensionnameorthefeaturename,selecttheUseDimensionName
optionortheUseFeatureNameoption.
DoControlCalculations
TheoptionsintheDoControlCalculationsareaindicatewhetherthecontrolcalculationsthat
takeplacewithinDatapageshouldbeused.SelectingtheOnoptionperformstheoutoftolerance
controlcalculations.Additionally,itcommandstheDataPagestatisticsupdateprogram
(DPUPDATE)toperformthecontrolcalculationsandsetthepart/variableandin/outof
tolerance/controlindicatorsinthedatabase.YoucanmonitorthisdatabaseusingDataPage's
Monitormodebyturningonthepart/variablescolors(red/yellow/green)basedonthose
calculations.Foradditionalinformation,seethehelpfilethatshipswithDataPage'sMonitormode
application.
ToturncontrolcalculationsonoroffsimplyselecteithertheOnortheOffoption.Thedefault
settingis Off.
ReadLock
TheReadLockboxallowsyoutodeterminethemaximumnumberofsecondsthatPCDMISwill
waitfordatabaseaccesswhenreading.Thedefaultvalueis10seconds.
TochangethenumberofsecondsthatPCDMISwillwait:
1. SelectthecurrentvalueintheReadLockbox.
2. Typeanewvalue.
3. PresstheTABkey.
4. ClickOK.

WriteLock
TheWriteLockboxallowsyoutodeterminethemaximumnumberofsecondsthatPCDMISwill
waitfordatabaseaccesswhenwriting.Thedefaultvalueis20seconds.
TochangethenumberofsecondsthatPCDMISwillwait:
1. SelectthecurrentvalueintheWriteLockbox.
2. Typeanewvalue.
3. PresstheTABkey.
4. ClickOK.
MemoryPages
TheMemoryPagesboxallowsyoutoenterinthenumberof4Kpagestoreservefordatabase
tableswhenopeningadatabase.Theminimum(anddefault)numberofpagesthatcanbeopen
isfour.
TochangethenumberofMemoryPages:
1. SelectthevalueintheMemoryPagesbox.
2. Typeanewvalue.
3. PresstheTABkey.
4. ClickOK.
DESOption
TheDESoptiononlyfunctionswiththestatisticaldatabaseprogram,DES.WhenyouselectDES,
theStatisticsOptionsdialogboxchangessothatitonlyincludestheStatsOptionsarea,the
DatabaseOptionsarea,andtheUpdateDatabaseNow,OK,andCancelcommandbuttons.
StatisticsOptionsdialogboxDESoption

SPCDatabaseOption
TheSPCDatabaseoptiononlyfunctionswithPCDMIS'sownstatisticaldatabaseprogram,
SPC.WhenyouselecttheSPCDatabaseoption,theStatisticsOptionsdialogchangesto
includethefollowing:
DataSourcebox
View/EditDatabase
StatisticsOptionsdialogboxSPCDatabaseoption
DataSource
UsetheDataSourcelisttoselectaDataSourceName(DSN).ADSNiscreatedinitiallyby
usingtheOpenDatabaseConnectivity(ODBC)optionsinthecomputersControlPanel.
IfyouneedtocreateaDSN:
1. AccesstheWindowsControlPanel.
2. SelectAdministrativeTools.
3. DoubleclickontheODBCDataSourcesicon.
4. FollowtheinstructionsinyouroperatingsystemsHelpfiletocreatetheDSN.
ByusingtheODBC,PCDMIScanpassdatadirectlytotheSPCdatabase,andthedatacanbe
viewedwithinastatisticalpackagethatsupportstheSPCdatabase.
View/EditDatabase
TheView/EditDatabasebuttoncanonlybeusedonceavalidDataSourcehasbeenselected
fromtheDataSourcebox.ClickingthisbuttonallowsthedataintheSPCdatabasetobeviewed
anddeletedfromtheSPCDatabasedialogbox:

SPCDatabasedialogbox
TheSPCdatabasecanbeviewedwithinPCDMISusingthefollowingtabsonthedialogbox:
PartPrograms
Dimensions
DimensionValues
Traces
TraceValues
YoucanalsoviewdatabasesusingtheSPCDatabase menuoption
UpdateDatabaseNow
TheUpdateDatabaseNowbuttonallowsyoutoupdateyourdatabaseapplicationwithstatistical
datagainedfromyourcurrentpartprogram.
Toupdateyourdatabasenow:
1. ClicktheUpdateDatabaseNowbutton.
2. Followtheinstructionsonscreen.
Uponsuccessfulexecutionofapartprogram,selectedDimensionandTraceFieldinformationis
storedwithinafilenamedXSTATS11.tmplocatedinthedirectorytowhichyouinstalledPCDMIS
(usuallytheC:\PCDMISWdirectory).Theinformationinthisfilecanthenbetransferredtoa
differentdirectory,printedout,orsenttoadatabaseapplication.
Note:Ifadatabaseapplicationisunavailable,PCDMISwilldisplayamessageinformingyou
thatitcouldn'tfindtheupdateexecutable(fortheDataPageapplication,thisisDPUPDATE.exe)
toloadXSTATS11.tmpintothedatabase.

ReportingMeasurementResults
ReportingMeasurementResults:Overview
Afteryoumeasureyourpart,it'simportanttobeabletocommunicateyourmeasurementresults
withothers.PCDMIS,bydefault,sendsyourmeasurementdatatoastandardtextualreport,
calledaninspectionreport,whichincludescomprehensivedataabouteachfeaturemeasuredby
yourpartprogram.Youcanprintthisreporttotheprinterortoafileandlaterviewstoredreports
byselectingView|InspectionReport.See"ViewinganInspectionReport"and"Printingthe
InspectionReport".
Formanytasks,thestandardinspectionreportmaybeexactlywhatyouneed.However,in
version4.0andlater,PCDMISalsogivesyousomepowerfultoolstogenerateyourown
interactivereports.Withthesetoolsyoucandetermineexactlyhowyourreportswilllookand
whatinformationgetsincludedinthembyusingtemplates.Also,withthesetemplatesyoucan
maintainaconsistentlookandfeelacrossseveralreports.
Inaddition,inversion4.2andlater,youwillfindtheabilitytocreatereportsforspecificpart
programs,called"CustomReports",ausefulsolutionwhenyourreportingneedsdon'trequirethe
useofreporttemplates.
Thischaptercoversthefollowingmajortopics:
ReportingChanges
MigratingHyperViewReports
ReportGenerationSequence
AbouttheReportWindow
UsingStandardReports
ViewingaLegacyTextOnlyReport
ModifyingStandardTemplates
ChangingtheReport'sTextColors
CreatingTemplates
CreatingCustomReports
EmbeddingReportsorReportTemplatesinaPartProgram
ReportingChanges
ThemajorreportingchangesinPCDMIS4.xincludeacompleteoverhauloftheHyperView
reportingfunctionalityandtheinclusionofapowerfultemplatesystem.
ThefollowingitemsdetailthemajorchangestoPCDMISreportingsinceversion3.7:
ReportingisnolongerapartoftheEditwindow.AnewReportingwindowwithits
owntoolbardisplaysmeasurementresults.See"AbouttheReportWindow".
Reportsnowusetemplates.Thismeansyoucanplugthesamedatainto
differenttemplatestherebygeneratingdifferentreportsfromthesamedata,oryou
canstandardizeyourreportsandcreateasinglereporttemplate,maintainingthe
samelookandfeelacrossallyourreportseventhoughthedatacomesfromseveral
differentpartprograms.See"AboutReportsandReportTemplates".
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual Reporting MeasurementResults 1031

ReporttemplatesalsoutilizeLabelstoreportspecificdimensionorfeature
information.Youcancreateyourowncustomizedlabeltemplates.See"AboutLabels
andLabelTemplates".
TheHyperViewreportingeditorhasbeenreorganizedintoseparateediting
environmentsfordifferentaspectsofthenewreportingapproach:
1. ReportTemplateEditor
2. LabelTemplateEditor
3. CustomReportEditor
4. FormsEditor
TheoldHyperViewObjectBarhasbeenreorganizedintothefollowing:
ReportTemplateEditorObjectBar
LabelTemplateEditorObjectBar
FormEditorObjectBar
1032 ReportingMeasurementResults PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

CustomReportEditorObjectBar
TheoldFeatureText ,PointInfo ,andDimensionInfo objects

arenolongerused.PCDMISnowuseslabeltemplatestoperformthoseandother
tasks.
Anyobject'spropertycanbemade"userdefinable"sothatwhenthereportis
executedoratemplateischosen,theuserisqueriedtoinsertavalueforthat
property.See"WorkingwithUserAssignedProperties".
PreviousHyperViewreportsstillfunctionandcanstillbeexecutedinsideyour
partprogram,buttheyarenolongereditableinthenewtemplatereporting
environment.IfyouneedtoeditaHyperViewreportfromapreviousversion,youwill
havetouseaversionearlierthanversion4.0.See"WorkingwithExistingHyperView
Reports".Ifyoudesire,youcanalsomigrateyouroldHyperViewreportstoaCustom
ReportorFormsformat.See"MigratingHyperViewReports".

SimilartotheoldHyperViewreportingistheabilitytocreateareportthatdoes
notuseareporttemplatebutisinsteadspecifictoapartprogram.See"Creating
CustomReports".
MigratingLegacy(HyperView)Reports
SinceyoucannolongereditHyperViewreportsinsidePCDMIS,thesoftwareprovidesyouwith
theabilitytomigrateexistingHyperViewreportsintoPCDMIS'snewreportingenvironmentso
thatyoucanworkwiththemthereinstead.
ToconvertanexistingHyperViewreport:
1. SelectInsert|ReportCommand|LegacyReport...andusethedialogboxtoinsert
yourHyperViewreportinsidePCDMIS.PCDMISinsertstheappropriate
REPORT/LEGACYcommandandthenautomaticallylaunchestheHyperViewreportin
RunMode.
2. PressCTRL+EtoexitRunModeandenterEditMode.PCDMISwilldisplayamessage
sayingitcannoteditlegacyreportsanditwillaskyouifyouwouldliketoconvertthe
reportintoeitheraCustomReportoraForm.
3. ClickeitherReportorForm.
IfyouclickReport,PCDMISwillconvertyourHyperViewreporttoworkwiththe
CustomReportEditor,displayingalltheobjectscontainedinyouroriginal
HyperViewreport.See"CreatingCustomReports".
IfyouclickForm,PCDMISwillconvertyourHyperViewreporttoworkwiththe
FormsEditor,displayingalltheobjectscontainedinyouroriginalHyperViewreport.
See"CreatingForms".
Youcanthenmodifythereportorformintheappropriateeditor.TheoriginalHyperViewreport
remainsuntouched.
Note:BeawarethatcertainobjectsthatusedtoappearintheHyperViewReportEditormaynot
besupportedbyyourselectedmigrationroute.Forexample,ifyourHyperViewreportcontains
buttonobjects,andyoumigratethemintotheCustomReportEditor,thebuttonswillappearinthe
editor,buttheywillnotfunctionintheReportwindow.
ReportGenerationSequence
Thistopicdescribestheprocessbywhichthereportobjectsinreporttemplatesareboundto
measurementdataanddrawnintheReportwindowduringthereportgenerationprocess.
PCDMISexecuteseachcommandfromthepartprogram.
Informationfromeachcommandgoestothereporttemplateforpossibleprocessing.
Reportobjectsonthereporttemplatearequeried,andifthecommandfromwhichthe
informationcameisdefinedintheRuleTreeEditortocallalabeltemplate,thenthat
labeltemplateiscalled.Ifnot,theinformationwillnotbedisplayedinthefinalreport.
Dataissenttoanycalledlabeltemplatestobeformattedanddisplayedaccordingtohow
theGridControlObjectandotherreportingobjectsinthelabeltemplatearedefined.

Thereporttemplatefinallydisplaysthecalledlabeltemplateswiththeirformatteddata
anddisplaysitsowninformationandanystaticelementsintheReportwindow.
AbouttheReportWindow
SelectingView|ReportWindow,displaystheReportwindow.Thiswindowdisplaysyour
measurementresults.TheReportwindowactsasanyotherwindowinthePCDMISapplication
andissubjecttotheoperationsontheWindowmenuaswell.TheReportwindow'stitlebar
displaysthepathwayandfilenameofthecurrentloadedreporttemplate.TheReportwindowalso
hasitsowntoolbar,theReportingtoolbar.
WithReportTemplates
Ifusingreporttemplates,thiswindow,afterpartprogramexecution,displaysyourmeasurement
resultsandautomaticallyconfigurestheoutputaccordingtoadefaultreporttemplate.Youcan
setanyreporttemplateasthedefaultreporttemplate,butinitiallyPCDMISusesthe
"TEXTONLY.RTP"template.

ReportWindowshowingastandard,textbasedreportfromTEXTONLY.RPT
Thereportwindowcontainsstaticcontentbasedontheselectedreporttemplateandthecurrent
partprogram.See"CreatingTemplates"
WithCustomReports
IfusingaCustomReport,thiswindowdoesnotuseareporttemplatetoconfigureordisplaysits
data.Insteaditsimplyloadstheinformationthatyou'vealreadydefinedinthestoredcustom
report.See"CreatingCustomReports".
ReportingToolbar
Reportingtoolbar
TheReportwindow'sReportingtoolbarperformsthesefunctions:
Icon Description
Redrawsthereport.Ifyoumodifythecurrentreporttemplate,label
template,orcustomreport,oryourpartprogramchanges,clickthisicon
tohaveyourreportredrawnandupdatedtousethenewlymodified
templateornewprogramdata.
Selectingthe TemplateSelectionicondisplaysadialogboxthatallows
youtomanageyourtemplatesandselectatemplatefromwhichto
generateyourreportoutput.See"ApplyingorRemovingaReport
Template"
SelectingtheCustomReportSelectionicondisplaysadialogboxthat
allowsyoutochoosewhatcustomreporttodisplay.See"Creating
CustomReports".
Printsthereporttoyourdefaultprinter.
Setsthecurrentlyusedtemplateasthenewdefaulttemplateforyour
currentpartprogram.PCDMISwillautomaticallyusethedefineddefault
reporttemplatewheneveryouopenyourpartprogramatalaterdate.
Initially,thisdefaultreportissettoTEXTONLY.RTP.

SelectingtheSaveLayouticon,savesthecurrentreporttemplateor
customreportasalayout.Anewsavedlayouticonwillappearonthe
toolbarwiththesamenameasyourtemplate.Whenyouselectthaticon,
theReportwindowautomaticallyusesthesavedtemplatelayoutto
displayyourreport.
SelectingtheReportModeicongeneratesthereportfromthefirst
commandtothelastcommandinthepartprogram,regardlessofhow
PCDMISlastexecutedtheprogram.
SelectingtheLastExecutionReportModeiconwillshowonlythose
itemsexecutedinthemostrecentpartprogramexecution.Italsoshows
thecommandsinthesameorderinwhichtheywereexecuted.If
commandswereexecutedmultipletimesduetoaloop,itwouldshow
thosemultipleexecutionsaswell.Theinformationwillonlystayinthis
reportaslongasthepartprogramremainsopen.Ifyoucloseyourpart
program,PCDMISclearsthisreport.
Selectinganitemfromthisdropdownlistsetsthereport'smagnification
intheReportwindow.Forsmallpercentages,thepagesarelaidoutside
bysidehorizontallyfirstandthenvertically.Thezoomleveldoesn'taffect
howthereportprintsout,butyoumayfindtheseoptionshelpfulwhen
previewingthereportordeterminingwhattemplatetouse.Youcanalso
typeinaspecificmagnification.Usingasmallpercentagemakesiteasier
torearrangepages.See"RearrangingReportPages".
Savedreportlayoutsusetheseicons.Simplyclickonthemto
immediatelyswitchyourreportbetweenfrequentlyusedtemplates.To
removeasavedlayout,holddowntheSHIFTkeyandthenuseyour
mousetodragtheiconoffofthetoolbar.
Note:TheReportingtoolbaronlyresideswithintheReportwindow.Youcannotselectitfromthe
toolbarareaofthemainPCDMISinterface.
ChangingtheReportWindow'sContents
EditTextReporting
TheReportdialogbox(availablewithtemplatereporting)letsyoudeterminetheoverall
informationthatPCDMISwillincludeintheReportwindowandhowitshouldbedisplayed.You
canaccessthisdialogboxinatheseways:

Reportdialogbox
RightclickonanytextonlyreportingtextorwhitespaceattheendoftheReportwindowand
thenselecttheEditObject...menuitemwhentheshortcutmenuappears.
Foradditionalinformationonthisshortcutmenu,seethe"ShortcutMenusinthe
ReportWindow"topicfromthe"UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus:
Introduction"appendix.
PressSHIFTandthenrightclickonanylabelobjectintheReportwindow,andthen
selecttheEditObject... menuitem.
Thefollowingcheckboxesletyoushoworhidevariousitems:
ShowFeatures Thisoptiondisplaysallfeature
measurements inyourpart
program.
Ifyouareusingthedefault
reporttemplate,textonly.rtp,
andyourpartprogram
measuresafeaturewithmore
thantheminimumnumberof
points,italsodisplaysaform
plotofthefeature.
ShowAlignments Thisoptionshowsalignment
changesastheyoccurduring
thepartprogram.Itwilldisplay
allalignmentchangesthat
occurinthedimensionor
featurelists.
ShowComments Thisoptionshowsany
commentsthathavebeen
addedtothepartprogram.
(See"InsertingProgrammer
Comments"inthe"Inserting
ReportCommands"chapter
foradditionalinformation.)
ShowHeader/ Thisoptiondisplaysaheader

Footer andfooterinyourreportby
applyingthelabeltemplate
definedintheFileHeaderrule
oftheRuleTreeEditor.By
defaultthisisthe
FILE_HEADER.LBLlabel
templatethatshipswithPC
DMIS.
ShowScreen Thisoptiondisplaysany
Captures graphicsrelatedto
DISPLAY/METAFILE and
ANALYSISVIEWcommandsin
thereport.(See"UsingScreen
CapturesoftheGraphics
DisplayWindow"inthe"Editing
theCADDisplay"chapter.)
TheDimensionsareaallowsyoutocontrolthedisplayofdimensionsinyourreports.Todisplay
dimensions,selecttheShowcheckbox.Onceselected,theotheritemsinthisareabecome
availableforselection.Theseinclude:
All SelectingthisoptionactsjustasifyouhadselectedboththeOutof
ToleranceOnlyandtheDimensionsOutsideLimitsoptions.
Outof Ifthisoptionismarked,PCDMISwillonlyshowtheoutoftolerance
Tolerance dimensions.("ShowDimensions"mustbeON.)
Only
ThisoptionisonlyavailablewhenyouselectShowDimensionsand
deselectShowDimensionsOutsideLimits.
Dimensions Ifyouselectthisoption,PCDMISwillonlyshowthedimensionsthatlie
Outside outsidethepercentageofthetolerancezone.
Limits
WhenyouselecttheShowDimensionsOutsideLimitscheckbox,the
tolerancepercentageswillbecomeeditable,allowingonepercentagefor
unilateraltolerancesandanupperandlowerpercentageforbilateral
tolerances.
Thetolerancezonecanbeconsideredasarangebetween0and100
percent(similartohowdimensioncolorsareappliedtotolerancezone
regionsorhowthecoloredbargraphsaredrawnattheendof
dimensions).Thelowerlimit(nominalminustol)correspondsto0%and
theupperlimit(nominal+plustol)correspondsto100%.Considerthe
followingchartwhereA,onthecenterofthechart,representsthenominal
value:
Dimensionsthathavedeviationsoutsidethetolerancezonewilleitherbe

lessthanzeroorgreaterthanonehundredpercent.
Foraunilateraldimension(likeroundness,whichonlyhasaplus
tolerance),thezerodeviationsareatzeropercent,andoutoftoleranceis
anythinglargerthanonehundredpercent.
UnilateralExample
UnilateralPercentage:
Nominal:0.0000
Measured:0.0028
Deviation:0.0028
PlusTol:0.0050
MinusTol:0.0000
Becausethisdeviationis56%ofthetolerancerange,itwillbe
displayedifUnilateralPercentageislessthan56%.
Forabilateraldimension(likedistance,whichhasbothaplusandminus
tolerance),thezerodeviationsaresomewhereinthemiddle.Ifthe
tolerancesareequal,thezerodeviationswillbeatthefiftypercent
position.
BilateralUpperExample
BilateralUpperPercentage:
Nominal:3.0000
Measured:3.0075
Deviation:0.0075
PlusTol:0.0100
MinusTol:0.0100
ThepercentageiscalculatedusingtheLeverRule:
(measuredvaluelowerlimit)/(upperlimitlowerlimit)*100.
Withthisdata,itwouldbe:
(3.00752.9900)/(3.01002.9900)*100.=87.5%
Thisdimensionwillbedisplayedintheinspectionreportifthe

BilateralUpperPercentageisgreaterthan87.5%.
BilateralLowerExample
BilateralLowerPercentage:
Nominal:3.0000
Measured:2.9925
Deviation:0.0075
PlusTol:0.0100
MinusTol:0.0100
ThepercentageiscalculatedusingtheLeverRule:
(measuredvaluelowerlimit)/(upperlimitlowerlimit)*100.
Withthisdata,itwouldbe:
(2.99252.9900)/(3.01002.9900)*100.=12.5.%
Thisdimensionwillbedisplayedintheinspectionreportifthe
BilateralLowerPercentageislessthan12.5%.
UseText ThischeckboxdetermineswhetherPCDMISusesformattedtext
Mode (selected)orusesagraphicstable(notselected) fordisplayingthe
Dimension dimensions.
Reporting
Important:IfPCDMIScannotfindaspecifiedreporttemplate,itwillend
upusingatemplatenamed"default.rtp".Thisgenerictemplateprovides
youwithabasictextbasedreport.Sincedefault.rtponlysupportstext
basedreporting,deselectingthischeckboxwilldonothing
EditLabelPositioningandSize
Ifyourlabelhasleaderlinesoritisafreelabel(itisn'tpartofaTextReportObject),ifyoupress
CTRLandthenclickonalabel(orifyoudragthemousetoboxselectalabel),youwillseethatit
becomesselected.Onceselected,youcandragittoanewlocationorresizeitbyclickingand
thendraggingtheblacksquarehandlesthatsurroundtheselectedlabel.
EditLabelReporting
IfyourightclickonalabelandclickEditObject...,theLabelPropertiesdialogboxappears.

Withthisdialogboxyoucanchangetheorderofcolumnsandrows,oryoucancontrolthe
visibilitystateofindividualcolumnsandrows.
TochangetheorderSelectaroworcolumn,thenclicktheblackupordownarrow.
TohideorshowanitemClearthecheckboxnexttotheitemtohideit.Selectthecheck
boxtodisplayit.
Onceyouhavemadethedesiredmodificationstothelabel,selectoneoftheoptionbuttonsat
thebottomtoapplythechangestothecurrentlabel,allsimilarlabelsonthecurrentpage,orall
similarlabelsintheentiresection.
Determinewhatthelabelwilldowheneveryouhideorshowcolumns,byselectinganitemfrom
theResizeTypelist.Thislistcontainstheseitems:
ResizeGridThisretainsexistingcolumnsizesandresizesthelabeltofitthenewwidth.
ResizeColumnstoFitThisretainsthelabel'sexistingwidthandresizeseachcolumn
equallytofittheexistingwidth.
HideTextThisdoesn'tresizethelabelorthecolumns.Itsimplyhidesthetext.
ClickOKandPCDMISwillchangethedisplay.
EditCADModelReporting
IfyoudoubleclickonanyCADReportObject,itbecomes"active".Thismeansyoucanrotateor
zoomtheCADmodeltohowyoulikeitjustasyoucaninsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Click
outsideoftheCADReportObjecttousetheneworientationandzoomlevel.See
"CadReportObject"forinformationonthis.

Inv4.1andhigher,ifyourightclickonaCADReportObjectintheReportwindow,andselectEdit
Object...,PCDMISdisplaystheLabelLayoutWizard allowingyoutoquicklymodifylabel
positionsandtheCADmodel'slocationdirectlywithintheReportwindow.See"TheLabelLayout
Wizard"topicunderthe"CadReportObject"forinformationonhowtousethiswizard.
Inv4.2andhigheryoucansizeandmovetheCADReportObjectasdescribedin"EditLabel
PositioningandSize"above.
RemovingyourModifications
Toquicklyremovemodificationsthatyouhavemadetoareportobject(aTextReportObject,
CADReportObject,orLabelobject),rightclickonthedesiredobject,andselecttheRemove
ObjectModificationsmenuitem.PCDMISwillreturnthereportobjectbacktoitsdefaultstate.
ToquicklyremoveallobjectmodificationsonareporttemplateselecttheFile|Reporting|Clear
TemplateAssociatedDatamenuitem.
UsingTooltipsintheReportWindow

Examplereportshowingatooltipwiththenameofthelabelbeingused
BysimplymovingyourmouseoverdifferentpartsoftheReportwindow,youcangetinformation
intheformofatooltipaboutwhatlabelisbeingused,orifthereisnolabel,thetooltipwilldisplay
eitherthenameoftheobjectorthecurrentpagenumber.
Iftheobjectisalabel,thetooltipdisplaysthelabeltemplatefilename.
Iftheobjectisnotalabel,forexample,ifit'saTextReportObjectora
CadReportObject,thetooltipdisplaystheobjectnamethatisdefinedinthereport
template.
Ifyouholdthemouseoveranemptyspaceonthepage,(technicallythePageobject),
thetooltipdisplaysthepagenumber.
Thesetooltipsprovideyouwithasimplewaytofindoutwhatobjectsarebeingusedinthereport.
UsingStandardReports
Thedefaultstandardreporttemplate,TEXTONLY.RTP,isreallynothingmorethanasimple
templatethatplugsmeasurementdataintoaTextReportObjecttomimichowtextbasedreports
appearedinpreviousversionsofPCDMIS.

ReportWindowshowingastandard,textbasedreport
Ifthedefaultstandardreporttemplatedoesn'tworkforyou,PCDMISalsoshipswithadditional
standardreporttemplatesthatyoumayfinduseful.Youcaneasilychangethelayoutusedforthe
currentreportbyclickingtheappropriateiconfromtheReportingtoolbar.
TEXTONLY.RTP:theTextReportObjectwithsomestandardlabelsincluded.
CADONLY.RTP:theCadReportObjectwithsomestandardlabelsincludedinportrait
layout.SincethistemplatesupportsfewerlabelsthanCADONLY_LANDSCAPE.RTP(up
to10),thelabelsarelargerandmoredetailed.
ASampleReportUsingCADONLY.RTP
TEXTANDCAD.RTP:theTextReportObjectandtheCadReportObjectwithsome
standardlabelsincluded.
GRAPHICALANALYSIS.RTP:ThistemplateusestheAnalysisObjecttoprovideyouwith
agraphicalanalysisofeachformdimension(suchasFlatness,Roundness,andsoforth)
senttothereport.Itwillnotshowananalysisfornonformdimensions.PCDMISwill

graphicallydisplaythedeviationofeachindividualhitforthedimensionsused.Thereport
displaystheerrorintheformofindividualarrowsforeachhit.Thesearrows,withtheir
colorsanddirections,indicatetherelativesizeoftheerror,aswellasitsdirection.
CADONLY_LANDSCAPE:SimilartoCADONLYbutdisplaysinlandscapelayout.Since
thistemplatesupportsmorelabelsthanCADONLY.RTP(upto30),thelabelsaresmaller
andlessdetailed.
PPAP:ThistemplateproducesareportthatcanbeusedinProductionPartApproval
Process(PPAP).Ifthisreporttemplatedoesn'treadilyappear,youmayneedtomanually
applyit.See"ApplyingorRemovingaReportTemplate"forinformationonhowtoapply
anewtemplate.
ThesetemplatesexistintheReportTemplatesdialogbox(ortheReportingsubdirectory)by
default.See"ApplyingorRemovingaReportTemplate"forinformationonusingthisdialogbox.
Note:Ifyouloadapartprogramthatusesareporttemplatethatdoesnotexistinthespecified
reportingdirectorynorinthedirectorywhereyouinstalledPCDMIS,thenPCDMISwillgenerate
atextonlyreporttemplateontheflycalled"default.rtp".Thisallowsyoutoalwaysseeareportin
theReportwindowevenifyoudon'thavethespecifiedreporttemplate.Remember,default.rtp
onlydisplaysinformationinatextonlyformat.ThismeansyoucannotdeselecttheUseText
ModeDimensionReportcheckboxintheReportdialogbox.See"ChangingtheReport
Window'sContents"forinformationonthatdialogbox.
ViewingaLegacyTextOnlyReport
ReportWindowShowingaLegacyReport
Thistopicdiscusseshowyoucangetalegacy(oldstyle)textonlyreporttoshowupinyour
Reportwindowinversion4.xandabove.Thisreporttypewasusedinversions3.7andearlier.
Notethatyoushouldonlyuselegacydimensionsinyourpartprogramifyougothisroute.
1. SelectView|ReportWindowtoaccesstheReportwindow.
2. SelecttheTemplateSelectiondialogicon fromtheReportingtoolbar.TheReport
Templatesdialogboxappears.

3. ClickAddandselectdefault.rtp.Thisisacatchall,trulytextonly,defaultreport
templatewhichPCDMISfallsbackonandusesifapartprogramtriestoloadatemplate
thatisn'tonthecomputersystem.
4. ClickOpentoaddthetemplateintotheReportTemplatesdialogbox.Selectthe
templateinsidetheTemplateSelectiondialogboxandclickOpen.PCDMISloadsthe
default.rtptemplateintotheReportwindow.
5. ClicktheAddTemplateToToolbaricon fromtheReportingtoolbar.Thesaved
templatenowappearsonthetoolbar.Soifyouonlywanttoloadthelegacyreportonly
sometimes,youcansimplyclickontheappropriatestoredreporttemplateicon to
loadit.Ifyouwantittoloadthistemplateeverytimeyouopenupthecurrentpart
program,youcanclicktheSetthisreportasthedefaultreporticon.
6. Thisstepisoptional.IfyouwillbemodifyingthefinishedreportinsideanRTFeditor,you
maywanttochangehowRTFfilesareconverted.InthePCDMISSettingsEditor,
expandthePrintingsectionandsetDoNotUseAmyUniRTFto2.ClickSaveSetting
andthenclickOK.ThiswillmakethetextforthereportprintouttoRTFfileslikethey
usedtoin3.7andbefore.Ifthisissetto0(thedefault)charactersshowupinsideoftext
boxes.
RearrangingReportPages
PCDMISprovidesyouwithadraganddropapproachtorearrangingpagesintheReport
window.Torearrangepagesusethisprocedure:
1. Sizethereportmagnificationtowhereyoucanviewthepagesyouwanttorearrange,
probablysomewherearound25%.
Hoveryourmouseoveranyreportpage.Noticethatatthetopleftofthepageacrosshairicon
appears.
2. Dragthecrosshairicontodragthecurrentpage.
Dragthepageontopofanexistingpage.Thetargetpagereceivesaredhighlightandthemouse
cursorchanges.

3. Releasethemouse.PCDMISwillarrangetheorderingofthereportpagesaccordingto
thedirectioninwhichyoudraggedthereportpage.
Ifyoudraganddropthepagetoapageearlierintheexistingpagesequence,
thepagewillbeinsertedbeforethepageonwhichitwasdropped.
Ifyoudraganddropthepagetoapagelaterintheexistingpagesequence,the
pagewillbeinsertedafterthepageonwhichitwasdropped.
Example:Supposeyouhaveasequenceofsevenpagesinyourreport:
p1,p2,p3,p4,p5,p6,p7.Ifyoudragp4anddropitatp2(earlierinthesequence),the
orderwillbep1,p4,p2,p3,p5,p6,p7.Ifyouthendragp4anddropitatp5(laterinthe
sequence),theorderwillbe:p1,p2,p3,p5,p4,p6,p7
6. Continuerearrangingpagesasneeded.
ModifyingStandardTemplates
YoumaywanttomodifythestandardreportingandlabeltemplatesthatshipwithPCDMIS.
ReportorlabeltemplatefilesthatshipwithPCDMISareprotectedwithareadonlyattributeto
preventanyinadvertentmodification.
YoushouldmakeacopyoftheReportingsubdirectoryandstoreitinasafeplacebefore
modifyingthem.Thenyoucaneasilyrestoresomethingifyourchangeshappentocause
problems.
RemovingtheReadonlyAttribute
1. UsingWindowsExplorer,opentheReportingsubdirectory,andnavigatetothereportor
labeltemplateyouwanttomodify.

2. Rightclickonit,andselectPropertiesfromthemenu.ThePropertiesdialogbox
appears.
3. NearthebottomofthedialogwhereitdisplaysAttributes,deselecttheReadonlycheck
box.
4. ClickOK.Youcannowmodifyyourreportorlabeltemplateinsideitsrespectiveeditor.
ChangingProperties
Tochangepropertiesinyourreport,selecttheappropriateobjectinthetemplateeditor,rightclick
onit,andmodifyitspropertiesinthePropertiesdialogbox.See"AboutObjectProperties".
Tochangeyourreport'sheader,see"ModifyingyourReport'sHeader".
ReportingUsing.DATFileKeywords
WhenPCDMISwasenhancedwiththenewtemplateapproachtoreportinginversion4.0,the
.datfilesusedinversionspriorto4.0thesefilesincludedheader.dat,logo.dat,andelogo.dat
werenolongerusedtocontrolthedisplayofheadersandfootersinreports.Now,usingPC
DMIS4.3andlater,youcancreatereportandlabeltemplatesthatwillrecognizeandinterpretthe
keywordsinsidethose.datfiles.
PCDMISutilizesaspecialActiveXcontroltoaccomplishthis.Forinformationonthe
DataFileFormatControlandworkingwithActiveXcontrolsseethe"UsingPCDMISActiveX
Controls"and"ActiveXObject"topics.
Hint:Youshouldbefamiliarwithcreationandcustomizationofreportandlabeltemplatesbefore
continuingwiththeprocedurebelow.Tofamiliarizeyourselfyoumaywantcompletethese
tutorialsfirst:
TutorialCreatingaReportTemplate
TutorialCreatingLabelTemplates
TomimicPCDMIS'sabilitytouse.datfilesinearlierversions,followthisprocedure.
1. Createareporttemplate,andaddanadditionalsectionsothatithasSection1and
Section2.Savethereporttemplate.
2. Tomimicthelogo.datcapability,createalabeltemplatewiththeDataFileFormatControl
ActiveXcontrol.SettheDataFileNamepropertytologo.dat.Savethelabeltemplate.
3. AddandsizeaTextReportObjectontoSection1.
4. AccesstheRuleTreeEditorforthatTextReportObject,andsettheTopofFirstPagein
Sectionruletocallthelabeltemplateyoucreatedinstep2.
5. CleartheexistingruleforFileHeader.Savethereporttemplate.
6. Tomimictheelogo.datcapability,createalabeltemplatewiththe
DataFileFormatControlActiveXcontrol.SettheDataFileNamepropertytoelogo.dat.
Savethelabeltemplate.
7. AddandsizeaTextReportObjectontoSection2.
8. AccesstheRuleTreeEditorforthatTextReportObject,andsettheBottomofLast
PageinSectionruletocallthelabeltemplateyoucreatedinstep5.
9. Tomimictheheader.datcapability,directlyaddtheActiveXcontroltothetopofSection2
sothattheinformationisplacedatthetopofeachpage.TheDataFileNameproperty
shouldbesettoheader.dat.
10. InSection1,settheMaximumNumberofPagespropertyforthatsectionto1.

11. InSection2,settheCommandSetpropertyforthatsectiontoContinueFromPrevious
Section.
12. Saveandtestyourreporttemplate.
ModifyingtheReport'sHeader
Manyuserswanttochangetheheaderinsomeway,usuallytomodifythedefaultgraphicthat
appearsinthedefaultreport'sheadertosomethingmorecompanyspecific.Youcanchangethe
headergraphicbyfollowingthisprocedure.Youcanchangeotherinformationbysimilarly
modifyingtheappropriatetemplates.
Yourreporttemplate(bydefaultthisisTEXTONLY.RTP)callsalabeltemplatetodisplaythe
headerinformation(bydefaultthisisFILE_HEADER.LBL).So,thisisthefileyouwillneedto
modify.
1. RemovetheReadonlyattributefromthetemplatefile.
2. OpenthefileintheLabelTemplateeditor.
o SelectFile|Reporting|Edit|LabelTemplate.AnOpendialogboxappears.
o SelecttheFILE_HEADER.LBLtemplateandclickOpen.
o IntheLabelTemplateEditoryoushouldnowseetheeditareafilledwitha
GridControlObject.Thisobjectcontrolsalltheheaderdatathatyouseeinthe
report.
3. Changethegraphic.
o DoubleclickontheGridControlObject.Youwillseeahashborderaroundthe
object.Thistellsyouthatyoucaneditthecodeoritemsinsideoftheheader.
o RightclickonthePCDMISgraphicandaGridPropertiesdialogboxappears.
o IntheCelltab,clickSelect.AnOpendialogboxappears.
Exampleshowingthebuttontousetochangethereportheader'sgraphic
o Navigatetothegraphicimageyouwantintheheader,selectit,andclickOpen.
Thedialogboxcloses.

o ClickApply.Thenewgraphicappearsinthecell.
4. Saveandtestthemodifiedlabeltemplate.
o Onceyouhavethingsasyoulikeit,clickOK,andthenselectFile|Saveto
saveyourchangedLabelTemplate.
o SelectFile|ClosetoclosetheLabeltemplateeditor,returningtoyourpart
program.
o SelectView|Reportwindow.Ifyourchangedoesn'timmediatelyappear,
selecttheRedrawthereporticonfromtheReportingtoolbar.
ConvertingLOGO.DAT,HEADER.DAT,andELOGO.DATKeywords
Inversionspriorto4.0,these.DATfilescontained#keywordsthatdefinedtheinformationthat
wouldappearinyourreport'sheadersandfooters(see"ModifyingHeadersandFooters"inthe
"UsingtheEditWindow:Introduction"chapter).Inversions4.0andlater,PCDMISusesReport
Expressionstoaccomplishthesamething.ThefollowingtabledetailstheReportExpressionor
whereapplicablethereportobjecttouseandwheretouseit.
.DAT#Keyword Functionality EquivalentCommandin

ReportTemplate
#DATE Insertsthe =SYSTEMDATE("MMMM
currentdate. dd,yyyy")
#TIME Insertsthe =SYSTEMTIME("HH:mm")
currenttime.
#PAGE Insertsthe =Page()
currentpage
number.
#TRn Insertsthe =TRACEFIELD(n)
valueoftrace
fieldn,where
nisthetrace
fieldnumber.
#PARTN Insertsthe =PARTNAME()
partprogram
name.
#DRWN Insertsthe =REVNUM()
revision
number.
#SERIALN Insertsthe =SERNUM()
serialnumber.
#SEQUENCE Insertsthe (Notapplicable)
sequence
number.
#SHRINK Insertsthe =MEASSCALE()
scalefactor.
#NMEAS Insertsthe =NUMMEAS()
totalnumber
ofdimensions.
#NOUT Insertsthe =NUMOUTTOL()
totalnumber
ofdimensions
thatareoutof
tolerance.
#ELAPSTIM Insertsthe =ELAPSEDTIME()
timeelapsed

betweenstart
andendof
execution.
#BMP=bitmappath Insertsa UseBitmapobject
bitmapofthe
specifiedfull
pathand
name.
See"AboutReportExpressions"forusingotherexpressionsinyourreporttemplates.
See"DisplayingaVariable'sValue"forlimitationsonusingvariablesinsidereportheaders.
ChangingtheReport'sTextColors
Attimesyoumaywanttomodifythedefaulttextcolorsusedinyourreport.Tochangethesetext
colors,accessandmodifytheColorEditordialogboxforyourreporttemplate'sTextOnlyObject:
Remember,ifyou'remodifyingoneofthestandardreporttemplatesthatshipswithPCDMIS,
ensurethatyouhavefirstclearedthereadonlyflagforthefile.InWindow'sExplorer,Rightclick
onthereporttemplatefile,selectProperties,andthencleartheReadOnlycheckbox.
1. SelectFile|Reporting|Edit|ReportTemplate.
2. Selectthereporttemplateforwhichyouwanttochangethecolors.
3. IntheReportTemplateeditor,selecttheTextReportObject,andrightclickonitto
accessthePropertiesdialogboxforthatobject.
4. SelecttheColorspropertyfromthePropertiesdialogbox.
5. TheColorEditorappears.ThisisthesameeditorasusedfortheEditwindow,butin
thiscaseitmodifiestheTextOnlyObjectusedinyourreporttemplate.Forinformationon
howtousetheColorEditor,see"DefiningEditWindowColors"inthe"SettingYour
6. Makeyourchanges,andthensavethetemplate.
7. LoadthetemplateintotheReportwindow.
AbouttheReportingandFormEditors
TheReportTemplateEditor,LabelTemplateEditor,CustomReportEditor,andFormEditorare
usedtomodifyexistingorcreatenew,templates,customreports,orforms.Theseeditorsshare
manyofthesamecommonuserinterfaceelements:themenubar,thetoolbars,theobjectbar,
andsoon.Whiletheindividualiconsoritemsonthesemenusmaychangebetweeneditors,the
lookandfeelisessentiallythesame.
Theuserinterfaceisdiscussedinthefollowingtopics.
MenuBarfortheFormandReportingEditors
Filemenu
File|NewCreatesablanktemplateorform.

File|OpenOpensapreviouslystoredreporttemplatefileorform.
File|CloseClosesthetemplateeditororform.
File|SaveAsSavesthecurrenttemplateorformwithanewfilename.
File|Edit/File|RunLetsyoutogglebetweentheeditor'stwomodes:EditModeandRun
Mode.Runmodeletsyou"run"ortestaform.Editmodeletsyoumodifyatemplateorform.
(RunmodeonlyworkswiththeFormEditoritdoesexistintheReportorLabeltemplate
editors.)
File|ExitExitsPCDMIS.Ifyouhaveunsavedchanges,PCDMISwilldisplayamessage
boxaskingifyouwouldliketosavethem.
Editmenu
Edit|Layout|AlignObjects,SpaceEvenly,CenterinView,MakeSameSize These
submenusletsyoulayout,align,andspaceobjectsintheeditor.Seethe"LayoutBar"for
Edit|Layout|PropertiesDisplaysthepropertysheetforthecurrentlyselectedobject.If
noobjectisselected,thisdisplaysthepropertysheetfortheeditingarea(calleda"Section"
or"TheFrame/View").See"PropertySheet"and"AboutSections".
Edit|Layout|CheckMnemonicsThismenuitemensuresthatanyshortcutkeysusing
theALTkeyplusaletterareuniqueonformortemplateitemsthathaveatextdisplay(such
asbuttons).
Todefineashortcutkeyforaformordialogboxcontrol,typeanampersandsymbol(&)
beforethecharacter.Forexample,abuttonwiththetextlabelof"&Continue",wouldlooklike
"Continue"ontheformandwouldbeaccessiblewithALT+C.
Edit|Layout|GridSettingsDisplaystheGridSettingsdialogbox.Thisdialogboxlets
youdisplayorhideagridofpointsonyourlayout'sbackground.See"WorkingwiththeGrid".
Edit|Layout|ObjectsDisplaystheObjectSheetdialogbox.Usethisdialogboxtoviewor
selecttheobjectsintheFormandtosettheirtaborder.See"ObjectSheet".(Onlyavailablein
theFormEditor.)
ObjectSheetdialogbox

Edit|OrderThissubmenuletsyoumoveobjectsbehindorinfrontofotherobjectsthat
overlapeachother.
Edit|UndoLetsyouundothelastactiontakenintheeditor.
Edit|RedoLetsyouredothelastundoneaction.
Edit|CutCutstheobjectandstoresitforpasting.
Edit|CopyCopiestheobjectandstoresitforpasting.
Edit|DeleteDeletestheselectedobjects.
Edit|PastePastesthecutorcopiedobject.Iffromacopiedobjectthisoftenthispastes
theobjectrightontopofthecopiedobject,soyouwillneedtodragittoanewlocationor
elseitwilloverlaptheobjectfromwhichitwascopied.
Edit|PasteSpecialThisdiffersfromthestandardPastemenuitemsinceitallowsyouto
maintainalinkbetweenthepasteditemandthesourcefromwhichitwascopiedsothatifthe
sourcechanges,thepasteditemwillalsogetupdated. ForExample:
SupposeyouwanttoplaceaMicrosoftExcelchartobjectinyourHyperReportandyouwantto
keepthechart'sdatainsynchwiththedatafromtheExcelfile.Todothis:
1. IntheMicrosoftExcelfile,copythechartobject.
2. Accessyourtemplateorform.
3. SelectEdit|PasteSpecial.ThePasteSpecialdialogboxappears.
4. SelectthePastLinkoption.
5. ClickOK.Thechartobjectappearsinyourtemplateorform.
Now,ifyoumakechangestothedataforyourchartobjectinyourExcelfile,PCDMISwillupdate
thechartobjectinthereportorform.
Edit|SetTabOrderThisletsyoudeterminetheobjectsthatgetselectedwhenauser
pressesTABtocyclethroughobjectsinRunMode.(ThisonlyworksintheFormsEditor.)
Edit|UserAssignedPropertiesAccessestheUserAssignedPropertiesdialogbox,
allowingyoutomanageallyouruserassignedpropertiesatonce.See"WorkingwithUser
DefinableProperties".(OnlyavailableintheReportTemplateEditor.)
Viewmenu
View|GraphicsDisplayWindow,EditWindow,PreviewWindow,FormEditor,Marked
SetsWindow,BasicScriptEditor,InspectionReport,ProbeReadouts,ProbeToolbox
ShowsorhidesthesePCDMISwindowsoreditors.Mostofthetimethesedonotserve
anypurposewhenworkingintheeditorandyoucanhidethem.
View|ObjectBarDisplaystheeditor'sObjectBar.See"ObjectBar".

View|LayoutBarDisplaystheeditor'sLayoutBar.See"LayoutBar".
View|FontBarDisplaystheeditor'sFontBar.See"FontBar"
View|RulerBarsDisplaystherulersonthetopandleftsidesoftheeditor.See"Toggle
Ruler"
View|SnapPointsDisplaysthe"snappoints"foranyoftheobjectsintheeditor.See
"ViewSnapPoints"
View|RouteThisonlyfunctionswithsnappoints.Oncomplexpageswithalotofobjects,
youmayfinditusefultousethethismenuoptiontoseethechainofobjectsconnectedtothe
currentlyselectedobjectviasnappoints.Thismenuoptionselectsallobjectsconnectedin
somewaybysnappointstothecurrentlyselectedobject.(OnlyavailableintheFormEditor.)
Windowsmenu
ThismenuletsyouperformstandardwindowmanipulationswithanyofthewindowsinPC
DMIS.Seethe"NavigatingandDisplayingMultipleWindows"chapter.
Helpmenu
Help|IndexAccessesthePCDMISHelpfile.
Help|UsingHelpDisplaysatopicaboutusingtheHelpfile.
Help|AboutPCDMISDisplaystheAboutPCDMISdialogbox,showinginformation
aboutyourversionofPCDMIS.
TheFontBar
Theeditor's FontBarletsyoumodifyfrequentlymodifiedfont,color,backgroundorline
propertiesforvariousobjects.
FontBarItem Description
Changestheobject'sfontifitsupportstext.Identicalto
settingtheFontproperty.
Changestheobject'sfontsizeifitsupportstext.
IdenticaltosettingtheFontproperty.
Displaysyourobject'stextinboldface.Identicalto
settingtheFontproperty.
Displaysyourobject'stextinitalics.Identicaltosetting
theFontproperty.
Alignsyourtexttotheleftsideofyourobject,directlyin
thecenter,ortotherightside.Identicaltosettingthe

Alignmentproperty.
Setsthebackgroundandforegroundcolorsofyour
object.Foregroundsetsanytextandbordercolors.
IdenticaltosettingtheBackColorandForecolor
properties.
Setstheborderorline'swidth.Clickingthismultiple
timesswitchesbetweenvariousoptions.Identicalto
settingtheLineWidthproperty.
Setsthestyleofaline(doesnotapplytoborders).
Clickingthismultipletimesswitchesthelinestyle
betweenasolidlineandvariousdottedlines.Identical
tosettingtheLineStyleproperty.
PlacesarrowheadsattheendorendsofaLineobject.
Clickingthismultipletimesswitchesthearrowto
differentlocationsoneitherorbothendsoftheline.
IdenticaltosettingtheArrowheadproperty.
Setsabackgroundpattern,calleda"hatchstyle",on
anobjectthatsupportshatchstyles.Clickingthis
multipletimesswitchesbetweentheavailablehatch
styles.IdenticaltosettingtheHatchStyleproperty.
Setsashadowundertheobject,onobjectsthat
supportsshadows.Clickingthismultipletimesswitches
betweentheavailableshadowstyles.Identicalto
settingtheShadowStyleproperty.
TheObjectBar
TheObjectBar
TheObjectBarisatoolbarthatletsyouinsertvariousobjectsintoatemplateorobjectsand
controlsintoaform.Youcaninserttext,pictures,multimedia,dialogboxcontrols,specialPC
DMISspecificobjects,andotheritemstohelpyoucreatecustomlabels,reports,andforms.
ThisbarappearswheneveryouenteraneditingenvironmentsuchastheReportTemplate
Editor,theLabelTemplateEditor,theCustomReportEditor,ortheFormEditor.
TheObjectBarcomesinoneofthesetypes,oneforeacheditingenvironment:
ReportTemplateEditor LabelTemplateEditor CustomReport

Editor

FormEditor
AddingObjects:
Toaddanobjecttoatemplate,customreport,orform:
1. Insidetheappropriateeditor,accesstheObjectBar.
2. Clickontheobjectyouwanttoinsertintoyourreport.
3. Next,holddowntheleftmousebuttonanddragarectangleonyourcurrent
section.
4. Finally,releasethemousebutton.
Uponcreation,theobjectisselected,asshownbysmallgreensquares,calledhandles,ateach
corneroftheobject.

AsampleTextobjectshowinghandles
SelectingandManipulatingObjects:
Tomanipulateanobjectyouhavetofirstselectit.Toselectanobject,clickontheobjectsothat
thegreenhandlesareshowing.
TodraganobjecttoanewlocationSelecttheobject.Clickandholdthemouseontop
oftheobject,thendragittothenewlocation.Releasethemouse.
ToresizeanobjectSelecttheobject,moveyourmouseoveroneofthegreenhandles
untilitchangestoaresizecursor,alinewithtwoarrows.Thenclickonthehandleand
dragthemousetoanewlocation.Releasethemouse.Theobjectexpandsorshrinks.
Tochangeanobject'spropertiesSelecttheobject,rightclickontheobjectsothatthe
Propertiesdialogboxappears.Selectpropertiesandchangethemasdesired.
Toalign,group,ungroup,andperformotheroperationsUsetheLayoutBarorthe
Edit|LayoutandEdit|Ordersubmenus.
CodingObjectstoChangeDynamically
Forsomeobjects,youcanuseBASICscriptingtodynamicallychangecertainpropertiesofthose
objects.Forexample,youcouldusecodetoautomaticallypopulateplottedpointsonaGraph
object,oryoumightwanttousetheGaugeobjectlikeabargraphofsomesort.Foranexample
ofhowtodothis,seethetopic,"ExampleofUsingBASICScriptingtoDynamicallyChangethe
Gauge'sValue"
ActiveXObject
TheActiveXObjectinsertsanActiveXcontrolintoyourtemplateorform.Onceinserted,adialog
boxtitledInsertOLEControlwillappear.
InsertActiveXControldialogbox
Thisdialogboxallowsyoutoselectthetypeofcontroltobeinsertedfromalistofknowncontrols
onyourcomputer.ThecontrolsintheObjectTypelistareuniquetoeachcomputer,basedon
theprogramsinstalled,etc.ActiveXcontrolsexpandthepossibilitiesofwhatyoucandoinaform

ortemplate.Forexample,youcouldinsertachartcontrolandthenwithVisualBASICcode,pass
partprogramdatatodynamicallycreatethechart.
PCDMISActiveXControls
PCDMISshipswithActiveXcontrolsmostofwhicharerelatedtofeatureanalysis.Thefeature
analysiscontrolsappearincertaincellsoftheGridControlObjectonsomeofthestandardlabels
thatcomewithPCDMIS.Ingeneral,thesoftwareusesthesecontrolstodisplaygraphical
analysisinformation.YoucaninserttheseintoyourowntemplatesorformsfromtheInsert
ActiveXControldialogbox.
ThePCDMISActiveXcontrolsrelatedtofeatureanalysisare:
Control GraphicalExample
BFANALYSISACTIVEX
DIMANALYSISACTIVEX
DimensionReport
Linear

DimensionReport
Linear2(SurferNTStyle
Control)
DimensionReport
Radial
FeatureAnalysisActiveX
ThePCDMISActiveXcontrolsnotrelatedtofeatureanalysisare:
Control Description
DataFileFormatControl Allowstheinterpretationof.dat
files(logo.dat,elogo.datand
header.dat)inyourtemplate
basedreports.See"SomePC
DMISActiveXControls"and
"ReportingUsing.DATFile
Keywords".
Aswithanyotherobject,thePCDMISActiveXobjectalsocontainsproperties,bothstandardand
unique,thatyoucanmodifyusingthePropertiesdialogbox.Thetopicbelowcontains
informationonaccessingthoseproperties.
AccessinganActiveXObjectsMethodsandPropertiesfromBasic
Ifyouhaveaddedacontrol,forexample,anActiveXcalendarcontrolandcalleditMSCAL,you
canaccessitseventsandpropertiesthroughthepropertysheetjustlikeanyotherobject.Inthis
case,sinceitisanActiveXobject,anewsectionofpropertieswillappearcalledActiveX.It
containsauseraccessiblelistofvariablesandpropertieswiththeirdefaultvalues.
TosetpropertiesfortheActiveXcontrolinsidetheVBSMiniEditorforaneventhandler,type
thenameofthecontrol,inthiscase,"MSCAL."(withtheperiod).Awindowappearsallowingthe
variablesandmethodstobeaccessible.Selectthe"X"fromthelist.Anotherpopupwindowwill
appearlistingasetofinternaleditablevariablesfortheActiveXcontrol.

See"UsingPCDMISActiveXControls"forinformationonthepropertiesofthedifferentPCDMIS
ActiveXcontrols.
ArcObject
TheArcobjectinsertsanellipticalarcintothetemplateorform.Adefaultarcdoesn'thaveafill
colorandhasabeginningangleof0degreesandanendingangleof90degrees.
Alongwiththeabilitytoresizetheobject,addafillcolor,addabordercolor,andchangeother
attributes,thefollowingeditablepropertiesareincludedforarcobjects:
Property Description
PenWidth Thissetstheborderwidthin
pixels.
PenStyle Thischangesthearc'sborder
styletoSolid,Dash,Dot,
Dashdot,andDashdot
dot.
Angle1 Thisnumbersetsthestart
angleforthearc.Thedefaultis
0degrees.
Angle2 Thisnumbersetstheendangle
forthearc.Thedefaultis90
degrees.
IsWedge IfsettoNO (thedefault),PC
DMISdrawsafilledarcwithout
awedge,likethis:
IfsettoYES,PCDMISdrawsa
filledarcwithawedgelikethis:
AnalysisObject

TheAnalysisobjectisusedtoinsertaPCDMISanalysiswindowintoalabeltemplate.Then,in
theReport Window,PCDMISwilldisplayagraphicalanalysisofdimensionsthatuseareport
templateusingthelabeltemplatewithananalysisobjectinit.
Important:TheanalysisobjectwillonlyfunctionwithFeatureControlFramedimensionsandwill
notfunctionwithLegacydimensions.
ManipulatingtheObject
Inversion4.1andabove,youcandoubleclickonthisobjecttoactivateitintheReportwindow.
ThisletsyoumanipulateitsdisplayintheReportwindowonthefly.Onceactivated,youcan
zoominoroutontheobject'sgraphicaldisplayandchangeitsrotation.Doubleclickingoutsideof
theobjectdeactivatesit.YoucanalsorightclickontheobjectintheReportwindowtoaccessits
theGraphicalAnalysisOptionsdialogboxdescribedbelow.
ChangingProperties
Todeterminewhatthisobjectwilldisplayyoucanmodifyitsmanyproperties.Youcanalsouse
the(SettingsDialog)propertytoaccesstheDimensionAnalysisOptionsdialogboxinsidethe
templateeditor.Thisdialogboxletsyouquicklyandeasilysetmanyoftheanalysisobject's
properties.
DimensionAnalysisOptionsdialogbox
Thisdialogboxisnearlyidenticaltothedialogboxalreadydiscussedinthe"DimensionOptions"
topicinthe"InsertingReportCommands"chapter.Seethattopicforinformationonmostofthe
dialogboxoptions.
OneexceptionistheShowBordercheckbox.ThisoptionfunctionsonlywithanAnalysisobject,
notwiththeAnalysiswindow.SelectingthischeckboxdrawsaborderaroundtheAnalysis
object.
Theavailablepropertiesforthisobjectarelistedbelow:

(SettingsDialog) DisplaystheGraphical
AnalysisOptionsdialogbox
fortheselectedAnalysisobject.
ArrowHeads SameastheShowArrow
Headscheckboxinthedialog
box.
BackColor CommonProperties
BorderShow ShowsorhidestheAnalysis
object'sborder.
Bottom CommonProperties
CircularityMaxMinDiameters SameastheShowBestFit,
MaxInscribed,andMin
CircumscribedDiameters
checkboxinthedialogbox.
Left CommonProperties
MaxMin SameastheShowMax/Min
Deviationscheckboxinthe
dialogbox.
MultShow Showorhidesthearrow
multipliervalueastextonthe
Analysisobject.So,ifsetto
YESandyouhaveamultiplier
valueof10,itwoulddisplay
"MULT=10."
ProfileMeasured SameastheShowLines
BetweenMeasuredHitscheck
boxinthedialogbox.
ProfileNominal SameastheShowLines
BetweenNominalscheckbox
inthedialogbox.
ProfileOptions Sameasselectingoneofthe
optionbuttonsfromtheProfile
Dimensionsareainthedialog
box.
ProfileTolerances SameastheShowTolerance
Linescheckboxinthedialog
box.
Right CommonProperties
Top CommonProperties
TPDiameters SameastheShowDiameters
checkboxinthedialogbox.
Enable CommonProperties
Visible CommonProperties
BorderObject

TheBorderobjectinsertsarectangularborderintothetemplateorform.Alongwiththeabilityto
resizetheobject,addafillcolor,addabordercolor,andchangeotherattributes,thefollowing
editablepropertiesareincludedforborderobjects:
PenWidth Thissetsthewidthofthe
object'sborderinpixels.
HatchStyle Thissetsthetypeofpattern(or
hash)tousetofilltheresulting
polygon.Availablepatternsare:
Horizontal
Vertical
Diagonal
ReverseDiagonal
Cross
DiagonalCross
ShadowStyle Thissetsthelocationofthe3D
shadowontheresulting
polygon.Availablelocations
are:
Top/Left,Bottom/Right,or
None.
HiliteColor Thissetsthecolorusedforthe
BorderStyleproperty.
BorderStyle Thissetsthe3Dhighlightstyle
oftheobject'sborder.Options
includeNormal,3D,Sunken
andRaised.
BitmapObject
TheBitmapObjectallowsyoutoinsertaprecreatedbitmapgraphicintoyourtemplateorform.
Whenyouclickthisicon,adialogboxappears.

BitmapDialog
TheOKbuttonallowsyoutoinsertabitmaploadedintothedialogboxintothe
formortemplate.
TheCancelbuttonallowsyoutoclosethedialogboxwithoutinsertingany
bitmap.
TheCopybuttonallowsyoutocopyabitmaptotheClipboardthatyouhave
alreadyloadedintothisdialogboxthroughtheLoadbutton.
ThePastebuttonallowsyoutopasteacopiedbitmapgraphicfromtheClipboard
intothedialogbox.AfteryoupasteagraphicyoucanselecttheRLEcheckboxto
compressthegraphicwhenit'ssavedwiththereport.
TheLoadbuttonallowsyoutoloadagraphicimage(bitmaporJPEGfile)into
thedialogbox.Afteryouloadthegraphic,youcanselecttheLinkcheckboxtolink
thebitmaptothetemplateorformbyitsdirectorypath.Thismeansifthegraphic
getsupdated,itwillappearinitsupdatedforminsidethetemplateorform.
TheClearbuttonallowsyoutocleartheloadedbitmapoutofthedialogbox.
TheTransparentlistallowsyoutospecifyonecolorwithinthebitmapthatwillbe
madetransparent.
Alongwiththeabilitytoresizetheobjectandchangeotherattributes,thefollowingeditable
propertiesareincludedforbitmapobjects:
Bitmap Thiscontainsthefilenamefor
thebitmap.
Layout Center,Left, or Right
isthealignmentofthebitmap
withintherectangle.
Stretchexpandsorshrinks
thegraphictofitthesizeofthe
box.
SizetoFitautomatically
expandstherectanglesizetofit
thesizeofthegraphic.
ButtonObject

TheButtonobjectinsertsabuttoncontrolintoaform.Youcanchoosetheactiontheformwill
takewhenthebuttonisclickedbymodifyingtheButtonTypeproperty.
Alongwiththeabilitytoresizetheobject,changecolors,andchangeotherattributes,youcan
furthercustomizebuttonobjectsbyusingtheseproperties:
Default Thisdetermineshowbuttons
willrespondwhenyoupress
theENTERkey.
YESThebuttonrespondstoa
pressedENTERkeyevenif
anotherbuttonhasthefocus.
NOIfENTERispressedonly
thebuttonthathasthefocus
willrespond.
ButtonShape Thisdeterminesthelookofthe
button.Optionsinclude:
0Normal: changesshape
toastandardbutton.
1Propertytab
Inactive:changesshapeto
anunselectedpropertysheet
tab.
2PropertytabActive:
changesshapetoaselected
propertysheettab.
Text Thisdeterminesthetextthat
appearsonthebutton.
Bitmap Thisplacesabitmapofyour
choiceontopofthebutton
face.Itusesthesamedialog
boxandpropertiesas
describedinthe"Bitmap
Object".
Layout Thisdeterminesthepositionof
thebitmaportextonthe
button'sface.Thevalues
include:
0Center
1Left
2Right

3Top
4Bottom
ButtonType Thisdeterminestheactiona
buttonwilltakewhenit's
clicked.
0 Cancel:closestheform
anddoesnothing.
1 EventClick:executesa
C++orVBScriptaction.
2 Goto:goestotheMulti
DocumentInterface(MDI)
associatedfile.
3 Help:invokesthe
WinHelp()functionusingthe
HelpContextIDpropertytoopen
thepropertopic.
4OK:recordschangesand
closestheform.
5Record:records
changesandkeepstheform
open.
GotoPath ThisdeterminestheMDI
associatedfiletheformwillgo
towhenthebuttonisclicked.
Thisismostlyusedto
implementpropertysheetlike
controls.
CADImageObject
TheCadImageObjectletsyoudisplaytheCADimageinsideofalabeltemplateoraform.When
youselectthisitemanddragaboxintheeditingenvironment,PCDMISinsertsa
CADImageObjectintotheeditor,andtheobjectdisplaysadummyCADmodelimage.

LabelTemplateEditorshowinganinsertedCADImageObject
Howyousizetheobjectintheeditingenvironmentdeterminesthesizeoftheobjectwhen
actuallydisplayedintheReportwindoworexecutedform.
TheCADImageObjectcontainstheseproperties:
Standard
Bottom Definesthebottom
locationfortheobjectin
pixelsfromthetopofthe
editor.
Left Definestheleftlocation
fortheobjectinpixels
fromtheleftoftheeditor.
Right Definestherightlocation
fromtheleftoftheeditor.
ShowBorder IfON,displaysaborder
aroundtheobject.IfOFF,
noborderisdrawn.
Top Definesthetoplocation
fromthetopoftheeditor.
Advanced
(ObjectCode) Definestheobject's
uniquename.
Enable Determineswhetheror
notthisobjectisenabled
formodificationinthe
formortemplate.IfYES
thenenabledfor
modification.IfNO,then

notenabledfor
modification.
Visible Determineswhetheror
notthisobjectisvisiblein
theformortemplate.If
YESthenvisible.IfNO,
thenhidden.
Events
EventReportData Thisistheeventthatpulls
reportdatafromPCDMIS
intothetemplateorform.
CadImageObjectonLabels
YoucanusetheRulesTreeEditordialogboxtodisplaythelabeltemplateinareporttemplate
foraparticulardimensionorfeature.Insuchacase,theReportwindowwilldisplaytheportionof
theCADmodelthatcontainsthatdimensionorfeature.
ReportwindowshowingaCADimageObjectnexttoeachdisplayeddimension
Youcanscale,scaletofit,rotateortranslatethisCADimagefromtheReportwindow.Todothis,
doubleclickontheCADimagetomakeiteditable,andthenmanipulatetheimagejustasyou
wouldthemodelintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.ToreturntotheReportwindow,storingyour
changes,doubleclickoutsideoftheobject.
CADImageObjectonForms
Whenitisusedonaform,theCadImageObjectisboundtothecurrentviewsetwhenPCDMIS
executestheformcommand.Onceyouexecutetheform(CTRL+E)orthepartprogramthat
callstheform,youcannotmodifytheCADImageObject.

FormwindowshowingaCADImageObjectduringprogramexecution
Foradditionalinformationonforms,seethe"AboutForms"topicinthischapter.
CadReportObject
TheCadReportObjectletsyouviewyourCADdrawinginsideafinishedreport.Whenyou
initiallydroptheCadReportObjectintoareporttemplate,PCDMISautomaticallylaunchesthe
LabelLayoutWizard.AfterusingthiswizardtopositionthelabelsyouwantPCDMIStouse,
youwillseeadummygraphicoftheHexagontestblock,andifnorulesaredefined,dummy
labelsaswell.Itwilllooksomethinglikethis:
AsampleCadReportObjectinsertedintoareporttemplate

Remember,thesedummyitemsaresimplyrepresentationsofwhatyouwantonyourreport.In
theactualreportwindow,itwillshowtheactualCADmodel.Thelabelsdisplayapictureofthe
labeltemplatedefinedbythefirstruleintheCadReportObject'sruletree.Ifthelabelisnot
associated,andnorulesapply,itdrawsthedummylabelimage.
HowitWorksintheReportWindow:
IntheReportwindow,yourCADdisplaywillinitiallyappearexactlyasshowninyourGraphics
Displaywindowwhenitfinishesexecutingyourprogramoratthetimeyouredrawyourreport,
exceptthatitwillnotzoominanycloser.IfyoumakemodificationstoaCadReportObjectinthe
Reportwindow,PCDMISwillretainthosechangestotheCADimageonthereportevenafter
subsequentpartprogramexecutionsuntilyourightclickontheCADview(s)insertedintoyour
reportandselectRemoveObjectModificationsoruntilyouselectFile|Reporting|Clear
TemplateAssociatedData.
WhileyourReportwindowoftenshowsyourentireCADdrawing,itonlyshowslabelsandleader
linesforthosefeaturesyouhavespecifiedintheRuleTreeEditor.Forexample,ifyourpart
programhasfourmeasuredcirclesandtwomeasuredlines,yetintheRuleTreeEditoryour
CadReportObjectdisplayslabelsonlyforthemeasuredcircles,thenreportwillonlyshowlabel
informationforthosecircles,eventhoughyoumayhavemeasuredthelinesaswellinyourlast
execution.
Also,ifaCadReportObjectisconfiguredtodisplayusingtheLabelCountlistontheLabel
LayoutWizardafewernumberoflabelsthanthenumberoffeaturesitisspecifiedtoreporton
intheRuleTreeEditor,thentheReportwindowwilldisplayadditionalinstancesofyourCAD
drawingonadditionalpagesintheReportwindow.Theseadditionalimageswillshowleaderlines
andlabelstoanyremainingfeatures.Thisisespeciallyhelpfulifyourlabelshavealotof
informationthatmaymakeyourreportlookclutteredifyouhavemorethanoneortwolabels
aroundapartdrawing.
ViewsetsNote:Ifyou'reusingviewsets,yourCADdisplaywillappearexactlyasshowninyour
viewsets.PCDMISwillinsertanewCADdisplayonanewpageofthereportforeachviewset
encounteredduringexecution.
Rotating,Moving,andZoomingtheCADReportObject'sCADImage
YoucaneasilychangetheCADimage'sorientationandzoomlevelintheReportwindow,or
moveittoanewlocation.
Torotatetheimage,doubleclickontheobjectto"activate"it.Onceactivated,pressand
holdthemousewheelbuttonandkeepingthemousepressed,dragthemouse,orpress
downCTRLandrightclickwhiledraggingthemouse.
Tozoominoroutoftheimage,doubleclickontheobjectto"active"it.Onceactivated,
clickaboveorbelowanimaginaryhorizontallinethecutsacrossthemiddleoftheCAD
model.Youcanalsouseamouse'sscrollwheelbuttontozoominandout.
TomovetheCADReportObject,rightclickontheobjecttoselectit.Onceselected,click
ontheobjectanddragthemouse.
Tocancelzoomorrotationchanges,presstheESCkey.TheCadReportObjectwillbe
deactivatedwithoutapplyingyourchanges.
Tosavezoomorrotationchanges,doubleclickoutsideoftheCadReportObject.The
CadReportObjectwillbedeactivatedandtheCADimagewillusetheneworientationandzoom
level.IfyouareusingtheFeaturebasedlabellayoutontheCadReportObject,theentirereport
willbereloadedwiththeneworientationandzoomlevelappliedtotheCADimage.

Tosavemovementchanges,clickoutsideoftheselectedobject.
SwitchingBetweenSolidAndWireFrameModes
YoucaneasilydisplayyourCadReportObjectintheReportwindowaseitherasolidorwireframe
byrightclickingontheCadReportObjectandselectingtheWireframeoptionfromtheshortcut
menu. PCDMISwilltogglebetweenasolidorwireframe.
SelectingLevelstoViewintheCustomReportEditor
IfyouselectaCadReportObjectintheCustomReportEditor,theViewSetupicon onthe
GraphicsModestoolbarbecomesavailableforselection.Inthiscontext,youcanusethisiconto
selectspecificlevel(s)ofCADelementstobeappliedtotheobject.YoucanalsoselectEdit|
CADOperation|ViewSetuptodothesamething.
WhenyouclicktheViewSetupiconormenuitem,theViewLevelSelectiondialogbox
appears:
ViewLevelSelectiondialogbox
ThisdialogboxletsyouselectanypredefinedCADlevelsfromtheViewLevelslist.Onceyou
selectthelevel(s)andclickOK,PCDMISdisplaystheselectedlevel(s)ontheselected
CADReportObject.
See"CreatingCustomReports"forinformationoncustomreports.
See"SettingUptheScreenView"forinformationondefiningviewsandlevels.
MirroringtheCADintheCustomReportEditor
IfyouselectaCadReportObjectintheCustomReportEditor,PCDMISletsyoumirrortheCAD
imagecontainedinthatobject.Todothis,selectEdit|CADOperation|Mirror.TheMirrorCAD
dialogboxappears:
MirrorCADdialogbox

Thisdialogboxletsyoucreateamirrorimageofthepart.Selecttheplane(axis)inwhichyou
wanttomirrorthepart,andclickOK.PCDMISdisplaysthemirroredCADmodelontheselected
CADReportObject.
See"TransformingaCADModel"foradditionalinformationonMirroringCADintheGraphics
Displaywindow.
Properties:
(SettingsDialog) ThisopenstheLabelLayout
Wizard.Thisletsyouquickly
layoutmultiplelabelsaround
yourCADdrawing.See"The
LabelLayoutWizard"formore
information.
RulesTree ThisopenstheRulesTree
Editordialogbox.Thisdialog
boxletsyoudefineconditions
andactionsforthisobject.See
"AbouttheRuleTreeEditor"for
moreinformation.
ShowBorder Thisdrawsorhidesaborder
aroundtheCADReportObject.`
LeaderLineTermination Thisdrawstheleaderlinefrom
thelabeltoeithertheMeasured
featureontheCADorthe
NominalfeatureontheCAD.
Wireframe ThisYES/NOpropertyletsyou
showtheCADReportObjectin
yourreportineitherawire
frame(ifsettoYES)orsolid
surfaceview(ifsettoNO).
TheLabelLayoutWizard
TheLabelLayoutWizardisatoolthatletsyouquicklyarrangemultiplelabelsaroundyourCAD
drawingintheReportTemplateEditoranddeterminehowtheleaderlinesaredrawn.Inthe
ReportTemplateEditor,thiswizardappearsautomaticallywheneveryouinserta
CadReportObject.Italsoappearswhenyouselectthe(SettingsDialog)propertyfora
CadReportObject.

LabelLayoutWizard
Inversion4.1andhigher,youcanalsoutilizethiswizardintheReportwindow.Toaccessit,
rightclickontheCadReportObjectintheReportwindowandselectEditObject....IntheReport
window,thewizarddisplaystherealpartmodelusedwithyourpartprogram.IntheReport
TemplateEditor,however,itdisplaystheHexagontestblockasafillermodel.
Anychangesyoumakeinsidethiswizardwillautomaticallychangetheappearanceofthe
CadReportObject.
Thiswizardcontainsthesetwomainparts:
LayoutPreviewarea
Asettingsarea
LayoutPreviewarea

TheLayout
Previewarealets
youpreviewhow
thelayoutswill
appeararoundthe
CadReportObject.
Dependingonhowyouwantyourlabelstoappear,youcanrotatelabelsalongeithera
rectangularoranellipticalpathbyclickingonthesquare,whitehandle,locatedatthecenterof
therectangleorellipseanddraggingittoanewlocation.Youcanclickanddraganyoftheouter
whitehandlestosizethisrotationpath.
Ifyouwanttorelocateyourpartdrawing,simplyclickonitanddragittoanewlocation.
Settingsarea
LayoutStyle
Thedropdownlistletsyoucontrolthespacingandrotate
pathsforthelabelsintheLayoutPreviewarea.Youcan
choosebetweentheseoptions:
RectangularDistributedThiscreatesarectangular
paththatlabelsrotatearound.Thelabelsaredistributed
equallyaroundtherectangle.
RectangularPackedThiscreatesarectangularpath
thatlabelsrotatearound.Thelabelsareclosetogether
alongonesideoftherectangle.
EllipticalDistributedThiscreatesanellipticalpaththat
labelsrotatearound.Thelabelsaredistributedequally
aroundtheellipse.
EllipticalPackedThiscreatesanellipticalpaththat
labelsrotatearound.Thelabelsareclosetogetheralong
theellipse.
FeatureBasedThissettingautomaticallyplacesinthe

Reportwindowallthefeaturelabelsaroundthepartmodel
inlocationsclosetoeachfeature'slocation.Thisisuseful
whenyouhave,forexample,alargeamountofedgepoints
andyouwanttodisplayalltheirlabelsinoneCADdrawing.
SelectingthisoptiondisablestheLabelCountboxand
enablestheFeatureBasedOptionareawhereyoucan
definetheminimumleaderlinelength.
FeatureBasedRestrictedThisactsthesameas
FeatureBasedexceptthatitenablestheLabelCountbox,
allowingyoutorestrictthenumberoflabelsthatwillappear
intheobjectintheReportwindow.Iftheobjectneedsto
displaymorelabelsthanyouhavedefined,theextralabels
willappearinadditionalinstancesoftheCADdrawingon
newpages.
LeaderLine Thisarealetsyouchoosewheretheleaderlinesfromthe
Termination labelswillterminateontheCADdrawing.
MeasuredThisoptionterminatestheleaderlineatthe
measuredvalue'sposition.
NominalThisoptionterminatestheleaderlineatthe
nominal value'sposition.
UseFeatureCentroidThischeckboxterminatesthe
leaderlinestothecentroidofthefeature.
AttwofeaturesforangleThischeckboxdrawsasingle

leaderlinefromthelabelthatthensplitsintotwolines
pointingtothetwofeaturesmakingupanAngledimension.
AttwofeaturesfordistanceThischeckboxdrawsa
singlelinefromthelabelthatthensplitsintotwolines
pointingtothetwofeaturesmakingupaDistance
dimension.
DrawColorBallThischeckboxdrawsacoloredball
wheretheleaderlineterminates.Thecoloroftheball
matchesthetolerancecolorbandforthatfeature'svalue.
BallSizeThislistdeterminesthesizeofthecoloredball
drawnwheretheleaderlineterminates.Itbecomes
enabledforselectionwhentheDrawColorBallcheckbox
isselected.Youcanchoosebetweensmall,medium,and
large.

LeaderLineStyle Thisarealetsyoudefinewhatleaderlineslooklikeinthe
report.
LineStyleDefinesthelinestyle:
Solid
Dash
Dot
DashDot
DashDotDot
Note:Linestylesonlyworkatthedefaultlinewidthof1.
WiderlineswillonlyusetheSolidlinestyle.
LineWidthSetsthelinewidthinpixels.
LineColorDefinesthecolorofthelinebysettingRGB
(Red,Green,Blue)values,consistingbythreenumbers
separatedbyperiods.Youcaneithertypeinspecificvalues
forthecolors,oryoucanselectthe...itemfromthelistto
accessastandardColordialogboxandselectyourline
colorfromthat.
ArrowHeadDefineswhetherornottheleaderlineshave
ArrowHeads.
NoneLinesdonothavearrowheads.
BothLineshaveanarrowheadateachend.
ArrowWidthDefinesthewidthofthearrowheadin
pixels.
ShowBorder Thischeckboxdrawsorremovesaborderaroundthe
entireCADReportObjectinsidethetemplateeditoror
Reportwindow.
AutoZoom ThischeckboxwillautomaticallyzoominontheCAD
displayintheReportwindowinsuchawaythatitfocuses

theattentionononlythatportionoftheCADmodelfor
whichlabelobjectsarecurrentlydisplayed.
FeatureBasedOption ThisareabecomesenabledwhenyouselectFeature
BasedorFeatureBasedRestricted.Itcontainstwooption
buttons,mmandinch,andanOffsetbox.Youcanusethe
Offsetboxtodefinetheminimumleaderlinelengthused
withthelabels.Dependingonavailableroominthe
CadReportObject,theleaderlinelengthmaygrow,butit
willnevergobelowthisminimumvalue.
LabelCount Thischangesthemaximumnumberoflabelsareport's
pagewilldisplay.Itbecomesdisabledwhenyouselect
FeatureBased.
LabelSizeOptions Thisarealetsyouswitchbetweenautomaticormanual
sizingoflabelobjects.Tomakeyourlabelobjectsaspecific
size,clickonEnableManualSizingandtypeinvaluesin
theWidthandHeightboxes.
Changingthelabelssizesaffectsdesignpurposesonly.It
doesnotaffectlabelsizesintheactualReportwindow.
ThisareaonlyappearswhenusingthewizardintheReport
TemplateEditor.
CommandTextObject
TheCommandTextObjectmerelyactsasacontainerforasimplestringoftextthatgivesan
overviewofafeatureordimension.
Whenyouuseatemplatewiththisobjectwithactualreportdata,PCDMISwilldisplayastringof
textthatshows,forafeature,thefeature'stextlabel,thefeature'stype,andhowmanyhitswere
usedtomeasurethefeature.Foradimension,itshowsthedimension'snameandtypeandwhat
unitsofmeasurementareusedinthedimension.
AlabelthathasonlytheCommandTextObjectwithactualreportdatamightlooksomethinglike
thiswhendisplayedintheReportwindow:

ReportofCircleFeaturesGeneratedfromaLabelthatUsesaCommandTextObject
Colors Letsyouchangethecolorsof
thetextdisplayed.Bydefault,
PCDMIScausesthisobjectto
usethesamecolorsschemeas
usedintheEditwindow's
Commandmode,soifyouclick
thispropertyPCDMISdisplays
amessageboxaskingifyou
wanttocreateanindependent
colorset.ClickingYes
accessestheColorEditor
dialogbox.Youcanthenuse
thiseditortodefineanewcolor
schemefortheselected
CommandTextObject.
Colors"in"SettingYour
Preferences"forinformationon
howtousetheColorEditor.
CheckbuttonObject
TheCheckbuttonobjectinsertsacheckbuttonobject,orcheckbox,intotheform.Checkboxes,
unlikeoptionbuttons,arenevermutuallyexclusive.Youcanselectasmanycheckboxesas
desired(providedtheyareenabledforselection).

furthercustomizecheckboxesbyusingtheseproperties:
OwnerDrawn Thisspecifieshowtheform
shoulddrawthecheckbox.
IfsettoTRUE,thecheckbox
getsdrawnfromabitmap
specifiedintheBitmapand
Bitmap(Off)properties.
IfsettoFALSE,thecheckbox
isdrawnnormally.
Bitmap Thisallowsyoutospecifya
bitmaptouseifOwnerDrawn
issettoTRUE andifthecheck
boxisselected.
Additionally,thespecified
bitmapmustbethesame
shapeasastandardcheckbox.
BitmapOffState Thisallowsyoutospecifya
bitmaptouseifOwnerDrawn
issettoTRUE andifthecheck
boxisnotselected.
Additionally,thespecified
bitmapmustbethesame
shapeasastandardcheckbox.
TriState InsteadofjusttheTRUE(ON)
andFALSE(OFF)states,this
propertyletsyourcheckbox
havethreestates:true,false,
andpartiallytrue,thusallowing
youdeterminewhethera
portionofaselectedoptionis
true.
AlignTextLeft IfsettoYES,thismovesthe
texttotheleftofthecheckbox
likethis:
TextHere[ ]
IfsettoNO,thismovesthetext
totherightofthecheckboxlike
this:
[ ]TextHere
Text Thetextspecifiedheregets
displayedonthecheckbox
control.

HelpHotButton SelectingYESshowsa
questionmarkhelpbuttonnext
tothecheckbox.
ClickingthisbuttoninRun
modelaunchesthePCDMIS
OnlineHelp.
ValueID ThiscontainstheCurPageand
NumPagesvariable.Youget
andsetthispropertyusingthe
control.
ComboBoxObject
TheComboBoxobjectinsertsacombolistintoyourform.Usingthislistyoucandisplayoptions
toselectwhenyouclickthelistinRunmode.
furthercustomizethisobjectbyusingtheseproperties:
Accelerator Thisallowsyoutodefinethe
lettertouseinconjunctionwith
theALTkeytocreatean
acceleratorforthecontrol.
Theletterorsymboldefined
shouldbeuniquefromthose
usedforotheraccelerators
(includingtheacceleratorson
themenubar).
UseColors Thisdetermineswhetherornot
thiscontrolshouldusecolors
specifiedinBackColorand
TextColorproperties.
ListItems Thisdefinesthelistofitems
andtheassociatedvalues(see
thedescriptionoftheList
Choicesdialogboxdescribed
inthe"RadiobuttonObject").
NumDropped Thenumberspecified
determineshowmanylistitems
theformdisplayswhenyou
clickonthelistinRunmode.
Sort SelectingYESsortsthelist
itemsinalphabeticorder.
ComboType Thisspecifiesthetypeof

combolist.Youcanselect
eitherDroplistorDropdown.
HelpHotButton SelectingYES,showsa
tothecheckbox.
ClickingthishelpbuttoninRun
OnlineHelp.
andsetthesevariablesusing
thiscontrol.
DimensionColorKeyObject
Thedimensioncolorkeyobjectisusedtodropacolorkeydirectlyintothetemplate.Thiscolor
keydepictsthecolorsthatareusedtorepresentthedimensionaltolerancezonesforanalysis
andhistogramobjects.
Toseehowthesetolerancezonesaredefinedortochangethecolorsrepresentingeach
tolerancezone,seeEditingDimensionColorsinthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter.
SampleHorizontalDimensionColorKeyObject
EditBoxObject
TheEditBoxobjectinsertsaneditableboxintotheform.YoucanusethisobjectwithVisual
BASICscriptingtocollectinformationfromthoserunningtheform.
theALTkeytocreatean

themenubar).
Alignment Thisalignsthetextwithinthe
object.Availablealignments
are:Left,Center,and
Right.
ReadOnly SettingthistoYESmakesthe
textreadonlyandthereforenot
editablewhentheformisin
Runmode.
BorderDrawn SettingthistoYESdrawsa
borderaroundthecontrol.
CaseOrPassword Thissetsthestyleofthetextin
thebox.Youcanselectoneof
thefollowing:
0None: doesn'tchange
thedisplayofthetext.
1LowerCase: displays
thecaseofthetextinthebox
toalllowercase.
2UpperCase: displays
thecaseofthetextinthebox
toalluppercase.
3Password: maskseach
characterofthetextwithan
asterisk.
UseColors IfsettoYESthencolors
specifiedinBackColorand
TextColoraredisplayed.
tothecheckbox.
OnlineHelp.
NumPagesvariables.Youget
thiscontrol.
EditDblBoxObject

TheEditDblBoxobjectinsertsaneditboxinthefromthatacceptsvariablesofdoubletypes.This
hasallthepropertiesoftheEditBoxobject(see"EditBoxObject")withtheadditionof
MinimumEqandMaximumEqproperties:
MinimumEq Minimumequation(Thisvalue
canbeasetconstantnumber,
avalueevaluatedfromasimple
equation,orareturnedvalue
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
MaximumEq Maximumequation(Thisvalue
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
EditLongBoxObject
TheEditLongBoxobjectinsertsaneditboxintheformthatonlyacceptsLongnumericalvalues.
ThishasallthepropertiesoftheEditBoxobject(see"EditBoxObject")withtheadditionof
MinimumEqandMaximumEqproperties:
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
EllipseObject

TheEllipseobjectinsertsanellipseintotheformortemplate.Thedefaultellipseisacirclewith
thesamedistancefromthecentroidofthecircletoallpointsalongthecircumferencehowever
youcaneasilystretchthecircletoformanellipse.
attributes,thefollowingeditablepropertiesareincludedforellipseobjects:
Width Thissetsthewidthofthe
PenStyle Thischangesthelinestyleto
Solid,Dash,Dot,Dashdot,
andDashdotdot.
Horizontal
Vertical
Diagonal
ReverseDiagonal
Cross
DiagonalCross
FrameObject
TheFrameobjectinsertsaframeintotheform.You'llgenerallyusethisobjecttosetoffgroups
ofsimilaroptionswhendesigningyourowndialogboxesinsideyourform.
attributes,thefollowingeditablepropertiesareincludedforframeobjects:
BorderColor Thissetsthecolorofthe
border.

HiliteColor Thissetsthecolorusedforthe
BorderStylepropertywhen
youuseRaisedorSunken.
BorderStyle Thissetsthe3Dhighlightstyle
oftheobject'sborder.Options
includeNormal,3D,Sunken
andRaised.
BorderWidth Thissetsthewidthofthe
Text Texttypedheredeterminesthe
nameusedfortheframe'stitle.
Alignment Thisalignsthetextwithinthe
object.Availablealignments
are:Left,Center,and
Right.
GaugeObject
TheGaugeobjectinsertsagaugeobject(orprogressbar)intoyourformortemplate.
causetheobject'spercentilebartomovebyusingthesepropertiesinconjunctionwithVisual
BASICcode:
ValueEq Valueequation(Thisvaluecan
beasetconstantnumber,a
valueevaluatedfromasimple
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
Tip: Ifyouchangethedirectionofthegauge,theprogressofthegaugewillalsochangetothe
directionspecified.

ExampleofUsingBASICScriptingtoDynamicallyChangetheGauge's
Value
YoucanalsouseBASICcodeintheVBSMiniEditortodynamicallychangethevalueofthe
gaugeatagiventime.Supposeyouwanttocreateaformthatmovesthegaugefrom0to100
percentbasedonhowcloselyacircle'sdiameterapproachesitsminimumandmaximumallowed
tolerances.Youcandothisbyfollowingthisprocedure:
Step1CreatetheForm
1. Createanewformandmakesureit'sinEditmode.First,youwillneedtocreate
aglobalvariablenamedMYDIAMETERthatwilltakethediametervalueofthecircle.
2. RightclickonthegridandmakesureTheFrame/TheView isselectedfromthe
objectlistonthePropertiesdialogbox.
3. ExpandtheAdvancedheadinginthePropertiesdialogbox.Selectthevaluefor
theLocalVariablesproperty.TheLocalVariablesdialogboxappears.
4. ClicktheAddbuttontoaddanewvariable.SelectDoublefromtheTypelist.In
theNameboxtypeMYDIAMETER.LeavetheValueas0.
LocalVariablesdialogboxshowingtheMYDIAMETERglobalvariable
5. ClickOKtoreturntothePropertiesdialogbox.TheMYDIAMETERvariableis
nowaddedtotheform.
6. Next,insertaGaugeobjectintotheform.
7. SelecttheGaugeobjectandplaceandsizeitasdesired.Theverticaldistanceis
thetotaldistancethepercentilebarcantravel.
8. DoubleclickontheGaugeobjecttoaccessthePropertiesdialogbox.
9. Again,undertheAdvancedheadingonthePropertiesdialogbox,clickthe
MaximumEqproperty.TheVBSMiniEditorappearsmuchofitisunavailablefor
selection.
10. SelectCONSTfromthelist.Thisvalueallowsyoutodefinethegauge's100%
value.
11. Typethemaximumallowedvalueforthecircle'sdiameter.Thisexample
measuresaoneinchdiametercirclewithanallowedtoleranceof.010.Sothe
maximumallowedvaluewouldbe1.010.
12. ClickOKtoreturntothePropertiesdialogbox.
13. ClickontheMinimumEqproperty.TheVBSMiniEditorreappears.Thisvalue
allowsyoutodefinethegauge's0%value.
14. SelectCONSTfromthelist.

15. Typetheminimumallowedvalueforthecircle'sdiameter.Again,sincethis
examplemeasuresaoneinchdiametercirclewithanallowedtoleranceof.010,the
minimumallowedvaluewouldbe0.990.
16. ClickOKtoreturntothePropertiesdialogbox.Nowyouneedtogivetheactual
valueofthegaugethediameterofthecircle.
17. Withthegaugeobjectstillselected,fromthepropertysheet,underthe
Advancedheading,selecttheValueEqproperty.TheVBSMiniEditorappears
muchofitisunavailableforselection.
18. Inthelistontheleft,select+EQ($).
19. Inthelistontheright,selectthe<MYDIAMETER>.
UsingtheVBSMiniEditortosetthevalueofthegaugeobject
21. ClickOKtoclosetheVBSMiniEditor.
22. Savetheform.Thisexamplegivestheformthenameofgaugetest.form.
Step2CreateaGenericCircleFeature
1. YouwillnowcreateagenericcirclefeatureinsidePCDMIS.
2. SelectPCDMIS'sEditwindowandplaceitinCommandmode.
3. InsertagenericfeaturebytypingGENERICandpressingTAB.Initially,ageneric
pointfeatureappearsintheEditwindowwiththefeature'sIDselected.
4. PressF9toaccessthedialogboxforthisgenericfeature.
5. IntheFeatureTypearea,selectCircle.
6. IntheDataTypearea,selectNominalValues.
7. TypeanameforthecircleintheFeatureNamebox.ThisexampleusesCIR1for
thefeaturename.
8. TypetheXYZandIJKvaluesforCIR1.
9. SelecttheDiameteroptionandgiveCIR1anominaldiametervalueof1.
10. ChangeanyotheroptionsasdesiredandthenclickOKwhenfinished.The
genericcircleinyourEditwindowshouldlooksomethinglikethis:
CIR1 =GENERIC/CIRCLE,DEPENDENT,RECT,OUT,$
NOM/XYZ,1,1,0.95,$
MEAS/XYZ,1,1,1,$
NOM/IJK,0,0,1,$
MEAS/IJK,0,0,1,$
DIAMETER/1,0

Step3InsertanINPUTCommentandModifyGenericCircle
1. MoveyourcursorbeforetheCIR1featureandinsertaninputcommentthatwill
takeameasureddiametervalue(sincethisexampleisdoneinofflinemode,the
"measured"valuesareinsertedmanually).Forexample:
C1 =COMMENT/INPUT,PleasetypeCIR1'smeasureddiameter:
2. NowgotothecommandblockforCIR1andonthelastlinewhereitsays
DIAMETER/1,0changethesecondparameter,themeasureddiameterof0,to
C1.INPUT.ThisassignsthevaluefromtheinputcommenttoCIR1'smeasured
diameter.
DIAMETER/1,C1.INPUT
3. NowmovethecursoraftertheCIR1featureandembedthesavedformby
selectingtheInsert|ReportCommand|Formmenuoption.
Step4InsertaFORM/FILENAMECommandandExecute
1. NowintheFORM/FILENAMEcommandwhereitsaysPARAM/=,placeyour
cursorimmediatelybeforetheequalssignandtypeMYDIAMETER.Thenmovethe
cursorimmediatelyaftertheequalssignandtypeCIR1.DIAMETER.Thecodeto
embedyourformshouldlooksomethinglikethis:
CS1 =FORM/FILENAME=C:\PCDMIS35\GAUGETEST.FORM,AUTOPRINT=NO
PARAM/MYDIAMETER=CIR1.DIAMETER
PARAM/=
ENDFORM/
2. Markthenewlyaddedcommandsandthenexecutethepartprogram.The
diameterforCIR1getspassedasaparameterintotheformandthegaugeobject's
percentiledynamicallychangesdependingonthecircle'smeasureddiameter.
Forexample,ifthemeasureddiameterforCIR1was.9987youwouldgetaformthatlooks
somethinglikethis:

SampleFormShowingtheGaugeObjectDynamicallyLinkedtoaFeature'sMeasuredDiameter
GraphObject
TheGraphobjectinsertsagraphintoyourformortemplatewiththeabilitytodynamicallyupdate
itsdata.TheGraphobjectallowsyoutostoreandthendisplayanarrayofdatapoints.Youcan
useXandYvaluestospecifythepointsofdataonthegraph.
DefaultGraphobject
causegraphobjectstoupdatetheirdatadynamicallybyusingthesepropertiesinconjunction
withVisualBASICcode:
DataPointColor Thischangesthecolorsused
ontheX,Ydatapointsandon
anylinesdrawnbetween
points.
Width Thischangesthediameter(in
pixels)ofthedatapoint.
ConnectPoints SettingthistoYESdrawslines
betweenthedatapointsonthe
graph,visuallyconnectingthem
together.
Clockwise SettingthistoNOreversesthe
Yaxis,makingthetopnegative
andthebottompositive.

Xdivisions ThisdividestheXaxisofthe
graph,essentiallyaddingthe
specifiednumberofcolumns.
Ydivisions ThisdividestheYaxisofthe
graph,essentiallyaddingthe
specifiednumberofrows.
EnablePoint Ifsetto1,yourgraphaccepts
theadditionofnewdatapoints.
Ifsetto0,yourgraphrejects
theadditionofnewdatapoints.
ClearAllPoint Ifsetto1,alldatapointsare
clearedfromthegraphthenext
timeyourformentersRun
mode.
Ifsetto0,alldatapoints
remaininthegraph.
XpointEq ThisistheXvalueforyourdata
pointonthegraph.Youcan
useasimpleequation,or
evaluatethedatafroma
VBScript.
YpointEq ThisistheYvalueforyourdata
pointonthegraph.Youcan
useasimpleequation,or
evaluatethedatafroma
VBScript.
XminEq ThisistheXaxisminimum
equation.Thevalueused
determinesthebeginningvalue
makinguptheXaxis.
Youcanuseasimple
equation,orevaluatethe
datafromaVBScript.
YminEq ThisistheYaxisminimum
determinesthebeginningvalue
makinguptheYaxis.
Youcanuseasimpleequation,
orevaluatethedatafroma
VBScript.
XmaxEq ThisistheXaxismaximum
determinestheendingvalue
makinguptheXaxis.

VBScript.
YmaxEq ThisistheYaxismaximum
determinestheendingvalue
makinguptheYaxis.
VBScript.
Tip: YoucanrescaletheYaxisbyclickingontheupanddownarrows nearthegraph's

origin.
HistogramObject
Thehistogramobjectdisplaysinbargraphformat,thenumberofdeviationswithineachofthe
differenttolerancezones.
ASampleHistogram
Whenadimensiononlyhasasingletolerancevalue,suchasaformdimension,PCDMIS
displaysthetolerancebandasarange,andnotinafixedlocation.PCDMISwillnotdisplayTOL
or+TOLintheresultinghistogrambutwillinsteadshowtheheading"TOLERANCEZONE"atthe
topandincludealocationforthemeanvaluelikethis:

ASampleHistogramwithaSingleTolerance
InsertingtheHistogramObject
UsetheLabelTemplateEditorforaneworexistinglabeltemplateandthenaddandsizethe
Histogramobjectsothatitappearsverticallyorhorizontallyasdesiredinyourlabeltemplate
editor'sdisplayarea.Next,usetheRuleTreeEditordialogboxforaneworexistingreport
templatetospecifyunderwhatconditions(forwhatdimensions)PCDMISwillcallanddisplay
thatlabeltemplate.Seethe"AbouttheRuleTreeEditor"topicinthischapterforinformationon
howtodothis.
Note:Histogramobjectsarenotavailablefordimensionsthatarenotdirectlycalculatedusingthe
individualhitsoftheirfeatures,suchaslocation,trueposition,andkeyindimensions.
ChangingHistogramColors
Toseehowthesetolerancezonesaredefinedortochangethecolorsrepresentingeach
tolerancezone,seeEditingDimensionColorsinthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter.
GridControlObject
GridControlObject
TheGridControlObjecticoninsertsacustomizablegridofcolumnsandrowsintoyourreportor
labeltemplate.
ANewlyInsertedGridControlObject

Thisuniqueobjectismorethanjustastandardtablethough.Infact,youcanprogramthe
individualcells,rows,orcolumnsusingthereportingexpressionlanguagetocausePCDMISto
pullanddisplayspecificreportinginformationfromyourpartprogram.
Aswiththeotherobjects,youcaneasilyresizeandmovethisobjecttoanewlocation.Whenyou
resizethisobject,beawarethatPCDMISdynamicallysizesthecolumnsandrowstofitthenew
objectssize.
AccessingtheGridControlObjectEditor
OnceyouinsertaGridControlObject,selectit,doubleclickinsideanycell,andthenrightclick
todisplayatabbeddialogbox.Thisdialogboxgivesyoupowerfulformattingandeditingabilities
thatletyouprogrameachgridcelltoyourindividualspecifications.
CelltaboftheGridControlObject'sEditor
Seethesetopicsforinformationonusingthiseditor:
GridControlObjectEditorTheCellTab
GridControlObjectEditorTheRowTab
GridControlObjectEditorTheColumnTab
Properties
NumColumns Determinesthenumberof
columnsinthegrid.
NumRows Determinesthenumberofrows
inthegrid.

TableFormat Specifiesagridlayoutnameto
use.Ifthispropertymatchesthe
gridlayoutnameintheRules
TreeEditor,thenyoucanuse
theTABLE/FORMAT Editwindow
commandtodirectlycontrolrow
andcolumnorderandvisibility
foryourlabeltemplate.
Transparent Determineswhetherornotthe
grid'sbackgroundis
transparent.IfsettoYesthe
usualwhitebackgroundcolor
becomestransparentother
objectsbehindthisobjectare
thenvisiblethroughthegrid.
IncreasingtheNumRowspropertyaddsnewrowstothebottomofavailablerows.Decreasing
themwilldeletethebottommostrowandworkup.Similarly,increasingtheNumColumns
propertyaddsnewcolumnstotherightoftheavailablerows.Decreasingthenumberofcolumns
willdeletetherightmostcolumnandworkleft.
GridControlObjectEditorTheCellTab
CelltaboftheGridControlObject'sEditor
CellTypeLetsyouconfigurewhatyouwillinsertintothespecificcell.Optionsare:

TextThisletsyoutypestraighttextoranexpressioncommandintotheCell
Expressionbox.Theevaluatedexpressionorthestraighttextappearsinthe
cell.
ImageThisinsertsanimageintothecell.YoucanselectitusingtheSelect
button.
ActiveXThisinsertsanActiveXobjectintothecell.GenerallyPCDMIS
templatesusethesetodisplaygraphicalanalysisinformation.Youcanselect
whatActiveXcontroltoaddbyusingtheSelectbutton.Formoreindepth
informationonActiveXobjects,seethe"ActiveXObject"topicandthe"Using
PCDMISActiveXControls"topic.
CellExpressionThisboxletsyoutypeareportingexpressionintothecell.PCDMISevaluates
theexpressionwhenitusesthetemplatetodisplaytheactualreportdata.Forexample,to
displayafeature'sID,type=IDintothisbox.See"AboutReportExpressions"forarobustlisting
ofexpressionsyoucaninclude.
CellHeightandWidthTheseboxesletyoudefinethecell'sheightandwidthinpixels.Note
thatifyoumodifyaheight,allcellsinthatrowaremodified.Ifyouchangethewidth,allcellsin
thatcolumnaremodified.Ifyouhavevaryingheightsandwidthsamongmultiplecells,theEven
WidthandEvenHeightbuttonsevenouttheheightandwidthamongtheselectedcells
CellJustificationThesebuttonsletyousetthealignmentofthetextwithinthecell,either
verticallyorhorizontally.Ifhorizontal,yourcanalignthetexttotheleft,thecenter,ortherightof
thecell.Ifvertical,youcanalignthetexttothetop,themiddle,orthebottom.
HorizontalAlignmentButtons
Leftalignment
Centeralignment
Rightalignment
VerticalAlignmentButtons
Topalignment
Middlealignment
Bottomalignment
LinesareaThisareacontainsalistforeachsideofthecell.Youcanseteachsideofthecell
(plustheoutsideorinsidelinesofmultiplecells)toaparticularlinetype.Optionsinclude:None,
Thin,Thick,Double,orDashed.
FontThisbuttondisplaysastandardFontdialogboxallowingyoutosetathefont,size,style,
effects,andcolorfortheselectedcell(s).
ColorsThisarealetsyousetthecolorsforthebackground,text,orlineoftheselectedcell(s).
ClickingoneofthebuttonsdisplaysastandardColordialogboxfromwhichyoucanselecta
specificstandardcolororcreateacustomcolor.

MergeCellsThisbuttonmergesmultiplecellstogetherintoonecell.
UnmergeCellsThisbuttonunmergespreviouslymergedcellsintotheiroriginalandprevious
unmergedstate.
GridControlObjectEditorTheRowTab
RowtaboftheGridControlObject'sEditor
RepeatingGroupThischeckboxenablestheRepeatExpressionboxandtellsPCDMISthat
theselectedrowwillcontinuerepeatingitselfwithdatafromthereportuntiltheexpressioninthe
RepeatExpressionboxissatisfied.WhenyouselectacellintheGridControlObject,PCDMIS
indicatesanyrepeatingrowsintheobjectbydrawingsmallverticalorangebarsontheirleftand
rightsides.
Noticetheorangebarsontheleftandrightsidesoftherow.
RepeatExpressionThisboxdetermineshowmanytimesPCDMISwillrepeattherow.You
willusuallyputanexpressioninthisboxthatwillevaluatetoacountednumberofitems.For
example,togetthenumberofaxesinadimension,youwouldusethisexpression:
=COUNT(AXIS)
Thenineachcelloftherow,youwouldneedtoappendthistoexistingexpressions:

:N
ThisessentiallytellsPCDMIStorepeattherowthecountednumberoftimes.So,iftheCell
ExpressionboxintheCelltabused=AXIStolistadimension'saxis,andyouchangedittoread
=AXIS:N,PCDMISwouldcontinuetorepeattherowwithuniquedimensionaxisdatauntilall
axeswerereported.
RowLabelTheRowLabellistletsyoudefinealabelforyourrowtousewiththeTableFormat
command.WhenyouaccesstheTableFormatcommand'sproperties,youwillseetherowlabels
you'vedefinedhere.UsingtheTableFormatcommand,youcanredefinetheorderoftherowsin
thegrid,amongotherthings.
LockedRowThischeckboxlockstherowsothatyoucannotmodifyitusingtheTableFormat
command.
GridControlObjectEditorTheColumnTab
ColumntaboftheGridControlObject'sEditor
ColumnLabelTheColumnLabellistletsyoudefinealabelforyourcolumntousewiththe
TableFormatcommand.WhenyouaccesstheTableFormatcommand'sproperties,youwillsee
thecolumnlabelsyou'vedefinedhere.UsingtheTableFormatcommand,youcanredefinethe
orderofthecolumnsinthegrid,amongotherthings.
LabelObject

TheLabelobjecticoninsertsaLabelobjectintoyourreporttemplateorcustomreport.Label
objectsareusedtodisplayreportdatainyourreport.TheLabelobjectbehavesdifferently
dependingonthecontextinwhichitisused.IfyouusetheLabelobjectintheReportTemplate
Editor,itfunctionsdifferentlythanusingitintheCustomReportEditor.
UsingtheLabelObjectwithintheReportTemplateEditor
ClickanddragontheReportTemplateEditortoaddthisobject.Whenyoureleasethemouse
button,theinsertedLabelobjectlookssomethinglikethis:
ASampleLabelObject
ALabelobjectactsjustlikeaTextReportObjectorCadReportObjectitdoesn'tcontainany
realdataandmerelyactsasaplaceholderforalabeltemplate.Thelabeltemplateactually
controlswhatdatagetspulledfromapartprogramexecution.Ifyoudon'tdefinewhatthelabel
objectwilldisplay,thenitdoesn'tappearinthereport.
AssignaLabelTemplate
TogiveaLabelobjectsomethingtodisplay,youneedtoassignalabeltemplateforittouse.
1. Rightclickonthelabelobject.ThePropertiesdialogboxappears.
2. ClickRulesfromtheRulesTreeproperty.TheRulesTreedialogboxappears.
3. UsingtheRulesTreedialogbox,selectanitemfromtheexpandablelistofwhen
youwantthelabeltodisplaydata.
4. ClickAddtoaddarulethatusesthatitem.TheEditRuledialogboxappears.
5. SelectUseLabelTemplateforReportoption.
6. Clickthebrowsebutton ,andselectalabeltemplatefile(.lblfilename
extension).
7. ClickOKtoclosetheEditRuledialogbox.
8. ClickOKtoclosetheRulesTreedialogbox.Thelabelobjectyouinsertedwill
nowdisplayapictureofthelabeltemplatedefinedinthefirstruleintheRuleTree
dialogbox.
9. Saveandtestyourreporttemplate.PCDMISwilldisplaytheselectedlabelwhen
theconditionyouspecifiedismet.
See"AbouttheRuleTreeEditor"forinformationaboutcreatingrules.
UsingtheLabelObjectwithintheCustomReportEditor
OnecrucialdifferencebetweentheReportTemplateEditorandtheCustomReportEditoristhat
intheCustomReportEditorLabelobjectsdonotusetheirownRuleTreeEditor.Instead,the

PageobjectcontainsaRuleTreeEditorthatdefineswhatlabeltemplateisusedwhenthe
differentcommandsanddataareinsertedintotheCustomReportEditor.
MostofthetimeyouwilllikelysimplycreateyourcustomreportbydraggingitemsfromtheEdit
window'sSummarymodeintotheCustomReportEditor.Inthiscase,PCDMISusesthelabel
templatesdefinedinthePageobject'sRuleTreeEditorforthecommandyouareinserting.
IfyoudoinsertaLabelobjectintoyourcustomreport,PCDMISinsertsablankLabelobject,
similartohowitwouldappearintheReportTemplateEditor:
ASampleLabelObject
Inthisstate,itismerelyanemptyplaceholder,anditwon'tdisplayanydatauntilyoudragand
dropacommandfromtheEditwindowontotheobject.PCDMISwillthendisplaythelabel
templatedefinedinthePageobject'sRuleTreeEditor.
See"CreatingCustomReports"formoreinformation.
LeaderLineObject
TheleaderlineobjectletsyoudrawaconnectinglinebetweenaLabelobjectanda
CADReportObject.Todothis,simplyselecttheobject,thenclickanddragitfromoneobjectto
theother.
Ifdoneproperly,theleaderlinewillautomaticallysnapbetweenthetwoobjectssothatifyoulater
changetheirlocations,theleaderlinechangessizeandmovesaccordingly.Forexamplethis
figureshowsaCADReportObjectobjectwiththreeLabelobjectsarounditallwithconnecting
LeaderLineobjects.

ThreeLabelobjectswithleaderlinesobjectsdrawntoaCADReportObject.
Ifitcan'tdetectthetwoobjects,aLeaderLineConstructiondialogboxwillappearallowingyou
toselectthetwoobjectsbetweenwhichPCDMISshoulddrawtheleaderline.
LeaderLineConstructiondialogbox
IfyoudeletetheLabeloraCADReportObjectobject,PCDMISalsodeletestheleaderline
objectautomatically.
IntheactualReportwindow,dependingonthelocationofthelabeltothefeature,theleaderline
willattachtoeitheroneoftheedgesorcornersofthelabel.Considerthisgraphicalexample.It
illustratesthatwhereyoupositionthelabels(rectangles)inrelationshiptothefeature(redcircle)
changeswheretheleaderlineconnects(greendot)onthelabel.

GraphicalExampleofLabelsandLeaderLineConnectionPositions
LineObject
TheLineobjectallowsyoutoquicklyinsertastandardlineintoyourformortemplate.Youcan
thenrightclickontheinsertedlineandmodifyitsproperties.
Commonpropertiesusedonalineobjectare:
PenWidth Thissetsthewidthofthelinein
pixels.
PenStyle Thischangesthelinestyleto
Solid,Dash,Dot,Dashdot,
andDashdotdot.
Arrowhead Thisdeterminesiftheline
shouldcontainanarrowhead
andthedirectionthearrowhead
points.Youcanchooseoneof
theseformats:
(none)
<
>
<>(both)
ArrowheadHeight Thisdeterminestheheightof

thearrowheadinpixels.
ListBoxObject
TheListBoxobjectinsertsanopenlistinsidetheform.
theALTkeytocreatean
themenubar).
UseColors Thisdetermineswhetherornot
thecontrolshouldusethe
colorsspecifiedinthe
BackColorandTextColor
properties.
Sort SelectingYESsortsthelist
itemsalphabetically.
HorizontalScroll SelectingAlwaysplacesa
horizontalscrollbaronthelist
boxevenifthetextforalist
itemisn'tlongenoughtocause
ittoscroll.
SelectingNoneremovesthe
scrollbar.
VerticalScroll SelectingAlwaysplacesa
verticalscrollbaronthelistbox
eveniftherearen'tenoughlist
itemstocauseittoscroll.
scrollbar.
UseTabstops Thisdetermineswhetherornot
thelistboxshouldusetab
stops.IfsettoYES,pressing
TABinRunmodewill
eventuallymakethislistboxthe
activecontrol.
WantKeyInput Thisdetermineswhetherornot

thelistboxshouldaccept
keyboardinput.
RemoveSelection SelectingYESremovesthe
selectionfromthelistbox
(ListID)whenrecorded.
ListID ThisistheIDofthelist.You
cansetorgetthisbyusingthe
control.Itshouldbeinthis
format:
item1\r\nitem
2\r\nitem3andsoon.
ValueID ThisistheIDofthevalue.You
control.
MultiEditBoxObject
TheMultiEditBoxobjectinsertsaneditboxthatsupportsmorethanonelineoftext.Thishasall
thepropertiesoftheEditBoxobject(see"EditBoxObject"),plusthefollowing:
HorizontalScroll SelectingAlwaysplacesa
horizontalscrollbaronthe
controlevenifthetextisn'tlong
enoughtocauseittoscroll.
scrollbar.
VerticalScroll SelectingAlwaysplacesa
verticalscrollbaronthecontrol
evenifthetextisn'tlong
enoughtocauseittoscroll.
SelectingAutomaticplacesa
verticalscrollbaronlywhenthe
amountoftextexceedsthe
verticalheightofthebox.
scrollbar.
OLEObject

TheOLEobjectembedsorlinksanobjectfromanotherapplicationintoyourtemplateorform.
Forexample,usingthisobjectyoucaninsertaneditableMicrosoftWordfileintoyourtemplateor
form,toprovidespecialinstructionstotheoperator.
OnceyouinsertanOLEobject,adialogboxtitledInsertObjectappears.
InsertObjectdialogbox
ThisdialogboxallowsyoutoselectthetypeofOLEobjectfromalistofobjectsthatarecurrently
availableonyourcomputer.TheOLEobjectsinthelistareuniquetoyourindividualcomputer
dependingonwhatisinstalled,etc.
IfyouselecttheCancelbuttonnothingisaddedtotheformortemplateandthedialogcloses.
AccessinganOLEObjectsAutomationMethodsandPropertiesfromBasic
IfyouhaveaddedanOLEcontrol,forexampletheBitmapcontrol,andcalleditBITMAP,youmay
wishtoaccesstheOLEobjectsautomationmethodsandpropertiesfromBASIC.Forexample,
youmightwishtoaddprogramcodetochangethebitmapbeingdisplayed,populatean
embeddedMicrosoftExcelspreadsheetobjectwithdata,orsetthetextinanembeddedMicrosoft
Worddocument.InordertoaccesstheOLEautomationmethodsandpropertiesfortheobject
namedBITMAP,usethefollowingcode:
AttachOLE("BITMAP_X")
TheobjectvariableBITMAP_Xmaynowbeusedasfollows:
BITMAP_X.{property}={value}
or
BITMAP_X.{automationmethodcall}.
Note:YoumusthavedocumentationfortheparticularOLEobjectyouareusingtoknowwhat
methodsandpropertiesareavailable.
ProvidingOperatorInstructionsUsingOLEObjectswithForms
UsingexistingtoolsinconjunctionwithPCDMIScanprovideyouwithmuchdesiredfunctionality.
Forexample,supposeyouwanttoprovideanoperatorwithdetailedinstructionsregardingpart
setupormeasurement.Onewaytodothisistoembedintoacustomform,usingtheOLEobject,

anexternalfilecontainingtheseinstructions.Belowaresomeexamplesofhowtoembed
instructionalfilesintoformsusingsomecommonMicrosoftOfficetools.
TheseexamplesdemonstratehowtouseaMicrosoftWordfileandMicrosoftPowerPointfileas
OLEobjectsinsideofaformtoprovideinstructionstoanoperatorduringpartprogramexecution.
TheywillgiveyouatasteofthingsyoucoulddowithOLEobjectsinsideofyourreportorform.
Howyouputthisknowledgetouseforyourownsituationisuptoyou.
ProvidingInstructionsUsingaMicrosoftWordOLEObject
ProvidingInstructionsUsingaMicrosoftWordOLEObject
Perhapsoneofthesimplestwaystoprovideinstructionstothoserunningyourpart
programsistosimplyusesomethinglikeMicrosoftWord.
ThistopicandthestepsbelowassumeyouhaveMicrosoftWordinstalledonyour
computer.
Step1CreateandSavetheInstructionsasaWordDocument
1. CreateyourpartsetupinstructionsinsideofaWorddocument.
2. Savethe.docfiletoadirectoryonyourdisk.Feelfreetoinclude
pictures,tables,andotheradvancedformattinginsideyour.docfile.The
sampledocfileusedforthistopiclookslikethis:
Step2CreatetheForm
3. SelectView|FormEditor.TheFormEditorappears.
4. IftheEditwindowisopen,selectView|Editwindowtocloseitgiving
youmorescreenspace.
5. MaximizetheFormEditor.
6. Sizetheformsothatitwillproperlyhousethecontentsofyourfile.
7. Addanyotherobjectsasdesired.Intheexampleformusedforthistopic,
aCloseFormbuttonwasaddedwiththefollowingproperties:

Text="CloseForm"
ButtonType=OK
Whenclicked,theformautomaticallycloses.
Step3InserttheOLEObject
8. FromtheObjectBar,clicktheOLEObjecticon.Dragtheobjectsothat
itfitstheentireformexceptforahalfinchmarginonallsides.Whenyou
releasethemousebutton,theInsertObjectdialogboxappears.
9. SelecttheCreatefromFileoption.
10. IntheFilebox,eithertypethecompletepathwaytothe.docfile,oruse
theBrowsebuttontolocateit.
11. SelecttheLinkcheckbox.ThismaintainsalinkbetweentheOLEobject
onyourformandyour.docfile,sothatifyoulaterupdateyourinstructions
PCDMISwillalwaysusethelatestinformation.
12. ClickOK.Thedocumentisembeddedintoyourformlikethis:
13. Savetheformandgiveitanameofyourchoice.
TheInsertObjectdialogboxisthesamedialogboxthatappearsifyouchoosetoinsert
anexternalobjectintotheEditwindowbyusingInsert|ReportCommand|External
Object.Consultthe"InsertingExternalObjects"topicfromthe"InsertingReport
Commands"sectionifyouneedmoreinformationonthisdialogbox.
Step4InsertandTesttheForm
14. SelectView|EditWindowtomaketheEditwindowvisible.
15. SelectInsert|ReportCommand|Form.Usethedialogboxtoselect
yoursavedform.
16. PCDMISinsertsaFORM/FILENAMEcommandblockintoyourpart
programwithapathwaytotheformfile.
CS1 =FORM/FILENAME=<PathwaytoFormFile>
PARAM/=

ENDFORM/
17. Markthecommandblockforexecution.
18. Executethepartprogram.WhenPCDMISreachesthe
FORM/FILENAMEcommandblock,itdisplaystheform:
19. ClickContinuefromtheExecuteModeOptionsdialogboxtoclosethe
formandresumeexecution.
ProvidingInstructionsUsingaMicrosoftPowerPointOLEObject
ProvidingInstructionsUsingaMicrosoftPowerPointOLEObject
ThistopicdemonstrateshowtouseaMicrosoftPowerPointfile(.ppt)asanOLEobject
insideofaformtoprovidedetailedslideshowtypeinstructionstoanoperator.
ThistopicandthestepsbelowassumeyouhaveMicrosoftPowerPointinstalledonyour
computer.
Step1CreateandSavetheInstructionsasaPowerPoint

1. CreateyourpartsetupinstructionsinsideofaPowerPointfile(.ppt).
2. Savethe.pptfiletoadirectoryonyourdisk.
Step2CreatetheForm
3. SelectView|FormEditor.TheFormEditorappears.
4. IftheEditwindowisopen,selectView|Editwindowtocloseitgiving
youmorescreenspace.
5. MaximizetheFormEditor.
6. Sizetheformsothatitwillproperlyhousethecontentsofyourfile.
7. Addanyotherobjectsasdesired.Intheexampleformusedforthistopic,
aClosetheFormbuttonwasaddedwiththefollowingproperties:
Text="ClosetheForm"
ButtonType=OK
Whenclicked,theformautomaticallycloses.
Step3InserttheOLEObject
8. FromtheObjectBar,clicktheOLEObjecticon.Dragtheobjectsothat
itfitstheentireformexceptforahalfinchmarginonallsides.Whenyou
releasethemousebutton,theInsertObjectdialogboxappears.
10. IntheFilebox,eithertypethecompletepathwaytothe.pptfile,oruse
theBrowsebuttontolocateit.
11. SelecttheLinkcheckbox.ThismaintainsalinkbetweentheOLEobject
onyourformandyour.pptfile,sothatifyoulaterupdateyourinstructions
PCDMISwillalwaysusethelatestinformation.

12. ClickOK.ThePowerPoint fileisembeddedintoyourform.
13. Savetheformandgiveitanameofyourchoice.
TheInsertObjectdialogboxisthesamedialogboxthatappearsifyouchoosetoinsert
anexternalobjectintotheEditwindowbyusingInsert|ReportCommand|External
Object.Consultthe"InsertingExternalObjects"topicfromthe"InsertingReport
Commands"sectionifyouneedmoreinformationonthisdialogbox.
Step4InsertandTesttheForm
14. SelectView|EditWindowtomaketheEditwindowvisible.
15. SelectInsert|ReportCommand|Form.Usethedialogboxtoselect
yoursavedform.
16. PCDMISinsertsaFORM/FILENAMEcommandblockintoyourpart
programwithapathwaytotheformfile.
CS1 =FORM/FILENAME=<PathwaytoFormFile>
PARAM/=
ENDFORM/
17. Markthecommandblockforexecution.
18. Executethepartprogram.WhenPCDMISreachesthe
FORM/FILENAMEcommandblock,itdisplaystheformandtheembedded

PowerPointpresentation.
19. Doubleclickontheembeddedpresentation.TheMicrosoftPowerPoint
softwarewilllaunchanddisplaythepresentation.Whenitfinishes,
PowerPointwillclose.
20. ClickContinuefromtheExecuteModeOptionsdialogboxtoclosethe
formandresumeexecution.
PointerObject
ThePointerobjectinsertsadynamic,movable,coloredpointerintotheformortemplate.The
colordefaultstoyellow.
causethisobjecttomovebyusingthesepropertiesinconjunctionwithVisualBASICcode:
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
fromaVBScript).

$,$,CONST
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
Tip: Ifyouchangethedirectionofthepointer,themovementofthearrowwillalsochangetothe
directionspecified.
PolylineObject
ThePolylineobjectallowsyoutolinklinestogethertoconstructanarea.Whenyouclickand
createthefirstline,asecondlineisautomaticallystartedattheendpointofthefirstline.Polyline
objectscontainthesamepropertiesasastandardlineobjectwiththeseadditions:
PenWidth Thissetsthewidthofthe
Horizontal
Vertical
Diagonal
ReverseDiagonal
Cross
DiagonalCross
ShadowStyle Thissetsthelocationofthe3D
shadowontheresulting
polygon.Availablelocations

are:
Top/Left,Bottom/Right,or
None.
RadiobuttonObject
TheRadiobuttonobjectinsertsoptionbuttonsintotheform.Optionbuttonsaremutually
exclusive,youcanonlyhaveoneoptionbuttonselectedinsideyourreportatatime.The
ListItemspropertyallowsyoutodefineasetofoptionbuttons.
Bitmap Thisallowsyoutospecifya
bitmaptouseforaselected
optionbutton.
Thespecifiedbitmapmustbe
thesameshapeasastandard
checkbox.
BitmapOffState Thisallowsyoutospecifya
bitmaptouseforadeselected
option
Thespecifiedbitmapmustbe
thesameshapeasastandard
optionbutton.
AlignTextLeft IfsettoYES,thismovesthe
texttotheleftoftheoption
buttonlikethis:
TextHere()
IfsettoNO,thismovesthetext
totherightoftheoptionbutton
likethis:
()TextHere
ListItems Thisdefinesalistofoption
buttonsanditsassociated
values(seethedescriptionon
theListChoicesdialogbox
below).
andsetthispropertyusingthe
control.

TheListItemspropertydisplaystheListChoicesdialogbox.
ListChoicesdialogbox
Thisdialogboxallowsyoutoadd,rename,anddeleteoptionbuttonsandassignnumerical
values.Generally,whenaddinganewoptionthevalueforthatoptionincrementsautomatically,
soonlyonebuttonisselectedatatime.However,youcanchangethenumericalvaluestoallow
theselectionofgroupsofoptionswithonemouseclickwheninRunmode.
Forexample,supposeyouhavefiveoptionbuttonsthatyou'venamedOptionsAthroughE,and
youchangetheirassignedvaluestothefollowing:
Optionbuttons Value
OptionA 0
OptionB 0
OptionC 1
OptionD 2
OptionE 2
WhenyouenterRunmodeandselectOptionA,bothOptionAandOptionBwillbeselected.
Thisisbecausethey'reassignedthesamevalue.ThesameisalsotrueifyouselectOptionE,
bothOptionDandOptionEwillbeselected.OnlyOptionChasauniquevalue,sowhenyou
selectit,onlyitisselected.
SelectObject
TheSelectobjectallowsyoutoselectanobjectalreadyinsertedintoyourtemplate.Simplyclick
ontheobjectinthereportandPCDMISwillsurroundtheobjectwithaborderandsmallgreen
squares.Thisletsyouknowtheobjecthasbeenselected.Onceselected,youcanmove,resize,
oredittheobject.
SectionCutObject

TheSectionCutObjectletsyoudefineasectioncut(cutawayview)oftheCADmodel.Youcan
insertaSectionCutObjectintotheReportTemplateEditoraswithotherobjects,oryoucan
insertitintoafinalreportpageontheReportwindowdirectly.Toinsertthisobject,positionthe
mousepointer,anddragabox.Whenyoureleasethemouse,theobjectappears,andatleast
intheReportTemplateEditoritwilldisplayNoImage!untilyouassociatetheCADmodelwith
theobjectbymodifyingitsproperties.
ChangingtheObject'sProperties
IfyouinserttheSectionCutObjectintotheReportTemplateEditor,rightclickonittoaccessthe
object'sPropertiesdialogbox.YoucanmodifythepropertiesdirectlyinthePropertiesdialog
boxorselectthe(SettingsDialog)property,andclickthe...buttontousetheSectionCut
Settingsdialogboxtomoreeasilymodifyitsproperties.
IfyouinsertthisobjectontheflyintoareportpageoftheReportwindow,thesameSectionCut
Settingsdialogboxappears.
SectionCutSettingsdialogbox
Youcanusethisdialogboxtodefineacutawayimageofyourpartmodelthatwilllaterappearin
yourreport.
DefiningaCutawayImageUsingtheSelectionCutSettingsDialogBox
1. FillouttheX,Y,andZboxestodefineapointontheCADmodelwheretheclipping
planeintersectswiththemodel.
2. FillouttheI,J,andKboxestodefinethedirectiontheplanefaces.
3. ModifytheTolerancevalueasneeded.
4. ClicktheLoadbuttontoseealivepreviewthecutawayimageintheSectionCut
Settingsdialogbox.
5. Usethelargeleftandrightarrowiconstofinetunetheplacementoftheplane,getting
theexactcutawayviewthatyouneed.Thepreviewinthedialogboxupdatestomatch
theplacementoftheplane.

6. Repositiontheimageasdesired.Pantheimagebyrightclickdragging.Zoominorout
onthecutawayimagebyrightclickingaboveorbelowtheimaginaryhorizontallinethat
splitstheimageview.2DrotatethepartimagebyholdingtheCTRLkeyandrightclick
dragging.
7. Finally,placecalloutsontothedialogboximagebyusingtheAddTagbutton.
8. ClickOKtoacceptyourchanges.
SectionCutSettingsDialogBoxItems
Item Description
X,Y,andZboxes Theseboxesdefineapointon
theCADmodelwherethe
clippingplanewillcutthe
model.
I,J,andKboxes TheseboxesdefinetheIJK
directionvectoroftheclipping
plane.
Tolerancebox Thetoleranceparameteris
usedto:
1. Checkifthepolylineis
closed.Thestartand
endpointdistanceis
lessthanthetolerance
value.
2. Reducethepolyline.
3. Mergepolylines.
Loadbutton Thispreviewsthesectioncut
lineontheCADimageaswell
asthesectioncutprofile.
HideImagecheckbox Thishidesthesectioncut
profileimageonthepreview
window.IfyouclicktheOK
button,PCDMISalsohidesthe
sectioncutprofileimageinthe
ReportTemplateEditororon
theReportwindow'spage.

Moveclippingplanealong Thisareacontainsaneditbox
aboveIJKarea andarrowbuttons.
Theeditboxdefinesthe
distancethattheclippingplane
willmovewhenyouclicktheleft
arroworrightarrowbutton.
Thearrowbuttonsmovethe
clippingplanealongtheIJK
vector,bythespecifieddistance
witheachclick.
Ifyouhave1,0,0thentheplane
willmovealongtheXaxis.
willmovealongtheYaxis.
willmovealongtheZaxis.
ScaleFactorarea Whenyouinsertasectioncut
profilethescaleoftheprofile
imageisthesameastheactual
partintheGraphicsDisplay
window,a1:1relationship.
TheScaleFactorarealetsyou
vieworchangethisscale.For
example,typing.25wouldsize
thesectioncuttoonefourththe
sizeoftheactualpart.

AddTagbutton Thisbuttonallowsyoutoplace
calloutsonthecutawayimage
ofthepartmodel.
Clickingthisbuttonchanges
yourcursortoacrosshairicon.
Youcanclickanddragaleader
lineonthecutawayimageinthe
dialogbox.Whenyourelease
themousebutton,asmalltext
boxappearsallowingyouto
typethecallouttext.The
numberofcharactersthistext
boxcandisplayisonlylimited
bythesizeofthetextbox.
Increasingthesizeofthebox
willallowittoholdanddisplay
morecharacters.
Youshouldplacetagsonthe
imageonlywhenthecutaway
imagehasbeencompletely
finalized.Ifnot,thetaglikelywill
bedeletedwithanyfuture
modificationtoimage.
OKandCancel ClickingOKappliesyour
changestothesectioncut
profileimageanddisplaysthe
imageintheReportTemplate
EditororReportwindow.Ifyour
reportcontainsa
CadReportObject,thesection
cutlinewillappearontheCAD
image.
ClickingCancelclosesthe
dialogboxwithoutapplyingyour
changes.However,ifyou've
addedtheobjectontheflyinto
yourReportwindow,the
SectionCutObjectwillstillexit.If
desired,youcanremoveitby
rightclickingontheobjectand
selectingRemoveObject.
ObjectProperties
(SettingsDialog) ThisdisplaystheSectionCut
Settingsdialogbox.
Bottom CommonProperties
Left CommonProperties

PlaneAnchorX Seedescriptionintable
describingdialogboxitems
above.
PlaneAnchorY Seedescriptionintable
above.
PlaneAnchorZ Seedescriptionintable
above.
PlaneVectorI Seedescriptionintable
above.
PlaneVectorJ Seedescriptionintable
above.
PlaneVectorK Seedescriptionintable
above.
Right CommonProperties
Tolerance Seedescriptionintable
above.
Top CommonProperties
Enable CommonProperties
Font CommonProperties
HideImage Seedescriptionintable
above.
Visible CommonProperties
EventReportData AboutEventsandVisualBasic
Code
DefiningOnTheFlySectionCutProfiles

Perhapstheeasiestwaytousesectioncutprofilesistodefinethemusinganontheflycreation
methodwithinthefinalreportintheReportwindowitself.Todothis:
1. RightclickontheReportwindow.Ashortcutmenuappears.
2. Selectthe AddObjectonPage|SectionCutProfile...menuitem.
3. ClickanddragaboxdirectlyontheReportwindowthesizeofthecutawayimageyou
want.Whenyoureleasethemousebutton,theSectionCutSettingsdialogbox
appears.
4. Usethedialogboxtodefinethecutprofileasdescribedabove.PCDMISinsertsthe
sectioncutprofileintotheReportwindow.
SampleSectionCutProfile
ModifyingSectionCutProfilesintheReportWindow
RightclickontheobjectandselectEditObject...fromtheresultingshortcutmenu.
SliderObject
TheSliderobjectinsertsasliderintoyourtemplate.Withasliderinyourreportyoucanallow
userstosetavaluefromarangeofcontinuouspossiblevalues.

Alongwiththeabilitytoresizetheobject,andchangeotherattributes,youcanfurthercustomize
thisobjectbyusingtheseproperties:
theALTkeytocreatean
themenubar).
Orientation Thissetstheorientationofthe
slider.
SelectingHorizontalsetsthe
slidertomovehorizontally,side
toside.
SelectingVerticalsetsthe
slidertomovevertically,upand
down.
TickStyle Thisallowsyoutosethowticks
aredisplayedonaslider.
0Both: setstheticksto
aboveandbelowtheslider(ifa
horizontalslider)ortotheright
andleftsides(ifavertical
slider).
1Top/Left: setsthe
ticksabovetheslider(ifa
horizontalslider)ortotheleft(if
averticalslider).
2Bottom/Right:setsthe
ticksbelowtheslider(ifa
horizontalslider)ortotheright

(ifaverticalslider).
AutoTicks SettingthistoYESdisplays
ticksontheslider.Atickisa
shortvertical/horizontallinethat
isplacedatintervals(setbythe
TickFrequency property)
alongtherangeoftheslider.
TickFrequency Thisvaluedeterminesthe
frequencythatticksare
displayed.Youcansetavalue
between2and200ticks
equallyspacedalongtherange
oftheslider.
totheslider.
OnlineHelp.
ValueID ThisistheIDofthevalue.You
control.
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
DisplayID Thisdetermineswhetherornot
theDisplayIDgetsupdated
whentheslidergetsadjusted.
SpinnerObject

TheSpinnerobjectinsertsaspinnercontrolintoyourtemplate.Youcansetthiscontroltowork
withaneditbox,allowingyoutoselectanumericalvaluebycyclingthrougharangeofnumbers.
TherangeofnumbersissetusingtheMinimumEQandMaximumEQproperties.
Alongwiththeabilitytoresizetheobjectvertically,andchangeotherattributes,youcanfurther
customizethisobjectbyusingtheseproperties:
theALTkeytocreatean
themenubar).
Orientation Thissetstheorientationofthe
spinnercontrol.
SelectingHorizontalrotates
theorientationofthespinner
arrowstopointhorizontally.
SelectingVerticalrotates
theorientationofthespinner
arrowstopointvertically.
WrapAround Ifincrementingordecrementing
thelistofvaluesandyoucome
totheminimumormaximum
value,youcansetthisproperty
toYES,andyourreportwill
wraptothebeginningorendof
thelist.
EditBuddy SelectingYES,associatesthe
spinnertotheeditcontrol
immediatelyprecedingthe
spinnerinthetaborder.You
canviewthetaborderby
selectinganobjectinEditmode
andpressingSHIFT+ENTER.
DecimalBase Thissetsthebaseofthe
spinnertoeitherdecimalbased
(selectYES)orhexadecimal
based(selectNO).
IncrAccelerator Thisvaluedeterminesthe
amounttoincrementor
decrementthespinnereach
timeyouclickanarrow.The
defaultis1.

thiscontrol.
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
fromaVBScript).
$,$,CONST
TextReportObject
TheTextReportObjectobjectallowsyoutoinsertacontainerforyourtextualreportdatainto
yourreporttemplate.Whenyouinsertthisobject,PCDMISinitiallydisplaysaboxfilledwith
somesamplereportdata,usefulfordesignpurposes.Onceyourtemplategetsappliedtoa
report,youractualreportdataisused.
ATextReportObjectwithSampleReportData

Asamplereportwindowshowingactualreportdata
YoucanchangeaninsertedTextReportObject'sdisplaybyselectingtheobject,rightclickingon
it,andeditingitsproperties.
Propertiesspecifictothisobjectinclude:
Colors Letsyouchangethecolorsof
thetextdisplayed.Bydefault,
PCDMIScausesthisobjectto
usethesamecolorsschemeas
usedintheEditwindow's
Commandmode,soifyouclick
thispropertyPCDMISdisplays
amessageboxaskingifyou
wanttocreateanindependent
colorset.ClickingYes
accessestheColorEditor
dialogbox.Youcanthenuse
thiseditortodefineanewcolor
schemefortheselected
TextReportObject.
Colors"in"SettingYour
Preferences"forinformationon
howtousetheColorEditor.
ShowAlignments Showsorhidesalignmentsin
yourreport.
ShowComments Showsorhidescommentsin
yourreport.
ShowDimensions Determineswhichdimensions
getdisplayedinyourreport.

AllShowsalldimensions.
NoneNoneofthedimensions
isshown.
OutofToleranceShows
onlyoutoftolerance
dimensions.
WithinLimitsShowsonly
dimensionswithintolerance
limits.
ShowFeatures Showsorhidesfeaturesinyour
report.
ShowHeaderFooter Showsorhidesthereport's
headerandfooterinformation.
ShowMoves Showsorhidesmove
commandsinyourreport.
ShowScreenCaptures Showsorhidesscreencaptures
inyourreport.
RulesTree AccessestheRulesTree
Editorforthisobject.This
allowsyoutocreaterulesto
determinewhenandhow
expressionsorlabeltemplates
areusedintheobject.
Labeltemplatesand
expressionsletyoucontrol
specificallywhatreportdata
appearsinthisobject.See
"AbouttheRuleTreeEditor"
TextObject
TheTextobjectallowsyoutoinserttextuallabels,descriptions,andmarkingsintoyourtemplate.
Thisishelpfulinmakingyourreportmoremeaningful.Youcanchangeaninsertedtextobject's
displaybyselectingthetextobject,rightclickingonit,andeditingitsproperties.
Thepropertiesforthetextobjectaredescribedinthe"CommonProperties"topic.
TextVarObject
TheTextVarobjectallowsyoutoinsertdynamic,numericaltextintoyourtemplate. Thisobject
differsfromtheTextobjectbydeletingtheTEXTpropertyandaddingthese2properties:

fromaVBScript).Thevalueis
formattedanddisplayedatrun
time.
$,$,CONST
Format Thisformatsthenumerical
valueusing'C'language
standards.However,you
shoulduseonlythenumeric
portion.Forexample,the
format%5.2lfbecomes5.2,
%5dbecomes5.Oneexception
tothisiswhenusingBOOLEAN
variables,the$stringgets
convertedintoNOorYES.
TousethisobjectedittheValueEqpropertysothatit'ssettodisplayavariablenumbervalue.
TheLayoutBar
TheLayoutBargivesyouthetoolsyouneedtoeffectivelyarrange,organize,anddisplayyour
objectsinsidetheeditmodegrid.Thefollowingtopicsdiscussthefunctionalityofeachicon.
Edit
TheEdit iconplacesthetemplateintoRunmode.TheReportTemplateandLabelTemplate
editorsalwaysremaininEditmode.ThisicononlyfunctionswhenworkingwiththeFormEditor.
PropertySheet
ThePropertySheeticondisplaysthepropertiesfortheselectedobjectintheProperty
Sheetdialogbox.ThePropertySheetdialogboxallowsyoutochangethepropertiesfora
selectedobject.Youcaneasilychangetheobjectwhosepropertiesyou'relookingatbychoosing
adifferentexistingobjectfromthelistatthetopofthePropertySheetdialogbox.
Forcompleteinformationontheavailableproperties,see"AboutObjectProperties".
ToggleGrid

TheToggleGridiconshowsorhidestheavailablegrid.UsedinEditmode,thegridisuseful
forsizingobjectspreciselysinceitcontainsadotevery tenthofaninch.See"Workingwiththe
Grid".
ViewSnapPoints
TheViewSnapPointsiconshowsthesnappointsoneachobject.Snappointsareusefulin
tyingobjectstogetherwithlines.Forexample,youcancreatealinebetweenatextbox
descriptionpointingtoanobject,suchasacircle,byusingalinetoconnectsnappointsonthe
textboxdescriptionandthecircleobject.Then,likealeaderline,whenyoumovethecircletoa
newlocation,theattachedlinestretchesandshrinkstoaccommodatethenewpositionofthe
circle.
Tousesnappointsasdescribedintheaboveexample,
1. Createacircleobject.
2. Createalineobject.
3. Ineditmode,selecttheViewSnapPointsiconfromtheLayoutBar.Youwill
noticethatobjectsonthegridthathaveanareawilldisplaybluecoloredpoints.
Thesebluepointsaresnappoints.
Samplecircleshowingfivesnappoints
4. Selectthelineanddragoneendofituntiltheendrestsdirectlyonthedesired
snappointofthecircle.Trymovingthecircleobjectthelineisattachedtothecircle
object'ssnappoint.
5. Createatextobjectforadescriptionforthecircleandedititwithabrief
description.
6. Selecttheotherendofthelineanddragituntilitrestsononeofthesnappoints
ofthetextobject.
7. Nowselectanddrageitherthetextboxdescriptionorthecircleobject.Notice
thatthelineobjectgetslongerorshorterandmovessothatthere'salwaysastraight
linebetweentheusedsnappointsofthetwoobjects.
Todetachobjectsattachedtoasnappoint,simplydragtheattachedendoftheobjectoffofthe
snappoint.
SnapPointsvs.LeaderLineobjects
MostofthetimeyouwillprobablyusetheLeaderLineobjectinsteadofsnappoints.Ithasnearly
allthesamefunctionalityassnappointsandiseasiertouse(seethe"LeaderLineObject"topic).
OneadvantagesnappointshaveovertheLeaderLineobject,istheirabilitytosupportmore
thanonelinebetweenobjectsandtheirabilitytofittheconnectinglineexactlytoasnappoint.
Forexample,withsnappointsyoucancreateamorecomplexshapedirectlyintheeditmode,as
shownhere:

SampleCylindercreatedwithtwofourlinesfittedtosnappointsonthetwofilledcircles.
SupportedObjects
OnlyLineandPolylineobjectscanattachtoobjectsthathavesnappoints.Belowaretheobjects
thathavesnappoints:
Text
TextVar
Border
Ellipse
Bitmap
DimensionColorKey
Histogram
FeatureText
DimensionInfo
PointInfo
ViewingAttachedObjects
Oncomplexpageswithalotofobjects,youmayfinditusefultousetheView|Routemenu
optiontoseethechainofobjectsconnectedtothecurrentlyselectedobject.Thismenuoption
selectsallobjectsconnectedinsomewaybysnappointstothecurrentlyselectedobject.
ToggleRuler
TheToggleRulericonallowsyoutoturnonorofftherulerlocatedonthetopandleftsides
ofthegrid.Therulershowsthesizeofthegridininchesorcentimeters.Italsodisplaysyour
cursor'spositionalongthegrid'shorizontalaxis(topruler)andverticalaxis(sideruler).Youcan
switchbetweenInchesorCentimetersbyrightclickingontherulerandselectingthedesired
optionfromtheshortcutmenu.
ZoomInorOut
TheseiconsallowyoutozoominoroutofyourHyperreportandthenrestoretheoriginalview:
Zoomin100% Thiszoomsinonyourreportby100percentperclick.Youcanclick
thisiconatmostfivetimestogeta500percentzoom.
Zoomout100% Thiszoomsoutofyourreportby100percentperclickifyou'realready
zoomedin.Ifyouhaven'tzoomedinatall,youwillonlybeabletozoomoutby100percent
onetime.

Zoomto1:1Thisrestoresthesizeofyourreporttotheoriginal1to1zoomsize.
Nomatterwhatyouzoomto,PCDMISrestorestheoriginalzoomwheneveryouactivatea
controlthathasan"activated"or"deactivated"mode(forexample,doubleclickingonthe
CadReportObjectorGridControlObject).Whenyouleavethesecontrolsandreturntotheediting
environment,thezoomsizegoesbacktowhatitwas.
Group
TheGroupiconallowsyoutoselectmultipleobjectsandgroupthemtogether.Once
grouped,theeditorwillshowthegroupedobjectsasoneobject.
Togroupmultipleobjects,eitherholddowntheSHIFTbutton,andselectallobjectsinthegroup,
orboxselectallobjects,andthenclicktheGroupicon.
Ungroup
TheUngroupiconrestoresobjectinagrouptotheirindividualungroupedstates.Todothis,
selectagroupedobjectandclickUngroup.
Regroup
TheRegroupiconregroupsthelastungroupedsetofobjectswithoutyourhavingtoreselect
theindividualobjects.
AlignEdges
TheAlignEdgesiconprovidesyouwiththeseadditionaliconsthatallowyoutoarrangea
setofselectedobjectsalongtheirleft,right,top,orbottomedges:
Alignsselectedobjectsalongtheirleftedges
Alignsselectedobjectsalongtheirrightedges
Alignsselectedobjectsalongtheirtopedges
Alignsselectedobjectsalongtheirbottomedges
AlignCenter
TheAlignCentericonprovidesyouwiththeseadditionaliconsthatallowyoutocenter
selectedobjectseitherhorizontallyorvertically:
Centersselectedobjectsalongthehorizontalaxis

Centersselectedobjectsalongtheverticalaxis
Space
TheSpaceiconprovidesyouwiththeseadditionaliconsthatallowyoutoequallyspace
selectedobjectseitherhorizontallyorvertically:
Equallyspacesselectedobjectsalongthehorizontalaxis
Equallyspacesselectedobjectsalongtheverticalaxis
MakeSameSize
TheMakeSamesizeiconprovidesyouwiththeseadditionaliconsthatallowyouto
equalizethewidth,theheight,orboththewidthandheightofallselectedobjects:
Equallysizesthewidthsoftheselectedobjects
Equallysizestheheightsoftheselectedobjects
Equallysizesboththewidthsandtheheightsoftheselectedobjects
ToFrontorBack
TheToFrontorBackiconprovidesyouwithadditionaliconsthatallowyoutoplacea
selectedobject(orobjects)infrontorinbackofotherobjects.Thisishelpfulwhenyouhave
multipleobjectsontopofeachotherandyouwantcertainobjectstobevisible.Theavailable
iconsincludethefollowing:
Movestheselectedobject(s)infrontofallotherobjectssothatitisshownontop
Movestheselectedobject(s)behindallotherobjectssothatisshownbeneath
Note:Movingobjectsinfrontoforbehindotherobjectsissubjecttoaninternaldrawinglevel
usedbythedifferentobjects.Thismeansyoucanonlybringobjectsinfrontofotherobjectsof
thesamedrawinglevel.Forexample,LabelandSectionCutobjectsbelongtoLevel1.Leader
LineandTextobjectsbelongtolevel2.CADReportobjectsbelongstolevel3.Allotherobjects
belongtolevel4.Thedisplaysequenceofthelevelsislevel1,2,3,and4,withobjectsinlevel1
beingthetopmostobjects.Youcannot,forexample,bringaTextobjectinfrontofaLabelobject
asitislimitedbyitsdrawinglevel.
UndotheLastAction
TheUndotheLastActioniconwillundothelastactionyoutookintheeditor.

WorkingwiththeGrid
Whenworkinginaformortemplateeditor,PCDMIScandisplayorhideagridonthe
backgroundofyourformortemplatebyclickingtheToggleGridicon fromtheLayoutBarorby
pressingCTRL+G.
Youcanusethisgridasatoolfortheaccurateplacingand/orsizingofobjectsandhowtocontrol
atemplate'smarginguidelines.
AGuidelines
BGrid
markings
Exampleshowingthedefaultgrid'smarkingsandguidelines
SelectEdit|Layout|GridSettingstoaccesstheGridSettingsdialogbox.
GridSettingsdialogbox
Youcanthenusethisdialogboxtocustomizethegrid.Foradescriptionofthecontrolsinthis
dialogbox,seethetablebelow:
DialogBoxControl Description
ShowGridcheckbox TheShowGridcheckbox
togglesthedisplayofthegrid.
SnaptoGridcheckbox TheSnaptoGridcheckbox
determineswhetherornot
controlsplacedonthegridget
moved,orsnapped,tothe
nearestgridlocation.
Spacingarea TheSpacingareasetsthe
amountofspacingbetweenthe
gridmarkings.Thesmalleryou
setthesenumbers,thecloser
togetherthegridmarkingswill

be.
Guidelinesarea TheGuidelinesareaallows
youtodeterminethelocationof
thetop,left,right,andbottom
marginguidelinesforthe
templateeditor.
Thevalueineachofthese
boxessetsthedistanceingrid
markingstowheretheguideline
willbeset.Settingthevalueto
zerowillremovetheguideline
completely.
Youcannotplaceobjects
beyondtheseguidelines.
RedothePreviouslyUndoneAction
TheRedothePreviouslyUndoneActioniconwillredotheactionthatwasundonewhen
youclickedtheUndotheLastActionicon.
AboutObjectProperties
Eachobjectaddedtoatemplateorformhasasetofproperties(orattributes)associatedwithit
thatcontrolsuchthingsastheobjectsposition,size,colors,font,text,name,andsoon.Each
objectalsohasassociatedwithitasetofeventhandlerfunctionsthataretriggeredwhencertain
eventstakeplace,suchastheclickingordoubleclickingthemouseonthatobject.These
propertiesandeventhandlersmaybeviewedand/ormodifiedusingthePropertiesdialogbox,
alsosometimescalleda"propertysheet".
AccessinganObject'sProperties
ThePropertiesdialogboxmaybeviewedbyselectinganobject(bysingleclickingwithinits
boundaries)andthenrightclicking.Here'sanexamplepropertysheetthatshowsatextobject,
namedText1,anditsvariousproperties:

AsamplePropertiesdialogbox
ViewingPropertiesofAvailableObjects
AtthetopofthePropertiesdialogboxisadropdownlist.Thislistboxcontainsanentryforeach
oftheobjectsinyourtemplateorform,aswellassomeobjectsthatalwaysexistandcannotbe
deleted,suchasthemaineditingareaitself.IntheReporteditor,themaineditingareaiscalled
thePage.IntheLabelEditorandtheFormEditoritiscalledTheFrame/TheView.
Youcanviewthepropertiesforanyoftheobjectsinyourformortemplatebyselectingadifferent
objectfromthisdropdownlist.Ifyouhaveareporttemplatewithmorethanonesection,thislist
onlyshowsobjectsinthecurrentsection.
Note:Forreporttemplates,anadditionalobjectcalledReportexiststhatyoucanonlyaccess
fromthisdropdownlist.ItcontainstwopropertiesintheAdvancedcategorythatallowyouto
specifyyourownexternalexecutable(a.exefile)tocollectuserassignedproperties.These
propertiesareTemplateSelectionProgramandPartProgramExecutionProgram.PCDMIS
runsthespecifiedprogramsduringtemplateselectionandduringpartprogramexecution
respectively.
UnderstandingPropertyOrganization
Propertiesforeachobjectaredividedupintothreemaincategories:Standard,Advanced,and
Events.Youcancollapseorexpandeachofthesecategoriesbyclickingthe+orsymboltothe
leftofeachcategory.
Ingeneral,Standardpropertiesgenerallycontrolcolor,position,andlinestyles.Advanced
propertiescontrolsuchthingsaswhetherornottheobjectisenabledorvisible.Eventsallowyou
tousetheBASIClanguagetocodespecificinstructionswhenspecifiedeventsoccur.
Note:ActiveXandOLEobjectshaveanadditionalsection,discussedintheirrespectivetopics:
"ActiveXObject"and"OLEObject".
Foradescriptionofavailableproperties,seethe"CommonProperties"topicbelow,orifa
descriptionisn'tfoundthere,viewobjectspecificdocumentationavailablefromthe"TheObject
Bar"topic.ForinformationonEvents,seethe"AboutEvents"topic.

UnderstandingtheNameIdentifier
Whenyouinsertanobjecttoatemplateorform,auniquenameidentifierisautomatically
assignedtotheobject'sObjectCodeproperty.Subsequentobjectsofthesametypehavethe
samenamewithanincrementednumericalvaluebehindit.Forexample,theeditorautomatically
namesyourfirstTextobject"Text1".ItnamessubsequentTextobjects"Text2","Text3",andso
on.Youcan,ofcourse,changethisvaluetoadifferentname.Ifyoudo,ensurethatyougiveita
uniquename.AnyBASICscriptingthatmakesuseofanobject'scodemustalsobeupdatedif
yourmodifythatobject'snameidentifier.
ChangingPropertyValues
Youcanmodifyanypropertybyselectingit,clickingitsvalue,andeitherselectinganewvalueif
itdisplaysadropdownlist,orbytypinganewvalueifit'saneditfield.
ExpressionsasPropertyValues
Somepropertyvaluescanholdreportingexpressionsinsteadofaconstantvalue,justasacell
fromaGridControlObjectcanholdexpressions.Remembertoprefacetheexpressionwithan
equalssign(=).Forexample,supposeyouhaveaTextobjectinalabeltemplateandyouwantit
todisplaythecurrentfeature'sIDinsteadofsomeothertext.IntheTextproperty,youwouldtype
"=ID".Duringexecution,itwouldpullthefeature'snamefromPCDMISanddisplayitinthatText
object.
CommonProperties
ThefollowingarepropertiestakenfromasampleTextobject.Thesepropertiesalsomakeupthe
coresetofpropertiesformanyotherobjects.Propertiesspecifictoanobjectaredocumentedin
thatobject'sdocumentation.Eventspropertiesaredetailedinthe"AboutEvents"topic.
AsamplePropertiesdialogbox
CommonStandardandAdvancedProperties
Common Description
Properties

(ObjectCode) Uniquenamethatidentifiesanobjectinatemplateorform.Whenever
youneedtoaccessapropertyormethodofanobjectusingtheBASIC
language,usethefollowingsyntax:{ObjectCode}.{propertyormethod
name}
Alignment Textalignmentwithinthetextobjectsdefiningrectangle.
AnchorSnaps Fieldwhichallowsyoutocreate,deleteormodifysnappointsbyusing
theEnterSnapPointsdialogbox.Snappointsarefoundontheellipse,
rectangle,textbox,orbitmapimageobjects.
YoucanconnectLineorPolylineobjectstoanobject'ssnappointsby
draggingthetipofthelineontothedisplayedbluesnappoint.
Onceconnected,whenyoudragtheobjecttoanewlocation,theresulting
lineremainsconnectedtothesnappoint,rotating,elongating,and
shrinkingasnecessary.Thisfeatureishelpfulwhenyouneedtocreatea
"leaderline"thatconstantlypointstoanobjectthatyou'llfrequentlybe
moving.
Todisplaysnappoints,fromtheLayouttoolbarclicktheViewSnap
Pointsicon:
BackColor Backgroundcoloroftheobject.Thiscolorisusedtofilltheobjects
definingrectangle.
NilThisstandsfornovalue.Itmeansthebackgroundwillbe
transparent,allowingothercolorsofobjectsbehindthisobjecttoshow
through.Bydefault,anythingwithaBackColorpropertywillbesettoNil.
Technically,settingthecolortoNilactuallydefinesthecoloras
RGB(255,255,254).ThatcoloristhenmadetransparentwithintheReport
window.
IfyoutrytospecifyacolorofRGB(255,255,254),PCDMISwill
automaticallysetittoRGB(255,255,255),anontransparentcolor.This
willnotaffectwhatyouvisuallysee.
Beawarethatifyourlabelhasabitmapimagethatusesthecolor
RGB(255,255,254),thatcolorwillbemadetransparentinsidetheReport
window.
BorderStyle Styleofborderdrawnaroundtheobject.
Bottom Distance,inpixels,ofthebottomoftheobjectsrectanglefromthetopof
thetemplateorform.

CursorPointer Cursordisplayedwhentheuserdragsthemouseovertheobject.
Enable Enableordisabletheobject.Adisabledobjectmaystillbevisible,butwill
notrespondtouserinput.
Font Fontusedfortextrenderedintheobject.
ForeColor Foregroundcoloroftheobject.Inthecaseofthetextobject,specifiesthe
textcolor.
HatchStyle Hatchstyleusedinfillingthebackgroundboxoftheobject.
HelpContextID ThisisthecontextIDofaspecifichelptopictocall.Thisisoftenusedin
conjunctionwiththeHelpbuttontypewhichinvokesWinHelp().
HiliteColor (ThisobjectnotincludedwithPCDMIS)
Layer Thisassignsthecurrentobjecttotheselectedlayer.
Left Distance,inpixels,oftheleftsideoftheobjectsrectanglefromtheleft
sideofthetemplateorform.
Orientation Orientationofthetextinsidetheobject.Horizontaltextflowsfromleftto
right.VerticalUpflowsfrombottomtotop.VerticalDownflowsfromtopto
bottom.
PenWidth Widthofthepenusedtodrawtheobject.Inthecaseofthetextobject,
thepenwidthonlyaffectstheborderdrawnaroundthetext.
Right Distance,inpixels,oftherightsideoftheobjectsrectanglefromtheleft
sideofthetemplateorform.
ShadowStyle Shadoweffectusedwhenrenderingtheobject.
Tag Placeholderthatstoresuserdefineddata.

Text Textappearinginthetextobject.Youcanalsotypeanampersand
symbol(&)infrontofanyalphanumericcharacterinthisfieldtocreatea
shortcutkey(shownasanunderlinedcharacter)thatwhenpressedwith
theALTkeyinRunMode,causesthatcontroltoimmediatelyhavethe
focus.Ifyouplanonusingalotofshortcutkeys,youcanensuretheyare
uniquebyusingtheEdit|Layout|CheckMnemonicsmenuiteminEdit
Mode.
ToolTipText TextdisplayedwhenyoumovethemouseovertheobjectinsideRun
mode.
Top Distance,inpixels,ofthetopoftheobjectsrectanglefromthetopofthe
templateorform.
Visible Visibilitystateoftheobject.Avalueof1correspondstovisible,0to
hidden.
PCDMIS (AppearsonlyforobjectsaddedtotheCustomReportEditor)
Commands
AddsorRemovescommandreferencestoexistingobjectsinyourreport.
Selectanobjectinyourreport,andselectthisproperty.ThePCDMIS
Commandsdialogboxappears.
PCDMISCommandsdialogbox
Allthecommandsinyourpartprogramappearintheexpandableand
collapsiblelistontheleft.Therighthandlistdisplaysallthecommands
referencedbytheobject.
1. Selectthecommandsfromthelefthandlistthatyouwantthe
selectedobjecttoreference.Theywillappearintherighthandlist
istheobjectsupportstakingmultiplecommands.However,In
mostcases,youwillonlybeabletoselectonecommand.
2. ClickOK.ThedialogboxclosesandPCDMISnowreferences

thenewcommandintheselectedobject.
Thisessentiallyprovidesanalternateapproachtoupdatinganobjectto
usedifferentdatafromthepartprogram.See"DraggingandDropping
InformationintoaCustomReport"fortheusualwayofupdatingobjects.
Forobjectsthatsupportmultiplecommands(suchasthe
GridControlObject),thisdialogboxletsyouchangetheorderof
referencedcommands.
PCDMIS (AppearsonlyforobjectsaddedtotheCustomReportEditor)
References
Tracksthecommandsreferencedbytheselectedreportingobject.During
reportgeneration,foreachcommand,PCDMISchecksthecommand
referencesofeachobject.Ifthatobjectindicatesthatithasareferenceto
thecommandbeingprocessed,PCDMISsendsthecommanddatato
thatobject.
Mostobjectsonlysupportonecommandatatime,butsomeobjectscan
supportdatafrommultiplecommands(suchastheGridControlObject).If
youdraganddropcommandsintotheCustomReportEditor,PCDMIS
takescareofmanagingthereferencesforyouinternally.Youshouldonly
needtousethispropertyifyoudecidetohavemanualcontroloverwhich
commandsarereferencedforsomereason.
TheFrame/TheViewProperties
ThemaineditingareaintheLabelTemplateEditorandtheFormEditorcontainsaspecialobject
called TheFrame/TheView.Thisobjectalsocontainspropertiesthatcanbeaccessedandset
justaswithanyotherobject.
Usedin
Label
Template
Editoror
Form
Editor
Definestheheight,inpixels,ofthemainediting
Height Both
area.
Definesthewidth,inpixels,ofthemainediting
Width Both
area.
Declaresvariableswithascopeavailabletoyour
LocalDecls Both
entireformorlabel.
Label
Page Setsthelabeltooneofthepredefinedstandard
Template
Orientation orientations,eitherPortraitorLandscape.
Editor

Setsthelabeltooneofthepagesizesavailable
Label
onyourdefaultprinter.Youmayseeitemssuch
PageSize Template
asLetter,A4,oroneofseveralothersizes
Editor
dependingonyourtypeofprinter.
DisplaystheSupportedCommandTypesdialog
box.Withthisdialogboxyoucandefinewhat
Supported Label commandsshouldusethislabeltemplate.Thenin
Command Template theReportwindow,whenyourightclickonalabel
Types Editor andselecttheChangeReport...menuitem,PC
DMISwillonlydisplaythoselabelsthatsupport
theselectedcommandtype.
Horizontal Setsthehorizontalpositionoftheformwithinthe
FormEditor
Positioning windowwhenexecuted.
SeetheDeclareGlobalUsingtheLocalVariables
LocalVariables FormEditor
Propertytopic.
IfsettoYes,thisdisplaysaMaximizeiconinthe
upperrightcorneroftheform.Clickingthisicon
runmodeorduringexecutionallowsyouto
maximizeyourformwindowtofilltheavailable
MaximizeBox FormEditor space.
IfMaximizeBoxissettoYesbutMinimizeBoxis
settoNo,thentheMinimizeiconwillstillappear
butwillbeunavailableforselection.
IfsettoYes,thisdisplaysaMinimizeiconinthe
upperrightcorneroftheform.Clickingthisicon
duringrunmodeorduringexecutionallowsyouto
minimizeyourformwindowtothetaskbar.
MinimizeBox FormEditor
IfMinimizeBoxissettoYesbutMaximizeBoxis
settoNo,thentheMaximizeiconwillstillappear
butwillbeunavailableforselection.
Vertical Setstheverticalpositionoftheformwithinthe
FormEditor
Positioning windowwhenexecuted.
ToolTipText Both CommonProperties
SectionandPageProperties
ThemaineditingareasintheReportTemplateEditorandtheCustomReportEditor,arespecial
objectscalledtheSectionandthePagerespectively.Theseobjectscontainpropertiesthatcan
beaccessedandsetjustaswithanyotherobject.
Height Definestheheight,inpixels,ofthemaineditingarea.
Width Definesthewidth,inpixels,ofthemaineditingarea.
(FormCode) DefinesthenameofthePage.
Defineshowcommandsgetprocessedwithinthecurrent
section(Pagetab).
CommandSet
AllCommandsThesettingwillprocessthe
entirecommandsetinthecurrentsection(Page

tab).Thisisthedefaultvalue.
ContinuefromPreviousSectionThissetting
continuestoprocessthecommandsetfromthe
previoussection,continuingwherethelastsection
stopprocessing.
SameasPreviousSectionThissettingwill
causethesection(Pagetab)totakeexactlythe
samecommandsetastheprevioussection.The
headsectionandallsubsequentsectionswiththis
settingwillformaminigroup.Allsubsequent
sectionsintheminigroupwillcreateonepagewith
theheadpage.
Providesawindowforyoutodeclarevariableslocalto
thisobject.Oncedeclaredyoucanusethesevariablesin
eventsthataffecttheobject.Thistypeofdeclarationlets
LocalDecls yougivethevariableavalueinoneeventandthencheck
thatvalueinadifferentevent.Thevariableissafefrom
accidentalmodificationsinceitisinvisibletootherobjects
inthereportorform.
SeetheDeclareGlobalUsingtheLocalVariables
LocalVariables
Propertytopic.
Definesthemaximumnumberofreportpagesthatwill
usethedesignofthecurrentPagetab.
Forexample,ifyousetthisvalueto2,butyouhaveeasily
enoughdimensionsinyourpartprogramtofillfivepages,
thesectionwillnotprocesscommandsoncethenumber
MaximumNumberOf
ofpagesforthatsectionreachesthespecifiedmaximum
Pages
oftwopages.Thecurrentprocesscommandwillneeda
newlycreatedsection(Pagetab)inordertodisplay
Thedefaultvalueof0meansthereisnomaximumand
soallpageswillbedisplayed.
ToolTipText CommonProperties
Examplesof"CommandSet"and"MaximumNumberofPages"Properties
InthefollowingexamplessupposethatyourreporttemplatehasfoursectionsnamedA,B,C,
andDandthateachcontainsaTextReportObject.Additionally,supposethatyourpartprogram
hasenoughdimensionstodisplaythreepagesofdimensionspersection.Foreachexample,a
tablewilldetailthepropertysettings.
Example1
Sections Maximum CommandSet

Numberof
Pages
A 0 AllCommands
B 0 AllCommands
C 0 AllCommands

D 0 AllCommands
Inthisexample,PCDMISwoulddisplaythepagesinthefinalreportlikethis:
A1,A2,A3,B1,B2,B3,C1,C2,C3,D1,D2,D3
Example2

Numberof
Pages
A 1 AllCommands
B 0 AllCommands
C 0 AllCommands
D 1 AllCommands
A1,B1,B2,B3,C1,C2,C3,D1
Example3

Numberof
Pages
A 1 AllCommands
B 0 AllCommands
C 0 SameAsPreviousSection
D 1 AllCommands
A1,B1,C1,B2,C2,B3,C3,D1
Example4

Numberof
Pages
A 1 AllCommands
B 0 ContinueFromPreviousSection
C 0 SameAsPreviousSection
D 1 AllCommands

A1,B2,C2,B3,C3,D1
WorkingwithUserAssignedProperties
IntheReportTemplateEditorinversion4.0,thePropertiesdialogboxcontainsaveryhandy
feature,theabilitytomakeapropertyuserdefinable.Thisallowsyoutoletprogramoperators
changeobjectpropertiesatruntime.
Forexample,supposeyouwantyourreporttitletochangedynamicallyaccordingtowhateverthe
currentpartprogramoperatorwants.Youcaneasilyaddaninteractiveapproachsuchasthisto
yourreportsbyusingthisfunctionality.
ToMakeaPropertyUserAssigned:
1. Selectanobjectinoneoftheeditors.Forourexampleabove,youwouldselecta
Textobject.
Rightclickontheobject.Thiscausesthepropertysheetforthatobjecttoappearontherightside
oftheeditor.Ontheleftsideofthepropertysheetyouwillseecheckboxesnexttomost
properties.Thesecheckboxesdeterminewhatpropertiesyoucanmakeuserdefinable.
SamplePropertySheetforaTextobject.Noticetheuserdefinablecheckboxesonthe
left.
Selectthecheckboxnexttothepropertyyouwanttomakedefinable.Forourexampleabove,
youwouldselecttheTextpropertyforaTextobject.AUserAssignedPropertydialogbox
appearsaskingyoutodeterminethemessagethatwillprompttheuserforthepropertyvalueand
whentheusershouldbeprompted.

UserAssignedPropertydialogbox
2. InthePromptbox,typetheprompttheuserwillreceive,thenselectfromoneof
thetwooptionbuttonswhentheuserwillreceivetheprompt.Youcanchooseto
prompttheusereitherduringtemplateselectionorpartprogramexecution.
3. ClickOK.TheUserAssignedPropertydialogboxcloses.
4. Savethereporttemplateandreturntoyourpartprogram.
5. Nowtotestthis,usetheReportwindow,clicktheTemplateSelectioniconand
selectthereporttemplatefromthedialogbox,thenexecuteyourpartprogram.
Atsometimeduringthepreviousstep,PCDMISwilldisplaytheDefineUserAssigned
Propertiesdialogboxtopromptyoufortheproperties'valuesaccordingtotheoptionbuttonyou
selectedintheUserAssignedPropertydialogbox
DefineUserAssignedPropertiesdialogbox
ToViewandManipulateallYourUserAssignedProperties:
1. Accessareportorlabeltemplatethathasuserdefinableproperties.
SelectEdit|UserAssignableProperties.TheUserAssignedPropertiesdialogboxappears.
Thisdialogboxshowsthosepropertiesthatwillbepresentedduringtemplateselectionorpart
programexecution.

UserAssignedPropertiesdialogbox
SelectanitemfromthePromptStyledropdownlisttofilterwhatgetsdisplayedinthisdialog.
Theuserassignedpropertiesappearinthelistboxbelow.Thelistboxtracksalltheproperties,
whatobjectstheybelongto,andtheirprompts.
Toremoveaproperty,selectthepropertyandclickthebigredX.Thatobject'spropertywillno
longerbeuserdefinableandwillusethedefaultvaluealreadydefinedinthetemplate.
DeletePropertyicon
Toreorderaproperty,selectthepropertyyouwanttomoveandthenclicktheredupordown
arrows.Thiswillmovetheselectedpropertyupordowninthelist.
RedUpandDownArrows
Tochangeaproperty'spromptorwhenthepromptshouldappear,doubleclickonthepropertyin
theFeaturecolumn.PCDMISdisplaysUserAssignedPropertydialogbox,allowingyouto
makethechange.

Important:IfyouselectedPromptwhenuserselectstemplate fromtheUserAssigned
Propertydialogbox,PCDMISwillonlypromptyouonceforanyuserassignedvalues.
Thereafter,forthatpartprogram,PCDMISwillautomaticallyusetheinitialpropertyvalueuntil
youclearoutalltemplateassociateddata.Seethe"ClearingTemplateAssociatedData"topicin
thischapter.
IfyouselectedPromptwhenreportisexecuted,thenPCDMISwillautomaticallydisplaythe
DefineUserAssignedPropertiesdialogboxeachtimethepartprogramisexecuted.
ClearingTemplateAssociatedData
TheFile|Reporting|ClearTemplateAssociatedDatamenuitemremovesthefollowingitems
usedinthecurrentpartprogramwiththecurrentselectedreporttemplate:
Anyuserassignedpropertyvalues.Byclearingthese,PCDMISwillagainpromptyoufor
valuestoanyuserassignedpropertiesinthecurrenttemplate.
Tablecustomizationsonlabels.
LabelplacementcustomizationsaroundCADReportObjectobjects.
ChangestotherotationorzoomfactorofanyCADReportObjectobjects.
Anyotherobjectmodifications,additions,orpageduplications.
TheFile|Reporting|ClearAllTemplateAssociatedDatamenuitemdoesthesameasthe
abovemenuitembutaffectsallreporttemplatesusedbythisreport.
Forinformation,onuserdefinedpropertiesseethe"WorkingwithUserAssignedProperties"topic
inthischapter.
AboutEventsandVisualBasicCode
ThissectionassumesthatyouhaveatleastsomebackgroundwiththeVisualBasic
programminglanguage.IfyouneedtolearnVisualBasic,pleaseconsultabookorotherexternal
resourceonthesubject.
TheEventssectiononthePropertiesdialogboxcontainsalistofeventhandlerfunctionsthat
yourtemplateorformobjectsupports.Aneventhandlerfunctionwillbecalledwheneverthe
eventimpliedbythenameofthefunctionoccursforthegivenobject.Whenthatfunctiongets
called,anyVisualBasiccodeinsidethatfunctiongetsexecuted.

AvailableEventHandlerFunctions
EventClick Calledwhenthemouseisclickedontheobject.
EventDblClick Calledwhenthemouseisdoubleclickedontheobject.
EventDragDrop Calledwhenanother"draggable"itemisdroppedontotheobject.
EventDragEnter Calledwhenadraggableitemisinitiallydraggedontotheobject.
EventDragOver Calledwhenadraggableitemisdraggedovertheobject.
EventInitialize CalledwhentheformfirstentersintoRunModebeforeanyother
handlersarecalledontheobject.
EventMouseDown Calledwhenamousebuttonisdepressedwhileovertheobject.
Parameterspassedtothefunctionindicatewhichbuttonwas
pressed,iftheSHIFTkeywaspressed,andthecoordinatesofthe
mouseatthemomentthemousebuttonwasdepressed.
EventMouseMove Calledwhenthemouseispassedovertheobject.Parameters
passedtothefunctionindicatewhichbuttonwaspressed,ifthe
SHIFTkeywaspressed,andthecoordinatesofthemousewhenthe
moveeventwassent.
EventMouseUp Calledwhenthemousebuttonisreleasedovertheobject.
Parameterspassedtothefunctionindicatewhichbuttonwas
pressed,iftheSHIFTkeywaspressed,andthecoordinatesofthe
mouseatthemomentthemousebuttonwasreleased.
EventPumpData ThisisperhapsthemostwidelyusedhandlerfunctionintheForm
Editor.EventPumpDataiscalledwheneverBASICvariablesthat
mayaffecttheobjectchangevalue.Yourcodecanalsoforce
EventPumpDatatobecalledonindividualobjects(oronallobjects
inareport)whenyouwishanobjecttoupdateitself.Basically,any
codethatanobjectneedstoreinitializeitselfbasedonvariable
valuesorthestateofotherobjectsshouldoccurinEventPumpData.
EventTerminate CalledwhenthereportisbeingclosedorwhentogglingfromRun
ModetoEditModeintheFormeditor.
ThishandlerfunctionisonlyavailablefortheSectionediting
environments.
EventReportData ThisisperhapsthemostwidelyusedhandlerfunctionintheReport
andLabelTemplateeditors.Itgetscalledwheneverreportdatagets
pluggedintothecurrenttemplate.
ItsprimaryfunctionistoletyoucreateyourownActiveXcontrolsthat
getplacedintoalabel.Forexample,PCDMIS'sbestfitandfeature
analysiscontrolsusethiseventtosentdatatotheActiveXcontrol
fromthecommand.Toseethis,openthelabelnamed

best_fit_analysis.lbl,clickontheActiveXcontrolinsidethelabel,and
thenlookattheBASICcodeinsideitseventhandler.Asingleline
passesdatafromthecommandintothecontrol.
WithdatapassedtoyourownActiveXcontrol,youcanthenuse
Automationcommandstoextractandmanipulatethedata.Seethe
PcdbasichelpfileforinformationonPCDMISautomation.
Important:Thiseventgetscalledonceforeachcommandwhen
applyingthereporttemplateorduringprogramexecution.
AddingCodetoEventHandlers
InordertoaddBASIClanguagecodetoanyoftheeventhandlers:
1. Clickonthefunctionsentryfromthelistofeventhandlers.AMiniVisualBASIC
languageeditorwillappear,withtheopeningandclosingstatementsofthesubroutine
alreadyfilledin.
2. TypeadditionalBASIClanguagestatementscodeintotheeditor.
3. ClickOK.
4. Testyourcode.
IfyouareusingtheFormEditor,testyourformbypressingCTRL+Etoenter
Runmode.
Ifyouareusingoneofthetemplateeditors,testyourcodebyapplyingthe
templatetoareportandredrawingthereportusingtheRedrawReporticonfrom
theReportingToolbar.
Note:Sinceyoudon'tinteractwithclickablebuttons,lists,fields,orotherinteractiveelements
whenusingareport,theonlyeventhandlerfunctionavailableistheEventReportDatafunction.
EventExample1:CallingCodeonanEventClickEvent
ThiseventexampleusesaButtonobject.Totestthis,youwillneedtousetheFormEditor.
1. SelectView|FormEditortoaccesstheFormEditor.
2. First,insertabuttonintoyourformbyclickingontheButtoniconontheObject
toolbarandthendraggingoutarectangleforthebuttonontotheform.
Makesurethatthebuttonisselected(highlighted).
3. Rightclickonthebuttontobringupthedialogshowingthebuttonsproperties.
Ifnotexpanded,clickonthe+signnexttotheEventssectiontoexpandthelist.Youshouldsee
alistofalloftheavailableeventhandlerfunctionsforthebuttonobject.

ExampleofaButtonObject'sEvents
4. doubleclickontheEventClickfunctioninthelist.AVisualBASICEditorentitled
VBSMiniEditoropens.
AddthefollowingcodetotheEventClickfunctioninsidetheVBSMiniEditor:
MsgBoxI'vebeenclicked.".
5. ClicktheOKbuttonintheupperrighthandcorneroftheVBSMiniEditor.Close
thePropertySheet.
6. SavethereportbyselectingFile|Save.Youarenowreadytotestthereportin
RunMode.
7. SwitchtoRunMode(pressCTRL+E).
8. Clickonthebuttonyoucreated.AmessageboxwiththetextIvebeenclicked!
shouldappear.
Thissimpleexampleillustratesthebasicsofscriptableformsandeventhandlers.
EventExample2:ModifyObjectPropertiesonTriggeredEvent

Thisexercisefollowstheaboveexercise,youshouldhavecompleteditfirst.Thisexamplealso
usestheFormEditor.
Supposeyouwanttomodifythepropertiesofanotherobject(saythetextinatextobject)when
thebuttonhasbeenclicked.
1. SelectView|FormEditortoaccesstheFormEditor.
2. SwitchbacktoEditMode(pressCTRL+E).
3. Createanewtextobject.
4. Openthetextobjectsproperties(selectandthenrightmouseclick).
5. MakesurethatthetextitemsObjectCodepropertyreadsText1.TheObject
CodepropertyisthenamethatisusedtorefertothatobjectfromBASICcode.
6. Ifnotexpanded,clickonthe+signnexttotheEventssectiontoexpandthelist.
7. doubleclickontheEventInitializehandlerfunction.TheVBSMiniEditor
opens.
8. AddthefollowingcodetotheEventInitializefunction:
SetThis=Text1
9. PresstheENTERkeytogettoanewline.Onthenextlinetypethiscode:
This.Text=Thebuttonhasnotyetbeenclicked
10. ClicktheOkbuttontoclosetheeditor.
11. OncetheobjectText1hasbeensetupasdescribed,openthepropertysheetfor
thebuttonobjectaddedinthepriorexercise.
12. ClicktheEventstab.
13. doubleclickontheEventClickfunction.
14. Replacethebasiccodeyouaddedinthepreviousexamplewiththefollowingtwo
lines:
Line1:MsgBoxIvebeenclicked,andamabouttomodifyText1stext
Line2:Text1.Text=Thebuttonwasclicked!!!
15. ClicktheOKbuttontoclosetheVBSMiniEditor.
16. ClosethePropertySheet.
17. SwitchtoRunMode(pressCTRL+E).ThecodeyouaddedtoText1s
EventInitialize functionwillsetText1toinitiallyreadThebuttonhasnotyetbeen
clicked.
18. Nowtryclickingonthebutton.TheIvebeenclicked,andamabouttomodify
Text1stextmessageshouldappear.Assoonasyouclosethemessagebox,
Text1stextshouldbemodifiedtoreadThebuttonwasclicked!!!.
ThisexampleillustrateshowthepropertiesofanyobjectinaformmaybeaccessedfromBasic
codeviatheObjectCode.property_namesyntax.
AccessObjectMethods
Manyoftheobjectssupportvariousmethodsinadditiontotheirproperties.Thesemethodsmay
beaccessedfromBASICcodeviatheObjectCode.method_namesyntax.Thismeansyoucan
seewhatpropertiesandmethodsareavailableforanygivenobjectbytypingtheobjectsObject
CodeintheVBSMiniEditorfollowedbyaperiod.Assoonastheperiodistyped,aminiwizard
willpopupshowingtheavailablemethodsandpropertiesforthatobject.
Soifyouhadatextobjectnamed"Text1"youcouldtype"Text1"followedbyaperiodandalistof
availablemethodsorpropertiesforatextobjectwouldappear.
Variablesdeclaredwithinaneventhandlerfunction(viatheBASICDimvar_nameasvar_type
syntax)areinscopeonlyduringthateventhandlerfunction.Therewillundoubtedlyarise

situationswhenyouwouldliketodeclarevariables,functions,orsubroutinesthatareaccessible
fromallBASICcodeinatemplateorformvariableswithglobalscopeforaparticularreport.
Thetemplateandformeditorsprovideaplacetomakethesedeclarations.
DeclareGlobalVariablesUsingtheLocalVariablesProperty
Ifyouwishtodeclareglobalvariablesofanyofthestandarddatatypes(String,Integer,Double,
etc.)andhavethemshowupintheBasicWizard,youcanusetheLocalVariablespropertyof
TheFrame/TheVieworSection.
TousetheLocalVariablesproperty:
1. OpenthePropertySheetfor TheFrame/TheView.Dothisbyselecting,then
rightclickingonanobject.ThePropertySheetwillappear.
2. SelecttheSettingstab.
3. ScrolldowntotheLocalVariablesproperty.
doubleclickingontheLocalVariablespropertywillbringuptheLocalVariablesdialogbox.
LocalVariablesdialogbox
TheLocalVariablesdialogboxallowslocalvariablesofanyofthebasictypestobeadded,
removed,named,andinitialvaluestobeset.Again,thesevariablesareglobaltothistemplateor
formandwillbeaccessiblefromanyoftheBASICcodewrittenforthistemplateorform.Theywill
alsoappearintheLocalVariablesareaoftheScriptWizard.
Note:ThenameLocalVariablesissomethingofamisnomer,sincevariablesdeclaredinthe
LocalVariablesdialogboxactuallyhaveaglobalscopetothatparticulartemplateorform.It
indicatesthatthevariablesdeclaredhereare"local"tothisparticulartemplateorformandcannot
beaccessedonotherforms.Nevertheless,theyaresetasglobalvariables,availabletoother
routineselsewhereinthetemplateorformtheyaredefinedfrom.
Declare/DefineVariables,Functions,orSubroutines
Todeclareand/ordefinevariables,functions,orsubroutinesthataretobeaccessiblefromall
BASICcodeinareport,usetheLocalDeclspropertyofTheFrame/TheViewfoundonthePC
DMIStabofthePropertySheet.Todothis:

1. OpenthePropertySheetforanobject.
2. SelectTheFrame/TheViewfromthedropdownlist.
3. ClickonthePCDMIStab.
4. doubleclickontheLocalDeclsitemonthepropertysheet.AVBSMiniEditorappears.
YoumayaddanyBASICcodeyouwishtothiswindow,includingvariabledeclarationsand
functionorsubroutinedefinitions.Anyvariables,functions,orsubroutinesdeclaredherewillbe
global,butwillnotappearintheScriptWizard.
UnderstandingtheReportTemplateEditor
YoucanaccesstheReportTemplateEditorbyselectingFile|Reporting|New|Report
Template.YoucanalsoopenanexistingreporttemplatebyselectingFile|Reporting|Edit|
ReportTemplate.
PCDMISdisplaystheReportTemplateEditorinanewwindow.
ReportTemplateEditor
TheReportTemplateEditoractsasaworkarea,allowingyoutodrag,size,andplacevarious
objectsandsettheirproperties.Youplaceyourobjectsontopofthewhitearea,calledthe
templateorsection.Ifyouhaveworkedwithlegacy(HyperView)reportinginpreviousversionsof
PCDMIS,youwillfeelathomewiththiseditorsinceitessentiallyfunctionsmuchthesameway
andcontainsmanyofthesameuserinterfaceelements.

Withthenewtemplateapproachtoreporting,youcannotplacetheReportorLabeltemplate
editorsintoRunMode.TheyonlyopeninEditModeandcannotbeswitched.RunModestill
functionswiththeFormEditor.
RunModeThismodeonlyworkswiththeFormEditor.InRunModeyoucanrun(or
execute)yourform,testingitforhowitwouldlookorbehaveinanactualpartprogram
executionenvironment.
EditModeThisisthedefaultmodeforallthereportingeditorsandistheonlymodeforthe
ReportandLabeltemplateeditors.
YoucanswitchbetweenrunandeditmodesbypressingCTRL+E.
Theeditorcontainsthefollowingelements:
TheMenubar
TheFontBar(toolbar)
TheObjectBar(toolbar)
TheLayoutBar(toolbar)
ObjectPropertySheets
Sections
WorkingwiththeGrid
AboutSections
SampleSections
Sectionsmakeupthemaineditingareainareporttemplate.Thesetabbed,scrollableareasin
theReportTemplateEditorarewhereyoucaninsertobjectsintoyourcurrentreporttemplate.
Sectionsgiveyougreatercontroloverwhenobjectsappearinyourreport.
InversionspriortoPCDMIS4.0,creatingandmaintainingamultiplepageHyperViewreport
wherecertainobjectsonlyappearedoncertainpagesinvolvedasomewhatcumbersome
approach.Itrequiredcomplexcodingwithaliberaldoseoflayerstohideandshowvarious
objectsonvariouspages.WiththenewReportTemplateEditor,youcaneasilyaddadditional
sectionstoyourtemplateandcreatepowerfulmultisectionreportswithease.
Sections,however,arenotthesameaspages.Objectsinsertedintoonesectionwillnotbe
displayedinothersectionsbutwillbedisplayedinmultiplepagesofthesamesection.This
approachlessensthecomplexityofcreatingreportitemslikeheadersandtitlesthatyouwantto
remainstatic.

Forexample,youmightchoosetoplaceadescriptionofthereportandauthordataonthefirst
sectionofyourtemplate,aTextReportObjectontothesecondsection,andaCadReportObject
ontothethirdsection.Then,dependingonthelengthofyourreportdata,eachsectioninyour
reportmayspawnuptoseveralpages.
SectionsareonlyusedintheReportTemplateEditor.Beforeversion4.0,themaineditingarea
forHyperViewreportswascalled,"TheFrame/TheView".ThisnameisstillusedintheForm
EditorandtheLabelTemplateEditorwheresectionsarenotused.FortheReportTemplate
Editor,theeditor's"Section"iswhereyouplaceyourreportingobjects.
ToAddaNewSection
1. MakesureyourReportTemplateEditorwindowismaximized.
2. Scrolltotheverybottomofyourtemplate.
3. RightclickontheSection1tab.
SelectInsertfromtheshortcutmenu.PCDMISinsertsanewsection,Section2,intoyour
template.Yourtemplateshouldnowhavetwosections,likethis:
ToDeleteaSection
3. Rightclickonthesectiontabyouwanttodelete.
4. SelectDeletefromtheshortcutmenu.PCDMISdeletesthesection.
ToModifyaSection'sProperties
3. Rightclickonthesectionitself.ThePropertiesdialogboxappears.
4. Modifythepropertiesasdesired.Torenameasection,renamethesection's
FormCodeproperty.
SpanningCommandSetsAcrossSectionstoControlPageLayoutandOutputCollated
Pages
PriortoPCDMIS4.2therewasnowaytospanacommandsetfromonereporttemplatesection
toanother.Now,twonewpropertieshavebeenaddedtosection(Page)objectsthatprovidethis
functionality,makingiteasiertocreatedifferentpageswithdifferentlayoutswhileusingthesame
commandset.Youcanusethesepropertiesaswelltooutputthereportascollatedpages.See
the"PageProperties"topicforinformationandexamplesontheCommandSetandMaximum
NumberofPagesproperties.
AbouttheLabelTemplateEditor

YoucanaccesstheLabelTemplateEditorbyselectingFile|Reporting|New|LabelTemplate.
YoucanalsoopenanexistinglabeltemplatebyselectingFile|Reporting|Edit|Label
Template.
PCDMISdisplaystheLabelTemplateEditorinanewwindow.
LabelTemplateEditor
ThiseditorissimilartotheReportTemplateEditorandtheFormEditorwiththeexceptionof
somedifferencesinits ObjectBar,theuserinterfaceisessentiallythesame.Whileyoucan
technicallyputanyobjectfromtheLabelTemplateEditor'sObjectBarintoalabeltemplate,you
willgenerallyworkwiththeGridControlObject.Thelabeltemplate,isthewhite,sizable,boxon
topofthe"LABEL"background.
Withthenewtemplateapproachtoreporting,youcannotplacetheReportorLabeltemplate
editorsintoRunMode.TheyonlyopeninEditModeandcannotbeswitched.RunModestill
functionswiththeFormEditor.
TheMenubar

TheFontBar(toolbar)
AbouttheCustomReportEditor
YoucanaccesstheCustomReportEditorbyselectingFile|Reporting|New|CustomReport.
Youcanalsoopenexistingcustomreports,ifany,foryourcurrentpartprogrambyselectingFile
|Reporting|Edit|CustomReport.
PCDMISdisplaystheCustomReportEditorinanewwindow.IftheEditwindowisopenPC
DMISautomaticallyplacesitintoSummarymode.
CustomReportEditor
ThiseditorissimilartotheReportTemplateEditor,theLabelTemplateEditor,andtheForm
EditorwiththeexceptionofsomedifferencesinitsObjectBar,theuserinterfaceisessentially
thesame.
Thecustomreportisthewhite,sizable,areaontopofthe"CUSTOM"background.Notethat
whenusingthiseditor,youarenotcreatingatemplate,butarecreatingtheactualreportthatwill
bedisplayedintheReportwindow.Usually,youwillwanttorunthiseditorsidebysidewiththe
EditwindowsetinSummarymodesothatyoucandragthedesiredobjectsfromSummarymode
ontoyourCustomReport.See"CreatingCustomReports".

WiththeCustomReportEditor,youcannotplacetheReportorLabeltemplateeditorsintoRun
ModeasyoudidwiththeHyperVieweditor.ItonlyopensinEditModeandcannotbeswitched.
RunModestillfunctionswiththeFormEditor.
TheMenubar
TheFontBar(toolbar)
UnderstandingtheFormEditor
YoucanaccesstheFormEditorbyselectingView|FormEditor.PCDMISdisplaystheForm
Editorinanewwindow.
FormEditor

TheFormEditoractsasaworkarea,allowingyoutodrag,size,andplacevariousinteractive
formobjects,suchasbuttons,listboxes,editboxes,andsoforth,andtosettheirproperties.
Objectsgetplacedonthegray,sizablearea,calledaform.IfyouhaveworkedwithHyperView
reportinginpreviousversionsofPCDMIS,youwillfeelathomewiththiseditorsinceit
essentiallyfunctionsmuchthesamewayandcontainsmanyofthesameuserinterface
elements.
Withthenewtemplateapproachtoreporting,onlytheFormEditorcanusetheRunMode
capability.Thereportandlabeltemplateeditorsdonotuseit.
TheMenubar
TheFontBar(toolbar)
CreatingTemplates
WhilePCDMIScomeswithsomepredesignedtemplatesthatfitmostusers'needs,youcan,of
course,delveintothepowerfultemplateeditorstocreateyourownreportandlabeltemplates.
YoucanalsousetheFormEditortocreateamoreinteractiveapproachtoexecutionand
reporting.
Thefollowingtopicsdiscusshowtocreateyourowntemplatesbyusingthereporttemplateand
labeltemplateeditors.
Hint:Newtotemplatereporting?Followthe"CreatingaReportTemplate"tutorialandthe
"CreatingLabelTemplates"tutorial.
AboutReportsandReportTemplates
InolderversionsofPCDMISyouwouldhavehadtocreateadifferentreportforeachpart
program,butnolonger.Now,PCDMISusesreporttemplates.Areporttemplateisnotareport,
butadescriptionforareport.ThetemplatedescribeswhatdataPCDMISshouldusetocreatea
report,whereitwillgo,andwhatitwilllooklike.Youcanusereporttemplatesformorethanone
partprogram,lettingyouquicklyandeasilystandardizethelookandfeelofseveralreports.
YoucreatetemplatesinsideoftheReportTemplateEditor.Reporttemplatefileshavea.rtp
filenameextensionandarecreatedinsidethePCDMISreporttemplateeditor.

Youcanmakereporttemplatefilesassimpleorascomplexasyoulike.Asimplereporttemplate
mightcontainasingleTextReportObject,whileacomplexreporttemplatemightcontainseveral
differentobjects,bitmapimages,shapes,orevenitemsthatusethereportingexpression
languagetodetailexactlywhatappearsfromthereportdata.
Important:Donotconfusethereporttemplate'sfilenameextension,.rtpwiththeolder
HyperViewreportfilenameextension,.rpt.Thesearecompletelydifferentfileformatsyoucannot
openupaHyperViewreportinsidetheReportTemplateEditor.WhilePCDMIS4.0andlaterstill
letyourunanembeddedHyperViewreport,youwillneedaversionofPCDMISthatsupports
report(.rpt)filesinordertoeditthem.
TutorialCreatingaReportTemplate
Thistopicwalksyouthroughaverybasictutorialthatwillcreateasimplereporttemplatewitha
fewobjectsandsomelabels.Thisshouldgiveyouabasicoverviewofhowthingsworktogether
sothatyoucancreateanduseyourownreporttemplates.
Note:Inordertogiveyouagoodfoundationonhowtousethetemplateeditors,thistutorial
showshowtocreateareporttemplatefromscratch.However,inpracticaluseyouwillmostlikely
finditmucheasiertocustomizeoneofthestandardtemplatestosuityourneeds.
Beforebeginningthistutorial,createasimplepartprogramthatcanmeasurefourcirclesona
simplepart.ThistutorialusestheHexagontestblock(Hexblock_Wireframe_Surface.igs).
Createapartprogramthatmeasuresfourcircles,similartothis.
Step1:CreateaBlankReportTemplate
1. SelectFile|Reporting|New|ReportTemplatetoaccesstheReportTemplate
Editor.Ablankreporttemplateautomaticallyappears.
2. Hideunusedtoolbarsbyrightclickingonthetoolbarareaandremovingtoolbars.
3. HideunusedPCDMISwindowsbyselectingtheopenwindowfromtheView
menu.
Maximizethetemplateeditorbyclickingthemaximizebuttontheeditor'swindow.Youshouldsee
thewords"REPORT"onthebackgroundoftheeditorandyoureditorshouldhavea"Section1"
tabatthebottom.YourReportTemplateEditorshouldnowlooksomethinglikethis:

Step1:ReportTemplateEditor
Hint: Whenworkingwithoneofthetemplateeditors,youmayfindithelpfultohideyourusual
PCDMIStoolbarsandwindows,therebyfreeingupsomescreenspace.Ifyouworkfrequently
withtemplates,youmaywanttocreateastoredscreenlayoutforyourtemplate.Forinformation
onlayouts,seethe"WindowLayoutsToolbar"topicinthe"UsingToolbars"chapter.
Inaddition,youmayfinditusefultocreateyourowntoolbarwiththeFile|Reportingcommands
onit.Forinformationoncreatingcustomtoolbars,seethe"CustomizingToolbars"topicinthe
"CustomizingtheUserInterface"chapter.
Step2:InsertandFormataTextObjectforaSectionTitle
1. FromtheObjectBar,clickona Textobject.
Insertitintothereportbydraggingarectangleontothecurrentsection.Whenyoureleasethe
mouse,theobjectisselected,asshownbysmallgreensquares,calledhandles,ateachcorner
oftheobject.
AsampleTextobjectshowinghandles
2. SelecttheTextobjectyouinserted,anddragthegreenhandlessothatithasa
heightof1inchandalengthof6inches.UsetheRulerBarsonthetopandleft
borderoftheeditorasneeded.SelectView|RulerBarsiftherulersaren'tavailable.

3. RightclickontheTextobject.
4. SelecttheBackColorpropertyandchangeittoalightbluecolor(0.255.255).
5. ClicktheForeColorpropertyandchangeittoadarkbluecolor(0.0.128).
6. SelecttheBorderStylepropertyandchangeittoNormal.
7. ClicktheLineWidthpropertyandchangethevalueto5.
8. ClicktheTextpropertyandchangeitto"ACustomReport".
9. ClicktheFontproperty.TheFontdialogboxappears.
10. ChangetheSizeto20,theFontStyletoBold,andtheFonttoArial.
11. ClickOK.
Youhaveformattedyourtextobject.Itshouldlooksimilartothis:
Step3:MakePropertiesUserAssignable
1. SelecttheTextobjectyoucreatedinthepreviousstep.
Rightclickontheobject.ThiscausesthePropertiesdialogboxforthatobjecttoappearonthe
rightsideoftheeditor.Ontheleftsideofthedialogboxyouwillseecheckboxesnexttomost
properties.Thesecheckboxesdeterminewhatpropertiesyoucanmakeuserdefinable.
SamplePropertySheetforaTextobject.Noticetheuserdefinablecheckboxesonthe
left.

SelectthecheckboxtotheleftoftheTextproperty.A UserAssignedPropertydialogbox
appearsaskingyoutodeterminethemessagethatwillprompttheuserforthepropertyvalueand
whentheusershouldbeprompted.
2. InthePromptbox,type"TypeYourReport'sTitleNow".
3. SelectthePromptwhenexecutingPartProgramoption.
5. SelectthecheckboxtotheleftoftheBackColorproperty.Intheresultingdialog
box,type"ChooseYourBackgroundColorNow"forthepromptandoncemore
choosethePromptwhenreportisexecutedoption.
Inthisstep,youselectedtwopropertiesandmadethem"userassignable".Thismeanswhoever
executesyourpartprogramwillbeabletosettheseproperties.
Step4:AddaTextReportObject
1. Fromtheeditor'sObjectBar,clickontheTextReportObjecticon.Yourmouse
pointerwillchangefromanarrowpointertoacross.
AddtheTextReportObjectonthetemplatebydraggingaboxonyourtemplate'ssection.PC
DMISautomaticallyaddssomedefaultfillerreporttext.Whenyouapplythistemplatetoyour
report,PCDMISwilluseyouractualreportdata.Thisfillertextsimplyhelpsyouunderstandwhat
yourdesignwilllooklike.Yourobjectshouldlooksomethinglikethis:

SampleTextReportObject
2. SizetheobjectsothatitsclosetothewidthoftheText objectyouaddedearlier.
Youcansizetheobjectbyclickinganddraggingoneofthegreenboxes(or
"handles")surroundingtheobject.
3. SelecttheTextobjectyouaddedearlier.HolddowntheSHIFTkeyandselect
theTextReportObject.Thisselectsbothobjects.
4. Withbothselected,usetheLayoutBarandclicktheappropriateMakeSame
SizeandAlignCentericonstomaketheobjectsthesamewidthandtoalignthemso
thattheyarecenteredinbetweentheleftandrightsidesoftheeditor.
YourtemplateshouldnowhaveaTextReportObjectonthefirstsection.
Step5:AddaNewSectiontotheTemplate
3. RightclickontheSection1tab.
4. SelectInsertfromtheshortcutmenu.PCDMISinsertsanewsection,Section2,
intoyourtemplate.
Yourtemplateshouldnowhavetwosections,likethis:
Step6:AddaCADReportObject
1. ClickontheSection2tabtomakethattheactivesection.
2. Fromtheeditor'sObjectBar,clickontheCADReportObjecticon.Yourmouse
iconwillchangefromanarrowpointertoacross.
3. AddtheCADReportObjectonthetemplatebydraggingaboxonyour
template'ssection.Sizetheboxsothatitmeasuresabout6incheswideand4
inchestall.Youcansizetheobjectbyclickinganddraggingoneofthegreenboxes
surroundingtheobject.
4. Whenyoufinishdrawingthebox,PCDMISautomaticallydisplaystheLabel
LayoutWizard.Thiswizardshowsafakepartsurroundedbysomefakelabels.
Thesedummyitemsaresimplydesignaidswhileworkinginthetemplateeditor.You
canusethiswizardstoquicklysetuplabelsaroundyourpart.Forindepth
information,seethe"TheLabelLayoutWizard"topic.Whenyouapplythistemplate
toyourreport,PCDMISwilluseyouractualCADdrawingandlabelinformation.
5. ChangetheLabelCountboxnumberoflabelsto4.
6. ChangetheLayoutStyletoEllipticalPacked.
7. Clickonthesmall,square,whitehandleinthemiddleoftheCADdrawing,and
dragthesquareclockwiseorcounterclockwisetorotatethelabelsalongtheelliptical
path.

RotatethelabelsuntilallfourareabovetheCADdrawinguntiltheLayoutPreviewareaofthe
LabelLayoutWizardlookslikethis:
LayoutPreviewareashowingfourlabelsellipticallypackedabovetheCADdrawing
8. ClickOK.PCDMISinsertstheobjectintoSection2.
YourSection2layoutshouldnowcontainaCADReportObjectlookingsomethinglikethis:
ExampleCADreportobjectshowingthefourdummylabelsabovethedummypart
Step7:DefineWhatMeasurementInformationShouldAppear
1. ClickontheSection1tabandrightclickontheTextReportObjectyouinserted
earlier.
2. FromthePropertiesdialogbox,changetheseproperties:
ShowAlignmentsOFF
ShowCommentsOFF
ShowDimensionsNone
ShowFeaturesON
ShowHeaderFooterOFF

ShowMovesOFF
ShowScreenCapturesOFF
3. ClickontheSection2tab.
4. RightclickontheCADReportObjectyouaddedintoSection2.Therightpartof
thescreendisplaysadockedPropertiesSheetdialogbox.Thisdialogboxcontains
variouspropertiesspecifictotheselectedobject.
ClickonRulesintheRulesTreeproperty.TheRuleTreeEditorappears:
RulesTreeproperty
RuleTreeEditordialogbox
5. ExpandtheFeaturesheading.Alistoffeaturesappears.
6. ExpandtheCirclesheading.Alistofvariouscirclefeaturesappears.
ClicktheMeasuredCircleitem,andthenclicktheAddbutton.ThistellsPCDMISyouare
addingarulethatyouwantthetemplatetofollow.TheEditRuledialogboxappears.Thisdialog
boxallowsyoutomakedecisionsforyourreporttemplate.Inthiscase,youaretellingyourreport
templatetodosomethingwhenitencountersmeasuredcirclesinthepartprogram'sreportdata.

EditRuledialogbox
7. SelecttheUseLabelTemplateforReportoption.TheLabelNamebox
becomesavailableforedit.
Clickthe...button.AnOpendialogboxappearsallowingyoutoselectaspecifictemplatefile.
AsampleOpendialogboxshowingseveralavailablelabeltemplates
8. NavigatetowhereyouinstalledPCDMIS,andopenuptheReportingsub
directory.Selectthesummary.lbllabel,andclickOpen.IntheEditRuledialogbox,
PCDMISdisplaysthenameofthetemplateyouselected.See"AboutLabelsand
LabelTemplates"forinformationandatutorialoncreatinglabels.
9. ClickOKtoclosetheEditRuledialogboxandapplytherule.Youwillnoticethat
theMeasuredCircleiteminthelisthasaboldfonttoindicatethataruleexistsfor
thatfeaturetype.
10. ClickOKtoclosetheRuleTreeEditordialogbox.

YouhavecreatedarulethattellsPCDMIStousethesummary.lbllabeltemplatetodisplay
summaryinformationaboutthemeasuredcirclefeaturetype.
Step8:SaveandTesttheTemplate
1. InsidetheReportTemplateEditor,selectFile|Save.IntheSaveAsdialogbox
savethetemplateastest1.rtp.
2. SelectFile|ClosetoclosetheReportTemplateEditor.
3. SelectView|Reportwindow.TheReportwindowappears,showingthedefault
reporttemplate.
4. FromtheReportingtoolbarontheReportwindow,clicktheTemplateSelection
Dialogicon.TheReportTemplatesdialogboxappears
5. AddyourreporttotheReportTemplatesdialogboxbyclickingtheAddbutton.
Navigatetoandselecttest1.rtp.ThenclickOpen.PCDMISaddsathumbnailviewofyourreport
intotheReportTemplatesdialogbox.
ReportTemplatesdialogboxshowingTest1.rtp
Selectyourtemplate'sthumbnailicon,andclickOpen.PCDMISopenstheReportwindowusing
yournewlycreatedtemplate.Itshouldlooksomethinglikethis:

ReportWindowShowingReportDataUsingtheTest1.rtpReportTemplate
6. Finally,executeyourpartprogram.Thefirsttimeyouexecutethepartprogram
usingthisreporttemplate,PCDMISwilldisplayaDefineUserAssignedProperties
dialogboxaskingyoutogivethereportanewtitleandtosetthebackgroundcolor.
7. SetthesepropertiesasdesiredandclickOK.ThedialogboxclosesandPC
DMISrunsyourpartprogram.
8. Whenexecutionfinishes,PCDMISwillshowthereportdatawiththenew
template.
Congratulations!YouhavefinishedtheCustomReportTemplatetutorial.
ApplyingorRemovingaReportTemplate
Toapplyareporttemplatetoyourmeasurementresults,ortoremoveareporttemplate,you
mustfirstaccesstheReportTemplatesdialogbox:
ToAccesstheReportTemplatesdialogbox:
2. FromtheReporttoolbarontheReportwindow,clicktheTemplateSelection
icon .TheReportTemplatesdialogboxappearsshowingavailablereport
templatesas.rtpfiles:

ReportTemplatesdialogbox
Youcanusethisdialogboxtomanageyourreporttemplates.
ToAddaReportTemplate:
1. FromtheReportTemplatesdialogbox,clicktheAdd button.AstandardOpen
dialogboxappears.
Opendialogbox
2. Navigatetothereporttemplatefile,selectit,andclickOpen.
3. PCDMISaddsthetemplatetotheAthumbnailpictureofthetemplatewill
appearintheReportTemplatesdialogbox.
4. Yourdialogboxmightcontainfewormanytemplates.Toresizethedialogboxto
bettersuityourneeds,dragthedialogbox'sedgetoanewlocation.
ToRemoveaReportTemplate:

1. FromtheReportTemplatesdialogbox,selectatemplate.
2. ClicktheRemovebutton(toremovealltemplates,clickRemoveAll).
3. PCDMISremovesthereporttemplatefromtheReportTemplatesdialogbox.
Removingreporttemplatesdoesn'tdeletethem.Itmerelyremovesthemfromthisdialogbox.
YoucanalwaysaddthemlaterusingtheAddbutton.
Note:ThetemplateslistedintheReportTemplatesdialogboxaredifferentforeachuser
accountontheWindowsoperatingsystem.
SharingReportTemplates
Youcaneasilyshareareporttemplatewithotherusers.Whenyousavea
reporttemplate,PCDMISautomaticallysavesacopyofanyassociatedlabel
templatesintothereporttemplateitself.Thisway,ifyouwanttoshareareport
template,youdon'thavetoworryaboutsendingalltheassociatedlabel
templatesalongwithit.Evenso,thereporttemplatewillalwayscheckforthe
actuallabeltemplatefileinthedirectoryfirst.Ifitfindstheactuallabeltemplate
file,itwillusethat.Iftheactuallabeltemplatefiledoesn'texistasexpected,
thenthereporttemplatewillusethecopiedversionofthelabeltemplatefilethat
isstoredwiththereporttemplateitself.
AboutLabelsandLabelTemplates
LabelsareabrandnewconceptinPCDMISreporting.Alabeltemplateessentiallyactslikea
minireporttemplatethatyouassociatewithaspecificcommand(orcommands)inthereport.
Thisgivesyoualotoffreedomwithdatathatyoucanincludeinyourreport.Forexampleyoucan
displaylabelsfordimensions,labelsformeasuredfeatures,forautofeatures,andsoforth.
PCDMISshipswithseveralstandardlabelsthatyoucanassociatewithobjectsinyourReport
templates.However,aswithReporttemplates,youcancreateyourownlabeltemplatesaswell.
LabeltemplatescancontainanyobjectfromtheLabelTemplateEditor'sObjectBar,butthey
usuallycontaintheGridControlObjectortheGraphobject.
TheLabelTemplateEditorisusedtocreatelabeltemplates.
TutorialCreatingLabelTemplates
Thistopicwalksyouthroughabasictutorialthatwillcreateasimplelabeltemplatewithafew
objectsandaGridControlObject.Thisshouldgiveyouabasicoverviewofhowlabeltemplates
worksothatyoucanusethemtodisplaycustominformationinyourreports.
Thistutorialbuildsonskillsyoulearnedinthe"CreatingaCustomReportTemplate"tutorialbe
suretocompletethatsectionfirst.
Step1:CreateaBlankLabelTemplate
1. SelectFile|Reporting|New|LabelTemplatetoaccesstheLabelTemplate
Editor.Ablanklabeltemplateautomaticallyappears.
2. Hideunusedtoolbarsbyrightclickingonthetoolbarareaandremovingtoolbars.

3. HideunusedPCDMISwindowsbyselectingtheopenwindowfromtheView
menu.
4. Maximizethetemplateeditorbyclickingthemaximizebuttontheeditor'swindow.
Youshouldseethewords"LABEL"onthebackgroundoftheeditor.
5. SizeTheFrame/TheViewinthelabeltemplateeditingareato4incheswide
and1.5incheshigh.Youcandothisbydraggingonthebottomrighthandcornerof
thelabeltemplateanddraggingthemouse.Usetherulersasaguide.
Youhavecreatedablanklabeltemplate.Whenfinishedwiththisstep,itshouldlooksomething
likethis:
LabelTemplateEditor
Hint: Whenworkingwithoneofthetemplateeditors,youmayfindithelpfultohideyourusual
PCDMIStoolbarsandwindows,therebyfreeingupsomescreenspace.Ifyouworkfrequently
withtemplates,youmaywanttocreateastoredscreenlayoutforyourtemplate.Forinformation
onlayouts,seethe"WindowLayoutsToolbar"topicinthe"UsingToolbars"chapter.
Step2:AddaCommandTextObjectandStaticInformationintotheTemplate
1. ClicktheCommandTextObjecticon.Thepointerchangestoacrosshair.
2. Usingthepointer,dragaboxsothatitstretchesabout3incheswideby.5inches
high.ACommandTextObjectgetsinsertedintoyourlabeltemplate.Rightclickonit
toaccessthePropertiesdialogbox.
3. ClicktheColorsproperty.IfPCDMISasksifyouwanttodefineacolorset
independentfromthedefaultapplicationcolors,clickYes.
4. TheColorEditorappears.PCDMISusesthiseditortodefineEditwindow
colors.However,inthiscase,itwillonlyaffectthecurrentCommandTextObject.
5. UnderBackgroundColor,clickEdit.AstandardColordialogboxappears.

6. Givetheobject'sbackgroundcoloradarkbluecolor.Changethevaluesinthe
Red,Green,Blueboxesto0,0,128respectivelytodothis.ClickOK.
7. IntheUnmarkedbox,clickEdit.AstandardColordialogboxappears.
8. Selectwhite,andthenclick OK.IfPCDMISasksifyouwanttochangethe
item'schildren,clickNo.
9. Useabitmapimageofacircle(orusetheEllipseobjecttodrawacircle)and
placeitinthetoprightofthecanvas.
YouhaveaddedtheCommandTextObjectandastaticBitmaporEllipseobjectforacircle
shapeintothelabeltemplate.Attheendofthisstep,yourlabeltemplateshouldlookssomething
likethis:
LabelTemplateshowingtheCommandTextObjectandastaticBitmapobject
Step3:InsertandFormataGridControlObject
1. ClicktheGridControlObjecticon.Thepointerchangestoacrosshair.
2. Withthepointer,dragaboxforthisobjectunderthepreviouslyinserted
CommandTextOjbect,sothatithasthesamewidth.
3. SizetheheightsothatitnearlyfillstherestoftheFrame/TheView.When
inserted,thegridwillshowseveralrowsandcolumns.
4. Accesstheobject'sproperties,andthenchangetheColumnsandRows
propertiesto3each.
5. Selecttheobjectandselectacell.Todothis,doubleclickonthefirstcellinthe
toprow.Itwillhighlightthecellinabluebackgroundtoshowthatyouhaveselected
it.
6. Selecttheentiretoprow.Todothis,withthefirstcellselectedpressSHIFT,and
clickonthelastcellinthatrowtoselecttheentirecell.PCDMIShighlightstheentire
row.
Rightclick.Theobject'sdialogboxappears.Thisdialogboxletsyoucontroltheformattingofthe
selectedcellsaswellasinserttextandexpressions.

TheGridControlObject'sdialogbox
7. ClicktheMergebuttontomergetheselectedcells.
8. Setthebackgroundcolorforthemergedcell.ClicktheBackgroundcolor
button.AColordialogboxappears.ChooseadarkbluecolorandclickOK.
9. Setthetextcolorforthemergedcell.ClicktheTextcolorbuttonandselect
whiteinthesameway.
10. Createheadings.Selectthefirstcellinthesecondrowandrightclicktobringup
thedialogbox.IntheCellExpressionbox,type"MeasuredX".Closethedialogbox
andrepeattheprocessonthesecondcell,typing"MeasuredY".Finally.repeatit
againforthelastcell,typing"MeasuredZ".
11. Selecttheentiresecondrow.Rightclickandusethedialogboxtoselectalight
greenbackgroundcolor.
12. UnderCellJustification,underVertical,clickthemiddlebuttontovertically
centerthetextintheircells.
13. ClickOKtoclosethedialogboxandthendeselecttheobject.
YouhaveinsertedaGridControlObjectandlearnedhowtochangethenumberofrowsand
columns.Youlearnedhowtoaddtextintoacellandhowtoformatthegridbyusingthisobject's
specialdialogbox.Whenfinishedwiththisstep,yourlabeltemplateshouldlooksomethinglike
this:
LabelshowingtheinsertedandformattedGridControlObject

Step4:AddExpressionsIntotheGridControlObject
1. SelecttheGridControlObject'sfirstrow.
2. Onceit'sselected,type"=ID"directlyintothecell.Thisisanexpressionthattells
PCDMISyouwanttodisplaythefeature'sIDinthecell.
3. Selectthefirstcellinthethirdrowandtype"=MEAS_X"
4. Selectthesecondcellandtype"=MEAS_Y".
5. Selectthethirdcellandtype"=MEAS_Z".TheseexpressionstellPCDMISyou
wanttodisplaythefeature'sX,Y,andZvalues.Whenyoudeselecttheobject,PC
DMISdisplaystheexpressionvaluesfromthefillertextusedbytheobject.See
"AboutReportExpressions"forinformationonexpressions.
6. UsetheBorderobjectanddrawaborderobjectaroundthelabel.Youmayneed
toresizethelabeltocloseto4.5incheswideby2incheshigh.
7. rightclickontheborderandgiveitalinewidthof2.
8. Adjustthelocationofthecontentssotheyarewithintheborder.
Youhaveaddedsomereportexpressionsintoyourlabeltemplateandthendrewaborderaround
thetemplatepriortotestingit.Whenyoufinishthisstepyourtemplateshouldlooksomethinglike
this:
Labelshowingtheresultsoftheexpressions
Step5:SaveandTesttheLabelTemplate
1. SelectFile|Savetosavethelabeltemplate.IntheSaveAsdialogbox,name
thetemplate"TestLabel.lbl".
2. SelectFile|Closetoclosedownthistemplateeditor.
3. SelectFile|Reporting|Edit|ReportTemplateandthenselecttheTest1.rtp
templatefileyoucreatedfromtheprevioustutorial.
4. SelecttheTextReportObjectyouinsertedintothefirstsectionofthereport
templateandthenaccessitsproperties.
5. UsetheRulesTreeEditorandtheEditRuledialogboxestocreatearulethat
willdisplayTestLabel.lblinthatTextReportObjectobjectforallmeasuredcircles.If
youcan'trememberhowtocreaterules,followtheprocedureinthe"DefiningaRule
topic".
6. SelectFile|Savetosaveyourreporttemplate.
7. SelectFile|Closetocloseit.
8. Executethepartprogramandapplythetemplate.
9. SelectView|Reportwindowtodisplaythefinalreport.
Afteryousaveandtestyourlabeltemplate,itshouldlooksomethinglikethis:

Reportwindowexampleshowingthenewlycreatedlabel.NoticethemeasuredX,Y,andZcenter
pointdataforeachcirclefeature.
Step6:CreateaRepeatingRow
Sofar,yourlabeldisplaystheXYZofyourcircles'centers.Suppose,however,youwantedtoget
individualhitdatainstead.Youcandothisusingrepeatingrows.
1. SelectFile|Reporting|Edit|LabelTemplate.SelectTestLabel.lblfromthe
dialogboxandclickOpen.PCDMISloadstheLabelTemplateEditoranddisplays
TestLabel.lbl.
2. AccesstheGridControlObject.
3. Selectthefirstcellinthethirdrow.Onceyouselectit,rightclicktobringupthe
GridControlObject'sdialogbox.
4. ClicktheRowtab.
SelecttheRepeatingGroupcheckbox.ThistellsPCDMISthatyouwanttomakethatrow
repeatable.TheRepeatExpressiondialogboxbecomesavailable.Noticethattherow,atthis
pointcontainsorangemarkersontheleftandrightsides.Thisindicatesthattherowisa
repeatingrow.
Arowshowingorangemarkers
5. Type"=N_HITS"intheRepeatExpressionbox.ThistellsPCDMIStogetthe
totalnumberofhitsinthefeatureandtorepeattherowforeachavailablehit.
6. ClicktheCelltab.Youshouldsee"=MEAS_X"intheCellExpressionbox.
Append":N"totheexpressionsothatitreads,"=MEAS_X:N".ThistellsPCDMISto
repeattheexpressioninthatcellforeachavailablehit.

7. Selecttheothertwocellsintherow,andmodifythemsothattheyhavethe":N"
codeaddedaswell:"=MEAS_Y:N"and"=MEAS_Z:N".
8. Becausethelabelswillexpandtoincludeallthedatapassedintothe
GridControlObject,whentherowrepeats,youdonotneedtoadjustthelabel'ssize
forthis.
9. ClickOKtoclosetheGridControlObject'sdialogbox.
10. SavethelabeltemplateandaccessReportwindow.ClicktheRedrawthe
ReporticonfromtheReportingtoolbartoseeyourlatestchanges.Noticethat
insteadofdisplayingthecenterpointdataforthecircles,PCDMISdisplaysindividual
hits.
Youhavelearnedhowtocreateabasicrepeatingrowtocountanddisplayseveralitemsofdata
withoutneedingtocreatedifferentreporttemplateswithdifferentrowconfigurations.
Step7:UsetheColumnsTabtoDefineColumns
1. AccesstheTestLabel.lbllabeltemplateandselecttheexisting
GridControlObject.
2. Selectitsfirstrow.Onceselected,rightclicktobringuptheGridControlObject's
dialogbox.
3. ClicktheUnmergeCellsbutton.Thesinglecellmakingupthefirstrownow
becomesthreecells.
4. Deletethe"=ID"expressiontextinthefirstcell.Youdon'treallyneedthis
expressioninyourfinallabeltemplatebecausetheCommandTextObjectdisplaysit
automatically.
5. UsetheBackgroundColorandTextColorbuttonstochangethecell's
backgroundcolortowhiteanditstexttoblack.
6. Deletetheinsidecolumnlinesinthefirstrow.Todothis,selectthefirstcell,
accessthedialogbox,intheCelltab,intheLinesarea,changethelinevalueofthe
RightlistfromThintoNone.Repeatthisforthemiddlecellaswell.
7. ClickOKtoclosetheGridControlObject'sdialogbox.Whileyourlabeltemplate
mayappeartohaveitscellsmerged,inreality,columnlinesinthosecellsaremerely
hidden.
8. Selecttheleftcellinthefirstrowandaccessthedialogbox.
9. ClicktheColumntab.IntheColumnlistbox,type"MeasuredX".ClickOKto
closetheGridControlObject'sdialogbox.
10. Repeatthisforthemiddleandrightcells,typing"MeasuredY"and"MeasuredZ"
respectively.Youwillusethesecolumnheadingstocontroleachcolumnsvisibility
andorderinglateron.
11. SelecttheCommandTextObjectyouaddedtothetemplateearlier,anddragit
downsothatitrestsontopoftheGridControlObject'sfirstrow.
12. ModifythelocationorsizeoftheEllipseorcircleBitmapobjectyoucreated
earliersothatit'scenteredalongtherightsideoftheGridControlObject.
13. SelectandthendragthetoplineoftheBorderobjectdownsothatit'sjustabove
theGridControlObject.
14. Dragaboxaroundalltheobjectsinthelabeltoselectthemall.Thendragthose
objectsuptothetopandtotheleftasfarastheywillgoonthelabel'scanvas.
15. RightclicktoaccesstheGridControlObject'sproperties.
16. Type"TestTableFormat"intheTableFormatproperty,andpressTAB.
17. Saveandcloseyourlabeltemplate.
Inthisstep,youlearnedhowtounmergecells,setcelllineproperties,insertcolumnheadings,
andselectandmovemultipleobjects.Definingcolumnheadingswillletyoucontrolthevisibility
andorderingofyourcolumnsonthefly.Whenyouhavefinishedthisstep,yourlabeltemplate
shouldlooksomethinglikethis:

Step8:DefineaGridFormatTable
1. Openthereporttemplate,Test1.rtp,intheReportTemplateEditor.
2. SelecttheTextReportObjectandrightclicktoaccessthePropertiesdialogbox.
3. IntheRulesTreeproperty,clickRulestoaccesstheRuleTreeEditordialog
box.
4. UsetheRuleTreeEditorandnavigatetotheruleyoucreatedearlier.
5. SelecttheruleandclickEdit.TheEditRuledialogboxappears.
6. ClicktheGridFormatbutton.TheTableFormatPropertiesdialogboxappears.
7. IntheNewTableNamebox,type"TestTableFormat",andclickAddTable.
8. UndertheColumnslistintheeditbox,type"MeasuredX",andthenclickAdd
Column.
9. Addcolumnsfor"MeasuredY"and"MeasuredZ"inthissamemanner.
10. ClickOKonthevariousdialogboxesuntilyourreturntotheReportTemplate
Editor.
11. SelectFile|Savetosavethereporttemplate.
12. SelectFile|ClosetoclosetheReportTemplateEditor.
InthisstepyoutiedtheGridControlObject'scolumnstotheTestTableFormattableintheTable
FormatPropertiesdialogboxbyaddingcolumnswiththeexactsamenameandnamingthe
tablethesamenameyougavetheTableFormatproperty.Sinceyouhaven'tchangedtheorder
orvisibilityatthispoint,thenewlycreatedtableinthedialogboxshouldlooklikethis:

TableFormatPropertiesdialogboxshowingthenewlycreatedTestTableFormattable
Step9:UseTable/FormatCommandtoControlColumnVisibilityandOrder
1. Ifnotvisible,selectView|EditWindowtodisplaytheEditwindow.
2. PlacetheEditwindowincommandmode.
3. SelectInsert|ReportCommand|TableFormat.The TableFormat
Propertiesdialogboxappears.
4. FromtheTableIDlist,selecttheTESTTABLEFORMATtable.TheColumns
areashowsthecolumnsavailabletothiscustomtableformat.
5. CleartheMeasuredZboxtohidethatcolumninthefinalreport.
6. SelectMeasuredYandclicktheuparrowiconnexttotheColumnsareato
reordertheMeasuredYcolumnsothatitgetsdisplayedfirstinthereport.
7. ClickOK.PCDMISinsertsaTABLE/FORMAT commandintotheEditwindow.This
commandcontrolsthevisibilityandorderofyourcolumns.
TABLE/FORMAT,TESTTABLEFORMAT
COLUMN/ORDER,MEASUREDY,MEASUREDX,,
ROW/ORDER
8. Saveandexecuteyourpartprogram.WhenPCDMISruns,noticethattheorder
oftheMeasuredXandMeasuredYvalueshavechanged,andtheZcolumnis
hidden
InthisfinalstepyoulearnedhowtoinsertanduseaTABLE/FORMAT commandtodefinetheorder
andvisibilityofthecolumnsinthelabeltemplate.Yourfinishedreportshouldlooksomethinglike
this:

FinishedreportshowingonlytheMeasuredYandXcolumns
UsingLabelswithReports
Touselabelswithyourreports,youneedtoopenareporttemplateandaddatleastoneofthese
objects:
Labelobject
TextReportObject
CadReportObject
Onceanobjectexists,rightclickonittoaccessitsPropertiesdialogbox.Finally,usetheRules
TreeEditortodefinerulesthatuseoneormorelabeltemplates.
Whenyouapplyyourreporttemplate,PCDMISwillfollowtherulesyouspecifiedandusethe
chosenlabeltemplates.
UnderstandingStandaloneLabelOrdering
IfyouusestandaloneLabelobjectsinyourreporttemplate,beawarethat,bydefault,PCDMIS
willfillthemwithmeasureddatainthereportinfronttobackorder.Toillustratethis,whenyou
addstandalonelabels,PCDMISdefineseachlabelbyaprogressivealphanumericID(Label1,
Label2....LabelN).WhilelabelIDsdon'tcontroltheorderinwhichthelabelsarefilled,theyare
discussedheretomoreeasilyillustratehoworderingtakesplace.Duringreportcreation,
assumingyouhaven'tmodifiedthelabelIDsinanyway,LabelNisactivatedandfilledfirst,while
Label1isactivatedandfilledlast.
Note:Thisonlyhappenswithstandalonelabels,notwithlabelsusedwithintheTextReportObject
orCadReportObject.
ChangingStandaloneLabelOrdering
SincePCDMISmaynotinitiallyfillthelabelsintheorderyouwouldlike,youcanchangethe
drawingorderofthelabelstodeterminewhichlabelsarefilledfirstbyusingmenuitemslocated
ontheEdit|Ordersubmenu.
Hint:YoucanalsousetheToFrontorBackiconsontheLayoutBar.
Afterchangingthedrawingorder,PCDMISwillfillthetopmostdrawnlabelfirstandthebottom
mostdrawnlabellast.Forexample,supposeyouhavethreelargelabelsthatfillupasingle
sectionwithLabel1atthetop,Label2inthemiddle,andLablel3atthebottom.Initially,itfillsup
Label3first,thenLabel2,andthenLabel1.ToguaranteethatPCDMISdisplaysyourdatainpart
programorder,youcanchangethedrawingorderofthelabels,likethis:

ASampleReportTemplatewithThreeLargeLabels
1. SelectLabel1andchooseEdit|Order|BringtoFront.
2. SelectLabel2andchooseEdit|Order|SenttoBack.
3. SelectLabel3andchooseEdit|Order|SendtoBack.
ArrangingLabelsintheReportWindow
Whenthereporttemplatereceivespartprogramdata,ithastosizethelabelsdynamicallytofit
thatdata.So,theselabelsmaynotbeinthebestlocationormayoverlapotherlabelsafterpart
programexecution.Noworriesthough,youcaneasilymodifywheretoputlabels,byselectinga
labelandthendraggingittoanewlocation.
Youcanselectalabelinoneoftheseways.

Doubleclickonthelabel.
PressCTRLandleftclickonthelabel.
Dragaboxaroundthelabel.
Thelattertwomethodsareusedtoselectmultiplelabelsaswell.
UsingtheTableFormatCommand
TheTABLE/FORMAT EditwindowcommandletsyoucontrolaGridControlObject'scolumnandrow
orderingandvisibilityontheflyfromwithinyourpartprogram.Thismeansyoudon'thavetouse
theLabelTemplateEditortocreatedifferentvariationsofthesamelabeltemplateifyouonly
wanttoreorderorhidecertainrowsorcolumns.Instead,youcansimplyinsertthiscommandinto
yourprogramtodeterminehowtodisplaytheGridControlObjectinthelabeltemplate.
Important:Forthiscommandtoworkproperly,youmustsetthevalueofthe
GridControlObject'sTableFormatpropertytotheexactsametableformatnamedefinedinthe
GridFormatbuttonoftheEditRuledialogbox.
InsertingtheCommand
Toinsertthiscommand,selectInsert|ReportCommand|TableFormat.TheTableFormat
Propertiesdialogboxappears.Thisdialogbox,likethedialogboxusedintheRulesTree
Editor,alsocontrolsthevisibilityandorderingofrowsandcolumnsforlabeltemplatesusingthe
GridControlObject.Whenyoufinishmanipulatingtherowsandcolumns,clickOK,andPC
DMISinsertstheTABLE/FORMAT commandintotheEditwindow.
AninsertedTABLE/FORMAT commandtakesprecedenceoveranyorderingyoumayhavealready
definedwiththeEditRuledialogbox'sGridFormatbutton.
AbouttheRuleTreeEditor
TheRuleTreeEditordialogboxletsyoudefinerulesorconditionsandresponsesthatcertain
objectsfollowwhendisplayingreportinformation.Forexample,youmayonlywanttoshow
roundnessdimensioninformationforcirclefeaturesinyourreport,eventhoughyourpartprogram
containsmanyotherfeatures.Youcandothisbyusingthiseditor.Inyourreporttemplate,you
mightaddaCadReportObjectandthenaccesstheRuleTreeEditorforthatobject.Insidethe
editor,youcanthenspecifyacirclefeaturetypeandthenselectalabeltemplatethatis
programmedtodisplayroundnessdata.

SupportedObjects:
TheRuleTreeEditorworkswiththeseobjectsavailablefromtheReportTemplateEditor"
TextReportObject
CadReportObject
LabelObject
ItalsoworkswithPageobjectavailablewithintheCustomReportEditor.Onlytheseobjects
canaccessdatafromapartprogramusingtheRuleTreeEditor.
AccessingtheRuleTreeEditor:
1. Insertasupportedobjectintoyourreporttemplate,orselectthePageobjectin
theCustomReportEditor.
2. Rightclickontheobject.
3. ClickontheRuleTreeproperty.TheRuleTreeEditordialogboxappears.
DefiningaRuleintheRuleTreeEditor
TodefinearuleusingtheRuleTreeEditordialogbox,followthisprocedure:
1. SelectFile|Reporting|New|ReportTemplatetoaccesstheReportTemplate
Editor.
2. AddaTextReportObject,CadReportObject,oraLabelobjectontothe
template.

3. Rightclickontheobject.APropertiesdialogboxappears.
SelecttheRulesTreepropertyfromthePropertiesdialogbox.TheRuleTreeEditordialogbox
appears.Youwillseealistofvariousitemsmakingupapartprogram.Manyoftheseitemsyou
canexpandbyclickingonaplussymbol(+)toviewmorespecificitemsorcommands.Some
itemsexistsontheirownandaren'tinsideofanyexpandinglists,theseitemsinclude:
TopofFirstPageinSectionIfyouselectthisitem,youcanselecta
labelortextexpressiontodisplayatthetopofthefirstpageinthecurrent
sectionofyourReportwindow.
BottomofLastPageinSectionIfyouselectthisitem,youcanselect
alabelortextexpressiontodisplayatthebottomofthelastpageofthe
currentsection.
FileHeaderIfyouselectthisitem,youcanselectalabelortext
expressiontodisplayintheplaceoftheusualreport'sfileheaderofPART
NAME,REVNUMBER,SERNUMBER,andSTATSCOUNT.TheFile
Headerlabelortextwillappearonthefirstpageinthecurrentsectionofyour
report.
4. Defineconditionstobemet.
Fromthelistofitems,findanitemthatyouwanttodefineasacondition.
SelecttheitemandclickAdd.TheEditRuledialogboxappears.

EditRuledialogbox
Ifyouwanttodefineanothercondition,youcanchooseeitherareporting
languageexpressionoraBASICscriptasyourcondition.Todothis,select
theUseAdditionalExpressionorScriptcheckbox,andtheninthe
Conditionalarea,selecteithertheExpressionorScriptoption.
o IfyouselectedExpression,typetheexpressionforyour
conditionintotheConditionalExpressionbox.Forexample,ifyou
arecreatingaruleforameasuredcircle,youcantestanyofthe
circlesdatatypefieldvaluestocontrolwhetherornottodisplaya
label.Supposeyouonlywanttodisplayalabelifthemeasuredcircle
haslessthanfourhits.IntheConditionalExpressionbox,you
wouldtype:
N_HITS<4
ThenifthisconditionevaluatedtoTRUE,PCDMISwouldusethe
associatedlabel.Notethatyoudon'tneedtoincludetheentireIF
expressionstatement.TheIFstatementisalreadyunderstoodand
evaluatedinthisbox.
o IfyouselectedScript,clicktheEditbuttontocreateyourBASIC
script.AVBSMinieditorappearswhereyoucantypeyourcode.
Createyourscriptinsidethiscodeeditor.Thescriptmustreturn
TRUEfortheconditiontobemet.Whenfinished,rightclickand
selectCheckSyntax.ClickOKwhenfinished.PCDMIS
automaticallystoresthescriptwiththedefinedrule.
Note:Iftheruleevergetsdeleted,youwillloseyourscript.Youshould
storeyourscriptinaseparatetextfileifyouareconcernedaboutit
gettingdeleted.
6. Definealabelorexpressiontodisplayiftheconditionorconditionsdefinedare
met.
WiththeEditRuledialogboxopen,chooseeitherUseTextExpression
forReportorUseLabelTemplateforReport.

o Ifyouchosetouseatextexpression,typeasimpletext
messageordefineanexpressionintheTextExpressionbox.For
example,wheneverPCDMISmeasuredacircle,youcantypestatic
textsuchas:
"Wejustmeasuredacircle!"
Or,youcoulduseexpressionstoincludeinformationaboutthecircle,
suchas:
"Wejustmeasuredacircle!Ithad"+N_HITS+"hits!"
o Ifyouchosetousealabeltemplate,selectalabeltemplate.If
desired,clicktheGridFormatbuttontoaccesstheTableFormat
Propertiesdialogbox.Usingthisdialogbox,youcandefineagrid
formatforyourreport.Agridformatletsyoureorderorhideyour
columnsandrowswithoutcreatingabrandnewlabeltemplate.
Additionally,definingagridformatalsoletsyouusetheTABLE/FORMAT
Editwindowcommandtocontrolrowandcolumnorderingfrom
withinthepartprogram.See"UsingtheTableFormatProperties
dialogbox".
WhenyouhavefilledouttheEditRuledialogbox,clickOK.PCDMIS
placestheitemfromthelistinaboldfacefontandinsertstheruleforthat
itematthebottomoftheRuleTreeEditordialogbox.
7. Organizeyourrules.Youcanhaveasmanyrulesasyouwantforagiven
commandtype.Ifyouhavemorethanonerule,PCDMISwillevaluatetherulesin
theorderthattheyappear.Youcanchangetheevaluationorderbyselectingarule
andclickingMoveUporMoveDownintheRuleTreeEditordialogbox.
Youcancopyandpasterulesfromoneitemtoanotheritemorto
multipleitems,ortoanentirelydifferenttreebyusingtheCopyandPaste
buttons.See"CopyingandPastingRules".
YoucanremoverulesfromanindividualitembyclickingDeleteor
Clear.Ifyouwanttoremovetherulesformultipleitems,youcanselectthem
andclickClear.See"ClearingRules"
6. ClickOKtosavechangesmadetotheRuleTreeEditor.
7. Testtherule.
Savethereporttemplate.
ApplythereporttemplatetothereportdatabyusingtheReporting
toolbarontheReportwindow.
Executethepartprogram.
Important:Beawarethataruleassignedtoachildelementalwaysoverrulesaruleassignedto
aparentelement.Also,aruleassignedtoaparentnodeappliestoeachchildelementofthat
nodethatdoesnotcontainitsownrule.
ImportingandExportingRules
Ifyouworkinacollaborativeenvironment,youwillprobablywanttosharerulesthatarecreated
fromdifferentreporttemplateswitheachother.UsingtheRulesTreeEditordialogbox,youcan

easilydothisandimportsomeoneelse'srulesbyusingtheImportbutton,oryoucanshareyour
ownruleswithsomeoneelsebyusingtheExportbutton.
Arulesfilehasa".rul"filenameextension.
ImportingaRulesFile:
1. AccesstheRulesTreeEditordialogbox.
2. ClicktheImportbutton.AnOpendialogboxappears.
3. Navigatetothedirectorycontainingtherulesfile(.rul)youwanttoimport.
4. ClickOpen.PCDMISimportstherulefileintotheRulesTreeEditor.
5. ClickOKtosavetheimportedrule.
ExportingtoaRulesFile:
1. AccesstheRulesTreeEditordialogbox.
2. ClicktheExportbutton.ASaveAsdialogboxappears.
3. Navigatetothedirectorywhereyouwanttostoretherules(.rul)file.
4. TypeanameforthefileIntheFilenamebox.
5. ClickSave.Allrulesassociatedwiththatobjectgetexported.Someoneelsecan
nowimportanduseyourexportedrulesfile.
CopyingandPastingRules
TheRuleTreeEditorcontainsCopyandPastebuttonssothatyoucancopyandpasterules
betweenthecurrentRuleTreeEditorandaRulesTreeEditorforadifferentobjectortoa
differentitemwithinthesameRuleTreeEditor.
Note:AcopiedruleisnotstoredintheWindowsClipboardsoyoucannotcopyandpastearule
outsideofthespecificcontextdiscussedhere.
ToCopyandPasteRules:
1. SelectasingleitemfromtheRuleTreeEditor.Ifyouselectmorethanoneitemfromthe
treeeditor,theCopybuttonwillneverbecomeenabled.
2. Selectoneormorerulesfromtherulelistbox.TheCopybuttonbecomesenabledfor
selection.

ExampleofCopyingTwoRules
3. ClickCopy.
4. Selectandhighlightoneormoreitemsfromaruletree.HolddowntheCTRLkeywhile
clickingtoselectmultipleitems.ThePastebuttonbecomesavailable.
ExampleofPastingCopiedRulesintoanEmptyItem
3. ClickPastetopastethecopiedrule(s)intotheselecteditem(s).Notethatifyoupastea
copiedruleorrulesintoanitemthatalreadycontainsoneormorerules,theexisting
rulesarenotoverwrittenbythenewrules,butthenewrulesareinsteadappendedtothe
existinglist.YoucanclickPastemultipletimesintoseveraldifferentruletreeitems.
4. ClickOKontheRuleTreeEditortosaveyourchanges.
ClearingRules

TheClearbuttonremovesanyrulesassociatedwithoneormoreselecteditemsfromtherule
tree.YoucanselectmorethanoneitembypressingtheCTRLkeywhileselectingadditional
items.
ExampleofClearingRulesforaSelectedItem
UsingtheTableFormatPropertiesDialogBox
TheTableFormatdialogboxworkswithaGridControlObject'sdefinedcolumnandrownames
allowingyoutocontrolthevisibilityandorderofcolumnsandlabelsinaGridControlObjectina
labeltemplate.ThisdialogboxappearsonceyouclicktheGridFormatbuttonfromtheEdit
Ruledialogbox.See"DefiningaRule"forinformationontheEditRuledialogboxandtheGrid
Formatbutton.

TableFormatPropertiesdialogbox
Thisdialogboxcontainsdifferenttableformats.Atableformatsimplydefineshowyouwant
namedrowsandcolumnstoappearinyourfinalreport.Thisdialogboxletsyouchangetheorder
andvisibilitystateofallexistingtableformats.Youcanalsousethisdialogboxtocreateyour
owncustomtableformats.
Forthepreexistingtableformatstheonlythingyoucanmodifyistheirvisibilitystateandthe
orderoftheirrowsorcolumns.Youcannotdeletethesetableformatsnorchangewhatrowsor
columnstheyhave.
Inorderusetableformats,youmustfirstusealabeltemplatewithaGridControlObjectthathas
itscolumnsorrowsalreadynamed.
TableID Listsallavailabletableformats.
NewTableName Definesanewtableformat.
Addsthenewtableformat.Thisbuttononlybecomesenabledwhen
AddTable
youtypeanameintheNewTableNamebox.
Deletestheselectedcustomtableformat.Thisbuttononlybecomes
DeleteTable
enabledwhenyouselectacustomtablefromtheTableIDlist.
Liststherowsandcolumnsinyourtableformat.Youcanreorderthem
Rows
byclickingtheupanddownarrows.
AddsaroworcolumnnametotheRowsorColumnsarea.Youcan
AddRow/Column
onlyaddtocustomtableformats.
Delete DeletestheselectedroworcolumnfromtheRowsorColumnsarea.
Row/Column Youcanonlydeleteitemsfromcustomtableformats.
Determineswhatthetablewillwhenyoushoworhidecolumns.The
listcontainsthreeitems:
ResizeType
ResizeGridThisretainsexistingcolumnsizesandresizesthegrid

tofitthenewwidth.
ResizeColumnstoFitThisretainsthegrid'sexistingwidthand
resizeseachcolumnequallytofitthatwidth.
HideTextThisdoesn'tresizethegridorthecolumns.Itsimplyhides
thetext.
Cancel Closesthedialogboxwithoutapplyinganychanges.
UsestheselectedtableformatfortheruleintheRuleTreeEditoror
OK
fortheTABLE/FORMAT commandintheEditwindow.
TonameacolumnorrowinaGridControlObject:
1. IntheLabelTemplateEditor,selecttheGridControlObject.
2. Doubleclickonthefirstcellinacolumnorrow.
3. Rightclicktoaccessthepropertyeditor.
4. ClickeithertheCellorColumntab.
5. IntheRowLabelboxorColumnLabelboxenteravalue.Youcanselectfrom
thelistortypeacustomvalue.Customlabelscanonlyshowuponcustomtable
formats.
Toreordercolumnsorrows:
1. SelectatableformatfromtheTableIDlist.
2. Itsrowsorcolumnsalreadyappear.
IntheRowsorColumnsarea,selecttheroworcolumnyouwanttoreorder,thenclicktheupor
downarrowbuttonstoeithersendthatitemeitherupordowninthelist.Itemshigherinthelist
getdisplayedbeforeothers.
Uparrowbutton
Downarrowbutton
Toshow/hidecolumnsorrows:
1. SelectatableformatfromtheTableIDlist.
2. Itsrowsorcolumnsalreadyappear.
3. IntheRowsorColumnsarea,clearthecheckboxtotheleftoftherowor
columnnametohidethatiteminthelabel.Selectthecheckboxtoshowitinthe
label.
Tocreateacustomtableformat:
1. IntheNewTableNamebox,typeaname.
2. ClicktheAddTablebutton.Thecustomtableappearsinthe TableIDlistand
remainsuntilyoudeleteit.
3. IntheAddRoworAddColumnbox,typeanamethatmatchesaroworcolumn
labelnameyougavetotheGridControlObject.
4. ClickAddRoworAddColumntoaddthatitemtothetable.

5. Continueaddingroworcolumnsanddeletingorrearrangingthemasdesired
untilthetableformatcontainstheinformationyouwant.
RemovingyourModifications
Toquicklyremoveamodification,rightclickonthedesiredreportobject(aTextReportObject,
CADReportObject,orLabelobject),andselecttheRemoveObjectModificationsbutton.PC
DMISwillreturnthereportobjectbacktoitsdefaultstate.
ChangingaTemplate'sPreviewThumbnailIcon
Wheneveryoucreateareportorlabeltemplate,PCDMISautomaticallycreatesathumbnail
sizedpreviewofthattemplatebasedonwhatappearsonthetemplate'sinitialpageorsection.
ThisthumbnailpreviewappearswheneveryouattempttoeditatemplateandaccesstheOpen
dialogbox(SelectFile|Reporting|Edit|ReportTemplateorLabelTemplate).

AsampleOpendialogboxshowingseveralreporttemplatepreviewicons
Ifyouwanttouseacustomimagefileinsteadofthedefaultgeneratedpreviewforatemplate,
youcandothiswithintheOpendialogbox.
ToChangeaTemplate'sPreviewThumbnail:
1. SelectthetemplatefilefromtheOpendialogbox.
ClicktheChangePreviewbutton.TheTemplateImageSelectiondialogboxappears.
TemplateImageSelectiondialogbox
2. SelecttheSelectImagefromFileoptionbutton.
3. ClickOK.AnotherOpendialogboxappearsallowingyoutoselectapreexistingimage
file.
4. Navigatetothedirectorycontainingeithera.bmpor.jpegfile,selecttheimagefile,and
clickOpen.PCDMISusestheselectedimageforyourpreview.
AnexampleshowingTest1.rtpwithabitmappreviewimage
CreatingForms
AboutForms
TheFormEditorletsyoubuildinteractiveformsanddialogboxesandactivatethemwhenapart
programgetsexecuted.Theseinteractiveformsarelimitedonlybyyourimaginationandyour
abilitytounderstandandprogramtheVisualBASIClanguage.Forms,mixedwithgood
understandingoftheVisualBASIClanguageandPCDMISAutomation,giveevenmorepower
andflexibilitytoyourpartprograms.

InpreviousversionsofPCDMIS,theabilitytocreateinteractiveformswasincludedinthe
HyperViewReportEditor.Inversion4.0andlater,interactiveformsmovedoutfromunderthe
umbrellaofHyperViewreportingandintomoregeneraluses.However,formsstillplayanactive
partinreportingbecausewheneveryouuseaformtocontrolwhatgetsexecuted,youindirectly
controlwhatendsupinyourreport.
Thissection,however,doesnotattempttocovereverythingthatyoucandowithforms.Instead,
itwillcoverhowtousecreateanduseformsingeneral,andinareportingsense,howtoget
informationfromtheuserandintoareportusingstandardPCDMIScommands.
Formscanalsobeusedinanonreportingrole,asawaytoprovideusefulinstructionsto
operators.See"ProvidingOperatorInstructionsUsingOLEObjectswithForms"forsome
examplesonhowtodothis.
UnderstandingtheFormEditor
YoucanaccesstheFormEditorbyselectingView|FormEditor.PCDMISdisplaystheForm
Editorinanewwindow.
FormEditor
TheFormEditoractsasaworkarea,allowingyoutodrag,size,andplacevariousinteractive
formobjects,suchasbuttons,listboxes,editboxes,andsoforth,andtosettheirproperties.
Objectsgetplacedonthegray,sizablearea,calledaform.IfyouhaveworkedwithHyperView
reportinginpreviousversionsofPCDMIS,youwillfeelathomewiththiseditorsinceit
essentiallyfunctionsmuchthesamewayandcontainsmanyofthesameuserinterface
elements.
Withthenewtemplateapproachtoreporting,onlytheFormEditorcanusetheRunMode
capability.Thereportandlabeltemplateeditorsdonotuseit.

TheMenubar
TheFontBar(toolbar)
TutorialCreatingForms
Thistopicwalksyouthroughabasictutorialthatwillcreateasimpleformwithsomeinteractive
dialogboxcontrolsthat,whenexecuted,willallowyoutoselectausernamefromalistandthen
choosetomeasureonlycertainfeatures.Theinformationyouselectwillthenappearinafinal
report.
WhileyoucancertainlyduplicateaspectsofthisbyusingcertainEditwindowcommands,this
tutorialwillgiveyouanideaofwhat'spossiblewiththeFormEditor,someimagination,andalittle
programmingskill.
Important:Thistutorialusesfilesyoucreatedinthe"CreatingaCustomReportTemplate"and
"CreatingLabelTemplates"tutorials.Ifyouhaven'talreadydoneso,completethosetutorialsfirst.
Step1:PreparingtheWorkEnvironment
1. InthistutorialyouwillswitchbetweentheFormEditorandtheEditwindow,so
firstpreparetheEditwindow.
RightclickonyourEditwindowandselectDockingViewfrom
theshortcutmenutoundockit.
Selectthemaximizebuttonsothatitfillsthescreen.
PlacetheEditwindowintoCommandmode.
2. SelectView|FormEditorfromthemenubar.TheFormEditorappears.
3. Hideanyunusedtoolbarsbyrightclickingonthetoolbarareaandremoving
them.
4. HideanyunusedPCDMISwindowsbyselectingtheopenwindowfromtheView
menu.KeeptheEditwindowopen.
MaximizetheFormEditorbyclickingthemaximizebuttonintheupperrightcorneroftheeditor's
window.Youshouldseethewords"FORMS"onthebackgroundoftheeditor.YourFormEditor
shouldnowlooksomethinglikethis:

FormEditor
Hint: WhenworkingwiththeFormEditor,youmayfindithelpfultohideyourusualPCDMIS
toolbarsandwindows,therebyfreeingupsomescreenspace.Ifyouworkfrequentlywiththis
editor,youmaywanttocreateastoredscreenlayoutforyourtemplate.Forinformationon
layouts,seethe"WindowLayoutsToolbar"topicinthe"UsingToolbars"chapter.
Step2:CreatetheForm
1. DragtheTheFrame/TheView'sgraybackgroundsothatitis5incheswideby6
inchestall.
2. AddaBorderobject,anddragthebordersothatitfitsjustwithintheform'sarea.
Settheborder'spropertiessothatithasaLineWidth valueof3andaForeColorof
darkblue(0.0.128).
3. AddaBitmapobjectinthetopoftheform.TheBitmapDialogappears.Usethe
Loadbuttontonavigatetoabitmapfileofyourchoice,suchasacorporatelogo.
Sizeandpositionthebitmapsothatit'swithinthetop1.5inchesoftheform.
4. AddaRadioButtonobjectundertheBitmapobject.AccesstheRadioButton's
properties,andclickontheListItemsvalue.TheListChoicesdialogboxappears.
Thisdialogboxletsyoucreatealistofoptionbuttonsfortheobject.
SelecttheexistingRadioButton1itemfromtheListChoicesbox.Inthe
Namebox,changethenameto"CIRCLE1".TheindexValueshouldalready
display0.
ClicktheAddbuttontoaddthreemoreitems.Thenchangethenewlyaddeditemstoread
"CIRCLE2","CIRCLE3",and"CIRCLE4".Theyshouldhaveindexvaluesof1,2,and3
respectively.TheListChoicesdialogbox,shouldlooklikethis:

ListChoicesdialogbox,showingfouroptionswithfourindexvaluesrangingfrom
0to3.
ClickOKwhenfinished.
5. RenametheRadioButtonobjectbychangingthe(ObjectCode) valuefrom
"RadioButton1"to"optMeasure".
6. AddaFrameobjectanddragitaroundyourRadioButtonobject.Changethe
Frame's Textpropertytoread"SelectWhattoMeasure".
7. AddanEditBoxobjecttotherightoftheRadioButtonobject,andrenameitfrom
"EditBox1"to"txtMeasure".
8. AddaTextobject(Text1)undertheRadioButtonobject,andsetits Textproperty
toread"SelectUser:".
9. AddaComboBoxtotherightoftheTextobject,andrenameitfrom
"ComboBox1"to"cboUsers".Thiscontrolwillcontainalistofusers.
ClickontheListItemsvaluetoaddthelistofusers.Thisaccessesthe
ListChoicesdialogboxagain.
ClickAdd.PCDMISinserts"(None)"underListChoices.
Changethenameofthefirstiteminthelistfrom"(None)"to"[Selecta
User]",andgiveitanindexValueof0.
Continuetousethisdialogboxasyoudidbeforetoaddfiveorsixuser
names.Thistutorialused"Bob","Allen","Mary","Shelly","Jared",and"Kurt".
UsetheUporDownbuttonsasdesiredtochangewhereanitemappearsinthelist.Thedialog
box,whenfinished,shouldlooksomethinglikethis:
ListChoicesdialogboxshowingalistofusernamesfortheComboBox

ClickOK.YourComboBoxobjectnowcontainsthoselistitems.
10. AddanEditBoxobjecttotherightoftheComboBox,andrenameitfrom
"EditBox2"to"txtUser".
11. AddanotherTextobject(Text2)undertheobjectthatreads"SelectUser",and
setits Textpropertytoread"TypeaReportDescription:".
12. AddanotherEditBoxobjecttotherightoftheaboveTextobject,andrenameit
from"EditBox3"to"txtDescription".
13. AddaButtonobjecttothebottomoftheform,andrenameitfrom"Button1"to
"cmdContinue".ChangeitsTextpropertytoread"&Continue".Theampersand
symbolletsyoudefinewhatevercharacterfollowsitasashortcutcharactertobe
usedwithALT.So,pressingALT+ConyourforminRunModewillactasifyou
clickedtheContinuebutton.
14. SelectFile|Savetosavetheform.Giveitthename"TestForm.Form"andsave
itinadirectoryofyourchoice.
15. PressCTRL+EtotestyourforminRunMode.There'snocodetiedtoanyof
thecontrolssonothingmuchhappensifyouclickonanything,butyou'lladdthat
next.Whenfinished,pressCTRL+EagaintoreturntoEditMode.
Inthisstep,youhavecompletedthebasicform,addingvariouscontrolsandassigningitemsto
lists.Itshouldlooksomethinglikethis:
Formwiththevariousformcontrolsadded
Step3:AddCodetotheRadioButtonControl

1. SelecttheRadioButtonobject,optMeasure,andaccessitsproperties.
2. ClickontheEventChangeevent.TheVBSMiniEditorappears.Thissmall
codewindowletsyoutypeVisualBASICcodestatementsthatwillrunwheneveryou
selectanewvaluefromthelistofoptionbuttons.
3. Inthecodewindow,typethiscode:
DimintIndexAsInteger
intIndex=optMeasure.Index
SelectCaseintIndex
Case0
txtMeasure.Text="Circle1"
Case1
Case2
Case3
EndSelect
4. ClickOK.Theminieditorcloses.
5. SelectFile|Savetosavetheform.
6. TestyourreportbypressingCTRL+EandenteringRunMode.Selectafeature
tomeasure.
Thiscoderunswhenyouselectafeaturetomeasurefromthelist.Itlooksatwhatgetsselected
fromthelistofoptionbuttonsandsetstheTextpropertyoftxtMeasuretodisplayatextstringof
"CIRCLE1","CIRCLE2",andsoon.PressCTRL+EtoexitRunModeandreturntoEditMode.
Step4:AddCodetotheComboBoxControl
1. SelecttheComboBoxobject,cboUsers,andaccessitsproperties.
2. ClickontheEventChangeevent.TheVBSMiniEditorappears.
3. Inthiscodewindow,typethiscode:
txtUser.Text=cboUsers.TextValue
6. TestyourreportbypressingCTRL+EandenteringRunMode.Selectafeature
tomeasure.
Thiscoderunswhenyouselectauserfromthelist.Itlooksatthetextvalueoftheselectedlist
itemandsetstheTextpropertyoftxtUsertodisplayatextstringoftheselecteduser.Press
CTRL+EtoexitRunModeandreturntoEditMode.
Step5:AddCodetotheContinuebutton

1. SelecttheButtonobject,cmdContinue,andaccessitsproperties.
2. ClickontheEventClickevent.TheVBSMiniEditorappears.
3. Inthiscodewindow,typethiscode:
IfcboUsers.Value>0AndLen(txtDescription.Text)>0AndLen
(txtMeasure.Text)>0Then
TheView.Cancel
Else
MsgBox"Pleasefillouttheentireformbeforecontinuing."
EndIf
6. TestyourreportbypressingCTRL+EandenteringRunMode.Clickthe
Continuebutton.
ThiscoderunswhenyouclicktheContinuebutton.Itcheckstomakesuretheformisalltheway
filledout,andifitis,itclosestheFormEditor.Ifnot,itdisplaysamessage tellingtheusertofill
outwhat'smissing.
TheLen()functionteststhelength(orthenumberofcharacters)forthetextstringinthe
editboxes,makingsuresomethingisthere.
ThecboUsers.Value>0codecheckstomakesureausernamegetsselectedfromthe
list.
Step6:AssignEditWindowVariablestoHoldFormProperties
Nowthatyouhavedefinedyourform,youneedawaytopassdatabackandforth,betweenthe
Editwindowandtheform.
1. Ifyouhaven'talreadydoneso,saveyourform.
2. FromtheWindow menuselectEditWindowtomaketheEditwindowcometo
thefront.
3. Makesureitisincommandmode.
4. AftereachcirclefeatureinsertaLocationdimensionforthatcircle.
5. Nearthetop,beforethecirclefeatures,definevariablesthatyouwillassignto
workwiththeform,bytypingthiscodeintheEditwindowbeforethemeasuredcircle
features:
ASSIGN/STR_DESCRIPTION=""
ASSIGN/STR_USER=""
ASSIGN/STR_MEASURE=""
5. Placeyourcursorimmediatelyafterthesestatements,andselectInsert|Report
Command|Form.AnInsertFormdialogboxappears.Navigatetowhereyou
stored"TestForm.FORM",selectit,andclickOpen.
6. PCDMISinsertsaFORM/FILENAME commandblockintotheEditwindowwitha
pathwaytotheselectedformfile.Thiscommand,whenmarkedandexecuted,will
runtheform.Itthenwaitsuntiltheformisclosedbeforecontinuingexecutionofthe
Editwindow.

NoticethatthiscommandcontainsaPARAM/= statement,ora"parameter".These
parametersletyoupassvaluesbackandforthbetweenthePCDMISEditwindow
variableandtheformcontrolproperties.
7. ClickjustbeforetheleftsideoftheequalssigninthePARAM/= statement,and
type"TXTDESCRIPTION.TEXT".Clickontherightsideoftheequalssign,andtype
"STR_DESCRIPTION".PressENTER.AnotherPARAM/= statementappears.
RememberthattxtDescriptionisthenameyougavetheEditBoxobjectinyourformthat
willholdauserentereddescriptionofthereport.
Duringexecution,theTextpropertyoftxtDescriptionwillinitiallytakethevalueof
whateverSTR_DESCRIPTION holds.Inthiscase,itwouldtakeanemptystring.Afteryou
closetheform,itpasseswhatevervaluetheformhasbackintoSTR_DESCRIPTION.
8. ContinuetodefineparametersinthiswayforboththeSTR_USER andSTR_MEASURE
variables,tyingthemtothetxtUserandtxtMeasureobjects'Textproperties
respectively.
9. SaveyourchangestotheEditwindow.Whenfinished,yourFORM/FILENAME
commandblock,shouldlooksomethinglikethis.
CS7 =FORM/FILENAME=D:\PARTPROGRAMS\TESTFORM.FORM
PARAM/TXTDESCRIPTION.TEXT=STR_DESCRIPTION
PARAM/TXTMEASURE.TEXT=STR_MEASURE
PARAM/TXTUSER.TEXT=STR_USER
PARAM/=
ENDFORM/
Step7:AddEditWindowConditionalCodetoControlMeasurement
Whenyoucreatedyourform,youcreatedalistofoptionbuttons(usingtheRadioButtonobject)
tocontrolwhatexactlygetsmeasured.YounowneedtoaddconditionalstatementsintotheEdit
windowtoo,sothattheproperfeaturegetsmeasuredaccordingtowhatgetsselectedfromthe
form.
1. IntheEditwindow,placeyourcursorrightbeforethefirstCIR1featureandpress
ENTER.YourcursorshouldbeinablanklineabovetheCIR1feature.
2. SelectInsert|FlowControlCommand|ControlPairs|If/EndIf.PCDMIS
insertsanIF/ENDIFconditionalstatementintotheEditwindow:
IF/0
END_IF/
2. Definethecondition.Highlightthedefaultvalueof0andtype:
STR_MEASURE=="Circle1"
3. PressENTER.
4. SelecttheentireCIR1featureandthelocationdimensionfollowingit,andselect
Edit|Cut.ThenselectEdit|Pastetomoveitontoablanklineafterthe
IF/STR_MEASURE=="Circle1" linebutbeforetheEND_IF/ line.Yourfirstconditional
blockshouldlooklikethis:
IF/STR_MEASURE=="Circle1"
CIR1featuregoeshere...
Locationdimensiongoeshere...

END_IF/
RememberthatSTR_MEASURE,afterexecution,willholdthevalueofthetxtMeasureobject's Text
property.Accordingtotheformcode,thiswillbeeither:
"Circle1","Circle2","Circle3",or"Circle4".
ThisfirstlinechecksthevariablevalueofSTR_MEASURE andifitmatchesthestringvalueof"Circle
1"thenitwillmeasuretheCIR1feature.Ifnot,itwillskipandgotowhateverfollowstheEND_IF/
statement.
5. Continuerepeatingtheabovesteps,definingconditionalstatementsfortheother
circlefeaturesaswell.Whenfinished,yourEditwindowcodeshouldlooksomething
likethis:
ASSIGN/STR_DESCRIPTION=""
ASSIGN/STR_USER=""
ASSIGN/STR_MEASURE=""
CS7 =FORM/FILENAME=D:\PARTPROGRAMS\TESTFORM.FORM
PARAM/TXTDESCRIPTION.TEXT=STR_DESCRIPTION
PARAM/TXTMEASURE.TEXT=STR_MEASURE
PARAM/TXTUSER.TEXT=STR_USER
PARAM/=
ENDFORM/
CIR1 =FEAT/CIRCLE...
END_IF/
END_IF/
END_IF/
END_IF/
Step8:AddFinishingTouches
Now,youneedtoapplysomefinishingtouches.First,youneedtotellPCDMIStosendthe
valuesofourformtothefinalreportintheReportwindowbyusingreportcomments.Thenyou
needtomakesomeobjectsinvisibleontheform.
1. IntheEditwindow,typethesecommandsimmediatelyfollowingthe
FORM/FILENAME command.
COMMENT/REPT,"User:"+STR_USER
COMMENT/REPT,"ReportDescription:"+STR_DESCRIPTION
COMMENT/REPT,"MeasureRoutine:"+STR_MEASURE

2. SelectWindow|FormEditortogobacktotheFormEditor.
3. RightclicktoaccessthePropertiesdialogbox.SelecttxtMeasurefromthe
dropdownlist.PCDMISselectstheobject.
4. ClickAdvanced,andsettheVisiblepropertytoNO.
5. SelecttxtUserfromthedropdownlist.PCDMISselectstheobject.
6. ClickAdvanced,andsettheVisiblepropertytoNO.Sinceauserdoesn'tneed
toseethesevaluesandtheonlyreasonweusedthemwastopassavaluebackto
PCDMIS,settingthispropertytoNOmakestheseobjectsinvisibleduringexecution.
7. Saveyourform.
8. ClosetheFormeditor.
Step9:ExecutethePartProgram
1. SelectView|ReportWindowandusetheTemplateSelectionDialogtoolbar
icontosetthereporttousethedefaultstandardreporttemplate,TextOnly.rtp.
2. ReturntotheEditwindow.MarktheentireEditwindow,saveyourpartprogram,
andthenselectFile|Executetotestyourpartprogram.
3. WhenPCDMISreachestheFORM/FILENAME command,itwillruntheformand
pauseexecutionuntilyoufinishfillingitout.
4. FillouttheformandclicktheContinuebutton.PCDMISpassesthevaluesfrom
theformbackintothePCDMISvariables.
5. TheconditionalstatementscheckthevalueoftheSTR_MEASURE variableand
executetheappropriatecirclefeatureaccordingly.
6. PCDMISprintsthereportcommentsandthemeasuredresultsforthemeasured
featuretotheReportwindow.
UsingFormswithReports
Formsusuallyonlymodifyreportsindirectly.Forexample,youmayhaveaformthatcontrols
whetherornotcertainfeaturesgetexecuted.Inthiscase,thefinalreportisn'tmodifieddirectly,
butindirectlybecausereportsalwaysshowwhatgetsexecutedanyway.
YoucanhoweverusetheFORM/FILENAME commandtopassparametersbackandforthbetween
theEditwindowandaform'sobjects,anduseCommentstocausethoseparameterstoappearin
afinalreport.Seethe"CreatingForms"tutorialandthe"InsertingaFORMCommand"topicfor
examplesofthistypeofformsuse.
Additionally,aftergettingthevaluesfromaformintotheEditwindow,youcanalsousethe
REPORT/TEMPLATE commandtopassparametersfromtheEditwindowintoareporttemplateinthe
samewaythatyouusetheFORM/FILENAME command.
SelectInsert|ReportCommand|TemplateReporttoinsertaREPORT/TEMPLATE command,then
assignparametervaluestomodifyobjectpropertiesinthereporttemplate.Seethe"Creating
Forms"tutorialonhowtodothis,usingtheFORM/FILENAME commandasaguide,butinsteadof
selectinga.FORMfilename,selectaReportTemplate(.rtpfilename).Also,seethe"Embedding
HyperViewReportsorReportTemplatesinaPartProgram"topic.
CreatingCustomReports

CustomReporting,addedtoversion4.2,providesaflexibleandeasytouseapproachto
reportingyourmeasurementresults.Youwillfindthismostusefulwhenyouneedtogeneratea
reportquicklyandsimplyforaspecificpartprogram,butyoudon'tneedthepoweravailableto
thetemplatebasedapproach.Sinceitdoesnotuseanyreporttemplate,andinsteadutilizesyour
currentpartprogram'sdatadirectly,CustomReportsaregenerallyeasiertocreateand
customize,buttheylackthepowerandscopeoftemplatereporting.
AdvantagesofCustomReporting:
Datacanbeplacedanywhereonthepageandinanyorder.
Datafrommultiplecommandscanbecombinedasasingleelementonthereport.
Thereportsaregeneratedbyafastandsimpleuniquedraganddropmethod.
Thereporteditorusestheactualdatafromthepartprogram,notthedummydata.This
makescustomizingthereportmuchsimpler.
DisadvantagesofCustomReporting:
Youarecreatingasinglereport,notatemplate,andthisreportistiedtoyourpart
program.Whileyoucanimportthestructureofthereporttousewithotherpartprograms,
thereusabilityisnotasgreataswithreporttemplatesdesignedwithspecificrules.
Itisn'tasextensibleastemplatereporting.Supposeyouaddanewfeatureordimension
latertoyourpartprogram.Forittoshowup,youwillneedtodraganddropthenewitem
intoyourreporteditor.
Thefollowingtopicsprovideyouwithatutorialthatwalksyouthroughhowtocreate,view,and
printyourfirstcustomreport.Proceduraltopicswillalsobeprovidedforquickaccessshouldyou
needthemlater.
TutorialCreatingaCustomReport
Thistopicwalksyouthroughaverybasictutorialthatwillresultinyoucreatingasimplecustom
report.ThisshouldgiveyouabasicoverviewofhowCustomReportsarecreatedwithinthe
CustomReportingEditorandhowtheyinteractwithexistinglabeltemplatessoyoucanlater
createanduseyourowncustomreports.
Beforebeginningthistutorial,createasimplepartprogramthathasfourmeasuredcirclesona
simplepartandfourCircularitydimensions,oneforeachcircle.ThistutorialusestheHexagon
testblock(Hexblock_Wireframe_Surface.igs).
Createapartprogramthatmeasuresfourcircles,similartothis.

Step1:SettinguptheWorkEnvironment
InthistutorialyouwillusetheEditwindowinSummarymodealongwiththeCustomReporting
Editor.Setthemupsotheyarebothvisibleas follows:
2. PlacetheEditwindowintoSummarymode.
2. SelectFile|Reporting|New|CustomReport fromthemenubar.TheCustomReport
Editorappears.
3. Hideanyunusedtoolbarsbyrightclickingonthetoolbarareaandremovingthem.
4. HideanyunusedPCDMISwindowsbyselectingtheopenwindowfromtheView menu.
KeeptheEditwindowopen.
5. MaximizetheCustomReportEditorbyclickingthemaximizebuttonintheupperright
corneroftheeditor'swindow.Youshouldseethewords"CUSTOM"onthebackground
oftheeditor.
DragtheEditwindowunderneaththeCustomReportEditor'sObjectBar.Yourwork
environmentshouldnowlooksomethinglikethis:
CustomReportEditor
Hint: WhenworkingwiththeCustomReportEditor,youmayfindithelpfultohideyourusualPC
DMIStoolbarsandwindows,therebyfreeingupsomescreenspace.Ifyouworkfrequentlywith
thiseditor,youmaywanttocreateastoredscreenlayoutforit.Forinformationonlayouts,see
the"WindowLayoutsToolbar"topicinthe"UsingToolbars"chapter.
Step2:Dragging,Dropping,andPositioningObjects
InthisstepyouwilldragthereportitemsintotheCustomReportEditor.

1. FromtheEditwindowinSummarymode,selectFileHeaderanddragitoutontothe
editor.Youwillnoticeatransparentimageofthatitem'siconasyoudragitoutontothe
workarea.
2. Releasethemousebutton.PCDMIScreatesaFileHeaderobjectintheeditor.
3. DraganddropCIR1andCIR2ontoyourreport.Don'tworryaboutpositioningthem
properly.Fornow,justdropthemintoanyemptyspaceonthefirstpageofthereport.
4. IntheReportEditor,selecttheFileHeaderobjectalreadyinyourreportanddragittoa
placenearthetopofthereportandcenterithorizontallyonthePage.
5. Next,selectthelabelobjectforCIR1anddragitsothatthetopedgeisjustunderthe
bottomedgeoftheFileHeaderobject.Trytoaligntheirleftsidesaswell.Dragitslowly
untilabluearrowappears.Thenreleasethemousebutton.Thisalignsthedragged
object'sleftsidewiththeobjectaboveit.
6. RepeatthisstepforCIR2.
7. Now,dragtheCIR3featurefromtheEditwindowtothebottomofthelabelusedfor
CIR2.Noticethatasyoumoveyourmouseoverthevariouslabelsalreadyintheeditor,
greenhandlesappeararoundthelabels.WhenthebluearrowappearsjustbelowCIR2,
releasethemouse.ThefeatureisdroppedintotheeditorbelowCIR2andthelabelobject
foritbecomesautomaticallyalignedwiththeobjectaboveit.
8. RepeattheabovestepforCIR4,attachingitjustbelowCIR3.
9. SelectFile|Save.Adialogboxwillappearallowingyoutosaveyourreport.Chooseany
nameandclickSave.
YourCustomReportEditorshouldlooksomethinglikethis:
Step4:UsingMultiplePages
Inthisstepyouwillworkwithmultiplepages.Youwilladdtwoadditionalpagesandmodifyone
pagetosupportadifferentpagesize.Thenyouwillrearrangethepages.
1. IntheReportEditor,atthebottomofthepage,rightclickonthePage1tabandselect
Insert.Anewpageappears,calledPage2.
2. RightclickonthatpageandthePropertiesdialogboxappears.

3. ChangeHeightto850andpressTAB.
4. ChangeWidthto1100andpressTAB.Changingthesetwopropertiesessentially
formatsthepageforLandscapeprinting.
5. Createathirdpage,Page3.
6. RightclickonPage2andclickMoveRight.NoticehowthismovesthePage2tabtothe
rightofPage3.
7. RightclickonPage3andclickMoveLeft.Yourpagesarenowreorderedtoshow
Page3,followedbyPage1,followedbyPage2.Inthis wayyoucaneasilyrearrangeyour
pages.
8. Saveyourreport.
Yourreportnowhasthreepagesandtheirorderhasbeenchanged.
Step5:DroppingontoOtherObjects
Thisstepdemonstrateshowyoucanreplaceexistinglabelobjectswithnewlabelobjectsand
howtousetheCADReportObjectinsideacustomreport.
1. IntheCustomReportEditor,selectthePage1tab.Toreplaceanyobjectinyourreport,
simplydraganddropanyotheritemofasimilartypeontopofit.Forexample,youcan
dropanyitemthatuseslabelsontopofanyexistinglabelinyoureditor.
2. SelectthelabelinyourreportfortheCIR1feature.Youshouldalreadyhavefour
Circularitydimensions.Ifnot,createthemnow,oneforeachcirclefeature.
3. DragtheCircularitydimensionfortheCIR1featurefromyourEditwindowanddropiton
topofthefeaturelabelalreadyinyourreporteditorforCIR1,likethis:
Noticethatthelabelobjectisupdatedwithanewlabelobject.
4. Iftheupdatedobjectmoved,repositionit.
5. Dragtheotherdimensionsontopoftheirrespectivefeaturelabelsintheeditor.PCDMIS
updatesallthelabelsaccordinglysothattheylooksomethinglikethis:

ReportEditorNowShowingtheFourDimensionLabels
6. Now,clickonthePage2tab.DragaCADReportObjectfromtheObjectBarontothat
page,andsizeitsoitfillsthepage.
7. DragthefourdimensionsoneatatimeontopoftheCADReportObject.Forthisobject,
noticePCDMISdoesnotreplaceitwithalabelobjectforthedimension.Instead,PC
DMISautomaticallycreatestheappropriatelabelsandleaderlinesontopofthe
CADReportObjectforthedimensions.
8. Saveyourreport.
Page1nowhasdimensionlabelsinsteadoffeaturelabelsandtheCADReportObjectinPage2
shouldlooklikethis:
Step6:InsertingDataItems
InthisstepyouwillinsertaGridControlObjectandgetitreadytodisplayvaluesfromtheEdit
window.Youwillthendragthemeasuredandnominalvaluesfromafeature'sdataitemsintothe
availablecellsoftheobject.
1. ClickonthePage3tab.
2. ClickontheGridControlObjecticonanddragtheobjectontothepage.
3. AccessthePropertiesdialogboxandsetNumRowsto8andNumColsto3.
4. Inthefirstrow,themiddlecell,doubleclick,andthentype"Nominal".Intherightcell,do
thesameandtype"Measured".
5. Startingwiththefirstrow,andfirstcolumn,andthenmovingdownthroughtheotherrows
type"X","Y","Z","I","J","K",and"Diameter".Thiswillfillinrows2through8incolumn1.
YourGridControlObjectshouldlooklikethis:

AGridControlObjectwithStaticText
Note:Rememberwhentypinginformationintoacell,youmustclickinanothercellor
pressTABforthevaluetoactuallybedisplayed.
6. IntheEditwindow,clicktheplussignnexttoCIR1,andthenclicktheplussignnextto
Theoreticals.Youwillseealistofdataitems.
DataItemsintheTheoreticalsList
7. DragtheTheoreticalXdataitemanddropitintotheRow2,Column2.
Draggingtheitem DroppingtheItem

8. Doubleclickontheitemyoujustdroppedintothecell.Youwillseethatcellisnotreally
holdingstatictext.Underthehood,thecellactuallyholdstheexpressionneededto
displaythedata.Thismeanstheinformationisnothardcodedandifitchanges,your
reportwillbechangedaswelltomatch.
LookingattheDataItem'sExpression
9. ContinuetodraganddroptheremainingdataitemsfromtheTheoreticalslistintothe
appropriatecellsintheNominalcolumn.
10. IntheEditwindowexpandtheActualslistforCIR1anddropthedataitemsintothe
appropriatecellsoftheMeasuredcolumn.
11. ExpandtheSettingslistforCIR1,anddraganddroptheIDdataitemintothecellatrow
1,column1.
12. Finally,applysometextandbackgroundformattingofyourchoicetorow1andcolumn1,
andthensaveyourreport.TheGridControlObjectshouldlooksimilartothis:
ASampleGridControlObjectcontainingDataItems
13. SelectFile|ClosetoclosetheCustomReportEditor.
Yourvaluesmaydifferdependingonthepartandcirclesmeasured.
ThisstepdemonstratedhowtodraganddropdataitemsintoaGridControlObject.
Note:Dataitemsdon'thavetobedroppedonlyontoa GridControlObjectyoucanalsodrop
themontotheeditor'spagedirectly.

Step7:Viewing,Updating,andPrintingyourReport
ThisfinalstepexplainshowtoloadyourcustomreportintotheReportwindow,howtoviewit,
howtoupdateareportfromapartprogramthatchanges,andfinallyhowtoprintit.
2. FromtheReportwindowtoolbar,selecttheCustomReportSelectionDialogicon.A
dialogboxappearsshowingallcustomreports.
3. SelectyourreportandclickOpen.YourreportappearsintheReportwindow.
4. Next,youwillupdateyourreport.SelectFile|Reporting|Edit|CustomReport.A
dialogappearsshowingallthereportsyou'vecreatedforyourcurrentpartprogram.
5. SelectyourreportandclickOpen.YourreportopensinsidetheCustomReportEditor.
6. Goaheadandmakeanychangetoyourreportintheeditorandthensaveyourreport
again.
7. TogetthenewlyupdatedreporttoappearintheReportwindow,simplyreexecuteyour
partprogram,orclicktheRedrawiconfromtheReportingtoolbar.
8. Finally,youneedtoprintyourreport.SelecttheFile|Printing|ReportWindowPrint
Setup...menuitem.
9. SelectthePrintercheckboxatthedialogboxtosendittoyourprintingdevice.
10. FromtheReportwindow'sReportingtoolbar,clickthePrinticon.PCDMISprintsyour
report.
Inthisstepyou'veloadedanexistingreportintotheReportwindow,updatedit,andthensentitto
yourprinter.
Congratulations!You'vesuccessfullycompletedtheCreatingaCustomReporttutorial.
CustomReportGeneration
Tocreateacustomreport,followthesesteps:
1. SelectFile|Reporting|New|CustomReport.TheCustomReportEditorappears.
2. IftheEditwindowisn'topen,accessit,andsetittoSummarymode.Ifitisalreadyopen,
PCDMISwillautomaticallysettheEditwindowtoSummarymodewhenyouaccessthe
editor.
3. DragitemsfromtheEditwindowanddropthemintotheeditor.PCDMISautomatically
usesthelabelsdefinedbythecurrentPageobject'srulesettodisplaytheobjects.Ifyou
dropanobjectanditdoesn'thaveanassociatedlabel,anOpendialogboxwillappear
allowingyoutochoosealabeldefinedforthedroppeditem.
4. Addandconfigureadditionalobjectsfromtheeditor's ObjectBarasneeded.
5. Positionreportelementsasdesired.
6. SelectFile|Savetosaveyourreport.Adialogboxappearsallowingyoutospecifythe
nameofyourreport.
PositioningReportObjects
InsidetheCustomReportEditoryoucaneasilypositionobjectsbydraggingobjectswhereyou
wantthemorbyusingtheappropriatealignmenticonsfromtheeditor's LayoutBar.
Inaddition,PCDMISprovidesausefultooltoessentiallysnapanobjectbelowanobjectabove
it.Todothis,slowlydraganobjectsothatitstopandleftedgesaremoreorlessalignedwith
anotherobject'sbottomandleftedges.Yourmousepointerwillchangetoincludeasmallblue

arrow:Thisarrowindicatesthattheobject'sleftsideyouarepositioningwillbealignedwiththe
object'sleftsideaboveit.
AligningObjectsUsingtheBlueArrow
Whenthisarrowappears,youcanreleaseyoumousebutton,andtheobjectyouaredragging
willalignitselftotheotherobject:
ObjectsAreAligned
Thebluearrowcanalsohelpwithdroppinganobjectpreciselyunderanotherobject.Simplydrag
theobjectoveranexistingobjectuntilgreenhandlesappeararoundtheexistingobject,thendrag
themouseslightlyunderthatobjectuntilthebluearrowappears.Releasethemousewhenit
appears,andthedroppedobjectwillappearalignedtotheotherobject.
Thisallowsyoutocreatealistofobjectswithoutwhitespaceinbetween,usefulwhenaligninga
listoflabelscontainingyourfeatureordimensiondata.
DraggingandDroppingInformationintoaCustomReport
Aswasdescribedin"CustomReportGeneration"topic,youcandragfeaturesandotheritems
fromtheEditwindowinSummaryModeintotheCustomReportEditor.

ExampleofDraggingaFileHeaderobjectontotheeditingarea(thePageobject)
Whenyoudropanitemintotheeditor,theappropriatelabelforthatfeature,asdefinedbythe
Pageobject'sRuleTreeEditor,automaticallygetscreated:
ExampleofaDroppedFileHeaderobject
ReplacingInformationbyDroppingontopofExistinglabels
Ifyoudraganitemontopofanexistinglabellikethis:
ExampleofDroppingaDimensionontopofanExistingLabel
PCDMISwillreplacethelabelwiththedroppeditem:

ExampleoftheUpdatedLabel
DroppingDataonaCADReportObject
IfyoudragafeatureordimensionontopofaCADReportObject,likethis:
ExampleofDroppingaDimensionontopofaCADReportObject
PCDMISwilladdtheappropriatelabelobjectandleaderlineforthedroppedobjectontopofthe
CADReportObject.ThelabeldisplayeddependsonthelabelspecifiedintheCADReportObject's
RuleTreeEditor,nottheRuleTreeEditorforthePageobject.

ExampleofaDroppedDimensionontopofaCADReportObject
DroppingDataonanAnalysisObject
IfyoudragadimensionontopofaAnalysisobject,likethis:
ExampleofDroppingaDimensionontopofanAnalysisObject
PCDMISwilldisplaythegraphicalanalysisinformationforthedroppeddimensioninsidethe
Analysisobject.

ExampleofaDroppedDimensionontopofanAnalysisObject
DroppingDataonaHistogramObject
IfyoudragadimensionontopofaHistogramobject,likethis:
ExampleofDroppingaDimensionontopofaHistogramObject
PCDMISwilldisplaythehistograminformationforthedroppeddimensioninsidetheHistogram
object.

ExampleofaDroppedDimensionontopofaHistogramObject
DroppingDataItems
Ifyouexpandanitem'slistintheSummarymodetowhereitdisplaysthedifferentdataitems,
youcandraganddropthesedataitemsdirectlyontothePageobjectorintoacellofthe
GridControlObject.
ExampleofDroppingaDataItemoftheTheoreticalXValueofaFeatureintoa
GridControlObjectCell
PCDMISwillautomaticallydisplaytheappropriatedroppedvalue:

ExampleoftheDroppedaDataItem
Ifyoulookunderthehood,youcanseethatPCDMISautomaticallyusestheappropriate
reportingexpressiontodisplaythedroppeddata:
ExampleoftheDataItem'sExpression
Usingexpressions,insteadofahardcodedvaluemeansthatifthisdataitemchangesforsome
reason,itwillautomaticallygetupdatedinyourreportwhenyoureexecuteorredrawyourreport.
InvalidDropAreas
Ifyoutrytodropanitemontopofaninvalidobject(forexampleifyoudragaFeatureor
DimensionontopofaTextobject),whenyoudragtheitemontopoftheobject,PCDMISwill
changeyourmouseicontodisplayared"notallowed"icontoshowyouthatyoucannotdropthat
itemthere.
ExampleofanInvalidDropAreaforaDraggedDimension
UsingSHIFTandCTRLKeysWhenDropping
Whileperformingthedropofacommand(suchasafeatureordimension),ifyouholddownthe
SHIFTorCTRLkeysandyoureleasethebutton,PCDMISdoesthefollowing:

SHIFTkeyPCDMISwillinsertaCommandTextObjectforthatitem.Thisletsyou
displaytheinformationforthatiteminatextual,nontableformat.
CTRLkeyPCDMISwilldisplayanOpendialogboxallowingyoutoselectadifferent
labeltemplatefortheitem.
Whenperformingadropofadataitem,ifyouholddowntheCTRLkeyPCDMISdisplaysnot
onlytheevaluatedexpressionforthedataitembutthedescriptivestringoftextfromthe
Summarymodeprecedingitaswell.
DroppingMultipleItems
YoucandraganddropmultipleitemsatoncefromtheEditwindow'sSummarymode.Thisis
usefulifyouwanttoquicklyaddseveralitemsintoyourreport.
Toselectanentirelistofconsecutiveitems,clickthefirstitem,pressSHIFTonthe
keyboardandclickthelastitem.Allitemsinbetweenareselected.
Toselectordeselectindividualitemstoorfromyourexistingselection,pressandhold
theCTRLkeywhileclickingonitems.
Onceyouhaveselectedalistofitems,simplydraganddropthemintotheeditor.
UsingRules
Liketemplatereports,customreportsusetheRuleTreeEditortodeterminewhatlabel
templatesshouldbeusedinyourreport.Adefaultsetofrulesisautomaticallyincluded,soyou
onlyneedtochangethedefaultrulesifyouwanttoloadsomesortofcustomlabeltemplate.
Toworkwiththeserules,
1. Rightclickontheeditingarea(thePageobject)intheCustomReportEditor.
2. SelectPropertiesfromthesmallpopupmenu.ThePropertiesdialogboxappears.
3. ClickonRule...intheRuleTreeEditorproperty.The RuleTreeEditorappears
4. Modifytherulesasdesired.
ForinformationonusingtheRuleTreeEditor,see"AbouttheRuleTreeEditor".
WorkingwithMultiplePages
WhenyoucreateanewcustomreportusingtheCustomReportEditor,theeditingareais
blank.Noobjectsexistintheeditingareaexceptfortheeditingareaitself.Theeditingareais
actuallyaPageobject,anditspropertiescanbemodifiedaswithanyotherobject.Simplyright
clickontheobjectandselectProperties.
SimilartoSectiontabsintheReportTemplateEditor,youcancreatemultiplePagetabs(Page
objects)intheCustomReportEditor.Todothis,rightclickonthetabandselectInsertfromthe
popupmenu.Anadditionaltabwillappearatthebottomoftheeditingarea:

ExampleofMultiplePagetabs
ThiswillcreateadditionalreportingpagesthatwilllaterappearintheReportwindow.While
similartoSectiontabs,Pagetabsreflectasingleadditionalpageinyourfinalreport,whereasa
singleSectiontabmayactuallyendupdisplayingmultiplepagesinthefinalreportdependingon
anydefinedrulesforobjectsinthatsectionandthelengthofyourpartprogram.
YoucansizeyourPageobjectstomeetdifferentneeds.Forexample,youcanmodifyonepage's
propertiestodisplayitscontentsinastandardPortraitformatandanotherpage'spropertiesto
displayitsinformationinaLandscapeformatortomatchprinterorpagesettingsforaspecific
locale.
Youcaneasilyreorderpagesaswell.Todothis,rightclickonaPagetab,andselecteither
MoveRightorMoveLeft.ThetabsatthebottomoftheEditingareawillbereordered
accordingly.
ViewingandPrintingCustomReports
CustomreportsareviewedandprintedusingtheReportwindow.
Toviewyourreport,
1. AccesstheReportwindow(selectView|ReportWindow).
2. FromtheReportwindowtoolbar,selecttheCustomReportSelectionDialogicon.A
dialogboxappearsshowingallcustomreports.
3. SelectyourreportandclickOpen.YourreportappearsintheReportwindow.
Toprintyourreport,
1. DefineyouroutputusingtheFile|Printing|ReportWindowPrintSetup... menuitem.
2. Eitherexecuteyourpartprogram,orclickthePrinticonfromtheReportingtoolbar.
DeletingCustomReports
Sincecustomreportsarenotstoredasarealfile,butarepartofthepartprogramfile,they
cannotbedeletedusingWindowsExploreroraWindowsdialogbox.Theymustbedeletedwithin
PCDMIS.

TodeleteCustomReports:
1. SelectView|ReportWindowtoselecttheReportwindow.
2. IntheReportWindow,clickontheCustomReportSelectionDialog icon.
3. Selectthereporttodelete.
4. PresstheDELETEkey.
UsingaCustomReportfromanotherPartProgram
YoucanuseaCustomReportfromanotherpartprograminyourcurrentpartprogramtoa
certainextent.
Todothis,
1. SelecttheFile|Reporting|Edit|CustomReportfromOtherpartProgrammenu
item.AnOpendialogboxappearsshowingallyourpartprograms.
2. SelectyourpartprogramandclickOpen.ACustomReportdialogboxappears.Ifa
reportexistsfortheselectedpartprogram,itwillshowupinthisdialogbox.
3. Fromthedialogbox,selectthereportyouwanttouseandclickOpen.PCDMISloads
thereportintheCustomReportEditor.
Ifafeatureoritemisnotfoundinthepartprogram,thelabelorobjectwillbeblank.
AboutReportExpressions
ReportExpressionsarespecialcommandsthatyouplaceinsideofsupportingreportorlabel
templateobjectstopullspecificdatafromPCDMISandplacethemintothoseobjects.For
example,supposeyouwantedtoinsertafeatureIDintoalabeltemplate.Youwouldsimplyadd
anobjectthatsupportsexpressionsintoyourreport,suchastheGridControlObject.Then,
insideofanExpressionCellofthegrid,youwouldtype"=ID".
Therearefourareaswhereyoucaninsertreportexpressions:
1)TheRulesTreeEditorintheConditionalExpressionandTextExpressionboxes.
2)TheGridControlObjectinitsgridcells.
3)TheGridControlObjectintheRepeatExpressionboxintheRowtabforrepeat
expressions.
4)PropertySheetValuesoneditfieldsorcomboboxesthattaketextvalues.
Consultthosetopicsforinformationonwheretoinsertreportexpressioncode.
Foravailableexpressions,consult"FunctionsandOperators"and"UsingDataTypestoFinda
ReportExpression"forlistsofavailablefunctions,operators,anddatatypes.

Note:ReportingexpressionscanalsousemanynormalPCDMISexpressions,discussedinthe
"UsingExpressionsandVariables"chapter.Simplyprecedetheexpressionswiththe"="sign
whentypingtheminthecell.
FunctionsandOperators
ThefollowingarelistsoffunctionsandoperatorsavailabletotheReportingexpressionlanguage.
TheseworkthesameasandarealsoavailableinthePCDMISexpressionlanguage.
TheReportingexpressionlanguagedoesnotsupportvariables,structures,orfunctionslikethe
PCDMISexpressionlanguagedoes.Inplaceof variables,anewtypecalledDATA_TYPEhas
beenaddedtothelanguage.See"UsingDataTypestoFindaReportExpression"formore
information.AnothernewdifferenceintheReportinglanguageistheadditionofasetofconstants
describedin"PredefinedConstants".
Note:Remembertoprecedeyourexpressionwithanequalssign(=).Also,makesurethatthe
commandfromwhichyouaregettingyourdatasupportstheexpressionyouwanttouse.
()Parenthesesareusedtogroupexpressionsanddetermineevaluationorder.
FunctionsforReportExpressions
Itemsprecededwithanasterisksymbol(*)areuniquetothereportingexpressionlanguage.
Function Description
ABS(<expression>) Returnstheabsolutevalueoftheinputvalue.
ACOS(<expression>) Returnsthearccosinefortheinputvalue.Input
andresultareinradians.
ANGLEBETWEEN(<expression1>, Returnstheanglebetweenthetwoinputs
<expression2>) expression1andexpression2,whichshouldbeof
typevector.Resultisindegrees.
ARRAY(<expression1>,<expression2>,& Createsanarrayoutoftheinputvalues.
<expressionN>)
ASIN(<expression>) Returnsthearcsinefortheinputvalue.Inputand
resultareinradians.
ATAN(<expression>) Returnsthearctangentfortheinputvalue.Input
andresultareinradians.
CHR(<expression>) ReturnstheASCIIcharactervalueforthe
correspondinginputvaluewhichshouldbeoftype
integer.
*COLOR(<expression1>,<expression2>) Makesthetextvalueofexpression1useoneofthe
4colorsascurrentlydefinedinthecolortree.1=
MarkedColor2=UnmarkedColor3=StepMode
Color4=ErrorColor.See"ChangingaString's
TextColor".

*GetTolColor(expression1,expression2, Thistakesthreeexpressions,thedeviation,plus
expression3) tolerance,andtheminustoleranceandreturnsthe
currenttolerancecolorastypeCOLORREFbased
onthedeviation.
expression1isthedeviationasadoublevalue,
expression2istheplustoleranceasadoublevalue,
andexpression3istheminusdeviationasadouble
value.
Youcanusethisreturnedcolorwithcolor
propertiesofobjectsinreportingsuchas
ForeColorandBackColortodynamicallychange
thecoloroftheobjecttoreflectthecurrent
tolerancevalue.
ThesecolorsarespecifiedintheEditDimension
Colordialogbox.See"EditingDimensionColors"
inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapter
CONCAT(<expression1>,<expression2>,& Concatenatesallofthestringsspecifiedin
<expressionN>) expressions1throughNtogetherinto1string.
COS(<expression>) Returnsthecosinefortheinputvalue.Inputand
resultareinradians.
*COUNT(expression1) Returnsthenumberofinstancesofthedatatype
specifiedinexpression1forthecurrentcommand.
CROSS(<expression1>,<expression2>) Returnsthecrossproductofexpession1and
expression2bothofwhichshouldbeoftypevector.
*DATAFIELD(<expression1>, UsedonlywithintheCustomReportEditor,this
<expression2>,<expression3>) returnsinformationfromaspecificdatafieldwithin
afeature,dimension,orcommand.Thistakesthree
parameters:expression1isastringrepresenting
theuniqueidoridofthecommand,expression2is
astringrepresentingthedatatype,and
expression3isthetypeindex.Normallythe
typeindexis0,butincaseswhereadtypeoccurs
morethanonce,itwillbe1orgreater.
Thisexpressionisautomaticallycreatedandused
whenyoudraganddropitemsfromtheEdit
windowintoyourcustomreport.
DATEVALUE() SameasinPCDMISexpressionlanguage.
DEG2RAD(<expression>) Convertstheinputfromdegreestoradians.
DELTA(<expression1>,<expression2>, Outputisnewpointmovedalongthevector
<expression3>) specifiedinexpression2bythedistancespecifiedin
expession3fromthepointspecifiedinexpression1.
DOT(<expression1>,<expression2>) Returnsthedotproductofexpression1and
expression2.Inputvaluesshouldbeoftypepoint.

DOUBLE(<expression>) Convertstheinputvaluefromitscurrenttypetoa
double.Inthecaseofapoint,thedistanceofthe
pointfromtheoriginisreturned.
*ELAPSEDTIME() Returnstheamountoftimetakenforexecution.
ELEMENT(<expression1>,<expression2>, SameasinPCDMISexpressionlanguage.
<expression3>)
EQUAL(<expression1>,<expression2>) Testswhethertwoarraysareidenticalandreturns
1iftheyare,otherwise0.
<expression1>^<expression2>
SameasinPCDMISexpressionlanguage.
EXPON(<expression>)
*FILENAME() Returnsthefullpathandfilenameofthepart
program.
FORMAT(<expression1>,<expression2>)
*GETCOUNT(expression1) Returnsalongvalueofthenumberofinstances
thatexistfortheENUM_FIELD_TYPESdatatype,
specifiedinexpression1.Forexample,alocation
dimensionthatreportsinX,Y,Z,andDwouldreturn
4fortheAxisdatatype.
GetFeatureSetID(<expression1>) Duringexecution,ifthecurrentcommandisa
dimension,thefunctioncheckstoseeifthe
referencefeatureforthisdimensionisinafeature
set.Ifitfindsthereferencefeatureinaset,it
returnsthatset'sIDasastringvaluewitha".lbl"
extensionappendedtotheendofthestring.Ifit
doesnotfindafeaturesetcommandwiththe
referencefeatureitreturnsthedefaultstringvalue
suppliedin<expression1>.Thisdefaultvalue
shouldbealabelfilenamethatincludesthe.lbl
extension.
Forexample,supposeyouhavethefollowing
Locationdimensionthatreferencesacirclenamed
CIR1:
DIMLOC1=LOCATIONOFCIRCLECIR1UNITS=IN,$
GRAPH=OFF TEXT=OFF MULT=10.00 OUTPUT=BOTH
...
ENDOFDIMENSIONLOC1
YoucanusetheGetFeatureSetIDfunctioninsidea
ruletoautomaticallydeterminethelabelthatgets
displayedforthisdimensiondependingonwhether

ornotCIR1existsinsideofafeatureset.
Forexample,thisrulewillautomaticallyusethe
LEGACY_DIMENSION.LBLlabelifitcannotfinda
FEAT/SETcommandthatcontainsCIR1:
USETEMPLATE
"=GetFeatureSetID("LEGACY_DIMENSION.LBL")"
IfthereisaFEAT/SETcommand,youcanthen
changetheIDforthatcommandtomatchthe
desiredlabelnameyouwanttouse(orchangea
labelfilenametomatchtheID)andPCDMISwill
usethatlabelinstead.
Inthiscodehere,noticethattheFEAT/SET
referencesCIR1.Italsohasitsusuallabel
identificationchangedto"REFERENCE_ID".So
thattheGetFeatureSetIDfunctionwillreturn
"REFERENCE_ID.LBL":
REFERENCE_ID=FEAT/SET,CARTESIAN
THEO/<0,0,0>,<0,0,1>
ACTL/<0,0,0>,<0,0,1>
CONSTR/SET,BASIC,CIR1,,
IF(<expression1>,<expression2>, Ifexpression1evaluatestoanonzerovalue,the
<expression3>) valueofexpression2isreturned,otherwise,the
valueofexpression3isreturned.
INDEX(<expression1>,<expression2>)
INTEGER(<expression>)
LEFT(<expression1>,<expression2>)
LEN(<expression>) Forastring,returnsthenumberofcharactersinthe
string.Foranarray,returnsthenumberofelements
inthearray.
LN(<expression>) SameasinPCDMISexpressionlanguage.
*LOADSTR(<expression>) Loadsthestringusingthenumericalvaluefromthe
resourcefiles.Anegativenumericalvaluecauses
thestringtobeloadedfromthestringsresources.
See"LoadingStringsfromPCDMIS"formore
information.
LOG(<expression>) SameasinPCDMISexpressionlanguage.
LOWERCASE(<expression>)
<expression1><<expression2>

MAX(<expression>)
MAXINDEX(<expression>)
MAXINDICES(<expression>)
*MEASSCALE() Returnstherescalefactorusedwhenmeasuring.
MIN(<expression>)
MININDEX(<expression>)
MININDICES(<expression>)
MID(<expression1>,<expression2>,
<expression3>)
MPOINT(<expression1>,<expression2>,
<expression3>)
*NUMMEAS() Displaysanumbervaluerepresentingthenumber
ofdimensionsreported.
*NUMOUTTOL() Displaysthenumberofreporteddimensionthat
wereoutoftolerance.
ORD(<expression>) SameasinPCDMISexpressionlanguage.
*PARTNAME() Displaysthepartname(thesameaswhatisshown
inthefileheader).
*PAGE() Displaysthecurrentpagenumber.
*PAGES()
Displaysthetotalnumberofpages.
PAGEDIMCOUNT("CadReportObjectId",Range) Thisfunctiontakestwoparameters.Ifthefirst
parameterisempty(nothinginsidethequote
marks),thenthisreturnsthenumberofdimensions
inthecurrentpagewitha maxdeviationlessthan
Range*Tol.Thesecondparameter,Range,isa
floatingnumber.Ifyouincludethe
CadReportObjectIDinthefirstparameter,thenthis
returnsthenumberofdimensionsintolerance
associatedwiththespecifiedCADReportObject.
Supposeyouwanttoreturnthenumberofoutof
tolerancedimensionswithCADReportObject1.You
couldusethefollowingcodetodothis:
=TotalPageDimCount("CadReportObject1")
PageDimCount("CadReportObject1",1.0)
Youcanalsocalculatethenumberofdimensions
thatcontainaspecificnumberofaxesby
appending":N"totheID,whereNisanumber
representingthenumberofaxes.Forexample,
typing=PageDimCount("CadReportObject1:4",1.0)
wouldreturnthenumberofdimensionsassociated
withCadReportObject1thatcontainedatleastfour

axesandthathadthefourthaxiswithinthe
specifiedtoleranceof1.0.Ifyoudonotspecifythe
numberofaxes,itwouldreturnthenumberof
dimensionsassociatedwithCadReportObject1ifall
ofitsaxeswerewithinthespecifiedtoleranceof
1.0.
RAD2DEG(<expression>)
REAL(<expression>)
*REGSETTING(<expression1>, Displaysavalueofaspecificregistrysetting.This
<expression2>) takesthesetwoparameters:expression1
determinesthesection,andexpression2
determinestheentry.
REPORTDIMCOUNT("<expression1">, ThisfunctionactslikethePageDimCount()function
<expression2>) exceptthatinsteadofdisplayingthenumberofout
oftolerancedimensionsforthecurrentpage,it
displaysthetotalnumberofoutoftolerance
dimensionsfortheentirereport.Inaddition,for
<expression1>youneedtouseCADReportObject1
astheID,orleaveitempty(withjustthequotes).
*REPORTVALUE(<expression1>) Displaysthevalueofanotherobject'sproperty.It
takesoneparameter,shownasexpression1.This
shouldbeastringvalueoftheobject'suniqueID
followedbyaperiodandthentheproperty'sname,
forexample,=REPORTVALUE("text1.text")
*REVNUM() Displaystherevisionnumber(thesameaswhatis
showninthefileheader).
*RGB(<expression1>,<expression2>, Colorsthestringspecifiedinexpression1tothe
<expression3>,<expression4>) colorspecifiedviatheRGBvaluesofexpressions
2,3,and4. See"ChangingaString'sTextColor".
RIGHT(<expression1>,<expression2>)
ROUND(<expression1>,<expression2>)
*SECTION()
Displaysthecurrentsectionnumber.
*SERNUM() Displaystheserialnumber(thesameaswhatis
showninthefileheader).
SIN(<expression>)
SORTUP(<expression>)
SORTDOWN(<expression>)
SQRT(<expression>)
*STATCOUNT() Returnsthestatisticscount(sameasinthefile
header).

STR(<expression>)
STRING(<expression>)
SUM(<expression>)
SYSTIME() SameasinPCDMISexpressionlanguage.
SYSTEMDATE(<expression>)
SYSTEMTIME(<expression>)
TAB(<expression>)
*TOGGLESTR(<expression1>, Pullsthetogglestringfromtheresourcesbaseon
<expression2>) theresourceidvalueinexpression1.Again,a
negativenumberisusedforcaseswherethestring
shouldcomefromthestringsresources.Thevalue
ofexpression2isusedtospecifywhichsubstringof
thetogglestringiswanted.Theresultisthe
substring.
*TOGGLESTRING(DATA_TYPE) Ifthespecifieddatatypeforthegivencommandis
oftypetogglestring,thefulltogglestringis
returned.
*TOGGLEVALUE(DATA_TYPE) Ifthespecifieddatatypeforthegivencommandis
oftypetogglestring,theindexnumber(ortoggle
value)ofthetogglestringisreturned.
*TOL(<expression1>,<expresion2>, Expression1isthestringbeingcolored.Expression
<expression3>,<expression4>) 2isthetestvalue,Expression3istheplus
tolerance,andExpression4istheminustolerance.
Ifthetestvalueisintolerance(Betweenthevalues
forExpression3andExpression4),thenthe
currentmarkedcolorfromthecolortreeisused.
Otherwise,theErrorcolor(usuallyred)isusedas
thecolorforthetext.
TOTALPAGEDIMCOUNT("CadReportObjectID") Thisfunctioncontainsoneparameter.Ifitisempty
(nothingbetweenthequotemarks),thisreturnsthe
totalnumberofdimensionsinthecurrentpage.If
youtypetheIDofaCadReportOjbectinthe
parameter,PCDMISreturnsthetotalnumberof
dimensionsassociatedwiththatCadReportObject.
Forexample,ifyouusedthisexpression
=TotalPageDimCount("CadReportObject3") thenPC
DMISwouldreturnthetotalnumberofdimensions
associatedwithCadReportObject3.Youcanalso
calculatethenumberofdimensionsthatcontaina
specificnumberofaxesbyappending":N"tothe
ID,whereNisanumberrepresentingthenumber
ofaxes.Forexample,typing
=TotalPageDimCount("CadReportObject1:4") would
returnthetotalnumberofdimensionsassociated
withCadReportObject1thatcontainedatleast4
axes.
TOTALREPORTDIMCOUNT("CADREPORTOJECTID") Thisfunctionfunctionslikethe
TotalPageDimCount()functionwiththeseimportant

differences:Insteadofreturningthenumberof
dimensionsforthecurrentpage,itreturnsthetotal
numberofdimensionsfortheentirereport.
Howeveritonlyworksifthere'sa
CADReportObject.IfyouhaveanobjectIDasyour
parameter,itneedstobenamed
CADReportObject1.
TRACEFIELD(<expression>) Displaysthegiventracefield'snameandvaluein
thereport.Thevalueoftheexpressionissimplya
numbervaluerepresentingtheorderofthelisted
tracefieldsfromtoptobottominyourpartprogram.
Sotodisplaythefirstlistedtracefield,thecode
wouldread:=TRACEFIELD(1)
UNIT(<expression>) SameasinPCDMISexpressionlanguage.
*VARIABLE(<expression1>,<expression2>) Displaysthedefinedvariable'svalue.Thisfunction
takesoneortwoparameters.Expression1isthe
stringvaluerepresentingthevariable'sID.
Expression2isanoptionalIDofanothercommand
IDorUID.See"DisplayingaVariable'sValue"for
moreinformation.
VECX(<expression>)
VECY(<expression>) SameasinPCDMISexpressionlanguage.
VECZ(<expression>)
OperatorsforReportExpressions
Operators Description
<expression1>==<expression2> Evaluatesto1ifexpression1equalsexpression2.
Otherwise,evaluatesto0.
<expression1>>=<expression2> Evaluatesto1ifexpression1isgreaterthanor
equaltoexpression2.Otherwise,evaluatesto0.
<expression1><=<expression2> Evaluatesto1ifexpression1islessthanorequal
toexpression2.Otherwise,evaluatesto0.
<expression1>><expression2> Evaluatesto1ifexpression1isgreaterthan
expression2.Otherwise,evaluatesto0.
<expression1><<expression2> Evaluatesto1ifexpression1islessthan
expression2.Otherwise,evaluatesto0.
<expression1><expression2> Subtractsexpression2fromexpression1.
<expression1>/<expression2> Dividesexpression1byexpression2.
<expression1>%<expression2> Returnstheremainderfromexpression1divided
byexpression2ifany.
<expression1>*<expression2> Multipliesexpression1byexpression2.

<expression1><><expression2> Comparesexpression1toexpression2,ifthey
don'tmatchitevaluatesto1.Iftheydomatch,it
evaluatesto0.
<expression> Theunaryminusoperatornegatesthevalueof
theoperandinexpression.
!<expression> LogicalNOToperator.Thisinvertsthevalueof
thevariableorexpression.Ifthe<expression>
evaluatestoTRUE,the!<expression>evaluates
toFALSE.Ifthe<expression>evaluatesto
FALSE,the!<expression>evaluatestoTRUE.
<expression1>AND<expression2> PerformsabinaryANDoperationontwo
numbers.Otherwise,concatenatesstringsor
numberstogetherinthecaseofmixedtypes.
<expression1>OR<expression2> PerformsabinaryORoperationontwonumbers.
<expression1>+<expression2> Addsexpression1andexpression2together.
SomeReportingExpressionsExamples
ThefollowingtopicsprovideyouwithafewexamplesofthingsyoucandowiththeReporting
expressionlanguage:
DisplayingaVariable'sValue
ChangingaString'sTextColor
LoadingStringsfromPCDMIS
Usethefunctionsandoperatorsinthe"FunctionsandOperators"topic,tocreateyourown
Reportingexpressions.
DisplayingaVariable'sValue
PCDMIS'sreportinglanguageletsyoudisplayavariable'svalueinyourreportbyusingthe
Variable()function.Thisfunctionhasthefollowingsyntax:
Variable(<varname>,[<optionalcommandidoruid>])
Thefirstparameter,coercedtoastringtype,representsthenameofthevariable.Thesecond
optionalparametercanbeusedtosolveforthevariable'svaluerelativetoanothercommand.
Forexample,supposeyouthiscodeinyourpartprogram:
ASSIGN/V1=2
F1=FEAT/CIRCLE...
ASSIGN/V1=F1.X
COMMENT/OPER,"Somecommenttext"
Forthepurposesofthisexample,assumethatthecommenthasauniqueIDor"UID"of245.
Nowconsiderthefollowingexampleswiththecodeabove:

=VARIABLE("V1") IftherearenootherstatementssettingthevaluetoV1inthereport,then
thevaluemaybeeither0,2,orthesameasthemeasuredcentroidxvalueoffeatureF1.It
alldependsonwhichcommandshavealreadyexecutedatthepointthatthereport
expressionisevaluatedandwhichcommandiscurrentlybeingprocessedforthereport.
=VARIABLE("V1","F1") Ifthisistheonlyfeaturenamed"F1"intheprogram,thentheresult
ofevaluatingthisexpressionshouldbe2sinceV1isassignedto2directlyabovefeatureF1.
=VARIABLE("V1",245) Inthiscase,theUIDisusedsothevalueofthisexpressiononthe
reportshouldbethesameasF1.X.
Note:IndividualcellsofaGridControlObjectcannotacquireavariable'svaluefromthepart
program.InmostcasesyouwillneedtouseTextobjects.
VariablesandHeaders
Normally,youcannotdisplayavariable'svalueinsideyourreport'sfileheaderbecausePCDMIS
evaluatesthefileheaderbeforeexecutingstatementsinthepartprogram.So,whenthefile
headerattemptstoreferenceavariablethathasn'tyetbeencreated,PCDMISwilldisplayazero
value.However,someoptionsdoexisttogetinformationfromyourpartprogramintoyour
header:
Option1Use Usetracefieldsinsteadofvariablesinyourpartprogramtocapturethe
TraceFields informationandthenusethe=TRACEFIELD()functioninsidethe
Insteadof desiredcellintheGridControlObjectoftheheader'slabeltemplateto
Variables referenceit.Tracefieldsforcethetemplatetoreevaluatethereport
basedonthenewinformationcausingthetracefieldtoappear.
Advantages/Disadvantages
AdvantagesRelativelyeasytosetup.
DisadvantagesYouaren'tactuallyusingvariables.Trace
fieldsareusedinsteadandhavetheirownlimitations.
Option2Embed Embedthereporttemplateintoyourpartprogramsometimeafterthe
theReport ASSIGNstatementshavebeendefined,andthensendthevariable's
Template valuetothelabeltemplateasaparameter.Addadditionalrowsorcells
asneeded,andontopoftheaddedcells,addandsizeaTextobject
foreachvariableyouwanttodisplay.Finally,modifytheTextproperty
throughaparameteroftheREPORT/TEMPLATEcommand,likethis:
ASSIGN/V1="AStringValuetoPass"
CS1 =REPORT/TEMPLATE,FILENAME=TEXTONLY.RTP,
AUTOPRINT=NO,Section=1
PARAM/TEXT1.TEXT=V1
PARAM/=
ENDREPORT/
Becausethelabeltemplateismergedintothereporttemplateyoucan
modifycertainparametersonthelabeltemplatebyreferencingthe
reporttemplateintheabovefashion.

AdvantagesVariableswillnowappearinyourfinalreport's
header.
DisadvantagesSomewhatdifficulttosetupasyouwillneed
toaddaTextobjectsintoyourlabeltemplateinadditiontothe
codetoembedthereporttemplateintothepartprogram.The
maindisadvantagetothisapproach,however,isthatthereport
willbegeneratedtwiceoneaftertheother.OncefromPC
DMIS'sdefaultfunctionalityandagainfromtheembedded
REPORT/TEMPLATEcodeblock.
Option3Put Insteadofusingareporttemplatethatreferstoanexternallabel
Header templatefortheheader,suchasFile_Header.lbl,recreatethe
Information GridControlObjectfromtheheader'slabeltemplatedirectlyinside
Directlyinto yourreporttemplate.Addadditionalrowsorcellsasneeded,andon
Report topoftheaddedcells,addandsizeaTextobjectforeachvariableyou
wanttodisplay.ThenforeachTextobjectusethe=VARIABLE()
functiontopullinthevariableinformation.Forexample,
=VARIABLE("V1").
Maketheseremainingmodificationsinsidethereporttemplate:
1. IntheTextReportObjectchangetherulessothattheheader
labelisn'tused.
2. Setthesepropertiesforthecurrentsection,Section1:
CommandSet=AllCommands
MaximumNumberofPages=1
2. Addasecondsection,Section2,andgiveita
TextReportObjectaswell,againchangingitsrulessothata
headerlabelisn'tused.
3. SetthesepropertiesforSection2:
CommandSet=ContinueFromPreviousSection
MaximumNumberofPages=0(meaningthereisno
maximum)
AdvantagesVariableswillnowappearinyourfinalreport's
header.
DisadvantagesSomewhatdifficulttosetupsinceyouhave
torecreatetheGridControlObjectinsidethereporttemplate,
addTextobjectsforeachvariable,andaddanadditional
reportsection.Additionally,anyeditingdonetothereport,such
asturningon"ShowFeature"orchangingDimensionsto"Out
oftoleranceOnly",needstobedonetwice,onceforpage1
(firstsection) andoncefortheotherpages(section2).
Option4Usea ThisoptionusesanemptyGenericfeaturetoforcethelabeltemplate

GenericFeature toreevaluatethereportandpullinneededvariablesvaluesintoyour
toForceReport finalreport.
Regeneration
Inyourpartprogram,createanemptyGenericfeatureandgiveita
descriptivenamesuchas:
REPORTHEADER=GENERIC/NONE,DEPENDENT,CARTESIAN,OUT,$
Next,modifytheheaderlabeltemplate,addingadditionalcellsas
neededtotheGridControlObject,andthenontopoftheaddedcells,
addandsizeaTextobjectforeachvariableyouwanttodisplay.Now
settheTextpropertyforeachTextobjecttousethe=VARIABLE()
functiontopullinthevariableinformation.Inthisoption,however,you
needtorefertothegenericfeaturebyusingusetheextraparameterin
the=VARIABLE()function.Forexample,
=VARIABLE("V1","REPORTHEADER")
AdvantagesProbablythemostversatileapproach.Variables
willnowappearinyourfinalreport'sheader.Youwillnotneed
toeditthefinalreporttwiceasinOption2
DisadvantagesSomewhatdifficulttosetupsinceyouwill
needtoincludeanemptyGenericfeatureinyourpartprogram
andaddTextobjectsforeachvariableinsidethelabel
template.
ChangingaString'sTextColor
UsingtheRGBFunction
TheReportingexpressionlanguageletsyouuseaRGBfunctiontodefineanRGB(RedGreen
Blue)colorvalueandapplyittoastringofcharactersinexpressiontext.Thisfunctiontakesfour
parameters,astringparameter,followedbycommaseparatedRGBparameters,likethis:
=RGB(string,R,G,B)
IfyoutypethisfunctionintheCellExpressionbox(orcell)oftheGridControlObject,clickOK,
andthenclickoutsideoftheobject,PCDMISevaluatestheexpressionandgivesthetextthe
specifiedcolorvalue.

CellExpressionboxshowingtheRGBexpression
Forexample,ifyoutypethisexpressionintoacell,
=RGB("BlueText",0,0,255)+RGB("BlackText",0,0,0)+RGB("Yellow
Text",255,255,0)
thenthewordswouldlooklikethisinatemplateeditor:
UsingtheColorFunction
TheColorfunctiontakestwoparameters.Thefirst,acolorparameter,isactuallyanumberthat
representsoneoftheprincipleEditwindowcolors.Thesecond,isthestringvaluetowhichPC
DMISappliesthecolor.
=COLOR(1,"MyText")
Thefirstparameterisavalueof1to4andpassestheEditwindowcolorthatassociatedwiththe
following:
1passestheMarkedColor
2passestheUnmarkedColor
3passestheStepModeColor
4passestheErrorColor
ThesecolorsaredefinedintheEditwindow'sColorEditordialogbox.See"DefiningEdit
WindowColors"in"SettingYourPreferences"forinformation.
LoadingStringsfromPCDMIS
Similartohowyoucanchangethetextcolorforacellinthe"ChangingExpressionTextColor"
topic,theReportingexpressionlanguageletsyoupullstringsfromPCDMIS'scurrentrunning
languagebyusingthisexpression:
=LOADSTR(<integerexpression>)
Thisstringtakesasingleparameter,anintegernumberthatcorrespondstothevalueofastring
locatedinresource.dllorstrings.dll.
Apositivenumberpullsthestringfromtheresource.dllfile.
Anegativenumberpullsthestringfromthestrings.dllfile.
IfyoutypethisfunctionintheCellExpressionbox(orcell)oftheGridControlObject,clickOK,
andthenclickoutsideoftheobject.PCDMISevaluatestheexpressionandreturnsthestring
assignedtothespecifiedintegervalue.
Note:ThisfunctionalitywasaddedprimarilysothatthelabeltemplatesthatshipwithPCDMIS
usestringdatafromyourcurrentlanguage.

UsingDataTypestoFindaReportExpression
Whenusingexpressions,youusuallyuseexpressionsthatpulldatafromPCDMIS.Youneedto
makesurethatthecommandorfeatureyouassociatewiththelabeltemplatetodothishasthe
datayouaretryingtodisplay.DataTypescanhelpyoufindthecorrectexpressiontouse.
Forexample,supposeyoucreatealabeltemplatethathasaGridReportObject,andinoneof
thecellsyoutypethisexpressiontodisplayafeature'smeasuredXdata:
=MEAS_X
Now,ifyoucreateareporttemplate,addaTextReportObject,andusetheRuleTreeEditorto
associateyourlabeltemplatewithPREHITcommands,intheReportwindowthecellwillnot
displayanything. Why?BecausethePREHITcommanddoesnothaveameasuredXfield.To
usethecorrectexpression,youcanviewdatatypesfordifferentfieldsintheEditwindow's
commandmode.
Thisprocedureexplainshowtoturnonandviewdatatypes:
2. PlacetheEditwindowintoCommandmode.
RightclickontheEditwindow.Ashortcutmenuappears.
DataTypeInformationmenuitem
3. SelectChangePopupDisplay|DataTypeInformation.
4. Hoveryourmousepointeroverafieldinacommand,andPCDMISwilldisplaya
small,yellowpopupthatshowsthatfield'sdatatype.Thefirstpartofthevaluein
parenthesesisthedatatypeandanequivalentexpressionexistsinthelistof
expressions.

ThisdatatypepopupshowsthatTHEO_Xisavalidexpressionforthiscommand.Ifyoutyped
"=THEO_X"intoanappropriatelocation,PCDMISwoulddisplaythisfeature'stheoreticalX
value.
Usingdatatypesyoucanensurethatyourreportandlabeltemplatesareusingexpressions
supportedbythatcommand.
AListofAvailableDataTypes
Thislistofdatatypesdisplaysthedatatypenamesinalphabeticalorder,theirassociatedtype
numbers,descriptions,indexvaluesandvaluestringsasappropriate.Whenusingdatatypes
insideVBscriptsintemplateeventsandrules,youmayneedtousethedatatypenumberasnot
allscriptlocationsaccepttheenumerateddatatypevalue.
A
DataType
Number DataTypeName Index ValueString
Description
481 ABOVEBELOW_CONFIG
409 ADDITIONAL_CHART ForSPC
Showalignmentin
153 ALIGN_LIST alignmentlist(Yes/
No)
Togglefieldfor
300 ANGLE_COMP_TOGGLE complementstateof
angledimensions
AngleOffsetforloops
149 ANGLE_OFFSET
androtarytables
Thereferenceangle
373 ANGULARITY_NOM_ANGLE used,notthe
dimension'snominal
103 ANGVEC_I Anglevectori 0 Numericvalue
104 ANGVEC_J Anglevectorj 0 Numericvalue
105 ANGVEC_K Anglevectork 0 Numericvalue
Dimensionarrow
164 ARROW_MULTIPLIER
multipliervalue
479 ARTICULATEDARM_TYPE
234 AUTO_CLEAR_PLANE Autoclearplaneflag
461 AUTO_ONERROR_TYPE
533 AUTO_PH9
Autoprintflagfor
219 AUTO_PRINT
hyperreportobject
Turnautotrigger
295 AUTOBEEPING
beepingon/off
52 AUTOFIT_CONSTRAINT Togglefortypeof

constraintonbestfit
alignment
Tolerancezonefor
298 AUTOTOLZONE
autotrigger
Turnautotriggeronor
294 AUTOTRIGGERONOFF
off.
Flagforiterative
140 AVERAGE_ERROR
alignments
749 AXIS_DESCRIPTION
747 AXIS_MINUS_TOL
132 AXIS_NOMINAL Axis
748 AXIS_NOMINAL
746 AXIS_PLUS_TOL
B
DataType
Description
Mathtypeusedto
51 BF_MATH_TYPE
calculatebestfit
50 BOUND_TYPE Bound/Unbound
360 BOUNDARY_POINT_X BoundaryPointx
361 BOUNDARY_POINT_Y Boundarypointy
362 BOUNDARY_POINT_Z Boundarypointz
476 BSMETHOD_TYPE
207 BUFFER_SIZE_TYPE Filei/obuffersize
C
DataType
Description
492 CAD_COMP
CADtolerancefor
237 CAD_TOLERANCE
perimeterscans
471 CALC_STYLE_FILE
413 CENTER_POINT ForSPC
478 CENTER_ROTATION_MEAS Bestfitalignments
477 CENTER_ROTATION_THEO Bestfitalignments
445 CHART_SUB_TYPE ForSPC
388 CHART_TYPE ForSPC:charts
Circularorstraight
42 CIRC_TYPE probemotion(circles
andcylinders)
614 CLIP_LEFT_DIST
604 CLIP_LOW_DIST
615 CLIP_RIGHT_DIST
603 CLIP_UP_DIST

On/Offsettingfor
244 COL132_TYPE
column132object
701 COLUMN_HDR
Setsthecolumnid
296 COLUMN_ID foraloadorunload
columncommand
Forexternal
245 COMMAND_STRING
commandobject
189 COMMENT Commenttext
Addnewtypefor
709 COMMENT_INPUT
commentinputvalue
190 COMMENT_TYPE Commenttype
724 COMPOSITE
468 CONE_CONVEX_TYPE
Forcones:show
60 CONE_LENGTH_ANGLE_TYPE
lengthorangle
39 COORD_TYPE CoordinateSystem
621 COP_BOOLEANTYPE
618 COP_COLORMAP
619 COP_COPLEMENT
616 COP_EXPORTFILETYPE
543 COP_FILTER
622 COP_IMPORTFILETYPE
617 COP_SELECTIONTYPE
544 COP_SIZE
545 COP_TYPE
425 CPOINT_DIAM
428 CPOINT_F_SCANSPEED
422 CPOINT_I
423 CPOINT_J
424 CPOINT_K
426 CPOINT_SCAN_CROSS_TOTAL
427 CPOINT_SCAN_DENSITY
430 CPOINT_TYPE
419 CPOINT_X
420 CPOINT_Y
421 CPOINT_Z
Forbestfit2D/3D
433 CREATE_WEIGHTS
alignments
Forcurves typeof
65 CURVE_TYPE
curve
D
Number DataTypeName DataTypeDescription Index ValueString

Databasememory
252 DATA_MEM_PAGES pagesforstatistics
object
Databasereadlockfor
250 DATA_READ_LOCK
statisticsobject
Databasewritelock
251 DATA_WRITE_LOCK
forstatisticsobject
731 DATUM1_MODIFIER
734 DATUM1_MODIFIER2
Thisisbecause
DATUMand
725 DATUM2 DATUM2areusedin
twodifferentgroupsin
summarymode.
732 DATUM2_MODIFIER
733 DATUM3_MODIFIER
389 DB_CHART_NAME ForSPC:chartname
386 DB_QUERY_OP ForSPC
387 DB_SOURCE_NAME ForSPC
459 DB_SOURCE_TYPE ForSPC
FILE/CLOSE,fptr,
539 DELETE_TYPE
KEEP|DELETE
Subroutineparameter
203 DESCRIPTION
description
Thisisbecause
DESCRIPTIONand
727 DESCRIPTION2 DESCRIPTION2are
usedintwodifferent
grou
Destination
expressions(assign,
133 DEST_EXPR
subroutine,hyper
report)
353 DEV_DIAM Devdiamvalue
280 DEV_PERPEN_CENTERLINE
350 DEV_X Devxvalue
351 DEV_Y Devyvalue
352 DEV_Z Devzvalue
390 DEVIATION_ANGLE Deviationangle
Dimensionformatdev
180 DEVIATION_SYMBOLS
symbolstoggle
737 DEVPERCENT_NOM
739 DEVPERCENT2

Digitcountfordmis
199 DIGIT_COUNT fileread/write
command
324 DIM_BONUS Dimensionbonus
340 DIM_DEVIATION Dimensiondeviation
Dimensionformat
182 DIM_HEADING
headingitem
ForBestFit2d
304 DIM_ID
Alignments
Dimensioninfoobject
160 DIM_INFO_LOC
locationaxistoggle
Dimensioninfoorder
159 DIM_INFO_ORDER
toggle
Dimensioninfoobject
161 DIM_INFO_TP_LOC
tplocationaxistoggle
173 DIM_LENGTH Dimensionlength
754 DIM_LENGTH2
332 DIM_MAX Dimensionmaxvalue
Measureddimension
328 DIM_MEASURED
value
336 DIM_MIN Dimensionminvalue
344 DIM_OUTTOL Dimensionouttol
703 DIM_RPT_DATUM
705 DIM_RPT_DEVPERCENT
704 DIM_RPT_GRAPHIC
706 DIM_RPT_ISBILATERAL
702 DIM_RPT_ISDATUM
707 DIM_RPT_NUMZONES
Dimensionformatdim
177 DIM_TEXT
texttoggle
Dimensionformatdim
178 DIM_TEXT_OPTIONS
textoptionstoggle
DISPLAY_ADVANCED_PARAME
510
TERS
Scanflag(yes/no)for
236 DISPLAY_HITS
displayofscanhits
Pointinfoshowid
184 DISPLAY_ID
toggle
607 DISPLAY_PROBE_PARAMETERS
Tracefieldobject
256 DISPLAY_TRACE yes/notogglefor
dialogdisplay
Pointinfoshowtype
185 DISPLAY_TYPE
toggle
155 DISTANCE Distance

676 DRF_COLUMN_HDR
681 DRF_ROTATIONX
682 DRF_ROTATIONY
683 DRF_ROTATIONZ
677 DRF_SEGNAME
678 DRF_SHIFTX
679 DRF_SHIFTY
680 DRF_SHIFTZ
641 DRF_TBLHDR
Leapfrogtype:Full
DTYPE_LEAPFROGFULLPARTIA
291 leapfrogorpartial
L
leapfrog
Numberofhitstobe
290 DTYPE_LEAPFROGNUMHITS takenduringleapfrog
procedure
Typeofleapfrogbeing
289 DTYPE_LEAPFROGTYPE
performed
E
DataType
Description
99 END_ANG Endangle 0 Radianvalue
144 END_NUM Endnumberofloop
Endingdepth
787 END_OFFSET Endingdepth 0
value
467 ERROR_LABEL
Errormodeforon
202 ERROR_MODE errorflowcontrol
command
Errortypeforon
201 ERROR_TYPE errorflowcontrol
command
Exclusionzone
292 EXCLUSION_ZONE
commandisonoroff
Istheattached
293 EXECUTE programexecuted
(Yes/No)
595 EXPOSURE
F
DataType
Description
79 F_AUTOMOVE Automovedistance
85 F_BOXLENGTH
84 F_BOXWIDTH

Theonlynumeric
88 F_CHECK associatedwiththe
CPCDcheckfeature
87 F_CIRCRADIN
86 F_CIRCRADOUT
81 F_CORNER_RADIUS
Depthof
78 F_DEPTH 0 Depthvalue
measurements
82 F_INCREMENT
Measurementoffsets
80 F_INDENT 1 Offsetvalue
forvariousfeatures
Locationvaluefor
243 F_LOCATION
sectionscans
MaximumX
89 F_MAXACCELX
acceleration
MaximumY
90 F_MAXACCELY
acceleration
MaximumZ
91 F_MAXACCELZ
acceleration
Dimensionminustol
168 F_MINUS_TOL
value
95 F_MOVESPEED Movespeed
74 F_OFFSET Offsetvalue
76 F_PITCH Autofeaturepitch
Dimensionplustol
167 F_PLUS_TOL
value
97 F_SCANSPEED Scanspeed
434 F_SIZE forSPC
Maxdistance
75 F_SPACER Autofeaturespacer 0
value
Thickness
77 F_THICKNESS Sheetmetalthickness 0
value
593 F_THICKNESS_EDGE
83 F_TOLERANCE
96 F_TOUCHSPEED Touchspeed
Filei/ofailonexist
208 FAIL_ON_EXIST
mode
303 FEAT_TYPE FeatureType
Fieldwidthfordmis
198 FIELD_WIDTH fileread/write
command
Filei/ocommand
206 FILE_COMMAND_TYPE
type
152 FILE_NAME Filename
197 FILE_POINTER Filepointernamefor

filei/ocommands
598 FILTER_NEIGHBOR_NUM
606 FILTER_TOGGLE
600 FILTER_TOL_ABOVE
601 FILTER_TOL_BELOW
602 FILTER_TOL_RIGHT
472 FILTER_TYPE Basicscanfiltertype
Forthecheck
460 FIND_HOLE_PERCENT commandandfind
holecheckdistance
SelectsbetweenX,
54 FIND_NOM_AXIS_TYPE Y,Z,oruserdefined
nominalaxis
Typeforfindnoms
233 FIND_NOMS_TYPE
mode
Usefindhole
47 FINDHOLE_TYPE
algorithm(Yes/No)
527 FINDNOMS_BESTFIT
528 FINDNOMS_ONLYSELECTED
452 FIT
465 FIXTURE_TOL
Typeforloadfixture
226 FIXTURE_TYPE
object
FlymodeOff/On
246 FLY_MODE_TYPE
toggle
560 FREQUENCY
G
DataType
Description
183 GAP_ONLY_TYPE ON/OFFtoggle
708 GDT_SYMBOL
730 GDT_SYMBOL2
Genericfeature
alignmenttype
64 GEN_ALIGN_TYPE
(independent/
dependent)
63 GEN_FEAT_TYPE Genericfeaturetype
Usegraphical
162 GRAPH_ANALYSIS analysison
dimension(yes/no)
AutoFeaturecad
785 GRAPH_ANALYSIS_MINUS_TOL
pointminustolerance
AutoFeaturecad
784 GRAPH_ANALYSIS_PLUS_TOL
pointplustolerance

AutoFeaturecad
783 GRAPH_ANALYSIS_POINT_SIZE
pointsize
Dimensioninfoand
458 GRAPH_OPTION
pointinfocommands
408 GRID ForSPC
H
DataType
Description
483 HIGH_ACCURACY
Highthresholdfor
223 HIGH_THRESHOLD
tempcompobject
407 HISTOGRAM ForSPC
359 HIT_TYPE Hittype
Interior/Exterior
68 HITINT_TYPE
measurementflag
I
DataType
Description
2 ID Objectid
Forignoremotion
392 IGNOREMOTIONERRORS_TYPE
errorscommand
Arrayindexend
205 INDEX_END
number
Arrayindexstart
204 INDEX_START
number
72 INIT_HITS Initialhits
40 INOUT_TYPE Inside/Outside
596 INTENSITY
150 INTERNAL_EXTERNAL RecallAlignment
ForIOchannel
454 IOCHANNEL_NUMBER management
commands
Nolongerused,
457 IOCHANNEL_PULSE_DURATIONprobablyshouldbe
removed
Nolongerused,
456 IOCHANNEL_PULSE_INTERVAL probablyshouldbe
removed
Nolongerused,
455 IOCHANNEL_PULSE_WIDTH probablyshouldbe
removed
634 ISLAND_AI
635 ISLAND_AJ

636 ISLAND_AK
638 ISLAND_CLEARANCEDIST
625 ISLAND_DIAM
631 ISLAND_I
632 ISLAND_J
633 ISLAND_K
626 ISLAND_LENGTH
637 ISLAND_TYPE
627 ISLAND_WIDTH
628 ISLAND_X
629 ISLAND_Y
630 ISLAND_Z
Bestfititemusedin
138 ITEM_USED calculationof
alignment
Iteratecolumns
354 ITERATE_COLUMNS
setting
NoEntriesAvailable
NoEntriesAvailable
L
Value
Number DataTypeName DataTypeDescription Index
String
Labelfieldforflow
200 LABEL_ID controlobjectsthat
referencelabels
729 LEADER_LINE_ID
480 LEFTYRIGHTY_CONFIG
Refidforalevel
4 LEVEL_REF_ID featureofaniterative
alignment
Filterobjectlinear
62 LIN_POL_FILT_TYPE
orpolarfilter
782 LINE1_BONUS
643 LINE1_CALLOUT
644 LINE1_COLUMN_HDR
650 LINE1_DEV
651 LINE1_DEVPERCENT
750 LINE1_DEVPERCENT_NOM

752 LINE1_DEVPERCENT2
645 LINE1_FEATNAME
652 LINE1_ISBILATERAL
768 LINE1_MAX
647 LINE1_MEAS
769 LINE1_MIN
649 LINE1_MINUSTOL
646 LINE1_NOMINAL
653 LINE1_NUMZONES
765 LINE1_OUTTOL
648 LINE1_PLUSTOL
642 LINE1_TBLHDR
751 LINE1_USE2DEVIATIONS
686 LINE2_AXIS
658 LINE2_BONUS
655 LINE2_CALLOUT
660 LINE2_DATUMSHFT
662 LINE2_DEV
663 LINE2_DEVANG
657 LINE2_FEATNAME
695 LINE2_MAX
688 LINE2_MEAS
696 LINE2_MIN
694 LINE2_MINUSTOL
687 LINE2_NOMINAL
698 LINE2_NUMZONES
766 LINE2_OUTTOL
693 LINE2_PLUSTOL
654 LINE2_TBLHDR
659 LINE2_TOL
661 LINE2_UNUSEDZONE
669 LINE3_BONUS
666 LINE3_CALLOUT
671 LINE3_DATUMSHFT
673 LINE3_DEV
674 LINE3_DEVANG

668 LINE3_FEATNAME
774 LINE3_MAX
771 LINE3_MEAS
775 LINE3_MIN
773 LINE3_MINUSTOL
770 LINE3_NOMINAL
700 LINE3_NUMZONES
767 LINE3_OUTTOL
772 LINE3_PLUSTOL
665 LINE3_TBLHDR
670 LINE3_TOL
672 LINE3_UNUSEDZONE
355 LOAD_TYPE Loadsetting
FeatureLocatorBMP
287 LOCATOR_BMP
On/Off
FeatureLocator
288 LOCATOR_WAV
WAVOn/Off
Lowforceforoption
210 LOW_FORCE
probeobject
Lowthresholdfor
224 LOW_THRESHOLD
tempcompobject
M
Value
Number DataTypeName DataTypeDescriptionIndex
String
Machinetypeforload
227 MACHINE_TYPE
machineobject
485 MAGNIFICATION
176 MAN_RETRACT
94 MANUAL_FINE_PROBING Manualfineprobing
Whethermanualpre
534 MANUAL_PREPOSITION positionneededon
visiontarget
Materialcoefficient
221 MATERIAL_COEFFICIENT
fortempcompobject
Settingforvariable
242 MAX_ANGLE
techniqueonscans
Maxforceforoption
209 MAX_FORCE
probeobject
Settingforvariable
240 MAX_INCREMENT
techniqueonscans

491 MEAN
569 MEAS_A
ForCMT
612 MEAS_A2
characteristicpoint1
30 MEAS_ANGLE Measuredangle
721 MEAS_AREA
556 MEAS_DEPTH
29 MEAS_DIAM Measureddiameter
584 MEAS_EA
585 MEAS_EH
624 MEAS_END_ANG
583 MEAS_ER
Measuredendpointx
313 MEAS_EX
component
Measuredendpointy
314 MEAS_EY
component
Measuredendpointz
315 MEAS_EZ
component
552 MEAS_FLUSH
554 MEAS_GAP
570 MEAS_H
ForCMT
613 MEAS_H2
306 MEAS_HEIGHT Measuredheight
25 MEAS_I Measuredi
26 MEAS_J Measuredj
27 MEAS_K Measuredk
28 MEAS_LENGTH Measuredlength
Measuredminoraxis
305 MEAS_MINOR_AXIS
(ellipse)
719 MEAS_PERIMETER
568 MEAS_R
Forcmtcharacteristic
611 MEAS_R2
point1
581 MEAS_SA
582 MEAS_SH
307 MEAS_SLOTVEC_I Measuredslotvectori
308 MEAS_SLOTVEC_J Measuredslotvectorj
Measuredslotvector
309 MEAS_SLOTVEC_K
k
580 MEAS_SR
623 MEAS_START_ANG
Measuredstartpointx
310 MEAS_SX
component

Measuredstartpointy
311 MEAS_SY
component
Measuredstartpointz
312 MEAS_SZ
component
316 MEAS_WIDTH Measuredwidth
point X
22 MEAS_X Hitpointmeasuredx
numberCoordinate
ForCMT
396 MEAS_X2
point Y
23 MEAS_Y Hitpointmeasuredy
numberCoordinate
ForCMT
397 MEAS_Y2
point Z
24 MEAS_Z Hitpointmeasuredz
numberCoordinate
ForCMT
398 MEAS_Z2
Flagforiterative
141 MEASURE_ALL_FEATURES
alignments
Measureorderfor
edgefeature
59 MEASURE_ORDER_TYPE
SURFACE/EDGE/
BOTH
Determinesplanein
66 MEASURED_2D3D_TYPE whichsolutionwilllie
or3Dsolution
106 MEASVEC_I Measurevectori
107 MEASVEC_J Measurevectorj
108 MEASVEC_K Measurevectork
357 METHOD_TYPE Scanmethodtype
100 MIDPOINT_X Midpointx
101 MIDPOINT_Y Midpointy
102 MIDPOINT_Z Midpointz
Settingforvariable
241 MIN_ANGLE
techniqueonscans
Settingforvariable
239 MIN_INCREMENT
techniqueonscans
Usedfornewvident
commandbut
designedtobegeneral
486 MINOR_WORD_TOGGLE
enoughforany
command'sminor
wordtoggle.
58 MODE_TYPE MANUALorDCC
45 MOVE_TYPE Useautomove(yes/

no)
N
DataType Value
Number DataTypeName Index
Description String
Numberofcontrol
429 N_CONTROLPOINTS
pointsinascan
Numberofhitsper
70 N_HITS 0 1ormore
row
Togglefieldforfixed
55 N_INIT_HITS_TYPE
numberofinithits
Togglefieldforfixed
56 N_PERM_HITS_TYPE
numberofpermhits
71 N_ROWS Numberofrows 0 1ormore
Numberofpolygon
489 N_SIDES
sides
Emptystatsdirfield
249 NEW_STATS_DIR ineditorforstatistics
object
Newtipinmoveph9
157 NEW_TIP
offset
Notype,default
0 NINGUNO_TIPO value,usedwith
constants
Allowthefeature
"YES"or
826 NO_APPROACH_VECTOR_FLIP vectortobeflipped 0
"NO"
duringoptimzation
482 NOFLIPFLIP_CONFIG
Dimensionnominal
166 NOMINAL
value
VisionNominal
321 NOMINAL_COLOR
Color
Normalscanmodeor
232 NORM_RELEARN relearnnominals
mode
Numberofcontrol
317 NUM_CONTROL_POINTS
points
Numberofpoints
320 NUM_FIT_POINTS usedforfitting
surface
356 NUM_ITERATIONS Numberofiterations
Returndatafor
215 NUM_RETURN_DATA
optionprobeobject

DataType Value
Number DataTypeName Index
Description String
methodforoffset
61 OFFSET_LINE_METHOD
lines
offsettolerancefor
238 OFFSET_TOLERANCE
perimeterscans
oldtipinmoveph9
156 OLD_TIP
offset
Initiallyimplemented
forusewith
285 ONOFF_TYPE IGNOREROTABbut
canbeusedwithany
ONO
620 OPERTYPE
Origindatapointfor
220 ORIGIN
tempcompobject
Refidforanorigin
6 ORIGIN_REF_ID featureofaniterative
alignment
449 OUTPUT_DMIS_REPORT DMOreporting
448 OUTPUT_FEAT_W_DIMENS DMOreporting
447 OUTPUT_FEATURE_NOMS DMOreporting
Modeofoutputfor
165 OUTPUT_TYPE
dimensions
558 OVERLAP
559 OVERSCAN
446 OVERWRITE DMOreporting
P
DataType
NumberDataTypeName Index ValueString
Description
Prependedwith_
toavoidconfusion
374 _PRINT_TO_FILE
withEditwindow
constants
Prependedwith_
toavoidconfusion
375 _PRINT_TO_PRINTER
withEditwindow
constants
191 PART_NAME
"SQUARE"
519 PATTERN_TYPE Autoplanepattern 0
or"RADIAL"
487 PERCENTAGE
NumberofPerm
73 PERM_HITS 0 0ormore
(sample)hits

Dimension
170 PERP_PARALLEL_TYPE perindicular
paralleltype
115 PINVEC_I Pinvectori
116 PINVEC_J Pinvectorj
117 PINVEC_K Pinvectork
605 PIXEL_TOGGLE
Pointinfoheading
186 POINT_INFO_HEADING
type
Togglefieldfor
deviationfilter
380 POINTINFO_FILTER_DEVIATION
stateofpointinfo
commands
Numberfield
associatedwith
POINTINFO_FILTER_
381 deviationfilter
DEVIATION_NUMBER
stateofpointinfo
commands
Togglefieldfor
intervalfilterstate
301 POINTINFO_FILTER_INTERVAL
ofpointinfo
commands
Numberfield
associatedwith
POINTINFO_FILTER_
302 intervalfilterstate
INTERVAL_NUMBER
ofpointinfo
commands
Togglefieldfor
outtolfilterstateof
382 POINTINFO_FILTER_OUTTOL
pointinfo
commands
Togglefieldfor
worstfilterstateof
378 POINTINFO_FILTER_WORST
pointinfo
commands
Numberfield
associatedwith
POINTINFO_FILTER_
379 worstfilterstateof
WORST_NUMBER
pointinfo
commands
Polarvector
218 POLAR_VECTOR_COMPENSATIONcompensation
object
Positivereporting
277 POS_REPORT_AXIS_X
axis
278 POS_REPORT_AXIS_Y Positivereporting

axis
Positivereporting
279 POS_REPORT_AXIS_Z
axis
462 POS_REPT_DISPLAY_OPTION
Positional
accuracyfor
214 POSITIONAL_ACCURACY
optionprobe
object
786 PPAP_INDEX
Partprogramname
399 PPROG (usedinadatabase
query)
Dimensiondisplay
175 PRECISION
precision
377 PRINT_DELETE_RUNS
376 PRINT_DRAFTMODE
Probeaccuracyfor
213 PROBE_ACCURACY optionprobe
object
Probecomp
228 PROBE_COMP
(on/off)toggle
Probingmodefor
299 PROBING_MODE
optionprobe
Dimensionprofile
174 PROFILE_FORM_TYPE
formtypetoggle
550 PROFILE_TYPE
521 PROGRAM_GAGE_FEAT_TYPE
522 PROGRAM_GAGE_TYPE
118 PUNCHVEC_I Punchvectori
119 PUNCHVEC_J Punchvectorj
120 PUNCHVEC_K Punchvectork
Q
DataType
Description
QUERY_SHOW_GRAPHIC_SETTIN
470
GS
R
DataType
Description
Dimension2D
171 RADIUS_TYPE Distanceradius
type
Read/Write
196 READ_WRITE
toggle

ReadPosition(yes
46 READPOS_TYPE
/no)
IDofobjectbeing
3 REF_ID
referredto
Reference
222 REF_TEMP temperaturefor
tempcompobject
412 REGR ForSPC
Flagforiterative
142 REPIERCE_CAD
alignments
Extendedsheet
383 REPORT_SURFVEC_I metalvectorfor
DCCEdge
Extendedsheet
384 REPORT_SURFVEC_J metalvectorfor
DCCEdge
Extendedsheet
385 REPORT_SURFVEC_K metalvectorfor
DCCEdge
121 REPORTVEC_I Reportvectori
122 REPORTVEC_J Reportvectorj
123 REPORTVEC_K Reportvectork
Retrolinearonlyon
188 RET_ONLY_TYPE
/offtoggle
Returnspeedfor
216 RETURN_SPEED
optionprobeobject
Fileheader
192 REVISION_NUMBER
revisionnumber
Userelative
48 RMEAS_TYPE
measures(yes/no)
Nameofrmeas
69 RMEASFEATID
feature
Referencedfeature Feature
524 RMEASFEATIDX 0
(Xaxis) lable
525 RMEASFEATIDY 0
(Yaxis) lable
526 RMEASFEATIDZ 0
(Zaxis) lable
Refidforarotate
5 ROTATE_REF_ID featureofan
iterativealignment
Moverotarytable
158 ROTATION_TYPE
type
286 ROW_ID
639 RPT_DIMENSION_TABLES

S
DataType
Description
SaveAlignSave
151 SAVE_ALIGN_CAD_TO_PARTS
Type
92 SCAN_ACCELERATION Scanacceleration
Axisvectori for
265 SCAN_AXISVEC_I boundary
conditions...
Axisvectorj for
266 SCAN_AXISVEC_J boundary
conditions...
Axisvectork for
267 SCAN_AXISVEC_K boundary
conditions...
432 SCAN_BNDRY_TYPE
Numberof
crossingsallowed
274 SCAN_CROSS_TOTAL
inboundary
condition
259 SCAN_CUTPLANEVEC_I Cutplanevectori
260 SCAN_CUTPLANEVEC_J Cutplanevectorj
261 SCAN_CUTPLANEVEC_K Cutplanevectork
Scandensityfor
217 SCAN_DENSITY
optionprobeobject
Edgethicknessfor
276 SCAN_EDGE_THICK
edgescans
268 SCAN_ENDVEC_I Endtouchvectori
269 SCAN_ENDVEC_J Endtouchvectorj
270 SCAN_ENDVEC_K Endtouchvectork
Unitdirection
271 SCAN_INITDIR_I
vectori
Unitdirection
272 SCAN_INITDIR_J
vectorj
Unitdirection
273 SCAN_INITDIR_K
vectork
Initialtouchvector
262 SCAN_INITVEC_I
i
Initialtouchvector
263 SCAN_INITVEC_J
j
Initialtouchvector
264 SCAN_INITVEC_K
k
93 SCAN_OFFSET_FORCE Scanoffsetforce
358 SCAN_TECHNIQUE Scantechnique
275 SCAN_TIME_INCR Timeincrementfor

manualscans
Screencapture
540 SCREEN_CAPTURE_AUTO_TIME time(alwaysoron
error)
Screencapture
autotype(which
536 SCREEN_CAPTURE_AUTO_TYPE givesmoreoptions
thatbasicscreen
capture)
Screencapture
503 SCREEN_CAPTURE_QUALITY
imagecolordepth
Screencapture
502 SCREEN_CAPTURE_SCALE
imagesize
Screencapture
type(cannowdo
535 SCREEN_CAPTURE_TYPE
LiveImageView
aswellasCAD)
Boxorcircular
57 SEARCHMODE_TYPE searchmodefor
hipointfeature
764 SECTION_INDEX
Sensorlistfor
225 SENSOR_LIST
tempcompobject
Fileheaderserial
193 SERIAL_NUMBER
number
494 SHOW_COLUMN
Displaydetailsfor
136 SHOW_DETAILS alignmentsand
scans
Dimensionformat
179 SHOW_HEADINGS
headingstoggle
Display idfor
135 SHOW_IDS alignmentsand
loops
414 SHOW_MORE_SPC_CALCS ForSPC
723 SHOW_NOMS
728 SHOW_OPTIONS
Pointinfo/Show
187 SHOW_POINT_INFO
pointinfo
493 SHOW_ROW
402 SHOW_SPC_CALCS ForSPC
763 SIMULT_EVAL
Pointmodeondcc
235 SINGLE_POINT
scanobject
145 SKIP_NUM Skipnumberof

loop
Measureslotusing
53 SLOT_MIN_MAX_TYPE 5(NORM)or6
(MINMAX)hits
Setsthecolumn
slotnumberfora
297 SLOT_NUMBER
columnloadand
unload
563 SLOT_TYPE
109 SLOTVEC_I Slotvectori
110 SLOTVEC_J Slotvectorj
111 SLOTVEC_K Slotvectork
Vectorfeatures/
43 SNAP_TYPE
Surfacefeatures
416 SOLID ForSPC
403 SPEC_LIMITS ForSPC
415 SPEC_OFFSET ForSPC
Sourceexpression
(assign,subroutine,
134 SRC_EXPR callsub,basic
script,flow
control)
Dimensionformat
181 STANDARD_DEVIATION
stddevtoggle
Radian
98 START_ANG Startangle 0
value
466 START_LABEL
Startnumberfor
143 START_NUM
loop
Calctypeon/off
254 STAT_CALC_TYPE toggleforstatistics
object
Fileheader
194 STAT_COUNT
statisticscount
Variablename
253 STAT_NAME_TYPE typeforstatistics
object
Usedfortoggle
fieldsthatcannot
1 STATIC_TOGGLE
contain
expressions
Datasourcefor
391 STATS_DATASOURCE
statisticsobject
Forstatscommand
453 STATS_DB_TYPE
databaseoption

Statsdirectoryfor
248 STATS_DIR
statisticsobject
Statstypefor
247 STATS_TYPE
statisticsobject
405 STDDEV Forspc
195 SUB_NAME Subroutinename
690 SUMMARY_AXIS
781 SUMMARY_BONUS
684 SUMMARY_COLUMN_HDR
640 SUMMARY_DEV
685 SUMMARY_FEAT
779 SUMMARY_MAX
692 SUMMARY_MEAS
780 SUMMARY_MIN
778 SUMMARY_MINUSTOL
691 SUMMARY_NOMINAL
776 SUMMARY_OUTTOL
777 SUMMARY_PLUSTOL
689 SUMMARY_TBLHDR
484 SURFACE
112 SURFVEC_I Surfacevectori
113 SURFVEC_J Surfacevectorj
114 SURFVEC_K Surfacevectork
Surfacevectori
546 SURFVEC_MEAS_I
meas
Surfacevectorj
547 SURFVEC_MEAS_J
meas
Surfacevectork
548 SURFVEC_MEAS_K
meas
T
DataType
Description
345 T_VALUE Tvalueonhits
572 TARG_A
590 TARG_EA
591 TARG_EH
589 TARG_ER
Targetendpointx
516 TARG_EX
component
Targetendpointy
517 TARG_EY
component
Targetendpointz
518 TARG_EZ
component
573 TARG_H

31 TARG_I Targeti vector

32 TARG_J Targetj vector
33 TARG_K Targetk vector
571 TARG_R
587 TARG_SA
588 TARG_SH
586 TARG_SR
Targetstartpointx
513 TARG_SX
component
Targetstartpointy
514 TARG_SY
component
Targetstartpointz
515 TARG_SZ
component
19 TARG_X Targetx centroid
20 TARG_Y Targety centroid
21 TARG_Z Targetz centroid
557 TARGET_BLOB_TYPE
VisionTarget
282 TARGET_COLOR
Color
474 TARGET_DIRECTION
520 TARGET_EDGE_ANGLE
508 TARGET_EDGE_DENSITY
712 TARGET_EDGE_EDGEDETECT
538 TARGET_EDGE_EDGENUM
537 TARGET_EDGE_EDGESELECT
717 TARGET_EDGE_GRADIENT
711 TARGET_EDGE_HEIGHT
505 TARGET_EDGE_ILLUM
475 TARGET_EDGE_POLARITY
504 TARGET_EDGE_SIZE
507 TARGET_EDGE_STRENGTH
506 TARGET_EDGE_TOL
509 TARGET_EDGE_TYPE
549 TARGET_EDGE_UNDERSCAN
710 TARGET_EDGE_WIDTH
715 TARGET_FILTER_AREA
716 TARGET_FILTER_AREA_SIZE
713 TARGET_FILTER_CLEAN
714 TARGET_FILTER_CLEAN_STRENGTH
561 TARGET_FILTER_OUTLIER
TARGET_FILTER_OUTLIER_
562
DISTANCE_THRE
TARGET_FILTER_OUTLIER_
599
STD_DEV_THRE

523 TARGET_FOCUS
TARGET_SURFACE_
722
CROSSHAIR_HEIGHT
499 TARGET_SURFACE_DURATION
497 TARGET_SURFACE_HEIGHT
501 TARGET_SURFACE_HIACC
490 TARGET_SURFACE_ILLUM
500 TARGET_SURFACE_MODE
498 TARGET_SURFACE_RANGE
511 TARGET_SURFACE_TYPE
496 TARGET_SURFACE_WIDTH
564 TARGET_TYPE
124 TARGSLOT_I Targetslotvectori
125 TARGSLOT_J Targetslotvectorj
126 TARGSLOT_K Targetslotvectork
CurrentPart
532 TEMPP
temperature
CurrentXaxis
529 TEMPX
temperature
CurrentYaxis
530 TEMPY
temperature
CurrentZaxis
531 TEMPZ
temperature
Usetextanalysis
163 TEXT_ANALSYIS ondimension(Yes
/No)
761 TEXTANAL_LABEL_DEV
758 TEXTANAL_LABEL_MEAS_I
759 TEXTANAL_LABEL_MEAS_J
760 TEXTANAL_LABEL_MEAS_K
755 TEXTANAL_LABEL_MEAS_X
756 TEXTANAL_LABEL_MEAS_Y
757 TEXTANAL_LABEL_MEAS_Z
762 TEXTANAL_LABEL_MINMAX
566 THEO_A
ForCMT
609 THEO_A2 characteristicpoint
1
38 THEO_ANGLE Theoreticalangle
720 THEO_AREA
555 THEO_DEPTH
Theoretical
34 THEO_DIAM
diameter
578 THEO_EA
579 THEO_EH

VisionCircle
284 THEO_END_ANG
Feature
577 THEO_ER
Theoreticalx end
13 THEO_EX
point
Theoreticaly end
14 THEO_EY
point
Theoreticalzend
15 THEO_EZ
point
551 THEO_FLUSH
553 THEO_GAP
567 THEO_H
ForCMT
610 THEO_H2 characteristicpoint
1
37 THEO_HEIGHT Theoreticalheight
Hitpoint point
Numeric
16 THEO_I theoreticali numb
value
vector er
Hitpoint point
Numeric
17 THEO_J theoreticalj numb
value
vector er
Hitpoint point
Numeric
18 THEO_K theoreticalk numb
value
vector er
36 THEO_LENGTH Theoreticallength
Theoreticalminor
130 THEO_MINOR_AXIS
access
718 THEO_PERIMETER
565 THEO_R
ForCMT
608 THEO_R2 characteristicpoint
1
575 THEO_SA
576 THEO_SH
574 THEO_SR
VisionCircle
283 THEO_START_ANG
Feature
Theoreticalx start
10 THEO_SX
point
Theoreticaly start
11 THEO_SY
point
Theoreticalzstart
12 THEO_SZ
point
35 THEO_WIDTH Theoreticalwidth

Hitpoint point
7 THEO_X theoreticalx numb XCoordinate
centroid er
ForCMT
393 THEO_X2 characteristicpoint
1
Hitpoint point
8 THEO_Y theoreticaly numb YCoordinate
centroid er
ForCMT
394 THEO_Y2 characteristicpoint
1
Hitpoint point
9 THEO_Z theoreticalz numb ZCoordinate
centroid er
ForCMT
395 THEO_Z2 characteristicpoint
1
Usetheoretical
49 THEOBF_TYPE valuesforbestfit
algorithm(yes/no)
"THICKNES
S_
NONE",
Theoreticalor "THEO_
41 THICKNESS_TYPE 0
actualthickness THICKNESS
",or"ACTL_
THICKNESS
"
Theoreticalor
594 THICKNESS_TYPE_EDGE
actualthickness
Thinningtolerance
67 THINNING_TOL
forcurves
488 THRESHOLD
450 TIME_ARG ForSPC
ForSPC:filtering
401 TIME_FILTER basedontime
stamps
Tipshankvectori
229 TIP_I
component
Tipshankvectorj
230 TIP_J
component
Tipshankvectork
231 TIP_K
component
418 TITLE ForSPC

349 TOOL_DIAM Tooldiameter

346 TOOL_X Toolxvalue
347 TOOL_Y Toolyvalue
348 TOOL_Z Toolzvalue
DimensionTrue
169 TP_MODIFIER
Positionmodifier
Thisisbecause
TP_MODIFIER
and
726 TP_MODIFIER2 TP_MODIFIER2
areusedintwo
differentgroupsin
summarymode.
ForSPC:filtering
400 TRACE_FILTER basedontrace
fields
451 TRACE_FILTER_ARG ForSPC
257 TRACE_NAME Tracefieldname
258 TRACE_VALUE Tracefieldvalue
Tracecommand
473 TRACE_VALUE_LIMIT characterlimitfor
thevaluefield
Transferdirectory
255 TRANSFER_DIR
forstatisticsobject
Triggerforcefor
212 TRIGGER_FORCE
optionprobeobject
469 TRIGGERPLANE
463 TRIGGERTOLERANCE
464 TRIGGERTOLVALUE
131 TWO_D_THREE_D_TYPE 2dor3d
U
DataType
Description
NumberofU
318 U_HITS pointsfor
surface
417 U_L_BOUNDS ForSPC
406 UCL_LCL ForSPC
Unittype(inch/
172 UNIT_TYPE
mm)
Upforcefor
211 UP_FORCE optionprobe
object
127 UPDATEVEC_I Updatevectori

128 UPDATEVEC_J Updatevectorj

129 UPDATEVEC_K Updatevectork
431 USE_3DFILTER
Flagfor
iterative
139 USE_AXIS alignmentsand
startTP
dimension
753 USE_AXIS2
541 USE_HSSDAT
542 USE_STARTENDDELAY
BRNadded
281 USE_THEO
5/2/2002
Usepinvector
44 USEPIN_TYPE ornormal
vector
738 USETWODEVIATIONS
V
DataType
Description
NumberofV
319 V_HITS pointsfor
surface
363 VIDEO_GAIN
366 VIDEO_LASERLIGHT1
367 VIDEO_LASERLIGHT2
365 VIDEO_LEDLIGHT
370 VIDEO_LSEG
364 VIDEO_OFFSET
371 VIDEO_XSEG
369 VIDEO_YEND
368 VIDEO_YORIGIN
372 VIDEO_YSEG
Turnoffvoid "YES"or
512 VOID_DETECT 0
detection "NO"
W
DataType
Description
FeatureLocator
322 WAVE_FILE
WaveFile
Weightvalue
137 WEIGHT forBestFit
alignments

154 WORK_PLANE Workplane
X
DataType
Description
XOffsetfor
146 X_OFFSET
loops
Y
DataType
Description
YOffsetfor
147 Y_OFFSET
loops
Z
DataType
Description
ZOffsetfor
148 Z_OFFSET
loops
404 ZONES ForSPC
UsingaTypeIndextoDisplaySpecificData
Typeindexesletyoupullinveryspecificdataintoyourreport.Forexample,ifyouhadacylinder
featurewitheighthits,youcoulduseatypeindextograbthesecondhit'smeasuredXvalue.To
useatypeindex,simplyappendacolonandanumbertotheexpressiontogetthathitorthatrow
ofdimensiondata.
TypeIndexestoDisplaySpecificData
Todemonstratehowthisworks,ifyoutyped:
=MEAS_X
PCDMISwouldnotuseatypeindex(thetypeindexwoulddefaultto0)andPCDMISwould
displaythemeasuredXvalueofthefeature'scenterpoint.
But,ifyoutyped:
=MEAS_X:1
PCDMISwoulddisplaythemeasuredXvalueofthefirsthit.
Ifyoutyped:
=MEAS_X:2
PCDMISwouldwillretrievethemeasuredXvalueofthesecondhit.
RepeatingRowstoDisplayallData
Similartotypeindexes,IntheGridControlObjectyoucandefinearowasa"repeatingrow".
Withrepeatingrows,thecharacter"N"evaluatestothecurrentrepeatindexoftherowbeing

drawn.Whenyoudefinearepeatingrow,youcanalsodefinearepeatingrowexpressionthat,
whenevaluated,determineshowmanytimestherowrepeats.
So,ifyouwantedtodisplayallofthemeasuredXvaluesforallhitsinafeature,youcoulddefine
asinglerepeatingrowwiththefollowingexpression:
=MEAS_X:N
Youcouldthensettherepeatingrowexpressionto"=N_HITS"togetthetotalnumberofhits.PC
DMISwouldcontinuetorepeattherowwithsubsequenthitdatauntilthetotalnumberofhitswas
displayed.
UsingaPrefixNumbertoAccessReferenceFeatureData
Previoustoversion4.2youcouldnotaccessareferencefeature'sdatathroughreport
expressions.Whilethereportexpressionlanguageprovidedaccesstopracticallyeverydatafield
ofthegivencommand,therewasn'taneasywaytoaccessdataforreferredcommands. For
example,youcouldnotdetermineifalocationdimensionwasforacircle,aplane,oraline.
Startingwithversion4.2however,areportexpressioncannowtakeanoptionalprefixnumber
insidecurlybracketstoindicatefromwhichreferencecommandthedatashouldbetaken.
Forexample,ifyoucreatealabeltemplateforaRoundnessdimension,andyouwanttoshow
themeasureddiameteronthelabeltemplate,youcouldusethisexpression:
={1}MEAS_DIAM()
Noticethe{1}.Thisindicatesthatthedataneedstocomefromthefirstreferencecommand(the
feature)insteadofthecommandforwhichthetemplateisbeingcreated(thedimension).
Ifthereismorethanonereferencefeatureused,thenumberwithinthecurlybracesrepresents
thefeaturefromwhichPCDMISwillpulltheinformation.Forexample,aDistancedimension
usestwofeaturestocomputethedistance.Using{1}wouldpullinformationfromthefirst
referencefeatureand{2}wouldpullitfromthesecondreferencefeature.
PredefinedConstants
Thereportingexpressionlanguagealsomakesuseofsomepredefinedconstantsforthetype
indicesusedwiththeDIMENSION_TABLESdatatype.
LINE1_SIZE_TABLE=1
LINE2_POSITION_TABLE=2
LINE3_POSITION_TABLE=3
DATUM_SHIFT_TABLE=4
SUMMARY_TABLE=5
LINE2_ORIENTATION_TABLE=7
LINE3_ORIENTATION_TABLE=8
LINE2_BASIC_DIMENSION_TABLE=9
LINE3_BASIC_DIMENSION_TABLE=10
TRUE_POSITION_TABLE =11
DIMENSION_TABLE=12
DIMENSION_WITH_BONUS_TABLE=13

NEWLINE
NEWLINEisusedtoaddacarriagereturntoatextexpression:
Thisexpression,
=Thisisline1+andthisisline2
wouldappearas,
Thisisline1andthisisline2
onthereport.
Theexpression,
=Thisisline1+NEWLINE+andthisisline2
wouldappearsas,
Thisisline1
andthisisline2
onthereport.
N:
Whenusingrepeatingrowsinagrid,Nevaluatestothecurrentrowcountintherepeatingrows.
Thisisusefulwhenplacingexpressionsthatuseadatatypemorethanonceinarepeatingrow.
Belowisasamplegridusedtoshowhitvaluesinatable.Nisbeingusedintheexpressionsfor
therepeatingrow. Whentheexpressionsforthefirstinstanceoftherepeatingrowareevaluated,
Nwillequal1,andsotheX,Y,andZvaluesofthefirsthitwillbeshown.Whenthesecondrowis
added,Nwillequal2,andsotheX,Y,andZvalueofthesecondhitwillbeshown.
ExpressionsUsedinStandardTemplates
Inthevariousstandardreportandlabeltemplates,youwillseeseveralreportingexpressions
usedtodisplaydifferentpiecesofinformationortoformatthedisplayofinformation.For
example,considerthecodebehindfeature.lbl,astandardlabeltemplatethatshipswithPC
DMIS.
Inthistemplate,youwillseeseveralreportingexpressions(=LOADSTR,=DIM_MEASURED,
=NOMINALandsoon)thatdeterminewhatinformationPCDMISshoulddisplayinthecells.
CommonExpressions
Thefollowinglistdescribesthemostcommonexpressionsusedinthevariousstandard
templates:
Someofthesefunctionsarealsodiscussedinthe"FunctionsandOperators"topic.

=<Expression>:NThisallowsyoutodisplayrepeatedinformation.See"UsingaType
IndextoDisplaySpecificData"and"PredefinedConstants"formoreinformationon
repeatingrows.
=AXISThisdisplaysthecurrentaxisname(XAXIS,YAXIS,orZAXIS).
=DIM_MEASUREDThisdisplaysthemeasuredvaluefromadimension.
=DEVIATION_ANGLEThisdisplaysadecimalvaluerepresentingthedeviationanglein
degreesofatruepositiondimension.Thisisusedtodrawtheradialgraphicforthetrue
positiondimensiontemplates.
=DEVPERCENT_NOMThisdisplaysadecimalvaluerepresentingthepercentageof
thetotaltolerancerangethatmarksthe0deviation(nominal)positiononthelinear
graphic.Forabilateraltolerancewherethe+/valuesareequalthiswouldbe50.0
(percent)thecenteroflineargraphicrepresents0deviation.Foranonbilateraltolerance
thiswouldbe0.0theleftmostsideoflineargraphicrepresents0deviation.
=DEVPERCENT2 WhenUSETWODEVIATIONSistrue(seeUSETWODEVIATIONS
below),thisdisplaysadecimalvaluerepresentingthepercentageofthe+toleranceused
bythemaxdeviationofabilateralprofilereportedasformandlocation.Thepercentage
ofthetoleranceusedbythemindeviationisgivenbyDIM_RPT_DEVPERCENT.
=DIM_DEVIATIONThisdisplayshowmuchadimensiondeviatesfromthenominal.
=DIM_OUTTOLThisdisplaystheoutoftolerancevalueforadimension.
=DIM_MAXThisdisplaysthemaximumvalueforthegivenaxisamongallpointsrelated
totheinputfeature.
=DIM_MEASUREDThisdisplaysadimension'smeasuredvalue.
=DIM_MINThisdisplaystheminimumvalueforthegivenaxisamongallpointsrelated
totheinputfeature.
=DIM_RPT_DEVPERCENTThisdisplaysadecimalvaluerepresentingthepercentage
ofthetotaltolerancerangethatmarksthedeviationofthisdimension.
=DIM_RPT_GRAPHICThisdisplaysanintegervaluerepresentingthetypeofgraphic
controlPCDMISshoulddisplayforthedimension.
0reportnographiccontrol
1reportthelineargraphiccontrol
2reporttheradialgraphiccontrol
=DIM_RPT_ISBILATERALThisexpressiondetermineswhetherornotthelinear
graphicrepresentsabilateraltolerance(+/tolerancevalue)suchasthesizeofaholeor
profilereportedasformandlocation.Examplesoftolerancesthatarenotbilateral(single
tolerancevalue)areformtolerancessuchascircularity,flatnessandstraightnessand
profilereportedasformonly.Valuescanbe0(false)or1(true).
=DIM_RPT_NUMZONESThisdisplaysadecimalvalueindicatingthenumberof
tolerancezones(from0deviationtothemaximumalloweddeviation)tobedrawnonthe
lineargraphic.YoucansetthisintheEditDimensionColordialogbox(selectEdit|
GraphicsDisplayWindow|DimensionColor).Youcanassigneachzoneaunique
colortoshowbythecolorofthelineargraphichowmuchofthetolerancewasusedby
thedeviationofthedimension.
=F_PLUS_TOLThisdisplaysafeature'splustolerance.
=F_MINUS_TOLThisdisplaysafeature'sminustolerance.
=IDThisdisplaysthefeatureordimensionID.
=LOADSTRThisloadsastringfromatableofstoredstringswithinPCDMIS.See
"LoadingStringsfromPCDMIS"formoreinformation.
=NOMINALThisdisplaysthenominaldataforafeature.
=Page()ThisdisplaysthecurrentpagenumberoftheReportwindow.
=Pages()ThisdisplaysthetotalnumberofpagesoftheReportwindow.

=TOLThisfunctioncolorsanytextorexpressions.
=UNIT_TYPEThisdisplaystheunitofmeasurementforthefeatureordimension.
=USETWODEVIATIONSThisexpressiondetermineswhetherornotthelegacy
dimensionlabeltemplate'slineargraphicusestwodeviationvalues.Bilateralprofile
reportedasformandlocationdisplayshowmuchofthe+tolerancewasusedbythemax
deviationandhowmuchofthetolerancewasusedbythemindeviation.Valuescanbe
either0(false)or1(true)
CombinedExpressions
Youmayalsofindthatexpressionscanbecombinedandusedtogetherwithotherexpressions,
asshowninthiscodestringtakenfromtheLegacy_Dimension_Cad.lbllabeltemplate:
=TOL(DIM_DEVIATION:N,DIM_OUTTOL:N,0.0,0.0)
Thisusesthe=TOLfunctiontodisplaythedimension'sdeviationvalueandgiveittheErrorcolor
(usuallyred).
Anotherexampleisfoundinstandardreporttemplatesinversion4.2andhigher.TheTextobject
atthebottomofthosetemplatesusesthiscombinedexpressionintheTextpropertytodisplay
thecurrentpagenumberalongwiththetotalnumberofpages:
=page()+"Of"+pages()
SopagesixofatenpagereportwouldreadasfollowsatthebottomofthepageintheReport
window:
6Of10
EmbeddingReportsorTemplatesintoaPartProgram
Youcanembedalegacyreport(HyperViewreport),areporttemplate,orcustomreportintoyour
partprogram.WhenPCDMISexecutestheembeddedcode,itlaunchesthereportortemplate
allowingyoutoprintit,orviewit,andpassvaluestoandfromtheembeddeditem.
Important:legacyreportsarereportsthatwerecreatedintheHyperViewreporteditorinPC
DMISversions3.0,3.2,3.25,3.5,or3.7.Duetothenewtemplateapproachtoreportingsince
version4.0,HyperViewreportscanonlybeexecuted,theycannotbecreatedoredited.Toeditor
createaHyperViewreport,youwillneedtouseanolderversionofPCDMISthatsupports
HyperViewreportcreation.
Toembedareportortemplate:
1. MakesuretheEditwindowisinCommandMode.
2. SelectInsert|ReportCommand,andthenchooseoneofthesemenuitems.
CustomReport
TemplateReport
LegacyReport
Adialogboxappearsallowingyoutoselectyourreportortemplate.
3. SelectthereportortemplateyouwanttoembedinthePartProgram.
4. ClicktheOpenbuttontoinsertthecommand.

PCDMISwillinsertoneofthefollowingcommandsintotheEditwindowatthecursorposition:
REPORT/CUSTOM
REPORT/TEMPLATE
REPORT/LEGACY
TheREPORTCommand
TheReportcommandobjectisidentifiedwiththeREPORT commandintheEditwindow.
TheREPORTCommandSyntax
AREPORTcommandwillhavethefollowingsyntaxintheEditwindow'sCommandmode:
<ID> =REPORT/<TOG1>,FILENAME=<PATHWAY>,AUTOPRINT=<TOG2>,Section=<NUM1>
PARAM/=
ENDREPORT/
Item Description
<ID> ThisistheIDfortheREPORTcommand.
ThischangesthetypeofREPORTcommand.Itcanbe
REPORT/<TOG1>
CUSTOM,LEGACY,orTEMPLATE.
Thisdeterminesthereportortemplatetoload.
FILNAME=<PATHWAY> <PATHWAY>isthefullfilenamepathwaypointingtothe
desiredfile.
<TOG2>canswitchbetweenPRINTandPDF.
SettingAUTOPRINT=PRINTwillcausethereportor
Reporttemplatetobeprintedtothedefaultprinterafterit
hasloadedandexecuted.Thereportwillclose
immediatelyaftertheprintjobhasbeenspooledand
executionofthepartprogramwillresume.
SettingAUTOPRINT=PDFwillcausetheHyperView
ReporttobeprintedtoaPortableDocumentFormat
(PDF)file.Thefollowingrulesapply:
AUTOPRINT=<TOG2>
ThenameofthegeneratedPDFfilewill
havethesamebasenameasthereportor
templatefilenameappendedbyanumerical
indexandextension.
Thegeneratedfilewillbelocatedinthe
samedirectoryastheReportfile.
Ifafileexistswiththesamenameasthe
generatedfilename,theindexwill
automaticallyincrementitselfuntilaunique
filenameisfound.
Section=<NUM> <NUM>determinesthesectionintowhichthereportor

templatewillbeinserted.
Ifyoutype1oravaluegreaterthanthenumberof
sectionsinthedefaulttemplate,thereportgetsinserted
attheend.
ThePARAM/optionallowsyoutomapPCDMIS
expressionstoareportorareporttemplate'svariables
orproperties.ThesyntaxofthePARAM/optionis:
PARAM/{objectorvariablename}={PCDMISexpression}
Example:IfyouhaveaGlobalVariableinareport
namedNumBoltHoles.ThefollowingPARAM/option
wouldmapthePCDMISexpressiontoNumBoltHoles:
PARAM/NumBoltHoles=360.0/angle
Changestothevariableintheeditorcanalsochange
thePCDMISvariable.
Example:UsingthefollowingPARAM/option,
NumBoltHolesissetequaltonumBolts.Changeswithin
PARAM/ theHyperViewreporttotheHyperViewvariable
NumBoltHoleswillbereflectedinthePCDMISvariable
numBolts:
PARAM/NumBoltHoles=numBolts
Important:Afterexecutionanyobjectsyouchangedby
passingparametersintoaReporttemplateora
HyperViewreportwillreverttowhattheyhadbeen
beforeexecutionifyouredrawormodifythereportin
anyway.Thismeansifyouwanttoretaintheresultsof
passingaparametertoyourtemplateorreport,youwill
needtofirstprintthereportbeforemakingmodifications.
YoucandothisusingtheAUTOPRINTparameterorby
printingdirectlyfromtheReportwindow.
See"MappingPCDMISexpressionstopropertiesof
HyperViewObjects"foradditionalinformationonusing
parameters.
Hint:PressingF9onaREPORT/CUSTOM commandopensupthecustomreportintheCustom
ReportEditor.
REPORT/TEMPLATEReportGeneration
PCDMISgeneratesthedefaultreportasusualuntilitreachesthiscommand.Whenitexecutes
thiscommand,PCDMISutilizesthespecifiedtemplateandgeneratesaseparatereportforall
thepartprogramcommandsinanewsectionwithinthecurrentreport.AfterPCDMISgenerates
thisnewreportsection,itswitchesbacktothepreviousreportandcontinuesgenerating
commandsintheoriginalreportfromthatpointforward.
MappingPCDMISExpressionstoObjectProperties

PCDMISexpressionscanbemappedtopropertyobjectsusingthePARAM/commandinthe
Editwindow.ThesyntaxformappingaPCDMISexpressiontoanobjectpropertyis:
PARAM /{objectcode}.{propertyname}={PCDMISexpression}
Example:ThefollowingPARAM/optionchangestheBorderStylepropertyoftheobject,Text1:
PARAM/Text1.BorderStyle=1
UsingPCDMISActiveXcontrols
ThisseriesoftopicsprovidesanexampleofhowtosetupthepropertiesofvariousPCDMIS
ActiveXcontrolsandusetheminalabeltemplatetodisplaydimensionalinformation.
AddinganActiveXControl
PassingInformationtoanActiveXControl
SomePCDMISActiveXControls
ThetopicsdiscussedfocusontheuniqueActiveXpropertiesforeachofthecontrols.
AddinganActiveXControl
YoucanaddanActiveXcontroltoalabeltemplateintheLabelTemplateEditorintwoways:
ActiveXObjectfromObjectBarAnActiveXcontrolcanbeaddeddirectlytothelabel
templatebyclickingontheActiveXiconintheeditor'sObjectBarandthendefiningthe
areawherethecontrolwillpopulate.(Seethe"ActiveXObject"topic.)
ActiveXObjectfromGridControlObjectInaGridControlObject,attheGrid
Propertiesdialog,settheCellTypetoActiveX.ThiswillactivatetheSelectbutton.
ClickSelect.(Seethe"GridControlObject"topic.)
Regardlessofwhatmethodyouuse,PCDMISdisplaystheInsertActiveXControldialogbox.
InsertActiveXControldialogbox
SelectthedesiredcontrolfromthelistandclickOK.
Thisdialogboxlistsallthecontrolsonyoursystem,notjustthosecontrolsaddedbyPCDMIS.If
youwanttouseathirdpartycontrolinalabeltemplate,youwouldadditinthesameway.

PassingInformationtoanActiveXControl
ForallofthePCDMISActiveXcontrolsdescribedhere,thesoftwarepassesinformationintothe
controlusingtheEventReportDataevent.PCDMISencapsulatesthespecificdimensional
informationintoanobjectcalledReportData(seetheReportDataObjectOverviewtopic inthe
PCDBASICdocumentationforadditionalinformation).Forexample,ifyoulookattheRuleTree
EditorfortheTextOnly.rtpreporttemplate,youwillfindfortheDimensionLocationitemthatone
oftherulesis:
UseTemplatelegacy_dimension.lbl
TheLegacy_dimension.lbllabeltemplatereceivesthedimensionalinformationaboutthelocation
dimensionviatheReportDataobject.Theinformationisnowinthelabelbutithasnotyetbeen
passedtotheActiveXcontrol.
Tounderstandhowthisinformationgetspassed:
1. Openthelegacy_dimension.lbllabeltemplateintheLabelTemplateEditor.You
willseethatitcontainsaGridControlObjectnamedActiveX12.
2. RightclicktodisplaythePropertiesdialogboxfortheobject.
3. Doubleclickononeofthecellsinthisgridcontroltoputitineditmode.
4. Clickthecellinthelowerrightcorner.ThiscellusestheDimensionReportLinear
control.NoticethatthePropertiesdialogboxhasfourcategoriesofproperties
(Standard,Advanced,Events,ActiveX).Normallyobjectsonlyhavethreecategories
(Standard,Advanced,Events).Thisfourthcategory,ActiveX,isuniquetoActiveX
controlsandistheareawewillbeconcentratingoninthefollowingsections.
5. ExpandtheEventssection.
6. AccesstheEventReportDataproperty.TheVBAMiniEditorappears.Notice
thattheeditorcontainsthislineofcode:
This.X.EventReportDataReportData
ThiscodeisthemechanismthatpassesReportData(thedimensionalinformation)totheActiveX
control.Therefore,wheneveryouaddanActiveXcontroltoalabeltemplate,youwillneedtoset
theEventReportDatapropertytodothesamethingbyusingthatlineofcode.
SomePCDMISActiveXControls
ThefollowingsectionsdescribessomePCDMISreportingActiveXcontrolsandtheirproperties.
NotethattheDimAnalysisActiveXControlisnotdiscussedhere.Althoughitappearsinthe
ActiveXlist,itisusedinternallybytheAnalysisobjectintheLabelTemplateEditor.
BFAnalysisActiveX

Property Description Example

AfterColor Thecolorofthelastbar tbd[defaultsto65280
(Green)]
BeforeColor Thecolorofthefirstbar tbd[defaultsto255(Blue)]
NumberFeatures Thenumberoffeatures tbd
shownontheXaxis.
AfterColorandBeforeColortakelongvaluesrepresentingacolor.
Theyusethefollowingformula:
(Red*256*256)+(Green*256)+Blue.
SoRedwouldbe16711680thatis(255*256*256)+(0*256)+0Greenwouldbe65280that
is(0*256*256)+(255*256)+0Bluewouldbe255thatis,(0*256*256)+(0*256)+255.
ExampleLabelTemplate:BFANALYSISACTIVE1inBest_Fit_Analysis.lbl.
DimensionReportLinear

DeviationNominalPercent See"ExpressionsUsedin =DEVPERCENT_NOM:N
StandardTemplates"fora
descriptionoftheexample
expression.
DeviationPercent See"ExpressionsUsedin =DIM_RPT_DEVPERCENT:N

expression.
DeviationPercent2 See"ExpressionsUsedin =DEVPERCENT2:N
expression.
IsBilateral See"ExpressionsUsedin =DIM_RPT_ISBILATERAL:N
expression.
UseTwoDeviations: See"ExpressionsUsedin =USETWODEVIATIONS:N
expression.
ExampleLabelTemplate:BottomrightcellinLegacy_Dimension.lbl.
DimensionReportLinear2

Deviation: See"ExpressionsUsedin =DIM_DEVIATION:N
expression.
NegativeTolerance: See"ExpressionsUsedin =F_PLUS_TOL:N
expression.
PositiveTolerance: See"ExpressionsUsedin =F_MINUS_TOL:N
expression.
ExampleLabelTemplate:Notcurrentlyusedinanystandardlabeltemplate.
DimensionReportRadial


CylindricalDeviation See"ExpressionsUsedin =DIM_RPT_DEVPERCENT:101
expression.
CylindricalDeviationAngle: See"ExpressionsUsedin =DEVIATION_ANGLE:101
expression.
ExampleLabelTemplate:BottomrightcellinLegacy_Dimension_True_Position.lbl.
FeatureAnalysisActiveX
Therearenopropertiestosetupforthiscontrol.ItusesthedatapassedtoitinReportData.
ExampleLabelTemplate:FEATUREANALYSISA1inFeature.lbl.
DataFileFormatControl

DataFileName The.datfile(logo.dat, Ifyoutypedlogo.dat,PC
elogo.dat,orheader.dat)to DMISwouldinterpretthe
interpret. keywordsinsidethat.datfile
displayingthespecified
Ifyouusea.datfileoutside bitmap,dateandtimeand
ofthePCDMISinstallation soforthaccordingtothe.dat
directory,includethefull filekeywordsinthefile.
pathwaytothefile.
ExampleLabelTemplate:None.Seethe"ReportingUsing.DATFileKeywords"topic.

InsertingReportCommands
InsertingReportCommands:Introduction
PCDMISallowsyoutoinsertavarietyofcommandsintotheEditwindowthataffecthowand
whatinformationgetsdisplayedinreports.Thesecommands,insertedbyselectingmenuoptions
fromtheInsert|ReportCommandsubmenu,allowtheprogrammertoconfigure,view,print,
andotherwisecustomizetheappearanceoftheEditwindow.
Thefollowingtopicsarecoveredinthischapter.
InsertingCommandsRelatedtotheAnalysisWindow
InsertingDimensionInfoBoxes
InsertingPointInfoBoxes
EmbeddingHyperViewReports
InsertingProgrammerComments
InsertingExternalObjects
InsertingaPrintCommand
InsertingaFormFeedCommand
WorkingwithViewsets
InsertingaFORMCommand
InsertingScreenCaptures
InsertingCommandsRelatedtotheAnalysisWindow
Analysisdialogbox
TheInsert|ReportCommand|AnalysismenuoptionbringsuptheAnalysisdialogboxwhich
allowsyoutooutputthedimensionalprintoutinaformatsuitableforcloseexamination.
IftheAnalysisdialogboxisopen,youcanpressCTRLandclicktheleftmousebuttonona
featureintheGraphicsDisplaywindowandanydimensionsusingthatselectedfeaturewillbe
highlightedintheDimensionListbox.
Analysis
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual InsertingReportCommands 1277

TheAnalysisareaofthisdialogboxallowsyoutochoosetoviewthedimension(s)selectedfrom
theDimensionListboxineitheragraphicaloratextualreadout.
BydefaultthecheckboxesintheAnalysisareaarenotselected.Whenyouselecteitherthe
TextualorGraphicalcheckboxandclickApply,PCDMISwillshowtheselecteddimensionsin
atextualformatoragraphicalimage.ItwillnotdisplayanyCADdata.
ItishelpfultohaveeithertheGraphicalorTextualAnalysisoptiononwhenhavingaproblemwith
afeaturewhosecauseneedstobedetermined.
Example:Supposeyouareinspectingaplaneforflatness,andyoufinditisoutoftolerance.
UsingtheGraphicalAnalysisoptionwillallowyoutoexaminetheplaneanddetermineifa
specificareaisbadoriftheentiresurfaceisirregular.
ToselectGraphicalorTextualanalysisfromwithinaDimensiondialogbox:
1. SelectDimensionfromthemenubar.
2. Selectthedimensionoptionyouwillbeusingfromthemenu.Adimensiondialog
boxwillappear.
3. SelecteithertheGraphicalorTextualcheckboxes.
4. Finishthedimensioningprocess.
Graphical
IftheGraphicalcheckboxisselected,PCDMISstoresthedimensioninformationinaformatto
beviewedgraphically.
Textual
IftheTextualcheckboxisselected,PCDMISstoresthedimensioninformationinaformattobe
viewedtextually.
Multiplier
ThevalueintheMultiplierboxisascalingfactorthatmagnifiesthearrowandtolerancezonefor
thegraphicalanalysismode.Forexample,ifavalueof2.0isentered,PCDMISwillscalethe
arrowtwotimesthegraphicalimage.
1278 InsertingReportCommands PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Thisoptionisusedforviewingpurposesonly,andisnotreflectedinthetextprintout.
ShowAllArrows
TheShowAllArrowsbuttonshowsthegraphicalanalysisarrowsusedtomarkdeviation.These
graphicalanalysisarrowscanbehiddenarrowbyarrow.Todothis,pressCTRL+SHIFT,and
clickthearrowstohide.ClickingtheShowAllArrowsbuttonredisplaysthearrows.The
graphicalanalysisarrowswillthenberesetfordisplaypurposes.
ViewWindow
TheViewWindowbuttondisplaystheAnalysiswindow.Thiswindowallowsthedimensionsto
bedisplayedinthemostsuitableview.
ToeffectivelyusetheViewwindow:
1. SelectthedimensionthatneedstobeexaminedintheAnalysiswindow.
2. EnteravaluefortheMultiplierbox(see"Multiplier").
3. PresstheViewwindowbutton.PCDMISbringsuptheAnalysiswindow.
UsingthemenubarprovidedwiththeAnalysiswindowyoucanalterthegraphicalimage,capture
thecurrentgraphicsscreen,oredittheselecteddimensioncolors.
AnalysisWindow
ThemenubarontheAnalysisWindowprovidesthesemenus:
File
View
Show
Options

InordertodeterminetheinitialviewofthegraphicalanalysisintheAnalysisWindow,PCDMIS
useseitherthescancutvectorforprofiledimensionsofscansorthecurrentworkplaneforother
dimensions.Thisviewcanbealteredlater.
FileMenu
TheAnalysiswindow'sFilemenuallowsyoutosendthecontentsoftheGraphicsAnalysis
windowdirectlytotheprinterforprintingpurposes.
ViewMenu
TheAnalysiswindow'sViewmenuallowsyoutotemporarilyalterthegraphicsdisplayedforthe
selecteddimension.Byrotating,scalingorchangingtheviewyoucaneasilyaccessthe
necessarydimensions.
Note:Thisoptionisespeciallyusefulwhenviewingtheprofileerrorofasetofpoints.
Change
TheView|Change menuoptionletsyoucreatenewviewsfromaCADfile.Thisfunctionis
usefulwhena2DIGESfileisusedthatcontainsseveralviewsofapartinoneplaneandthe
viewsneedtobeassociatedwiththeircorrectorientationintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.See
"SettingUptheScreenView"inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapterformoreinformationon
manipulatingviews.
ScaletoFit
TheView|ScaleToFit menuoptionredrawsthepartimagetofitentirelywithintheGraphics
Displaywindow.Thisfunctionisusefulwhenevertheimagebecomestoolargeorsmall.
Rotate
TheView|Rotate menuoptiondisplaystheRotatedialogboxallowingyoutorotatethepart
imageinthreedimensions.
Thetopic"RotatingtheDrawing"inthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"chapterdescribesrotatingin
furtherdetail.
ShowMenu

ShowOptionsdialogbox
TheAnalysiswindow'sShow|ShowOptionsmenucommanddisplaystheShowOptions
dialogbox.ThisdialogboxallowsyoutochoosewhatthingsyouwantdisplayedintheAnalysis
window.
TheAnalysiswindow'sShow|ShowDimensionsStatsbringsuptheEditDimensionInfo
dialogbox.ThisDialogboxallowsyoutoeditindepththedimensionhighlighted.See"Common
DimensionDialogBoxOptions"inthe"DimensioningFeatures"chapterand"InsertingDimension
InfoBoxes"in thischapterformoreinformation.
ShowStatistics
TheShowStatisticscheckboxontheShowOptionsdialogboxdisplaysvariousstatisticsin
theAnalysiswindow.IftheShowStatisticscheckboxisnotselected,dimensionalinformation
textwillnotbedisplayed(foranydimensions).SeetheEditDimensionInfomenuoptionto
changetheformatofthestatisticsdisplayedintheAnalysiswindow.
ShowHistogram
TheShowHistogramcheckboxontheShowOptionsdialogboxdisplaysahistogramofthe
deviationsforeachpoint.HistogramscanbemovedtonewlocationswithintheAnalysiswindow.
TomovetoanewlocationwithintheAnalysiswindow:
1. Clickonthedesiredhistogram.
2. Dragthecursortothedesiredlocation.
ShowMax/MinDeviations
TheShowMax/MinDeviationscheckboxontheShowOptionsdialogboxallowsthe
maximumandminimumdeviationstobeindicatedwitha'*+'or'*'symbol.
OptionsMenu
TheAnalysiswindow'sOptions menuallowsyoutocapturethecurrentgraphicsscreenforlater
use.ItalsoprovidesaccesstotheEditColordialogboxandsizingoftheAnalysiswindow.
CreateAnalysisViewCommand
TheAnalysiswindow'sOptions|CreateAnalysisViewCommand menuoptiondisplaysthe
ANALYSISVIEW commandintheEditwindow.Whenthiscommandismarkedandexecuted,PC
DMISwilldisplaythelistofdimensionsinitsownanalysislevelwindow,withthenumberofview

androtationsselectedpreviously.ItwillautomaticallytakeascreencaptureoftheAnalysisLevel
windowwiththelisteddimensions.Thesescreencapturesarethenavailabletobedisplayedand
printedintheinspectionreport.
ANALYSISVIEW/D1,D2,D3,,
D1,D2,D3=listofdimensionstobedisplayed.
Thereisnolimittothenumberofdimensionparametersthatcanbeused.
Typing"ANALYSISVIEW"intheEditwindowalsocreatesanANALYSISVIEW command.Any
dimensionsselectedforanalysiswillbecomeparametersforthiscommand.
SaveGraphicstoReport
TheimagewillremainontheTheAnalysiswindow'sOptions|SaveGraphicsToReport
clipboarduntilanother menuoptioncapturestheviewintheAnalysiswindowandstoresit
screeniscaptured,orthe inaDISPLAY/METAFILEcommand.Whenexecutedthisinturn
partprogramisclosed. sendsthecaptureintotheinspectionreport.
PCDMISdoesnothavetheabilitytoeditorformatthecaptured
image.Thegraphicswillbedisplayedatthecursor'slocation.
ThisDISPLAY/METAFILEcommanddiffersfromthe
DISPLAY/METAFILEcommandgeneratedfromthemainmenuin
theseways:
IttakesthescreencaptureoftheviewintheAnalysis
windowwhenyouselectthemenuitem,nottheGraphics
Displaywindow.
Thescreencapturedoesnotgetretakenduringexecution,it
isastaticimage.
See"CreateAnalysisViewCommand"forcreatingascreencapture
thatautomaticallyupdatesitselfuponexecution.
See"ScreenCaptures"inthe "UsingtheEditWindow"chapterfor
additionalinformationontheDISPLAY/METAFILEcommand.
EditDimensionColors
TheAnalysiswindow'sOptions|EditDimensionColorsmenuoptionallowsyoutosetthe
colorforaspecifiedtolerancerange.SelectingthisoptionwilldisplaytheEditDimensionColor
dialogbox.

EditDimensionColordialogbox
Seethe"EditingDimensionColors"topicinthe"EditingtheCADDisplayOptions"chapterfor
instructionsonhowtousethisdialogboxtochangedimensioncolorsforatolerance.
DimensionOptions
ThisGraphicalAnalysisOptionsdialogboxallowsyoutodeterminetheinformationthatgets
displayedintheAnalysiswindow.
DimensionAnalysisOptions

Toaccessthisoption
1. SelectAnalysisfromthemenu.TheAnalysisdialogboxwillappear.
2. Selectthedimensionfromthelistbox.
3. ClicktheViewWindowbutton.TheAnalysiswindowwillappear.
4. SelectOptions|DimensionOptionsfromtheAnalysiswindow.The
DimensionAnalysisOptionsdialogboxopens.Mostoptionsareunavailableuntil
youselectanydimensionintheAnalysisdialogbox.Relevantoptionsbecome
availableforselection.
Thefollowingoptionsareavailableonthisdialogbox:
DialogBox Description
Option
ShowArrow TheShowArrowHeadscheckboxturnsthearrowheadsonoroffofthe
Heads deviationlines.
ShowLines TheShowLinesBetweenMeasuredHitscheckboxtogglesonorofflines
Between betweenthemeasuredhits.
Meas.Hits
ShowLines TheShowLinesBetweenNominalscheckboxtoggleslinesdrawnbetweenthe
Between nominalvalues.
Nominals
Show TheShowToleranceLinescheckboxtogglesthedisplayoftheacceptable
Tolerance tolerancesforthedimension.
Lines
ShowMax/ TheShowMax/MinDeviationscheckboxallowsthemaximumandminimum
MinDeviations deviationstobeindicatedwitha'*+'or'*'symbol.
ShowGrid TheShowGridcheckboxletsyoudisplaya3Dgridlikebackdropforthe
graphicalanalysis.Enablingthegridmayhelpyoubettervisualizerotateditems.
ItalsoenablestheGridOptionsbutton.ClickingGridOptionsopensthe
AnalysisGridOptionsdialogboxwhichyoucanusetodefineyourgrid.
SampleGraphicalAnalysiswiththeGridenabled

AnalysisGridOptionsdialogbox
Thedialogboxcontainstheseoptions:
AutomaticallySizeThisautomaticallysizesthegridbasedonthe
numberofobjectsspecifiedintheX,Y,andZfields.
SpecifiedSizeThisenablestheMaximumBoundaryandMinimum
Boundaryboxes,lettingyoutypespecificsizesforthemaximumand
minimumboundaries.
NumberofElementsThisdefinesthenumberofdivisionsthatwillbe
drawnontheanalysisgrid.
MaximumBoundaryThisdefinesupperlimitsoftheanalysisgrid
coordinates.
MinimumBoundaryThisdefinesthelowerlimitsoftheanalysisgrid
coordinates.
GridOptions TheGridOptionsbuttondisplaystheGridOptionsdialogbox.
Multiplier TheMultiplierboxallowsyoutoenterascalingfactorthatmagnifiesthe
deviationarrowsandtolerancezoneforthegraphicalanalysismode.Ifavalueof
2.0isentered,PCDMISwillscalethearrowstwotimesthecalculateddeviation
foreachfeaturehit.
Thisoptionisusedforviewingpurposesonly,andisnotreflectedinthetextonly
printout.
Show TheShowDiameterscheckboxallowsyoutoshowthediametersofavailable
Diameters TruePositiondimensions.
ShowBestFit, Thischeckboxallowsyoutoturnonoroffthevariousdiametersthatmayalsobe
MaxInscribed, drawnwiththeCircularitydimension.Thesediametersarethosethatrepresent
andMin theaverage,maximum,andminimumdeviationsforaroundfeature.
Circumscribed
Diameters
ShowContour TheShowContourPlotoptiononlyworksforpatchscansandbecomes
Plot availableforProfiledimensions.Thecontourplotusesthepatchscanpointsto
createameshandthenshadesthemeshwiththecolorsrelatedtotheprofile
deviationsfromeachhit.
PCDMISalsoallowsyoutodisplaythecontourplotontheCADmodelinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindowitself.See"DisplayingProfileContourPlots"inthe
"DimensioningFeatures"chapter.
ShowColor TheShowColorInterpolationBetweenHitsoptionallowsyoutoinsertcolors
Inter.Between betweenhits.ThisoptionisavailableforProfiledimensions.

Hits
ShowArrows TheShowArrowsoptionallowsthearrowsfordeviationlinestobetoggledonor
off.ThisoptionisavailableforProfiledimensions.
SizeOptions
AnalysisSizeOptionsdialogbox
TheAnalysisSizeOptionsdialogboxallowsyoutodeterminehowtheAnalysiswindowwillbe
displayed.TheseoptionsalsoallowyoutosetyourANALYSISVIEWcommandsothatPCDMIS
takesthescreencaptureinoneoftheseselectedmodesduringexecution.(See"CreateAnalysis
ViewCommand".)
Youcanselectthefollowingoptions:
Portrait Thisoptionsizesthe
Analysiswindowsothatit
matchesthestandard
Portraitpagesize.
Landscape Thisoptionsizesthe
Analysiswindowsothatit
matchesthestandard
Landscapepagesize.
ScaletoFitWholePage Thischeckboxscalesthe
windowsoitwouldfitan
entireprintedpage.
InsertingDimensionInfoBoxes

EditDimensionInfodialogbox
TheInsert|ReportCommand|DimensionInfo menuoptionbringsuptheEditDimensionInfo
dialogbox.ThisdialogallowsyoutocreateaDIMINFOcommandthatdisplaysselected
dimensionalinformationintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.See"DIMINFOCommand"for
informationoneditingaDIMINFOcommandintheEditWindow.
SampleDimensionInfobox
Thedimensionlistinsidethedialogboxwillshowanasterisk(*)ifthedimensionalreadycontains
aDIMINFOtextboxanditwillshowanumbersign(#)iftheDIMINFOtextboxishiddenfrom
viewintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
SampledimensionlistshowingexistingandhiddenDIMINFOboxes
TheAutocheckbox(undertheDimensionInfoFormat areaofthisdialog)automatically
determinestheappropriatedimensionoutputformattodisplay,basedonthetypeofdimension
thatwasselected.Tooverridethisoption,selectthedesiredDimensionInfoformatcheck
box(es).PCDMISwillindicatetheorderoftheoutputselectionsbydisplayinganumbertothe
leftofthecheckbox.Thisallowstheorderoftheformattobealteredtomeetindividualneeds.
Youcanclearacheckboxbysimplyselectingitasecondtime.

Ifthisoptionisdisplayed,youcanpresstheCTRLkeyandwhilekeepingitheld,clicktheleft
mousebuttontoselectafeatureintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Anydimensionsusingthat
selectedfeaturewillbehighlightedintheDimensionListbox.
ThisEditDimensionInfodialogboxallowsyoutoeditthedimensioninformationbeing
displayed.Thefollowingparagraphsdescribethecommandsandoptionsavailabletothisdialog
box.
DimensionInfoCreationRules
WhencreatingaDIMINFOboxfromtheEditDimensioninfodialogbox,theDimensionList
boxonlydisplaysthosedimensionsthatexistabovethecursor'scurrentposition.
WhencreatingDIMINFOboxesusingTextBoxmodeandboxselectinginsidetheGraphics
Displaywindow,PCDMISwillnotcreateaDIMINFOboxforeveryfeatureselected.Itwillonly
createthemforfeaturesthatexistabovethecursor'scurrentposition.
Ifthepartprogramhasmultipleviewsets,theDIMINFOboxonlyappearsintheviewsetthat
containsthecorrespondingdimensionandlower.Forexample,supposeyourpartprogramhad
thesecommands:
VIEWSET1
F1=FEAT
VIEWSET2
VIEWSET3
D1=DIMENSION
VIEWSET4
YoucouldonlyaddaDIMINFOboxforfeatureF1iftheinsertionpointexistedbelowD1.Once
theDIMINFOboxgetscreated,PCDMISwillshowitinVIEWSET3and4,butnotinVIEWSET1
and2.
DisplayOptions
TheDisplayOptionsareaallowsdifferentdisplaypossibilitiesforeachdimensionwithinthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.Thefollowingoptionsavailableare:
ShowIcon Thischeckboxtogglesthe
displaystheappropriate
dimensioniconintheheader
portionoftheDimensionInfo

box.
ShowDimensionID Thischeckboxtogglesthe
abilitytodisplaytheIDforthe
dimensionwithintheGraphics
Displaywindow.
ShowFeatureID Thischeckboxtogglesthe
abilitytodisplaytheIDforthe
featurewhosedimensionsare
beingmeasured.
ShowHeadings Thischeckboxtogglesthe
displayofrowandcolumn
headingsintheDimensionInfo
box.
ShowVerticalLines Thischeckboxtogglesthe
displayoftheverticallines
betweencolumnsinsidethe
DimensionInfobox.
ShowHorizontalLines Thischeckboxtogglesthe
displayofthehorizontallines
betweenrowsinsidethe
DimensionInfobox.
GraphOptions
TheGraphOptionsareaallowsforgraphicaldisplayofthedimensionpercentageinthe
DimensionInfobox.
NoGraph
SelectthisoptionifyoudonotwanttodisplayagraphintheDimensionInfobox.
GraphWorstAxis
SelectthisoptiontodisplayagraphatthetopoftheDimensionInfobox.Onlytheworst
dimensionpercentagewillbeusedforthegraph.
GraphEachAxis
SelectthisoptiontodisplayadimensionpercentagegraphforeveryaxisintheDimensionInfo
box.

DimensionInfobox
GraphicOptions
GraphicOptionsarea
TheGraphicOptionsareaallowsyoutodeterminethebackgroundcolorandlinecolorofthe
currentPointInfobox.YoucanalsodeterminewhetherornotPCDMISdisplaysashadow
aroundtheborderofthePointInfobox.
TochangethegraphicoptionsforthePointInfobox,selectthedesiredoptionfromthisareaand
clickCreateorOK.
YoucansetthedefaultgraphicoptionsfornewlycreatedPointInfoboxesbysimplyselectingthe
desiredoptionsandthenclickingtheDefaultbuttoninthePointInfoFormatarea.
DimensionInfoFormat
ThecheckboxesintheDimensionInfoFormatareaallowyoutoselectthetypeofinformation
displayedintheGraphicsDisplaywindowforeachdimension.WhentheDisplaycheckboxis
selectedfromwithinadimension'sdialogbox,PCDMISdisplaystheinformationintheGraphics
Displaywindow.

DimensionalDataDisplayedforFeatureCIR1intheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
TheavailablecheckboxesintheDimensionInfoareaofthedialogboxare:
Auto TheAutocheckbox
automaticallydisplaysthe
followinginformation:
Measured,Nominal,
Tolerances,Deviation,MaxMin,
OutTol.
Measured Thischeckboxdisplaysthe
actualmeasureddimensions.
Nominal Thischeckboxdisplaysthe
theoreticalvaluesforthe
dimension.
Tolerances Thischeckboxdisplaysthe
acceptabletolerancelevels
eithergreaterthanorlessthan
thenominal.
Deviation Thischeckboxdisplaysthe
deviationofthemeasured
valuefromthenominal.
MaxMin Thischeckboxdisplaysthe
maximumandminimum
valuesforthedimension.
OutTol Thischeckboxdisplayshowfar
outoftolerancethemeasured
valueisfromthenominaland
tolerancevalues.

Mean Thischeckboxdisplaysthe
averageofallthedeviationsfor
thedimension.
StdDev Thischeckboxdisplaysthe
standarddeviationofallthe
deviationsforthedimension.
NumberofPoints Thischeckboxdisplaysthe
numberofpointsusedto
measurethefeatureofthe
dimension.
ResetButton
TheResetbuttonclearsoutanycheckmarkedboxesinthissectionandselectstheAutocheck
box.
LocationAxes
ThistabledescribestheavailableLocationAxes andtheirfunctionsthatyoucanchoosefrom
whileeditingdimensioninformation.
Worst Thisoptionusestheaxisthat
givestheworstoutoftolerance
condition.PCDMISsearches
throughtheavailableaxesand
selectstheonethatgivesthe
worstcasescenarioforthe
dimension.
UseDimAxes Thisoptionsimplyusesthe
axesthatwerepreviously
definedinthedimension's
dialogbox.
X DisplaystheXaxisvalue.

Y DisplaystheYaxisvalue.
Z DisplaystheZaxisvalue.
Prad PradstandsforPolarRadius.
ThisoptionselectsPolar
coordinates.
Pang PangstandsforPolarAngle.
coordinates.
D DisplaysDiametervalue.
R DisplaystheRadius(halfof
Diameter)value.
A DisplaystheAngle(forcones)
value.
L DisplaystheLength(usedfor
cylinders,slots,cones,and
ellipses).
H Displaystheheight.
V Displaysthevectorlocation.
T Displayserroralongapproach
vector(forpointsoncurved
surfaces).
RT Displaysthedeviationalongthe
reportvector.
S Displaysthedeviationalongthe
surfacevector.
RS Displaysthedeviationalongthe
surfacereportvector.
PD Displaysthediameterofacircle
(perpendiculartothepin
vector).
Form Displaystheintegratedform
dimensionforthefeature.See
"DefaultAxesforLocation
Dimensions"inthe
"DimensioningFeatures"
chapter.
TruePositionAxes
ThistabledescribestheavailableTruePositionAxesandtheirfunctionsthatyoucanchoose
fromwhileeditingdimensioninformation.
Worst Thischeckboxusestheaxis
thatgivestheworstoutof
tolerancecondition.PCDMIS

searchesthroughtheavailable
axesandselectstheonethat
givestheworstcasescenario
forthedimension.
UseDimAxes Thischeckboxsimplyusesthe
axesthatwerepreviously
definedinthedimension's
dialogbox.
X ThischeckboxdisplaysXaxis
value.
Y ThischeckboxdisplaysYaxis
value.
Z ThischeckboxdisplaysZaxis
value.
Prad PradstandsforPolarRadius.
coordinates.
Pang PangstandsforPolarAngle.
ThischeckboxselectsPolar
coordinates.
DF Thischeckboxdisplays
diameterofthefeature.
TP Thischeckboxdisplaysthe
truepositiontoleranceandits
associateddeviation.
D1 Thischeckboxdisplaysthe
diameter/widthvalueofthefirst
datum.
diameter/widthvalueofthe
seconddatum.
diameter/widthvalueofthethird
datum.
Form Thischeckboxdisplaysthe
integratedformdimensionfor
thefeature.See"DefaultAxes
forTruePositionDimensions"
inthe"DimensioningFeatures"
chapter
DeleteInfos
TheDeleteInfosbuttonremovesall POINTINFO commandsfromthepartprogram.
DIMINFOCommand
TheDIMINFO commandiscreatedbytheEditDimensionInfodialogbox(Insert|Report
Command|DimensionInfo).

WhenaDIMINFO commandhasbeeninsertedinthepartprogram,thedimensiondatais
displayedintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.TheDIMINFO commandcanbemodifiedintheEdit
window.ThecommandlinefortheDIMINFO commandreads:
DIMINFO/DimIDICON,DIMID,FEATID,VERT,HORIZHEADINGS,"GRAPHOPTION""DIMENSION
OUTPUT, ,$
AXESOUTPUT
DimID=TheIDofthedimensionselectedtobedisplayed.
ICON=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFF,andICONwhenitisON.Whenit
isON,theDIMINFOwilldisplaythedimensionorfeatureIDwiththeappropriateicon.
DIMID=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFF,andDIMIDwhenitisON.When
itisON,theDIMINFOwilldisplaythedimensionIDwiththedimensionalinformation.
FEATID=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFF,andFEATIDwhenitisON.
WhenitisON,theDIMINFOwilldisplaytheIDofthedimensionsfirstfeaturewiththe
dimensionalinformation.
VERT=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFF,andVERTwhenitisON.When
itisON,theDIMINFOwilldisplaywiththeverticallinesbetweenthecolumns.
HORIZ=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFF,andHORIZwhenitisON.
WhenitisON,theDIMINFOwilldisplaywiththehorizontallinesbetweentherows.
HEADINGS=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFFandHEADINGSwhenitis
ON.WhenitisON,thecolumnandrowheaderswillbedisplayedintheDimensionInfobox.
GRAPHOPTION=Thegraphoptionforgraphicaldisplayofthedimensionpercentageinthe
DimensionInfobox.PossibletogglevaluesareGRAPHWORSTandGRAPHAXIS.When
thetogglestringshowsablank,nographwillbeshowinthebox.
DIMENSIONOUTPUT=Theformatofthedimensioninformationthatwillbedisplayedbased
ontheorderofselection.AvailableoutputoptionsareMEAS,NOM,TOL,DEV,MAXMIN,
OUTTOL,MEAN,STDDEV,andNUMPTS.Optionscannotbeduplicated.
AXESOUTPUT=Theformatofthedimensionaxesthatwillbedisplayedbasedontheorder
ofselection.Availableaxesdependuponthedimensiontypeandincludealllocationandtrue
positionaxes.IfUSEDIMistoggledinthefirstaxisposition,theDIMINFOwilldisplaythe
axesthathavebeenspecifiedinthedimension.IfWORSTistoggledinanyaxisposition,the
axisthatproducedthelargestoutoftolerancevalueisdisplayed.Thisoutputisnotavailable
fordimensionsthatarenotlocationortruepositiondimensions.Axescannotbeduplicated.
InsertingPointInfoBoxes

EditPointInfodialogbox
TheInsert|ReportCommand|PointInfomenuoptionbringsuptheEditPointInfodialog
box.ThisdialogcreatesaPOINTINFO commandthatcanbeusedtodisplayindividualpoint
informationintheGraphicsDisplaywindowinaPointInfobox.See"POINTINFOCommand"for
informationoneditingaPOINTINFO commandintheEditWindow.
TodisplayindividualpointinformationintheGraphicsDisplaywindowusingtheEditPointInfo
dialogbox:
1. OpentheEditPointInfodialogboxbyselectingEditPointInfofromthemain
menu.
2. YouwillseethatthefeaturesappearintheFeatureListboxandthat
dimensionsappearintheDimensionListbox.
3. Selectatleastonefeatureordimension.Theindividualpointsassociatedwith
thatfeatureappearintheHitsListbox.
4. Selectthepoint(s)fromtheHitsListboxthatyouwantdisplayed.Ifmorethan
onedimensionorfeatureisselected,allpointsfromthedimensionorfeaturewillbe
displayedinthepointinfo.
5. MakesuretheShowPointInfocheckboxisselected.
6. Clicktheapplybutton.Informationabouttheselectedhit(s)willappearina
PointInfoboxintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
PointInfoboxshowingthefirsthitinacirclefeature
EachPointInfoboxmaydisplaythehitnumber,theXYZposition,theIJKvector,andthe
deviationrelatedtoaparticularhit.
Theformatsmaybechanged,saved,andmovedinasimilarmannertohowtheDimensionInfo
boxformatsaresetandmoved.

PointInfoFormat
Thisportionofthedialogboxallowsyoutodeterminethetypeofinformationdisplayedinthe
Graphic'sDisplayareanexttoafeatureordimension.Thecheckboxesinthissectionmustbe
usedinconjunctionwiththeCreate(Applywhenediting)ortheOKbuttontoeitherselector
removeinformationtodisplay.
HitsNumber
TheHitsNumbercheckboxdisplaysthehitsequenceofapointonafeature.
Example:Ifacirclegenerallytakesfourhits,andoneofthehitsusedtomeasurethatcirclewas
selected,thisoptiondisplaysanumber(onethroughfour)indicatingwhenthathitwastakenin
thesequence:1st,2nd,3rd,or4th.
Point
ThePointcheckboxdisplaystheX,Y,andZpointlocationofthehitselected.
Vector
TheVectorcheckboxdisplaystheIJKvectorofthehitselected.
Deviation
TheDeviationcheckboxdisplaysthedeviationofthepointfromthenominal.
Forfeaturesthepointdeviationisthedistancebetweenthemeasuredhitsand
theactualhits.
Fordimensionsthepointdeviationisrelatedtothedimensiontypeandisthe
sameasthedeviationdisplayedfortheindividualpointsinthetextualanalysisofthe
dimension.
ShowIcon
TheShowIconcheckboxdisplaysthefeature'siconintheheaderportionofthePointInfobox.
ShowID

TheShowIDcheckboxallowsyoutodisplaytheIDofaparticularfeatureordimension.
ShowType
TheShowTypecheckboxallowsyoutodisplaythetypeoffeatureordimensiondisplayed.
ShowHeadings
TheShowHeadingscheckboxallowsyoutodisplaytherowheadersinthePointInfobox.
ShowGraph
TheShowGraphcheckboxallowsyoutodisplaythedimensionpercentagegraphinthePoint
Infobox.
ShowVerticalLines
TheShowVerticalLinescheckboxallowsyoutodisplayorhidetheverticallinesinsidethe
PointInfobox.
ShowHorizontalLines
TheShowHorizontalLinescheckboxallowsyoutodisplayorhidethehorizontallinesinside
thePointInfobox.
HitList
Thissectionofthedialogboxallowsyoutoselectafeature'soradimension'sindividualhitstobe
displayed.
ListBox
TheHitListboxcontainsalistofallthehitsassociatedwithaparticularfeatureordimension.
Simplyselectthehitswhoseinformationyouwouldliketoview.

FeatureListArea
Thissectionofthedialogboxallowsyouselectanindividualfeature.Thehitsassociatedwiththat
featurewillbedisplayedintheHitListbox.
Listbox
TheFeatureListboxcontainsalistofallthefeaturesassociatedwithaparticularpartprogram.
Simplyselectthefeaturewhosehitinformationyouwouldliketoview.
DimensionListArea
TheDimensionListallowsyoutoselectanindividualdimension.Thehitsassociatedwiththat
dimensionwillbedisplayedintheHitListbox.
Listbox
TheDimensionListboxcontainsalistofallthedimensionsassociatedwithaparticularpart
program.Simplyselectthedimensionwhosehitinformationyouwouldliketoview.
DeleteInfos
TheDeleteInfosbuttonremovesallDIMINFOcommandsfromthepartprogram.
POINTINFOCommand

ThePOINTINFO commandiscreatedbytheEditPointInfodialogbox(Insert|Report
Command|EditPointinfo).
WhenaPOINTINFO commandhasbeeninsertedinthepartprogram,aPointInfoboxisdisplayed
intheGraphicsDisplaywindow.ThePOINTINFO commandcanbemodifiedintheEditwindow.
ThecommandlineforthePOINTINFO commandreads:
POINTINFO/DimIDorFeatIDFILTERFILTER_TYPEFILTER_NUMICON,ID,TYPE,VERT,HORIZ
HEADINGS,GRAPHOUTPUTFORMAT,$
HITNUMBERS
DimIDorFeatID=TheIDofthedimensionorfeaturetobedisplayed.
FILTER_TYPE=AtogglestringthatshowsthefilteroptionofNONE,INTERVAL,WORST,
DEVIATION,orOUTTOL.
FILTER_NUM=AnumberfieldavailablewhenthefilteroptionisINTERVAL,WORST,or
DEVIATION.
ICON=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFF,andICONwhenitisON.Whenit
isON,thePOINTINFOwilldisplaythedimensionorfeatureIDwiththeappropriateicon.
ID=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFF,andIDwhenitisON.WhenitisON,
thePOINTINFOwilldisplaythedimensionorfeatureIDwiththepointinformation.
TYPE=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFF,andTYPEwhenitisON.Whenit
isON,thePOINTINFOwilldisplayfeatureordimensiontype(i.e.CIRCLE,POINT,
ROUNDNESS,LOCATION)withthepointinformation.
VERT=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFF,andVERTwhenitisON.When
itisON,thePOINTINFOwilldisplaywiththeverticallinesbetweenthecolumns.
HORIZ=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFF,andHORIZwhenitisON.
WhenitisON,thePOINTINFOwilldisplaywiththehorizontallinesbetweentherows.
HEADINGS=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFFandHEADINGSwhenitis
ON.WhenitisON,therowheaderswillbedisplayedinthePointInfobox.
GRAPH=AtogglestringthatshowsablankwhenitisOFFandGRAPHwhenitisON.
WhenitisON,thedimensionpercentagewillbegraphicallydisplayedinthePointInfobox.
OUTPUTFORMAT=Theformatofthepointinformationthatwillbedisplayedbasedonthe
orderofselection.AvailableoutputoptionsareHIT,PT,V,andDEV.Optionscannotbe
duplicated.
HITNUMBERS=Thehitnumbersarethespecificnumberedhitsthatarecontrolledbythis
particularPOINTINFOcommand.MultiplehitscanbedisplayedusingthesamePOINTINFO
command.Eachfieldinthehitnumbersisatogglestring.WhenahitisON,thestringinthe
numberpositionisthehitnumber(1,2,3,etc.).WhenahitisOFF,thetogglestringdisplaysa
blank.
GraphicOptions

TheGraphicOptionsareaallowsyoutodeterminethebackgroundcolorandlinecolorofthe
currentDimensionInfoboxdisplayedintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Youcanalsodetermine
whetherornotPCDMISdisplaysashadowaroundtheborderoftheDimensionInfobox.
TochangethegraphicoptionsfortheDimensionInfobox,selectthedesiredoptionfromthisarea
andclickCreateorOK.
YoucanalsosetthedefaultgraphicoptionsfornewlycreatedDimensionInfoboxes.Todothis,
selectthedesiredoptionsandthenclicktheDefaultbuttonintheDimensionInfoFormatarea.
Filters
Filtersarea
TheFiltersareaallowsyoutosetfilteroptionstobeusedwhendisplayingindividualpoint
information.
Filter:NoneUsed
TheNoneUsedoptiontellsPCDMISnottouseanyfilteringforthePOINTINFO command.Allhits
selectedwillbedisplayedwiththePOINTINFO command.
Filter:HitInterval
TheHitIntervaloptioncheckstheintegervalueintheboxtoitsright,andonlydisplaysthe
particularhitintervalchosenwiththePOINTINFO command.Forexample,if2werechosen,then
every2nd hitwouldbedisplayed,if3,thenevery3rd hit,if4thenevery4th hit,etc.
Filter:Worst
TheWorstoptioncheckstheintegervalueintheboxtoitsright,andonlydisplaysthehitsthat
givetheworstdeviationsforthedimension.Forexample,ifyoutype3inthebox,thePOINTINFO
commandonlydisplaysthethreeworstdeviations.

Filter:DeviationAbove
TheDeviationAboveoptionchecksthenumbervalueintheboxtoitsright,andonlydisplays
thehitsthathavedeviationslargerthanthisvalue.Forexample,ifyoutype0.01inthebox,the
deviationsof0.013and0.015willbedisplayed,whiledeviationsof0.003and0.005willnotbe
displayed.
Filter:OutofTolerance
TheOutofToleranceoptiononlydisplaysthehitsthathavedeviationsthatareoutoftolerance.
Forhitsrelatedtofeatures(notrelatedtodimensions),onlythosehitswithdeviationslargerthan
theShowDeviationsToleranceontheSetupOptionsdialogbox's Generaltabaredisplayed.
(See"ShowDeviationsTolerance"inthe"SettingYourPreferences"chapter.)
InsertingProgrammerComments
Commentdialogbox
TheInsert|ReportCommand|Commentmenuoptionallowsyoutoaddoperatornotesor
instructionsintotheEditwindowthatwillbedisplayedinaCommentTextboxwhenthepart
programisexecutedortheinspectionreportisprinted.Thereisnolimittothelengthofthe
commenthowever,inCommandmodeonly255characterswillfitperline.Whenthetext
reachestherightsideoftheEditwindow,presstheENTERkey.(Thisallowstheentiretexttobe
viewedintheCommentTextbox.)Tocreateanewline,placethecursorinthedesiredlocation
oftheCommentTextboxandpresstheENTERkey.
TodisplaytheCommentdialogbox,selectCommentfromthemenu.
UsingVariablesinCommentStrings
Supposeyouwanttoconcatenate,oradd,avariabletoanexistingcommentstring.Youcando
thisintwoways.First,youcanpressENTER,andtypethevariableonanewcommentline,like
this:
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,NO,'Typeyourvariable'
ASSIGN/V1=C1.INPUT
COMMENT/OPER,NO,YourV1variableis
,V1

Second,youcanplacethemonthesamelinebyplacingquotationmarksaroundthenon
variablestringandusingtheplussignoperatortoaddthevariabletothestring,likethis:
COMMENT/OPER,NO,"YourV1variableis"+V1
ChangingCommentColor
Youmaywantyourcommentstostandoutmore.Youcandothisbychangingyourcomment
color.TochangethemintheEditwindow,see"DefiningEditWindowColors".Tochange
commentcolorsforcommentsthatappearintheReportwindow,changetheColorspropertyof
theTextReportObjectintheintheReportTemplateEditor.
Operator
Thisoptionallowsyoutodisplaytextwhenexecutingthepartprogram.
TouseOperatoroption:
1. SelecttheCommentmenuoption.TheCommentdialogboxappears.
2. SelecttheOperatoroption.
3. TypeinthedesiredtextintheCommentTextbox.
4. Whenthecommentsarecompleted,clicktheOKbutton(orpressENTER)to
closethedialogbox.
COMMENT/OPER,TOG1,commenttext
TOG1=ThisYES/NOfieldallowsyoutospecifywhetherorthecommentshowsupinthe
inspectionreport.
HowitWorks
WhenPCDMISexecutesthepartprogram,amessageboxwilldisplaytheappropriate
commentsjustundertheExecutionModeOptionsdialog.

ASamplePCDMISMessagedialogbox
PCDMISwillnotallowyoutoeditthismessage.ClickontheOKbuttontocontinueexecution.
ClickCanceltocancelpartprogramexecution.
Report
Thisoptionallowsyoutosendtexttotheinspectionreport.
TousetheReportoption:
2. SelecttheReportoption.
3. EnterinthedesiredtextintheCommentTextbox.
4. Whenthecommentsarecompleted,clicktheOKbutton(orpresstheENTER
key)toclosethedialogbox.
WhenPCDMISexecutesthepartprogram,thesemessageswillnotbeviewed.PCDMISwill,
however,sendthesecommentstotheinspectionreportwhenitisprinted.
COMMENT/REPT,commenttext
Note:Ifdashes(orothercharacters)needtobeincorporatedunderneathtextintheinspection
report,useasecondcommentlinetocreatetheadditionallineofcharacters.
Forexample:
COMMENT/REPT,InspectionReportComment
COMMENT/REPT,
ThissetofcommandlineswillcreateanInspectionReportCommentlineintheinspectionreport.

Document
Thisoptionprovidesyouwiththeabilitytoaddtexttotheinternalprogram.Itisnotusedfor
anythingexceptdocumentingprogrammers'notes.Itisnotsenttotheinspectionreportandwill
notdisplayanythingwhenexecuted.Itsimplyallowsyoutohaveanoptionfordocumenting
insidetheEditwindow.
TousetheDocumentoption:
1. PlacethecursorwhereyouwantthetexttobeinsertedintheEditwindow.
3. SelecttheDocumentoption.
$$TOG1,PleaseEditCommentText!
inspectionreport.
Note: Whenyouopenapartprogramthatwassavedfromalaterversionintothecurrentversion,
anycommandsthatarenotsupportedinthecurrentversionwillshowupasDOCcomments.See
"SaveAs"inthe"UsingBasicFileOptions"chapter.
Input
TheInputoptionissimilartotheOperatoroptioninthatitallowsyoutodisplaytextwhen
executingapartprogram.Inadditiontodisplayingamessageboxwiththepreviouslyentered
text,acommentboxwillappear.Thisallowsyoutoenternumericalinformationthatwillbewritten
totheinspectionreport.
Thisoptionisextremelyhelpfultouserswishingtoenterapartnumberorserialnumberwhile
executingthepartprogram.
TousetheInputoption:
1. PlacethecursorwhereyouwantthisoptiontobeinsertedintheEditwindow.
3. SelecttheInputoption.
commentID=COMMENT/INPUT,TOG1commenttext

inspectionreport.
Theinputisassignedtothevariablespecifiedonthelefthandsideofthecommand.Thevariable
iscoercedtobeoftypestring.Thisvariablecanthenbeusedanywhereanexpressionisallowed
byusingthissyntax<COMMENTID>.INPUT.ForexampleifyourcommentIDisC1,youcan
passthatvariableintoanothervariablelikethis:
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,NO,"Pleaseenteryourname:"
ASSIGN/V1=C1.INPUT
HowitWorks
Themessageboxwilldisplaytheprompttoenterthenecessarynumber(i.e.,serialnumber)and
thendisplaythisnumberintheinspectionreport.ThispromptwillappearontopoftheExecution
ModeOptionsdialogboxduringexecution:
ASampleInputCommentdialogbox
TypeyourtextintheOperatorInputdialogboxandclickOKtocontinuepartprogramexecution.
Thisinformationgetsstoredintothecomment'sID.INPUTvariable.ClickingCancelwillstoppart
programexecution.
Yes/No
TheYes/Nooptionfunctionssimilarlytothe"Operator"optioninthatitallowsyoutodisplaytext
whenexecutingapartprogram.Inaddition,YesandNobuttonswillappearatthebottomofthe
dialogboxallowingtheoperatortoanswerYESorNOtosimplequestions.
TousetheYes/Nooption:
1. PlacethecursorwhereyouwanttheCOMMENT/YESNOcommandtobeinserted
intheEditwindow.
3. SelecttheYes/Nooption.

4. TypethedesiredtextintheCommentTextbox.
5. Whenthecommentsarecompleted,clicktheOKbutton(orENTERkey)toclose
thedialog.
commentID=COMMENT/YESNO,TOG1,commenttext
TOG1=ThisYES/NOfieldallowsyoutospecifywhetherornotthecommentshowsupinthe
inspectionreport.
HowitWorks
Duringexecution,thePCDMISMessagedialogboxappearsjustbelowtheExecutionMode
Optionsdialogbox,allowingtheoperatortoselectYES,NO,orclickCancel.:
ASamplePCDMISMessagedialogshowingYESandNO
Executionpausesuntilabuttonisclicked.Theanswertheoperatorselectsisaccessibleusing
expressionswiththeIDofthecomment.Forexample,ifthecommenthasanIDofC1andthe
Yesbuttonisclicked,theexpression"C1.INPUT"willhavethevalue'YES'.IftheNobuttonis
clicked,theexpression"C1.INPUT"willhavethevalue'NO'.Thisoptionisusefultouserswishing
tobranchorloopona'Yes'or'No'response.IftheoperatorclicksCancelpartprogram
executioniscanceled.
Important: WhenusingaconditionalbranchingstatementtotestforthevalueofaYES/NO
comment,beawarethatyourtestshouldlookforanuppercase"YES"or"NO"value.A
lowercase"Yes"or"No"willnotwork.Forinformationonprogrambranching,seethe"Branching
byUsingFlowControl"chapter.
Readout

TheReadoutoptiondisplaysthecommenttextatthebottomoftheProbeReadoutwindow.You
mustselecttheDisplayprompthistorycheckboxontheProbeReadoutSetupdialogboxfor
thistowork.
TousetheYes/Nooption:
1. PlacethecursorwhereyouwanttheCOMMENT/YESNOcommandtobeinserted
intheEditwindow.
3. SelecttheYes/Nooption.
4. TypethedesiredtextintheCommentTextbox.
5. Whenthecommentsarecompleted,clicktheOKbutton(orENTERkey)toclose
thedialog.
COMMENT/READOUT,TOG1,commenttext
inspectionreport.
Formoreinformationonsettingupthisoption,see"SettinguptheReadoutWindow"inthe
FormoreinformationontheProbeReadoutwindow,see"UsingtheProbeReadoutWindow"in
the"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools"chapter.
EnableReport
Thischeckboxallowsyoutodeterminewhetherornotyourcommentandanysubmittedtext(if
usinganInputcomment,forexample)appearinthefinalreportgeneratedintheReportwindow.
Ifselected,thecomment'sYES/NOtogglefield,whichspecifieswhetherornotacommentshows
upinthereport,issettoYES.
COMMENT/TOG1,TOG2,commenttext
TOG1=AnycommenttypeexceptReport.
inspectionreport.
CommentText

TheCommentTextboxcontainsthetextyouwishtodisplayinconjunctionwiththeComment
Typeoptionsasshownhere:
Operator
Report
Input
Document
Yes/No
Readout
EmbeddingReportsorTemplates
Toembedalegacy(HyperView)Report,acustomreport,oraReportTemplateintoaPart
Program,seethe"EmbeddingReportsorReportTemplatesinaPartProgram"topicinthe
Toaddexternalobjectstoyourreport,selecttheInsert|ReportCommand|ExternalObject
menuitem.Seethe"AddingExternalElements"chapterformoreinformation.
InsertingaPrintCommand
PCDMISallowsyoutoinsertaPRINT/REPORTcommandintotheEditwindowthatwhen
markedandexecutedwillcausethemeasurementresultstothatpointtobesenttothedefined
outputdestination(printerorfile).AfterPCDMISexecutesthecommand,itclearsthecontentsof
theReportwindowandonlytheremainingmeasurementresultswillappearintheReport
window.However,youcanalwaysclicktheViewReportModeiconontheReportingtoolbarto
viewthefullreport.
ToinsertaPRINT/REPORTcommandintotheEditwindow:
2. ClicktheCommandModeiconfromtheEditwindowtoolbar,placingPCDMIS
intoCommandMode.
3. SelecttheInsert|ReportCommand|PrintCommandmenuoption(ortype
PRINTatthedesiredlocationandpressTAB).PCDMISdisplaysthe
PRINT/REPORTcommandaswellasthevariousoptionsyoucanconfigure.
ThePRINT/REPORTcommandisusedtocontroltheprintingofreportsfromwithinthepart
program.WhenPCDMISreachesthiscommandduringpartprogramexecution,areportis
generatedandsenttothespecifiedoutputdestination.
Note:AlloptionsavailableviatheFile|Printing|ReportSetup menuoption(withtheexception
oftheDMISoutputoptions)arealsoavailablethroughthiscommand.
UnderstandingtheSyntaxforthePRINT/REPORTCommand
Thesyntaxofthecommandisasfollows:
PRINT/REPORT,EXECMODE=END,$

TO_FILE=OFF,TOG1,$
TO_PRINTER=OFF,$
TO_DMIS_REPORT=OFF,FILE_OPTION=OVERWRITE,FILENAME=,$
REPORT_THEORETICALS=ALL,REPORT_FEATURE_WITH_DIMENSIONS=YES,$
PREVIOUS_RUNS=DELETE_INSTANCES
EXECMODE= BecauseDMISandPCDMISmanagereportdatadifferently,thisoptionlets
youcontrolhowandwhenthesoftwaresendsreportdatatoDMISandPCDMISoutputfiles.
DMISrequiresthattheoutputfilenamesandotherprintingparametersbedefinedfirstbefore
theprogramisexecuted.PCDMIS,ontheotherhand,waitsuntilafterthepartprogramis
executedbeforedecidingwheretodumpthereportdata.Thisoptionallowsyoutosupport
bothformats.Ittakesoneoftwovalues,eitherSTARTorEND.
START
ThistellsPCDMIStobeginprintingwheniteitherencounterstheendofprogramor
anotherPRINT/REPORTcommand.IfyouimportaDMISfile,andithasaprintreport
command,itwilluseSTARTasitsinitialvalue.
END
ThistellsPCDMIStoprinteverythingalreadyexecuteduptothisPRINT/REPORT
command.Ifyoudon'timportaDMISfilewithaprintreportcommand,butinsteadinsert
yourownPRINT/REPORTcommandfromwithinPCDMIS,itwillhaveENDasitsinitial
value.
Important:IfyourpartprogramcontainsmorethanonePRINT/REPORTcommand,be
awarethatPCDMISmaynotprintsomecommands.Forexample,ifyourfirst
PRINT/REPORTcommandusesENDandyoursecondprintreportcommandusesSTART,
thenPCDMISwillnotprinteverythinginbetween.
AlsoifaPRINT/REPORTcommandusesSTARTandthenyourverynextprintreport
commandusesEND,thesecondprintingwillbeemptysincethefirstprintreportcommand
hasclearedthereportbuffer.
TO_FILE=Usethisoptiontoindicatewhethertheprintedreportshouldbesenttoafile(ON)
ornot(OFF).
AUTO=UsethisoptiontohavePCDMISgeneratethereportfilenameautomatically.
WhentheAUTOoptionisselected,thiskeywordisfollowedbyanumericfield,for
example,AUTO=10.Thenameofthegeneratedfilenamewillhavethesamenameasthe
partprogramappendedbythenumericalindexanda.RTFextension.Also,the
generatedfilewillbelocatedinthesamedirectoryasthepartprogram.Ifafileexistswith
thesamenameasthegeneratedfilename,AUTOwillincrementtheindexuntilaunique
filenameisfound.
TOG1Thisvaluecontrolstheactiontakenwhenprintingtoafile.Theoptionsavailableare
APPEND/AUTO/OVERWRITE/PROMPT.Dependingontheoptionselected,different
informationmayappear.
OVERWRITE
Usethisoptiontooverwritereportinformationtothespecifiedfilename.Whenthe
OVERWRITEoptionisselected,thiskeywordisfollowedbyafilenamefield,forexample,
OVERWRITE=D:\REPORTS\FILE001.RTF.Notethatthecompletepathmustbe

specifiedotherwisePCDMISwillassumethesamedirectoryasthepartprogram.Also,if
thefiledoesnotexist,itwillbecreatedwhenthePRINT/REPORTcommandisexecuted.
APPEND
Usethisoptiontoappendreportinformationtothespecifiedfilename.Whenthe
APPENDoptionisselected,thiskeywordisfollowedbyafilenamefield,forexample,
APPEND=D:\REPORTS\FILE001.RTF.Notethatthecompletepathmustbespecified
otherwisePCDMISwillassumethesamedirectoryasthepartprogram.Also,ifthefile
doesnotexist,itwillbecreatedwhenthePRINT/REPORTcommandisexecuted.
PROMPT
UsethisoptiontocausePCDMIStoquerytheuser,viaaSaveAsdialogbox,forthe
filenametowhichthereportinformationwillbewritten.
TO_PRINTER=Usethisoptiontoindicatewhethertheprintedreportshouldbesenttothe
printer(ON)ornot(OFF).
TO_DMIS_REPORT=UsethisoptiontodeterminewhetherornotPCDMISwillsendthe
reporttoaDMISOutputfile(.dmo)specifiedinFILENAME.ThiscanbeONorOFF.
FILENAME=UsethisoptiontospecifyaDMISoutputdirectorylocationandfilename.If
TO_DMIS_REPORTissettoON,thenPCDMISstoresthereportdatainthefilespecified.
Forexample,ifthisfieldhadd:\pcdmisreports\mydmis.dmo,PCDMIScausethereportdata
tobesavedinthatDMISfileinthatlocation.
FILE_OPTION= ThisoptionletsyouchooseoneofthefollowingfileoptionsforyourDMIS
fileoutput:
APPEND
ThisappendsthereportdatatotheendoftheDMISfilespecifiedinFILENAME.
OVERWRITE
ThisoverwritestheDMISfilespecifiedinFILENAMEwiththelatestreportdata.
INDEX
ThisappendstotheDMISfilenamespecifiedinFILENAMEanumericalvaluethat
incrementsonsubsequentpartprogramexecutions.Forexample,ifFILENAMEis
mydmis.dmo,itwouldbecomemydmis001.dmo,thenmydmis002.dmo,then
mydmis003.dmo,andsoforth,similartotheAUTO=option.
REPORT_THEORETICALS=ThistellshowPCDMISreportstheoreticalvaluesintheDMIS
outputfile.
ALL
PCDMISoutputsalltheoreticalvaluesalongwiththemeasuredvaluestotheoutput
DMISfile.
NONE
Notheoreticalvaluesareincludedinthereport.
IMPORT_SETTINGS
Onlythosetheoreticalvaluesexplicitlyoutputbytheoriginal DMISprogramareoutputin
thereport.

REPORT_FEATURE_WITH_DIMENSIONS=ThisdetermineswhetherornotPCDMISwill
keepthemeasuredfeaturesandassociatedtolerancestogetherintheoutputfile.Ittakes
eitherYESorNO.
YES
IntheDMISreportfile,PCDMISwritesthemeasurementresultsimmediatelybefore
theirassociatedtoleranceresultsforeachdimensionassociatedtothefeatureitself.Ifa
featureisnotassociatedwithanytolerance,PCDMISwillnotgenerateanyoutput.
NO
IntheDMISreportfile,PCDMISwritesthemeasurementresultsexactlywhenthe
featureismeasuredandnotlaterwhenPCDMISexecutestheassociateddimensions.
PREVIOUS_RUNS=ThisoptionisparticularlyusefulwhenusingthePRINT/REPORT
commandfromwithinaloop.Whenafeatureismeasuredmorethanonceinasingle
execution,previousinstancesofthatfeature'smeasureddataaresaved.UseTOG2tohave
PCDMISdelete(DELETE_INSTANCES)orkeep(KEEP_INSTANCES)thesaved
measureddata.
EditingthePRINT/REPORTCommand
ToedittheseoptionsinthePrintOptionsdialogbox,
1. PlacethecursoroverthePRINT/REPORTcommandline.
2. PressF9.
3. Makeanychanges.
4. ClickOK.
You'llnoticethatPCDMISupdatesthecommandtomatchyourchanges.Notethatthisis
differentthanaccessingthePrintOptionsdialogboxdirectlyfromtheEditwindow'sReport
menu.AccessingthedialogboxdirectlyfromtheReportmenudoesnotinsertaPRINT/REPORT
Note:ThePRINT/REPORTcommandmaybeusedmorethanonceinthepartprogram.
Note:ThePRINT/REPORTcommandisauniqueinstanceoftheinformationcontainedinPrint
Optionsdialogbox.Therefore,optionsthatareselectedfromthePrintOptionsdialogboxbut
notusingaPRINT/REPORT commandareindependentofanyPRINT/REPORTcommandand
willaffectprintingwhenthepartprogramhascompletedexecution.
ForinformationonprintingtheEditwindowingeneralseethe"PrintingfromtheEditwindow"
topicinthe"UsingBasicFileOptions"chapter.
InsertingaFormFeedCommand
PCDMISletsyouinsertaFORMFEEDcommandintotheEditwindow.Thiscommandcausesthe
printedpageofareporttobeejectedfromtheprinterwhentheFORMFEEDcommandhasbeen
markedandexecuted.TheFORMFEEDcommandhasnoeffectwhenprintingtoafile.

ToinsertaFORMFEEDcommandintotheEditwindow:
2. ClicktheCommandModeiconfromtheEditwindowtoolbar,placingPCDMIS
intoCommandMode.
3. SelecttheInsert|ReportCommand|FormFeedmenuoption(ortype
FORMFEED atthedesiredlocationandpressTAB).PCDMISdisplaysthe
FORMFEED command.
WorkingwithViewsets
YoucancreateandsavedifferentGraphicsDisplaywindowviews(termed"viewsets")thatyou
canlaterrecallbyusingacommandthatgetsinsertedintoyourpartprogram.Viewsetsstorethe
CADmodel'sorientation,IDlabelvisibilityandposition,andshading.TheCreateViewsetmenu
optionallowsyoutocreateanunlimitednumberofviewsetsinyourpartprogram.Youcanrecall
multipleviewsetsasoftenasdesired.
ToCreateaViewset:
1. Setuptheviewasdesired.YoucandothisbyusingtheViewSetupdialogbox
andmodifyingthezoomandrotationofthepartintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.See
"SettingUptheScreenView"in"EditingtheCADDisplay".
2. SelecttheInsert|ReportCommand|CreateViewsetmenuoption.Asmall
Viewsetdialogboxwillappearwiththeprompt"EnterViewNameToSave."The
dialogboxwillcontainadefaultnamestartingwithVIEWSET1andthenincrementing
thenumberforsubsequentviewsets(VIEWSET2,VIEWSET3,andsoon):
Viewsetdialogboxwithadefaultname
3. Inthebox,typeinthedesiredname(19characterlimit)fortheview.
4. ClicktheOKbuttonorpresstheENTERkey.PCDMISsetsthecurrentviewset
equaltothenameyouchosebyinsertinga<NAME>=VIEWSET command,where
<NAME>isthedefinedviewsetname.
ToRecallaViewset:
YoucanquicklyrecallthecreatedviewsetbyselectingitfromtheViewslistontheSettings
toolbarorbyusingtheRecallViewsetmenuoption.Whenyourcursorisonorunderthe
RECALL/VIEWSET,<NAME> commandintheEditwindow,PCDMISwilldisplaythecreatedviewsetin
theGraphicsDisplaywindow.Ifyoumarkandexecutethiscommand,PCDMISwilldisplaythe
savedviewintheGraphicsDisplaywindowduringprogramexecutionaswell.

Additionally,recalledviewsetswillappearinonyourfinalreportiftheReportWindowusesa
templateorcustomreportthatdisplaysaCADReportObject.Viewsetsinreportsappearonanew
pageforeachRECALL/VIEWSETcommand.
ToUpdateaViewset:
Youcanalsoquicklymodifyanexistingviewset.SimplyselecttheRECALL/VIEWSET,<NAME>
commandintheEditwindow,modifytheGraphicsDisplaywindowasdesiredforthatview,and
thenselecttheInsert|ReportCommand|SaveViewsetmenuoption(orselecttheSave
ViewseticonfromtheGraphicsModetoolbar).
Note:Ifyoujustwanttochangeandthensavethecurrentviewsetwithoutcreatinganew
viewset,selecttheSaveViewsetmenuoptioninstead.
InsertingaFORMCommand
TheInsert|ReportCommand|Form... menuitemletsyouinsertapredefined.FORMfileinto
yourpartprogram.Whenyouselectthismenuitem,anInsertFormdialogboxappears.
InsertFormdialogbox
Navigatetothe.FORMfile,selectit,andclickOpen.PCDMISwillinsertaFORM/FILENAME
commandsimilartothefollowingintotheEditwindow:
CS1 =FORM/FILENAME=C:\PCDMIS40RELEASE\REPORTING\TESTFORM.FORM
PARAM/=
ENDFORM/
FILENAME=Thisdefinesthelocationofthe.FORMfiletoload.
PARAM/Thisletsyousendinformationtotheform.ForexampleusingaPARAMstatement
ofPARAM/Text1.Text=C1.INPUT willsendthevalueofthecommentC1.INPUTandsenditto
thecontrol.

Alternately,youcantypeFORMandpressTABtoinserttheFORM/FILENAMEcommandinto
thepartprogram,andthenmanuallytypethepathwayloadthedesiredform.
WhenPCDMISexecutesthiscommand,itwilllaunchthedefinedform,andthenpassany
definedparameterstothecontrolsintheform.
CommunicatingbetweentheFORMandthePartProgram
YoucanpassvaluestoandfromaformbyusingacombinationofASSIGNandPARAM
statements.Thisletsyouestablishusefultwowaycommunicationsbetweentheformandthe
partprogram.
ASSIGNStatementsYoucaninitializevaluesforaform'scontrolsthroughASSIGN
statements.Thesestatementsalsocreatevariablesthatcanlaterreceiveupdatedvaluesfrom
theformwhentheformcloses.
Forexample,supposeyouhaveaformthathasfourunnamedcheckboxes,butyouwantthe
partprogramtogivethemnamesandvaluesdynamically.IntheEditwindow,youcanusethe
ASSIGNstatementstonameandinitializethecheckboxesasfollows:
ASSIGN/CHECK1VALUE=0
ASSIGN/CHECK1TEXT="Point"
ASSIGN/CHECK2TEXT="Line"
ASSIGN/CHECK3TEXT="Circle"
ASSIGN/CHECK4TEXT="Sphere"
PARAMStatementsNowthatyouhaveseveralvariables,youcanusethePARAMstatements
toestablishtheconnectionbetweenthevariablesandtheformitself,likethis:
CS1 =FORM/FILENAME=C:\PCDMIS40RELEASE\REPORTING\TESTFORM.FORM
PARAM/CHECKBUTTON1.VALUE=CHECK1VALUE
PARAM/CHECKBUTTON1.TEXT=CHECK1TEXT
PARAM/=
ENDFORM/
Whentheformloads,CHECKBUTTON1isuncheckedanditstextlabeldisplays"Point",
CHECKBUTTON2ischeckedanditstextlabelis"Line", CHECKBUTTON3isuncheckedandits
textlabelis"Circle"and CHECKBUTTON4ischeckedanditstextlabelis"Sphere".
Withtheformloaded,youcanselectorclearthecheckboxestosomethingdifferent,andwhen
youclosetheform,thevariablesthatinitiallysetthestateofthecheckedstate(CHECK1VALUE,
CHECK2VALUE,CHECK3VALUEandCHECK4VALUE)nowholdthecurrentvalueofthecheck
boxes.

InsertingScreenCaptures
TheInsert|ReportCommand|ScreenCapturemenuoptiondisplaysscreencapturesinyour
report.SelectingthismenuoptionplacesaDISPLAY/METAFILEcommandintheEditwindow.
Whenthiscommandismarkedandexecuted,PCDMISautomaticallyrefreshesthescreen
captureanddisplaysitinthereport.
DISPLAY/METAFILE,"___",TOG1,TOG2
___=Thisfieldwillallowyoutoenteradescriptionofthecapturedscreen.Themaximum
textis255characters.
TOG1=Thisfielddeterminesthesizeofthescreencapture.Youcantogglebetweenthe
following:25%,50%,75%,100%,TOFIT.
TOG2=Thisfielddeterminesthequalityofthescreencapture.Youcantogglebetweenthe
following:HIGH,GOOD,LOW
ForthistoappearintheReportwindow,rightclickonsometextwithintheReportwindow,select
Edit,andwhentheReportdialogboxappears,selecttheShowScreenCapturecheckbox.
ThiscommandissimilartotheANALYSISVIEWcommandandtheDISPLAY/METAFILE
commandthatarecreatedintheAnalysisWindow.FormoreinformationontheAnalysis
Window,see"Analysis"inthe"InsertingReportingCommands"chapter.
Note:UsingTrueTypeFontfortextintheGraphicsDisplaywindowwillcreatethebestresults
whencapturingtheimage.

UsingFileInput/Output
UsingFileInput/Output:Introduction
Thischapterexplainshowtoinputandoutputinformationtoandfromyourpartprograms.The
availablemenuoptionsallowforopeningfilesinreadorwritemode.Datacanthenbereadfrom
orwrittentothesefiles.TheFileI/Ocommandsallowdatatobereadinfromexternalfilesthat
aretobeusedinapartprogram.Also,measurementandtolerancinginformationcanbewritten
backouttofilesusingthesecommands.Youcanalsoperformotherfileoperationsbyusing
thesecommands.
ThischapterdetailsthesefileI/Ooperationsandincludesfunctionalexamplesforeachofthe
variousoperations.Theseexamplesuseitemsdiscussedinthe"BranchingbyUsingFlow
Control"chapterandthe"UsingExpressionsandVariables"chapter.
Note: Whenloopingorbranchingoccursinthecodesamples,indentationhasbeenusedfor
claritytoshowstatementsassignedtoacertaincondition.IntheactualEditwindowcode,you
won'tseeanyindentation.
Themaintopicsdescribedinthistopicinclude:
UnderstandingBasicFileI/OConcepts
UsingtheFileI/ODialogBox
OpeningaFileforReadingorWriting
ClosinganOpenedFileafterReadingorWriting
ReadingaCharacterfromaFile
ReadingaLinefromaFile
ReadingaBlockofTextfromaFile
ReadingTextuptoaDelimiter
WritingaCharactertoaFile
WritingaLinetoaFile
WritingaBlockofTexttoaFile
PositioningaFilePointerattheBeginningofaFile
SavingaFilePointer'sCurrentPosition
RecallingaSavedFilePointer'sPosition
CopyingaFile
MovingaFile
DeletingaFile
CheckingforaFile'sExistence
DisplayingaFileDialogBox
CheckingfortheEndofaFileortheEndofaLine
UnderstandingBasicFileI/OConcepts
CheckingforFileExistence:
ForallthefileI/Ooperationsyouwillprobablywanttofirstcheckforthefile'sexistence.This
shouldprobablybeputinanIF/THENloopsothatifthecheckfails,youcannotifytheuser.
Whenwritingtoafileyoumustfirstcreatethefileinsidethewindowsenvironment.
See"CheckingforaFile'sExistence".
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual UsingFileInput/Output 1317

OpeningandClosingFiles:
Foroperationsthatreadfromorwritetofilesyouneedtofirstopenthemtoyoursystem's
processes.Youdothisbyassigningthefiletoavariablecalledafilepointer.Whenopeningafile,
youcanspecifywhetherthefilewillbeopenedforreading,forwriting(overwriting),orfor
appending.Onceopened,youcanthenreadfromorwritetothefile.Whenyou'refinished
workingwithafile,youshouldclosethefilepointerthisclosesthefileandallowsittobe
accessedbyothersystemprocesses.Youcannotopenfilesthatarealreadyopenedbyanother
process.
See"OpeningaFileforReadingorWriting"and"ClosinganOpenedFileafterReadingor
Writing".
FilePointersandPositions:
Filepointersarevariablesthatpointtoafile.Theystoreanopenedfile'snameandlocationand
arethenusedtoreadfromorwritetothatfile.Onceafileisopenedandsettoafilepointer,the
pointerbehaveslikeacursoractsinawordprocessor.Theyindicatewhereyouarecurrently
readingfromorwritingtowithinthefile.
Ifyou'reappendingtoafile,youwillusuallywantyourfilepointertobeattheendofthe
file.
Ifyou'rereadingafileoroverwritingafile,thefilepointershouldusuallystartatthe
beginningofafile.
UsingDelimitersWhenWritingorReading
Whenwritingdata,considerusingdelimiterstoseparatepiecesofdata.Thiswillmakeiteasierto
readthedatabackintoapartprogram.Adelimitercanbeanycharacterorstringofcharacters.
Forexample,supposeyouhaveapoint,namedPNT1withtheX,Y,andZmeasuredvaluesof
2.5,4.3,6.1.Youcaneasilywritethesevaluesseparatedbyacommadelimiterintoadatafile
withcodesimilartothefollowing:
FILE/WRITELINE,FPTR,PNT1.X+","+PNT1.Y+","+PNT1.Z
Whenreadingdata,youcanseparatetheincomingdatabasedonaspecifieddelimiterandplace
thedataintovariablesforlatermanipulation.Forexample,supposeyouwanttoreadinthesame
X,Y,andZvalueslistedabove.Thevaluesshouldbeinasinglelineoftextlikethis:
2.5,4.3,6.1.Youcanseparatethetextatthecommaandplacethosevaluesinto
correspondingvariablesusingalineofcodesimilartothefollowing:
V1=FILE/READLINE,FPTR,{ValX}+","+{ValY}+","+{ValZ}
YoucanthenuseValX,ValY,andValZasnormalvariablesinyourpartprogram.ValXwill
contain2.5,ValYwillcontain4.3,andValZwillcontain6.1.
UsingtheFileI/ODialogBox
AllfileI/Ocommandsareinitiallyinsertedintothepartprogrambyselectingtheappropriatefile
I/Omenuoption(selectInsert|FileI/OCommand).OnceacommandexistsintheEditwindow,
youcanthenpressF9onthecommandtoaccessitsassociatedFileI/Odialogbox.
1318 UsingFileInput/Output PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

AsampleFileI/Odialogbox
Thisdialogboxsimplyprovidesavisualwaytoeditthe currentfileI/Ocommand.Alternately,you
canmodifyacommandinsidetheEditwindowbyusingthetechniquesdiscussedintheUsing
theEditWindowchapter.
YoushouldnotusethisdialogboxtoinsertnewfileI/Ocommands.Thatmustbedoneby
selectingtheappropriatemenuoptionorbytypingthecommandsdirectlyintotheEditwindow.
OpeningaFileforReadingorWriting
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|FileOpenmenuoptionallowsyoutoputacommandintheEdit
windowthatwillopenadiskfileduringexecutionofthepartprogram.
Filescanbeopenedsimplytoviewinformationortoaddandsaveinformation.
ThesyntaxofthiscommandintheEditwindowis:
<filepointername>=File/Open,<filename>,<openmode>
<filepointername> ThisistheuserchosenIDofthefilepointer
thatisusedtoaccesstheopenedfile.This
IDisusedtorefertotheopenfileinother
fileI/Ocommands.
<filename> Thisisthefilenameofthediskfiletoopen.
<openmode> Thisisthemodethefileshouldbeopened
in.Filescanbeopenedinthefollowing
modes:Read,Write,orAppend.
ToaccessthedialogboxassociatedwiththisFileI/Ocommand:
2. PlaceyourcursorontheFileOpencommand.
3. PressF9.

SampleCodeforFileOpen
ThesamplecodebelowshouldbeenteredinsidetheEditwindow'sCommandMode,notinside
theFileI/Odialogbox.
ThiscodeopensafilenamedTEST.TXTforreading,writing,andappendingandstoresthefile
nametoafilepointernamedFPTR.
FPTR=FILE/OPEN,C:\PCDMISW\TEST.TXT,READ
FPTR=FILE/OPEN,C:\PCDMISW\TEST.TXT,WRITE
FPTR=FILE/OPEN,C:\PCDMISW\TEST.TXT,APPEND
Beawarethatyoucanuseaninputcommenttotakethefullpathwayasaninputanduseitina
FILE/OPENcommand.YoucanalsodothesamethingbyusingtheFILE/DIALOGcommand.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Typethefullpathwayandnameofthefile.
V1=FILE/DIALOG,CHOOSEAFILETOOPEN
FPTR=FILE/OPEN,C1.INPUT,READ
FPTR=FILE/OPEN,V1,READ
See"DisplayingaFileDialogBox".
ClosinganOpenedFileafterReadingorWriting
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|FileClosemenuoptionallowsyoutoinsertacommandinthe
Editwindowthatwillcloseanopenedfilewhenthepartprogramisexecuted.Closingfilesfrees
upresourcesusedwhenfilesareopenandcommitsanychangesthathavebeenmadetothefile
todisk.
File/Close,<filepointername>,<closemode>
<filepointername> ThisistheIDusedtoidentifythefileandis
createdwhenthefileisopened.
<closemode> Thisparameterhastwooptions,KEEPor
DELETE.UsingKEEP,PCDMISsimply
closesthefiledefinedinthefilepointer.
UsingDELETE,PCDMISclosesthefile
andthendeletesit.

2. PlacingyourcursorontheFileClosecommand.
3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforFileClose
Thiscodesimplyclosesthefileassignedtothefilepointer,FPTR:
FILE/CLOSE,FPTR,KEEP
Thiscode,whichusestheDELETEparameter,closesanddeletesthefileassignedtoFPTR:
FILE/CLOSE,FPTR,DELETE
ReadingaCharacterfromaFile
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|ReadingCommands|ReadCharactermenuoptionplacesa
commandintheEditwindowwhichreadsasinglecharacterfromthefilespecifiedbythe
filepointernamefield(seesyntaxbelow)andassignsthatcharactertothevariablespecifiedinthe
variablenamefield.
<varname>=File/ReadCharacter,<filepointername>
<filepointername> ThisistheIDusedtoopenthefile.
<varname> Thisisthenameofthevariablethatwill
holdthatcharacter
2. PlacingyourcursorontheReadCharactercommand.

3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforReadCharacter
Considerthisexamplethatreadsinalinefromadatafileonecharacteratatimeuntilit
encountersaspace.
V1=FILE/EXISTS,test.txt
IF/V1<>0
COMMENT/OPER,Abletoreadfromdatafile.ClickOKtocontinue.
ASSIGN/V3=""
FPTR=FILE/OPEN,D:\ProgramFiles\pcdmis35\test.txt,READ
DO/
V2=FILE/READ_CHARACTER,FPTR
ASSIGN/V3=V3+V2
UNTIL/V2==""
FILE/CLOSE,FPTR
COMMENT/OPER,"Thefirstwordfromalineoftextfromthefileis:"+V3
END_IF/
ELSE/
COMMENT/OPER,Wasn'tabletoreadfromdatafile.Programwillnowquit.
GOTO/END
END_ELSE/
END=LABEL/
PROGRAM/END
CodeExplanation
V1=FILE/EXISTS
Thislinecheckstoseeifthespecifiedfileexists.Thefilemustbeplacedinthedirectory
wherePCDMISresidesforthiscodetowork,otherwisethelinecontainingthefilemustalso
containthefullpathwayforthefile.V1receivestheresultofthefilecheck.It'sanonzero
valueifitexists0otherwise.

IF/V1<>0
ThislinetakesthevalueofV1andcheckstoseeifitevaluatestoanonzerovalue.Ifso,
thenacommentappearssignifyingthatit'sreadytobeginthereadprocess.Ifequaltozero
thenthepartprogramends.
ASSIGN/V3=""
ThislinecreatesanemptystringandassignsittoV3.Thecodeusesthisvariabletobuilda
stringfromtheindividualreadincharacters. Ifyoudon'tcreatetheemptystring,thenV3has
itsdefaultvalueof0.
FPTR=FILE/OPEN
ThislineopensthespecifiedfileforreadingandassignsittothedefaultfilepointerFPTR.
DO
ThislinebeginsaDO/UNTILloop.ItboundstheFILE/READ_CHARACTERcodesothat
charactersarecontinuallyreadinoneatatime.Theloopexitswheneveritreadsina
characterspace.
Thislinereadsinacharacterfromtheopenfiletiedtothefilepointer,FPTR.Thecharacteris
storedinthevariable,V2.
ASSIGN/V3=V3+V2
ThislineusestheemptyV3variable,concatenatesthestringV3withV2,andthenreassigns
thevaluetoV3.So,withsubsequentrunsoftheDO/UNTILloop,V3willgetonemore
characteraddedtoit.
UNTIL/V2==""
ThislineendstheDO/UNTILlooponcetheFILE/READ_CHARACTERcodeencountersa
spacecharacterfromtheopenedfile.
FILE/CLOSE,FPTR
Thislineclosestheopeneddatafile,therebyallowingittobeaccessedbyothersystem
processes.Therestofthecodefinishesrunninganddisplaysthefirstwordfromthedatafile
inanoperatorcomment.
ReadingaLinefromaFile
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|ReadingCommands|ReadLine menuoptionplacesa
commandintheEditwindowthatreadsalinefromthespecifiedfileduringexecution.This
commandsetsthevariablespecifiedbythevariableIDto1(true)or0(false)toindicatesuccess
(true)orfailure(false)ofthecall.Theexpressionrequiredbythiscommandcanbeusedto
delimitthelinereadinandtoautomaticallyfillupvariablesandreferenceswithdatareadinfrom
thefile.Informationisreadinfromtheinputfileuptothenextcarriagereturncharacter.
<varname>=File/ReadLine,<filepointername>,<expr>
<varname> Thisisthenameofthevariablethatwill
holdtheresultindicatingsuccessorfailure

oftheReadLinecommand.Itreturns"OK"
or"EOF".
<filepointername> Thisisthenamespecifiedforthefile
pointerwhenthefilewasopened.
<expr> Thisisthedestinationvariable(s)forthe
inputdata.Inputdatacanbedelimitedby
texttoallowforeaseinparsingincoming
linesofdata.Variablesandfeature
referencesshouldbesurroundedbycurly
brackets.
2. PlacingyourcursorontheReadLinecommand.
3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforReadLine
Considerthisexamplethatreadsinalinefromadatafileonelineatatimeuntilthe
FILE/READ_LINEcommandencountersanemptyline.Thepartprogramthendisplaysthe
resultingblockoftextandquits.
V1=FILE/EXISTS,test.txt
IF/V1<>0
COMMENT/OPER,Abletoreadfromdatafile.ClickOKtocontinue.
ASSIGN/V3=""
FPTR=FILE/OPEN,D:\ProgramFiles\pcdmis35\test.txt,READ
DO/
V2=FILE/READLINE,FPTR,{LINE}
ASSIGN/V3=V3+LINE
COMMENT/OPER,"ThecurrentvalueofvariableV3is:
,V3
UNTIL/V2=="EOF"
FILE/CLOSE,FPTR

COMMENT/OPER,"Theblockoftextreadsasfollows:"
,V3
END_IF/
ELSE/
COMMENT/OPER,Wasn'tabletoreadfromdatafile.Programwillnowquit.
GOTO/END
END_ELSE/
END=LABEL/
PROGRAM/END
CodeExplanation
Muchofthiscodeissimilartothatexplainedin"SampleCodeforReadCharacter".Onlycode
uniquetothisexampleislistedhere.
DO
ThislinebeginsaDO/UNTILloop.ItboundstheFILE/READ_LINEcodesothatthelines
arecontinuallyreadinoneatatime.Theloopexitswhenitreachestheendofthefile.
Thislinereadsinallthetextuntilitencountersacarriagereturn.Insteadofstoringthetextin
V2,likeFILE/READ_CHARACTERwould,however,thiscodeactsdifferently.
V2inthiscasereturnstwovalues:either"OK"or"EOF"."OK"ifthere'sstillaline
toreadin."EOF"iftheendofthefileisreached.
The{LINE}codeisauserenteredvariablethatstorestheactualtext.Itis
enclosedincurlybracketstotellPCDMISit'savariableandnotapartofany
delimitingtext.Withoutthecurlybrackets,PCDMISwouldlookforastringof
charactersinthefilecalled"LINE"andwouldreturnonlythetextafter"LINE"and
beforethecarriagereturn.
ASSIGN/V3=V3+LINE
ThislineusestheemptyV3 variableandconcatenatesthestringV3withLINE,andthen
reassignstheconcatenatedvaluetoV3.So,withsubsequentrunsoftheDO/UNTILloop,V3
willgetonemorelineaddedtoit.
UNTIL/V2=="EOF"
ThislinetestsfortheconditionoftheDO/UNTILloop.OncetheFILE/READLINEcode
encounterstheendoffile,theloopexits.Oncetheprogramflowexitstheloop,therestofthe
codefinishesrunninganddisplaystheentireblockofcodeinsideanoperatorcomment.
OtherExamples:
Thecommandline:
Result=File/ReadLine,F1,"PartID:" +{V1}wouldcauseanytextappearinginthereadinline
afterthetext"PartID:"tobeassignedtoV1.Thelinewouldbereadinfromthefileopenedusing
F1asthefilepointername.Theresultoftheread(successorfailure)wouldbestoredinthe
variableResult.
Thecommandlines:
File/ReadLine,F1,"Location:"+{VARX}+","+{VARY}+","+{VARZ}+","+{VARI}+","+{VARJ}+
","+{VARK}
ASSIGN/CIR1.XYZ=MPOINT(VARX,VARY,VARZ)
ASSIGN/CIR1.IJK=MPOINT(VARI,VARJ,VARK)

wouldreadincommadelimitedtextafterthestring"Location:"andstorethevaluesintheX,Y,Z,
andI,J,KvaluesofCIR1.
Thecommandline:
File/ReadLine,F1,"Value#"+loopvar+":"+{var2}wouldcausevar2tobefilledwiththetext
appearingafterthecolon.Theloopvarvariableinthisexampleisnotsurroundedbycurly
bracketsandasaresultcontributestothedelimitingtext.
ReadingaBlockofTextfromaFile
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|ReadingCommands|ReadBlockmenuoptionplacesa
commandintheEditwindowthatwillreadinablockofcharactersfromanopenfileatexecution
time.Theamountofcharactersreadinisindicatedbythesizeparameter.
<varname>=File/Read_Block,<fptrname>,<size>
<varname> Thisisavariableidforthevariablethatreceives
thevalueindicatingsuccessorfailureofthe
readblockoperation.
<fptrname> Thisisthenamespecifiedforthefilepointer
whenthefilewasopened.
<size> Thisisthenumberofcharacterstoread
2. PlacingyourcursorontheReadBlockcommand.
3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforReadBlock
Supposeyouhavevariousexternaldatafilesthatcontainmiscellaneouspartdataandthefirst
fewcharactersofeachfiledesignatewhatthefileisfor.YoucanusetheFile/Read_Block

commandtoreadonlythosefirstfewcharactersbeforedecidingtoreadinandprocessevery
line.Considerthiscode:
C3=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleasetypethenameofthe
,filecodetosearchfor.
ASSIGN/BLOCKSIZE=LEN(C3.INPUT)
ASSIGN/FILECODE=C3.INPUT
DO/
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleasetypethefullpathway,
,filename,andextensiontothe
,fileyouwanttoprocess.
,Type[Q]toquit.
IF/C1.INPUT=="Q"ORC1.INPUT=="q"
COMMENT/OPER,You'vechosentoquit.Programnowending.
GOTO/END
END_IF/
V1=FILE/EXISTS,C1.INPUT
IF/V1<>0
COMMENT/OPER,"Datafile["+C1.INPUT+"]exists.ClickOKtocontinue."
V2=FILE/READ_BLOCK,FPTR,BLOCKSIZE
FILE/CLOSE,FPTR
IF/V2<>FILECODE
COMMENT/OPER,"Thefile'scodeof["+V2+"]doesn'tmatch"
,"theFILECODEof["+FILECODE+"]."
END_IF/
UNTIL/V2==FILECODE
COMMENT/OPER,"File["+C1.INPUT+"]isamatch."
,"Thefile'scodeof["+V2+"]matches"
,"theFILECODEof["+FILECODE+"]."
COMMENT/OPER,Programthenprocessesthefile.
END_IF/
ELSE/
COMMENT/OPER,"Datafile["+C1.INPUT+"]doesn'texist.Pleaseretryusinganexisting
datafile."
GOTO/END
END_ELSE/
END=LABEL/
PROGRAM/END
CodeExplanation
Someofthiscodeissimilartothatexplainedin"SampleCodeforReadCharacter"orin"Sample
CodeforReadLine".
Onlyexplanationsuniquetothisexamplearegivenhere.
ASSIGN/BLOCKSIZE=LEN(C3.INPUT)
ThislineusescreatesauserdefinedvariablenamedBLOCKSIZEthatcontainsaninteger

equaltothenumberofcharactersfoundinC3.INPUT.Thiswillbeusedasthesizeofthe
blockofcharacterstoreadin.
ASSIGN/FILECODE=C3.INPUT
ThislinecreatestheFILECODEvariableandgivesitthevalueofC3.INPUT.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT
ThiscommentstoresthefullpathwayenteredbytheuserintotheC1.INPUT variable.
ThislinechecksfortheexistenceofthefilenamedefinedintheC1comment.
DO/
ThislinebeginsaDO/UNTILloop.Itboundstheblockofcodethatallowstheusertospecify
afiletoreadfrom.ItwillcontinueloopinguntilthetextassignedtoFILECODEvariable
matchesthetextreadfromthefile.
V2=FILE/READ_BLOCK,FPTR,BLOCKSIZE
ThislinereadstheamountofcharactersequaltotheintegercontainedintheBLOCKSIZE
variable.ThetextisthenstoredinV2 variable.
IF/V2<>FILECODE
ThislinebeginsanIF/ENDIFcodeblockthatteststoseeifthetextintheV2variable
matchesthetextstoredintheFILECODE variable.Ifitdoesmatch,thentheprogram
continuesrunning.Otherwiseitdisplaysamessagesayingthetwocodesdon'tmatch.
UNTIL/V2==FILECODE
ThislinecheckstheconditionoftheDO/UNTILlooptoseeifthetextintheV2 variable
matchesthetextintheFILECODE variable.Ifthestatementevaluatestofalse,theDOloop
runsagain,allowingtheusertochooseadifferentfilename.Ifthestatementevaluatesto
true,thentheloopexitsandtheprogramdisplaysamessagesayingitmatches.PCDMIS
couldthencontinuetoreadeachlineofdatafromthespecifieddatafile.
ReadingTextuptoaDelimiter
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|ReadingCommands|ReadUpTomenuoptionplacesa
commandintheEditwindowthatreadsalltextuptooneofthegivendelimitersfromthe
specifiedfileduringexecution.Anytextreadbythiscommandisplacedinthespecified
destinationvariable.ThecommandstopsreadingtextwhenPCDMISencountersthefollowing:
Defineddelimiters
Carriagereturns
Linefeedcharacters
Iftheendofthefileisreached,thedestinationvariablewillbesetto"EOF"(EndofFile).
<varname>=FILE/READ_UPTO,<fptrname>,<delimiters>
<varname> Thisisthenameofthedestinationvariable.
<fptrname> Thisisthenamespecifiedforthefilepointer

<delimiters> Thisisastringwhichcontainszeroormore
delimitercharacters.
1. SelecttheEditWindowtoopentheEditwindow.
2. PlaceyourcursorontheFILE/READcommand.
3. PressF9.TheFileI/Odialogboxopens.
Oncethedialogboxappears:
1. TypethevariablenamethatwillreceivethereadininformationintotheVariable
IDbox.
2. TypethefilepointernameintotheFilePointerIDbox.
3. TypethedelimiterintotheTextbox(besureandusequotationmarksaround
yourchosendelimiter).
4. ClickOK.
SampleCodeforReadUpTo
Example:Supposeyouhavetextfilenamed"sample.txt"inyourc:\tempdirectorywhichcontains
thisinformationonthefirstline.
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
TousetheReadUpTocommandonthisfile:
1. InsertaFILE/OPENcommandintheEditwindow.
2. UseaFilePointerNameofyourchoicetonameyourFileOpencommand.This
exampleuses"sample"asthefilepointername.
TheFileOpencommandshouldlooksomethinglikethis:
SAMPLE =FILE/OPEN,C:\TEMP\SAMPLE.TXT,READ

Now,usingPCDMISReadUpTocommands,definesomevariablesthatcalldifferentsegments
ofdata.Thisexampleusesthefollowingvariableslookingfora":"(withoutthequotationmarks)
asthedelimiter.
USERNAME =FILE/READ_UPTO,SAMPLE,:
PASSWORD =FILE/READ_UPTO,SAMPLE,:
USER =FILE/READ_UPTO,SAMPLE,:
Thus,whenPCDMISexecutestheselines,itsets
username=root
password=x
user=0
Todisplaythisonscreenduringexecutionyoucanuseanoperatorcommentsuchastheone
shownhere:
COMMENT/OPER,Thefollowingtextisreadinfromsample.txt
,Username:
,USERNAME
,Password:
,PASSWORD
,User:
,USER
WritingaCharactertoaFile
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|WritingCommands|WriteCharactermenuoptioninsertsa
commandintotheEditwindowthatwillcauseasinglecharactertobeoutputtoadiskfileupon
execution.
File/Write_Character,<fptrname>,<expr>
<fptrname> Thisisthenameofthefilepointerspecified
<expr> Thisisthecharactertobewrittentofile.Ifthe
expressionevaluatestomorethanone
character,onlythefirstcharacteriswritten.
2. PlacingyourcursorontheWriteCharactercommand.
3. PressF9.

SampleCodeforWriteCharacter
Considerthiscodethatwritesastringprovidedbytheusertoadatafileonecharacteratatime.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Typethenameofthefiletowrite
,to(includethecompletepath).
FPTR=FILE/OPEN,C1.INPUT,WRITE
C2=COMMENT/INPUT,Typesomethingtosendtothefile.
,Thiswillsendthestringonecharacter
,atatime.
ASSIGN/COUNT=0
ASSIGN/LENGTH=LEN(C2.INPUT)
DO/
ASSIGN/WRITETHIS=MID(C2.INPUT,COUNT,1)
FILE/WRITE_CHARACTER,FPTR,WRITETHIS
UNTIL/COUNT==LENGTH
CodeExplanation
CodeforReadLine".
FPTR=FILE/OPEN,C1.INPUT,WRITE
ThislineopensthefilespecifiedintheC1commentforwriting,andassignsittothefile
pointer,FPTR.Alldatainthisfilewillgetoverwrittenaslongasthefilepointerbeginsatthe
startofthedatafile.
ASSIGN/COUNT=0
ThislineassignsauserdefinedvariableCOUNTavalueofzero.Thisisusedforlooping
purposestoprintthestringonecharacteratatime.

ASSIGN/LENGTH=LEN(C2.INPUT)
ThislineusestheLEN()functiontoreturnthelengthofastring.Thisfunctiontakesone
parameter,thestring.Itcountsthenumberofcharactersinthestring(includingspaces)and
returnsanintegervalueofthatamount.Inthiscasetheuserdefinedvariable,LENGTHholds
thisvalue.
DO/
ThislinebeginsaDO/UNTILloop.CodebetweentheDOandtheUNTILstatementswillbe
executeduntiltheloop'sconditionevaluatestotrue.
ASSIGN/WRITETHIS=MID(C2.INPUT,COUNT,1)
ThislinecreatesauserdefinedvariablecalledWRITETHISandusestheMID()functionto
returnasubstringcharacterfromtheC2.INPUTstringandgiveittoWRITETHIS.MID()takes
threeparameters.
Parameter1:isthestringfromwhichtogetvalues.InthiscaseC2.INPUTisused.
Parameter2:isthepositioninthestringtotakethecharacterfrom.Thefirst
characterinastringwouldbeposition0,thesecondposition1,thethirdposition2and
soforth.Inthiscase,thevariableCOUNTisused.
Parameter3:ishowmanycharactersstartingfromthepositionofthesecond
parametertograb.Inthiscase,thevalueof1isused(thesampleonlywritesone
characteratatime,sothere'snoreasontogetmore).
FILE/WRITE_CHARACTER,FPTR,WRITETHIS
ThislinewritesthecharacterstoredintheWRITETHIS variabletothefilespecifiedbythefile
pointer,FPTR.
ThislinetakesthecurrentCOUNT value,incrementsitbyone,andthenplacesthenewvalue
backintoCOUNT.
UNTIL/COUNT==LENGTH
ThislineteststheconditionoftheDO/UNTILloop.Inthiscase,theloopwillkeep
incrementingtheCOUNT variableuntilithasthesamevalueastheLENGTHvariable.Then
theloopwillexit,endingtheprogram.
WritingaLinetoaFile
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|WritingCommands|WriteLinemenuoptioninsertsa
commandintotheEditwindowthatwillcausealineoftexttobeoutputtoadiskfileupon
execution.Useexpressionsyntaxtooutputvariablesandpartprograminformationtofile.A
carriagereturnisautomaticallyappendedtothetextwrittenout.
File/WriteLine,<fptrname>,<expr>
<fptrname> Thisisthenameofthefilereference
specifiedwhenthefilewasopened.
<expr> Thisisthetexttobewrittentofile.
Expressionscanbeusedinthisfield

2. PlacingyourcursorontheWriteLinecommand.
3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforWriteLine
SupposeyouwanttoexportsomemeasuredXYZvaluestoadatafile.Thefollowingcodeallows
youtoinputafeaturelabelandadatafileandsendtheX,Y,andZdataforthatfeaturetoadata
file.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Typethelabelofthefeature.
,touse.
FPTR=FILE/OPEN,C2.INPUT,APPEND
ASSIGN/FEATNAME=C1.INPUT
ASSIGN/ALLVALS=FEATNAME.X+","+FEATNAME.Y+","+FEATNAME.Z
COMMENT/OPER,"Texttowriteis:"+ALLVALS
FILE/WRITELINE,FPTR,ALLVALS
FILE/CLOSE,FPTR
CodeExplanation
CodeforReadLine".
ThislineopensthefilespecifiedintheC2commentforappending,andassignsittothefile
pointer,FPTR.Ifinstead,youchangeAPPENDtoWRITE,thenexistingcontentinthedatafile
willgetoverwritten.

ASSIGN/FEATNAME=C1.INPUT
ThislineassignsthestringofthefeaturelabelfromC1.INPUTtotheuserdefinedvariable,
FEATNAME.
ASSIGN/ALLVALS=FEATNAME.X+","+FEATNAME.Y+","+FEATNAME.Z
ThislinegivestheuserdefinedvariableALLVALSthevalueof
FEATNAME.X,FEATNAME.Y,FEATNAME.Z,inotherwordsitnowholdstheX,Y,andZ
valuesofthefeaturelabeltypedintotheC1inputcomment.
FILE/WRITELINE,FPTR,ALLVALS
ThislinewritesthevaluescontainedinALLVALStothefilespecifiedbythefilepointer,
FPTR.
WritingaBlockofTexttoaFile
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|WritingCommands|WriteBlockmenuoptioninsertsa
commandintotheEditwindowthatwillcauseablockoftexttobeoutputtoadiskfileupon
execution.Useexpressionsyntaxtooutputthevariablesandpartprograminformationtofile.
Unlikethewritelinecommand,writeblockdoesnotappendacarriagereturnattheend.
File/WriteBlock,<fptrname>,<expr>
<fptrname> Thisisthenameofthefilereference
specifiedwhenthefilewasopened.
<expr> Thisisthetexttobewrittentofile.
Expressionscanbeusedinthisfield.
CarriageReturnandLineFeed:Unlikethewritelinecommand,writeblockdoesnotappenda
carriagereturnattheend.However,ifyouneedtoplacetextonanewlineinsideyourtextblock,
youcaninsertacarriagereturnandlinefeedmanuallybyusingtheCHR(10)codeoutsideof
yourquotedstring,asshownhereinthisexample:
FILE/WRITEBLOCK,FPTR,"CHR(10)insertstext..."+CHR(10)+"...onanewline."
Thiswouldyieldthisresultinsideyouroutputfile:
CHR(10)insertstext...
...onanewline.
NoticethatifCHR(10)isinsidethequotationmarkstheactualtextofCHR(10)getssenttothe
file.
2. PlacingyourcursorontheWriteBlockcommand.
3. PressF9.

SampleCodeforWriteBlock
Thefollowingcodewriteswhatevertheuserinputsintoaninputcomment,appendingacolonto
beusedasadelimiter.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Typeanystring.PCDMISwillappendacolon(fordelimiterpurposes)
andwritethestringtoafileofyourchoice
ASSIGN/WRITETHIS=C1.INPUT+":"
COMMENT/OPER,"Texttowriteis:"+WRITETHIS
FILE/WRITELINE,FPTR,WRITETHIS
FILE/CLOSE,FPTR
CodeExplanation
CodeforReadLine".
ThislineopensthefilespecifiedintheC2commentforappending,andassignsittothefile
pointer,FPTR.
ASSIGN/WRITETHIS=C1.INPUT+":"
ThislineappendsacolontothetextcontainedinC1.INPUTandassignsthenewstringto
theuserdefinedvariable,WRITETHIS.
FILE/WRITELINE,FPTR,WRITETHIS
ThislinewritesthevaluescontainedinWRITETHIStothefilespecifiedbythefilepointer,
FPTR.Youcanlaterreadintextfromthefilebyusingthecolonasadelimiter.

PositioningaFilePointerattheBeginningofaFile
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|PositionCommands|RewindToStart menuoptioninsertsa
commandintotheEditwindowthatwillpositionthefilepointertothebeginningofthefilestream.
File/Rewind,<fptrname>
<fptrname> Thisisthenameofthefilepointerto
repositionatthebeginningofthefile.
2. PlacingyourcursorontheRewindtoStartcommand.
3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforRewindtoStart
Considerthisexamplethatreadsindatafromanexternalfileonelineatatime.Aftereachline,
youhavetheoptionofstartingoverandreadingfromthebeginningofthefile.Thisillustratesthe
useoftheFILE/REWINDcommand.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleasetypeafiletoreadfrom.
,(includethefullpath)
IF/V1<>0
DO/
C2=COMMENT/YESNO,Doyouwanttoreadfromthebeginning?
IF/C2.INPUT=="YES"
FILE/REWIND,FPTR
END_IF/

COMMENT/OPER,"Thecurrentlineis:"+LINE
UNTIL/V2=="EOF"
END_IF/
FILE/CLOSE,FPTR
COMMENT/OPER,Programquitting.
CodeExplanation
CodeforReadLine".
C2=COMMENT/YESNO
Thislineasksifyouwanttostartreadingthefilefromthebeginning.ItstorestheYES/NO
responseintothevariable,C2.INPUT.
IF/C2.INPUT=="YES"
ThislinebeginsanIF/ENDIFblock.ItteststheconditionofC2.INPUThavingthevalueof
YES.Iftheconditionistrue,thenPCDMISexecutesthelinesfollowingtheIFstatement.If
theconditionisfalse,thenPCDMISexecutesthecodefollowingtheEND_IFstatement.
FILE/REWIND,FPTR
Thislinerewindsthefilepointertothebeginningofthedatafile.
END_IF/
ThislinequitstheIF/ENDIFcodeblock.
SavingaFilePointer'sCurrentPosition
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|PositionCommands|SaveFilePositionmenuoptioninserts
acommandintotheEditwindowthatsavesthecurrentpositionofafilepointerwithinthefile
stream.Thesavedpositioncanlaterberecalledusingtherecallfilepositioncommand.
File/SavePosition,<fptrname>
<fptrname> Thisisthenameofthefilepointerwhose
filepositionissaved.
2. PlacingyourcursorontheSaveFilePositioncommand.
3. PressF9.

SampleCodeforSaveFilePosition
Considerthisexamplethatreadsindatafromanexternalfileonelineatatime.Aftereachline,
youhavetheoptionofsavingthefilepositionforlaterrecall.Thisillustratestheuseofthe
FILE/SAVE_POSITIONcommand.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleasetypeafiletoreadfrom.
,(includethefullpath)
IF/V1<>0
DO/
C2=COMMENT/YESNO,Doyouwanttosavethefilepositionandrecallitlater?Theloopwill
quit.
IF/C2.INPUT=="YES"
FILE/SAVE_POSITION,FPTR
GOTO/QUITLOOP
END_IF/
COMMENT/OPER,"Thecurrentlineis:"+LINE
UNTIL/V2=="EOF"
END_IF/
FILE/CLOSE,FPTR
QUITLOOP=LABEL/
COMMENT/OPER,You'vestoppedreading.
PROGRAM/END
CodeExplanation
Thiscodeissimilartothatexplainedin"SampleCodeforRewindtoStart".

C2=COMMENT/YESNO
Thislineasksifyouwanttostorethecurrentfilepositionandexittheloop.Itstoresthe
YES/NOresponseintothevariable,C2.INPUT.
FILE/SAVE_POSITION,FPTR
Thislinestoresthefilepointer'spositioninthefilestream.
Aslongasyouopenthesamefilewithsamefilepointernameinthesamepartprogram,youcan
recallastoredfilepositionandcontinuereadingwhereyouleftoff.Tocontinuethisexample,see
the"SampleCodeforRecallFilePosition"topic.
RecallingaSavedFilePointer'sPosition
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|PositionCommands|RecallFilePositioninsertsa
commandintotheEditwindowthatwillrecallapreviouslysavedfileposition.Usethesavefile
positioncommandtosaveapositionwithinanopenfile.
File/RecallPosition,<fptrname>
<fptrname> Thisisthenameofthefilepointerwhose
positionisbeingrecalled.
2. PlacingyourcursorontheRecallFilePositioncommand.
3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforRecallFilePosition
Thisexampleopensapreviouslyclosedfile,usesapreviousfilepointer,andrecallsthestored
filepointer'ssavedposition.Itthenreadsindatafromthatposition.Thiscodeillustratestheuse
oftheFILE/RECALL_POSITIONcommand,anditcontinuesthecodesamplegiveninthe
"SampleCodeforSaveFilePosition"topic.

COMMENT/OPER,Theprogramwillnowrecallthestoredfileposition.
FILE/REWIND,FPTR
COMMENT/OPER,Totest,filehasbeenrewound.
,Thefirstlinewillbereadintotesttherewind.
COMMENT/OPER,Thefirstlineis:
,LINE
FILE/REWIND,FPTR
FILE/RECALL_POSITION,FPTR
COMMENT/OPER,Previouslystoredfilepositionhasbeenrecalled.
,Dataonthelineatthestoredpositionwillnowprint.
V4=FILE/READLINE,FPTR,{STORED}
COMMENT/OPER,Thetextatthestoredpositionis:
,STORED
CodeExplanation
Thiscodeissimilartothatexplainedin"SampleCodeforRewindtoStart".
FILE/RECALL_POSITION,FPTR
Thislinerecallsthestoredfilepointerpositioninthefilestreamforthefilepointerdesignated
asFPTR.
V4=FILE/READLINE,FPTR,{STORED}
Thislinereadsinthenextlineafterthestoredfilepointerpositionandassignsittotheuser
definedvariableofSTORED.Thisvariableisthenprintedoutinthenextoperatorcomment.
CopyingaFile
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|FileCopymenuoptioninsertsacommandintotheEditwindow
whichwillcauseafilecopyoperationtooccuruponexecution.
File/Copy,<srcfilename>,<destfilename>,<replacemode>
<srcfilename> Thisisthenameofthesourcefile(file
copiedfrom)
<destfilename> Thisisthenameofthedestinationfile
(filecopiedto)
<replacemode> Thisistheactiontotakeifthedestination
filealreadyexists.Thetwomodesare
overwriteandfailifdestinationexists.
2. PlacingyourcursorontheFileCopycommand.

3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforFileCopy
Thefollowingcodeasksforafilenametocopyandforadestinationdirectoryandfiletocopyto.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleasetypeafileyouwanttocopy.
,(Includefullfilepath)
C2=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleasetypeadestinationfilename.
IF/V1<>0
COMMENT/OPER,Fileexiststocopy.Copyingcommencing.
FILE/COPY,C1.INPUT,C2.INPUT,FAIL_IF_DEST_EXISTS
IF/V2==0
COMMENT/OPER,"Filedoesn'texistat:"+C2.INPUT
,Copyending.
PROGRAM/END
END_IF/
ELSE/
COMMENT/OPER,Filecopysuccessful.
PROGRAM/END
END_ELSE/
END_IF/
COMMENT/OPER,Filetocopydoesn'texist.
CodeExplanation
Muchofthiscodeissimilartothatexplainedin"SampleCodeforReadCharacter"orin"Sample
CodeforReadLine".

C1=COMMENT/INPUT
ThislinetakesthefullpathwayofthefiletocopyandplacesitintotheC1.INPUTvariable.
C2=COMMENT/INPUT
ThislinetakesthefullpathwayofthedestinationfileandplacesitintotheC2.INPUTvariable
FILE/COPY,C1.INPUT,C2.INPUT,FAIL_IF_DEST_EXISTS
Thislinecopiestheoriginalfiletoadestinationfile.Thiscommandtakesthreeparameters.
Parameter1isC1.INPUT.Thisisthefullpathtothefiletocopy.
Parameter2isC2.INPUT,orthefullpathtothedestinationfile.
Parameter3,inthiscase,abortstheFILE/COPYprocedureifitencountersan
existingfilewiththesamedestinationfilename.Youcansetthissothatit
overwritesexistingfilesofthesamename.
MovingaFile
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|FileMovemenuoptioninsertsacommandintotheEditwindow
whichwillcauseafilemoveoperationtooccuruponexecution.
File/Move,<oldfilename>,<newfilename>
<oldfilename> Thisisthelocationandnameofthefile
<newfilename> Thisisthenewlocationandnameof
thefile
2. PlacingyourcursorontheFileMovecommand.
3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforFileMove

Thefollowingcodeasksforafilenametomoveandalocationdirectoryandfilenametomoveto
andthenperformsthefilemoveoperation.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleasetypeafileyouwanttomove.
C2=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleasetypeadestinationfilename.
IF/V1<>0
COMMENT/OPER,Fileexiststomove.Filemovecommencing.
FILE/MOVE,C1.INPUT,C2.INPUT
IF/V2==0
COMMENT/OPER,"Filedoesn'texistat:"+C2.INPUT
,TheMOVEdidn'tfunctionproperly.
PROGRAM/END
END_IF/
ELSE/
COMMENT/OPER,FileMOVEsuccessful.
PROGRAM/END
END_ELSE/
END_IF/
COMMENT/OPER,Originalfiledoesn'texist.Tryagain.
CodeExplanation
Muchofthiscodeissimilartothatexplainedin"SampleCodeforFile".
FILE/MOVE,C1.INPUT,C2.INPUT
Thislinecopiestheoriginalfiletoadestinationfile.Thiscommandtakestwoparameters.
Parameter1isC1.INPUT.Thisisthefullpathtothefiletomove.
Parameter2isC2.INPUT,orthefullpathtothedestinationfile.
DeletingaFile
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|FileDeletemenuoptioninsertsacommandintotheEdit
windowwhichwillcauseafiletobedeletedwhenthecommandisexecuted.
File/Delete,<filename>
<filename> Thisisthenameofthefiletobedeleted.

2. PlacingyourcursorontheFileDeletecommand.
3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforFileDelete
Thefollowingcodeasksforafilenameandthendeletesthefile.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleasetypeafileyouwanttodelete.
IF/V1<>0
COMMENT/OPER,Fileexists.Readytodelete.
FILE/DELETE,C1.INPUT
V2=FILE/EXISTS,
IF/V2==0
COMMENT/OPER,Filedeletedsuccessfully
PROGRAM/END
END_IF/
ELSE/
COMMENT/OPER,Filestillexists
PROGRAM/END
END_ELSE/
END_IF/
COMMENT/OPER,Filedoesn'texisttodelete.Chooseafilethatexists.
CodeExplanation
Muchofthiscodeissimilartothatexplainedin"SampleCodeforFileMove".

FILE/DELETE,C1.INPUT
Thislinedeletesthefilespecified.Thiscommandtakesoneparameter,thenameofthefile
todelete.Inthiscase,C1.INPUT.
CheckingforaFile'sExistence
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|FileExistsmenuoptioninsertsacommandintotheEdit
windowwhichwillcheckfortheexistenceofafilewhenexecutedandwillsetthesupplied
variablewiththeresult.
<varname>=File/Exists,<filename>
<filename> Thisisthenameofthefilebeingcheckedto
seeifitexistsondisk
<varname> Thisisthenameofthevariablethatissetto
theresultofthecheckthatisperformed.
Thevariablewillbesetto1ifthefileexists
and0ifthefiledoesnotexist.
2. PlacingyourcursorontheFileExistscommand.
3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforFileExists
Thefollowingcodeasksforafilenameandthenchecksforthefile'sexistence.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleasetypeafileyouwanttocheck.
IF/V1<>0
COMMENT/OPER,Fileexists.
END_IF/

ELSE/
COMMENT/OPER,Filedoesn'texist
END_ELSE/
CodeExplanation
CodeforReadLine".
Thislinecheckstoseeifthespecifiedfileexists.Thefilemustbeplacedinthedirectory
wherePCDMISresidesforthiscodetowork,otherwisethelinecontainingthefilemustalso
containthefullpathwayforthefile.V1receivestheresultofthefilecheck.It'sanonzero
valueifitexists0otherwise.
DisplayingaFileDialogBox
TheInsert|FileI/OCommand|FileDialogmenuoptioninsertsacommandintotheEdit
windowwhichwillcheckbringupafiledialogboxduringexecution.Thisfiledialogcanbeused
toallowthepartprogramoperatortochooseafilenameatruntime.Thenameofthefilechosen
willbestoredinthevariablespecified.
<varname>=File/Dialog,<expr>
<varname> Thisisthenameofthevariablethatwillbe
settothenameofthefilechosenbythe
userinthefiledialog.
<expr> Thisisthetextthatwillappearonthetitle
barofthefiledialog
2. PlacingyourcursorontheFileDialogcommand.
3. PressF9.
SampleCodeforFileDialog
Thefollowingcodesubmitsadialogboxthatallowsyoutochooseafiletodelete.
V1=FILE/DIALOG,Chooseafiletodelete.
V2=FILE/EXISTS,V1
IF/V2<>0
COMMENT/OPER,Fileexists.Readytodelete.
FILE/DELETE,V1

V3=FILE/EXISTS,
IF/V3==0
COMMENT/OPER,Filedeletedsuccessfully
PROGRAM/END
END_IF/
ELSE/
COMMENT/OPER,Filestillexists
PROGRAM/END
END_ELSE/
END_IF/
COMMENT/OPER,Filedoesn'texisttodelete.Chooseafilethatexists.
CodeforReadLine".
V1=FILE/Dialog,Chooseafiletodelete
Thislinedisplaysadialogboxwiththetitle"Chooseafiletodelete".Youcanbrowsetoafile
andwhenyouclickOpen,PCDMISgivesV1thefullpathwaytotheselectedfile.Therestof
theprogramdeletestheselectedfile.
CheckingfortheEndofaFileortheEndofaLine
PCDMISallowsyoutocheckfortheEndofaFilebyusingthefunctionsEOForEOLina
conditionaltest.
EOFstandsforENDOFFILE.Thisfunctiontakesafilepointeroftypestring.Whenproperly
placedwithinaconditionalstatement,itteststoseeifthefilepointerhasreachedtheendof
thespecifiedfile.Ifithas,thenthefunctionreturnstrue.
EOLstandsforENDOFLINE.Thisfunctiontakesafilepointeroftypestring.Whenproperly
placedwithinaconditionalstatement,itteststoseeifthefilepointerhasreachedtheendof
alineinthespecifiedfile.Ifithas,thenthefunctionreturnstrue.Thisworksbestinsideofa
loop.
EOF<filepointer>orEOL<filepointer>
<filepointer> Thisisthenameofthefilepointerthat
you'rechecking.
SamplecodeforEOFandEOL

Thefollowingcodeopenstest.txtandreadsthroughthefile.Aslongastheendoffilehasn'tbeen
reached(designatedwiththecode,WHILE/!EOF),PCDMISreadsthroughthefilecharacterby
character,assigningacharactertoV1.
IfPCDMISreachestheendofalineinthefile,PCDMISshowsthelastcharacteronthatline.
ThisrepeatsuntilPCDMISreachestheendofthefile.PCDMISthenshowsthetext"EndofFile
Reached...".
FPTR=FILE/OPEN,D:\temp\test.txt,READ
WHILE/!EOF("FPTR")
IF/EOL("FPTR")
COMMENT/OPER,NO,"EndofLineReached.Thelastcharacteris:"
,V1
END_IF/
END_WHILE/
COMMENT/OPER,NO,"EndofFileReached..."

UsingExpressionsandVariables
UsingExpressionsandVariables:Introduction
Anexpressionisauser ExpressionsareanimportanttomakingPCDMISaccomplishyour
definedconditionusedwith specifictasks.Usingexpressionsinconjunctionwithflowcontrol
PCDMIS'sflowcontrol commands,youcanunleashevenmoreofPCDMIS'spowerful
commands.Usingflow functionality.
controlstatementsyoucan
thentesttheseconditionsin Thischapterexplainswhathowtocreateanduseexpressions
yourpartprogramandifthe insidePCDMIS'sEditwindow.Whenworkingwithexpressions,
conditionismetornot,you youshouldplacePCDMIS'sEditwindowintoCommandmode.
candeterminewhataction ThiswillallowyoutoviewtheEditwindowcodedirectly.
PCDMIStakes.
Thefollowingmajortopicsarecoveredinthischapter:
UsingExpressionsinaPartProgram
CreatingExpressionswiththeExpressionBuilder
UsingVariableswithExpressions
UnderstandingExpressionComponents
AccessingaReport'sObjectProperties
UsingExpressionsinaPartProgram
ThePCDMISEditwindowallowsexpressionsinmostofitseditablefields.Editablefieldsare
usuallythosefieldshighlightedinyellowwhenyoupressTABinsidetheEditwindowwhilein
Commandmode.Fieldsthatchangethetypeofthefeaturedonotallowexpressions.
Example:Theboxofanautofeaturewhichspecifiesthetypeoftheautofeaturei.e.Surface
point,AutoCircle,AutoRoundSlot,etc.doesnotallowexpressions.
Thesubtopicsunderthistopicofferacompletereferencetoavailableexpressions.
ViewingExpressionValues
Toseethevalueofanexpression,positionthemousecursorovertheexpressionandleaveitin
positionforatleastonesecond.Theexpressionwillbeevaluatedandasmallyellowpopup
windowdisplayingtheexpressionanditscurrentvaluewillappearjustbelowthemousecursor.
KeepingExpressionValuesOnly
ToimmediatelysolveanexpressionintheEditwindow,thuskeepingonlythevalue:
1. SelecttheexpressiontextintheEditwindow.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual UsingExpressionsandVariables 1349

2. Precedetheexpressiontextwitha`(accentgrave)character.
Example:Supposeyoutypetheexpression"`1/7"inanumericfield.Theexpressionwillbe
immediatelysolvedandonlythevalue(0.143)willbeplacedinthefield.
UsingExpressionswithBranching
Theflowcontrolcommandsuseexpressionstodetermineflowofprogramexecution.Please
refertothe"BranchingbyUsingFlowControl"chapterforinformationonwhenbranchingmayor
maynotoccur.
UsingExpressionswithFileInput/Output
Writingdatatoanexternaldatafileorreadingdatafromanexternaldatafileoftenusesvariables
andotherexpressionstoeffectivelymanageandstoreordisplaythatdata.Pleaserefertothe
"UsingFileInput/Output"chapterfor moreinformation.
CreatingExpressionswiththeExpressionBuilder
ExpressionBuilderdialogbox
PCDMISallowsyoutocreateandaddexpressionsintotheEditwindowbysimplytypingthemin
orbyusingthefriendlierinterfaceoftheExpressionBuilderdialogbox.TheEdit|Expression
menuoptiondisplaystheExpressionBuilderdialogbox.
Thisdialogboxallowsyoutocreateanexpressionandinsertitintoaneditablefield.Pressingthe
F2keywhilethecursorisonafieldthatallowsexpressionswillalsobringuptheExpression
Builderdialogbox.
TheExpressionsBuilderdialoglistsallofthetypesofoperatorsandfunctionsavailablefor
expressions.
CreatinganExpressionbyTyping
TocreateanexpressionbytypingitdirectlytotheEditwindow:
1350 UsingExpressionsandVariables PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

2. PlacetheEditwindowintocommandmode.
3. PressTABtomoveyourcursortoaneditablefieldwhereyouwanttoinsertthe
expression.Fieldswithayellowhighlightareconsidered"editable".
4. Typetheexpression.
CreatinganExpressionwiththeExpressionBuilder
ToenteranexpressionbyusingtheExpressionBuilderdialogbox:
2. PlacetheEditwindowintocommandmode.
3. Movethecursortoaneditablefieldwhereyouwanttoinserttheexpression.
4. PresstheF2keywhilethecursorisonafieldthatallowsexpressions.The
ExpressionBuilderdialogboxwillappear.TheExpressionBuilderdialogboxlistsall
ofthetypesofoperators,operands,andfunctions.Thefollowingcanbereferenced
throughthisdialogbox:
Availableexpressiontypes
Variables
Features
Dimensions
Alignments
Comments
5. Selecttheexpressionelementtypefromthefirstdropdownlist.Dependingon
yourselection,othercomboboxeswillappear.
6. SelectthedesiredIDfromtheIDdropdownlist.
7. SelectanextensionfromtheExtensiondropdownlist.
8. SelectanotherextensionfromtheSecondExtension dropdownlist.Ifthe
expressionisusable,theAddbuttonbecomesavailable.
9. ClicktheAddbutton.Theexpressionappearsinaneditbox.
10. ClicktheOKbutton.Theexpressionnowappearswhereyourcursorisinthe
Editwindow.
Note:YoucanalsoopentheExpressionBuilderdialogboxfromtheseotherdialogboxes:
TheIfExpressiondialogboxSelectInsert|FlowControl|IfGoto.ClickontheExpression
button.
TheAssignmentdialogboxSelectInsert|Assignment.ClicktheAssignToorAssign
Frombutton.
Oncetheexpressioniscreated,PCDMISautomaticallyinsertstheexpressionatthenextlegal
positionintheEditwindow.
CheckingtheExpressionforCorrectness
Whenyourcursorleavesthefieldwhereyouaddedtheexpression,PCDMISattemptstocheck
theexpressionforcorrectness.Ifthereisaproblemwiththeexpression,anerrormessage
indicatinganinvalidnumbermayappear,ortheexpressiontextmayturnred.Also,expressions
thatrefertononexistentobjectswillshowupinredtext.

Sincethetestofexpressioncorrectnessoccursatthetimeyouleaveafield,afieldthatturned
redduetoareferenceofanonexistentobject,(ex.CIRCLE1.X),willremainredevenifthenew
object,(ex.CIRCLE1),isadded.Thefieldremainsreduntiltheexpressionisretestedfor
correctness.
Toretesttheexpressionforcorrectness:
1. Moveyourcursortothefieldoftheexpression.
2. PresstheF2key.TheExpressionBuilderdialogboxopensagain.Any
changestoyourexpressionappearintheeditbox.
3. PresstheENTERkeytoclosethedialogbox.
ExpressionElementType
TheExpressionElementTypedropdownlistintheExpressionBuilderdialogboxliststhe
variousexpressionelementtypesavailabletobeplacedintoexpressions.Theseinclude:
Functions
Operators
Alignments
Comments
Dimensions
Features
Variables
ID
TheIDdropdownlistoftheExpressionBuilderdialogboxliststhesetofitemsavailablebased
ontheexpressionelementtypeselectedintheExpressionElementTypedropdownlist.
ForExample:
WhenFunctions&OperatorsischosenfromtheExpressionElementType
dropdownlisttheIDdropdownlistwillcontainalistoftheavailablefunctionsand
operators.
WhenFeaturesischosenintheExpressionElementTypedropdownlist,theID
dropdownlistdisplaystheIDsofthefeaturesinthepartprogram.
Extension
TheExtensiondropdownlistbecomesavailablewhentheitemchoseninIDdropdownlist
requirestheadditionofanextensioninordertoformauseableexpressionelement.The
ExtensiondropdownlistdisplaysavailableextensionsbasedontheitemselectedintheID
dropdownlist.
Example:SupposeyouselectafeaturefromtheIDdropdownlist.Thelistofpossible
extensionsthatcanbeusedtoreferencedataofthatfeature(suchas"X","Y","Z","Diam",
"Length",etc.)arethenlistedintheExtensiondropdownlist.
SecondExtension

TheSecondExtensiondropdownlistbecomesavailableonlyiftheitemchoseninthe
Extensiondropdownlistrequirestheadditionofasecondextensioninordertoformauseable
expressionelement.
Example:SupposeyouarereferencingthenominalvalueoftheXlocationaxisofadimension
named"D1".
Youwould:
ChooseD1fromtheIDdropdownlist.
SelectXfromtheExtensiondropdownlist
SelectNom fromtheSecondExtensiondropdownlist.
AddButton
Wheneveryouselectauseableorcompleteexpressionelementusingthedropdownlists,the
Addbuttonbecomesavailable.Whenclickedthisbuttondisplaysthetexttobeaddedtothe
expression.
Forexample,ifthefollowingwerechosen:
DimensionsfromtheExpressionElementTypelist
D1fromtheIDlist
XfromtheExtensionlist
NomfromtheSecondExtensionlist
ThentheAddbuttonwouldbecomeenabledandwouldhavethefollowingtext:AddD1.X.NOM.
UponclickingtheAddbutton,thetextthenappearsintheeditboxatthebottomofthedialog
box.
Note: WhenyouclicktheOKbutton,thetextfromtheeditboxisaddedtotheEditwindow,tothe
expressionfieldwhereyourcursoris.IfyouselectanitemfromtheEditwindow'sexpression
field,andthetexttobeaddedcontainsparenthesis,thentheselecteditemwouldbeplaced
insideoftheparenthesisoftheaddedtext.
Editbox
AtthebottomoftheExpressionBuilderdialogboxisaneditboxshowingthecurrentexpression.
Theexpressioncanbetypeddirectlytothisbox,oryoucanusetheAddbutton.
DescriptionArea
TheExpressionBuilderdialogboxalsocontainsaDescriptionareawhichgivesinformation
aboutitemsselectedfromthedropdownlists.AfieldnexttotheAddbuttonalsoshowsthe
currentvalueoftheexpression.
Note:Invalidexpressionshaveavalueof0.
UsingVariableswithExpressions

Variablesareobjectsthatholdvalues.Variablesrefertointeger,real,string,orpointoperands.
Variablesareessentialtousingexpressions.Avariablehasanameandavalue.Thenameis
usedtoaccessthevalueofthevariable.Thenameisconstant,thevaluecanbechanged.You
assignavaluetoavariablebyusingtheASSIGN/command.
Forexample,thestatementASSIGN/V1=2 createsavariablewithanameofV1andavalueof2.
ASSIGN/V2=V1+2 accessesthevalueofV1.IfV1stillhadavalueof2whenthisassign
statementwasexecuted,V2wouldthenhaveavalueof4.
Formoreinformationonvariables,see"Variables".
AssigningValuestoVariablesbyUsingtheAssignmentDialogBox
Assignmentdialogbox
TheInsert|AssignmentmenuoptiondisplaystheAssignmentdialogbox.Thisdialogbox
allowsyoutoassignavaluetoavariableordataelementofapartprogramfeature,dimension,
oralignment.UseoftheassignmentcommandrequiresabasicunderstandingofPCDMIS
expressions.
AssignTo
TheAssignTobuttonallowsyoutodesignatethevariablethatisreceivingthevaluecalculated
intheAssignFrombox.InformationchosenusingtheAssignTobuttonisplacedintheAssign
Tobox.This valuecanbethenameofavariable,orareferencetoadataelementofafeature,
dimension,oralignment.
AssignFrom
Theresultofsolvingthe TheAssignFrombuttonallowsyoutoplacethevaluebeing
mathematicalexpressionfor assignedintotheAssignFrombox.Ifthisboxcontainsan
avalueiswhatismeantby expression,theexpressionisevaluatedatexecutiontimeandthe
theterm"evaluated". resultorvalueofthecalculationisassignedtotheobjectspecified
intheAssignTobox.
Insert
TheInsertbuttoninsertsanassignmentcommandintothepartprogramwhilekeepingthe
Assignmentdialogboxopen.Thisbuttonallowsyoutoinsertaseriesofassignmentcommands
withoutclosingthedialogbox.
UnderstandingExpressionComponents

Expressionshavethesetypesofoperands:
Integers
RealNumbers
Strings
Points
FeaturePointers
Arrays
Functions
Thesearediscussedindetailbelow.
OperandTypes
Theoperandsmayexistintheformof:
Literals
References
Variables
Structures
Pointers
Literals
*Integers: 1,6,209
Reals: 1,6,2.4,0.1,345.6789
Strings: "HelloWorld", "47", "CIRCLE1"
Points: Aliteralrepresentationisnotavailableforpoints.However,pointscanbemadefrom
otherliteralsusingtheMPOINTfunction: MPOINT(0,0,1), MPOINT(2.2,3.1,4.0).
Pointer: ThenameofafeatureenclosedinFrenchbrackets: {CIR1},{LIN2},{F3}
Arrays: Aliteralrepresentationisnotavailableforarrays.However,arrayscanbecreatedfrom
otherliteralsusingtheARRAYfunction: ex.ARRAY(3,5,6),ARRAY("Hello",2.3,9).These
functionscreate3elementarrayswiththeintegerelements3,5,and6inthefirstexampleand
thestringelement"Hello",doubleelement2.3,andintegerelement9inthesecondexample.
Functions: Aliteralrepresentationisnotavailableforfunctions.Functionsaredefinedusingthe
FUNCTIONkeywordandaccessedviavariableids.Forexample,ASSIGN/Add2=
FUNCTION((X),X+2)definesafunctionthattakesoneargumentandadds2toit.Thevariable
Add2isassignedthefunction.ThefunctioncanbecalledusingthevariableAdd2asfollows.
ASSIGN/Result=Add2(5).Resultisassignedthevalue7.
Note:NumericLiteralsareinterpretedasrealnumbersunlesstheoperatororfunctionimpliesthe
useofintegers.Forexample,theexpression10/8evaluatesto1.25insteadof1.Notealsothat

discretedivisionisalsopossibleviatheoperandcoercionoperators.TheexpressionINT(10)/
INT(8)doesevaluateto1.
References
Referencesrefertodatamembersofotherobjectsinapartprogram.ReferencesusetheIDof
anobjectinthepartprogramfollowedbyadotandanextensionthatreferstothedatamember
oftheobject.
Example:IfCIRCLE1werethenameofameasuredcircleinthepartprogram,CIRCLE1.X
wouldrefertothemeasuredvalueoftheXcomponentofCIRCLE1.Allreferencesareevaluated
inpartcoordinatesrelativetothecurrentalignment.
ReferencesofTypeDouble
Thefollowingreferenceexpressionsareavailable:
ValidExtensionsforFeatureReferencesofTypeDoublebyExample
Format:<FeatureId>.<Extension>>CIRCLE1.X
CIRCLE1.X MeasuredXValueofCIRCLE1
CIRCLE1.Y MeasuredYValueofCIRCLE1
CIRCLE1.Z MeasuredZValueofCIRCLE1
CIRCLE1.TX Theoretical(Nominal)XValueofCIRCLE1
CIRCLE1.TY Theoretical(Nominal)YValueofCIRCLE1
CIRCLE1.TZ Theoretical(Nominal)ZValueofCIRCLE1
LINE1.SX MeasuredXValueoftheStartpointofLINE1
LINE1.SY
LINE1.SZ
LINE1.TSXTheoreticalXValueoftheStartpointofLINE1
LINE1.TSY
LINE1.TSZ
LINE1.EXMeasuredXValueoftheEndpointofLINE1
LINE1.EY
LINE1.EZ
LINE1.TEXTheoreticalXValueoftheEndpointofLINE1
LINE1.TEY
LINE1.TEZ
POINT.I MeasuredIComponentofVectorforPOINT
POINT.J
POINT.K
POINT.TITheoreticalIComponentofVectorforPOINT
POINT.TJ
POINT.TK

FEAT1.TYP Thetypeofthefeature(i.e.circle,slot,cone).Thiscanbeusedtochangethetype
ofagenericfeature(Assign/Gen1.TYP=Feat1.TYP).
FEAT1.ALL Referstoallelementsofthefeature.Thisisvaluableforcopyinginformationtoa
genericfeature.(Assign/Gen1.ALL=Feat1.ALL)
SurfaceVector
EDGE.SURFI
EDGE.SURFJ
EDGE.SURFK
EDGE.TSURFI
EDGE.TSURFJ
EDGE.TSURFK
AngleVector
CIR.ANGI
CIR.ANGJ
CIR.ANGK
CIR.TANGI
CIR.TANGJ
CIR.TANGK
Radius
CIRCLE1.R
CIRCLE1.TR
CIRCLE1.RAD
CIRCLE1.TRAD
CIRCLE1.RADIUS
CIRCLE1.PRPolarRadius
CIRCLE1.TPRTheoreticalPolarRadius
CIRCLE1.TRADIUS(OnlytheFirstCharactersaresignificant)

Diameter
CIRCLE1.D
CIRCLE1.TD
CIRCLE1.DIAM
CIRCLE1.TDIAM
CIRCLE1.DIAMETER
CIRCLE1.TDIAMETER(Onlythefirstcharactersaresignificant)
Angle
CONE.A
CONE.TA
CONE.ANG
CONE.TANG
CONE.ANGLE
CONE.TANGLE
CONE.PAPolarAngle
CONE.TPATheoreticalPolarAngle(OnlytheFirstCharactersaresignificant)
Length
LINE.L
LINE.TL
LINE.LEN
LINE.TLEN
LINE.LENGTH
LINE.TLENGTH(OnlytheFirstCharactersaresignificant)
Height
CYLINDER.PHPolarHeight

CYLINDER.TPHTheoreticalPolarHeight
Radius,Angle,Height
POINT.RAHPointwithMeasuredRadius,Angle,andHeight
POINT.TRAHPointwithTheoreticalRadius,Angle,andHeight
ValidExtensionsforDimensionReferenceofTypeDoublebyExample
Format:<DimensionID>.<AXIS>.<DimensionElement>>DIM1.X.NOM
DIM1.X.NOM TheNominalValueforXAxisLocationof
DIM1
DIM1.X.MEAS TheMeasuredValuefortheXAxis
LocationofDIM1
DIM1.X.MAX TheMaxDeviationforXAxisLocationof
DIM1
DIM1.X.MIN TheMinDeviationforXAxisLocationof
DIM1
DIM1.X.PTOL ThePlusToleranceValuefortheXAxis
LocationofDIM1
DIM1.X.MTOL TheMinusToleranceValuefortheX
AxisLocationofDIM1
DIM1.X.DEV TheDeviationontheXAxisLocationof
DIM1
DIM1.X.OUTTOL TheOutofTolerancevalueontheXAxis
LocationofDIM1
DIM1.Y.NOM TheNominalValuefortheYAxis
LocationofDIM1
DIM1.Z.DEV TheDeviationontheZAxisLocationof
DIM1
DIM3.PA.MEAS TheMeasuredValueforthePolarAngle
LocationofDIM3
DIM4.M.PTOL ThePlusToleranceValuefortheMAxis
ofDIM4
*DIM4.PTOL ThePlusToleranceValuefortheMAxis
ofDIM4(SeeNoteunder"ValidAxes"
below).
DIM5.BTOL TheBonusToleranceValuewhereDIM5
isaTruePosition.
ValidAxes:
X,Y,Z,D,R,A,T,V,L,PR,PA,M,PD,RS,RT,S,H,DD,DF,TP
Note:*Dimensionsthathaveonlyoneaxisbydefinition(i.e.roundness,concentricity,etc.)can
omittheaxisqualifier.Iftheaxisqualifierisused,notethatallofthesetypesofdimensions(that
haveonlyoneaxis)usetheMAxisqualifierwiththeexceptionof2Dand3Dangledimensions,
whichusetheAAxisqualifier.
ValidExtensionsforAlignmentReferencesofTypeDoublebyExample:

Format:<AlignmentID>.<AlignmentAxisorOrigin>.<AlignmentAxisorOriginComponent>>
A1.ORIGIN.X
A1.ORIGIN.X XComponentofalignmentA1s
measuredorigin
A2.ORIGIN.Y YComponentofalignmentA2s
measuredorigin
A1.ORIGIN.Z ZComponentofalignmentA1s
measuredorigin
A1.XAXIS.I IComponentof alignmentA1s
measuredXaxis
A1.YAXIS.J JComponentofalignmentA1s
measuredYaxis
A1.ZAXIS.K KComponentofalignmentA1s
measuredZaxis
A1.CORIGIN.X XComponentofalignmentA1sorigin
basedontheoretical(CisforCAD)data
A1.CXAXIS.J JComponentofalignmentA1sXaxis
basedontheoretical(CisforCAD)data
ReferencesofTypePoint
Thefollowingreferenceexpressionsareavailable:
ValidExtensionsforFeatureReferencesofTypePointbyExample
Format:<FeatureID>.<Extension>>CIRCLE1.XYZ
CIRCLE1.XYZ MeasuredcentroidofCIRCLE1
CIRCLE1.TXYZ TheoreticalcentroidofCIRCLE1
LINE1.SXYZ MeasuredstartpointofLINE1
LINE1.TSXYZ TheoreticalstartpointofLINE1
LINE1.EXYZ MeasuredendpointofLINE1
LINE1.TEXYZ TheoreticalendpointofLINE1
CIRCLE1.IJK MeasuredVectorofCIRCLE1
CIRCLE1.TIJK TheoreticalVectorofCIRCLE1
EDGE.SURFIJK MeasuredSurfaceVectorofEDGE
EDGE.TSURFIJK TheoreticalSurfaceVectorofEDGE
AUTOCIR1.ANGIJK MeasuredAngleVectorofAUTOCIR1
AUTOCIR1.TANGIJK TheoreticalAngleVectorofAUTOCIR1
ValidExtensionsforAlignmentReferenceofTypePointbyExample
Format:<AlignmentID>.<AlignmentAxisorOrigin>>A1.XAXIS
A1.ORIGIN MeasuredoriginofalignmentA1
A1.XAXIS MeasuredXaxisofalignmentA1
A1.YAXIS MeasuredYaxisofalignmentA1
A1.ZAXIS MeasuredZaxisofalignmentA1
A1.CORIGIN TheoreticaloriginofalignmentA1
A1.CXAXIS TheoreticalXaxisofalignmentA1

A1.CYAXIS TheoreticalYaxisofalignmentA1
A1.CZAXIS TheoreticalZaxisofalignmentA1
ReferencesofTypeString
Referencestocommentsaretheonlyobjecttypesthatareoftypestring.OnlyINPUTcomments
orYES/NOcommentscanbereferredtoviareferences.ThesecommenttypeshaveanIDwhich
canbeusedtoidentifythecomment.
Format:<CommentID>.INPUT>C1.INPUT
C1.INPUTTheinputvalue(fromtheoperator)forcommentC1
YES/NOcommenttypessettheinputtotheappropriateyesornostringbasedonthecurrent
languageofPCDMIS.IntheEnglishversionofPCDMISiftheoperatorpressestheyesbutton,
thestringissetto"YES",iftheoperatorpressesthenobutton,thestringissetto"NO".When
comparingstringstotestfor"YES"or"NO",thecomparisoniscasesensitive.Thus,comparing
against"yes"or"no"willalwaysfaileveniftheYES/NOcommentinputissetto"YES"or"NO".
Variables
Variablescanbeofanyofthesevenoperandtypes:integer,real,string,point,featurepointer,
array,orfunction.VariablescomeintoexistenceandreceivetheirvalueandtypeviatheASSIGN
statement.ThevariableID canbeanyalphanumericstringthatdoesnotbeginwithanumeric
character.Underscorescanalsobeusedinthevariableidprovidedthattheunderscoreisnotthe
firstcharacter.
Variablevaluesaresavedbetweenexecutionruns.Thismeansifprogramexecutionstopsand
restarts,thevaluesthevariableshavewhenexecutionstopswillbethesamevalueswhen
executionstartsagain.
Note:IftheEditwindowisactive,PCDMISwillindicatethecurrentvalueofthevariable
wheneverthecursorisplacedinthefield.Duringexecution,variablevalueswillchangebasedon
flowofexecution.Positionthemousepointeroverthedesiredvariabletofindoutitscurrent
value.
ASSIGN/V1=2.2+2 VariableV1isareal
numberwiththevalue
of4.2
ASSIGN/VAR1=CIRCLE1.X VariableVAR1isa
realnumberwitha
valueequaltothe
measuredvalueof
CIRCLE1.Xatthe
timeofassignment.
ASSIGN/MYVAR=LINE1.XYZ VariableMYVARisa
pointwiththesame
valueofthe
measuredcentroidof
LINE1atthetimeof
assignment.

ASSIGN/SVAR ="HelloWorld" VariableSVARisa

stringwiththevalue
"HelloWorld"
Intheseexamples,variablesarebeingassignedvalues.Onceavariablehasbeenassigneda
value,thevariablecanbeusedasanoperandinanyexpressionfield.
ExampleofV1beingusedinanumericfield:
ASSIGN/V1=1/3
PREHIT/V1
Here,V1isusedastheprehitvalueoftheprehitcommand.
Note:Sinceexpressionscanbeusedinmosteditablefields,thefollowingexpressionisalso
legalandhasthesameeffect:PREHIT/1/3.
Thecomponentsofvariablesoftypepointcanbereferredtoindividuallyusingthedotextension
notationusedforreferences.
ASSIGN/V1=MPOINT(3,4,5) V1isoftypepoint
withvalueof3,4,5
ASSIGN/XVAR=V1.X XVARisoftype
doublewiththevalue
of3
ASSIGN/YVAR=V1.Y YVARisoftype
doublewiththevalue
of4
ASSIGN/IVAR=V1.I IVARisoftype
doublewiththevalue
of3
ASSIGN/REDUNVAR=V1.XYZ REDUNVARisof
typepointwiththe
valueof3,4,5
Thefollowingextensionsareequivalenttoeachother.Bothareprovidedtoclarifythemeaningof
anexpressioninapartprogram.
GiventhatV1isoftypepoint.
V1.XisthesameasV1.I
V1.YisthesameasV1.J
V1.ZisthesameasV1.K
V1.XYZisthesameasV1.IJKandV1withoutanyextension.
Ifavariableoftypestringhasastringvalueequaltothenameoftheidofafeature,dimension,
oralignment,thevariablecanbeusedasareferenceobject.
Example:
ASSIGN/V1="CIRCLE1"
ThefollowingoperandsarepossibleandvalidprovidedafeaturewiththenameCIRCLE1exists.

V1.XThemeasuredXvalueofCIRCLE1
V1.TXThetheoreticalXvalueofCIRCLE1
V1.DiameterThemeasureddiameterofCIRCLE1
V1.RadiusThemeasuredradiusofCIRCLE1
Thistypeofindirectionavailableonstringvariablesisonlyavailabletoonelevelofindirection.
Thefollowingwillnotwork.
ASSIGN/V1="CIRCLE1"
ASSIGN/V2="V1"
V2.XThiswillevaluateto0insteadofthecurrentmeasuredvalueofCIRCLE1.X.
Note:ThereferenceV2.Xwillnotbeflaggedasanerrorwithredtexteventhoughanexpression
aboveitsetsitstypetoastring.Thereasonitcannotbeflaggedasanerrorisbecausetheflow
ofexecutionofthepartprogramisnotknownuntilexecutetime.
However,ifyouusecurlybracketsthefollowingdoeswork:
ASSIGN/V1={CIRCLE1}
ASSIGN/V2={V1}
V2.XThiswillgiveyouthevalueofCIRCLE1.X.
Considerthefollowingexample:
ASSIGN/V1="CIRCLE1"
ASSIGN/V2="V1"
IF/CIRCLE1.X>CIRCLE1.TX,GOTO,L2
L1=LABEL/
ASSIGN/V3=V2.X
GOTO/LABEL,L3
L2=LABEL/
ASSIGN/V2=MPOINT(2,5,7)
GOTO/LABEL,L1
L3=LABEL/
IfduringprogramexecutionthevalueofCIRCLE1.XisgreaterthanthevalueofCIRCLE1.TX,
thentheexpressionV2.Xwillbevalidandwillevaluateto2.Otherwise,theexpressionV2.Xwill
evaluateto0sincethevalueofV2atthetimeoftheASSIGNforV3isthestring"V1".Itisthe
responsibilityofthepartprogrammertoensurethatexpressionswilldoasexpectedinthese
cases.
AdditionalnoteontheAssignStatement:Almostallofthefeaturereferencescanbeusedon
thelefthandsideoftheassignmentstatementtoputavalueintoameasuredortheoreticaldata
memberofafeature.TheonlyexceptionisthesingleI,J,Kcomponentsofvectors.Toassignto
vectors,thecompletevectormustbeassignedatonceusinganexpressionthatevaluatestoa
point.Vectordataisnormalizedasitisinputintothefeaturesvectordatamembers.
Example:
ASSIGN/CIRCLE1.I=2 illegal
ASSIGN/CIRCLE1.IJK=MPOINT(2,0,0)legal(vectorisnormalizedto1,0,0)
Forinformationonusingvariableswithindimensions,seethe"DimensioningVariables"topicin
the"DimensioningFeatures"chapter.
Structures
Withversion3.5andlateryoucanuseanewvariabletypecalledstructures.Structuresallowyou
toplaceextensionsonavariabletoidentifysubelementofthatvariable.Considerthisexample:

Example:
ASSIGN/V1.HEIGHT=6
ASSIGN/V1.WIDTH=4.3
ASSIGN/V1.MODE="CIRCULAR"
ASSIGN/V1.POINT=MPOINT(100.3,37.5,63.1)
Inthisexample,
V1isthestructure.
HEIGHT,WIDTH,MODE,andPOINTaresubelementsofthestructure.
RulesforStructures
LikeVariables,Structuresdonotneedtobedeclared.
Subelementsofastructurecanbeanyofthesevariabletypes:
q Integer
q Double
q Point
q FeaturePointer
q Function
q Array
q Structure
Forexample,itispossibletohavestructureelementsthatarearraysandarrayelementsthatare
structures.Thismakesthefollowingexampleexpressionsvalid:
Example
ASSIGN/CAR.LEFTSIDE.DOOR[2].QUADRANT[3].JOINT[5].HIT[4]=MPOINT(558.89,910.12,42.45)
COMMENT/OPER,"CurrentZPosition:"+CAR.LEFTSIDE.DOOR[2].QUADRANT[3].JOINT[5].HIT[4].Z
ASSIGN/CURRENTJOINT=LEFTSIDE.DOOR[2].QUADRANT[3].JOINT[5]
COMMENT/OPER,"NextHit:"+CURRENTJOINT.HIT[4]
StructureswithVariablesofTypePoint
Ifavariableisoftypepoint,theusercanstillusethe.X,.Y,.Z,.I,.J,and.Kextensionstogetat
individualitemsofthepoint.Theusercanalsouseanyoftheextensionsfromthisexamplein
theirstructureswithoutbeingforcedtousethemaspointelements.
Example:
ASSIGN/V1.X="Somestring"
ASSIGN/V1.Y=ARRAY(1,3,5,9,7)
ASSIGN/V1.Z=MPOINT(3,5,7)

COMMENT/REPT,V1.X Outputis"Somestring"
COMMENT/REPT,V1.Y[2] Outputis3,thesecond
elementofthearray.
COMMENT/REPT,V1.Z.Y Outputis5,theYvalue
oftheMPOINT.
BycombiningstructureswiththefunctioncapabilityofthePCDMISexpressionlanguage,itis
possibletohavedynamicstructurereferencesasshownhere:
(examplecontinued)
ASSIGN/DYNAMICSTRUCT=FUNCTION((X,Y),X.Y)
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleaseenterinitem
ASSIGN/TESTSTR=C1.INPUT
ASSIGN/FRONT=LEFT(TESTSTR,INDEX(TESTSTR,".")1)
ASSIGN/BACK=MID(TESTSTR,INDEX(TESTSTR,"."))
ASSIGN/RESULT=DYNAMICSTRUCT(FRONT,BACK)
Thisportionoftheexampleasksyoutoinputavariablereference,splitsthereferenceatthefirst
'.',andthenassignsRESULTtobeequaltothatreferencebyusingthefunction
DYNAMICSTRUCT.
So,iffromyouhadtypedV1.Y[4] fortheC1.INPUTvariable,RESULTwouldendupwiththe
valueof9(thefourthelementofthearrayassignedtoV1.Y).
Thelearntimeevaluationofexpressionshasbeenenhancedtoaccuratelyshowallelementsofa
structureoranarray.
Pointers
Pointersarealsoknownas Pointersprovideasimplewaytoreferenceafeatureviaa
"FeaturePointers".Seethe variableortopassobjectsusingthecallsubcommand.Pointers
Glossaryterm"Feature aresimilartoindirectionviastringnames.However,the
Pointers"formoreinformation.
advantageofusingpointersiswithsubroutines.Pointers,unlike
strings,whenpassedinasargumentsofasubroutine,allowfor
directmodificationoftheobjectpointedtobythesubroutine.
Pointersarenotusedincomplexexpressions.Ifitisusedina
complexexpressionthepointerwillevaluatetozero.
Considerthefollowingexamples:
PointerUseExample:
ASSIGN/V1={CIR1} V1isnowapointerthat
pointstoCIR1.
ASSIGN/DIST= Dist=distanceofCIR1
DOUBLE(V1.XYZ) fromorigin.
Youcanalsoputanexpressionbetweencurlybrackets
inordertoobtainafeaturepointer.Inversionspriorto
version3.5thiswasinvalid.Nowthefollowingexamples
arealllegalwaystogetthepointertofeatureCIR1:
ASSIGN/FEATCOUNT=1 Assignsexpression"CIR1"
toV1.
ASSIGN/V1={"CIR"+
FEATCOUNT}
ASSIGN/V2="CIR1" Assignsexpression"CIR1"

ASSIGN/V3={V2} fromvariableV2to
variableV3
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Please Thistakesthefeature
typeafeaturename. nameofC1.INPUTand
ASSIGN/V4={C1.INPUT} placesitintovariable,V4.
SubroutineExample:
Inthecallingprogram:
CS1=CALLSUB/SUB.PRG,CHANGEX,{CIR1}
Inthesubroutineprogram
GEN1=GENERIC/FEATURE
SUBROUTINE/CHANGEX,ARG1={GEN1}
(WhenCIR1ispassedinittakestheplaceofGEN1)
ARG1.X=5
(SetsthemeasuredXvalueofCIR1to5)
END/SUBROUTINE
ComplexExpressionExample:
ASSIGN/V1={CIR1}+2
{CIR1}evaluatestozeroandsoentireexpressionevaluatesto2.
Arrays
Threetypesofarraysareavailable:Featurearrays,hitarrays,andvariableArrays.
Important:Eventhoughmultidimensionalarraysaredisplayedasmultidimensionalinthe
software,youcanreallyonlyusethemassingledimensionalarraysuntilyouprecedethearrays
withanARRAYINDICEScommand(seethe"ArrayIndicesObject:"topic).
FeatureArrays:
Whenafeatureismeasuredmorethanonceduringprogramexecution,afeaturearrayis
automaticallycreated.Thenumberofelementsinthefeaturearrayisequaltothenumberof
timesthefeaturehasbeenexecuted.
Example:Ifameasuredcircleobjectwerelocatedinawhileloopthatexecutedfivetimes,then
anarrayoffivemeasuredcircleswouldexist.Iftheidofthemeasuredcirclewere"Circle1",then
anarrayexpressioncouldbeusedtoaccessindividualinstancesofthemeasuredcircleobject.
Squarebracketsareusedtoindicatetheinstancedesired.
Assign/V1= V1isassignedthemeasured
xvalueofthethirdinstanceof

Circle1[3].x Circle1.
Note: Whenafeaturearrayexistsforagivenfeaturebutarraynotationisnotusedinareference
tothatfeature.Themostrecentinstanceisused.Fromtheaboveexample,thereference
Circle1.xwouldbethesameasCircle1[5].xsincethefifthinstancewouldbethemostrecent
instanceoftheobject.
Expressionscanbeusedwithinthesquarebracketsofanarrayexpression.Circle1[3].xand
Circle1[2+1].xwouldthereforebeequivalent.Thefollowingexampleusesalooptoprintoutthe
measuredcentroidofthefivecirclesfromtheexamplesabove.
Example:
Assign/V1=1
While/V1<6
Comment/Rept,"Centroidofinstance#"+V1+"ofCircle1: "+Circle1[V1].XYZ
Assign/V1=V1+1
End/While
Possibleoutputfromtheaboveexample:
Centroidofinstance#1ofCircle1: 3.4,2.6,1.43
Centroidofinstance#3ofCircle1:5.4,4.6,3.43
Centroidofinstance#4ofCircle1:6.4,5.6,4.43
Arraysalsoexistondimensionsandalignmentsthathavebeenexecutedmultipletimesina
givenexecutionrun.Thus,Dim1[2].NomandAlign1[4].Originwouldbeavailablegiventhatthe
Dimension"Dim1"hasexecutedatleasttwiceandthealignment"Align1"hasexecutedatleast
fourtimes.
Ifafeaturearrayreferenceisoutofbounds(i.e.,theuserasksforCircle1[2.5]or>Circle1["Hello,
World"])theupperorlowerbounditemisreturned.IfCircle1had3instances,thanCircle1[4]and
abovewouldreturnCircle1[3]andCircle[0]andbelowwouldreturnCircle1[1].Allexpressions
betweensquarebracketsarecoercedtointeger,thus2.5wouldbecome2and"HelloWorld"
wouldbecome0.
ArrayIndicesObject:
Bydefault,featurearraysarealwaysonedimensionalarrays.Ifitismoreconvenienttotreata
featurearrayasamultidimensionalarray,thiscanbedonebyusingthearrayindicesobject.
Thearrayindicesobjectallowsyoutospecifyupperandlowerboundsformultiplearray
dimensions.
Bysettingtheupperandlowerboundsofthefirstdimensionatwodimensional
arrayiscreatedwherethefirstdimensionisboundandtheseconddimensionis
unbound.

Bysettingtheupperandlowerboundsofthefirsttwodimensionsofanarray,a
threedimensionalarrayiscreated.Thelastdimensionisalwaysunbound.
Example:
FeatureF1islocatedinsideanestedWHILEloop.TheinnerWHILEloopexecutesfivetimesand
theouterWHILEloopexecutesthreetimes.Atcompletionofexecution,F1hasbeenexecuted15
timesandso15instancesofF1exist.
Considerthefollowingexamplepartprogramsegment:
ARRAY_INDICES/1..5,..
ASSIGN/V1=1
WHILE/V1<=3
ASSIGN/V2=1
WHILE/V2<=5
F1=FEAT/POINT,RECT
THEO/V2,V1,0,0,0,1
ACTL/1,1,0,0,0,1
MEAS/POINT,1
HIT/BASIC,V2,V1,0,0,0,1,1,1,0
ENDMEAS/
ASSIGN/V2=V2+1
COMMENT/REPT,"LocationofF1["+V2+","+V1+"]:"+F1[V2,V1].XYZ
END_WHILE/
ASSIGN/V1=V1+1
END_WHILE/
Thiscodesegmentcreatesa3X5gridof15measuredpoints.
Thearrayindicescommandhaslimitedthefirstdimensionofthefeaturearraytobebetween1
and5inclusively.Thusontheinspectionreport,insteadofappearingasF1[1]F1[15],the
objectswillappearasF1[1,1]F1[5,3],moreconsistentwiththelayoutofthefeatures.Notice
thatthecommentalsoreferstothefeaturearrayusingatwodimensionalarraysyntax.
Toinsertanarray_indicesobjectinapartprogram:
1. Usingthekeyboard,type"Array"onanemptylineintheEditwindow.
2. PresstheTABkey.
Note:IftheDisplayBracketsforFeatureArrayscheckboxhasbeencleared,thefeaturewill
notappearwiththebracketedname.See"DisplayBracketsforFeatureArrays"inthe"Setting
YourPreferences"chapter.
HitArrays:
Thehitsofagivenfeatureareavailableasanarrayandcanbeaccessedviaexpressionsusing
arraysyntaxoftheform<FeatID>.Hit[<ArrayExpression>].<Extension>ortheform
<FeatID>.RawHit[<ArrayExpression>].<Extension>.Hitreturnsprobecompensateddatawhen
probecompensationison.RawHitalwaysreturnuncompensateddata.ValidextensionsareX,Y,
Z,I,J,K,TX,TY,TZ,TI,TJ,TK,XYZ,TXYZ,IJK,andTIJK
Circle1.Hit[1].XYZ Themeasuredcentroid(probe
compensated)ofhit1of
"Circle1".
Circle1.Hit[2].IJK Themeasuredvectorofhit2of
"Circle1"

Hitdataisavailableforallobjectsthathavehits,whethertheactualhitsaredisplayedintheedit
windowornot.Thus,hitscanbeobtainedforscansandautofeatures.
Thefollowingtopicsdescribesomeadditionalarrayfunctionsthatareusefulforfindingthe
minimumormaximumpointsinascan:
AssigningaRangeofHitstoanArray
Youcanalsoassignarangeofhitstoanarraybyusingthissyntax:
<FeatureId>.<Hittype>[<Startnum>..<Endnum>].<Extension>
where
<FeatureId>isthenameofthefeature
<Hittype>canbeeithertheword"HIT"forcompensateddataor"RAWHIT"for
uncompensateddata.Ifprobecompensationifturnedoff,thereturnsvaluesarealways
uncompensated.
<Startnum>isanexpressionthatidentifiesthefirstindexvalueoftherangeofhits
<Endnum>isanexpressionthatidentifiesthesecondindexvalueoftherangeofhits
<Extension>identifiesthetypeofdata.Possibleextensionsincludethesemeasuredor
theoreticaldatatypes:
XMeasuredXvaluesofthehits
YMeasuredYvaluesofthehits
ZMeasuredZvaluesofthehits
XYZMeasuredXYZvaluesofthehits
IMeasuredIvaluesofthehits
JMeasuredJvaluesofthehits
KMeasuredKvaluesofthehits
IJKMeasuredIJKvaluesofthehits
TXTheoreticalXvaluesofthehits
TYTheoreticalYvaluesofthehits
TZTheoreticalZvaluesofthehits
TXYZTheoreticalXYZvaluesofthehits
TITheoreticalIvaluesofthehits
TJTheoreticalJvaluesofthehits
TKTheoreticalKvaluesofthehits
TIJKTheoreticalIJKvaluesofthehits
Forexample,
ASSIGN/V1=SCAN1.HIT[1..10].X V1isassignedtoanarrayof10
valueswhicharethemeasured

Xvaluesfromthefirst10hitsof
SCAN1.
ASSIGN/V2= V2isassignedtoanarrayof
SCAN1.HIT[1..SCAN1.NUMHITS].XYZpointsfromeachofthe
centroidsofthehitsinthescan.
SortingArrays
PCDMISallowsyoutosortarraysineitherascendingordescendingorder.Thefollowingtwo
expressionstakeanarrayandreturnasortedarray:
Tosortinascendingorderuse: Tosortindescendingorderuse:
SORTUP(<array>) SORTDOWN(<array>)
Forexample,
ASSIGN/V1= V1isassignedthearrayof"5,8,3,9,2,6,1,7"
ARRAY(5,8,3,9,2,6,1,7)
ASSIGN/V2=SORTUP(V1) V2willholdthearrayvaluessortedinascendingorder:
"1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9"
ASSIGN/V3=SORTDOWN(V1) V3willholdthearrayvaluessortedindescending
order:"9,8,7,6,5,3,2,1"
ReturningtheGreatestorLeastIndexValuesfromanArray:
Youcaninputanarrayintoafunctionandreturntheindexnumberoftheelementthathasthe
greatestortheleastvaluebyusingthesefunctions:
Toreturntheindexvalueofthe Toreturntheindexvalueofthe
elementwiththegreatestvalue,use: elementwiththeleast value,use:
MAXINDEX(<array>) MININDEX(<array>)
Forexample,
ASSIGN/V1= V1isassignedthearrayof"5,8,3,9,2,6,1,7"
ARRAY(5,8,3,9,2,6,1,7)
ASSIGN/V2=MAXINDEX(V1) V2willholdthearray'sindexvalueof4.Theactual
valueofthatarrayelementis9
ASSIGN/V3=MININDEX(V1) V3willholdthearray'sindexvalueof7.Theactual
valueofthatarrayelementis1
Youcanthenusereturnedindexvaluestogettheactualarrayelementvalue.
ReturningSortedIndexValuesfromanArray
Youcaninputanarrayintoafunction,sortthearray'svaluesinascendingordescendingorder
andthenreturntheindexvaluesbyusingthesefunctions:
Toreturnthearray'sindexpositions Toreturnthearray'sindexpositionsin
inorderoftheirvaluessortedfrom orderoftheirvaluessortedfromleast
greatesttoleastuse: togreatestuse:
MAXINDICES(<array>) MINIDICES(<array>)
Forexample,
ASSIGN/V1= V1isassignedthearrayof"4,8,2,9,5,7"
ARRAY(4,8,2,9,5,7)

ASSIGN/V2=MAXINDICES(V1) V2willholdanarraywiththesevalues:"4,2,6,5,1,3"
ASSIGN/V3=MININDICES(V1) V3willholdanarraywiththesevalues:"3,1,5,6,2,4"
ExampleofUsingArrayFunctionstoFindtheMinimumandMaximumPointsinaScan
Themainpurposeofthehitarrayfunctionsdiscussedaboveistogiveyouaneasywaytofind
theminimumandmaximumpointsinascan.
TodimensionthepointfromSCAN1thathasthegreatestmeasuredXvalue,youcouldusethis
expression:
ASSIGN/MAXPTINDEX=MAXINDEX(SCAN1.HIT[1..SCAN1.NUMHITS].X)
D1=LOCATIONOFFEATURESCAN1.HIT[MAXPTINDEX]
TofindthethreehighestpointsintheZaxisofSCAN2,youcouldusethisexpression:
ASSIGN/MI=MAXINDICES(SCAN2.HIT[1..SCAN2.NUMHITS].Z)
ASSIGN/THREEPOINTS=ARRAY(SCAN2.HIT[MI[1]].XYZ,SCAN2.HIT(MI[2]].XYZ,
SCAN2.HIT[MI[3]].XYZ)
VariableArrays:
Variablearraysdonotneedtobedeclared.Variablearrayscomeintoexistenceviatheassign
statementwhentheexpressionontherighthandsideoftheassignstatementevaluatestoan
arrayorwhenthelefthandsideoftheassignstatementreferstoanelementinavariablearray.
Assign/V1=Array(3,4,5,6, Create5elementarrayand
7) assignsittoV1
Assign/V2=V1[3] AssignsV2thevalueofthe
thirdelementinarrayV1:5
Assign/V1[4]=23 Assigns4th elementofarray
V1to23
Arraysarecreatedandallocateddynamically.Thusanarraycanbecreatedbyusinganarray
referenceonthelefthandsideofanassignstatement.
Assign/V3[5]=8 Dynamicallycreatesarraywith
5th elementsetequalto8
Whenreferencinganarrayelementthathasneverreceivedavalue,thearrayexpressionwill
evaluateto0.
Assign/V3[5]=8
Assign/V4=V3[5] V4issetequaltothevalue8
Assign/V5=V3[6] IfthesixthelementofV3has

neverbeenset,V5isset
equalto0.
Likeotherarraytypes,expressionscanbeusedwithinthesquarebrackets.
Assign/V3[5]=8
Assign/V4=V3[2+3] V4issetequaltothevalue8
Variablearrayscanhavemultipledimensions.
Assign/V6=Array(Array(4,7,V6issettoa2by3
2),Array(9,2,6)) dimensionalarraywhereV6[1,
1]equals4,V6[1,2]equals7,
V6[1,3]equals2,V6[2,1]
equals9,V6[2,2]equals2,and
V6[2,3]equals6.
Assign/V7=V6[2,1] V7issettothevalue9
Variablearrayscanhavenegativeindexes:
Assign/V8[3]=5 The3rd indexofarrayV8isset

to5.
Arrayassignmentwilloverwritepreviousvalues:
Assign/V8="Hello" ThevariableV8isequaltothe
string"Hello"
Assign/V8[2]=5 V8isnolongeroftypestring,
butoftypearray,thesecond
elementofwhichhasavalueof
5.
Assign/V8=9 V8isnolongeranarray,butan
integerofvalue9.
Arrayscanbemadeupofmultipletypes:
Assign/V9=Array("Hello",3, CreatesarrayV9with4
2.9,{FEAT1}) elements.Thefirstelementisa
string,thesecondelementisan
integer,thethirdelementisa
realnumber,andthefourth
elementisapointertoFEAT1.
OperatorsforExpressions

ThefollowingbasicoperatorsareavailableinsidePCDMIS:
+ Addition: <Expression>+<Expression>
Addsthetwoexpressionstogether.Inthecaseofstrings,stringsareconcatenated.
Subtraction: <Expression><Expression>
Subtractsthefirstexpressionfromthesecondexpression.
* Multiplication:<Expression>*<Expression>
Multipliesthetwoexpressions.
/ Division: <Expression>/<Expression>
Dividesfirstexpressionbythesecondexpression.
^ Exponentiation: <Expression>^<Expression>
Raisesthefirstexpressiontothepowerofthesecondexpression.
% Modulo: <Expression>%<Expression>
Returnstheremainderofoneexpressiondividedbytheother.
AdditiveInverse <Expression>
Returnstheadditiveinverseoftheexpression.
!LogicalNot: !<Expression>
Returnsthelogicalnotof theexpression.
== EqualTo: <Expression>==<Expression>
Evaluatesto1ifexpressionsareequal.Otherwise,itevaluatesto0.(Twoequalsignsare
usedtodistinguishfromtheassignmentoperator=intheassignmentstatement).
<> NotEqualTo: <Expression><><Expression>

Evaluatesto1ifexpressionarenotequal.Otherwise,itevaluatesto0.
> GreaterThan: <Expression>><Expression>

Evaluatesto1iffirstexpressionisgreaterthansecondexpression.Otherwise,itevaluatesto
0.
>= GreaterThanorEqualTo: <Expression>>=<Expression>

Evaluatesto1ifthefirstexpressionisgreaterthanorequaltothesecondexpression.
Otherwise,itevaluatesto0.
< LessThan: <Expression><<Expression>

Evaluatesto1iffirstexpressionislessthanthesecondexpression.Otherwise,itevaluates
to0.

<= LessThanorEqualTo: <Expression><=<Expression>

Evaluatesto1ifthefirstexpressionislessthanorequaltothesecondexpression.
Otherwise,itevaluatesto0.
AND LogicalAnd: <Expression>AND<Expression>

Evaluatesto1ifbothexpressionsdoesnotevaluateto0.Otherwise,itevaluatesto0.
OR LogicalOr: <Expression>OR<Expression> Evaluatesto1ifeitherexpressionsdoes

notevaluateto0.Otherwise,itevaluatesto0.
() Parenthesis: (<Expression>)
Givesevaluationtoprecedencetoexpressioninsideofparenthesis.
Precedence
Expressionsareevaluatedwiththeprecedenceshownbelow(listedfromhighestprecedenceto
lowestprecedence).
HighestPrecedence
Operands
(unaryminus),!,(),functions(i.e.ABS,COS,STR,LEN,CROSS,etc.)
^
*,/,%
+,
==,<>,<,<=,>,>=
AND
OR
LowestPrecedence
Functions
Functions
FunctionsarePCDMISspecificexpressionsoruserdefinedexpressionsthattakeparameters
andreturnresults.Theparametersaresubstitutedintotheexpressionbeforetheexpressionis
evaluated.
FunctionsList
ThefollowingalphabeticallistcontainsallthefunctionsavailabletoPCDMIS'sexpression
language.
ABS(mathematical)
ACOS(mathematical)
ANGLEBETWEEN(point)
ARCSEGMENTENDINDEX(miscellaneous)

ARCSEGMENTSTARTINDEX(miscellaneous)
ARRAY(array)
ASIN(mathematical)
ATAN(mathematical)
CHR(string)
COS(mathematical)
CROSS(point)
DEG2RAD(mathematical)
DELTA(point)
DIST2D(pointer)
DIST3D(pointer)
DOT(point)
ELEMENT(string)
EOF(miscellaneous)
EOL(miscellaneous)
EQUAL(array)
EQUAL(string)
EXP(mathematical)
FORMAT(string)
FUNCTION(function)
GETCOMMAND(pointer)
GETSETTING(string)
GETTEXT(string)
IF(miscellaneous)
INDEX(string)
ISIOCHANNELSET(miscellaneous)
LEFT(string)
LEN(array)
LEN(pointer)
LEN(string)
LINESEGMENTENDINDEX(miscellaneous)
LINESEGMENTSTARTINDEX(miscellaneous)
LN(mathematical)
LOG(mathematical)
LOWERCASE(string)
MAX(array)
MID(string)
MIN(array)
ORD(string)
PROBEDATA(miscellaneous)
QUALTOOLDATA(miscellaneous)
RAD2DEG(mathematical)
RIGHT(string)
ROUND(mathematical)
SIN(mathematical)
SQRT(mathematical)
SYSTEMDATE(string)
SYSTEMTIME(string)
SYSTIME(string)
TAN(mathematical)
TUTORELEMENT(miscellaneous)
UNIT(point)
UPPERCASE(string)

StringFunctions
Thefollowingfunctionsareusedwithtextstrings.
CHR
CHR CharacterConversion: CHR(<Integer>)

Returnsastring,whichconsistsofthecharactercorrespondingtotheASCIIdecimal
value.
ELEMENT
ELEMENT Delimitedsubstringlocation: ELEMENT(<Integer>,<String1>,<String2>)
Returnsthenthsubstring(element)fromstring2usingstring1asthedelimitingtextthat
dividestheelementsinstring2.Forexample,ifstring2is"6,12,8,4,5" andstring1is","
thenthe5elementsthatcanbeindividuallyretrievedwiththeelementcommandare"6",
"12","8","4",and"5".
EQUAL
EQUAL Caseinsensitivestringcomparison: EQUAL(<String>,<String>)
Comparestwostrings(ignoringcase)todetermineiftheyareidentical.Returnsand
integersetto1ifthestringsarethesame,and0iftheyarenot.
FORMAT
FORMATFormat: FORMAT(<String>,<Integer,double,orpoint>)
Thisfunctiontakestwoexpressionsandreturnsaformattedstring,similartousingthe
sprintffunctioninsideC++.
Expression1shouldbeastringtypeandcontainsoneorthreeformat
specifiers.Ifitisadifferenttype,theexpressionevaluatorattemptsto
coerceittoastring.Thestringshouldcontainoneformatspecifierif
Expression2isanintegerordoubletypesandthreeformatspecifiers
(seeparagraphsbelow)ifExpression2isapointtype.
Expression2isexpectedtobeoftypeinteger,double,orpoint.Ifa
differenttypeisused,thevalueoftheexpressionis0.
FormatSpecifierforFormatFunction:
Theformatspecifiershouldhavethesamesyntaxasaformatspecifierusedinthesprintf
functionusedintheC++programminglanguage.
Aformatspecifierconsistsofoptionalandrequiredfields,andhasthefollowingsyntax:
%[flags][width][.precision]type
Eachfieldoftheformatspecifieriseitherasinglecharacteroranumbersignifyinga
particularformatoption.Thesimplestformatspecifierusesonlythepercentsignanda
typecharacter(forexample,%d).Ifapercentsignisfollowedbyacharacterthathasno

meaningasaformatfield,thecharacteriscopiedtoSTDOUT.Forexample,toprinta
percentsigncharacter,use%%.
Theoptionalflag,width,andprecisionfields,whichappearbeforethetypecharacter,
controlotheraspectsoftheformatting.Thesearedescribedbelow:
flags Theseoptionalcharacterscontroloutputjustificationandtheprintingofsigns,
blanks,decimalpoints,andoctal/hexadecimalprefixes.Morethanoneflagcan
appearinaformatspecifier.
Herearethepossibleflags:

Meaning:Leftaligntheresultwithinthegivenfieldwidth.
Default:Rightalign.
+
Meaning:Prefixtheoutputvaluewithasign(+or)iftheoutputvalueisofa
signedtype.
Default:Signappearsonlyfornegativesignedvalues().
0
Meaning:Ifwidthisprefixedwith0,zerosareaddeduntiltheminimumwidthis
reached.If0andappear,the0isignored.If0isspecifiedwithanintegerformat
(i,u,x,X,o,d)the0isignored.
Default:Nopadding.
blank('')
Meaning:Prefixtheoutputvaluewithablankiftheoutputvalueissignedand
positivetheblankisignoredifboththeblankand+flagsappear.
Default:Noblankappears.
#
Meaning1: Whenusedwiththeo,x,orXtype,the#flagprefixesanynonzero
outputvaluewith0,0x,or0X,respectively.
Default1:Noprefixappears.
Meaning2: Whenusedwiththee,E,orftype,the#flagforcestheoutputvalue
tocontainadecimalpointinallcases.
Default2:Decimalpointappearsonlyifdigitsfollowit.
Meaning3: WhenusedwiththegorGformat,the#flagforcestheoutputvalue
tocontainadecimalpointinallcasesandpreventsthetruncationoftrailingzeros.
Default3:Decimalpointappearsonlyifdigitsfollowit.Trailingzerosare
truncated.
Note:Ignoredwhenusedwithd,i,oru.
width Thissecondoptionalfield,orargument,controlstheminimumnumberof
charactersprinted.Itisanonnegativedecimalinteger.
Ifthenumberofcharactersintheoutputvalueislessthanthespecified
width,blanksareaddedtotheleftortherightofthevaluesdepending
onwhethertheflag(forleftalignment)isspecifieduntiltheminimum
widthisreached.
Ifwidthisprefixedwith0,zerosareaddeduntiltheminimumwidthis
reached(notusefulforleftalignednumbers).

Thewidthspecificationnevercausesavaluetobetruncated.Ifthe
numberofcharactersintheoutputvalueisgreaterthanthespecified
width,orifwidthisnotgiven,allcharactersofthevalueareprinted
(subjecttotheprecisionspecificationlistedbelow).
precision Thisthirdoptionalfield,orargument,specifiesthenumberof
characterstobeprinted,thenumberofdecimalplaces,orthenumberofsignificant
digits.Unlikethewidthspecification,theprecisionspecificationcancauseeither
truncationoftheoutputvalueorroundingofafloatingpointvalue.Itisanonnegative
decimalinteger,precededbyaperiod(.)
type Thisrequiredcharacterdetermineswhethertheassociatedargumentisan
integer,adouble,orapoint.Thelistofavailabletypesincludes:
dsigneddecimalinteger
isigneddecimalinteger
ounsignedoctalinteger
uunsigneddecimalinteger
xunsignedhexadecimalinteger,using"abcdef"
Xunsignedhexadecimalinteger,using"ABCDEF"
edoubleinexponentialform[]d.dddde[sign]ddd
EsameaseexceptusesEtointroduceexponent
fdoublewiththeform[]dddd.dddd
g formatstoeithertheeorfformatdependingonwhichismorecompact
GsameasgexceptandEisusedwhenintroducingtheexponent
FORMATExample:
ThisexampleshowsseveralstatementsusingtheFORMATfunctioninsideapart
program:
ASSIGN/V1=PROBEDATA("OFFSET") V1becomestypepoint
representingtheOffsetsofthe
currentprobe.Usingthe
valuesfromthepartprogram
usedforthisexample,V1
becomes:
<1.8898,1.8898,
5.704>
ASSIGN/V3=FORMAT("%.5f,%.5f, V3becomestypestring.The
%.5f",V1) stringisformattedusingthe
pointobjectofvariableV1.V3
nowhas:

1.88976,1.88976,
5.70403
ASSIGN/V4=1.123456789 V4becomestypedouble.
ASSIGN/V5=FORMAT("%.5f",V4)+V5becomestypestringwith
FORMAT("%.6f",V4)+ thisvalue:
FORMAT("%.7f",V4)+ 1.123461.123457
FORMAT("%.8f",V4) 1.12345681.12345679
ASSIGN/V6A="ThevalueofV4is:V6Abecomestypestringwith
"+FORMAT("%.8f",V4) valueof:
ThevalueofV4is:
1.12345679
ASSIGN/V6B=FORMAT("ThevalueofTheexpressionresultremains
V4is:%.8f",V4) thesameforsameasV6A
above.
ASSIGN/V7=4444 V7becomestypedouble
sinceallnumbersare
assumeddoubleunless
coercedtoaninteger.
ASSIGN/V8=FORMAT("%o",INT(V7)) V8becomestypestringwith
thisvalue:
10534
ASSIGN/V9=FORMAT("%u",INT(1)) V9becomestypestringwith
thisvalue:
4294967295
ASSIGN/V10=FORMAT("%x", V10becomestypestringwith
INT(2143)) thisvalue:
85f
ASSIGN/V11=FORMAT("%X", V11becomestypestringwith
INT(9567)) thisvalue:
255F
ASSIGN/V12=FORMAT("%e", V12becomestypestringwith
0.0005432) thisvalue:
5.432000e004
ASSIGN/V13=FORMAT("%E", V13becomestypestringwith
145.3421) thisvalue:
1.453421E+002
ASSIGN/V14=FORMAT(",%6d,", V14becomestypestringwith
INT(1)) thisvalue:
, 1,
ASSIGN/V15=FORMAT(",%6d,", V15becomestypestringwith
INT(1)) thisvalue:
,1 ,
GETSETTING
GETSETTINGThisallowsyoutoreturnvarioussettingsofPCDMISdependingonthe
stringparameterinserted.
GETSETTING(<String>)
Youcanusethesestringparameters:

"DCCMode"Returnsa1ifPCDMISisinDCCMode,0otherwise.
"ManualMode"Returnsa1ifPDMISisinManualMode,0otherwise.
"CurrentAlignment"Returnsastringofthecurrentalignment.
"CurrentWorkplane"Returnsastringofthecurrentworkplane.
"WorkplaneValue"Returnsanumericalvalueofthecurrentworkplane.
"PreHit"Returnshecurrentprehitvalueasadoubleprecisionnumber.
"Retract"Returnsthecurrentretractvalueasadoubleprecision
number.
"Check"Returnsthecurrentcheckvalueasadoubleprecision
number.
"TouchSpeed"ReturnsthecurrentTouchSpeedvalueasadouble
precisionnumber.
"MoveSpeed"ReturnsthecurrentMoveSpeedvalueasa double
precisionnumber.
"FlyMode"Returnsa1ifPCDMISusestheFlyMode,0otherwise.
"Ph9present"Returnsa1ifthePh9/Ph10ispresent,0otherwise.
"ManualCMM"Returns1iftheCMMisamanualCMM,0otherwise.
"LangStr(<NumberorID>)"ReturnsastringfromPCDMIS'sresources
inthecurrentlanguagefromaresourceIDnumberorfromoneoftheseIDs:
"Yes","No","Oper","Rept","Input","Doc","YesNo","Readout","Internal",
"External","Rect","Polr","Out","In","Least_Sqr","Min_Sep","Max_Insc",
"Min_CircSc","Fixed_Rad","Workplane","Xaxis","YAxis","ZAxis","Xplus",
"Xminus","YPlus","YMinus","ZPlus","ZMinus","Point","Plane","Line",
"Circle","Sphere","Cylinder","Round_Slot","Square_slot","Cone",or
"None".
Ifthevalueyouuseisapositivenumber,PCDMISpullsthestringfromits
resource.dllfile.Ifyouuseanegativenumber,PCDMISpullsthestringfrom
itsstrings.dllfile(thestringstable).
"ExtendedSheetMetal"Returnsa1iftheShowExtendedSheet
MetalOptionscheckboxisselectedinsidetheSetUpOptionsdialogbox,0
otherwise.
"LastHitMove(X)"ReturnstheXvalueofthemostrecentHIT/BASICor
MOVE/POINTcommand.PCDMISmustbeinDCCmodeforthistowork.
"LastHitMove(Y)"ReturnstheYvalueofthemostrecentHIT/BASICor
"LastHitMove(Z)"ReturnstheZvalueofthemostrecentHIT/BASICor
TodeterminewhetherPCDMISisinMANUALorDCCmode,considerthisexampleof
usingtheGETSETTINGfunction:
Example:
ASSIGN/DCCMODEVAR=GETSETTING("DCCMode")
givesthevariableDCCMODEVARthevalueof1ifPCDMISisinDCCMode,otherwise0.
ASSIGN/MANMODEVAR=GETSETTING("ManualMode")
givesthevariableMANMODEVARthevalueof1ifPCDMISisinManualMode,otherwise
0.
Todeterminethecurrentworkplane,considerthisexample:
Example:
ASSIGN/WORKPLANE_ID=GETSETTING("CurrentWorkplane")
givesthevariableWORKPLANE_IDthestringvalueofthecurrentworkplane(ZPLUS,

ZMINUSetc.).
ASSIGN/WORKPLANE_VALUE=GETSETTING("WorkplaneValue")
givesthevariableWORKPLANE_VALUEanumericalvaluerepresentingtheworkplane.
Theworkplaneshavethesevaluesassociatedwiththem:ZPLUS=0,ZMINUS=3,
XPLUS=1,XMINUS=4,YPLUS=2,orYMINUS=5.
GETTEXT
GETTEXT Returnsthecurrenttextfromthespecifieddatafield:GETTEXT(<Stringor
Integer>,<Integer>,<Pointer>)
Thisfunctionhasthreefields.
FirstFieldDataFieldNumberorDescription
Thefirstfieldcanbeeitherastring(whichisthedescriptionofthedatafield)orthedata
fieldnumber.
Toobtainthesevalues:
1. PlacePCDMISinCommandMode.RightclickanywhereintheEditwindow.
Ashortcutmenuappears.
2. Fromtheshortcutmenu,selectChangePopupDisplayandthenData
TypeInformation.
3. PositionthemouseoveradatafieldintheEditwindow.Thetypedescription,
typenumberandthetypeindexforthatdataitemaredisplayed.
Note:Sincethetypedescriptionmaybedifferentfordifferentlanguages,usethetype
numberifyou'reusingthepartprogramunderalanguageotherthanthecurrentone.
SecondFieldTypeIndex
Thesecondfieldisthetypeindex.Thisfieldisusuallyzero.Thecorrectvalueforthisfield
canbeobtainedinthesamemannerasdescribedforthefirstfield.
ThirdFieldCommandPointer
Thethirdfieldisacommandpointer.Itpointstothecommandcontainingthefield from
whichthetextisbeingobtained.Thisfieldcanbespecifiedeitherbyusingcommand
pointernotation(i.e.{F15})orbyusingtheGetCommandexpressionasshowninthis
example.
Example:
ASSIGN/V1=GETTEXT("BestFitMathType",0,{F15})
ThiscommandassignsV1thecurrentvalueofthebestfitmathtypetoggleoffeatureF15.
ASSIGN/V2=GETCOMMAND("Comment","TOP",1)
ASSIGN/V3=GETTEXT("CommentType",1,V2)
V2 isassignedapointertothefirstcommentfromthetopofthepartprogram.
V3isassignedthevalueoftheCommentTypetogglefield. Ifthefirstcommentinthepart
programisacommenttobedisplayedtotheoperator,thevalueofV3willbethestring
"OPER".
Seethe"PointerFunctions"forinformationonsettingapointertoacommand.

INDEX
INDEX SubstringLocation: INDEX(<String>,<String>)

Returnsthelocationofthesecondstringwithinthefirststring.Thefirstletterofstringis1.
Areturnvalueofzeroindicatesthatthesubstringisnotfoundinthestring.
LEFT
LEFT Leftncharactersofstring: LEFT(<String>,<String>)

Returnsastringconsistingofthenleftmostcharactersspecifiedbythesecondexpression
fromthestringspecifiedinthefirstexpression.Firstexpressioncoercedtotypestring,
secondexpressioncoercedtotypeinteger.
LEN
LEN Lengthofstring: LEN(<String>)

Returnsthenumberofcharactersofthestring.
LOWERCASE
LOWERCASE Createlowercasestring: LOWERCASE(<String>)
Returnsastringthatisthelowercaseequivalentofstring.
MID
MID Middlencharactersofastring: MID(<String>,<Integer>,<OptionalInteger>)

Returnsasubstringconsistingofthecharactersofthestringspecifiedinthefirst
parameterstartingatthepositionspecifiedbythesecondparameterforalengthofn
charactersasspecifiedbythethirdparameter.Ifthethirdparameterisnotsupplied,the
restofthestringisreturned.
ORD
ORD OrdinalConversion: ORD(<String>)

ReturnstheintegerASCIIvalueoffirstletterofthestring.(0255).
RIGHT
RIGHT Rightncharactersofstring: RIGHT(<String>,<Integer>)

Returnsastringconsistingofthenrightmostcharactersspecifiedbyintegerfromthe
string.
SYSTEMDATE
SYSTEMDATE SystemDate: SYSTEMDATE(<DateFormatString>)
Returnsthedateformattedstringwiththecurrentdatedetailsfilledin.Forexample,the
commandSYSTEMDATE("MM/dd/yy")willreturnthestring"03/15/99"ifthecurrentdate
isMarch15,1999.

Usethefollowingstringelementstocreatethedatestring.Elementsmustbeinthesame
caseasshownbelow(MMinsteadofmm).Nondatecharacters(suchasspaces)
appearingbetweendateformatstringelementswillappearintheoutputstringinthesame
locationastheinputstring.Charactersintheinputstringdelimitedbysinglequoteswill
appearinthesamelocationintheoutputstringwithoutthesinglequotes.
d Dayofthemonthasdigits.Noleadingzeroforsingledigitdates.
ddDayofthemonthasdigits.Leadingzerousedforsingledigitdates.
dddThreeletterabbreviationforthedayoftheweek.
ddddFullnameforthecurrentdayoftheweek.
MMonthasdigitswithnoleadingzerosforsingledigitmonths.
MMMonthasdigitswithleadingzeroforsingledigitmonths.
MMMMonthasthreeletterabbreviation.
MMMMFullnameofMonth.
yYearasdigitswithnoleadingzerosforsingledigityears.
yyYearasdigitswithleadingzeroforsingledigityears.
yyyyYearrepresentedbyfourdigits.
SYSTEMTIME
SYSTEMTIME FormattedSystemTime:SYSTEMTIME(<TimeFormatString>)
Returnsthetimeformattedstringwiththecurrenttimedetailsfilledin.Forexample,the
commandSYSTEMTIME("hh:mm:sstt")willreturnthestring"11:29:40PM"ifthatisthe
currenttime.
Usethefollowingstringelementstocreatethetimestring.Elementsmustbeinthesame
caseasshownbelow(ttinsteadofTT).Nontimecharacters(suchasspaces)appearing
betweentimeformatstringelementswillappearintheoutputstringinthesamelocationas
theinputstring.Charactersintheinputstringdelimitedbysinglequoteswillappearinthe
samelocationintheoutputstringwithoutthesinglequotes.
h Hourswithnoleadingzeroforsingledigithours12hourclock
hhHourswithleadingzeroforsingledigithours12hourclock
HHourswithnoleadingzeroforsingledigithours24hourclock
HHHourswithloadingzeroforsingledigithours24hourclock
mMinuteswithnoleadingzeroforsingledigitminutes

mmMinuteswithleadingzeroforsingledigitminutes
sSecondswithnoleadingzeroforsingledigitseconds
ssSecondswithleadingzeroforsingledigitseconds
tOnecharactertimemarkerstring,suchasAorP
ttMulticharactertimemarkerstring,suchasAMorPM
SYSTIME
SYSTIME SystemTime: SYSTIME()

Returnsastringwiththecurrentsystemtime.ThisfunctiondiffersfromtheSYSTEMTIME
functiondescribedabove.Itautomaticallyreturnstheday,thedate,thetime,followedby
theyear.
Example: "FriMay0213:50:211997"
Note:Thereturnedstring,showingcurrentsystemtime,isadjustedtolocaltimezone
settings.
UPPERCASE
UPPERCASE Createsuppercasestring: UPPERCASE(<String>)
Returnsastringthatistheuppercaseequivalentofstring.
MathematicalFunctions
ABS
ABS AbsoluteValue: ABS(<Double>)

Returnsabsolutevalueofinput.
EXP
EXP Exponential: EXP(<Double>)

Returnstheexponentialoftheexpression.
LOG
LOG LogBase10: LOG(<Double>)

Returnsthelogbase10oftheexpression.
LN
LN NaturalLog: LN(<Double>)
Returnsthenaturallogarithmoftheexpression.
ROUND

ROUND Rounding: ROUND(<Double>)

Returnstheinputroundedtothenearestinteger.
SQRT
SQRT SquareRoot: SQRT(<Double>)

Returnsthesquarerootoftheinput.
TrigonometryFunctions
Important:Eachofthetrigonometryfunctionsbydefaulttakesandreturnsradians.Ifyouwant
valuesindegrees,usetheRAD2DEGfunctiondescribedbelow.
ACOS
ACOS ArcCosine: ACOS(<Double>)

Returnsthearccosineoftheexpression.Forexample,ACOS(5.0)returns0.Ingeneral,
ACOS(<expression>)returnsthearccosineofthevalueoftheexpression.
ASIN
ASIN ArcSine: ASIN(<Double>)

Returnsthearcsineoftheinput.
ATAN
ATAN ArcTangent: ATAN(<Double>)

Returnsthearctangentoftheinput.
COS
COS Cosine: COS(<Double>)

Returnsthecosineoftheinput.
DEG2RAD
DEG2RAD DegreestoRadians: DEG2RAD(<Double>)

Returnstheinputdividedby360andmultipliedby2p.Convertsfromdegreestoradians.
RAD2DEG
RAD2DEG RadianstoDegrees: RAD2DEG(<Double>)

Returnstheinputmultipliedby360anddividedby2p.Convertsfromradianstodegrees.
SIN
SIN Sine: SIN(<Double>)

Returnsthesineoftheinput.
TAN

TAN Tangent: TAN(<Double>)

Returnsthetangentoftheinput.
Note:Functionswheretheinputisoutofrange(i.e.,forACOS,ASIN,LOG,LN,SQRTetc.that
wouldcausethecomputertocrash)return0.
PointFunctions
ANGLEBETWEEN
ANGLEBETWEEN AngleBetween: ANGLEBETWEEN(<Point>,<Point>)

Returnstheanglebetweenthetwovectorsindegrees.
CROSS
CROSS CrossProduct: CROSS(<Point>,<Point>)

Returnvalueisoftypepointandisthecrossproductoffirstandsecondexpressions.
DELTA
DELTA VectorOffset: DELTA(<Point>,<Point>,<Double>)

Thefunctiontakesthefirstexpression(point)andcalculatesanewpointinthedirectionof
thesecondexpression(vector)atanoffsetofthethirdexpression.Forexample,
DELTA(MPOINT(0,0,0),MPOINT(1,0,0),10) returnsthepoint10,0,0.
DOT
DOT DotProduct: DOT(<Point>,<Point>)

Returnsthedotproductofthetwopoints(vectors).
UNIT
UNIT: UnitVector: UNIT(<Point>)

Returnsthepointdividedbyitslength.Forexample,UNIT(MPOINT(0,0,0)) returnsthepoint
0,0,1.
PointerFunctions
DIST2D
DIST2D: 2dDistance:DIST2D(<FEAT1>,<FEAT2>,<FEAT3>)
Calculatesthe2ddistancebetweenFeat1andFeat2afterprojectingthemontoFeat3.
DIST3D
DIST3D: 3DDistance:DIST3D(<FEAT1>,<FEAT2>)
Calculatesthe3DdistancebetweenFeat1andFeat2.
GETCOMMAND

GETCOMMAND: Obtainsapointertothecommandspecifiedbytheparameters:
GETCOMMAND(<IntegerorString>,<String>,<Integer>
FirstParameterCommandInfoField
Thefirstparameteristhecommandinfofield.Itspecifiesthecommandtypeforwhichto
search.Thefollowingcanbepassedin:
Acommanddescriptionstring
Acommandtypenumber
Theuniquenumberidentifier
Iftheuniqueidofthecommandispassedin,nootherargumentsarenecessary.
Toobtainthecommanddescriptionstring,thecommandtypenumber,andthecommands
uniquenumberidentifier:
1. RightclickintheEditwindow
2. ChooseChangePopupDisplay|CommandInformation(PCDMIS
mustbeinCommandMode).
3. Positionthemouseoverthedesiredcommand.Thecommand
description,typenumber,anduniquenumberidentifierforthatcommandwill
bedisplayedinthepopup.
SecondParameterSearchDirection
Thesecondparameteristhesearchdirection.Legalvaluesinclude:
Value Description
UP Thisvaluesignifiesthesearch
shouldstartatthecurrent
commandandproceed
upwards
DOWN Thisvaluesignifiesthesearch
shouldstartatthecurrent
commandandproceed
downwards.
TOP This valuesignifiesthatthe
searchshouldbeginatthe
beginningofthepartprogram
inadownwardsdirection
BOTTOM Thisvaluesignifiesthatthe
searchshouldbeginwiththe
lastobjectinthepartprogram
inanupwardsdirection
ThirdParameterWhichInstancetoFind
Thethirdparameterindicateswhichinstanceofthecommandshouldbefound.
Example: IfthepartprogramhasfourinstancesofaSet/Activetipandyouwouldliketo
obtainapointertothesecondinstancefromthetop,"2"wouldbepassedinasthethird
parameterand"TOP"wouldbepassedinasthesecondparameterasshownhere.
ASSIGN/V1=GETCOMMAND("SetActiveTip","TOP",2)

TheGETCOMMANDfunctioncanbeusedtosupplythethirdparametertothe
GETTEXTstringfunction.See"StringFunctions"forinformationonGETTEXT.
LEN
LEN: Pointerloopcount:LEN(<POINTER>)
Returnsthenumberoftimesapointerhasbeeninaloop.Forexample,iffeatureCIR1isina
loopthatiterates10times,youcanstorehowmanytimesCIR1hasbeenmeasuredina
variable,byusinganASSIGNstatementlikethis:ASSIGN/V1=LEN({CIR1})
ArrayFunctions
ARRAY
ARRAY: CreateArray: ARRAY(<EXPRESSION1>,<EXPRESSION2>,<EXPRESSION3>,.

..)
Createsanarrayobjectwitharrayelementsindicatedbyexpressionparameters.Thearray
elementsarenumberedwithabaseindexof1.
EQUAL
EQUAL: ElementbyElementArrayComparison: EQUAL(<ARRAY>,<ARRAY>)

Comparesthetwoarrayselementbyelementtodetermineifthearraysholdthesame
elements.Ifthetwoarraysarenotthesamesizeorifanyoftheelements inonearraydonot
matchthecorrespondingelementintheotherarray,thefunctionreturns0.Otherwise,the
functionreturns1.
LEN
LEN: Arrayelementcount:LEN(<ARRAY>)
Returnsthenumberofelementsinthearray.
MAX
MAX:Largestarrayelement:MAX(<ARRAY>)
Returnsthelargestelementinthearray.Itemsinthearrayarecomparednumericallyor
alphabetically.
MIN
MIN: Smallestarrayelement:MIN(<ARRAY>)
Returnsthesmallestelementinthearray.Itemsinthearrayarecomparednumericallyor
alphabetically.
MiscellaneousFunctions
ARCSEGMENTENDINDEX
ARCSEGMENTENDINDEX: Thisreturnstheindexnumberoftheendingpointofaspecified
arcsegmentfromascan: ARCSEGMENTENDINDEX(<ID>,<index>,<tol1>,<tol2>)

<ID>ThefirstparameterisastringvalueoftheIDofthescanonwhichthisfunctionpulls
outtheindexnumberoftheendingpointforthearc.ThiscaneitherbetheIDinquotation
marksoranyexpressionthatwhencoercedtotypestringendsupbeingtheIDofascan.
<index>Thesecondparameteristheindexnumberforthearcfromwhichyouwanttoget
theendingpointnumber.Thisisaonebasedvalue.Forexample,thearcindexnumber
wouldbe3ifyouwanttheendingpointnumberforthethirdarcinthescan.
<tol1>Thethirdparameteristhegeneralfeaturetolerance.Itisamaximumformerror
usedtobreakupthescanintolinesandarcs.
<tol2>Thefourthparameteristherefinetolerance.Generally,thistightertoleranceisused
todroppointsfromeitherendofthefeatureuntiltheformerrorofthesegmentiswithinthis
tolerance.
OnceyouhavetheStartandEndindicesforanarc,youcanusethesepointsinsidea
constructedfeaturetoconstructaseparatearcfeature.See"ExampleofaLineFeature
CreatedfromaScanSegment"forasimilarexample.
ARCSEGMENTSTARTINDEX
ARCSEGMENTSTARTINDEX:Thisreturnstheindexnumberofthestartingpointofa
specifiedarcsegmentfromascan:ARCSEGMENTSTARTINDEX(<ID>,
<index>,<tol1>,<tol2>).
outtheindexnumberofthestartpointforthearc.ThiscaneitherbetheIDinquotation
marksoranyexpressionthatwhencoercedtotypestringendsupbeingtheIDofascan.
<index>Thesecondparameteristheindexnumberforthearcfromwhichyouwanttoget
thestartpointnumber.Thisisaonebasedvalue.Forexample,thearcindexnumberwould
be3ifyouwantthestartpointnumberforthethirdarcinthescan.
tolerance.
Therearetwoadditionalparameters,whichcontrolwhetheranidentifiedarcsegmentina
scanisacceptable.ThesecanonlybechangedwiththePCDMISSettingsEditor.Anyarc
segmentwitharadiuslessthanMinimumArcSegmentRadiusInMM isrejected.Thedefaultvalue
forthisparameteris2mm.Similarly,anyarcsegmentwitharadiusgreaterthan
MaximumArcSegmentRadiusInMM isrejected.Thedefaultvalueforthisparameteris2000mm(it
shouldnotbenecessarytochangethisvalue).
OnceyouhavetheStartandEndindicesforanarc,youcanusethesepointsinsidea
constructedfeaturetoconstructaseparatearcfeature.See"ExampleofaLineFeature
CreatedfromaScanSegment"forasimilarexample.
EOFandEOL

EOFandEOL:Forinformationonthesefunctions,see"CheckingfortheEndofaFileorthe
EndofaLine"inthe"UsingFileInput/Output"chapter.
FUNCTION
FUNCTION:Createsafunction: FUNCTION((<PARAM1>,<PARAM2>...),
<EXPRESSION>)
Createsafunctionthattakesthenumberofparametersindicatedbytheparameterlistand
substitutesthoseparametersintotheexpression.
ThefirstitemwhenusingtheFUNCTIONkeywordistheparameterlist.
Thislistconsistsofparameternamesseparatedbycommas.
Theparameterlistisalsosurroundedbyparenthesis.
Theseconditemistheexpression.
Theexpressionwillcontaintheparameternameswheretheparameters
shouldbesubstitutedwhenthefunctioniscalled.
Seethe"GenericFunctionExample"topicforanexample.
IF
IF: Conditionalexpressionevaluation: IF(<EXPRESSION1>,<EXPRESSION2>,

<EXPRESSION3>)
Ifexpression1evaluatestotrue(nonzero)thenthisfunctionreturnsthevalueof
expression2otherwise,thisfunctionreturnsthevalueofexpression3.
ISIOCHANNELSET
ISIOCHANNELSET:Thisexpressiontakestwoparameters.Thefirstparameterindicates
whichI/Ochannelwillbechecked(therangeofnumbersthatisavailableisbasedonthe
machinebeingused).Thesecondparameterdetermineswhetherthesoftwarewillquerythe
masterorslavemachine.Ifthesecondparameterissetto1(one)itwillquerytheslave
controller.Ifthesecondparameterisnotpresent(orissettozero),thentheIOChannelwill
querythemastercontroller.Themastercontrollerisyouronlyoptionifyouarenotinmultiple
armmode.
Note:Ifaninvalidprobedatatype,tipid,probefilename,orchannelnumberissupplied,the
expressionwillevaluateto0.
Example:
ASSIGN/V4=ISIOCHANNELSET(3,0) V4willequal1
(evaluatetotrue)
whenthechannelis
set,otherwiseitwill
equal0(evaluateto
false).
LINESEGMENTENDINDEX
LINESEGMENTENDINDEX:Thisreturnstheindexnumberoftheendingpointofaspecified
linesegmentfromascan:ARCSEGMENTSTARTINDEX(<ID>,<index>,<tol1>,<tol2>).

outtheindexnumberoftheendingpointforthelinesegment.ThiscaneitherbetheIDin
quotationmarksoranyexpressionthatwhencoercedtotypestringendsupbeingtheIDofa
scan.
<index>Thesecondparameteristheindexnumberforthelinesegmentfromwhichyou
wanttogettheendpointnumber.Thisisaonebasedvalue.Forexample,thelinesegment
indexnumberwouldbe3ifyouwanttheendpointnumberforthethirdlineinthescan.
tolerance.
OnceyouhavetheStartandEndindicesforalinesegment,youcanusethesepointsinside
aconstructedfeaturetoconstructaseparatelinefeature.See"ExampleofaLineFeature
CreatedfromaScanSegment"foranexample.
LINESEGMENTSTARTINDEX
LINESEGMENTSTARTINDEX:Thisreturnstheindexnumberofthestartingpointofa
specifiedlinesegmentfromascan:ARCSEGMENTSTARTINDEX(<ID>,
<index>,<tol1>,<tol2>).
outtheindexnumberofthestartpointforthelinesegment.ThiscaneitherbetheIDin
quotationmarksoranyexpressionthatwhencoercedtotypestringendsupbeingtheIDofa
scan.
<index>Thesecondparameteristheindexnumberforthelinesegmentfromwhichyou
wanttogetthestartpointnumber.Thisisaonebasedvalue.Forexample,thelinesegment
indexnumberwouldbe3ifyouwantthestartpointnumberforthethirdlineinthescan.
tolerance.
Thereisanadditionalparameter,whichcontrolswhetheranidentifiedlinesegmentinascan
isacceptable.ThiscanonlybechangedwiththePCDMISSettingsEditor.Anylinesegment
oflengthlessthanMinimumLineSegmentLengthInMMisrejected.Thedefaultvaluefor
thisparameteris2mm.
OnceyouhavetheStartandEndindicesforalinesegment,youcanusethesepointsinside
aconstructedfeaturetoconstructaseparatelinefeature.See"ExampleofaLineFeature
CreatedfromaScanSegment"foranexample.

PROBEDATA
PROBEDATA: Returnsdataaboutthecurrentorspecifiedprobe:
PROBEDATA(<OPTPROBEDATATYPE>,<OPTTIPID>,<OPTPROBEFILENAME>)
Thisfunctiontakesuptothreeoptionalparameters.Youonlyneedtoprovidecommas
betweenparametersifyouusemorethanoneparameter.Youdonotneedtousecommas
betweenemptyparameters.Forexample,toobtainthecurrentprobe'sdiameteryouwould
simplyuseASSIGN/V1=PROBEDATA("DIAM").
OPTPROBEDATATYPE: Optionalparameterwhichspecifieswhatprobedatathe
expressionshouldreturn.Ifthisparameterisnotsupplied,thecurrenttipIDisreturned.This
parameterisoftypestring.Anyexpressionthatevaluatestoavalidstringexpressioncanbe
putinthefirstexpressionslot.Validstringexpressions(notcasesensitive)forthefirst
parameterincludethefollowing.Thesearestringexpressionsandshouldbeinsidedouble
quotationmarks:
"Offset"MeasuredtipX,Y,Zoffset.Returnstypepoint.
"Vector"TipVector.Returnstypepoint.
"A"TipAAngle.Returnstypedouble.
"B"TipBAngle.Returnstypedouble.
"Diam(eter)" Measuredtipdiameter.Thefirstfourlettersarerequired"Diam",but
couldincludemorelettersuptothefullname.Returnstypedouble.
"Thick(ness)"Measuredtipthickness.Thefirstfivelettersarerequired"Thick",but
couldincludemorelettersuptothefullname.Returnstypedouble.
"Date"Datethetipwaslastqualified.Returnstypestring.
"Time"Timethetipwaslastqualified.Returnstypestring.
"ID"TipID.Defaultparameter.Returnstypestring.
"PrbRdv"Theprobesradialdeviation.Returnstypedouble.
"Standarddeviation"Theprobesstandarddeviation.Returnstypedouble.
"C" TheCangleofaCW43lightprobehead.Returnstypeinteger.
Note:Addinga"T"infrontof"Offset","Diameter",or"Thickness"willreturnthe
theoreticalinformation(i.e.TOFFSET,TDIAMETER,andTTHICKNESS).
OPTTIPID:Thisoptionalparameterspecifiesthetiptobeusedwhenobtainingtheprobe
dataspecifiedinthefirstexpression.Ifnotsupplied,thecurrenttipisused.Thisparameter
shouldbetypestring.

OPTPROBEFILENAME:Thisoptionalparameterspecifiestheprobefilenametobeusedin
obtainingtheprobedata.Ifnotsupplied,thecurrentprobefileisused.
Examples:
ASSIGN/V1=PROBEDATA() V1issettocurrenttip
id(i.e."T1A0B0")
ASSIGN/V2=PROBEDATA("TOFFSET", V2issettothe
"T1A45B0") theoreticalprobe
offsetforthetip
T1A45B0
ASSIGN/V3=PROBEDATA("Date", V3issettoastring
"T1A90B90","MYPROB") representingthedate
tipT1A90B90ofthe
probefileMYPROB
waslastqualified.
TUTORELEMENT
TUTORELEMENT: WiththeadditionoftheTutortranslator,PCDMISversion3.5and
abovesupportsthenewintrinsicTutorElementfunction.Thisfunctiontakesoneargument,
eitheranumberorastring(astringwouldbetheIDofafeature).
Thisfunctionworkswiththevariabletype,Structures.See"Structures"forexplanationsof
structureandsubelements.
Examples:
ASSIGN/E=TUTORELEMENT(1) Createsasingle
TutorElement
Structure
ASSIGN/WM=TUTORELEMENT(n) Foranynumberover
1,createsanarrayof
nTutorElement
Structures
ASSIGN/CIR1E=TUTORELEMENT("CIR1") CopiesDatafrom
featureCIR1intothe
TutorElement
Structures.
TheTutorElementstructurecurrentlyhasthefollowingsubelements:
SubElement Description
ID StringoftheFeature'sID
TYPE INTEGER(FTYPE)
X,Y,Z X,Y,andZcoordinate
values
PR PolarRadius
PA PolarAngle
CX I
CY J
CZ K

DM Diameter1
DM2 Diameter2
DS Distancefromtheorigin
A Angle
AXY AngleintheXYplane
AYZ AngleintheYZplane
AZX AngleintheZXplane
F FormError
SDEV StandardDeviation
TP TruePosition
QUALTOOLDATA
QUALTOOLDATA:Thisfunctionreturnsdataaboutthecurrentorspecifiedcalibration
tool.Ithasthissyntax:
QUALTOOLDATA(<TOOLINFO>,<TOOLID>,<FACENUMBER>)
Thisfunctiontakesuptothreeparameters.Itneedsatleastoneparametertoreturnany
data:
Thefirstparameter,<TOOLINFO>,isastringthatspecifiesthetypeofinformationto
returnaboutthecalibrationtool. Ifyoudon'tpassthisparameter,thisfunctionreturns
thenameofthecurrentorspecifiedcalibrationtool.
"DIAM"Thisreturnsthediameterofthetoolasadoublevalue.
"ID"Thisreturnsthenameofthetoolasastringvalue.
"LENGTH"Thisactsthesameas"DIAM".Italsoreturnsthediameterofthe
toolasadoublevalue.
"OVERRIDEIJK"ThisreturnsthesearchoverrideIJKvectorasapoint
value.
"POLYDIAM"Thisreturnsthediameterofthespecifiedpolyhedralfaceasa
doublevalue.
"POLYIJK"ThisreturnstheIJKvectorofthespecifiedpolyhedralfaceasa
pointvalue.
"POLYXYZ"ThisreturnstheXYZcenterofthespecifiedpolyhedralfaceas
apointvalue.
"SHANKIJK"ThisreturnstheIJKvectoroftheshankasapointvalue.
"TYPE"Thisreturnsthetypeoftoolasanintegervalue(0forasphere,1
foraslavesphere,2forapolyhedral,3foraslavepolyhedral).
"WIDTH"Thisparameterisnolongerused.
"XYZ"ThisreturnstheXYZlocationofthetoolasapointvalue.

Thesecondparameter,<TOOLID>,isastringthatspecifiesthenameforthe
calibrationtoolforwhichtheuserwouldliketoreceiveinformation.Ifyoudon'tpass
thisparameter,PCDMISassumesyouwantinformationfromthecurrentcalibration
tool.Thestringisnotcasesensitive.
Thethirdparameter,<FACENUMBER>,youonlyneedwhenworkingwitha
polyhedralcalibrationtoolandonlywhenthefirstparameteris"POLYXYZ",
"POLYIJK",or"POLYDIAM". Thisisanintegervaluethatspecifiesthefaceofthe
polyhedraltooltouseinordertoobtaindata.
Examples:
ASSIGN/VDIAM= Givesthevariable
QUALTOOLDATA("DIAM","SPHERE_1_IN") VDIAMthediameter
ofthetool
SPHERE_1_IN.
ASSIGN/VID=QUALTOOLDATA("ID") Givesthevariable
VID thecurrenttool's
name.
ASSIGN/VTYPE=QUALTOOLDATA("TYPE") Givesthevariable
VTYPEthecurrent
tool'stype.
ASSIGN/VPOLYDIAM= Givesthevariable
QUALTOOLDATA("POLYDIAM","POLYTEST",3) VPOLYDIAMthe
diameterofface3on
thepolyhedraltool,
POLYTEST.
FunctionExamples
Belowaresomedifferentexamplesoffunctionsthatmayhelpyouincreatingandusingyourown
functions:
GenericFunctionExample
FunctionsPassedasVariablesExample
FunctionwithMultipleParametersExample
FunctionsCreatingOtherFunctionsExample
FunctionsAsMembersofanArrayExample
FunctionsDefinedRecursivelyExample
GenericFunctionExample
Assign/MYFUNC= Createsauserdefinedfunction
FUNCTION((X,Y,Z),X*3+Y*2+ andassignsittothevariable
Z) MYFUNC.Thefunctiontakes
threeparameters,X,Y,andZ.

Xismultipliedby3.
Yismultipliedby2.
Zsimplyholdsthepassed
value.
ThetotalofX+Y+Ziswhat
getsreturned.
Assign/V1=MYFUNC(7,2,5) AssignsV1thevalue30by
evaluatingtheparameters
passedintothefunction
MYFUNC(7,2,5).7isthe
parameterandissubstituted
whereXoccursinthe
expressionportionofthe
functiondefinition.Thus,X*3
becomes7*3,or21.
2issubstitutedwhereYoccurs,
thusY*2becomes2*2,or4.
5issubstitutedwhereZoccurs.
Thevaluesarethenalladded
together(21+4+5)and
passedtoV1.
FunctionsPassedasVariablesExample
Functionscanbepassedasvariables.ThefollowingexamplebuildsontheGenericFunction
Exampleabove:
Assign/NEWFUNC=MYFUNC SetsthevariableNEWFUNCto
havethesamefunctionthat
MYFUNChas.
Assign/V3=NEWFUNC(12,2,3) AssignsV3tohavethevalue43
fromtheevaluatedexpressions
withinthefunction(36+4+3).
FunctionwithMultipleParametersExample
Functionscanhavemultipleparameters:
Assign/ADDANDDOUBLE= Createsafunctionandassigns
FUNCTION((A,B),2*(A+B)) ittothefunction
ADDANDDOUBLE.Thefunction
takestwoparameters,adds
themtogetherandthen
multipliestheresultby2.
Assign/V2=ADDANDDOUBLE(4,5) AssignsV2thevalue18.The
parameters4and5are

substitutedintotheexpression
portionofthefunction,thus
becoming2*(4+5).
FunctionsCreatingOtherFunctionsExample
Functionscancreateotherfunctions.
Assign/COMPOSE=FUNCTION((F, AssignsCOMPOSEtobea
G),FUNCTION((X),G(F(X)))) functionthattakestwofunctions
asparametersandcreatesa
newfunctionusingthetwo
functions.
Assign/ADD2=FUNCTION((X), AssignsADD2tobeafunction
X+2) thataddstwototheparameter
passedin.
Assign/ADD3=FUNCTION((X), AssignsADD3tobeafunction
X+3) thataddsthreetotheparameter
passedin.
Assign/ADD5=COMPOSE(ADD2, AssignsADD5tobeafunction
ADD3) composedofthefunctions
ADD2andADD3.
Assign/V5=ADD5(3) AssignsV5tohavethevalue
V8.
FunctionsAsMembersofanArrayExample
Functionscanbemembersofanarray.
Assign/ANARRAY=ARRAY(3, AssignsANARRAYtobean
FACTORIAL,"HelloWorld", arrayof4elements:anumber
ADD5) (3),afunction(FACTORIAL),a
string,("HelloWorld"),anda
function(Add5).
Assign/V6=ANARRAY[2](4) Thesecondelementof
ANARRAYisthefunction
FACTORIAL.Theparameter4
ispassedintothisfunctionand
theresultof24isassignedto
V6.
Assign/V7= Fromtheinsideout: Thefirst
ANARRAY[2](ANARRAY[4] elementofANARRAY(3)is
(ANARRAY[1])) passedtothefunctionofthe
fourtharrayelement(Add5).
Theresult,8,ispassedtothe
functionofthesecondarray
element(FACTORIAL)and
assignedtoV7.V7receivesa
valueof40320.
FunctionsDefinedRecursivelyExample
Functionscanbedefinedrecursively(i.e.theycanbedefinedtocallthemselves).

Assign/FACTORIAL= Createsafunctioncalled
FUNCTION((X),IF(X<=1,1, factorialthattakesone
X*FACTORIAL(X1)) parameter.Iftheparameteris
lessthanorequalto1it
evaluatesto1,otherwiseit
evaluatestoXmultipliedbythe
FACTORIALofX1.
Assign/V4=FACTORIAL(5) AssignsV4thevalueof120
(5*4*3*2*1).
ExampleofaLineFeatureCreatedfromaScanSegment
ThistopicprovidesanexampleofhowtousePCDMISexpressionlanguage,specificallytheline
segmentfunctions,toexportstartandendpointnumbersforlinesegmentswithinascanand
thentocreateyourownlinefeaturebyusingtheextractedpointswithinaconstructedfeature.
Youcanusethesameprinciplescoveredinthisexampletocreateanarcsegmentfromascan
aswell.
SupposeyourpartprogramhasascanfeaturenamedSCN1thatlookslikethis:
SCN1 =FEAT/SCAN,LINEAROPEN,SHOWHITS=NO,SHOWALLPARAMS=YES
EXECMODE=RELEARN,NOMSMODE=FINDNOMS,CLEARPLANE=NO,SINGLE
POINT=NO,THICKNESS=0
FINDNOMS=5,SELECTEDONLY=NO,USEBESTFIT=NO,PROBECOMP=YES,AVOIDANCE
MOVE=NO,DISTANCE=0,CADCompensation=NO
DIR1=VARIABLE,
HITTYPE=VECTOR
INITVEC=0,1,0
DIRVEC=1,0,0
CUTVEC=0,0,1
ENDVEC=0,1,0
PLANEVEC=1,0,0
POINT1=100,0,5
POINT2=70,0,5
MEAS/SCAN
BASICSCAN/LINE,SHOWHITS=NO,SHOWALLPARAMS=YES
<100,0,5>,<70,0,5>,CutVec=0,0,1,DirVec=1,0,0
InitVec=0,1,0,EndVec=0,1,0,THICKNESS=0
FILTER/NULLFILTER,
EXECMODE=RELEARN
BOUNDARY/PLANE,<70,0,5>,PlaneVec=1,0,0,Crossings=2
HITTYPE/VECTOR
NOMSMODE=FINDNOMS,5
ENDSCAN
ENDMEAS/
TocreatealinefromthisscanyouwillneedtousetheLINESEGMENTSTARTINDEXand
LINESEGMENTENDINDEXfunctionstopulloutthedata,likethis:
ASSIGN/LINESTARTINDEX=LINESEGMENTSTARTINDEX("SCN1",1,0.4,0.1)
ASSIGN/LINEENDINDEX=LINESEGMENTENDINDEX("SCN1",1,0.4,0.1)

ThistellsPCDMIStogotothescannamed"SCN1",andfromitsfirstlinesegmentpulloutthe
startingandendingindexvaluesthatfallwithinthedefinedtolerances.Itthenassignsthoseindex
valuestovariablesnamedLINESTARTINDEXandLINEENDINDEX.
Onceyouhavethestartandendingindexvaluesforthelinesegmentassignedtovariables,you
canusethosevariableswithinaconstructedline,likethis:
LIN4 =FEAT/LINE,RECT,UNBND
THEO/100.225,0,5.011,1,0,0
ACTL/100.225,0.005,5.011,1,0.0000388,0
CONSTR/LINE,BF,2D,SCN1.HIT[LINESTARTINDEX..LINEENDINDEX],,
OUTLIER_REMOVAL/OFF,3
FILTER/OFF,WAVELENGTH=0
Noticethatinthehighlightedcodefromthelinefeatureabove,PCDMISusesthestartingand
endingnumbersyoupulledoutofthescantocreatethefeature:
SCN1.HIT[LINESTARTINDEX..LINEENDINDEX]
OperandCoercion
Operandscanbecoercedtoothertypesusinganyofthecoercionoperators:
IntegerCoercion
INT(<Expression>)Coercesvalueofexpressiontotypeinteger
INT(4) Evaluatesto4
INT(4.5) Evaluatesto4
INT("HelloWorld") Evaluatesto0
INT("2") Evaluatesto2
INT("2.2") Evaluates2
INT("3BlindMice") Evaluatesto3
INT("The3BlindMice") Evaluatesto0
INT("3,4, 5") Evaluatesto3
INT(MPOINT(0,0,1)) Evaluatestothedistanceof
thepointfromtheorigin,in
thiscase1
INT(MPOINT(3,4,5)) Distanceevaluatesto7.0711,
thisexpressionevaluatesto7
DoubleCoercion

DOUBLE(<Expression>)Coercesvalueofexpressiontotypedouble
DOUBLE(4) Evaluatesto4.0
DOUBLE(4.5) Evaluatesto4.5
DOUBLE("AString") Evaluatesto0.0
DOUBLE("3.5") Evaluatesto3.5
DOUBLE("3.5inches") Evaluatesto3.5
DOUBLE("Thecirclemeasures3.5 Evaluatesto0.0
inchesindiameter")
DOUBLE(MPOINT(0,0,1)) Evaluatesto1.0
DOUBLE(MPOINT(3,4,5)) Evaluatesto7.0711
StringCoercion
STR(<Expression>)Coercesvalueofexpressiontotypestring
STR(4) Evaluatesto"4"
STR(4.5) Evaluatesto"4.5"
STR("HelloWorld") Evaluatesto"HelloWorld"
STR(MPOINT(3,4,5)) Evaluatesto"3,4,5"
PointCoercion
MPOINT(<Expression1>,<Expression2>,<Expression3>)Coercesvaluesofexpressionsto
typepointaftercoercingeachexpressiontotypedouble.
MPOINT(1,1,1) Evaluatestopoint1.0,1.0,1.0
MPOINT(1.1,1.1,1.1) Evaluatestopoint1.1,1.1,
1.1
MPOINT("1","1","1") Evaluatestopoint1.0,1.0,1.0
MPOINT(3,4.5,"5.6") Evaluatestopoint3.0,4.5,
5.6
MPOINT(MPOINT(1,0,0), Evaluatesto1.0,1.0,7.0711
MPOINT(0,1,0),MPOINT(3,4,5))
OperandCoercionandMixedTypeExpressions
Theexpressionevaluatorautomaticallycoercesvariablesinmixedtypeexpressions.Iftheresult
ofanexpressionisnotwhatisexpectedbecauseofautomaticcoercion,useofthecoercion

operatorsinsomecaseswillyieldthedesiredresult.Thefollowingareexamplesofautomatic
coercionsinmixedtypeexpressions.
"CIR"+1 Evaluatesto"CIR1"
"2"+2 Evaluatesto4
"TheValueof2+2is"+2+2 Evaluatesto"TheValueof
2+2is22"(Sinceexpressions
areevaluatedlefttoright)
"TheValueof 2+2is"+(2+2) Evaluatesto"TheValueof
2+2is4"
LINE1.XYZ>2 Evaluatesto1ifthedistance
ofthecentroidofLINE1from
theoriginisgreaterthan2
LINE1.XYZ>LINE2.XYZ Evaluatesto1ifthecentroid
ofLINE1isfurtherfromthe
originthanthecentroidof
LINE2
LINE1.XYZ=LINE2.XYZ Evaluatesto1ifthecentroids
ofLINE1andLINE2arethe
same(nocoercionoccursin
thiscase)
DOUBLE(LINE1.XYZ)= Evaluatesto1ifthecentroids
DOUBLE(LINE2.XYZ) arethesamedistancefrom
theorigin
11%3.1 Evaluatesto2(%isthe
modulooperatordesignedto
workwithintegers.Itreturns
theremainderfromdiscrete
division.11%3=2.)
CIRCLE1.HIT[3.2].X EvaluatestomeasuredX
valueofthirdhitofCircle1.
Theargument3.2is
automaticallycoercedtoan
integerwithavalueof3.
IDExpressions
ManyofthePCDMIScommandsusefeatureIDsasparameters.Forexample,constructed
featuresuseIDstoindicatewhichfeaturesaretobeusedasinputsfortheconstructedfeature.
IDexpressionsallowtheusertorefertoaspecificinstanceofafeature,agroupofsimilarly
namedfeatures,aninstanceofafeatureinsideacalltoasubroutine,orafeatureinanexternal
partprogram.
FeatureArrayID
Useafeaturearrayidtorefertoaspecificinstanceofafeatureortoarangeoffeature
instances.Forexample,ifthefeature"Circle1"werelocatedinawhileloopthatloopedfive
times,thenfiveinstancesofthecirclewouldexistuponexitingtheloop.Torefertoan
individualinstanceofthefiveinstancesof"Circle1",usefeaturearraysyntaxasdescribed
under"FeatureArrays:"where"Circle1[1]"wouldrefertothefirstinstance,"Circle1[2]"would
refertothesecondinstance,etc.

st rd
Torefertoarangeofinstancesusethe..notation."Circle1[1..3]"referstothe1 through3
instancesofCircle1."Circle[3..5]referstothe3rd through5th instancesofCircle1.
"Circle[1..5]"wouldrefertothe1st through5th instancesofCircle1.Whenarangeoffeatureis
referredto,thesetistreatedandbehavesasaconstructedset.
IDWildCards
UseIDWildCardstorefertoasetofsimilarlynamedfeatures.Thetwowildcardcharacters
are"*"and"?".(See"SelectingFeaturesUsingMetacharactermatching"inthe"Editingthe
CADDisplay"chapterforadditionalinformation.)
Theasterisk*characterisusedtoreferto0ormoreinstancesofanycharacter.Toreferto
thesetofallfeaturethatstartwiththeletters"CIR",usetheexpressionID"CIR*".Thissyntax
willcreateasetoffeaturesthatincludeallfeatureswithIdsthatwith"CIR",suchas
"CIRCLE1","CIRCLE2","CIR3",or"CIR".
Note:IfCIR3hasseveralexecutionsonlythemostrecentmeasurementisused.Togetthe
differentinstancesoftheexecutions,thefollowingexpressioncouldbeused:CIR?[1..3]
Thequestionmark?characterisusedtorefertoasingleinstanceofanycharacter.
Example:TheIDexpression"MY???1"wouldcreateasetoffeaturesthataresixcharacters
long,beginwith"MY"andendwith"1",suchas"MYCIR1","MYCON1","MYLIN1",or"MYFT21".
IDsforfeatureswithinsubroutines,basicscripts,orexternalprograms
Subroutinescanbelocatedwithinthecurrentpartprogramorinanexternalpartprogram.
Whenthesubroutineislocatedinthesameprogramasthecalltothesubroutine,thefeature
arrayIDsyntaxexplainedunder"FeatureArrays:"canbeusedtorefertoindividualinstances
ofafeaturecreatedinthesubroutine.However,whenthesubroutineislocatedinanexternal
partprogram,thefollowingsyntaxcanbeusedtorefertoanyfeaturescreatedinthe
subroutine: "<CallSubID>:<FeatID>".Forexample,ifafeaturenamed"F1"werelocatedin
anexternalsubroutinethatwascalledfromaCallSubcommandwiththeid"CS1",thenthe
IDexpression"CS1:F1"couldbeusedtorefertothatfeature.
Example:ThisexamplemerelyillustratestheuseofthesyntaxCS1.F1andisnotintendedto
use.
Program1:PLUS1.PRG
SUBROUTINE/PLUS1,A1=0,A2=0,A3=0
F1=FEAT/POINT,RECT
THEO/A1+1,A2+1,A3+1,0,0,1
ACTL/3,1,1,0,0,1
MEAS/POINT,1
HIT/BASIC,A1+1,A2+1,A3+1,0,0,1,0,0,0
ENDMEAS/
ENDSUB/
Program2:TEST.PRG
CS1=CALLSUB/PLUS1,D:\V30\WINDEBUG\PLUS1.PRG:3,3,3,,
DIMD1=LOCATIONOFPOINTCS1:F1UNITS=IN,$
GRAPH=OFFTEXT=OFFMULT=10.00OUTPUT=BOTH
AXNOMINAL+TOLTOLMEASMAXMINDEVOUTTOL
X3.00000.00000.00003.00003.00003.00000.00000.0000

#
ENDOFDIMENSIOND1
Basicscriptscreateanddeleteobjectsdynamically.Usethesyntax"<BasicScriptID>:<FeatID>"
torefertoafeaturecreatedbyabasicscript.Forexample,ifabasicscriptwithID"BS1"creates
afeaturewithID"F2",usetheIDexpression"BS1:F2"torefertothatfeature.
ExternalprogramscanbeattachedtoPCDMISusingtheattachcommand.Torefertofeatures
intheattachedprogramusethefollowingsyntax:"<AttachProgID>:<FeatID>".Toreferto
feature"F3"intheattachedpartprogramwithID"GEAR1",usetheexpression,"GEAR1:F3".
(See"AttachinganExternalPartProgram"inthe"AddingExternalElements"chapterformore
information.)
IDExpressionCombinations
ArrayIDExpressions,WildCardIDExpressions,andexternalsubroutine,basicscript,and
externalpartprogramIDExpressionscanbeusedincombination.Forexample,toreferto
thethirdinstanceofallfeaturesthatstartwiththeletters"CIR"inanexternalpartprogram
attachedwiththeID"BOLTPAT"usetheIDexpression"BOLTPAT:CIR*[3]".
Also,IDExpressionscanbeusedinregularexpressions.Thus,themeasuredcentroidofthe
abovesetoffeaturescouldbeassignedtovariablewiththefollowingexpression:
ASSIGN/V1=BOLTPAT:CIR*[3].XYZ
Also,IDExpressionscanbeusedinregularexpressions.Thus,themeasuredcentroidofthe
abovesetoffeaturescouldbeassignedtovariablewiththefollowingexpression:
ASSIGN/V1=BOLTPAT:CIR*[3].XYZ
AccessingaReport'sObjectProperties
PCDMISversions4.0andabovesupporttheabilitytocreateyourowncustomreportandlabel
templateswhichPCDMISusestodisplayreportdatainsideaReportwindow(seeView|Report
Window).ThesetemplatesarecreatedusingtemplateeditorswhichutilizeaVisualBasiclike
interfacewhichletsyouinsert,relocate,andsizespecialcomponentscalled"objects".
Eachobjectconsistsof"properties"thatdefinehowitwillbedisplayedandwhatinformationit
holds.Someofthesepropertiesareincommonwithallotherobjects,someareincommonwith
onlyrelatedobjects,andothersareuniquetothatspecificobject.
ThePCDMISExpressionLanguagecanquerythecurrentloadedReportandstoreproperty
valuesofaparticularobjectinavariable.ItcanobtainvaluesoftypeString,Integer,andRealby
usingthissyntax:
PropertyQuerySyntax
Assign/V1=Report.<ObjectName>.<PropertyName>
Reportisareferencetothecurrentlyloadedreport.<ObjectName>istheobject'suniquename
and<PropertyName>isavalidpropertynameforthatobject.
ASimpleExample

Suppose,forexample,thatyourreporttemplatehasatextobjectcalled"Text1"thatyouwantto
useinthefinalreporttodisplaytheoperator'sname.Theactualstringofcharactersrepresenting
theoperator'snamewillbestoredintheTextpropertyoftheobject.Bydefault,thetextproperty
(displayedtext)initiallyhasthevalue of"Text1"(seethefigurebelow).Becausethisisauser
assignedproperty,thiswillchangewhentheoperatortypesinthenameduringexecution.
Propertiesdialogbox,showingaselectedobjectandthepropertytoquery
TousetheExpressionLanguagecodetoquerythisTextobject's"Text"propertyandobtainthe
keyedindata,youwouldusethefollowingcommand:
Assign/V1=Report.Text1.Text
Inthiscode,"Report"tellsthecodetolookatthereportloadedintheReportwindow."Text1"tells
ittolookfortheobjectnamed"Text1"."Text"tellsittolookforthe"Text"propertywithinthat
object.Thevalueofthe"Text"propertythengetspassedintotheV1variablewhichyoucould
thenfurthermanipulateordisplayusingthePCDMISExpressionLanguage.
FindingProperties
YoucanfindwhatpropertiesareassociatedwithaparticularobjectbyaccessingtheReport
templateintheReporttemplateeditor(File|Reporting|Edit|ReportTemplate),selectingthe
object,andthenrightclickingontheobjecttodisplayitspropertysheet.

ThepropertysheetforaTextobject
Thepropertysheetcontainstwocolumns.Theleftcolumndisplaysthepropertyname,andthe
rightcolumndisplaysthecurrentvalue.Besuretousetheexactpropertynameinyour
expressioncode.
Important: Whenqueryingpropertyvalues,youmayfindthatsomepropertiesreturnaseemingly
uselessnumericalvalue.Generallythishappenswhenthepropertyhasasetlistofavailable
options,andPCDMISreturnsaninternalvaluefortheselectedpropertythatdoesn'trelatetothe
displayedproperty.
Forexample,theTextobjecthasanOrientationpropertywiththesevalues:
0Horizontal
1Verticalup
2Verticaldown
However,ifyouobtainthevalueusingPCDMISexpressionlanguage,thesoftwarewillinstead
returnthefollowing:
0(forHorizontal)
900(forVerticalup)
900(forVerticaldown)
Itmayrequiresometrialanderrortodeterminewhatreturnedvaluescorrespondwiththevalue
displayedonthepropertysheet.

AddingExternalElements
AddingExternalElements:Introduction
Thischapterdiscussesvariousexternalelementsyoucaninsertintoyourpartprograms.These
includeexternalapplications,BASICscripts,partprograms,andotherobjectsthatwillfurther
enhanceyourpartprogram'scapability.
Themaintopicsdiscussedinthischapterinclude:
InsertinganExternalCommand
InsertingBASICScripts
AttachinganExternalPartProgram
InsertinganExternalCommand
ExternalCommanddialogbox
TheInsert|ExternalCommandmenuoptionallowsyoutoinsertacommandintotheEdit
windowthat,whenmarkedandexecuted,runsanexternalexecutableorbatch filefromthepart
program.
NormalDOScommandscanbeexecutediftheyareputintoabatchfile.
ThecommandmustbemarkedintheEditwindowforPCDMIStoexecutethe
externalcommand.
Avalidpathandfilenamemustbeused.
PCDMISwillhalttheexecutionoftheprogramanddisplayamessagewhenit
encountersanEXTERNALCOMMAND/DISPLAYcommandduringexecution.Click
OKtocontinuepartprogramexecution.
ToinsertanExternalCommand:
SelecttheExternalCommand menuoption.TheExternalCommanddialogboxappears.
1. Specifyanexternalcommandinthedialogbox.Youcandothisbyeithertyping
thecompletepathwayforthefileintotheavailableboxorbyfindingthefileusingthe
...button.
2. ChooseeitherDisplayorNoDisplay.
3. ClickOK.ThecommandgetsinsertedintotheEditwindow.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual AddingExternalElements 1407

EXTERNALCOMMAND/DISPLAYSTATEpathname
DISPLAYSTATE=ThistogglefieldcontrolswhetherornotPCDMISpausesexecutionand
displaysamessagenotifyingyouofanexternalexecution.Thisfieldswitchesbetween
DISPLAYandNODISPLAY.
pathname=Thisstringrepresentsthepathandfilenameoftheexecutableorbatchfile.
Displayoption
SelectingtheDisplayoptiondisplaysamessagethatletsyouknowthatprogramexecutionis
pausedinordertoruntheexternalcommand.PCDMISpausesexecutionuntilyouclickOKon
thedisplayedmessage.Notethatthismessageonlyappearsifyouhaveturneditoninsidethe
WarningsDisplayOptionsdialogbox.
Togetthismessagetoappear,
1. PressF5toaccesstheSetupOptionsdialogbox.
2. FromtheGeneraltab,clicktheWarningsbutton.TheWarningsDisplay
Optionsdialogboxappears.
3. SelectthecheckboxthatreadsOKExecutionpausedinordertospawna
process.SelectOKtocontinueexecution.
NoDisplayoption
SelectingtheNoDisplayoptionrunsthespecifiedexternalcommandwithoutdisplayinganysort
ofmessage.PCDMISwillcontinueexecutionwhiletheexecutableorbatchfileruns
simultaneously.
WaitandNoWaitoptions
TheseoptionsremainunavailableuntilyouselecttheNoDisplayoption.
TheWaitoptionpausespartprogramexecutionuntiltheexternalcommandfinishesits
operation.
TheNoWaitoptioncontinuespartprogramexecutioneveniftheexternalcommandhasn't
finisheditsoperation.
...button
The...buttononthedialogboxopensanOpendialogbox.Itallowsyoutoselectthefilename
fortheexternalcommand.Onceyouopenthefile,PCDMISinsertsthefullpathintotheExternal
Commanddialogbox.
CreatinganExternalCommandasaMenuItemorToolbarItem
1408 AddingExternalElements PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

PCDMISallowsyoutocustomizetoolbarsandmenustoacceptnewmenuitemstiedto.EXE,
.BAT,or.BASfiles.Forinformationonhowtodothis,seethe"CustomizingtheUserInterface"
topicinthe"NavigatingtheUserInterface"chapter.
ExampleUsingtheExternalCommandtoDisplayaFile
Thisexampleshowshowtocreateabatchfile(anexternalprogram)thatworkswiththe
EXTERNALCOMMANDtoopenanddisplayafile.Forexample,supposeyouwanttodisplayan
imagefile,butyoudon'twanttousetheInsert|ReportCommand|ExternalObjectmenu
option,youcanuseacommandline(orDOS)promptinsideofabatchfiletodothis.
Note:Theadvantageordisadvantage(dependingonyourneeds)tothisapproachisthatthe
imagewillnotappearinthereportattheendofpartprogramexecution.
First,createabatchfiletodisplaytheimage:
1. Openatexteditor,suchasNotepad,andonthefirstlineputinthiscommand:
start<PATHWAY>
where<PATHWAY>isthecompletepathwaytothepicture(forexample,start
d:\temp\mypart.gif).
ThiscommandtellsWindowstoopentheimagefileusingitsdefaultimageviewer
application.
2. Savethefileandgiveita.batfilenameextension.
Second,linktheExternalCommanddialogboxtothebatchfile:
1. SelectInsert|ExternalCommand.TheExternalCommanddialogbox
appears.
2. Clickthe...button.AnOpendialogboxappears.
3. UnderFilesofTypelistatthebottomoftheOpendialogbox,changethetypeto
BATFiles(*.bat).
4. Navigatetoandselectyourbatchfile.
5. ClicktheOpenbutton.TheOpendialogcloses,andtheExternalCommand
dialogboxnowcontainsthepathwaytothebatch(.bat)file.
Third,controlwhathappens,andinsertthecommand:
1. Chooseeithertodisplayornotdisplayamessagethatpausestheexecutionof
thepartprogrambyselectingtheDisplayortheNoDisplayoptionfromthe
ExternalCommanddialogbox.
2. ClickOKandtheEXTERNALCOMMANDgetsinsertedintotheEditwindow.
EXTERNALCOMMAND/DISPLAYE:\BATCH\TEST.BAT
Fourth,executetheprogram:
1. MarktheresultingcommandlineintheEditwindow.
2. Executeyourpartprogram.

3. PCDMISwillrunthespecifiedbatchprogram,displayingthepictureand,
dependingonwhatyouselectedontheExternalCommanddialogbox,willeither
pauseorcontinuethepartprogramwhileyouviewthepicture.
InsertingBASICScripts
TheBasicLanguageExtensiontoPCDMISprovidesapowerfulextensiontothesoftwares
functionality.Basiclanguagescriptsorapplications maybewrittenfromwithinPCDMIS(or
importedfromelsewhere)andlinkedtoabuttononauserdefinabletoolbar,allowingthesimple
executionofpowerfulmacros.TheversionofBasicfeaturedinPCDMISprovidesallofthe
featuresofahighlevellanguage,includingcustomdialogs(createdusingthebuiltinDialog
Editor),ODBC supportandOLEsupport.Theseoptionsareonlyavailableasanaddedoptionto
thebasicPCDMISgeometricsoftwarepackage.
TheEditwindowcommandlineforasamplescriptreads:
SCRIPT/FILENAME=C:\PCDMISW\sample.bas
FUNCTION/Main,SHOW=YES,,
ENDSCRIPT/
TheFILENAME= fieldletsyouspecifythepathwaytotheBASICfile(.basfilenameextension)
thatyouwanttoinsertandexecutewiththepartprogram.
TheFUNCTION/Mainfieldrunsthe"Main"subroutine.Youcanchangethistospecifyadifferent
subroutineorfunctionintheBASICfiletorun.
TheSHOW=fieldletsyoudeterminewhetherornotcommandsautomaticallygeneratedbyyour
BasicScriptappearinyourpartprogramafterexecution.
WhenyousetSHOW=NO,generatedcommandswillnotappearinSummary
mode,Commandmode,orDMISmode(commandsstillappearintheinspection
report,however).Also,PCDMISwillnotsaveanygeneratedcommandswiththe
partprogram.
WhenyousetSHOW=YES,thengeneratedcommandsappearinthepart
programandPCDMISwillsavegeneratedcommandswiththepartprogram. The
defaultisSHOW=YESforpartprogramcompatibilityfrompreviousversions.
ThePCDMISBasicLanguageReferenceManualcompletelydescribesthisaddonpackage.If
youdidnotreceiveacopyofthemanualwithyourBasicLanguagepackage,pleasecontactyour
PCDMISsoftwaresupportrepresentative.
ToInsertaBasicScriptasaCommand
TheInsert|BasicScriptmenuoptionbringsuptheInsertBasicScriptdialogbox.
Thisdialogboxallowsyoutoaddabasicscriptobjecttothepartprogram.Basicscriptobjects
containthenameofthebasicscriptthatshouldbeexecutedwhenthebasicscriptobjectis
executed.Executionofthepartprogramdoesnotcontinueuntilthebasicscripthasexecuted.If
thebasicscriptcreatesanyobjectswhileexecuting,thoseobjectswillbeinsertedintothepart
programandexecuted.ObjectsinsertedbyBasicScriptsarehighlightedinadifferentcolorthan
otherobjectstoindicatethatthebasicscriptcreatedthem.FormoreinformationonBasicScripts,
seethePCDMISBASICmanual.

ToInsertaBasicScriptasaMenuorToolbarItem
PCDMISallowsyoutocustomizetoolbarsandmenustoacceptnewmenuitemstiedto.EXE,
.BAT,or.BASfiles.Forinformationonhowtodothis,seethe"CustomizingtheUserInterface"
topicinthe"NavigatingtheUserInterface"chapter.
PassingVariablesToandFromBASICScripts
FromPCDMIScode,variablescanonlybepassedtoBASICscripts,notfromBASICscripts.
TheonlysupportedvariabletypesthatcanbepassedintoBASICscriptsfromPCDMISare:
Integer
String
Double
Note:PCDMISvariablesonlyholdvaluesduringpartprogramexecutionatlearntime,PC
DMISvariableswillalwayshaveavalueofzero.
Example1:UsingtheFunctionLinetoPassVariables
ThefollowingcommandwillexecuteaBASICscriptnamedTEST.BAS.Itwillalso,upon
execution,passthevariablesdefinedfromtheFUNCTION/lineintotheTEST.BASscript:
CS2=SCRIPT/FILENAME=D:\PROGRAMFILES\PCDMIS35\TEST.BAS
FUNCTION/ShowVars,3,"Hello",2.5,,
STARTSCRIPT/
Nowhere'stheTEST.BASscriptonexecutionitwilldisplaythepassedinvariablesintheir
respectivemessageboxes:
SubShowVars(IntVarAsInteger,StrVarAsString,DoubleVarAsDouble)
msgbox"Thepassedintegervariableis"&IntVar
msgbox"Thepassedstringvariableis"&StrVar
msgbox"Thepasseddoublevariableis"&DoubleVar
EndSub
Example2:UsingtheGetVariableValue andSetVariableValue
MethodstoPassVariables
ThefollowingexamplefirstusesPCDMIScodetoreceiveanintegervaluefromtheuserand
assignsittotheV1variable.
C1=COMMENT/INPUT,Pleasetypeanintegervalue.
ASSIGN/V1=INT(C1.INPUT)
COMMENT/OPER,BEFORESCRIPT:Variableis:

,V1
ItthencallsaBASICscriptnamedTEST2.BAS.
CS1=SCRIPT/FILENAME=D:\PROGRAMFILES\PCDMIS35\TEST2.BAS
FUNCTION/Main,,
STARTSCRIPT/
ENDSCRIPT/
HereisTEST2.BAS:
SubMain
DimAppAsObject
SetApp=CreateObject("PCDLRN.Application")
DimPartAsObject
SetPart=App.ActivePartProgram
DimVarAsObject
SetVar=Part.GetVariableValue("V1")
DimIAsObject
IfNotVarIsNothingThen
Var.LongValue=Var.LongValue+1
Part.SetVariableValue"V1",Var
MsgBox"V1isnow:"&Var
Else
Msgbox"CouldNotfindvariable"
EndIf
EndSub
ThisscripttakesV1variableand,usingtheGetVariableValueandSetVariableValue
automationmethods,incrementstheV1byoneandthensetsthenewvalueforV1inthepart
program.
PCDMISthendisplaysthechangedvariableinanoperatorcomment.
COMMENT/OPER,AFTERSCRIPT:Variableisnow
,V1
AttachinganExternalPartProgram
TheInsert|AttachPartProgramclassopenstheAttachExternalPartProgramdialogbox.
Youcanusethisdialogboxtoattachapartprogramtothecurrentpartprogram.Thisdoesnot
meanthatPCDMISwillactuallyattachandexecuteallthecommandinthespecifiedpart
program.Instead,itattachesapointertothepartprogram,allowingyoutoaccessitsdimensional
andfeaturedata.See"UsingaPointertoReferenceData"below.
AttachExternalPartProgramdialogbox
Thisdialogboxcontainsthefollowingoptions:

Option Description
Externalpartprogramfilename Thisboxallowsyoutotypethe
pathwayforthepartprogramyouare
goingtoattach.Ifyouprefer,youcan
usetheBrowsebuttonwhichwillalso
placethefilenamepathwayintothe
box.
EquateProgramAlignments Thisareaallowsyoutoshare
alignmentsbetweentwopart
programsbyselectingthemfromthe
availablelists.See"Equatingan
Alignment"inthe"CreatingandUsing
Alignments"chapterforadditional
information.
TheAttachPartProgrammenuoptionisespeciallyusefulwhenworkinginmultiplearmmode.
Withthisoptionyoucanattachapartprogramfromthe"Slave"armontothepartprogramofthe
"Master"arm.Attachingthepartprogramallowsthesharingofdatasothatboth"Master"and
"Slave"armscanrunoffthesamealignment,passfeaturedatafromonepartprogramtoanother
forcalculations,andgenerallyworkinacooperativemanner.(Seethe"UsingMultipleArmMode"
chapter,formoreinformationonmultiplearmmode.)
UsingaPointertoReferenceData
Oftenwhenyouaccessanattachedpartprogram,youwillwanttousedatafromthatpart
program.Whenreferencingthisdatayoumustreferencethepointer(orvariable)thatcontains
thelocationofyourpartprogram.
Consideranexample:
Supposeyou'reattachingTEST_A.prgtoyourcurrentpartprogram.Yourattachcommandwould
looksomethinglikethis:
CS1=ATTACH/C:\PCDMISW\TEST_A.PRG,Machine=
EQUATE/LOCALALIGNMENT=A1,ATTACHEDALIGNMENT=A1
Noticethepointer,CS1.Youwillusethispointertoextractdatafromtheattachedpartprogram.
Now,supposeyouwantedtodisplaythemeasuredXvalueforfeatureF1fromTEST_A.prg
insideyourcurrentpartprogram.Youwoulduseastatementlikethis.
COMMENT/OPER,"TheXvalueforF1fromtheattachedpartprogramis:"
,CS1:F1.X
Thecode,CS1:F1.X,essentiallytellsPCDMIStolookatTEST_A.prg,findfeatureF1,and
displaytheXvalue.ThisisthewaypointersarereferencedinsidePCDMIS.
PCDMISalsolistsfeaturesfromanattachedpartprogramintheConstructionorDimension
dialogbox.PCDMISwilldisplaytheattachedpartprogramsIDpointerwithintheFeatureList
box.Aplussign(+)appearstotheleftofthepointer.Clickingthisplussignexpandsorcollapses
aviewofallthefeaturesintheattachedpartprogram.Afteryouexpandtheviewtoshowallthe
featuresoftheattachedpartprogram,youcanselectanyofthosefeaturestouseinthe
constructionordimensionprocess.

Note:Youcannotselecttheattachedprogramspointer.OnlytheexpandedIDsassociatedwith
thatpointercanbeselected.
InsertObjectdialogbox
TheInsert|ReportCommand|ExternalObjectmenuoptionallowsyoutoentervarioustypes
ofobjectsfromotherapplicationsonyoursystemintotheEditwindow.Typesofobjectsthatcan
beinserteddependontheapplicationsinstalledonthecomputersystem.Examplesofobjects
thatcanbeinsertedincludegraphics,soundclips,movieclips,midiclips,documents,
worksheets,databasetables,etc.Useexternalobjectstoimport aninstructionalvideo,audio
instructionsorwritteninstructionsintoyourpartprogram.
Important:BesuretoplacetheEditwindowincommandmode whenworkingwithexternal
objects.
CreateNew
TheCreateNewoptionallowsyoutocreateanewfileofaparticularobjecttypeataspecified
locationintheEditwindow.TheobjecttypesarechosenfromtheObjectTypelist.Objectscan
onlybeplacedjustafterorjustbeforeafeatureinthepartprogram.
TocreateanewobjectandplaceitintheEditwindow:
1. SelecttheCreateNewoption.
2. SelectthedesiredobjecttypefromtheObjectTypelist.Theobjectwillappearin
abox,boundedbysmallrectangularpointswithinyourEditwindow.Usingyour
mouseyoucandragtheboxtoanotherlocationorresizetheboxusingthesmall
rectangles.
3. Doubleclickwithintheobject.Youwillseethattheapplicationthatrunsthat
particularobjectwillopenintheEditwindow.
4. Modifytheobjectbyusingthetoolsspecifictotheinsertedapplication.
5. Whenyouaredone,clickontheportionoftheEditwindowthatisoutsideofthe
insertedobject.

Example:IfyouwanttoincludeanewworddocumentintheEditwindow:
1. SelecttheCreateNewoption.
2. SelectaworddocumentobjectfromtheObjectTypelist.
3. DragtheobjectboxwiththemousetoadesiredlocationwithintheEditwindow.
4. Resizetheboxtothedesiredsize.
5. Typetheinformationwithintheworddocumentobject.
6. ClickoutsideoftheobjecttoreturntonormalPCDMISEditwindowfunctions.
TheworddocumentwillremainintheEditwindow.
ExampleofaworddocumentcreatedintheEditwindow.NoticehowtheEditwindowmenusand
toolbarsarereplacedwiththemenusandtoolbarsoftheapplicationthatcorrespondstothe
objectyouarecreating.
CreatefromFile
TheCreatefromFileoptionallowsyoutoinsertpreviouslycreatedfileasanobjectintotheEdit
window.
Toinsertapreviouslycreatedobject:
2. Typethedirectorypaththatcontainsthefileyouwanttoplaceasanobject.Or
usetheBrowsebuttontonavigatetothecorrectdirectory.
3. Selectthefiletoinsertasanobject.
4. ClicktheOKbutton.TheobjectwillnowappearintheEditwindow.Usingyour
mouseyoucandragtheboxtoanotherlocationorresizetheboxusingthesmall
rectangles.
Example:IfyouwanttoinsertapreviouslywrittenworddocumentintotheEditwindowthat
includesasetofinstructionsaboutoperatingtheCMM,selecttheCreatefromFileoption,
navigatetothedirectorythatcontainsthedocument,clicktheOKbutton.Thedocumentappears
withintheobjectboxintheEditwindow.Usingthemouse,movetheobjectboxtowhereyou
wantitintheEditwindowandresizeit.
Link

WhenyouselecttheCreatefromFileoptionyouhavetheopportunityto"link"yourobjecttothe
Editwindow.Whenyoulinkyourobjectbacktoitsoriginalfile,anychangesmadetotheoriginal
filewillalsobeupdatedwithintheEditwindow.
DisplayasIcon
TheDisplayasIconcheckboxallowsyoutodisplaytheimbeddedobjectasanicon,insteadof
displayingtheinformationoutright.OnceyoudoubleclickontheiconwithintheEditwindow,it
willthenactivate.
Example:SupposeyouplaceaworddocumentintheEditwindowandselecttheDisplayAs
Iconcheckbox.Theworddocumentwillappearasanicon.However,ifyoudoubleclickonthe
icon,theimbeddedapplicationopens,displayingtheinformationcontainedintheworddocument.
Exampleofaworddocumentobjectdisplayedasanicon
ObjectTypeList
SampleObjectTypelist
TheObjectTypelistcontainstheobjecttypesavailableonyourcomputersystem.Thesewill
varyfromcomputertocomputerdependingonwhatapplicationprogramsyouhaveinstalledon
yourharddrive.
Tochooseanobjecttype:
1. UsethescrollbarorUPARROWandDOWNARROWkeystofindtheobject.
2. Selecttheobject.

MarkingExternalObjectsforExecution
Bydefault,externalobjectsprintanddonotexecutewhenexecutingapartprogram.However,
withsomeobjects,thedesiredactionmaybetoexecuteandnotprint.
Example: Whenembeddingagraphic,thedesiredactionmaybetoprintthegraphictothe
reportwhilewhenembeddingasoundormovieclip,thedesiredactionmaybetoexecutethe
objecttoplaytheclipatexecutiontime.
Externalobjectshavefourmodesofexecution:
1. PrintDontexecute
2. DontprintDontexecute
3. DontPrintExecute
4. PrintExecute
Toswitchbetweenthedifferentmodes,pressF3whiletheinsertionpointisonthesamelineas
theexternalobjectintheEditwindow.PCDMISwillusehashlinesandborderstoindicatethe
objectscurrentmodeofexecution.Seetheexamplesbelow.
Hashlinesdiagonallinesthatcrossthegraphic.Whentherearehashlinestheobject
willnotprinttothereport.
Hashedbordersdiagonallinesthatcrosstheborderaroundthegraphic.Whena
hashedborderoutlinestheobject,theobjectwillexecute.
Example Behavior
NoHashLinesNo
HashedBorder
Print
Don'tExecute
HashLinesNoHashed
Border
Don'tPrint
Don'tExecute
Don'tPrint
Execute
HashLinesHashed

Border
NoHashLinesHashed
Border
Print
Execute
Note:Theexecuteactionisalwaysthesameactionthatoccurswhenanexternalobjectis
doubleclicked.Formediaclips,thisdefaultactionisusuallyplay.Formostotherobjects,the
defaultactionisedit.
Play Soundclipswillplaysound.Movieclipswillplaytheirmovie,etc.
Edit Objectsthathaveadefaultactionofeditwillusuallynotbeobjectsthatwouldneedtobe
executed.However,someapplicationobjectsalsohavetheabilitytoruncustombasicscripts
uponbeingactivated.Aworddocumentorexcelspreadsheetareexamplesofthistypeof
externalobject.WiththesetypesofobjectsandthePCDMISautomationcommands,itis
possibletochangetheobjectusingdatafromthepartprogram.Forexample,anexcelgraph
couldbeinsertedinsideapartprogramthathasabasicscriptthat,whenactivated,wouldpull
dataoutofthepartprogramusingthePCDMISautomationcommandsandadjustthegraph
accordinglybeforeitwasprintedontheinspectionreport.
DisplayingFilesinaDifferentWay
AnalternatewaytodisplayfilesisbyusingPCDMIS'sEXTERNALCOMMANDEditwindow
command.See"ExampleUsingtheExternalCommandtoDisplayaFile"forinformation.

UsingMultipleArmMode
UsingMultipleArmMode:Introduction
TheMultipleArmmodewascreatedtodrivemultiplearmCMMs.TheMultipleArmmodeis
availableasanaddonpackage.Currently,thisversiononlysupportsamultiplearmmodeoftwo
arms.ThetwoarmsmustbeconnectedtoseparatecomputerswithaversionofPCDMISanda
portlockoneachcomputer.Thesearmswillshareacommonalignment.
LaterversionsofPCDMIS,willallowyoutodriveuptofourmachinearmsfromoneversionof
PCDMIS,usinganycombinationofonetofourcomputers.
Whilethemeasurementprocessformultiplearmsiscomparabletosinglearmunits,PCDMIS
mustbeabletodistinguishthearmthatistakingthemeasurementwhenusingamultiplearm
system.Thetopicsinthischapterwillexplainhowtodothis.
ThemaintopicsinthischapterdescribehowtosetupaMultipleArmCMM,howtocreatepart
programsusingmultiplearms,andhowtoruna'master'partprogramona'slave'arm.These
topicsare:
SettingupaMultipleArmCMM
CreatingaPartProgramUsingMultipleArmMode
RunningaMasterPartProgramontheSlaveArm
DialogandMessageBoxesinMultipleArmMode
Note:PCDMISmustbeinstalledonallsystemspriortorunninginmultiplearmmode.
SettingupaMultipleArmCMM
TosetupamultiplearmCMM,followthesesteps:
Step1:InstallPCDMISonAllComputers
Thefirststepneeded,tomakethisoptionaccessible,istoinstallPCDMISonallthecomputers
thatwilldrivethemultiplearms.(Seethedocumentationonsoftwareinstallationproceduresif
necessary.)
TheMultipleArmoptionmustbeprogrammedinallportlocks.Toverifythis:
1. SelectHelp|AboutPCDMISForWindows.TheAboutPCDMISfor
Windowsdialogboxopensdisplayinginformationaboutthedevelopersandmodules
installed.
2. PulldowntheModulesdropdownlistandlookforMultipleArm.Ifitislisted,
thenitisturnedonforthecurrentportlock.
Thisshouldbeavailableonallcomputers.
Step2:DeterminetheMasterSystem
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual UsingMultipleArmMode 1419

Determinethemastersystem.Inmostcases,anyarmcontrollercanbeused.However,ifthe
multiplearmsystemhasarotarytable,thenthemastermustbethecontrollerthatcontrolsthe
rotarytable.
Labelthemasterandslavearmsinsomeway.Mostusersusuallycallthemasterarm"ARM1"
andtheslavearm"ARM2".
Step3:MatchtheCMMAxesforEachArm
TheCMMaxesforeacharmmustmatch.ThatistheX+,Y+,andZ+axes forallarmsmustgoin
thesamedirection.
Ifyouneedtochangetheaxesassignmentsanddirections:
1. Makesureyou'rerunningPCDMISinOnlinemode.
2. Ontheslavecomputer,selectEdit|Preferences|MachineInterfaceSetup.
TheMachineOptionsdialogboxwillappear.
3. SelecttheAxestab.ThiswillshowtheX,Y,andZaxescombinationboxes.
4. UsingtheX,Y,orZ lists,reassigntheaxesoftheconnectedCMMsothatthey
matchtheaxesofthemasterarm.UsuallyonlytheXandYaxeswillneed
modification.
5. ClickApplytokeepthechanges.
6. Oncethedialogboxcloses,exitPCDMIS.
7. RestartPCDMIS,andverifythatthechangesarecorrectbymovingtheaxesfor
botharmsinthesamedirections.Makesuretheaxiscountersincrementaccordingly.
Note:Thenumericalvaluesinthecounterswillnotmatchuntilyoucompletethemultiplearm
calibration.)
Step4:ConfigureProbeHeadMountOrientation
OncePCDMISisloadedonallsystems,andtheaxesmatchforbotharms,configureyourprobe
headmountorientation:
1. SelectEdit|Preferences|SetuptobringuptheSetUpOptionsdialogbox.
3. ClicktheProbeHeadOrientationbutton.TheProbeHeadWristAngle
Configurationdialogboxappears.
1420 UsingMultipleArmMode PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

ProbeHeadWristAngleConfigurationdialogbox
4. ChangethemountorientationasneededforeachCMMarm.
Step5:SetuptheMasterandSlave
Thenextstepistosetupthemultiplearmmodeforthecurrentcomputer.SelecttheEdit|
Preferences|MultipleArmSetupmenuoption.ThismenuoptiondisplaystheMultipleArm
Setupdialogbox.
MultipleArmSetupdialogbox
Usethisdialogboxtodeterminewhetherthecurrentcomputeristhemastercomputerandsends
commandstotheslavearms,orifthecurrentcomputerisaslavecomputerthatrelays
commandsfromthemastercomputer.
WhenyoufinishmakingchangestothisdialogboxandclickOK,PCDMISdisplaysawarning
messagethatsaysyouwillneedtorestartPCDMISinorderforyourchangestotakeeffect.

Thiscomputer(slave)relayscommandsfromthemaincomputer
The'Thiscomputer(slave)relayscommandsfromthemaincomputer'optionallowsthe
computertobeusedonlywithaslavearmandrelayscommandsfromthemaincomputer.You
canchoosetoconnectusingaTCPIPPort.
Thiscomputer(master)drivesallarms
The'Thiscomputer(master)drivesallarms'optionallowsthecomputertobethemaster
computerthatdrivesallthearms.Youcanchoosetoconnectthecomputertotheotherarms
usingeitheraDirectConnectionoraRemoteConnection.
IfyouselecttheRemoteConnectionoption,youcanconnecttotheotherarms.Todothis:
1. SelectthearmfromtheConnectionSettingsforArmlist.
2. TypetheIPaddressintheboxnexttoRemoteConnection.TypetheIP
address'portnumberinthePortNumberbox.
3. SpecifytheTCPIPconnectiondelayintheDelayforTCPIPconnectionin
millisecondsbox.ThisvalueisthenumberofmillisecondsthatPCDMISwilldelay
beforeattemptingaTCPIPconnectiontothecurrentarmtothecurrentcomputer.
Thiscomputerisnotusedinamultiplearmsetting
Ifthecomputerisnotusedinamultiplearmsetup,selectthe'Thiscomputerisnotusedina
multiplearmsetting'option.
Step6:ConnecttheComputers
Now,youneedtoconnectthecomputerssotheycancommunicatewitheachother.Youcan
eitheruseanullmodemserialcablebetweenthecomputers,orifthecomputersareconnected
toanetwork,youcanusethenetworktocommunicatebetweenthem.The"Step5:Setupthe
MasterandSlave"topicallowsyoutoconfigurethesecommunicationsettings.
Oncethecomputersareconnected,
1. StartupPCDMISontheSlavesystems.Donotcreateanewpartprogramor
activateaprogram.TheSlavesystemsarenowready.

2. StartupPCDMISontheMastersystem.Createanewpartprogram(oractivate
onethatisalreadyavailable).Ifyouarecreatinganewpartprogram,PCDMIS
automaticallyopenstheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.
3. Eitherselectorcreateaprobefilethatdescribesaprobeonthemasterarm.
MakesurethatyouaddanABangleforthetipyouplantousetocalibratethe
relationshipbetweenthetwoarms.Don'tcalibratetheprobeatthistime.
Step7:EnterMultipleArmMode
Onceyouhavesetupthecomputers,andareinapartprogram,theOperation|EnterMultiple
ArmModemenuoptionbecomesselectablefromthemastercomputer.SelecttheEnter
MultipleArmModeoption.
PCDMISdisplaysacheckmarktotheleftoftheOperation|EnterMultipleArmModeoptionin
themenu.PCDMISalsodisplaystheActiveArmstoolbar
WhenPCDMISentersmultiplearmmodeitattemptstoestablishalinkbetweenthemultiple
computersystems.Thislinkcoordinatestheactivitiesofallthearms.
Troubleshooting
IfPCDMIScannotestablishthelinkamongthecomputersafter
enteringmultiplearmmode,youwillgetanerrormessage
informingyouofthearmthatisn'tresponding.Thefollowingmay
causethiscommunicationproblem:
PCDMISisnotrunningonacomputer
Anonlinepartprogramisactiveonaslave
computer
Thecableconnections(orothernetwork
connections)betweenthecomputersarenot
functioning
SettingsenteredintheMultipleArmSetupdialog
boxareincorrect
Onceyouhavealinkestablishedbetweenthemultiplecomputers,youcancalibratethe
relationshipbetweenthearms.
Note:Exitingtheactivepartprogram,alsoremovesPCDMISfrommultiplearmmode.
Step8:CalibratetheMultipleArmSystem
Thestepwalksyouthroughthecalibrationofthemultiplearmsystem.
PriortocalibrationandafterPCDMIShasbeenstartedonthecomputersystems,youmust
defineanyprobesthatwillbeusedinthemeasurementprocess.PCDMISusesthetheoretical
datafromtheprobestocalibratethemultiplearmsystem.
Important:Donotcalibratetheprobesatthistime,onlyensuretheyareproperlydefinedand
thatyouaddanABangle forthetipyouplanonusingtocalibratethemultiplearmsystem.

Inyourpartprogram,youshouldhavemultipleLOADPROBEcommands,oneforeacharm.
Caution:Ifyou'veattemptedamultiplearmcalibrationpreviously,thenPCDMIShascreated
armtoarm.dat fileslocatedwhereyouinstalledPCDMISonboththemasterandslave
computers.Youshoulddeleteorrenamethesefilesbeforeproceedingsothatdatafromprevious
calibrationattemptsdoesn'tnegativelyaffectyourcurrentcalibrationprocess.
Followthesecalibrationprocedures:
Part1ofCalibrationProcedure
MultipleArmCalibrationdialogbox
1. SelecttheOperation|Calibrate/Edit|MultipleArmMode menuoption(only
availableinonlinemode).ThiswilldisplaytheMultipleArmCalibrationdialogbox.
2. Ensurethatthecorrectprobefilesandtipsareselectedfromthearmlistsinthe
dialogbox.
3. EnsurethatthecalibrationtoolyouwillbeusingisavailablefromtheListof
AvailableToolslist.YouwillonlyneedthetoolifyouselectedtheBotharms
measuretooloption.
4. ChoosewhatyouwanttocalibratebyselectingeithertheOrientationand
originoption,ortheOriginonlyoption.
SelectingtheOrientationandoriginoptioncreatesa3Dtransformation
betweenthetwoarmstocompensateforanyoutofsquarenessbetweenthetwo
arms.Youmustdothisatleastonce(normallythisisdoneperiodicallyeveryfew
months).
SelectingOriginonlycorrectsonlytheoriginbetweenthetwoarms.Youshould
dothistypeofcalibrationmorefrequently,basedonprobecalibration
procedures.Whencalibratingyourprobe,PCDMISasksifyoumovedyourtool.
IfyounormallyindicatetoPCDMISthatyouhaven'tmovedthetool,thenyou

don'thavetoadjustyourarmtoarmorigin.Ifyouanswerthatyouhavemoved
thetool,thenaftercalibratingyourprobetipsyoushouldreturntothisdialogbox
andchoosetheOriginonlytypeofarmtoarmcalibration.
Important: WhenselectingtocalibratetheOriginonly,makesureyouareusingcalibratedtips.
5. ChoosehowyouwanttoperformthecalibrationbyselectingeitherManual
CalibrationorDCCCalibration.
IfyouselectedtheManualCalibrationoption,PCDMISwillpromptyouto
measureeachspherepositionusingtheCMM'sjogbox.Onceyouhavetaken
thefirsthitonthetopofthesphere,PCDMISwilltaketherestofhitsinDCC
mode.
IfyouselectedtheDCCCalibrationoption,PCDMISwillallowyoutosupplythe
spherepositionsanditwilldoallthemotionundercomputercontrol.Clickthe
EditPositionsbuttontochangethelocationofeachspherepositionbytyping
theX,YandZcoordinates. Youmayfindithelpfultoreadthepositionofthe
activearmtofillinthesethreevalues.BeawarethatclickingtheDonebuttonon
yourjogboxcanreadthearm'scurrentposition
Important:YoumustfirstdoatleastoneoriginarmtoarmcalibrationinManualmodeto
establishthebasicrelationshipbetweenthetwoarms.Whenyoucompleteanarmtoarm
calibration,PCDMISgeneratesanarmarm.resultsfilestoredinthedirectorydefinedthroughthe
SetSearchPathmenuoption(seethe"SpecifyingExternalDirectoriestoSearch"topicinthe
"SettingyourPreferences"chapter.Thistextfileisviewableusinganytexteditor.Itshowshow
beneficialthesphereswhereonceyouhavedonetheinitialfit.Inparticularitdisplaysthe"fitment
error".Thisinformationmayhelptoshowtheoverallaccuracyofthecalibration..
6. TypeanumberintheNumberofspherestomeasurebox.Thevalue
determineshowmanyspheresPCDMISwillmeasureforeacharm.Ifyoutypea
numberofspheresgreaterthan1,PCDMISwillaveragethemeasurementsto
createtheorigin.
Ifyou'reusingtheManualCalibrationoption,PCDMISwillpromptyouto
manuallymeasurethesepositions.
Ifyou'reusingtheDCCCalibrationoption,PCDMISwillautomaticallydrive
eacharmtomeasurethesepositions.Theminimumnumberofspheresisthree.
Caution:Ensurethatthespheresaren'tinthesameposition.Otherwisecalibrationwillfinishwith
incorrectresults.
7. Usingtheavailableoptionsbelow,determinehowthearmsareusedtomeasure
thetools.
Botharmsmeasuretool
IfyouselectthisoptionwhileusingManualCalibration,PC
DMISwillpromptyoutomeasureeachspherepositionwithboth
arms.
IfyouselectthisoptionwhileusingDCCCalibration,PCDMIS
willdrivebotharmstomeasureasphereateachofthepositions
definedintheEditCalibrationPositionsdialogbox.Besureto
havethedesirednumberofspherepositionsactuallypresenton

theCMMsincetherewillnotbeenoughtimetophysicallymove
thespherearoundinbetweenmeasurements.
Firstarmholdstoolandsecondarmmeasures
DMISwillpromptyoutomovethemasterarmtoeachposition
andthenmeasurethesphericaltoolwiththeslavearm
willmovetheMasterarmtoeachofthegivencalibration
positionsandthencommandtheSlavearmtomeasurethe
sphereatthatposition.Forthisoption,youwillneedaspecial
spheremountedintotheendofthearm.
Secondarmholdstoolandfirstarmmeasures
DMISwillpromptyoutomovetheslavearmtoeachpositionand
thenmeasurethesphericaltoolwiththemasterarm.
willmovetheslavearmtoeachofthegivencalibrationpositions
andthencommandthemasterarmtomeasurethesphereat
thatposition.Forthisoption,youwillneedaspecialsphere
mountedintotheendofthearm.
8. ClickCalibrateoncethisbuttonbecomesenabled.Itremainsdisableduntilyou
selectallneededcalibrationparameters.
IfyouselectBotharmsmeasuretool,youmustprovidethefollowingitems
beforetheCalibratebuttonwillbecomeavailable:
AvalidArm1probefilenameandtipangle.
AvalidToolspecifiedintheListofAvailableTools.
IfyouselectFirstarmholdstoolandsecondarmmeasures,youmustprovide
thefollowingitemsbeforetheCalibratebuttonwillbecomeavailable:
TheArm1tiptypemustbeoftypeFIXEDBALLasspecifiedinthe
probe.dat.
IfyouselectSecondarmholdstoolandfirstarmmeasures,youmustprovide
thefollowingitemsbeforetheCalibratebuttonwillbecomeavailable:
TheArm2tiptypemustbeoftypeFIXEDBALLasspecifiedinthe
probe.dat.

9. OnceyouclickthisbuttonPCDMISwillbeginthecalibrationthatyouhaverequested.
Thiscreatesanalignmentbetweenthemasterandtheslavearm,byleveling,rotating,and
settingtheorigin.
IfyouselectedtheManualCalibrationoption,youwillbeginbytakingonepoint
onthetopofthetool.PCDMISwillthenautomaticallymeasuretherestofthe
points.Onceyouhavemeasuredthetoolinthecurrentposition,PCDMISwill
promptyoutomoveittoanewlocationonthetable.
IfyouselectedtheDCCCalibrationoption,PCDMISwilljustmeasureeachof
thegivencalibrationspherepositions.Makesurethetoollocationsonthetable
arenotcolinear(inaline).Positionthetoollocationsasfaraspossiblefrom
eachother,withatleastoneofthepositions,beingraisedupintheZaxis.
Note:AnalternatewaytocalibrateDCCmachinesinvolvesperformingaManualOriginonly
calibrationfollowedbyaDCCOrientationandorigincalibration.Thismethodisusefulonlarger
machineswhereitisreasonabletoassumethattheXandZaxesarerelativelyparallel.This
wouldthenbefollowedwithprobecalibrationandthenanOriginonlycalibrationasdescribed
laterinthischapter.
Part2ofCalibrationProcedure
OnceyouhavecompletedthecalibrationdescribedinPart1,youneedtocalibratethemaster
andslaveprobefilesonthesamecalibrationtool.Thisresetstheoriginrelationshipbetweenthe
twotips.Itdoesn'tchangethelevelortherotateofthealignment,onlytheorigin.Ifyouareusing
aPHSwrist,youneedtodoawristcalibrationwithbotharmsonthecommontool.
1. ClicktheArm1ActivebuttonontheActiveArmstoolbar.Mostusersassign
thisbuttontotheMastercomputer.
2. AccesstheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox(Insert|HardwareDefinition|Probe).
3. IfPCDMISasksyouifyouwanttoloadanewprobefile,clickNo.
4. Calibratethemasterprobe(ordoawristcalibrationifyouareusingaPHS).PC
DMISwillaskifthetoolhasbeenmoved.
5. ClickYes.
6. Whenyoucompletethecalibration,thenexittheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.
7. ClicktheArm2ActivebuttonontheActiveArmstoolbar.Mostusersassign
thisbuttontotheSlavecomputer.
8. AccesstheProbeUtilitiesdialogboxtocalibratetheslaveprobe(ordoawrist
calibrationifyouareusingaPHS).
9. ThistimewhenPCDMISasksyouifthetoolhasbeenmoved,clickNo.
Onceyouhavecalibratedbothprobefilesinmultiplearmmode,youaredonewiththecalibration
ofthemultiplearms.PCDMISwillcopytheslaveprobefile,thetooldata,andthearmtoarm
transformationdatatotheslavecomputer.Thisallowsyoutoruntheslavearmonitsownasifit
wereanextensionofthemaster
coordinatesystemoryoucan
alwaysrunthemtogetherin
multiplearmmode.
ViewingCalibrationResults
Ifneeded,youcanaccessthe
calibrationresultsbyclickingonthe

ResultsbuttonoftheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.ThisdisplaystheCalibrationResultsdialog
boxwhichwilldisplayinformationaboutthecalibratedtipsoftherelatedprobefile.Withversion
4.3andhigher,youcanviewtheslavecalibrationresultsinthissamewayonyourArm2
computer.
PerforminganAutomaticCalibration
Inadditiontotheusualmultiplearmcalibration,PCDMISallowsyoutoperformanautomatic
calibrationofthearms.
PCDMISprovidesacommandthatautomaticallycalibratesthecurrentprobeduringpart
programexecution.PCDMISwillbeginthecalibrationroutineonceitexecutesthecommand.
Toinsertthiscommand,selecttheInsert|Calibrate|AutoCalibrateMultipleArmmenuoption.
ThefollowingcommandblockisinsertedintotheEditwindow:
AUTOCALIBRATE/MULTIPLEARM,ARM_THAT_MEASURES=BOTH,CALIBRATION_MODE=DCC,
QUALTOOL_ID=cal_m,MEASURE_AT_CENTER=0,0,0
Adescriptionoftheitemsinthiscommandblockisgivenhere:
Item Description
ARM_THAT_MEASURES= Indicateswhicharmwillperform
themeasurement(notwhicharm
willholdthetool).Choicesare
BOTH,ARM2orARM1.
CALIBRATION_MODE= Indicateswhetheryouwillperform
thecalibrationinMANUAL or DCC
mode.
QUALTOOL_ID= Specifiesthenameofthe
qualificationtoolused.
MEASURE_AT_CENTER= TheX,Y,Zlocationtobeusedfor
measurementwhenusing
CALIBRATION_MODE=DCC.This
willnotbepresentonthe
commandisusing
CALIBRATION_MODE=MANUAL
PressingF9accessestheAutoCalibrateMultipleArmsdialogbox.

AutoCalibrateMultipleArmdialogbox
MostoftheitemsinthisdialogboxarethesameasthoseusedintheMultipleArmCalibration
dialogbox.Belowaretwosignificantdifferences.
First,PCDMIScurrentlyonlysupportstheOriginOnlycalibrationtypeforthiscommand.
Therefore,OriginOnlyandthenumberofspherescannotbechanged.SincePCDMISonly
supportsonesphereforthiscommand,thereisn'taseparatebuttonforeditingallthesphere
locations.Youcanspecifytheonespherelocationinthisdialogbox,usingtheX,Y,andZCenter
boxes.TheyspecifytheX,Y,andZcoordinatesfortheonespherelocationwhenusingDCC
Calibration.
Second,youcannotspecifytheprobeandtipforthemasterorslave.Theyareshowninthelists
onthisdialogboxforinformationpurposesonly.TheAUTOCALIBRATE/MULTIPLEARMcommand
willgetthemfromthecontentoftheprograminwhichthecommandisused.
MasterProbe Fordisplayonly.Thisisdeterminedbythe
LOADPROBEcommandfortheMasterArm
thatprecedesthe
AUTOCALIBRATE/MULTIPLEARMcommand
MasterTip Fordisplayonly.Thisisdeterminedbythe
TIPcommandfortheMasterArmthat
precedesthe
AUTOCALIBRATE/MULTIPLEARM command
SlaveProbe Fordisplayonly.Thisisdeterminedbythe
LOADPROBEcommandfortheSlaveArmthat
precedesthe

SlaveTip Fordisplayonly.This isdeterminedbythe

TIPcommandfortheSlaveArmthat
precedesthe
Step9:CalibratetheMultipleArmProbeFiles
Nowthatthesystemhasbeencalibrated,youwillneedtocalibratethemultiplearmprobefiles.
Forthiscalibration,youcan:
Calibrateanyarminanyorder.
Usedifferentcalibrationtoolstocalibratethedifferentarms.
Calibratetheslavearmfromtheslavecomputerandthemasterarmfromthe
mastercomputer.
Calibratetheslaveprobeonthesamecalibrationtoolasthemasterprobe.
Onlycalibrateonearmatatime.
Afterthiscalibration,PCDMISsynchronizestheprobefilesfromthemultiplecomputersthenext
timeyouentermultiplearmmodeontheMastercomputer.
Arm1(Master)ProbeFileCalibration
Ifyouwanttocalibratethemasterprobefile,
1. SelecttheArm1ActiveiconfromtheActiveArmstoolbar.
2. AccesstheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox(Insert|HardwareDefinition|Probe).
3. Followexistingproceduresinthe"Measure"topicofthe"DefiningHardware"
chapterforinformationonhowtocalibrateprobefiles.
SlaveProbeFileCalibration
Ifyouwanttocalibratetheslaveprobefile,
1. SelectoneoftheslavearmiconsfromtheActiveArmstoolbar(Arm2Active).
2. AccesstheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.
3. Followexistingproceduresinthe"Measure"topicofthe"DefiningHardware"
chapterforinformationonhowtocalibrateprobefiles.
Ifyouwanttouseacalibrationtooldifferentfromtheoneusedforthemasterprobefile,select
theSLAVESPHEREtoolduringslaveprobecalibration.
ToselecttheSLAVESPHEREtool:
1. SelectInsert|HardwareDefinition|Probefromthemenubar.
2. ClickMeasure.TheMeasureProbedialogboxappears.
3. ClickEditTool.TheEditTooldialogboxappears.
4. SelectSLAVESPHERE fromtheToolTypelist.

5. ClickOKtoconfirmyourchoice.TheSLAVESPHEREinformationappearsinthe
bottomoftheMeasureProbedialogbox.
Step10:SettheMultipleArmOrigin
Thefinalstepincalibratingthemultiplearmsystemistosettheoriginbetweenthetwoarms.
Thisshouldbedonewithcalibratedprobefilesonboththemasterandslavearms.
Tosetthemultiplearmorigin:
1. AccessMultipleArmCalibrationdialogbox(Operation|Calibrate/Edit|
MultipleArmMode).
MultipleArmCalibrationdialogbox
2. SelecttheOriginonlyoption.
3. IntheNumberofspherestomeasurebox,typethenumberofspheresyou
wanttomeasuretoestablishtheorigin.Ifmorethanonespherepositionis
measured,PCDMISwillaveragethepositionstoestablishtheorigin.
4. SelecttheBotharmsmeasuretooloption.
5. Selectthecorrectprobefilesandtips.
6. SelecteithertheDCCCalibrationorManualCalibrationoptions.Ifyou
selectedDCCCalibration,makesureyoudefinethecorrectsphereposition
usingtheEditCalibrationPositionsdialogbox.
7. FromtheListofAvailableTools,selectatoolthatdefinesthecorrectdiameter
andorientationofthecalibrationtooltobemeasured.
IfyouselectedtheManualCalibrationoption,PCDMISwillaskyoutomeasure
asinglepointonthespherewiththemultiplearms.Itwillthenmeasuretherest
ofthepointsinDCCmodearoundthesphere.
IfyouselectedtheDCCCalibrationoption,PCDMISwilldrivethearmstothe
spherepositionsthataredefinedintheEditCalibrationPositionsdialogbox.

Onceyouhavecalibratedalltheprobefilesinmultiplearmmodeandsetthearmtoarmorigin,
thecalibrationprocessiscomplete.
Important:Afteryoufinishyourmultiplearmcalibrationandperformawristcalibration(see
"WristCalibration"inthe"UsingaWristDevice"chapter),youneedtorepeattheOriginOnlywrist
operationasdiscussedearlyoninthe"Step8:CalibratetheMultipleArmSystem".
PCDMISwillcopytheslaveprobefile,thetooldata,andthearmtoarmtransformationdatato
theslavecomputer.Thisallowsyoutoruntheslavearmonitsownasifitwereanextensionof
themastercoordinatesystem.Youalsohavetheoptionofrunningthemtogetherinmultiplearm
mode.Eachtimeyouentermultiplearmmode(byselectingOperation|EnterMultipleArm
Mode),PCDMISwillsynchronizethefollowingbetweenthetwocomputers:
Probefilechanges
Wristcalibrationchanges
Errormapdatachanges
Probechangerdata
Calibrationtooldatachanges
CreatingaPartProgramUsingMultipleArmMode
Oncetheprobeshavebeendefinedandcalibrated,thepartprogramcanbecreated.Youcreate
amultiplearmpartprogramlikeanyotherpartprogramwithsomedifferences.Mainly,ina
multiplearmpartprogram,youneedtoassignspecificarmstoexecutedifferentcommandsand
defineexclusionzonessothatthearmsdon'tcollide.Thetopicsbelowdescribehowtodothis:
AssigningaCommandtoAnArm
BydefaultPCDMISassignsnewcommandstothecurrentactivearm.YoucanusetheActive
Armstoolbartoswitchthecurrentactivearmortoexecuteonlythosecommandstiedtoa
specificarm.
ActiveArmstoolbar
Arm1(Master
Mode)
Arm2(Slave
Mode)
Executeon
Arm1
Executeon
Arm2
TheActiveArmstoolbarcontainsmultiplearmiconswithcorrespondingcolorcodedcheckmark
icons.Eacharmiconcorrespondstoanarmonthemachine.
Thearmiconsallowyoutoswitchthecurrentactivearm.

Theexecuteicons(thosewithcheckmarks)allowyoutoexecuteonlythosecommands
associatedwithaspecificarm.
Afteryouenteringintomultiplearmmode,PCDMISinsertscoloredverticallinesintotheleft
marginoftheEditwindow'scommandmodetoshowwhatarmwillusetheselectedcommand.
(InSummaryModePCDMISindicatescommandsassignedtoaslavearmwithboldtext.):
Editwindowwithgreen(featureCIR1)andred(featureLIN1)linesdesignatingarm2andarm1
portionsrespectively
Featuresassignedtoarm1(themasterarm)areindicatedusingtheredline.
Featuresassignedtoarm2(theslavearm)areindicatedusingthegreenline.
Featuresassignedtomultiplearmsareindicatedusingmultiplecoloredlines.
Coloredhorizontalbars(insteadofvertical)signifythatthecommandsaffectbotharmsand
neitherarmwillbeallowedtoexecutethiscommanduntilbotharmshaveexecutedallprior
commands.Thistypeofcommand(usuallyabranchingoralignmentcommand)isexecutedby
botharmsatthesametime.
AssigningExistingCommandstoaNewArm
TheToggleMultipleArm Ifyouhavecommandsassignedtoaparticulararmandyouwantto
Markingsmenuitemisonly assignthemtoadifferentarm,dothefollowing.
availableonsystemsthat
haveenteredintomultiple 1. PlacetheEditwindowintoCommandmode.
armmode. 2. SelecttheEditwindowcommandyouwanttoadd.
3. SelecttheOperation|ToggleMultipleArm
Markings menuitemfromthemenubar.
Whenyouselectthisoption,PCDMISwillconnectallofthe
highlightedcommandstotheotherarm.
Ifyoudon'thighlightanycommands,thenPCDMISwillconnectthecommand
wherethecursorresidesintheEditwindow.
Youcanconnectmostcommandstothemasterarm,theslavearm,orboth
arms.Forexample,youcouldcreateaPREHITorALIGNMENTcommandthat
appliestoboththemasterandtheslavearm,ortojustoneofthearms.
Youcannotassigncertaincommandstomultiplearms.Theseincludefeatures,
hits,dimensions,andprobecommands.

MultipleArmProgramExecution
Unlessyouchoosetoexecutejustthecommandsassignedtoaparticulararm,whenyou
executethepartprogram,theprogramflowcontinuesasitnormallydoesfromthetopoftheEdit
windowtothebottom,andeacharmexecutesthecommandsassignedtoit.
Note: Whenexecutinginmultiplearmmode,theslavearmwillalwaysrunalittlebehindthe
masterarm.Thistypeofdelayisnormal.
SettingStartPointsforMultipleArms
PCDMISallowsyoutoassignstartpointsforthecurrentarmbyselectingtheSetStartPoint
iconfromtheEditwindowtoolbarorbyrightclickingintheEditwindowinCommandmodeand
selectingitfromtheshortcutmenu.
Tosetmultiplestartpoints,changethecurrentlearnarmbeforeclickingontheSetStartPoint
toolbaricon.
Aspecialstartpointarrowwillappearintheleft
marginoftheEditwindowinacolorthat
correspondstotheactivearmcolorontheActive
Armstoolbar.
ThescreencapturetotheleftshowsthatArm1,
inred,willbeginexecutionatCIR3whileArm2,
ingreen,willbeginexecutionatCIR2.
Ifyoucancelexecution,PCDMISwillautomaticallymovethestartpointsforeacharmtothe
commandwhereexecutionwascancelledforeacharm.

StartpointstellPCDMIStobegintheprogram'sexecutionatthatpointwhenyouselecttheFile|
PartialExecution|ExecuteFromStartPoints menuoption.ForinformationonusingStart
Points,seethe"SettingStartPoints"topicinthe"EditingaPartProgram"chapter.
CausinganArmtoWaittoPreventCollision
Sometimesyoumaywantonearmtowaituntiltheotherarmhasfinishedmeasuringinanarea
thatisoverlapping.Thisisusuallytopreventacollisionbetweenthearms.Therearetwodifferent
commandstopreventthis.
UsingaMoveSyncCommand
YoucanputMOVE/SYNCcommandsatthebeginningandendofameasurementsequence
whereyouwanttomakesurethatonlyonearmismoving.See"InsertingaMoveSync
Command"inthe"InsertingMoveCommands"chapterforadditionalinformation.
UsingaMoveExclusiveCommand
YoucanusetheMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE command.
TheadvantageofusingthismethodisthatPCDMISwillonlymakeoneofthe
armswaitiftheotherarmisinitszone.
ThedisadvantageisthatyouneedtoputMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONEcommands
aroundalltheblocksofcommandsthatcommandanarmintotheoverlappedareain
themiddleofthedualarmvolume.
Tousethiscommand:
1. Findthesequenceofcommandsthatcauseoneofthearmstoenterintoan
overlappedportionoftheCMMvolume.
2. PlaceaMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=ONcommandatthestartofthesequence.
3. PlaceaMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=OFFattheendofthesequence.
TheMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=ONallowsyoutospecifytwocornerpointsthatforma3Dzone.
Thiszonewillbereservedforthearmthatisassignedthecommand.Iftheotherarmisalreadyin
therequestedzone,thenPCDMISwillwaituntilthefirstarmisoutofthewayandexitsthe
contestedspacewithaMOVE/EXCLUSIVE_ZONE=OFF command.See"InsertinganExclusion
ZoneCommand"inthe"InsertingMoveCommands"chapterforadditionalinformation.
UsingTemperatureCompensationwithMultipleArmCalibration

Athermocoupleisa Ifyou'recompensatingfortemperatureontheCMMs,youwillneed
thermoelectriccouplethat toinserttwotemperaturecompensationcommandsintothe
measurestemperature programonecommandforthemasterarmandanothercommand
differences. fortheslavearm.Also,onlythethermocoupleforthepartwhichis
attachedtothemastercontrollerwillbeusedforrecordingthepart
temperature.
InadditiontohavingtheSTPfile(Serv1.stp)intheappropriate
directoryontheslavearm'scomputer,youmustalsoensurethat
anotherSTPfilefortheslavearm(namedServ1s.stp)residesin
thecorrespondingdirectoryonthemasterarm'scomputer.Todo
this,copyServ1.stpfromtheslavearm'scomputer,renameitto
Serv1s.stpandplaceitonthemasterarm'scomputer.
FormoreinformationonTemperatureCompensation,seethe
"CompensatingforTemperature"topicinthe"SettingYour
RunningaMasterPartProgramontheSlaveArm
Ifyouneedtorunyourmasterpartprogramonaslavearm,youcanrunPCDMISinReverse
Axesmode.ThismodeinternallyreversesthesignoftheXandYaxes,makingtheYaxis
positivetowardsthecenterofthemachineandtheXaxisoppositethemasterarm'sXaxis.
Allexistingprobefiles,wristmaps,toolchangers,andothercalibrationanderrorcompfileswill
beusableinthismodewithoutanychange.
Note:CalibrationsdoneineithernormalorReverseAxesmodewillbecorrectandusablein
eithermode.
ToaddaniconthatrunsPCDMISinReverseAxesmode:
1. UsingExplorer,navigatetothedirectorywhereyouwanttoaddtheicon.
2. FromExplorer'sFilemenu,selectNew|shortcut.ACreateShortcutwizard
appearsaskingyoutoenterthepathwaytotheprogram.
3. IntheCommandLinebox,eithertypethecompletepathwaytothePCDMIS
executablefile,orusetheBrowsebuttontonavigatetoandselectthefile.The
defaultpathwayis"C:\Pcdmisw\Pcdlrn.exe".
4. OnceyouhavethepathwayintheCommandLinebox,placeyourcursoratthe
endofthepathway,typeaspace,andthentype/rorr.ThistellsPCDMIStorunin
ReverseAxesmode.YoucanalsocombinethiswithOperatormodebyaddingao
or/otothecommandline.
5. ClickNext.
6. IntheSelectaNamefortheShortcutbox,typesomethinglike"PCDMIS
ReverseAxesMode".
7. ClickFinish.Thenewiconappears.

DialogandMessageBoxesinMultipleArmMode
OnceyouhaveenabledMultipleArmmodeforyourpartprogram,anydialogboxesormessage
boxesthatarerelatedtoaspecificarmwillcontainan"Arm1"or"Arm2"identifierintheir
captions,liketheseExecuteModeOptionsdialogboxes:
DialogandMessageboxesthatareaffectedinclude:
TheExecutionModeOptionsdialogbox
TheProbeChangerdialogbox
TheSelectProbeFiledialogbox
Infomessages
Warningmessages
Errormessages

NavigatingandDisplayingMultipleWindows
Introduction
Thischapterdescribeshowtoeasilynavigatebetweenandviewmultipleopenpartprogramsby
usingtheWindowmenu.
SwitchingBetweenOpenPartPrograms
ArrangingOpenWindows
GivingOpenWindowstheProgramFocus
SwitchingBetweenOpenPartPrograms
Herearesomewaysyoucaneasilyswitchbetweenopenpartprograms:
ClickingtheNextorPreviousOptions: SelecttheNextorPreviousmenu
optionstoswitchtothenextorpreviouspartprograminarangeofopenpartprograms.
Whenyou'vereachedtheendofalltheopenpartprograms,selectingtheNextagainwillnot
doanything.
ClickingonaListofOpenPartPrograms: attheverybottomoftheWindowsmenu,PC
DMISdisplaysalistofallopenpartprograms.Youcaneasilyselectwhichpartprogramyou
wanttohavethefocusbyselectingthepartprogram'snamefromthelist.
ClickingonaTitleBar:Ifapartprogram'sEditwindoworGraphicsDisplaywindowtitlebar
isshowing,simplyclickonthetitlebartoswitchtothatpartprogram.
ArrangingOpenWindows
Thefollowingmenuoptionsallowyoutoarrangeallopenwindows.Thesemenuoptionswillnot
affecttheEditwindowuntilyouremovetheEditwindowfromitsdockedpositionbyrightclicking
ontheEditwindowanddeselectingtheDockingViewmenuoption.
Icon MenuOption Description

Cascade Stacksthewindows
oneontopoftheother
withjustthetitlebars
showing,placingthe
windowwiththefocus
onthetopofthestack.
TileHorizontally Tilesthewindows
horizontally,placing
windowwiththefocus
onthetop.
TileVertically Tilesthewindows
vertically,placingthe
windowwiththefocus
ontheleft.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual NavigatingandDisplaying MultipleWindows 1439

ActivateNextWindow Activatesthenext
openwindow.
GivingOpenWindowstheProgramFocus
SampleWindowmenu
AThissectionshowsthelistofopenwindowsforthecurrentpartprogram.
BThissectionshowsthelistofopenpartprograms.
Abovethelistofpartprograms,PCDMISalsolistsallopenwindowsintheWindow menu.
Simplyselectingthewindowsfromthismenuwillgivethatwindowtheprogramfocus.
1440 NavigatingandDisplaying MultipleWindows PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

WorkinginOfflineMode
WorkinginOfflineMode:Introduction
TheofflineversionofPCDMISisdesignedtoallowtheusertoprepareanddebugpart
programswithoutusingaCMM.Theabilitytoprogramofflinehasbecomeincreasinglyimportant
overthelastseveralyears.UsersofCMM'shavebecomemoreawareofthefactthat,inorderto
fullyrealizetheirinvestmentsinCMMs,theirequipmentmustbeusedtomeasureparts,notwrite
programstomeasureparts.
CMMmanufacturers'firstattemptsataddingofflineprogrammingcapabilitiesinvolved
cumbersome,specializedtexteditors.Theseproducts,althoughoflimiteduse,spurreduser
interestinofflineprogramming.Drivenbythisinterest,severalCADvendorsdevelopedproducts
thatalloweduserstogeneratepartprogramsusingCADmodels.
Althoughtheseproductswerevastlysuperiortotexteditors,theyhadonemajordisadvantage
cost.SinceeachCMMvendorhastheirownspecificmeasurementlanguageorlanguages,which
wereconstantlychangingorinsomecasesbeingreplaced,theexpenseofdevelopingand
maintainingtheseproductsputthemoutofthereachofallbutafewwellfinancedusers.
ThissituationbroughtaboutthedevelopmentoftheDMISspecification,agenericCMM
language.DMISallowedCADvendorstodeveloppartprogrammingpackagesthatweretargeted
towardasinglelanguageinsteadofmany,greatlyreducingtheircosts.Thesesavingswere
passedontotheircustomersandofflinepartprogrammingbecameaviableoptionforalarge
groupofCMMusers.However,therewasstilloneproblem.WhataboutCMMuserswhoseCAD
vendorsdidnotsupportanddidnotplantosupportofflinepartprogramming?
AlthoughmanymainframeCADvendors,drivenbymajorcustomers,haveintroducedDMIS
extensionstotheirproducts,PCbasedCADvendorswiththeirdiversecustomerbaseshave
shownlittleinterestinthisarea.ManyCMMusers,particularlysmallshops,usePCbasedCAD
systemsexclusively.PCDMISbringsofflineprogrammingcapabilitiestothisgroup.
WithPCDMIS,programmersusingstandardIGESmodels,whicharesupportedbyvirtually
everyCADvendor,cangeneratepartprogramsonaninexpensivePCorPCclonewithoutgoing
nearaCMM.ThesepartprogramscanthenbeusedtodriveanyCMMeitherrunningPCDMIS
orsupportingtheDMISspecification.
Thetechniquesforprogrammingofflinearemuchthesameasthoseusedforprogrammingon
line.However,asmightbeexpected,themethodsusedforqualifyingprobes,taking
measurementsanddebuggingprogramsdifferfromthoseusedintheonlineversion.This
appendixdescribesPCDMIS'Sofflineprogrammingtechniques.
Prerequisites
OfflineProbes
SettingProbeDepth
MeasuringFeaturesOffline
ExecutingandDebuggingPartProgramsOffLine
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual Workingin OfflineMode 1441

Prerequisites
TousePCDMISoffline,CADdata,intheformofanIGESmodel,aDESfile,aDXFfile,or
X,Y,Z,I,J,Kdatamustbeavailable.The"ImportingCADorProgramData"topicofthe"Using
AdvancedFileOptions"chapterhasinformationonimportingthesefilesintothePCDMIS
system.
IGESEntitiesSupported
IGESEntity Description
100 CIRCLE/ARC
102 COMPOSITECURVE
104 CONICARC
106 COPIOUSDATA(multiplepoint
line)
108 PLANE
110 LINE
112 PARAMETRICSPLINECURVE
(withcurvesandsurfaces
option)
114 PARAMETRICSPLINE
SURFACE(withcurvesand
surfacesoption)
116 POINT
118 RULEDSURFACE(withcurves
andsurfacesoption)
120 SURFACEOFREVOLUTION
option)
122 TABULATEDCYLINDER(with
curvesandsurfacesoption)
124 TRANSFORMATIONMATRIX
126 RATIONALBSPLINECURVE
option)
128 RATIONALBSPLINE
SURFACE(withcurvesand
surfacesoption)
140 OFFSETSURFACE
144/142 TRIMMEDSURFACE(with
curvesandsurfacesoption)
402 ASSOCIATIVITYINSTANCE
408/308 SUBFIGURE
410 VIEW
IGESCompatibility
PCDMISiscompatiblewithIGES3.0,4.0,and5.1.
1442 Workingin OfflineMode PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

DXFInput
PCDMISwillreadinaDXF(DrawingInterchangeFile)fileasCADdatatobeusedtocreatepart
programs.Thisfileformatwillnotsupporttext.Theonlytypeofdatathatissupportedisfeature
data.
ThisoptionisnotpartofPCDMIS'Sstandardmodule.PleasecontactyourPCDMISsoftware
representativeifyouareinterestedinpurchasingthisaddonpackage.
DESInput
PCDMISwillreadinaDES(DataExchangeStandard)fileasCADdatatobeusedtocreatepart
programs.Thedatacancomeinasfeatureorfixturedata.Ifitisfeaturedata,youhavethe
optiontousethefeaturelabeltodefinethetypeoffeature.ByselectingtheDESpointfromthe
PCDMISdisplay,thecorrectDCCfeaturedialogisdisplayedwiththevaluesfilledinfromthe
DESpoint.
TheDESfeaturetypeisdefinedbythefifthpositionofthefeaturelabel.Thisisthefifteenth(15)
columnofthedatatypeLINEintheDESfile.Thecharacterandfeaturetypefollow.
CHAR DESType PCDMIS

SheetMetalType
S Surface SurfacePoint
T Trim EdgePoint
H HemEdge EdgePoint
X Hole Circle(in)
Y Stud Circle(out)
Z Slot RoundSlot
XYZASCIIFile
PCDMISwillreadinanyASCIIfilethatcontainsXYZ(andpossiblyIJK)data.Thefileshould
containthenominal(theoretical)inspectionpointsthatneedtobemeasured.
FordetailedinformationonXYZASCIIfiles,see"ImportinganXYZIJKFile"inthe"Using
OfflineProbes
Withtheofflineversion,alltheprobedefinitionandcalibrationcapabilitiesasdefinedintheon
lineversioncanbeused.However,valuescanonlybekeyedin.Measurementscannotbemade.
(Forexample,youcannotactuallymeasureacalibrationartifacttofindthediameterofaprobe.)
See"DefiningProbes"inthe"DefiningHardware"chapterforinformationondefiningaprobe.
Note:Itissuggested(butnotmandatory)thattheprobeusedtocreatetheofflinepartprogram
bethesameastheprobethatwillbeusedtoexecutethepartprogramonline.
SettingProbeDepth

Toprogrammeasurementsoffline,itisimportanttosetthedepthoftheprobeataspecified
distance(inrelationtothesurfaceofthecurrentworkingplane).PCDMISoffersseveral
methodsforsettingtheprobesdepth.
Note:ItisnecessarytobeinProgramModetouseanyofthesetechniques.Verifythatthe
STATEbuttondisplaysPROG.
SettingApproximateProbeDepth
Inmostcircumstancesitisonlynecessarytosetanapproximateprobedepthtoproperly
measureafeature.TodothisusingofflinePCDMIS
1. Positionthemousecursoronthedrawingatthedesireddepthforhittaking.
2. Rightclickatthecurrentlocation.PCDMISwillthenredrawtheprobeinitsnew
position.
SettingProbeDepth
SettingProbeDepthonaFeature
Topositiontheprobeonaspecificfeature(i.e.,aplane):
1. Movethecursorclosetothefeature.
Whenthebuttonisreleased,PCDMISwillsnaptheprobetotheclosestCADelementand
displaythemessage:"PreciseDepthSeton".
Thestatusbardisplaysthecurrentnumberofhitsandtheprobeslocation.

SettingProbeDepthonaFeature
SettingProbeDepthonaSphere
PCDMISofferstwoproceduresthatallowyoutosettheprobedepthonasphere.Depending
wheretheprobeislocatedinrelationtothecenterlineofthedrawingdetermineswherethehitwill
betakenonthesphere.Iftheprobeisbelowthecenterline,PCDMISwilltakethehitonthe
bottomofthesphere.Totakeahitonthetopofthesphere,theprobedepthmustbesetabove
thecenterline.See"MeasuringFeaturesOffline"foradditionalinformationonthefollowing
procedures.
ThreeDimensionalProcedure
Tosettheprecisedepthonathreedimensionalsphericalsurface:
1. Movetheanimatedprobetothedesiredcircle.
3. Releasethemousebutton.Theprecisedepthwillbesetonthesphere.
PCDMISwillpositiontheprobeonthesideofthefeaturewherethemousebuttonwasfirstheld.
Thisdeterminesthetypeoffeaturethatwillbemeasured.Iftheprobesnapstotheoutsideofa
circularCADelement,thehitswillbeplacedoutsidethecircle.Iftheprobesnapstotheinsideof
thesameelement,thehitswillbeplacedinsidethecircle.Thecirclesthreedimensionalorigin
mustbethesamelocationasthespherescenter.
Oncetheprecisedepthhasbeenset,allthepointsthataregeneratedwillsnapontothe
sphericalsurface.
TwoDimensionalProcedure
Whenusingatwodimensionaldrawing,PCDMISrequiresatleasttwoviewsofthesphere.The
sphereshouldbevisibleasacircle(orarc)inbothviews.
1. Settheprecisedepthfortwooftheaxesusingoneoftheviews.(See"Setting
ProbeDepthonaFeature"aboveforsettingprecisedepth.)PCDMISwilldisplaythe
message:PreciseDepthSeton."
2. Usingthesecondview,settheprecisedepthforthethirdaxis.PCDMISdisplays
themessage:PreciseDepthsetonSphere.Thisprocedurefindsthetruethree
dimensionalcenterpointofthesphere.
Oncetheprecisedepthhasbeenset,allthepointsthataregeneratedwillsnapontothe
sphericalsurface.

SettingProbeDepthonaCone
PCDMISofferstwoproceduresthatallowyoutosettheprobedepthonacone.See"Measuring
FeaturesOffline"foradditionalinformationonthefollowingprocedures.
ThreeDimensionalProcedure
Tosettheprecisedepthonaconicalsurface,PCDMISrequiresthattwoCADcircles(orarcs)
ontheconebedisplayed.Itissuggestedthattwoviewsofthesurfacebeusedforthisprocedure,
butitisnotrequired.(Isometricviewsarealsoaviablewayofsettingprobedepthonacone.)
1. Settheprecisedepthforoneendoftheconeusingoneofthecircles.PCDMIS
displaysthismessage:PreciseDepthSeton.
2. Next,settheprecisedepthfortheotherendoftheconeusingthesecondcircle.
PCDMISdisplaysthismessage:PreciseDepthsetonCone.
Oncetheprecisedepthisset,allthepointsthataregeneratedwillsnapontotheconicalsurface.
Singlehitscanbetakenonconesbyholdingdowntheleftmousebutton.Clickingtheleftmouse
buttonpromptsPCDMIStotakeequallyspacedhitsaroundthecone.
TwoDimensionalProcedure
Tosettheprecisedepthonaconicalsurfaceintwodimensionaldrawings,PCDMISrequires
thatthelengthbetweenthetwocircles(asdescribedabove)bedefined.Becausethesecircles
areatthesamedepth,itisnecessarytoalsodefinetheprecisedepthofaline.Thiscanbeeither
astraightline,oralineontheedgeofthecone.Aftersettingtheprecisedepthonthecircles,
holddowntherightmousebuttonnexttothelinethatwillbeusedforthelength.
Oncetheprecisedepthisset,allthepointsthataregeneratedwillsnapontotheconicalsurface.
Singlehitscanbetakenonconesbyholdingdowntheleftmousebutton.Clickingtheleftmouse
buttonpromptsPCDMIStotakeequallyspacedhitsaroundthecone.
KeyinginProbeDepth
Itissometimesnecessarytosettheprobeatsomespecificlocationinspace.Todothis:
1. ClickontheX,Y,ZportionofthestatusbarwhileinPROGRAMmode(orselect
theOperation|MoveTooptiondescribedinthe"InsertingMoveCommands"
chapter).
2. TheAutoMovePointdialogboxwillappear.Thedefaultsettingindicatesthe
probe'scurrentlocation.
3. ChangetheX,Y,Ztothedesiredvalues.ByselectingtheStoreMovecheck
box,theMOVEPOINT commandcanbeaddedtotheprogram.Youalsohavethe
abilitytoselecttheIncrementmovescheckboxandtheOKtoMovecheckbox.
4. OncethenewX,Y,orZvaluesareentered,clickonDoneandPCDMISwill
movetheanimatedprobetothenewposition.
MeasuringFeaturesOffline
PCDMISoffersseveralmethodsforprogrammingmeasurementroutinesoffline.Ahitistaken
byholdingdowntheleftmousebutton.TheALT+(minus)keycombinationallowsyouto
removeaspecifiednumberofhitsaslongasthemeasurementprocessisn'tcomplete.(Press
ALT+minus foreachhitthatistoberemoved.)TheENDkeyallowsyoutocompletethe
measurementprocess.

Note:PresstheENDkeytoterminatethemeasurementprocess.PCDMISwillcontinueto
accumulatehits inthehitsbufferuntiltheENDkeyispressed.
AutomaticMeasurements
BasedupontheIGESdefinitionofcircularandlinearfeaturetypes,PCDMIScanmakesome
assumptionsaboutthewaytheyshouldbemeasured.Takeadvantageoftheseassumptionsto
speedupthepartprogrammingprocess.
CircularFeatures
Thedefaultnumberofhits PCDMIScanautomaticallygeneratehitsforcircles,cylindersand
PCDMISgeneratesona arcs.Todothis:
circularfeatureisasystem
option.Tochangethisvalue, 1. Movethecursorclosetothecircumferenceofthe
accesstheSetupOptions feature.
dialogbox(Edit| 2. Clicktheleftmousebutton.(TheSTATEiconsmust
Preferences|Setup),and besettoProgrammode.)PCDMISwillthengenerate
thenclicktheGeneraltab. equallyspacedhitsonthefeatureatthecurrentprobe
Typethenewdefaultnumber depth.(See"SetupOptions:GeneralTab"inthe
intheAutoCircleHitsedit "SettingYourPreferences"chapterforsettingthe
box. numberofhitsforcircles.)
Followthesemeasurementrulesforcircularfeatures.
Foraninsidediameter(ID),placethecursorjustinsidethefeature.
Foranoutsidediameter(OD),placethecursorjustoutsidethefeature.
Toautomaticallyprogramcylinders,takeatleasttwosetsofhitsatdifferent
probedepths.
Whenprogramminganarc,PCDMISwillspacethehitsalongthelengthofthe
arc.
Tomeasureasphereoracone,firstsetprecisedepthonthesphereorcone
beforegeneratinganyhits.See"SettingProbeDepthonaSphere"and"Setting
ProbeDepthonaCone".
LinearFeatures

Thedefaultnumberofhits PCDMIScanautomaticallygeneratehitsforlinesandplanes.To
PCDMISgeneratesona dothis:
linearfeatureisasystem
option.Tochangethisvalue, 1. Movethecursorclosetotheline.
accesstheSetupOptions 2. Clicktheleftmousebutton.(TheSTATEiconsmust
dialogbox(Edit| besettoProgrammode.)
Preferences|Setup),and
thenclicktheGeneraltab.
Followtheserulesformeasuringlinearfeatures:
Typethenewdefaultvalue
intheAutoLineHitsedit
box.
PCDMISwillgenerateequallyspacedhitsalongthelengthofthelineatthe
currentprobedepth.(See"SetupOptions:GeneralTab"inthe"SettingYour
Preferences"chapterforsettingthenumberofhitsforlines.)
Thecursormustbeplacedonthesideofthelinewherethehitsaretobetaken.
Toautomaticallyprogramplanes,atleasttwosetsofhitsatdifferentprobe
depthsmustbetaken.
SurfaceFeatures
UVscancanbeusedtoautomaticallyplacepointsonasurfacealongtheUVdirectionofthe
surface.InProgrammodeandSurfaceSelectmode,presstheleftmousebuttoninsidethe
surfacetobeselected.AdialogboxwillappearallowingtheinputofthestartandendUVvalues,
aswellasthenumberofpointsalongeachUVdirection.
DiscreteMeasurements
Automaticmeasurementsspeeduptheprogrammingprocess,butitissometimesnecessarydue
toeitherpartgeometryorfeaturetypetopreciselyplacehitsonafeature.Therearetwo
techniquesforplacinghits.
PlacingHitsonaSurface
Inmanyinstancesitisnecessarytopreciselypositionthehitsonasurface(i.e.,plane,sphereor
conemeasurement).Todothis:
1. Movethecursortothepositionwhereyouwishtotakethehit.
2. Holddowntheleftmousebutton(donotmovethemouse).
3. Releasethebutton.PCDMISwillprogramthehitatthatpoint.
Thecursormustbeheldinonepositionwhileholdingdownthebutton.Otherwise,PCDMISwill
misinterpretyourintention.Iftheprobetipsnapsontoafeatureafterthebuttonisreleased,then
themousewasmovedduringtheprocess.PresstheALT+""(minus)keycombinationto
removethehitandbeginagain.
Note:Precisedepthmustbesetbeforeplacingdiscreethitsonacone,sphere,orplane.
PlacingHitsonaFeature

Inmanyinstancesitisnecessarytopreciselypositionhitsonafeatureotherthanaplane.Todo
this:
1. Movethecursorclosetothepositionwhereyouwishtotakethehits.
3. Movetheprobetowardsthepositionwhereyouwanttotakethehit.(theprobe
mustbemovedatleast1/8"onthescreen).
4. Releasethebutton.
PCDMISwill"snap"thehitonthefeature.PCDMISwilllocatethehitonthesideofthefeature
wherethecursorwaspositionedwhenyoufirsthelddownthemouse.
EndingaMeasurement
Toendameasurementintheofflinemode,presstheENDkey.
ExecutingandDebuggingPartProgramsOffLine
TheexecutionofpartprogramsinofflinePCDMISisthesameasinonlinePCDMIS.TheEdit
windowprovidesimmediateaccesstoallofthecommandsinapartprogram,makingitaseasy
tofinetuneanofflinepartprogramasaprogramdoneonaCMM.
Pleaseseethe"EditingaPartProgram"chapter,foranoverviewofthemanyeditoptionsinPC
DMIS.
Itistheprogrammer'sresponsibilitytopaycarefulattentiontotheprobeanimationtodetect
collisionsandmisplacedhits.Thebestwaytodothisistoreduceboththemoveandtouch
speeds.ThisisdonebyenteringtheProbeSetupoption(seethe"ModifyingReportandMotion
Parameters"topicinthe"SettingyourPreferences"chapter.)andkeyinginthedesiredspeedsin
theappropriateeditbox.PCDMISwillstopthemeasurementprocesswhentheStopbuttonis
pressed,resumingonlyaftertheContinuebuttonisselected.
Path
TheOperation|GraphicsDisplayWindow|PathLinesmenuoptionprovidesagraphical
representationoftheprobespathalongthepart.Thisoptionisapowerfultoolforprobepath
editingandisveryhelpfulintheofflinemeasurementprocedure.Toaccessthisoption:
MarkthefeaturesthatwillbeusedfortheprobepatheditingintheEditwindow
oftheapplicablepartprogram.(See"MarkingCommandsforExecution"inthe
"EditingaPartProgram"chapter.)
SelecttheView|PathLinesoption.PCDMISwilldisplaythepathlinesofthe
probethatwerecreatedduringthelearningportionofthepartprogram.The
"ShowingandAnimatingPathLines"topicfromthe"EditingtheCADDisplay"
chapterhasadditionalinformationonusingpathlines.

TranslatingDOS/AVAILintoPCDMIS
Introduction
PCDMISwillallowausertotakepartprogramsthatwerecreatedinDOSorAvailandtranslate
themtoruninPCDMISforWindows.Theoriginalpartprogrammusthavebeencreatedusing
AvailorPCDMIS(DOS).TheoriginalpartprogrammusthavebeencreatedusingAvailorPC
DMIS(DOS)version3.2orhigherinorderforthetranslationprocesstobeavailable.
Note:ImportingTutorforWindowspartprogramswillnotbeavailableinthisrelease.
Introduction
TranslateaPartProgramFile
ImportingaPartProgramFile
TranslateaPartProgramFile
Totranslateafile,thefollowingproceduremustbefollowed:
DOStoWindows
1. UsingDOS,startupPCDMISforDOS.TheActivePartslistwillbedisplayed.
2. ClickthePOSTbuttonfromthemenulist.
3. Selectthepartprogramtobetranslated.PCDMISwilldisplaythePostOptions
menu.
4. SelecttheDIMS CMDSbutton(DIMScommands)fromthemenulist.PCDMIS
willaskfortheOutputFilename.
5. Typetheappropriatefilename,followedbythethreecharacterextension.Itis
suggested(butnotmandatory)tousetheextension".dim".
6. WhenPCDMISispostprocessingthepartprogram,itwillaskyoutoenterthe
nameofaPCDMISforWindowsProbeFile.Typetheappropriatename.
7. MakesurethatitisaprobefilebeingusedforWindows.
9. Whenthepostprocessingiscomplete,PCDMISwilldisplayamessageasking
youtopressanykeytocontinue.PCDMISwillthenreturntotheActivePartslist.
10. ExitoutofPCDMISforDOS.
Avail/MMIVtoWindows
Avail/MMIVfilesneedtobetranslatedinordertoruninPCDMISforWindows.Itis
recommended(butnotnecessary)thatthefilesaresavedwithaLLF*.*filename.Simplyfollow
theinstructionslocatedin"ImportingaPartProgramFile".
ImportingaPartProgramFile
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TranslatingDOS/AVAIL intoPCDMIS 1451

Thefollowingprocedureshouldbefollowedwhenimportingapartprogramfile.Theprocessis
thesameregardlessofthefiletype.
DOS,AvailandMMIVFiles
1. StartPCDMISforWindowsbydoubleclickingontheappropriatedesktopicon
(orbyselectingthedesktop'sStartButton|ProgramFiles|PCDMISFor
Windows).PCDMISwillloadandshowtheOpenFiledialogbox.
2. ClicktheCancelbuttontoclosethedialogbox.
3. SelecttheFile|Newmenuoptiontocreateanewpartprogram.TheNewPart
Programdialogboxwillappear.
4. Typeanewpartprogramfilenameandotherinformationasneeded.
5. ClicktheOKbutton.ThedialogwillcloseandPCDMISwillopentheProbe
Utilitiesdialogbox.
6. ClicktheCancelbuttontoclosetheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox.
7. SelecttheFile|Importsubmenu.
8. Selecttheappropriateinputdatatype(DIMS,AVAIL,orMMIV).AnOpendialog
boxappears
9. Selectthecorrectfile.Ifitwassavedwitha.DIM/.LLF*.*extension,PCDMIS
willautomaticallydisplayallavailablefileswiththeappropriateextension.If
necessary,changetothecorrectdirectory.
10. ClicktheImportbutton.IfCADdataalreadyexistsforyourpartprogram,you
canchoosetoeitherMergeorReplacetheexistingCADdatawiththeimportedCAD
data.TheChooseTranslationOptiondialogboxappearswiththesetranslation
options:
TranslatemainprogramandallcalledsubroutinesintooneDIMSpartprogram.
Translatespecifiedfileonly. Includesubroutinecallsbutdonottranslate
subroutinefiles.
TranslatemainprogramandcalledsubroutinesintoseparateDIMSpart
programs.
11. Selectoneoftheavailabletranslationmethods.
12. ClicktheOKbutton(orpresstheENTERkey).
PCDMISwilltranslatetheDIMS/AVAIL/MMIVdataandreturntothepartprogram.
q ForeachTOOLCHANGEyouwillbepromptedtoselectaPCDMISprobefile.
q ForeachTIPCHANGEyouwillbepromptedtoselectaPCDMISprobe.
YourpartprogramisnowreadytoruninPCDMISforWindows.
Important: WhenimportinganAVAILpartprogramsthatcontainsanIFTESTkeywordora
GOTO/LABELcommandinsideofafeatureblock,oranMMIVpartprogramscontaininga
BRANCH/TESTkeywordoraBRANCH/LABELcommandinsideofafeatureblock,PCDMISwill
moveitsrespectiveIF andGOTOcommandsbeforethefeatureblock.Thiswillbecorrectedin
futureversionsofPCDMIS.
1452 TranslatingDOS/AVAILintoPCDMIS PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

UnderstandingtheMOVE/PH9_OFFSETCommandforImportedDOSPart
Programs
IntheDOSversion,thesoftwarerotatedthePH9tothenewanglesandthenmadeanautomatic
movesothatthetipwouldendupwhereitwaspriortotheanglechange.HoweverinthePC
DMISforWindowswhenrotatingthePH9tonewangles,thesoftwaredoesn'tmakethisextra
move.So,fortranslatedandimportedDOSpartprograms,PCDMISforWindowsautomatically
insertsMOVE/PH9_OFFSETcommandstofacilitatethetranslationfromtheDOSversionofPC
DMIStoPCDMISforWindows.
Thiscommandhasthissyntaxandtakestwoinputs:
MOVE/PH9_OFFSET,INPUT1,INPUT2
INPUT1istheoldtipangle.
INPUT2isthenewtipangle.
Note:Youwon'tneedtousethiscommandinanormalPCDMISforWindowspartprogramsand
youcan'tselectitfromanyofthemenus.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TranslatingDOS/AVAIL intoPCDMIS 1453

UsingaWristDevice
UsingaWristDevice:Introduction
PCDMISprovidescompletesupportforcalibratingandusinginfinitelyindexablewristdevices
suchastheRenishawPHS,theDEACW43,andtheDEACW43Laswellasdevicesprovidedby
othermanufacturers.
Installation
TipCalibration
CalibratetheUnit
QualificationCheck
HometheUnit
UsingtheWristinaPartProgram
CalibratingandUsingaCJointDevice
Installation
IfawristisinstalledonyourCMM,PCDMISwilladdAandBaxestotheX,Y,andZreadouts
thatarenormallydisplayed.ThewristoptionmustbeturnedonintheportlockforPCDMISto
enablethewristsupport.Becauseofthevarietyofinfinitewristsandinterfacessupported,you
shouldconsultwithyoursoftwarevendorforspecificsonwhatPCDMISregistryentriesneedto
bechanged(seethe"ModifyingRegistryEntries"appendixforinformationonusingthePCDMIS
SettingsEditortomodifyregistryentries).
PCDMISwillautomaticallyquerythecontrolleranddeterminethatthewristispresent.
NotesforRenishawPHSwithLeitzInterface
WhenyouareusingthekinematicsmountfortheRenishawwrist,youneedtomodifythe
"RenishawKinematicMount=1"registryentryinthe[Option]sectionofthePCDMIS
SettingsEditor.Forinformationonmodifyingregistryentries,pleaseviewthe"ModifyingRegistry
Entries"appendix.
PCDMISwillask(uponstartupofthesystem)ifthePHSWristismountedontheCMM.PC
DMISwillonlyaskthisquestionwhenthecontrollerhasjustbeenpoweredon.Onceyouinform
PCDMISwhatisontheendofthearm,itwillnotaskthequestionagainuntilitsensesthe
controllerhasbeenshutdownandrestarted.Whenyouhavethewristmounted,PCDMISwill
addAandBaxestothereadouts.ThisisinadditiontotheX,Y,Zaxisreadoutsthatarenormally
displayed.
Note:ThereadoutdisplaywillnotreflectthevaluechangesuntilyourunPCDMISafter
respondingfavorablytothequestionregardingthePHSWrist
TipCalibration
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual UsingaWristDevice 1455

Tipcalibrationassumesthatyouhavealreadycalibratedthewrist.Itdoesnotneedtobedonefor
thetipthatisusedtocalibratethewrist.Tipcalibrationisdoneautomaticallyforthetipusedto
calibratethewrist.
Thepurposeoftipcalibrationistocalculatethedistancefromthelast(Ajoint)joint'scenterpoint
tothetipcenter.Theoretically,measuringonetipA,Bcombinationwillbesufficienttocompute
thisdistanceoncethewristiscalibrated.However,itisagoodideatomeasuremorethanone
A,BcombinationsothatPCDMIScanaveragethetipoffsetscomputed.Thiswillresultinbetter
accuracy.
NewProbeFile
Onceyouhavecalibratedthewrist,youcanchangethetipattachedtothewristanddoatip
calibration.Tocalibrateanewtiponthewrist:
1. AccesstheProbeUtilitiesdialogboxbyselectingtheInsert|Hardware
Definition|Probemenuoption.
2. Makesuretheprobedescriptionmatchesthenewtipthatyouhaveloaded.
3. SelectoneormoreA,Bcombination(s)fromtheActiveTiplistthatcorrespondto
thisnewtip.IfadesiredA,Bcombinationisnotinthelist,youcanadditbyselecting
theAddAnglesbutton.YoumustselectatleastoneA,Bcombinationfromthetiplist
inordertocalibratethetip.Ifyouselectmorethanone,PCDMISwillaveragethe
resultstogetamoreaccuratetipoffset.
4. Whenyouhavethedesiredtipsselected,presstheMeasurebutton.Thiswill
displaytheMeasureProbedialogbox.Thisallowsyoutosetthenumberofhits,
prehit/retract,andspeeds.
5. SelecttheCalibrateTipsoptionbuttonfromtheOptionsToCalibrate
6. Setthedesiredparameters.
7. ClicktheMeasurebutton.
PCDMISwillbegintomeasurethespherewiththeselectedA,Banglecombinations.
CalibratetheUnitforInfiniteWristDevices
WhenyouhaveanindexablewristontheCMM,PCDMISwillallowyoutoaccesstheCalibrate
theUnitandHometheUnitoptionsintheTypeofOperationareaoftheMeasureProbe
dialogbox.
1456 UsingaWristDevice PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

MeasureProbedialogbox
TypeofOperationareashowingtheCalibratetheUnitoptionenabled
Note:Thiswristcalibrationisonlydonewithasinglestylusnotstarprobes.AfterPCDMIS
completesthiscalibration,anyangularpositionofthewristmaybeutilizedinnewprobefilesby
calibratingaminimumofoneprobeangle.Foradditionalinformation,see"CalibratetheUnit"
underthe"TypeofOperationarea"topic.Seethe"Measure"topicinthe"DefiningHardware"
chapterforgeneralinformationaboutcalibratingprobes.
TheCalibratetheUnitoptionallowsyoutocalibratethewrist.Thisprocedureallowsyouto
measureseveralanglesonaspheretodeterminetheinternaldistanceswithinthewristitself.
Oncethisinformationiscalculated,PCDMISwilluseittoaccuratelypredictthetippositionat
anyA,Banglepair.ThisallowsyoutouseanyA,Bangleinyourpartprogramwithoutcalibrating
eachindividualposition.
Note:BesureyoutypeyourdesiredmeasurementvaluesintheMeasureProbedialogboxfor
thespheremeasurement,andselectthequalificationtoolbeforemeasuringwiththeCalibrate
theUnitoptionselected.Youcansetthenumberofhits,theprobeprehitandretractdistances,

andvariousspeedsusedinthemeasurementprocessfromtheMeasuredialogbox.See
MeasureintheDefiningHardwarechapter.
WristCalibration
Inordertocalibratethewrist,youneedtomeasureatleastthreeAanglepositionsandatleast
threeBanglepositionsforatotalofninespheremeasurements(eachAanglepositionmustbe
measuredateveryBposition).TheWristCalibrationAngleSetupareaoftheMeasureProbe
dialogboxgivesyoutheabilitytospecifytheanglesforcalibratingboththeAandtheBaxes.
ThefirstthreeoptionsareforcalibratingtheAjoint.
ForinformationonusingtheWristCalibrationAngleSetupareatodefinetheABangle
positions,seethe"WristCalibrationAngleSetup"topicinthe"DefiningHardware"chapter.
Note: WhenusingaRenishawPHS,everytimetheresaninterruptioninelectricalpowertothe
PHScontroller,youmusteitherperformawristcalibrationorselectHometheUnitfromthe
TypeofOperationareaoftheMeasureProbedialogboxandclickMeasureagain.
CautionWhenUsingSP600Probes
Formostprobetypesonaninfinitewrist,thewristdevicecalibratesazoneofanglesand
approximatestherest.However,ifyouhaveanSP600probeonaninfinitewrist,theSP600
probeneedsitsowndeflectionmatrix.Youmust,therefore,calibrateeachABtipanglethat
wasn'tpartoftheoriginalmappingprocessorsufferinaccurateresultsinyourmeasurements.
CalculateErrorMap
Normally,wristdevicesarecalibratedatrelativelysmallincrements(e.g.20degrees).Whenyou
calibrateaninfinitelyindexablewrist,withtheCalibratetheUnitcheckboxselected,PCDMIS
automaticallycreatesawristerrorcompensationfilenamedabcomp.datthatitusestocorrectfor
angularerrorsinthewrist.Creatinganerrormapwillincreasetheaccuracyofthewristwhen
usedtomeasureatpositionsnotpreviouslycalibratedbyallowingPCDMIStointerpolatethe
probingoffsets.
Aftercalculatingtheerrormap,theresultsarestoredonyourcomputersharddrivesothatany
timeyouusethewrist,itwilltakeadvantageoftheimprovedangularaccuracy.Youshouldonly
calculatetheerrormapperiodically(onceaweekorless),orasnecessary.Whencalculatingthe
errormap,PCDMISalsoperformsavalidwristandtipcalibrationforthecurrentlyloadedprobe
file.
Note:Youshoulddoawristcalibrationeachtimethemountingofthewristchanges.Also,you
shouldrefertoyourhardwareandvendorinformationforallappropriatetimestomapawrist
sincethiscanchangebasedondeviceconstructionandmanufacturerrecommendations.
Oncetheinfinitelyindexablewristdeviceiscalibratedandawristerrormapfileexists,youshould
thentellPCDMIStousetheerrormapfile.Todothis,selecttheUseWristMapIfAvailable
checkboxfromtheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox(seethe"UseWristMapIfAvailablecheckbox"
topicinthe"DefiningHardware"chapter).Youcanthencreateanduseanypositionofnewprobe
fileswithaminimumofcalibrations.

Todothis,simplycreateanewprobefileandperformanormaltipcalibrationusingatleastone
probepositiononthequalificationtoolthatmaintainsalinktoprobefileusedduringtheCalibrate
theUnitprocess.However,itisimportantthatyouusemorethenoneprobepositionforthis
calibrationsinceabetterfittingoftheprobeoffsetdatatothewristerrormatrixwilloccur.Thisis
especiallytrueifseveralwristpositionswillbeutilizedinthenewprobefile.
Note:Failuretomaintainalinktotheprobefileusedduringwristmappingwillresultin
measurementerrors.
QualificationCheck
TypeofOperationareashowingQualificationCheckoption
Afteryoucalibratetheunit,aqualificationcheckisrecommended,butnotrequired.
Performingaqualificationcheckwillprovideyouwithinformationregardingthegeneral
accuracyofthewristcalibrationandfuturemeasurements.Aqualificationcheckcanalsobe
usedtochecktheerrorsofnewtipsaddedtonewprobefiles.
Toperformaqualificationcheck:
2. SelecttheanglesyouwishtouseforthequalificationcheckfromtheActiveTip
List. Itsrecommendedthatyouselectprobeanglesbothusedandnotusedinthe
wristcalibration.
3. ClicktheMeasurebutton.TheMeasureProbedialogboxappears.
4. Providetheparametersyouwishtouseduringthecalibrationcheckincluding
selectingtheappropriatecalibrationtool.
5. SelecttheQualificationCheckoptionfromtheTypeofOperationarea.
7. Followanyonscreeninstructions.
HometheUnit
TypeofOperationareashowingtheHometheUnitoption
SomewristdevicessuchastheRenishawPHSdonothavepredefinedzeropositionsand
usepotentiometersinsteadofscalestopositionthewrist. Thesetypesofwristdevicesneedto
havethezeroredefinedeverytimepowertotheprobeheadcontrollerisinterrupted. Inorderto

redefinethewristzeroposition,youmaychoosetheCalibratetheUnitoption(seeTip
Calibration)ortheHometheUnitoption.
SelectingHometheUnitwillcalculatetheangularerroroffsetfromthepreviouslycalculated
wristzeropositionbyqualifyingoneormoreprobeanglesonapreviouslycalibratedsphere
position.Theadvantagetothisisyoucanuseaminimumofoneprobetipanglemakingthe
processmuchfasterthanawristcalibration.
ItisrecommendedthatyouusemorethanoneprobeangletoaccomplishHometheUnitsince
PCDMISwillaveragetheerrorsofthehomingproceduretoprovideamoreaccurateadjustment
tothewristerrormap.
ToperformaHometheUnit:
2. Selectthesameprobefilethatwasusedtocalibratetheunit.
3. SelecttheanglesyouwishtouseforthecalibrationcheckfromtheActiveTip
List.
4. ClicktheMeasurebutton.TheMeasureProbedialogboxappears.
5. Providetheparametersyouwishtouseduringthecalibrationcheckincluding
selectingthesamecalibrationtoolusedduringCalibratetheUnit.
6. SelecttheHometheUnitoptionfromtheTypeofOperationarea.
Note:Aftercalibratingtheunitandpriortohomingtheunit,youshouldntmovethecalibration
sphere.Ifitismoved,youmustrecalibratetheunit(seeTipCalibration).
UsingtheWristinaPartProgram
Onmachinesthatsupportit,PCDMISwillautomaticallysensewhenthewristhasbeenrotated
withthejogbox.ThetipoffsetswilldynamicallybeupdatedbasedonthecurrentA,Bangles.
Thatis,theXYZreadoutwilldisplaythecurrenttippositionasitisbeingrotated.Therearefour
ways(discussedbelow)toaddanewA,Btipcombinationintoapartprogram.
OnceyouhaveaddedanewA,Btipcombinationintoyourpartprogrambyusingoneofthe
optionsbelow,PCDMISdisplaystheactivetipasprogrammedinthepartprogramintheActive
tipdropdownlistonthetoolbar.ThisisthepriorTIP/commandabovewherethecursorisinthe
Editwindow.InordertomovethewristtothisA,Banglecombination,pulldownandclosetheTip
Listbox.PCDMISwillaskifyouwanttorotatetheprobe.AYesresponsewillrotatethewristto
thedesiredposition.Thisisusefulwhenyouwanttogobackandinsertmeasurementsand
movesintothepartprogram.
Option1
IntheProbeUtilitiesdialogbox,selecttheAddAnglesoption.Thiswillallowyoutokeyinnew
A,Banglepairstotheprobefile.Ifthetiphasalreadybeencalibrated,thenthenewA,B
combinationswillalsobecalibratedandreadytouse.OnceyouleavetheProbeUtilitiesdialog
box,youcanusethesenewA,BcombinationsbyselectingthemfromtheTipListboxlocatedon
thetoolbar.
Option2

ManuallyjogthewristtothedesiredA,Banglesusingthejogbox.Whenyoureachthedesired
position,presstheStoreMovebuttononthejogbox,ortakeamanualprobing.ThecurrentA,B
angleswillbereadautomatically.IftheAorBangleshavechangedbymorethanthePH9
warningdelta (seethe"WristWarningDelta"topicinthe"SettingyourPreferences"chapter),
thenPCDMISwillautomaticallyaddthecurrentA,BanglestotheTipListandinsertaTIP/
commandinthepartprogram.ThenewTIP/commandwillbeaddedtothepartprogrambefore
thestoredmoveormanualprobing.Whenthepartprogramisthenexecuted,PCDMISwillfirst
changethetipbeforemovingtotheprogrammedlocation.
Option3
TypeinaTIP/commandintheEditwindow.Onceyoufinisheditingthevector,PCDMISwill
calculatethebestA,Bcombinationsthatputthetipshankparalleltothatvector.PCDMISwill
displaytheseanglesintheWristAnglesMatchingRequestedVectordialogbox.
WristAnglesMatchingRequestedVector
ThereareoftentwoormoreA,Bcombinationsthatputtheshankintherequestedorientation.
Thesewillbedisplayedinthedialog,andtheA,BcombinationthatisclosesttothecurrentA,B
combinationonthewristwillbethedefaultchoice.Ifthedesiredvectorcanbeobtainedbyan
infiniteAorBaxisposition,PCDMISwillmarkthisentrywiththewordsanyangle.PCDMIS
willdefaultthisentrytothecurrentvalueonthisaxis.Youcankeyinadifferentvalueifrequired.
OnceyouclickOKonthisdialog,PCDMISwilladdtheselectedA,Bcombinationtothetiplistfor
theactiveprobe,andchangetheTIP/commandtousethisnewtip.
Option4
IntheAutoFeaturesdialogbox,eachtabentryhasacheckboxforAutoPH9. Whenthis
optionischecked,PCDMISwilltakethedefinitionofthefeaturetodeterminethebesttipshank
vectortomeasurethecurrentfeature.Itwillthenusethistipshankvectortocalculatethebest
A,Bcombinations.ThesewillbedisplayedintheWristAnglesMatchingRequestedVector
dialogboxdescribedin"Option3"above.
PCDMISprovidescompletesupportforcalibratingandusingathreecontinuousaxeswrist
obtainedbymountingaCJointdeviceontheDEACW43Lwrist.
IfaCJOINTisinstalledonyourDEACW43Lwrist,PCDMISwilladdA,B,andCaxestotheX,
Y,andZreadoutsthatarenormallydisplayed.
ThefollowingsubtopicsareavailabletohelpyoucalibrateyourCJointdevice.

TipCalibrationInformation
CJointCalibrationProcedureforInfiniteThirdAxisWristDevices
CalculateErrorMapforCJoint
TipCalibrationInformation
Thepurposeoftipcalibrationistocalculatethedistancefromthesecondjoint'scenterpoint(the
Ajointscenter)tothestarprobestipcenter.YoumaywanttomeasuremorethanoneA,B
combinationsothatPCDMIScanaveragethestartipoffsetscomputed,resultinginbetter
accuracyinreachingthespherewhentheCJointcalibrationcyclewillbeperformed.
BeforeProceeding:
YoushouldalreadyhavecalibratedtheA,Bwristdeviceandthefilesnamed
acomp(s).datandwrist(m)(s).datshouldexistonyourcomputersharddrive.
YouneedtomountastarprobeontheCJointdevicewiththetippointinginthe
X+direction.PCDMISusesthistiptocalibratetheCJoint.Tipcalibrationinthiscase
doesneedtobedone.
Note:YoucanalsoobtaintheA,BcalibrationmapwiththeCJointmountedonthewrist.Thiswill
increasetheaccuracyofanglepositioncomputationsforanyA,B,andCanglecombinations.
CJointCalibrationProcedureforInfiniteThirdAxisWristDevices
TheCalibrateCJointoptionallowsyoutocalibratethethirdaxisofthewrist.Oncethis
informationiscalculated,PCDMISwilluseittogetherwiththeA,Bcalibrationdata,topredictthe
tippositionatanyA,B,andCanglecombinationsforaprobethatneedstobeinstalledona
CJointdevice,suchasaPerceptronprobe.
TypeofOperationareashowingtheCalibrateCJointoptionselected
ToCalibrateusingtheCJointOption
1. Ensurethatyouhavealreadyperformedthepreliminarystepsdiscussedinthe
"TipCalibrationInformation"topic.
2. SelecttheCalibrateCJointoptionfromtheTypeofOperationarea.Selecting
thisitemenablestheWristCalibrationareaiftheappropriatewristentries
(DEAWristorRENISHAWWrist)fromtheOptionsectioninthePCDMISSettings
Editorto1
3. Ensurethatyouhaveastarprobeconfigurationconnected,withatippointingin
theX+direction.
4. SelectaspherequalificationtoolfromtheAvailableToolslist.
5. TypethedesiredmeasurementvaluesintheMeasureProbedialogboxforthe
spherequalification.

6. Setthenumberofhits,theprobeprehitandretractdistances,andvarious
speedsfromtheMeasureProbedialogbox.
7. FillouttheWristCalibrationarea.InordertocalibratetheCjoint,youwillneed
tomeasureatleastthreeCanglepositions.Thisgivesyoutheabilitytospecifythe
anglesforcalibratingtheA,BandCaxes.TheStart,Increment,andAngleboxes
fortheCrowareforcalibratingtheCjoint.
CAngleStartdefinesprovidesthestartingCangleusedforthe
calibrationofyourwrist'sCjoint.Thedefaultvalueis180.
CAngleEnddefinesprovidestheendingCangleusedforthe
calibrationofyourCjoint.Thedefaultvalueis180.
CAngleIncrementdefinestheangleincrementbetweenthestarting
andendingCangles.AngleswillbecalibratedforyourCjointdevicefor
thestarting,ending,andadditionalanglesasdeterminedbythe
incrementvalue.Forexample,anincrementangleof10degreeswould
addanglesforcalibrationevery10degreesbetweenthestartingand
endingangle.Defaultvalueis10.
Note:Besurethat WristAAngleStartandWristBAngleStartaresetto0when
youcalibrateCjointdevice.
7. Whenallthisisdone,clicktheMeasurebuttontostartthecalibrationprocess.
CalculateErrorMapforCJoint
Normally,wristdevicesarecalibratedatrelativelysmallangleincrements(suchas20degrees).
Whenyoucalibrateacontinuousthirdaxisofawrist,withtheCalibrateCJointoptionselected,
PCDMISautomaticallycreatesawristerrorcompensationfilenamedccomp(s).datthatituses,
togetherwithabcomp(s).dat,tocorrectforangularerrorsinthethreeaxeswrist.
Aftercalculatingtheerrormap,theresultsarestoredonyourcomputersharddrivesothatany
timeyouusethewrist,itwilltakeadvantageoftheimprovedangularaccuracy.
RecalculatingtheErrorMap
Generally,youshouldonlyneedtocalculatetheerrormapperiodically(onceaweekorless).
However,youshouldperformawristcalibrationeachtimethemountingofthewristchangesand
atothertimesrecommendedbyhardwareandvendorinformation.Thisvariesbasedondevice
constructionandmanufacturerrecommendations

WorkinginOperatorMode
WorkinginOperatorMode:Introduction
TheOperatorModelimitstheoptionsthatwillbeavailablewhenoperatingPCDMIS.Oncethe
restrictionsareinplace,theoperatorcanonlyopenandexecutethepartprogram.
TostartPCDMISinOperatorMode,fromtheStart menu,selectPrograms|PCDMISfor
Windows|OperatorMode.
WhenPCDMISlaunchesinOperatorMode,onlytheoptionsnecessarytorunthepartprogram
willbeavailable.
FileOpenOptions
OperatorModeMenuOptions
UsingtheMarkedSetsWindowinOperatorMode
FileOpenOptions
Opendialogbox
TheOpendialogboxisastandardWindowsfileopendialog.Youcanactivateapartprogramin
OperatorModebydoubleclickingonthepartprogramfilenameorbyselectingthepartprogram
filenameandclickingtheOpenbutton.
ThefollowingoptionshavebeendisabledfromthisdialogboxinOperatorMode:
ImportingtoPCDMIS,accessiblewhennotinOperatorModebyrightmouse
clickingonapartprogramandselectingImport toPCDMISfromthepopuplist.
ExportingfromPCDMIS,accessiblewhennotinOperatorModebyright
mouseclickingonapartprogramandselectingExportfromPCDMISfromthepop
uplist.
EditingthePartName,SerialNumber,orRevisionNumberonthepart
programsPCDMISpropertypage,accessiblewhennotinOperatorModebyright
mouseclickingonapartprogramandselectingPropertiesfromthepopuplist.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual Workingin OperatorMode 1465

OperatorModeMenuOptions
Onceapartprogramhasbeenactivated,themainPCDMISscreenwillbedisplayedwiththe
followingmenuoptions.
GraphicsDisplaywindowinOperatorMode
File
TheFilemenuallowsyoutoopenanexistingpartprogram,closethecurrentpartprogram,
exportthecurrentpartprogram,orexitthesoftware.
Open
TheFile|Openmenuoptionallowsyoutoswitchbetweenpartprogramsanytimebyinvoking
theOpendialogboxandallowingyoutoselectadifferentpartprogram.Ifthepartprogramyou
selectisdifferentfromthecurrentlyexecutingpart,PCDMISwillautomaticallysaveandclose
theactivepartprogrambeforeloadingthenewlyselectedpartprogram.Ifhowever,youtryto
selectandinitiatetheactivepartprogramasecondtimefromtheOpendialogbox,PCDMIS
offerstwochoices:
DiscardallchangesmadetotheactivepartprogramsincethelastSave
operationandreloadtheselectedpartprogramwithoutthechanges.
CanceltheentireoperationandreturntotheOpendialogbox.
YoucanonlyhaveonepartprogramopenatagiventimeinOperatorMode.
Close
SelectingFile|Closeclosesthepartprogramandsavesthemeasurementvaluesofany
executedmarkedsets.
1466 Workingin Operator Mode PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

Quit
SelectingFile|Quitclosesthecurrentpartprogramwithoutsavinganyrecentlytaken
measurementvaluesfromexecutedmarkedsets.Onlypreexistingdatawillberetrievable.
Export
Toexportyourcurrentpartprogram,choosetheFile|Exportmenuoption.Thiswilldisplaythe
ExportDatadialogbox.Selectthedatatypetoexportas,andadirectorylocation,andthenclick
OK.Formoreinformationonexporting,see"ExportingCADData"inthe"UsingAdvancedFile
Options"chapter.
Exit
ToquitPCDMIS,allotherprograms,andlogoffthecomputer,choosetheFile|Exitmenu
option.PCDMISautomaticallysavesthecurrentpartprogrambeforeexiting.
Edit
TheEditmenuoptionallowsyoutoaccesstheProbeReadoutSetupdialogbox.Youcansetup
howinformationisdisplayedusingthisdialogbox.See"SettinguptheReadoutWindow"topicin
the"SettingyourPreferences"chapterforinformation.
View
ThismenuallowsyoutovieworhidethefollowingwindowswhileinOperatorMode:
GraphicsDisplaywindowSelectingthisoptionshowsandhidestheGraphicsDisplay
window.See"TheGraphicsDisplayWindow"inthe"NavigatingtheUserInterface"chapter.
PreviewWindowSelectingthisoptionshowsandhidesthePreviewwindow.See"Using
thePreviewwindow"inthe"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools"chapter.
ProbeReadoutsSelectingthisoptionshowsandhidestheProbeReadoutwindow.See
"UsingthePreviewwindow"inthe"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools"chapter.
MarkedSetsWindowSelectingthisoptionshowsandhidestheMarkedSetswindow.See
"UsingtheMarkedSetswindow"inthe"UsingOtherWindows,Editors,andTools"chapter.
See"UsingtheMarkedSetsWindowinOperatorMode".
Window
TheWindowmenuprovidesoperationstomanagemultipleopenpartprogramsandwindows.
Seethe"NavigatingandDisplayingMultipleWindows"chapter
Help
TheHelp menuprovidesallthemenuitemsasinPCDMIS'sstandardmodeofoperation.

UsingtheMarkedSetsWindowinOperatorMode
MarkedSetswindow
Assoonasyouopenapartprogram,theMarkedSetswindowautomaticallylaunches.The
followingoptionsareavailabletotheMarkedSetswindowinOperatorMode:
ExittoFileManager
PrintfullReport
CalibrateTips
AnyPredefinedMarkedSets
ExittoFileManager
SelectingExittoFileManagerwillaccesstheOpendialogbox,allowingyoutoselect
partprogramstoopen.
PrintFullReport
ThePrintfullreporticonprintsthecompletereporttotheoutputsourcethatwassetup
inthe'learning'portionofthepartprogram.
Iftheoutputissenttoafile,itwillbesavedinaRTFformat.Ifthisisthefirstinspectionreportto
besavedsincepoweringupthesystem,PCDMISwillrequireavaluetobeenteredintheNew
File#box.IfAutoischecked,aftertheinitialfileissavedPCDMISwillsaveallfuturefiles
incrementallyfromtheinitialnumberthatwasentered(aslongasthesystemhasnotbeen
powereddown).Thedisplayednumbercanbechangedatanytimesimplybyenteringanother
value.
IftheDraftModecheckboxwasmarkedduringthelearnmode,PCDMISwillchangetheEdit
windowfontstoadraftmodetypeforprintingpurposes.Anycolorsusedinthereport(to
distinguishtolerances,modes,etc.)willbechangedtoblack.Thesealterationswillgreatly
improvethespeedofprinting.
1468 Workingin Operator Mode PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

ToprintthecurrentEditreport,choosethePrintFullReportbutton(orpressF4).TheEdit
windowoutputwillbesenttotheprinterand/orapreselectedfile.
CalibrateTips
TheCalibrateTipsbuttoncalibratesalltipanglesforallprobesinthecurrentpart
program.ThisprocesswilltellPCDMISthelocationanddiameterofeachprobetip.
Note:PCDMISdoesnottrackthecalibrationofprobes.Itisthereforenecessarythatyouverify
thataprobeisrecalibratedifitischangedinanyway.
PredefinedMarkedSets
PredefinedmarkedsetsmayalsoappearinyourMarkedSetswindow.Thesearefeaturesthat
havebeenprogrammedandmarkedforexecutionbythepartprogrammerandarecombinedinto
asetfortheoperatortoexecute.
Anexampleofsomepredefinedmarkedsets
Toexecuteandmeasurefeaturesinamarkedset,simplyclickonthesetfromtheMarkedSets
windowandfollowanyinstructionsprovidedbyPCDMIS.

UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus
ShortcutKeysReference
Thistableprovidesaneasyreferenceoftheavailableshortcutkeys.Ifthedescriptionofa
shortcutkeyisprecededbyitalicizedtext,theiteminitalicizedtextmustbetheactivewindowor
focuseditemfortheshortcutkeytofunctionproperly.Forspecificinformationregardingthe
functionofeachoption,pleaseseetheappropriatesectionofthemanual.
Key Description Key Description Key Description

F1 Accessesonline CTRL+A Editwindow: CTRL+F1 PlacesPCDMIS
Help. Selectsalltext. intoTranslate
Mode.
FormandReport
Editors:Selectsall
theobjects.
F2 Editwindow: CTRL+C Editwindow: CTRL+F2 PlacesPCDMIS
Copiesselected intoRotate2D
Opensthe
text. Mode.
Expression
Builderdialog
FormandReport
boxifcursoris Editors:Copies
onalinethat selectedobjects.
allows
expressions.
F3 EditWindow: CTRL+D Deletesthecurrent CTRL+F3 PlacesPC
Marks/ feature. DMISinto
unmarksthe Rotate3D
commandfor Modeand
execution. opensRotate
dialogbox.
Ifyourcursor
residesonan
ExternalObject,F3
switchesbetween
printandexecute
modes.
F4 Editwindow: CTRL+E Executesthe CTRL+F4 PlacesPCDMIS
Printscontentsof selectedfeature. intoProgram
theEditwindow. Mode.
F5 Accessesthe CTRL+F OpenstheAuto CTRL+F5 PlacesPCDMIS
SetupOptions Featuresdialog intoTextBox
dialogbox. box. Mode.
F7 Editwindow: CTRL+G Insertsa CTRL+TAB Minimizesor
Withina READPOINT/ restorestheEdit
commandintothe window.
selectedtoggle
Editwindow.
field,cycles
forwardtonext
alphabetical
entry.
F8 Editwindow: CTRL+J Editwindow: CTRL+SHIFT Hidesselected
Withinaselected Jumpstoa graphicalanalysis
togglefield,cycles referenced arrow.
backwardstolast command.
alphabeticalentry.
F9 Editwindow: CTRL+K Savestheselected CTRL+END Editwindow:
Opensthedialog dimensioninthe Movescursorto
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus 1471

boxassociated Editreport. theendofthe

withthecommand currentpart
atcursor'sposition. program.
F10 Opensthe CTRL+L Executesthe CTRL+ Editwindow:
Parameter currentlyselected HOME Movescursorto
Settingsdialog blockof thebeginningof
box. commands. thecurrentpart
program.
F12 Opensthe CTRL+M Insertsa CTRL+ALT+ Opensthe
FixturingSetup MovePoint A Alignment
command.
dialogbox. dialogbox.
SHIFT+ Opensthe CTRL+N CreatesaNew CTRL+ALT+ OpenstheProbe
Rightclick ScaleDrawing PartProgram. P Utilities dialog
dialogbox. box.
SHIFT+TAB Editwindow: CTRL+O OpensaPart CTRL+Left InTextBoxmode,
Movescursor Program. performingthis
backwardstothe
click actiononafeature
previoususer orlabelIDinthe
editablefield. GraphicsDisplay
windowwillmove
yourcursortothat
featureintheEdit
window.
Performingthis
actionwiththe
Analysisdialog
boxopen,it
selectsany
associated
dimensions.
SHIFT+ Highlightsalltext CTRL+P PrintstheGraphics CTRL+Right RotatestheCAD
ascursormoves. Displaywindow. modelin3Dinthe
ARROW click GraphicsDisplay
windowwhen
(Alsoclickand draggingthe
mouse.
dragcenter
mousewheel
button)
SHIFT+F5 Editwindow: CTRL+Q Editwindow: UPARROW Editwindow:
Changesa Executesthe Movescursorto
dimension'shit currentpart nextavailable
displaybetween program. elementabovethe
cartesianandpolar currentposition.
coordinates.A'P'
characterindicates
polardisplay
mode.
SHIFT+F10 Editwindow: CTRL+R OpensRotate DOWN Editwindow:
Accessesthe dialogbox. ARROW Movescursorto
JumpTodialog nextavailable
box. elementbelowthe
currentposition.
END Ends CTRL+S Savesthecurrent RIGHT Editwindow:
measurementofa partprogram. ARROW Movescursorto
feature. nextavailable
elementtothe
rightofthecurrent
Editwindow:
position.
Movescursorto
theendofthe
presentline. InSummaryMode
thisexpandsa
collapsedlist.
1472 UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

HOME Editwindow: CTRL+T Editwindow: LEFTARROW Editwindow:

Movescursorto Assignsthe Movescursorto
thebeginningof currentcommand nextavailable
thepresentline. (orselected elementtotheleft
commands)tothe ofthecurrent
Masterarm,Slave position.
arm,orbotharms.
InSummaryMode
thiscollapsesan
expandedlist.
TAB Editwindow: CTRL+V Editwindow: ALT+H Accessesthe
Movescursor Pastesclipboard Helpmenu.
forwardtothenext contents.
usereditablefield.
FormandReport
Editors:Pastes
copiedobjects.
ESC Abortsanyprocess CTRL+X Editwindow: ALT+J EditWindow:
(otherthandata Cutsselectedtext. Jumpsbackfrom
entry)ifpressed areferenced
priortopressing command.
FormandReport
theENTERkey.
Editors:Cuts
selectedobjects.
DELETE Editwindow: CTRL+Y Editwindow: ALT+F3 Editwindow:
See'Backspace'. Executesthepart
Opensthe
programfromthe
cursor'slocation. Finddialog
box.
BACKSPACE Editwindow: CTRL+Z ActivatestheScale ALT+ Editwindow:
Deletesany toFitfunction. Undoesthelast
BACKSPACE
highlighted actiontakeninthe
characters.If Editwindow.
nothingis
highlighted,then
functionsasina
normaleditor.If
itemcannotbe
deleted,anerror
messagewillbe
displayed.
ALT+"" PressingALTand CTRL+ Editwindow: SHIFT+ Editwindow:
(minus) thentheminuskey InSummaryMode BACKSPACE Redoesthelast
deletesthelasthit ENTERor thiskeyboard undoneactionin
inthehitbuffer. RETURN shortcutallowsyou theEditwindow.
toselecta
commandtoadd
totheEditwindow.
ENTERor Editwindow: CTRL+Left Withadialogbox SHIFT+Right ReportWindow
Createsanew MouseClick openthatsupports Click LabelObject:
RETURN Displaysthe
line.Linewill multipleselection
ofsurfaces,this Reportdialog
automatically selectsan box.
bedeletedif unselectedsurface
notcompleted orclears the
selectedsurface.
beforecursor
ismovedfrom
line.
Selectsa
command.
CTRL+ GraphicsDisplay: ALT+RightClick RotatestheCAD

Jumpstothe modelin2Dinthe
Left nearestfeaturein GraphicsDisplay
Mouse theEditwindow. windowwhen

Click draggingthe
mouse.
CTRL+Left Makesthedialog
Mouse Drag boxortoolbardrag
withoutdocking
intotheinterface
whenyourelease
themouse.
UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus:Introduction
Thisappendixcoversshortcutstomanyofthemenuoptions,dialogboxes,andcommandsused
inPCDMIS.Usingshortcutswillspeedupyourprogrammingtimeandincreaseproductivityand
efficiency.
Themaintopicscoveredinthisappendixare:
ShortcutKeysReference
ShortcutMenusReference
ShortcutMenusReference
Shortcutmenusallowyoutodocommoncommandsatthesimpleclickofamousebutton.This
sectionexplainshowtoaccessthevariousshortcutmenusandwhatthevariousmenuoptions
do.Shortcutmenusexistwhentheprogramactivatestheselocations.
ShortcutMenusinStandardWindowsDialogBoxes
BeyondthestandardcommandsthatexistinWindowsbaseddialogboxes,PCDMIS,incertain
circumstances,addsadditionalfunctionalitytoshortcutmenus.Manyoftheseareexplainedin
the"UsingBasicFileOptions"and"UsingAdvancedFileOptions"chapter.
Whenopening,saving,orusingotherfileoperations,rightclickonthepartprogramfilename
listedinthedialogboxtobringuptheseshortcutmenuoptions.
Option Description
PCDMISImport Importsdatafromaninputfile
intotheselectedpartprogram.
See"ImportingCADData"in
the"UsingAdvancedFile
Options"chapter.
PCDMISExport Exportsdatatoanoutputfile
fromtheselectedpartprogram.
See"ExportingCADData"in
the"UsingAdvancedFile
Options"chapter.
Open Opensapartprogram.See
"OpeningExistingPart

Programs"inthe"UsingBasic
FileOptions"chapter
Cut Cutsapartprogramandmoves
ittotheClipboardthisisused
withWindowsPastecommand
toplacethecutfileintoanother
folder.
Copy Copiesapartprogramtothe
Clipboardthisisusedwiththe
Pastecommandtoplacethe
copiedfileintoanotherfolder.
See"PerformingFile
Operations"inthe"UsingBasic
FileOptions"chapter
Rename Renamesapartprogram.
Delete Deletesapartprogram.See
"PerformingFileOperations"in
the"UsingBasicFileOptions"
chapter
Properties|PCDMIStab Displayspartprogram'sfile
information.Youcanviewor
modifyapartprogram'sname,
serialnumber,orrevision
number.See"OpeningExisting
PartPrograms"inthe"Using
BasicFileOptions"chapter.
ShortcutMenusontheToolbarArea
WhenrightclickingontheToolbararea,PCDMISdisplaysalistofthetoolbarsandother
optionsthatyoucaninstantlyaccess.Theseinclude:

Option Description
FileOperations AddsorremovestheFile
Operationstoolbartoandfrom
thetoolbararea.
GraphicsModes AddsorremovestheGraphics
Modestoolbartoandfromthe
toolbararea
EditWindow AddsorremovestheEdit
Windowtoolbartoandfromthe
toolbararea.
QuickStart AddsorremovestheQuick
Starttoolbartoandfromthe
toolbararea.
WindowLayouts AddsorremovestheWindow
Layoutstoolbartoandfromthe
toolbararea.
MacroPlay/Record AddsorremovestheMacro
Play/Recordtoolbartoand
fromthetoolbararea.
AutoFeatures AddsorremovestheAuto
Featurestoolbartoandfrom
thetoolbararea.
MeasuredFeatures AddsorremovestheMeasured
Featurestoolbartoandfrom
thetoolbararea.
ConstructedFeatures Addsorremovesthe
ConstructedFeatures
toolbartoandfromthetoolbar
area.

Dimension Addsorremovesthe
Dimensiontoolbartoandfrom
thetoolbararea
Settings AddsorremovestheSettings
area
ProbeMode AddsorremovestheProbe
Modetoolbartoandfromthe
toolbararea
ActiveArms AddsorremovestheActive
Armstoolbartoandfromthe
toolbararea.
ActiveRotaryTable AddsorremovestheActive
RotaryTabletoolbartoand
fromthetoolbararea.
Wizards AddsorremovestheWizards
area.
Customize Customizesthetoolbarsand
themenustomeetspecific
needs.See"Customizingthe
UserInterface"inthe
"NavigatingtheUserInterface"
chapter.
Thesetoolbarsarediscussedindetailinthe"UsingToolbars"chapter.
ShortcutMenusintheGraphicsDisplayWindow
ThefollowingshortcutmenusareavailableinsidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.Accessthemby
rightclickingonspecificareas.SomerequirethatPCDMISbeinspecificmodes(seethe
"GraphicsModesToolbar"topicinthe"UsingToolbars"chapter).Dependingonwhatmodeyou
arein,PCDMISpresentsyouwithdifferentmenuoptions.
FeatureShortcutMenu
Toaccessthisshortcutmenu,rightclickonafeatureIDlabel,aDiminfobox,oraPointinfobox
insidetheGraphicsDisplaywindow.

Option Description
HideID Thismenuoptionhidesasingle
IDlabelintheGraphicsDisplay
window.Ahiddenlabelstill
existsit'smerelyhiddenfrom
view.
HideIDinView Thishidestheselected
feature'sIDlabelonlyinthe
currentview.Inotherviewsit
remainsvisible.
ShowIDs,HideIDs Thesesubmenusletyoushow
orhidethedifferentfeatureID
labels.Youcanchoosetoshow
orhidethesetypesofIDlabels:
All
FeatureLabels
FeatureLabels
visibleinview
OnlythoseIDsfor
featuresvisibleon
thescreenare
displayedor
hidden.
Dimension
Infos
PointInfos
FeatureControl
Frames
IfyouchoosetohidetheID
labelstheIDlabelsstillexist
andaremerelyhiddenfrom

view.
ShowIDinAllViews Thisshowstheselected
feature'sIDlabelinallviews.
LabelProcessing Thissubmenucontainsthe
AutomaticLabelPositioning
option.Thismenuoptionallows
youtoperformaonetime
automaticpositioningoffeature
IDlabelsinsidethecurrent
view.
HideFeature Thisoptionhidesasingle
feature,removingitfromthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.The
featurestillexistsandismerely
hiddenfromview.
HideAllFeatures Thisoptionhidesallfeatureson
apart,removingthemfromthe
GraphicsDisplaywindow.The
featuresstillexistandare
merelyhiddenfromview.
ShowAllFeatures Thisoptiondisplaysall
previouslyhiddenfeaturesin
ResetID ThisoptionmovesasingleID
labelbacktoitsoriginallocation
nexttothefeature.
ResetAllIDs ThisoptionmovesallIDlabels
backtotheiroriginallocations
nexttotheirrespectivefeatures.
MoveCursorTo Selectthismenuoptiontomove
theEditwindow'scursortothis
feature'scommandlineinthe
Editwindow.Thisonlyaffects
thelocationofthecursorinthe
Editwindowthelocationofthe
probeintheGraphicsDisplay
windowremainsunchanged.
ChangeBackgroundColor... Thisoptiondisplaysthe
ChangeLabelOptionsdialog
box.Youcanusethisdialog
boxtochangethebackground
colorforthefeature'sIDlabel.
Youcanchoosetochangeall
featurelabelstothisnewcolor
orjustthecurrentlabeltype.
Therearethreedifferentlabel
types:featureIDlabels,Diminfo
boxes,andPointinfoboxes.
Youcanmakeyourchanges
thedefaultsettingsbyclicking
theDefaultbutton.
Thisdoesnotfunctionwith

FeatureControlFrames.
ChangeLineColor... Thisoptiondisplaysthe
boxtochangethebordercolor
forthefeature'sIDlabel.You
canchoosetochangeall
featurelabelborderstothisnew
colororjustthecurrentlabel
type.Therearethreedifferent
labeltypes:featureIDlabels,
Diminfoboxes,andPointinfo
boxes.
theDefaultbutton.
ShowShadow... Thisoptiondisplaysthe
boxtodisplayorhideasmall
shadowunderthefeature'sID
label.Youcanchoosetoadda
shadowtoalllabeltypesor to
justthecurrentlabeltype.
Therearethreedifferentlabel
types:featureIDlabels,Diminfo
boxes,andPointinfoboxes.
theDefaultbutton.
FeatureShortcutMenuAdditionsinTextBoxMode
PCDMISaddstheseadditionaloptionstothestandardFeatureShortCutmenuwheninText
BoxMode.Theseinclude:
Option Description
CreateFeatureControl ThisoptioncreatesaTrue
Frame... PositionFeatureControlFrame
(FCF)dimensionfromthe
selectedfeature.TheGD&T

dialogboxappears.For
informationonhowtocreate
FCFdimensions,see"Using
FeatureControlFrames".
CreateDimInfoBox... Thisoptioncreatesa
DimensionInformationtextbox
fromthehighlightedfeature.An
EditDimInfodialogbox
appears,showingtheavailable
dimensionsfromwhichyoucan
createtheDimensioninfotext
box.
Ifnodimensionsareassociated
withthefeature,PCDMIS
automaticallycreatesadefault
Locationdimensionforthe
feature(see"Dimensioning
Features"chapter).For
informationonhowtousethe
EditDimensionInfodialog
box,see"InsertingDimension
InfoBoxes"inthe"Inserting
CreatePointInfoBox... Thismenuoptioncreatesa
PointInfotextboxfromthe
highlightedfeature.AnEdit
PointInfodialogboxappears,
showingthefeature(andany
availabledimensions)from
whichyoucancreatethePoint
Infotextbox.Forinformationon
howtousetheEditPointInfo
dialogboxtocreateaPointInfo
textbox,see"InsertingPoint
Toaccessthesenewoptions:
1. SelecttheTextBoxModeicon(see"TextBoxMode"inthe"EditingtheCAD
Display"chapter).
2. Rightclickonafeatureorfeature'sIDlabelintheGraphicsDisplaywindowto
displaytheshortcutmenu.
Dimension/PointInfoMenuinTextBoxMode
Whenintextboxmode,ifyourightclickonaDimInfoboxorPointInfobox,PCDMISadds
thesetwooptionstothestandardFeatureShortcutMenu:
Option Description

Edit... Thisoptionallowsyoutoedit
theselectedDimensionInfoor
PointInfotextbox.Aslightly
modifiedEditDimensionInfo
orEditPointInfodialogbox
opens.Inadditiontothe
standardbuttonsalongthe
bottomofthedialogbox,an
additionalApplyToAllbutton
isavailable:
ClickApplyToAlltohaveany
changesmadeinthedialogbox
applytoallDimensionInfoor
PointInfoboxes:
Note:Onlythechangesmade
fromtheoriginaltothemodified
infoboxwillbeappliedacross
allDimInfoorPointInfoboxes.
Settingsontheoriginalinfobox
thatalreadydifferfromother
infoboxeswillnotbeappliedto
theotherinfoboxes.
Foradditionalinformationsee
"InsertingDimensionInfo
Boxes"inthe"InsertingReport
Commands"chapter.
Delete Selectthismenuoptionto
deletetheselecteddimension
orpointinfotextbox.The
correspondingPOINTINFOor
DIMINFOcommandintheEdit
windowwillalsobedeleted.
Toaccessthesenewoptions:
Display"chapter).
2. RightclickonaDimInfoorPointInfoboxintheGraphicsDisplaywindow.
BoxSelectShortcutMenu
ThisshortcutmenuonlyworksinTextBoxMode.Toaccessthismenu:
Display"chapter).
2. Boxselectoneormorefeatures.PCDMISselectsallgraphicalfeaturesor
featureIDlabelsinsidethebox.
Ashortcutwiththeseoptionsappears:

Option Description
CreateFeatureControl ThisoptioncreatesaTrue
Frame... PositionFeatureControlFrame
(FCF)dimensionfromthe
selectedfeature.TheGD&T
dialogboxappears.For
informationonhowtocreate
FCFdimensions,see"Using
FeatureControlFrames".
CreateDimInfoBoxes... Thismenuoptioncreates
DimensionInfotextboxesfrom
theselectedfeatures.
AnEditDimensionInfodialog
boxappearsforoneofthe
highlightedfeatures,showing
theavailabledimensionsfrom
whichyoucancreatethefirst
DimensionInfobox.
Onceyouveselectedthe
desiredoptionsintheEdit
DimensionInfodialogbox,
clickeithertheOKorCreate
button(Applybuttonwhen
editing)tocreatetheDimInfo
boxes.
ThefirstDimInfoboxwillbe
createdfromtheselected
dimension(s)intheEdit
Subsequentinfoboxeswillbe
createdfromalldimensions
associatedwitheachfeature.
Ifnodimensionsareassociated
withanyofthefeatures,a
defaultLocationdimensionwill
automaticallybecreatedforthat
feature(see"Dimensioning

Features"chapter).For
informationonhowtousethe
EditDimensionInfodialog
box,see"InsertingDimension
CreatePointInfoBoxes... Selectthismenuoptionto
createPointInfotextboxes
fromthehighlightedfeatures.
AnEditPointInfodialogbox
appearsforoneofthe
highlightedfeatures,showing
thefeature(andanyavailable
dimensions)fromwhichyou
cancreatethePointInfotext
box.
Onceyouveselectedthe
desiredoptionsintheEditPoint
Infodialog,selecttheOKor
Createbutton(Applybutton
whenediting)tocreatetheinfo
boxes.
Thefirstinfoboxwillbecreated
fromtheselectedfeatureor
dimension(s)intheEditPoint
Infodialogbox.Subsequent
PointInfoboxeswillbecreated
fromalldimensionsassociated
witheachfeatureandthe
featureitself.APointInfobox
willbecreatedforalldimension
andfeaturehits.Forinformation
onhowtousetheEditPoint
InfodialogboxtocreateaPoint
Infotextbox,see"Inserting
PointInfoBoxes"inthe
"InsertingReportCommands"
chapter.
ShowIDs,HideIds Selectoneofthesemenu
optionstoshoworhideallthe
selectedfeatures'IDlabels.If
youchoosetohidetheIDlabels
theIDlabelsstillexistandare
merelyhiddenfromview.
ShowIDsinAllViews Thisoptionshowsallthe
selectedIDlabelsinallofthe
availableGraphicsDisplay
windowviewpanes.
HideIDsinView Thisoptionhidesallthe
selectedIDlabelsinthecurrent
GraphicsDisplaywindowview
pane.
HideFeatures Thisoptionhidesallselected

featuresonapart,removing
themfromtheGraphicsDisplay
window.Thefeaturesstillexist
andaremerelyhiddenfrom
view.
ResetIds Thisoptionmovesallselected
IDlabelsbacktotheiroriginal
locationsnexttotheirrespective
features.
QuickFixtureShortcutMenu
ThisshortcutmenuonlyworksinQuickFixtureMode (see"InsertingQuickFixtures"inthe
"DefiningHardware"chapter).Toaccessthismenu:
1. SelecttheQuickFixtureModeiconfromtheGraphicsModestoolbar.
2. Rightclickonaquickfixtureobjectthatyouhavealreadyinsertedintothe
Ashortcutwiththeseoptionsappears:
Option Description
Dropobject Thisdropstheselectedquick
fixtureontowhateverliesbelow
itintheGraphicsDisplay
window.Ifthereisnothinginthe
Zdirection,thennothing
happens.Ifthereis,thenthe
fixturedropsdownuntilit
touchestheobject(s)below.
Levelobject Thistakesthenormalsurface
vectorofwhereyoujustright
clickedandsquaresthatupwith
themachinecoordinatesystem.
Rotateobject Thistakesthepointwhereyou
justrightclickedanddropsiton
totheclosestedge.Itthen

squaresupthevectorthatis
tangenttothecurveatthedrop
point.Therotateisa2D
squaring,lookingdownthe
currentviewnormal.
Squareup Thissquaresuptheselected
quickfixturesothatitsaxesare
paralleltotheCADaxes
(minimalchange)
LinkFixtureComponents Thisgroupsallonscreenfixture
componentstogethersothat
draggingorrotatingonefixture
dragsorrotatesthemall
together.
UnlinkFixtureComponents Thisunlinksfixturecomponents,
allowingyoutomanipulatethem
individually.
FixComponentinPlace Ifyouhavelinkedfixture
components,youcanusethis
selectiontofixthelocationof
theselectedcomponentinthe
setoflinkedcomponents.That
componentwillremainfixedat
itscurrentlocation,evenifyou
thenmoveothercomponentsof
thelinkedset.
SaveFixture Selectingthismenuitems
bringsupaSaveAsdialogbox
thatletsyousaveanyon
screenfixtureelements.Ifyou
havemorethanonefixtureon
thescreen,thenPCDMIS
savesthemallasasingleset.
Savedfixturesgetstoredinthe
expandableUSERtreeinthe
QuickFixdialogboxforlater
use.
Xmoveonly Selectingthismenuitemand
draggingthefixturewillmoveit
alongtheXaxisonly.
Ymoveonly Selectingthismenuitemand
alongtheYaxisonly.
Zmoveonly Selectingthismenuitemand
alongtheZaxisonly.
XYmoveonly Selectingthismenuitemand
alongtheXandYaxesonly.
YZmoveonly Selectingthismenuitemand
alongtheYandZaxesonly.
ZXmoveonly Selectingthismenuitemand
alongtheZandXaxesonly.

XYrotateonly Selectingthismenuitemcauses
therotationtotakeplaceonlyin
theXYplane.Youcanrotateby
pressingCTRLanddragging
thefixture.Selectagaintoclear
thisoption.
YZrotateonly Selectingthismenuitemcauses
theYZplane.Youcanrotateby
thisoption.
ZXrotateonly Selectingthismenuitemcauses
theZXplane.Youcanrotateby
thisoption.
AutoFeaturePathLinesShortcutMenu
Toaccessthisshortcutmenu,selecttheShowPathTogglebutton insideanAutoFeature
dialogbox.
Option Description
InsertHit Insertsanadditionalhitintotheautofeature.
DeleteHit Deletestheselectedhitfromtheautofeature.
InsertSample
Hit
Insertsasamplehitfortheautofeature.
DeleteSample
Deletestheselectedsamplehitfromtheautofeature.
Hit
InsertRow Whenworkingwithafeaturethatusesmultiplerowsofhits,suchasa
cylinderorcone,thisinsertsanotherrowofhits.

Whenworkingwithafeaturethatusesmultiplerowsofhits,suchasa
DeleteRow
cylinderorcone,thisdeletestheselectedrowofhits.
Thismenuoptionbecomesautomaticallyselectedwheneveryou
manuallymakeachangetoahitorpathusingthemouse.
Ifyouthendeselectthismenuoption,PCDMISrevertsyourchange
UserDefined
backtowhatitwasbefore.
Hits
Additionally,ifyouhavethisoptionselectedforahitandthenchange
tothefeature'sperpendicularview,usingViewPerpendicular, you
canadjustthedepthorheightforthatspecifichit.
ViewNormal ThischangestheCADviewofthefeaturetoatopdownview.
View ThischangestheCADviewofthefeaturetoasideview,idealfor
Perpendicular definingafeature'sdepthoraddingadditionallevelsofhits.
ShortcutMenusintheEditWindow
PCDMIS'sEditwindowcontainsthefollowingshortcutmenusdependingonwhatEditwindow
modeisselected.
SummaryModeCommandShortcutMenu
WhenyouselectacommanditemintheEditwindow'sSummaryMode(see"Workingin
SummaryMode"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter)andrightclickonthecommanditem,
thecommandshortcutmenuappears.Thismenuhasthefollowingoptions:
Option Description

Edit Thisoptioncausesthedialog
forthecurrentobjecttobe
displayed.
Mark Thisoptiontogglesthemark
stateoftheobjectfor
execution.
Delete Thisoptiondeletestheselected
commandandanysub
commandsoutofthepart
program.
Copy Thisoptioncopiestheselected
commandtotheClipboard.
Cut Thisoptioncutstheselected
commandtotheClipboardand
removesthecommandfromthe
partprogram.
Paste Thisoptionpastesacommand
thatwaspreviouslycutor
copiedfromtheClipboardand
placesitbelowtheselected
command.
CollapseGroups Thisoptioncollapsesall
expandeduserdefinedgroups.
Otherexpandeditemsremain
expanded.
CollapseAll Thisoptioncollapsesall
expandeditems.
ExpandCommand Thisoptionexpandsthecurrent
commandlineanddisplaysany
dataorgroupitemsassociated
withtheselectedcommand.
AddCommand Thisoptionallowsyoutoadda
commandtotheEditwindow
fromanalphabetizedscrollable
list.
STEP1:Navigatethroughthe
listbytypingthefirstfewletters
ofthecommand.PCDMIS
automaticallygoestothat
command.
STEP2:Selectthecommand
fromthelist.
STEP3:PresseitherCTRL+
ENTERorENTERtoplacethe
newcommandintotheEdit
window.
PressingCTRL+ENTER
placesthecommandafterthe
commandblockusedtoopen

theshortcutmenu..
PressingENTERplacesthe
commandinsidethecommand
blockusedtoopentheshortcut
menu.UsingtheENTERkey
onlyfunctionsinthismannerif
thecommandyouareaddingis
atypeofcommandthatPC
DMISallowstobeinsertedinto
anothercommandblock.
OtherwisePCDMISinsertsit
afterthecurrentcommand.
DockingView Thismenuoptiondetermines
whetherornottheEditwindow
isdockedorundocked.
Ifyoudeselectthisoption,the
Editwindowbehaveslikeitdid
inpreviousversionsofPC
DMIS,floatingoverthe
Ifyouselectthisoption,youwill
beabletodocktheEditwindow
tothesidesortoporbottomof
OptimizePath Thismenuoptionletsyou
performarunthepath
optimizationroutineifyouare
usingtheInspectionPlanner
module,otherwisethisoptionis
notaccessible.Seethe
InspectionPlanner
documentationonhowtouse
this.
Test<Feature> Thismenuoptiononlyappears
whenrightclickingonanauto
feature.
Itperformsatestexecutionof
theselectedautofeature.This
functionsthesameastheTest
buttonintheAutoFeature
dialogbox.
Note:Careshouldbetaken
whenusingthisoptionasa
probecollisionmayoccurdue
toignoredclearanceplanes.
MoveTo<Feature> Thismenuoptiononlyappears
feature.

Itmovestheprobetothecenter
oftheselectedautofeature.
Thisfunctionsthesameasthe
MoveTobuttonintheAuto
Featuredialogbox.
Note:Careshouldbetaken
whenusingthisoptionasa
probecollisionmayoccurdue
toignoredclearanceplanes.
DataItemShortcutMenu
ThedataitemshortcutmenuappearswhenrightclickingonadataitemintheEditwindow's
SummaryMode(see"WorkinginSummaryMode"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"chapter).This
shortcutmenuhasthefollowingoptions:
Option Description
Edit Thesubmenuforthisitem
includesValue/Expression
TextandUseExpression
Builder.
Value/ExpressionText: Allowsyoutoeditthecurrent
itemiftheitemcanbeedited.If
thedataitemisatoggleitem,a
togglelistwillappear,otherwise
aboxforeditingthecurrent
valuewillappear.
UseExpressionBuilder: Iftheitemcanbeedited,brings
uptheExpressionBuilder
dialogboxallowingyouto
createexpressionsforthe
selectedfield.
Copy Copiesoneofthreetextoptions
totheClipboardforthe
selecteddataitem.
ValueText: Copiesthecurrentvalueofthe
dataitemtotheClipboard.
ExpressionText: Copiesthecurrentexpression
texttotheClipboardifan
expressionexistsforthedata
item.
DescriptionText: Copiesthecurrentdataitem
descriptiontotheClipboard.
Paste Thispastesacopiedvalue,
expressiontext,oritem
descriptiontoanewlocation.

DockingView Seedescriptiongiveninthe
"SummaryModeCommand
ShortcutMenu".
CommandModeShortcutMenu
ThefollowingshortcutmenuoptionsareavailablewhenPCDMISisinCommandMode.For
informationonthesemodes,see"WorkinginCommandMode"inthe"UsingtheEditWindow"
chapter.
Option Description
SelectCommand Highlightsthecommandthat
themouseispositionedover
SelectBlock Ifthemouseisoverastartor
endblockobject,selectsthe
entireblock.
ExecuteFromCommand Thisoptionstartsexecution
fromthecurrentlocationofthe
insertionpointintheedit
window.
ExecuteBlock Thisoptionexecutesthe
currentlymarkedblockof
commands.
JumpTo<Feature> Thisoptionjumpsfromthe

currentcommandtothe
referencedfeatureID.
JumpBack Thisoptionjumpsbacktothe
commandyouwereatbefore
youselectedtheJumpTo
option.
Edit Thisopensupthedialogbox
thatallowsyoutoeditthe
commandthatthecursor
resideson.
Mark Thisoptiontogglesthemark
stateoftheobjectfor
execution.Formoreinformation
onmarking,see"Mark"inthe
"EditingaPartProgram"
chapter.
Group Thisoptioninsertsthelistof
contiguousselectedcommands
intoauserdefinedgroup.
CollapseGroup Thisoptioncollapsesall
expandeduserdefinedgroups.
Otherexpandeditemsremain
expanded.
SetasStartPoint Thisoptiondeterminesthe
startinglocationatwhichpart
programexecutionbegins
whenyouselecttheFile|
PartialExecution|Execute
FromStartPointsmenu
option.See"SettingStart
Points"inthe"EditingaPart
Program"chapter.
Breakpoint Thisoptioninsertsabreakpoint
atthecursor'slocation.For
moreinformationon
breakpoints,see"Using
Breakpoints"inthe"Editinga
Bookmark Thisoptioninsertsabookmark
moreinformationon
bookmarks,see"Using
Bookmarks"inthe"Editinga
OverrideFindNoms Thisoptionoverridesthe
defaultFindNomsbehaviorof
PCDMISduringLearnMode
andExecutemode.Formore
information,see"Overriding
FoundNominals"inthe"Editing
aPartProgram"chapter.
Copy Thisoptioncopiestheselected
Editwindowtexttothe
Clipboard.Formoreinformation
oncopyingintheEditwindow,

see"Copy"inthe"Editinga
Cut Thisoptioncutstheselected
Editwindowtexttothe
Clipboard.Formoreinformation
oncuttingintheEditwindow,
see"Cut"inthe"EditingaPart
Program"chapter.
Paste Thisoptionpastestextfromthe
ClipboardintotheEditwindow
moreinformationonpastingin
theEditwindow,see"Paste"in
the"EditingaPartProgram"
chapter.
DockingView Seedescriptiongiveninthe
"SummaryModeCommand
ShortcutMenu".
ChangePopupDisplay
ExpressionValue 1. SelectExpression
Value.
2. Letyourcursorrest
overanexpression.
3. Asmallpopupwindow
appears,displayingthe
currentvalueofthe
expression.
DataTypeInformation 1. SelectDataType
Information.
overadatafield.
3. Asmallpopupwindow
appears,displaying
informationaboutthat
datafieldincludingthe
datatypedescription,
thedatatypenumber,
andthetypeindex.
Theinformationdisplayedin
thispopupwindowcanbe
usedwiththeGETTEXT
expression.Seethe"Using
ExpressionsandVariables"
chapter.
CommandInformation 1. SelectCommand
Information.
overanyEditwindow
command.
Asmallpopupwindow
appears,displayingcommand

descriptioninformationandthe
commandtypenumber.The
informationdisplayedinthis
popupwindowcanbeused
withtheGETCOMMAND
expression.Seethe"Using
ExpressionsandVariables"
chapter.
Object Thismenuoptionremains
unavailableforselectionuntil
youinsertanexternalobject
intotheEditwindow.See
"InsertingExternalObjects"in
the"AddingExternalElements"
chapterforinformationonhow
todothis.
Onceyouselecttheinserted
externalobjectintheEdit
windowandthenrightclickon
it,thismenuchangestoreflect
optionsuniquetothatparticular
object.Thesemayinclude
optionssuchasopeningthe
object,editingtheobject,or
simplymodifyingtheobject's
properties.
Test<Feature> Thismenuoptiononlyappears
feature.
Itperformsatestexecutionof
theselectedautofeature.This
functionsthesameastheTest
buttonintheAutoFeature
dialogbox.
Careshouldbetakenwhen
usingthisoptionasaprobe
collisionmayoccurdueto
ignoredclearanceplanes.
MoveTo<Feature> Thismenuoptiononlyappears
feature.
Itmovestheprobetothecenter
oftheselectedautofeature.
Thisfunctionsthesameasthe
MoveTobuttonintheAuto
Featuredialogbox.
Careshouldbetakenwhen
usingthisoptionasaprobe
collisionmayoccurdueto

ignoredclearanceplanes.
ShortcutMenusintheReportWindow
IfyourightclickintheReportwindow,PCDMISdisplaysashortcutmenuwithmenuitemsthat
affecthowobjectsaredisplayedintheReportwindow.Certainmenuitemsonlyappearifyou
rightclickonspecificunderlyingobjectsintheReportwindow.Thevariousmenuitemsyoucan
accessfromtheReportwindow'sshortcutmenuarediscussedinthetablebelow:
Option Description
EditObject... ThisoptionallowsyoutomodifythecurrentobjectintheReportwindowfrom
itsdefaultstate.
IfyourightclickedonalabelobjectintheReportwindow,theLabel
Propertiesdialogboxappears,allowingyoutomodifythatlabel.
IfyourightclickedontheTextReportObject(essentiallyanywhite
spacetextattheendofyourreportoranynontablelikereporting
text),theReportdialogboxappearsallowingyoutodeterminewhat
getsincludedinyourreport.
Hint:PressingSHIFTandrightclickingonanylabelobjectwilldisplay
theReportdialogbox.
Formoreinformationsee"ChangingtheReportWindow'sContents"inthe
HideSelected ThisoptionhidesanyselectedlabelsusedwiththeCADReportObject.
Labels
Selectthelabelsyouwanttohideandthenrightclickononeoftheselected
labelsforthismenuitemtoappear.
Youcanselectmultiplelabelsatatimebydraggingaboxaroundthedesired
labelswiththemouseorbyholdingdowntheCTRLkeyandclickingonthe
desiredlabels.
ShowHidden Thisoptionshowsallhiddenlabels.RightclickontheCADReportObjectfor
Labels thismenuitemtoappear.
RemoveObject Thisoptionremovesaselectedlabelobjectorsectioncutprofileobjectthat
youaddedusingtheAddObjectonPagesubmenu.
YoushouldnotusetheDELETEkeywhenattemptingtoremoveselected
objectsdoingsodeletesselectedcommandsintheEditwindowinstead.
RemoveObject Thisoptionreturnstheobjectyourightclickedontoitsoriginalstate,
Modifications removinganymodificationsyoumayhavemadeusingtheEditObject...
menuitemormaderesizingorrepositioningsupportedobjects.
Change ThisoptiondisplaysanOpendialogbox,allowingyoutochangethetemplate
Template... usedtodisplayandformatthedatafromtheunderlyingcommand.Only

thosetemplatesspecifiedtoworkwiththecommandwillappearinthedialog
box.
DuplicatePage Thisoptioncreatesanidenticalpageoftheoneonwhichyourightclicked
immediatelyfollowingthecurrentpage.Youmayfindthishelpfulin
organizinglabelsthatcan'tfitononepageacrossmultiplepages.
Youcanremoveaduplicatedpagebyrightclickingonitandselecting
RemoveDuplicatedPage.
Remove Thisoptiononlyappearsinthemenuwhenyourightclickonapreviously
Duplicatedpage duplicatedpage.Selectingitremovestheduplicatedpagefromthereport.
AddObjecton Thisoptioninsertsasectioncutprofileofyourpartmodelintothereport.
Page>SectionCut
Profile
SampleSectionCutProfile
Afterselectingthisoption,useyourmouseanddragaboxintheReport
windowtoinsertthesectioncutprofile.Seetheinformationinthe
"SectionCutObject"topicinthe"ReportingMeasurementResults"chapterfor
detailedinformation.
Usingthismethodyoucaninsertmultiplecutawayviewsintoyourreport.
AddObjecton Thismenuitemletsyouinsertacustomlabelobjectontheflyintotheactive
Page>Custom report.ThistypeoflabelinsertionprocessisnottiedinanywaytotheRule
Label... TreeEditor.
SelectthismenuitemandthendragaboxintheReportwindow.AnOpen
dialogboxappears,allowingyoutoinsertaselectedlabeltemplateonthefly
intothecurrentpageofthereport.
Wireframe ThismenuitemtogglesthedisplayoftheselectedCADReportObjectby
displayingthemodelaseitherawireframeorasolid.Thismenuitemonly
appearsifyourightclickona CadReportObjectinyourreport.

ErrorCodesIntroduction
TheerrorcodesinthissectionarespecifictotheSheffieldcomponentswhichincludestheCMM
electronicsandMeasurementLibrary(MLB)commands.
Errorcodesaredenotedbyagroupname,ahyphenandanumber.AfewexamplesareMP523,
MLB010,andTempComp200.
Theerrorgroupsare:
MLB
MP
DCC
RCU
TempComp
MLBErrorInformation
AnMLBerrorisgeneratedbyanMLBcommandthatcannotbeprocessed.Itcanoccurwhena
partprogramisrunning,whenapartisbeingmeasured,orwhenapartprogramisbeingedited
withinQuickTeachorMaxLite. MLBerrorsdonotincludeerrorsdetectedbyVisualBasic. Refer
totheVBhelpforassistancewithVBerrors.
SomeexamplesofMLBerrorsare:
1. Aresourceisnotavailable,suchasMLB090for'DCCnotavailable',orRCU
050for'RCUnotavailable'.
2. Commandsyntaxisinvalid,suchasMLB020for'improperparameter',orMLB
010for'unidentifiedfunctioncommandstring'.
3. CMMcannotcompletethemotion,suchasMLB168for'unexpectedtouch',or
MLB169for'unexpectedendoftravel'.
4. Datacannotbeprocessed,suchasMLB038for'cannotintersectlineparallel
withcylinderaxis',orMLB070for'referencenotsaved'.
MLBerrorsaredisplayedatthePC,typicallyinadialogbox.
TheMLBerrorcodesarelistedinthistable:
MLB001 MLB026 MLB062 MLB114 MLB168

MLB011 MLB033 MLB088 MLB140


MLB001MPInternalsyntaxerror
AsystemerrorinternaltotheMeasurementProcessor(MP)occurred.
Effect
Commandisaborted.Furtherpartprogramoperationsmaybeimpossible.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Resetsystem.
2. Iftheerrorreoccurs,contactyourGiddings&Lewisservice
representative.
MLB003Communicationserror
Thisisgenerallycausedbyarequiredsystemresourcethatisnotpresentoris
notfunctional.ThisisanMPinternalsystemerror.
Effect
Commandisaborted.Furthersystemoperationsmaynotbepossible.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Resetsystem.

representative.
MLB004Numericerror
Aconditionexiststhatpreventsavalidresultfromanarithmeticoperation,e.g.,
anattempteddivisionbyzero.ThisisanMPinternalsystemerror.
Effect
Commandisnotexecuted.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Ensurethepointsbeingmeasureddefineafeatureofthetypethatis
beinginspectedorthattheattemptedfeatureconstructionoperation
makessense.
2. Ifnocausecanbedeterminedfortheerror,contactyourGiddings&Lewis
servicerepresentative.
MLB005Communicationserror
IOcommandhadcommunicationerrorswiththeMP.ThisisanMPinternal
systemerror.
Effect
TheI/Obitscannotbereadorwrittenproperly.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Resetsystem.
representative.
MLB006Outputmasklogicaltranslationerror
IOcommandhaderrortranslatingoutputmasklogical.ThisisanMPinternal
systemerror.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo

1. Correcttheoutputmasklogicalformatandreruntheprogram.
2. Resetsystem.
representative.
MLB007Outputunavailable
IOcommanddeterminedoutputunavailableusingoutputmasklogical.Thisisan
MPinternalsystemerror.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Changetheoutputportnumberandreruntheprogram.
2. Resetsystem.
representative.
MLB010UnidentifiedFCS
ThespecifiedFunctionCommandString(FCS)didnotcorrespondtoanydefined
MLBcommand.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. CorrectthepartprogramtousethecorrectFCSidentifier.
MLB011Firstrecordinskipfileisinvalid
Thefirstlineoftheskipfilemustbeeither"Type=SKIP"or"Type=EXEC".
Effect
Skipfileisignoredandnormalpartprogramoperationwilloccurifyoucontinue.
Whatyoushoulddo

1. Correctthecontentsoftheskipfile.
MLB012Invalidrecordinskipfile
Alineintheskipfiledidnotcorrespondtoeitheracommentoravalidly
formattedcodeblockname.
Effect
Invalidlineisignored.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Correctthecontentsoftheskipfile.
MLB013Skipfileaccesserror
Anerroroccurredwhilereadingtheskipfile.
Effect
Skipfileisignored.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Checktheskipfileandskipfilemediaforerrors.
MLB014Nestedcodeblocks
Partprogramcontainsnestednamedcodeblocks.Thebeginning(BB)ofa
secondcodeblockoccurredbeforetheend(EB)oftheprecedingcodeblock
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Correctthepartprogram.
MLB015Missingbeginblock
Anendblock(EB)commandwasencounteredwithoutamatchingbeginblock
(BB)command.

Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB016Nestedskipsequence
Partprogramcontainsnestedskipsequence.Asecondbeginskipcommand
wasencounteredwithoutaninterveningendskipstatement.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB017Invalidendskipblockfunction
Anendskipsequencecommandwasfoundwithoutamatchingbeginskip
sequencecommand.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB018Impropertolerancingmode
Boltcircleorrectangularpatternfunctioncannotbecalledwheninlimit
tolerancingmode.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo

MLB019Improperparameter
Toomanyornotenoughparametersspecified,oraninvalidparameterwas
specified.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Checkthecommand'sdefinitionandcorrectthepartprogram.
MLB020Noparameterpermitted
Thespecifiedcommanddoesnotallowanyparametersbutaparameterwas
specified.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB021Firstparameterinvalid
Thefirstparameterspecifiedwasnotvalidforthisfunction.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB022Secondparameterinvalid
Thesecondparameterspecifiedwasnotvalidforthisfunction.
Effect

Whatyoushoulddo
MLB023Thirdparameterinvalid
Thethirdparameterspecifiedwasnotvalidforthisfunction.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB024Fourthparameterinvalid
Thefourthparameterspecifiedwasnotvalidforthisfunction.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB025Invalidparameterspecified
Oneoftheparametersspecifiedwasnotvalidforthisfunction.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB026Invalidtipspecified
Thespecifiedtiphasnotbeencalibrated,orthetipnumberisoutofrange.
Effect

Whatyoushoulddo
1. Checkthespecifiedtipandeithercorrectthename,calibratethetip,or
selectthecorrectprobetipfile.
MLB027Excessiveangulardeviation
Anattempthasbeenmadetocomputeparallelismbetweentwofeaturesthatare
almostperpendicularortocomputeperpendicularitybetweentwofeaturesthat
arealmostparallel.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Correctthepartprogramtospecifythecorrectfeaturesorthecorrect
command.
MLB028Insufficientnumberofparameters
Arequiredparameterhasnotbeenspecifiedforthisfunction.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB029Dimensionalarrayvaluesoutofrange
DataintheDimensionalArrayistoolargeortoosmalltobeusedasspecifiedfor
thisfunction.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Checkthecommand'sdefinitionandcorrecttheDimensionalArraydata.

MLB030Featurestackdoesnotcontainrequiredfeatures
Oneofthefollowingconditionsexist:
1. Featureregisterisempty
2. Specifiedorrequiredfeaturepositionisempty
3. Featurestackdoesnotcontaintwofeatures
4. Featurestackdoesnotcontaintherequiredfeatures
5. Featurestackdoesnotcontaintherequirednumberofpointstodefinethe
feature.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Checkthecommand'sdefinitionandcorrectthepartprogramtogetthe
properdataintothefeaturestack.
MLB031Firstparameterspecifiesinvalidtype
Thefeaturespecifiedbythefirstfunctionparameterisnotthecorrecttypeforthe
function.Notethatthiserrormayoccurifnoparameterisspecifiedandthe
functiondefaultstousingthedataintheFeatureRegisterandthetypeofthat
featureisincorrect.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB032Secondparameterspecifiesinvalidtype
Thefeaturespecifiedbythesecondfunctionparameterisnotthecorrecttypefor
thefunction.Notethatthiserrormayoccurifnoparameterisspecifiedandthe
functiondefaultstousingthedatainthefirstfeaturestackposition(F1)andthe
typeofthatfeatureisincorrect.
Effect

Whatyoushoulddo
MLB033Planeisinvalidtype
Thespecifiedfeatureisaplaneandaplanetypefeatureisnotvalidforthe
function.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB034Cannotintersectconcentriccircles
Thecirclesspecifiedforthecomputationofanintersectionpointwereconcentric
anddonotintersect.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB035Lineperpendiculartoworkingplane
Thefunctionoperationrequiredthatthespecifiedlinebeprojectedintotheactive
workingplanebutthelinewasperpendiculartothatplaneandcouldnotbe
projected.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB036Invalid(null)featureaddressed

Thespecifiedfeatureisoftype'null',indicatingthatitistheresultofaskipped
operation,butthisfunctioncannotbeexecutedwitha'null'feature.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB037Invalidfeaturetype
Thetypeofthefeatureselectedforthisfunctionisnotvalid.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB038Cannotintersectlineparallelwithcylinderaxis
Executionofthecommandrequiredcomputingalinewithacylindricalsurface
butthespecifiedlineisparalleltothecylinder'saxisanddoesnotinsectthe
cylindricalsurface.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB040Summationarraydoesnotcontainenoughfeatures
Thenumberofpointsrequiredforthiscommandarenotcontainedinthe
summationarray.
Effect

Whatyoushoulddo
MLB041Pointsdonotdefinethefeature
Oneofthefollowingconditionsexist:
1. Thepointsdonotdefinethefeature(circle,lineintheworkingplane,line
inspace,oraplane).
2. Thefeaturesdonotdefineanoffsetangle.
3. Eitherthelineisperpendiculartothemeasurementplane,orthepoints
areequalwhenprojectedontothemeasurementplane.Theoffsetangleis
notchanged.
4. Thefeaturesareparallel.
5. Thefeaturesareperpendicular.
6. Thefeaturesareidentical.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB042Summationsinvalid
Thespecifiedsummationarrayisinvalidduetoaprecedingoperation.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB043Segmentationinprogress
Thecommandcannotbeexecutedwhileasegmentedmeasurementisin
progress.
Effect

Whatyoushoulddo
MLB044Segmentationnotinitialized
Anattemptwasmadetoexecutea'nextsegment'commandwhenasegmented
measurementsequencehadnotbeenproperlyinitialized.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB045Commandcannotbeskipped
AnMLBcommandwhichmaynotbeskippedwasincludedwithinaskipped
blockofcode.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB050RCUnotavailable
ThecommandrequiresanRCUtobepresentwhennoRCUisavailable.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB060Rotarytablenotavailable
Thecommandrequiresarotarytabletobepresentwhennorotarytableis
available.

Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB061Rotarytablecounternotavailable
Thecommandrequiresarotarytablewithacountertobepresent.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB062Notallowedonrotarytablewithcounter
Thecommandisnotvalidifthesystemcontainsarotarytablewithacounter.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB063Notallowedonerrorcorrectedrotarytable
Thecommandisnotvalidifthesystemcontainsanerrorcorrectedrotarytable.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB064NotallowedonaHirthcouplingtable

ThecommandisnotsupportedforaHirthcoupledtable.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB070Referencenotsaved
Thecommandattemptedtorecallareferenceframethathadnotbeensaved.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
MLB071Featurestorageoverflow
Thesystemdoesnothaveenoughstorageavailabletosaveanotherfeature.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Checkthesystemspecificationsandcorrectthepartprogram.Previously
savedfeaturesmayneedtobedeleted.
MLB072Featurenotfound
Thecommandattemptedtorecallordeleteafeaturethathadnotbeensaved.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo

MLB080Improperprobeinstalled
Thefunctionisnotcompatiblewiththetypeofprobeinstalledforexample,a
sweepfunctionisnotvalidwhenatouchprobeisinstalled.Thiserrormayalso
occuronasystemwithaprobechangerifthesystemispoweredupwithaprobe
mountedoraprobeismanuallymountedwhenthesystembelievesthatno
probeisinstalled.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Adjusttheinstalledequipmenttocorrecttheproblem.
MLB088RCUDrivebuttonusedwithQU
TheQUcommandwasterminatedbytheDrivekeyontheRCUII.
MLB089RCUReturntoscreenbuttonusedwithQU
TheQUcommandwasterminatedbytheReturntoscreenkeyontheRCUII.
MLB090DCCnotavailable
ThecommandrequiresDCCfunctionality whenDCCoperationsarenot
currentlyavailableinthesystem.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Adjusttheinstalledequipmenttocorrecttheproblem.
3. CorrectanyproblemwhichispreventingDCCoperations.
MLB091Contactnotmadewithpart
DuringanattemptedDCCtouch,theprobehastraveledtothetargetplusthe
overdrivedistanceandtheparthasnotbeencontacted.
Effect

Pointdataisnotrecorded.Itmaynotbepossibletocontinuethepartprogram.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Determinethecauseoftheproblem.Eithercorrecttheprogramor
correctlypositionthepart.
MLB092Insufficientclearance
Thespecifiedprobediameterandclearancedoesnotallowtheprobetoentera
bore.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Determinethecauseoftheproblem.Eithercorrectthespecifiedboresize,
reducetheallowedclearanceoruseasmallerprobe.
MLB093Remoteautonotconfigured
Thecommandtoselectautomaticmodehasbeenexecutedonasystemthatis
notproperlyconfiguredtosupportthisoperation.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
correctlyconfigurethesystem.
2. Iftheerrorreoccursanditissupposedtosupportthisoperation,contact
yourGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentative.
MLB094Remoteautointerlocknotengaged
Thecommandtoselectautomaticmodehasbeenexecutedbuttheremoteauto
hardwareinterlockisnotengaged.
Effect

Whatyoushoulddo
1. Determinethecauseoftheproblem.Eithercorrecttheprogramorengage
theremoteautointerlock.ManuallyselectAUTOmodetocontinuethe
partprogram.
MLB095Servopowerfailedtoengage
Thecommandtoselectautomaticmodehasbeenexecutedbutthesystemwas
unabletoturnonservopower.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
eliminatethehardwareproblemthatispreventingservopowerfrom
engaging.ManuallyturnonservopowerandselectAUTOmodeto
continuethepartprogram.
MLB096UnabletoselectAutomode
Thecommandtoselectautomaticmodehasbeenexecutedbutthesystemwas
unabletoselectAutomode.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
eliminatethehardwareproblemthatispreventingAutomode.Manually
selectAutomodetocontinuethepartprogram.
MLB100Probeheaddatumerror

ThePH9orPH102axisprobedidnotseatproperlyafteramoveandisnot
lockedinposition.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Reseatthe2axisprobeheadandcontinue.
MLB101Probeheadobstructionerror
ThePH9orPH10probeheaddidnotcompletethemoveintopositionduetoan
obstruction.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Reseatthe2axisprobeheadandcontinue.
MLB110Tip0notcalibrated
Anattemptwasmadetocalibrateatipotherthanthemastertip(tip#0)whenthe
calibrationfixture'slocationrelativetotip0wasunknown.Tip0mustbe
calibratedbeforeanyothertipcanbecalibrated.Notethatthiserrormayoccurif
atip0calibrationoperationwasstartedandthenaborted.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Calibratetip0.
MLB111Sphericalcalibrationfixturerequired
AutomaticcalibrationattemptedafterexecutionofanMLBcommandthat
specifiedthecalibrationfixturewasaconeratherthanasphere.
Effect

Whatyoushoulddo
MLB112Temperaturechangeinvalidatedtip0calibration
Onasystemwithautomatictemperaturesensors,thetemperaturehaschanged
enoughsincetip0wascalibratedsothatadditionaltipscannotbecalibrated
accurately.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Recalibratetip0beforecalibratingadditionaltips.
MLB113Negativeprobediameterinvalidatedcalibration
Aprobecalibrationoperationresultedincomputinganegativeprobediameter.
Thisistypicallycausedbyspecifyingthewrongsizeforthecalibrationsphereor
havingthewrongmeasurementunitsactivewhenspecifyingthecalibration
spheresize.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Correcttheproblemandrecalibratetheprobe.
MLB114Excessiveprobeoffsetsinvalidatedcalibration
Aprobecalibrationoperationresultedincomputingprobeoffsetsthatwere
obviouslyinvalid.Thisistypicallycausedbyspecifyingthatthecalibrationsphere
isattheMEApositionwhenitisnotorbymovingthecalibrationsphereafter
calibratingtip0withoutthenexecutingthe'locatesphere'function.
Effect

Whatyoushoulddo
1. Correcttheproblemandrecalibratetheprobe.
MLB115Fileerroronfeatureorprobestorageoperation
Featureorprobedatacouldnotbestoredinthehostdiskdatastorage.Diskmay
bewriteprotectedorfull.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Correcttheproblemandreruntheprogram.
MLB116Notoncircleatbeginningofcircularmove
TheCMMisnotpositionedwithinthemovetoleranceofthecommandedcircleat
thebeginningofacircularmovecommand.
Effect
Commandisnotexecuted.SMPisputintomanualmode.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Checkthemovecommandsimmediatelybeforethecircularmove.
MLB120Partimproperlyalignedorscaled
Partnotalignedwithmachineorscaleddifferentlyforrectangularscan,orpart
notlevelorscaleddifferentlyforPolarscan.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Correcttheprogramtocorrectlyalignand/orscalethepart.
MLB130Operatorabort
Theoperationwasabortedduetoanoperatorselection.

Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Acknowledgetheerrormessageandeithercontinueorabortthepart
programasappropriate.
MLB131Electroniclevelnotavailable
Acommandtoreadtheelectroniclevelwasexecutedandtheelectroniclevelis
notavailable.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Verifythattheelectroniclevelisavailableinthissystemandisnot
functional.
MLB132Electroniclevelinterfacetimeout
Acommandtoreadtheelectroniclevelwasexecutedandtheelectroniclevel
timedout.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Verifythattheelectroniclevelisfunctional.
MLB140Pointnotavailable
Thespecifieddatapointisnotinthesummationarray.Theprogramdidnotstore
thepoint.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo

MLB150APCracknotconnected
ThecablethatshouldconnecttheautomaticprobechangerracktotheACUis
notattachedtotherackand/ortheACU.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Ifyouhaveanautomaticprobechanger(APC)rack,connectit.
2. IfyoudonothaveanAPCrack,useanalternateMLBcommandthatdoes
notrequireanAPCrack.
MLB151APCfirmwareorinterfacenotpresent
Youhaverequestedanautomaticprobechanger(APC)rackfunction,butthe
APCorsupportfirmwareisnotavailable.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. UseanalternatefunctionthatdoesnotrequiretheAPC.
MLB152APCracknotcalibrated
Youaretryingtorunapartprogramusingtheautomaticprobechanger(APC)
rack,butithasnotbeencalibrated.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Calibratetheautomaticprobechangerrack.
MLB153APC/MPcommunicationerror

ThecommunicationsbetweentheautomaticprobechangerrackandtheMPare
down.
Effect
TheMPcannotcommunicatewiththeautomaticprobechangerrack.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. ResettheMPandtheautomaticprobechangerrack.
representative.
MLB154APCracktimeoutorlockfailure
Thetimeallottedforaprobetransactionwasexceededoranadapterfailedto
lock.
Effect
Commandisaborted.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Resettheautomaticprobechangerrack.
MLB155APCrackovertravel
Excessmotionoftheautomaticprobechangerrackassembly.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Recalibratetheautomaticprobechangerrack.
MLB156Safepositionnotdefined
AsafePH9Arotationpositionhasnotbeendefined.
Effect
Youcannotusetheautomaticprobechangerrack.

Whatyoushoulddo
1. DefineasafePH9Arotationposition.
MLB157Noextensionsloaded
Youaretryingtoassembleamultistationprobe,whentherearenoextensionsin
theautomaticprobechangerrack.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Loadandcalibratethenecessaryextensions.
MLB158Toomanyextensionsloaded
Youtriedtoloadmorethanthreeextensionsontheprobe.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Makesurethelastautomaticprobechangerstationspecifiedinaprobe
configurationcontainsastylus.
MLB160Firmwareentitynotfound
ThereisabadROMorCPUboardintheMP.
Effect
Systemisinoperable.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. ContactyourGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentative.
MLB161APCrackcouldnotbelowered
APCrackcouldnotbelowered.

Effect
AcommandwasexecutedwhichrequiredtheAPCracktobeloweredandit
couldnotbelowered.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. CorrectproblemwiththeAPCracklower/raisecapability.
representative.
MLB162APCrackcouldnotberaised
AcommandwasexecutedwhichrequiredthattheAPCrackberaisedandit
couldnotberaised.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
2. CorrectproblemwiththeAPCracklower/raisecapability.
representative.
MLB164Insufficientanalogprobedeflection
Theanalogprobeisdeflectedlessthanonehalfofitsnominaldeflectionatthe
beginningofanAScommand.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. CheckthemovecommandsimmediatelybeforetheAScommand.The
nominalanalogprobedeflectioncanbereadusingtheKDcommand.
MLB166Notacircle
Cause

TheCMMisnotpositionedwithinthemovetoleranceofthecommandedcircleat
thebeginningofacircularmovecommand.
Effect
Commandnotexecuted,SMPputintomanualmode.
UserAction
Checkthemovecommandimmediatelybeforethecircularmovecommand.
ManagerAction
None.
MLB168Unexpectedtouch
Touchprobewasdeflectedwhileinautomodeotherthanduringatouchorseek
command.ThistypicallyhappensduringaDCCmotionthatwaspresumedtobe
overaclearpath.
Effect
Machineisplacedinmanualmode.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Removeobstructionandputthemachinebackinautomodeorreprogram
themachinemotioninstructions.
MLB169Unexpectedendoftravel
Machinemotionwaspreventedbyaphysicalobstruction.Typicallythishappens
asaresultofattemptingtodrivebeyondthephysicallimitsofoneormoreaxes.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Determinethecauseoftheproblem.Removethephysicalobstructionor
correctthepartprogram.
MLB170Touchprobewillnotrearm

Inautomode,thetouchprobewasdeflectedandfailedtorearmafterbacking
awayfromthesurface.Thismayhappenbecauseofanobstructionoraninternal
problem.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Freetheprobeifitisobstructedorcheckandadjusttheprobetension.
2. Putthesystembackintoautooncetheprobeisrearmedtoallowthe
programtocontinue.
MLB173PH9probeoverload
ThePH9orPH10hasexperiencedenoughforceononeofitsaxestocauseitto
loseitsprogrammedposition.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. ResetthePH9viatheRCU,ifpossible.Aftertheprobeheadhasbeen
reseated,placethesystembackintoAUTOmodetoallowthepart
programtocontinue.
MLB190Toomuchprobedeflection
Theanalogprobeisoverdeflectedduringascanmovecommand.
Effect
SMPisputintomanualmodewhen:
TrapScanDeflectStatus=False(SystemDefault).Thecommandis
temporarilyhalteduntilSMPisputintoautomaticmode.
TrapScanDeflectStatus=True.Thecommandisnotexecuted.The
variableScanDeflectStatusequals2.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Checkpartsurface.
2. Checkcurrentsoftprobedeflectionvalue.

3. Initiateusergeneratedscanerrorrecoveryroutine.
MLB191Cameoffsurface
Theanalogprobeisunderdeflectedduringascanmovecommand.
Effect
SMPisputintomanualmodewhen:
TrapScanDeflectStatus=False(SystemDefault).Thecommandis
temporarilyhalteduntilSMPisputintoautomaticmode.
TrapScanDeflectStatus=True.Thecommandisnotexecuted.The
variableScanDeflectStatusequals0.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Checkpartsurface.
2. Checkcurrentsoftprobedeflectionvalue.
3. Initiateusergeneratedscanerrorrecoveryroutine.
MLB505UserKeyUnknown
TheUKcommandspecifiesauserkeythatisnotdefined.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
2. AddtheuserkeytothedatabaselabelsinMeasureMax+.
MPErrorInformation
AnMPerrorisassociatedwiththeCMMelectronics.Theerrornumbersarecategorizedintothe
followinggroups:
Group Range Description

MP 1199 Diagnosticerrors
TempComp 200299 Temperaturecompensation
MP 300399 StandaloneoperationusingMP
frontpanelonMP30/35
MP 500599 MPpowerup

MP 600699 DCCpowerup
RCU 700799 RCUpowerup
MPerrornumbersaretypicallydisplayedonthefourthrowoftheXYZDisplayat
thePC. XYZDisplayisamonitorthatcanbedisplayedasawindowin
MeasureMax+andSTI. OnMaxLitesystems,itisdisplayedinthelowerright
corner. IfyouhaveanMP30/35systemwithafrontpanel,thentheerrorisalso
shownintheWaxisdisplayoftheMPfrontpanel.
Formemoryerrors,additionalinformationisshownintheZaxisoftheXYZ
Display(orMPfrontpanel,ifavailable). Thehexadecimaladdressandbit
informationallowstheGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentativetodiagnosethe
sourceoftheerror. Memory errorsaredisplayedintheformat"AAAAAC",
where"AAAAA"istheaddressand"C"isthebit.
InthecaseofMPRAM,"C"isthebitlocationwheretheerroroccurred.
ForMPROM,DCCRAMandROMerrors,"C"isthebytewheretheerror
occurred.
Iftheerrornumberis500599,theaddressandbitinformationpertainsto
theMPCPUboard.
Iftheerrornumberis600699,theaddressandbit(orchip)information
pertainstotheDCCboard.
IferrorMP160occursduringpowerup,checktheDCCboardLED,cyclepower
andwatchtheLED. AsequenceofcharactersflashesontheLEDastesting
takesplace.Eachcharacterrepresentsatestofaspecificsystemcomponentor
ofcommunicationbetweencomponents.Ifoneofthesetestsfails,thecharacter
representingthattestremainsontheLED.TheDCCLedsequenceis:
A TestingsharedRAMmemorycells
B TestingDCCtoMPinterrupt
C TestingMPinterruptacknowledge
D TestingMPtoDCCinterrupt
E TestingDCCROMandRAM
F AlltestspassedwaitingforfirstMPinterrupt

IftheDCCboardfailsafterthesystemison,errorMP060orMP151occurs.
TheseerrorsindicatethattheMPisunabletocommunicatewiththeDCCboard.
ChecktheDCCboardLEDforthefollowingnumbers:
1 32mssincelastD/Aupdate
2 32mssincelastMPupdate
3 DCCtoMPinterruptnotacknowledgedfor32ms
8 Systemrunningnormally
9 WaitingforinitialMPsharedRAMsyncup
OntheDCCboardLED,adecimalpointbeforetheerrornumbermeanstheCPU
isinactive.Adecimalpointaftertheerrornumbermeansthehardwaredetected
afailuretoupdateD/Afor32milliseconds.
ForMPpowerupfailures(errornumber500599),itmaynotbeabletotransmit
anerrormessagetothecomputer.OnanMP30/35systemwithafrontpanel,
theerrorisshownintheWaxisdisplayoftheMPfrontpanel. OnanSMP
system,theerrorisshowninthediagnosticLED.
ThefollowingtablecontainstheavailableMPerrorcodes:
MP001 MP047 MP124 MP176 MP522 MP561

MP002 MP048 MP127 MP177 MP523 MP562
MP003 MP055 MP129 MP178 MP524 MP563
MP004 MP059 MP130 MP179 MP525 MP564
MP007 MP060 MP131 MP180 MP526 MP565
MP008 MP064 MP142 MP181 MP527 MP566
MP013 MP077 MP143 MP182 MP528 MP601
MP015 MP078 MP146 MP183 MP529 MP619
MP018 MP079 MP147 MP184 MP530 MP621
MP019 MP080 MP148 MP186 MP531 MP650
MP021 MP081 MP149 MP310 MP532 MP651
MP022 MP082 MP151 MP320 MP533 MP697
MP023 MP083 MP158 MP330 MP534 MP698
MP024 MP090 MP159 MP340 MP535

MP025 MP091 MP160 MP501 MP536

MP026 MP092 MP161 MP502 MP537
MP027 MP093 MP162 MP503 MP538
MP028 MP094 MP163 MP504 MP539
MP029 MP095 MP164 MP505 MP540
MP030 MP105 MP165 MP506 MP541
MP031 MP108 MP166 MP507 MP542
MP032 MP109 MP167 MP508 MP543
MP033 MP111 MP168 MP510 MP544
MP034 MP117 MP169 MP511 MP545
MP035 MP118 MP170 MP512 MP546
MP036 MP119 MP171 MP515 MP547
MP042 MP120 MP172 MP516 MP548
MP043 MP121 MP173 MP517 MP550
MP045 MP122 MP174 MP519 MP551
MP046 MP123 MP175 MP521 MP560
MP001Badcommandmessagesyntaxerror
Oneofthefollowingconditionshasdeemedthecommandmessageinvalid:
1. TheMP,DCC,orRCUcouldnotunderstandamessageitreceivedfrom
anothercomponentinthesystem.
2. OnMP30systemtherequiredexpansionROMisbadornotinstalled
correctly.
3. OnMP30systemthePH9scanorprobechangeroptionshavebeen
configuredintothesystem,andtheexpansionROMsarenotontheMP
CPUboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Tocleartheerror,powertheMPdown.
2. PowertheMPbackup.
3. Iftheerrorreoccurs,callyourGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentative.
MP002DestinationnotpresentorMPruntimesystemerror
Thecommunicationssystemreceivedamessagetosendtoanonexistenttask.
Possibleexplanationsare:

1. InternalMPfirmwareerror.
2. OnMP30systemtherequiredexpansionROMisbadornotinstalled
correctly.
3. OnMP30thePH9,scan,orprobechangeroptionshavebeenconfigured
intothesystem,andtheexpansionROMsarenotontheMPCPUboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP003Resourceshortage
TheMPcannotexecuteapropercommandbecausearequiredresourceisnot
available.Thesoftwarecannotaccesstherequiredpieceofhardware.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Makesureallrequiredequipmentiscorrectlyandfirmlyconnected.
4. Ifyoufindnoproblemandtheerrorreoccurs,callyourGiddings&Lewis
servicerepresentative.
MP004Numericerror
Anumericerror indicatesaninternalMPfirmwareproblem.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP007CPUEPROMchecksumerror
AchecksumerrorhasbeendetectedfortheMP30CPUboardEPROMsorthe
SMP400codesegmentmemory.Thischecksumiscontinuouslyrecalculated
whiletheMPison.ThiserrorindicatesthattheCPUboardisnolonger
functioningreliably.RefertoMPErrorCodesforadditionalinformation.
Whatyoushoulddo

MP008CPUEPROMchecksumerror
AchecksumerrorhasbeendetectedfortheMP30DCCboardEPROMs.The
checksumiscontinuouslyrecalculatedwhiletheMPison.Thiserrorindicates
thattheDCCboardisnolongerfunctioningreliably. RefertoMPErrorCodesfor
Whatyoushoulddo
MP013MPtoHostbufferoverflow
TheMPtoHostmessagebufferhasoverflowed.Itcanstoreamaximumoften
messages.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP015MPforegroundtobackgroundbufferoverflow
TheinternalbufferusedbytheMPforegroundtotransmitstatusinformationto
thestatusmonitorhasoverflowed.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP018MPinternalcountererror
ThelowbyteofoneofthesoftwareX/Y/Zcountersdiffersfromthelowbyteof
thecorrespondinghardwarecounter.ThiserrorindicatesaprobableCPUboard
failure,notacounterboardfailure.RefertoMPErrorCodesforadditional
information.
Whatyoushoulddo

MP019MPandDCCfirmwareincompatibility
TheversionnumberoftheDCCfirmwareisincompatiblewiththeMP30CPU
boardfirmware.RefertoMPErrorCodesforadditionalinformation.
Whatyoushoulddo
EithertheDCCortheCPUboardfirmwaremustbeupdated.
MP021AtlasY2counterfault
Theamp/check/divideboarddetectedaY2axiscounterfault.Possiblecauses
are:
1. Thelaserbeamisblocked.
2. Thelaserbeamisnotproperlyalignedintheinterferometer.
3. ThereistoomuchDCoffsetintheOPDLissajous.
4. ThereisnotsufficientamplitudeintheOPDLissajous.
5. Theaxisismovingtoofast(over25in/sec.forlasermachines).
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Tocleartheerror,clickClearerrorintheXYZDisplaywindow.Toclearit
usinganRCUII,pressandholddowntheServoPowerOffbuttonand
thenpresstheJoybuttontwice.
MP022AtlasY3counterfault
Theamp/check/divideboarddetectedaY3axiscounterfault.Possiblecauses
are:
Whatyoushoulddo

MP023AtlasY2beamblockerror
Thereisabeamblock,probablycausedbyanopticalmisalignmentoracablein
thebeampath.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP024AtlasY3beamblockerror
Thereisabeamblock,probablycausedbyanopticalmisalignmentoracablein
thebeampath.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP025AuxiliaryXaxisA/Dconversionerror
AnA/DconversionerrorhasbeenreportedfortheXaxisontheauxiliarythree
axiscounterboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP026AuxiliaryYaxisA/Dconversionerror
AnA/DconversionerrorhasbeenreportedfortheYaxisontheauxiliarythree
axiscounterboard.
Whatyoushoulddo

MP027AuxiliaryZaxisA/Dconversionerror
AnA/DconversionerrorhasbeenreportedfortheZaxisontheauxiliarythree
axiscounterboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP028SP600+12voltfuseblown
AnerrorhasbeenreportedbytheSP600interfacecardintheSMP400.This
errorcanbecausedbyadefectivePH10articulatingheadorablownfuseonthe
SP600interfacecard.ThemostlikelysourceoftheerroristhePH10articulating
probehead.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Thisisnotaclearableerror.Theproblemmustbecorrectedbyreplacing
thePH10articulatingprobeheadortheinterfacecard.
MP029SP60012voltfuseblown
probehead.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP030SP600+5voltfuseblown
probehead.

Whatyoushoulddo
MP031Probeovertravelfault
(MP30)Bit5,I/Oaddress39(hex)=1.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP032Counterhardware/configurationmismatch
Thesystemhasbeenconfiguredasalasersystem,buthasstandard12bit
counterboardsratherthanthe16bitcounterboardsrequired.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP033Waxiscounterfault
Theamp/check/divideboarddetectedaWaxiscounterfault.Possiblecauses
are:
1. Thegratingsaredirty.
2. ThereistoomuchDCoffset.
3. Thereisnotsufficientamplitudeinthereadheadsignals.
4. Thereadheadskewangleisimproper.
5. Theaxisismovingtoofast(rotarytableismovingfasterthan48/sec).
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Cleanthegratingsusingasoft,lintfreeclothandisopropylordenatured
alcohol..

3. ChecktomakesuretheDCoffset,amplitude,readheadskew,andaxis
speedarewithinallowablelimits.
MP034Xaxiscounterfault
Theamp/check/divideboarddetectedanXaxiscounterfault.IftheXaxisusesa
scaleandreadinghead,thenpossiblecausesare:
1. Thegratingsaredirty.
2. ThereistoomuchDCoffsetintheAmpCheckBoardLissajous.
3. ThereisnotsufficientamplitudeinthereadheadsignalsintheAmp
CheckBoardLissajous.
4. Thereadheadskewangleisimproper,asviewedontheAmpCheck
BoardLissajous.
5. Theaxisismovingtoofast(over40in/sec.forstandardmachinesand
over25in/sec.forlasermachinesorover15in/sec.onsomeDiscovery
machines).
IftheXaxisusesalaserinterferometer,thenpossiblecausesare:
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Iftheaxisusesascaleandreadinghead,
alcohol.
MP035Yaxiscounterfault
Theamp/check/divideboarddetectedaYaxiscounterfault.IftheYaxisusesa
scaleandreadinghead,thenpossiblecausesare:
Thegratingsaredirty.
ThereistoomuchDCoffset.

Thereisnotsufficientamplitudeinthereadheadsignals.
Thereadheadskewangleisimproper.
Theaxisismovingtoofast(over40in/sec.)
IftheYaxisusesalaserinterferometer,thenpossiblecausesare:
Thelaserbeamisblocked.
Thelaserbeamisnotproperlyalignedintheinterferometer.
ThereistoomuchDCoffsetintheOPDlissajous.
ThereisnotsufficientamplitudeintheOPDlissajous.
Whatyoushoulddo
alcohol.
MP036Zaxiscounterfault
Theamp/check/divideboarddetectedaZaxiscounterfault.Possiblecausesare
:
Iftheaxisusesascaleandreadinghead,thenpossiblecausesare:
Thegratingsaredirty.
ThereistoomuchDCoffset.
Thereisnotsufficientamplitudeinthereadheadsignals.
Thereadheadskewangleisimproper.
Iftheaxisusesalaserinterferometer,thenpossiblecausesare:
Thelaserbeamisblocked.
Thelaserbeamisnotproperlyalignedintheinterferometer.
ThereistoomuchDCoffsetintheOPDlissajous.
ThereisnotsufficientamplitudeintheOPDlissajous.
Whatyoushoulddo

alcohol.
MP042TemperatureCompensationhardwareabsent
ThesystemisconfiguredforTemperatureCompensation,buttheTemperature
Compensationboardisnotpresent.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. ObtainnecessaryTemperatureCompensationhardware.
MP043TemperatureCompensationhardwarefailure
ThesystemisconfiguredforTemperatureCompensation.TheTemperature
Compensationboardispresent,butaninvalidA/Dvalueoccurredforarequired
input.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP045ExcessiveMPhardwaretemperatures
TemperatureinMPelectronicsenclosureistoohigh.
Whatyoushoulddo

2. Iftheerrorimmediatelyreoccurs,turnpowertotheMPoffandallowitto
cooldownbeforeturningitbackon.
MP046TemperatureCompensationorDigitalI/Oboardfailure
Areadafterwritetodigitaloutputsdoesnotmatchactualwrittenvalue.Mayalso
indicateawatchdogtimerfailureontheTemperatureCompensationboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP047TemperatureCompensationD/Afailure
AD/AconversionontheTemperatureCompensationboardfailedtocomplete
withintheallottedtimeof32milliseconds.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP048TempComporLasersystemconfigurationerror
TemperatureCompensationconfigurationisincomplete,wrong,orinconsistent.
Possiblecausesare:
1. X,Y,orZtemperatureinputsarenotdefined.
2. Nopartthermistorshavebeendefined.
3. Noprobethermistorshavebeendefined.
4. Pressureorhumidityinputshavenotbeendefinedonalasersystem.
5. Aninternalinconsistencyexistsintheconfigurationdata(e.g.,areference
toanonexistentthermistor).
Whatyoushoulddo

2. Iftheerrorreoccurs,attempttocorrecttheproblembyrestoringthe
systemconfigurationdatafromeithertheCONFGdisketteorasavedhost
file.
3. Iftheerrorpersists,callyourGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentative.
MP055SP600interfacecardA/Dconversionfailure
WhiletheSP600analogprobewasinusetheRenishawAC2interfacecardwas
commandedtoperformanA/Dconversionbutthatconversionwasnotcomplete
within200microseconds.Thiserrorindicatesacriticalfailureoftheinterface
card.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP059Renishawemergencystoperror
TheRenishawPI7,PI12,orPI200probecontrolleristurnedoff,anSCR200over
travelerrorhasoccurredortheRenishawhardwarehasrequestedan
emergencystop.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP060DCCtoMPacknowledgetimeout
TheMP35DCCboarddidnotrespondtoanMPtoDCCinterruptwithin32
milliseconds.TheDCCboardisincorrectlyseatedorfaulty.CheckingtheDCC
boardLEDmayprovideadditionalinformation.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. ChecktheDCCLEDtodeterminethestateoftheDCCprocessor.
3. ReseattheDCCboard.
MP064APLchecksumerror

AnAPLcontrolEPROMappearstobepresentontheTemperature
Compensationboard,butthecomputedchecksumfailedtoagreewiththe
memory.Thismayoccuratpoweruporduringanysysteminitialization.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP077Waxisbeamblockerror
Onalasersystem,thereisabeamblock,probablycausedbyanoptical
misalignmentoracableinthebeampath.Onascalesystemwithadivideby
256boardthiserrorindicatesanA/Dconversionerror.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP078Xaxisbeamblockerror
Whatyoushoulddo
MP079Yaxisbeamblockerror
Whatyoushoulddo

MP080Zaxisbeamblockerror
Whatyoushoulddo
MP081Laseroffortotalbeamblockerror
Thereisabeamblock,probablybecausepowertothelaserheadisoff.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP082Laserlockerror
Thelaser'sfrequencyhasbecomeunstable.Thiserrormayindicatethatthe
laserbeamhasbeenmomentarilyreflectedbacktothesourcebysome
obstruction.
Whatyoushoulddo
3. Iftheerrorreoccurs,takeoffthecoversandcheckthestatuslightsatthe
backofeachlasertodeterminewhichlaserisatfault.
MP083Lasernotstableafterwarmuptimelimit
Thelasertubehasnotwarmedupwithintheallowabletime.
Whatyoushoulddo
3. Iftheerrorreoccurs,takeoffthecoversandcheckthestatuslightsatthe
backofeachlasertodeterminewhichlaserisatfault.

MP090APCUARTinputerror
AnRS232datatransmissionerror(suchascharacteroverrun)hasoccurredon
theAPCtoSMP400communicationline.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP091APCdatainputbufferoverflow
TheAPChassentcharacterstotheSMP400fasterthantheycouldbe
processed.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP092APCGOmessagetimeout
TheAPCreportedthattheprobechangerscrewfailedtoturnwithintheallowed
time.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP093APClockerror
TheAPChasreportedaprobelockfailure.
Whatyoushoulddo

MP094APClidtimeouterror
TheAPChasreportedthatastationlidwasintheopenpositionforanexcessive
amountoftime.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP095APCexcessiveentryspeed
TheAPCcontrollerhasreportedthattheprobequillenteredtherackattoohigh
aspeed.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP105HosttoMPcommunicationinterrupted
TheMPreceivedwhatappearedtobethestartofahostmessageovertheRS
232communicationlinebutthemessagewasnotproperlyterminatedandat
leastten(10)secondshaveelapsedsincethelastcharacterwasreceived.This
mayhavebeencausedbyoneofthefollowing:
1. alooseRS232connection,
2. cyclingpoweronthehostcomputer,
3. ahostsoftwarefailure,or
4. anelectricallynoisyenvironment.
RefertoMPErrorCodesforadditionalinformation.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. CheckandtightenbothendsofthehosttoMPRS232cable.

3. Iftheerroroccurredwhileexecutingapartprogram,thenassumethatthe
partprogramoperationhasbeenseriouslydisrupted.Abortthepart
program.
4. Iftheerrorreoccurs,callyourGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentative
(Exception:Seenotebelow).
Note:Iftheerroroccurredshortlyafterturningonthehostcomputer,thenitis
almostcertainlytheresultofthissinceitisnormalforsomerandomcharacterto
begeneratedovertheRS232linewhenthePCpoweriscycled.Inthiscase,the
errorcanbeclearedandignored.
MP108MPtoRCUcommunicationserror
TheMPimproperlytransmittedamessagetotheRCU.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP109RCUtoMPcommunicationserror
TheRCUimproperlytransmittedamessagetotheMP.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP111HosttoMPcommunicationerror
TheMPdetectedanerrorduringdatatransmissionfromthehostcomputer.Ifthe
hosttoMPcommunicationlinkisRS232,possibleerrorsare:
1. Overrunerror,
2. Parityerror,
3. Framingerror,
4. Overflowofthe256byteinputbuffer.

Themostprobablecausesofthefirstthreeerrorsareincompatibilitiesbetween
theMPandthehostinbaudrate,characterlength,parityselectionandchecking,
ornumberofstopbits.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. OnanMP30makesuretheRS232switchsettingsontheMPcontrol
boardandquadserialboardarecorrect.
3. OnanSMP400makesurethatthehostRS232settingsagreewiththe
SMP400internalswitchsettings.
MP117Waxisservoamplifieroverheat
Thiserrorappliesonlyto1000and2000SeriesDCCmachineswith22"high
servochassis.TheWaxisservoamplifieroverheatedandshutdown.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Allowtheservostocoolbeforeyouproceed.
MP118Xaxisservoamplifieroverheat
WhereErrorisDisplayed
servochassis.TheXaxisservoamplifieroverheatedandshutdown.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP119Yaxisservoamplifieroverheat
servochassis.TheYaxisservoamplifieroverheatedandshutdown.

Whatyoushoulddo
MP120Zaxisservoamplifieroverheat
servochassis.TheZaxisservoamplifieroverheatedandshutdown.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP121Waxisservoamplifierfault
LEDontheservoamplifierPCboardontheservocontrolunit(SCU)chassis
indicatesoneofthefollowingfaults:
1. Excesscurrent,
2. Servoampoverheated,
3. Equipmentimproperlygrounded,
4. Suddensurgeincurrent,or
5. Voltagetoohighortoolow.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP122Xaxisservoamplifierfault
1. Excesscurrent,

Whatyoushoulddo
MP123Yaxisservoamplifierfault
1. Excesscurrent,
Whatyoushoulddo
MP124Zaxisservoamplifierfault
1. Excesscurrent,
Whatyoushoulddo

MP127Piezotoucherror
Thesystemhasattemptedtomakeaprogrammedtouchfiveconsecutivetimes
withafalsetouchreportedoneeachattempt.Thiserrorcanonlyoccurwhen
usingaTP7,TP12,orTP200.Thismaybetheresultofanexcessivelyslow
touchspeed,adirtypart,orabadprobeassembly.
Effect
ThesystemdropsintoManualmodeuntiltheerrorisacknowledged.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Acknowledgetheerrorreport.
2. Checktheprobeassemblyforanyobviousproblems(looseprobetip,
etc.).
3. PutthesystembackintoAutomode.Thiswillallowthesystemto
automaticallyreattemptthecommandedtouch.
4. Ifthetouchcontinuestofail,abortthecommandandthepartprogram.
Changeprobeassembliesandrecalibrate,thentryagain.
MP129WaxisHirthcouplinglockfailure
TheHirthcouplingontheWaxisrotarytablefailedtolockafteramove.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Verifythatthetablecouplinghasthecorrectairpressure.
MP130Operatorabort
Theoperationwasabortedduetoanoperatorselection.
Effect

Commandnotexecuted.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Acknowledgetheerrormessageandeithercontinueorabortthepart
programasappropriate.
MP131WaxisHirthcouplingunlockfailure
TheHirthcouplingontheWaxisrotarytablefailedtounlockbeforeamove.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Verifythatthetablecouplinghasthecorrectairpressure.
MP142Waxisisbound
AWaxisDCCmovewasattempted,buttheWaxiswouldnotmove.Possible
causesare:
1. Thereisinsufficientairpressure.
2. Thedrivenutistootight.
3. Thereisacounterfailure.
Whatyoushoulddo
3. Checktheairpressuretomakesureitissetcorrectly.
4. Checkthedrivenut,andloosenitifnecessary.
MP143Servochassispowersupplyfault
Thereisa+60vDCpowersupplyfailureontheservocontrolunit(SCU)chassis.
Itcouldbecausedbyablownfuseinthe60vpowersupplyPCboardonthe
SCUchassis.
Whatyoushoulddo

2. Determinewhatcausedthelossofpowersupply.Ifitwascausedbya
blownfuse,changethefuse.
MP146Waxisrunaway
ThefirmwaredetectedexcessivelagfortheWaxis.Possiblecausesare:
1. Theservomotorisnotworkingproperly,orisnotreceivingadequate
powerfromtheservocontrolunit(SCU)chassis.
2. Thedrive(drivebeltorrolexnutandrod)isnotworkingproperly.
3. Somethingispreventingtheaxisfrommoving.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Checktoseethatnothingispreventingaxismovement.
3. Checktheservomotor'stachometeranddrivemechanism.
4. Checktoseethattheservocontrolunit(SCU)chassisispoweringthe
motorproperly.
MP147Xaxisrunaway
ThefirmwaredetectedexcessivelagfortheXaxis.Possiblecausesare:
2. Drivemechanism(drivebeltorrolexnutandrod)isnotworkingproperly.
Whatyoushoulddo
motorproperly.

MP148Yaxisrunaway
ThefirmwaredetectedexcessivelagfortheYaxis.Possiblecausesare:
2. Drivemechanism(drivebeltorrolexnutandrod)isnotworkingproperly.
Whatyoushoulddo
motorproperly.
MP149Zaxisrunaway
ThefirmwaredetectedexcessivelagfortheZaxis.Possiblecausesare:
2. Thedrivemechanism(drivebeltorrolexnutandrod)isnotworking
properly.
Whatyoushoulddo
motorproperly.
MP151D/Aupdateswerelateormissing
OnanMP35,theMPhasnotsenttheDCCboardnewaxispositioncoordinates
inthelast32milliseconds.Thedigital/analog(D/A)boardfailed.

OnanSMP400,theservoD/A'shavenotbeenupdatedforatleast8
milliseconds.
RefertoDCCErrorCodesforadditionalinformation.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP158Xaxisexcessivebias
Xaxisbiasvalueishigherthan25%oftotalD/Adynamicrange.
Whatyoushoulddo
motorproperly.
MP159Xaxisboundup
DCChasdetectedanendoftravelconditionandhasmadethreeunsuccessful
attemptstomoveawayfromtheobstruction.
Whatyoushoulddo
motorproperly.
MP160DCCboardinoperative
OnanMP30,theDCCboardfaileditsstartupdiagnostics.

OnanSMP400,theDCCboardwasnotpresentthoughtheSMP400was
configuredforDCCoperationsortheDCCboardfailedtofunctionproperly.In
thelattercaseapreviouserrorreportdefinedthecauseofthefailure.
Whatyoushoulddo
3. UsetheconfigurationdataprogramtoconfiguretheMPcorrectly.
MP161RCUinoperative
TheRCUisnotcommunicatingwiththeMP.Possiblecausesare:
1. TheRCUispresentbutcannotrunbecauseofapowerupdiagnostic
error.
2. TheRCUisnotreceivingpower.
3. TheRCUisnotpluggedintotheMPproperly.
RefertoRCUErrorCodesforadditionalinformation.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. CheckthepowercordtotheRCUtomakesureitisreceivingpower.
3. MakesurethecablefromtheRCUisconnectedproperlytotheMP.
MP162Yaxisexcessivebias
Yaxisbiasvalueishigherthan25%oftotalD/Adynamicrange.
Whatyoushoulddo
motorproperly.

MP163Yaxisboundup
Whatyoushoulddo
motorproperly.
MP164Waxisoverspeed
TheDCCboardWaxisoverspeedsensehasdetectedatachometervoltage
greaterthanshouldberequiredfornormalDCCcommandvelocity.Possible
causesare:
1. Excessivetachometercommutationnoisevoltagespikes.
2. Theservodriveisslippingduringaccelerationandoverspeedsduringits
constantvelocitymovecommandto"catchup''tothecommanded
position.
3. ThespeedsensepotentiometerontheDCCboardfortheWaxisisset
toolow.
4. ThereisashortcircuitinthepoweroutputdriveroftheWaxisservo
amplifierontheservocontrolunit(SCU)chassis.Itiscausingfull60VDC
powertobesenttothemotor.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Makesurethattheservotachometerisoperatingproperly.
3. Makesurethatthedrivemechanismisoperatingproperly.
4. MakesurethattheDCCboardoverspeedsensepotentiometerreference
voltageissethighenough.
MP165Xaxisoverspeed

TheDCCboardXaxisoverspeedsensecircuithasdetectedatachometer
voltagegreaterthanshouldberequiredfornormalDCCcommandvelocity.
Possiblecausesare:
position.
3. ThespeedsensepotentiometerontheDCCboardfortheXaxisissettoo
low.
4. ThereisashortcircuitinthepoweroutputdriveroftheXaxisservo
Whatyoushoulddo
MP166Yaxisoverspeed
TheDCCboardYaxisoverspeedsensecircuithasdetectedatachometer
voltagegreaterthanshouldberequiredforDCCnormalcommandvelocity.
Possiblecausesare:
position.
3. ThespeedsensepotentiometerontheDCCboardfortheYaxisissettoo
low.
4. ThereisashortcircuitinthepoweroutputdriveroftheYaxisservo
Whatyoushoulddo

3. Makesurethatthedrivemechanism isoperatingproperly.
MP167Zaxisoverspeed
TheDCCboardZaxisoverspeedsensecircuithasdetectedatachometer
voltagegreaterthanshouldberequiredfornormalDCCcommandvelocity.
Possiblecausesare:
1. Excessivetachometercommutationnoisevoltagespikes.Theservodrive
isslippingduringaccelerationandoverspeedsduringitsconstantvelocity
movecommandto"catchup''tothecommandedposition.
2. ThespeedsensepotentiometerontheDCCboardfortheZaxisissettoo
low.
3. ThereisashortcircuitinthepoweroutputdriveroftheZaxisservo
Whatyoushoulddo
MP168Unexpectedtouch
Touchprobewasdeflectedwhileinautomodeotherthanduringatouchorseek
command.ThistypicallyhappensduringaDCCmotionthatwaspresumedtobe
overaclearpath.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Removeobstructionandputthemachinebackinautomodeorreprogram
themachinemotioninstructions.

MP169Unexpectedendoftravel
Machinemotionwaspreventedbyaphysicalobstruction.Typicallythishappens
asaresultofattemptingtodrivebeyondthephysicallimitsofoneormoreaxes.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Determinethecauseoftheproblem.Removethephysicalobstructionor
correctthepartprogram.
2. Iftheproblempersistswhenthemachinemotionisnotobviously
restricted,callyourGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentative.
MP170Touchprobewillnotrearm
Inautomode,thetouchprobewasdeflectedandfailedtorearmafterbacking
awayfromthesurface.Thismayhappenbecauseofanobstructionoraninternal
problem.
Effect
Thesystemgoesintomanualmode.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Freetheprobeifitisobstructedorcheckandadjusttheprobetension.
Putthesystembackintoautooncetheprobeisrearmedtoallowthe
program tocontinue.
MP171MPtoPH9/PH10communicationerror
ThePH9/PH10controllerdetectedanerrorinamessagetransmittedfromthe
MPtothePH9/PH10.ThePH9/PH10controllerthentransmittedamessageto
theMPreportingthiserror.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP172PH9/PH10toMPcommunicationerror

ThePH9/PH10improperlytransmittedamessagetotheMP.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP173PH9probeoverload
ThePH9orPH10hasexperiencedenoughforceononeofitsaxestocauseitto
loseitsprogrammedposition.
Effect
Whatyoushoulddo
1. ResetthePH9viatheRCU,ifpossible.Aftertheprobeheadhasbeen
reseated,placethesystembackintoautomodetoallowthepartprogram
tocontinue.
MP174PH9/PH10toMPbufferoverflow
ThePH9/PH10sentmoremessagestotheMPthantheMP'smessagebuffer
canhold.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP175Zaxisexcessivebias
Zaxisbiasvalueishigherthan25%oftotalD/Adynamicrange.
Whatyoushoulddo

motorproperly.
MP176Zaxisboundup
Whatyoushoulddo
motorproperly.
MP177MPfrontpanelkeyboarderror
AkeyisstuckonthefrontpanelofanMP30/35.Thekeywaspressedwhenthe
MPwasturnedon.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP178MPconfigurationdatachecksumerror
InvalidsystemconfigurationinformationisstoredintheEEPROM.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Reloadtheconfigurationdatawiththecorrectconfigurationinformation
fromtheCONFGdisk.
MP179Probechecksumerror
InvalidprobecalibrationdataisstoredintheEEPROM.
Whatyoushoulddo

1. Deletedataforallprobetips.
2. PowertheMPdown.
MP180MicroprocessorEnhancedAccuracy(MEA)checksumerror
InvalidMEAdataisstoredintheEEPROM.
Whatyoushoulddo
fromtheCONFGdisk.
2. CyclepowerontheMP.
MP181InvalidMEAdata
MEAdatahasnotbeencollectedforthismachine.
Whatyoushoulddo
fromtheCONFGdisk.
MP182Optionalinterfaceerror
Apowerupdiagnosticerrorwasdetectedinoneoftheoptionalinterfaces(PH9
/PH10,probechanger,softprobe,orhostcomputerRS232interface).The
actualinterfaceisidentifiedinthepreviouserror:
MP30only: ErrorMP522SoftprobeD/Ainterfaceboardfailure.
ErrorMP523HostInterfacers232boardfailure.
ErrorMP524PH9/PH10RS232boardfailure.
ErrorMP525ProbechangerRS232boardfailure.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Followthestepsfortherelatederrorlistedabove.
MP183Probechangerrackdisconnected

Theprobechangercontrolunitandtheprobechangerrackarenotconnectedto
oneanother.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Connecttheprobechangercontrolunittotheprobechangerrack.
MP184Probechangerovertravelerror
TheCMMhasapproachedastationincorrectlywhenloadingorunloadinga
probe.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Recalibratetheautomaticprobechanger(APC)rack.
3. Recalibratethestations.
MP186InvalidWaxisMEAdata
MEAdatahasnotbeencollectedforthismachine'sWaxisortheWaxisMEA
datainEEPROMhasbeencorrupted.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. CollectWaxisMEAdatausingAutoCalorreloadtheconfigurationdata
withthecorrectconfigurationinformationfromtheCONFGdisk.
MP310Invalidfrontpanelkeystrokecombination
TheMPdoesnotrecognizethecommand.Anillegalcommandwasentered
throughtheMPfrontpanelkeypadonanMP30/35system.
ThiserroronlyoccurswhentheMPfrontpanelonanMP30/35systemisused.
Whatyoushoulddo

1. Tocleartheerror,presstheMPCLEARkeyontheMPfrontpanel.
2. Enteravalidcommand.Themistakemaybecausedbyoperatorinput.
3. Ifthesystemgivestheerrormessageagain,confirmingthatthefunctionis
illegal,usealegalfunction.
MP320Invalidfunctionselected
TheMPcannotprocesstherequestedfunctioninstandaloneoperation.You
mayhaveenteredafunctionthatcannotbeusedinstandaloneoperation.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP330Keystrokebufferoverflow
TheMPcannotprocessmorethan41keystrokesbeforeyoupressthe[ENTER]
keyontheMPfrontpanel.Usefewerthan41keystrokesbeforeyoupressthe
[ENTER]key.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP340Offsetangleerror
TheMPcannotprocessanestablishoffsetcommand.Lessthan2pointsmaybe
recorded,orthepointsmayberecordedlessthan2mmapart.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Recordmorepointsatleast2mmapart.
3. Entertheoffsetcommandagain.
MP501MPCPUBoardRAMfailure
OnanMP30systemaRAMchipisbad.

OnanSMPsystemeithertheDRAMSIMMontheprocessorboardorthe
processorboarditselfhasfailed.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. NotetheaddressandlocationdisplayontheMP.
2. CallyourGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentative.
MP502CPUInterruptchipfailure
Theinterruptcontrollerchipisbad.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP503NonexistentI/OdeviceorRAMfailure
OnanMP30systemthesystemtriedtoreadfromanonexistentI/Odevice.No
defaultdatawassupplied.
OnanSMPsystemeithertheDRAMSIMMontheprocessorboardorthe
Whatyoushoulddo
MP504Realtimeclockfailure
Therealtime(2millisecondinterrupt)clockisnotworking.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP505Twomillisecondclockinterruptfailure

Thetwomillisecondclockinterruptdidnotoccureventhoughthetimeris
operating.Theinterruptcontrollerchipisbad.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP506Controlboardread/writefailure
OnanMP30systemthecountingpatternreadfromthecontrolboarddidnot
matchthecountingpatternwritten.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP507ControlboardRCUinterfaceUARTfailure
RCUUARTinitializationfailed.TheRCUserialUARTontheMP30control
boardortheSMPDCCboardisbad.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP508ControlboardRCUinterfaceUARTinterruptfailure
TherequiredinterruptfromUARTisnotpending.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP510Interruptsnotoperating
OnanMP30systemthetwomillisecondclockinterruptandcontrolUART
interruptarebothpendingbutneitheroccurs.

Whatyoushoulddo
MP511ControlboardRCUinterfaceinterruptfail
OnanMP30systemtherequiredcontrolboardUARTinterruptisnotpending.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP512Interruptpriorityfail
OnanMP30systemtheUARTinterrupthasbeengivenpriorityoverthetwo
millisecondclock.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP515IEEE488initializationfailure
OnanMP30systemthereisanIEEEaddressingortransmissionerror.Thereis
afaultyIEEEchiporcontrolboard.Ithasfailedto:
Setupatalkaddressoralistenaddress,or
Putthechipintalkeronly,listeneronly,talkeractive,orlisteneractive
modes.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP516Frontpaneldecodefail

Areceivingortransmittinginformationerroroccurredatthefrontpanel.The
keypadentryreturnstononzeroeventhoughtheentryiscleared.Thecablesto
thefrontpanelmaynotbeconnectedproperly.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Makesurethecablestothefrontpanelareconnectedproperly.
MP517MPpanelswitchstuck
OnanMP30systemakeyontheMPfrontpanelisstuck.Thecablestothe
frontpanelmaynotbeconnectedproperly,orthepanelmaybebad.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Makesurethecablestothefrontpanelareconnectedproperly.
MP519EPROMchecksumerror
OnanMP30systemthechecksumgeneratedfromEPROMcontentsdidnot
matchstoredchecksum.Possiblecausesare:
EPROMchipfailure.
CPUboardfailure(datalines,address,decoding,etc.).
Whatyoushoulddo
1. NotetheaddressandlocationdisplayontheMP.
MP521EPROMdirectoryerror
OnanMP30systemtheerrormaybecausedby:
EPROMchipfailure.
CPUboardfailure(datalines,address,decoding,etc.).

Whatyoushoulddo
MP522D/Aboardconversionfailure
Therewasafailurewhilethedigital/analog(D/A)boardusedforhighgrade
scanningwasbeinginitialized.Theboardmayhavefailedormaynotbeinstalled
intheMP.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP523RS232hostinterfacefailure
OnanMP30system,diagnosticsontheMPRS232interfaceboardport3
failed.TheboardmayhavefailedormaynotbeinstalledintheMP.
OnanSMPsystem,diagnosticsonthehostRS232interfaceonthe
amp/check/dividecardhasfailed.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP524RS232PH9/PH10interfacefailure
DiagnosticsontheMPRS232interfaceboardport0failed.Theboardmayhave
failedormaynotbeinstalledintheMP.
OnanSMPsystem,diagnosticsonthePH9/PH10RS232interfaceontheDCC
cardhasfailed.
Whatyoushoulddo

MP525RS232Probechangerinterfacefailure
OnanSMPsystem,diagnosticsontheprobechangerRS232interfaceonthe
DCCcardhasfailed.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP526RS232electroniclevelinterfacefailure
OnanSMPsystem,diagnosticsontheelectroniclevelRS232interfaceonthe
DCCcardhasfailed.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP527SMP400FLASHmemoryerror
OnanSMP400system,invalidrecordmarkerfoundinFLASHmemory.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. ReloadtheSMP400operatingsystemcodefromtheinstallationdisk.
2. Iferrorpersists,callyourGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentative.

OnanSMP400system,invalidrecordtypefoundinFLASHmemory.
Whatyoushoulddo
OnanSMP400system,invalidrecordchecksumfoundinFLASHmemory.
Whatyoushoulddo
OnanSMP400system,nostartingaddressrecordfoundinFLASHmemory.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP531SMP400RAMmemoryerror
OnanSMP400system,eithertheDRAMSIMMontheprocessorboardorthe
Whatyoushoulddo
1. NotetheerrordatadisplayedontheSMP400diagnosticLED.
MP532SMP400RAMmemoryerror

Whatyoushoulddo
MP533Noamp/check/divideboardpresent
TheSMP400requiresthatanamp/check/dividecardbepresentatthebase
address.Theamp/check/dividecardmayhavefailedormaybesettothewrong
address.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP534Amp/check/divideboardfailure
OnanSMP400system,awrite/readerroroccurredwhilewritingtoorreading
fromoneoftheregistersinternaltoU23ontheampcheckcard.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP535NoDCCboardpresent
OnanSMP400system,readataddress170(hex)didnotreturnavalidDCC
boardID.TheIDisreadfromU30ontheDCCboard.
Whatyoushoulddo

MP536DCCboardfailure
fromtheXaxisD/AconverterU6ontheDCCboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
fromtheYaxisD/AconverterU7ontheDCCboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
fromtheZaxisD/AconverterU11ontheDCCboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
fromtheWaxisD/AconverterU12ontheDCCboard.
Whatyoushoulddo

MP540NoTempCompboardpresent
OnanSMP400system,readataddress1CE(hex)didnotreturnavalid
TempCompboardID.TheIDisreadfromU18ontheTempCompboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP541TempCompboardfailure
fromtheA/DmultiplexorregisterontheTempCompboard.Theregisteris
internaltoU18.
Whatyoushoulddo
OnanSMP400system,A/DconversionfailureontheTempCompboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
OnanSMP400,offsetnumberoneontheTempCompboardwasread
incorrectly.
Whatyoushoulddo

OnanSMP400system,gainnumberoneontheTempCompboardwasread
incorrectly.
Whatyoushoulddo
OnanSMP400system,offsetnumbertwoontheTempCompboardwasread
incorrectly.
Whatyoushoulddo
OnanSMP400system,gainnumbertwoontheTempCompboardwasread
incorrectly.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP547Processorboardfailure
OnanSMP400system,interruptgeneratedonhostUARTbutnotreceivedby
theinterruptcontrollerchipontheprocessorboard.

Whatyoushoulddo
OnanSMP400system,unabletoclearhostUARTinterruptintheinterrupt
controllerchipontheprocessorboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP550InsufficientRAM
Therewasinsufficientmemoryspacetostartthesystem.TheRAMisbad.
OnanMP30system,aRAMchipisbad.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP551Toomanysoftrategroups
Therearemorerategroupsthanthesystemcanhandle.MayindicateanMP
operatingsystemsoftwarefailure.
OnanMP30system,aRAMchipisbad.
Whatyoushoulddo

OnanSMP400system,unabletocleartheRCUUARTinterruptintheinterrupt
controllerchipontheprocessorboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. NotetheerrordatadisplayedontheSMP400internaldiagnosticLED.
MP561UARTinterruptfailure
OnanSMP400system,interruptgeneratedonPH9/PH10UARTbutnot
receivedbytheinterruptcontrollerchipontheprocessorboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
OnanSMP400system,unabletoclearthePH9/PH10UARTinterruptinthe
interruptcontrollerchipontheprocessorboard.
Whatyoushoulddo
OnanSMP400system,interruptgeneratedonprobechangerUARTbutnot
Whatyoushoulddo

OnanSMP400system,unabletocleartheprobechangerUARTinterruptinthe
Whatyoushoulddo
OnanSMP400system,interruptgeneratedonelectroniclevelUARTbutnot
Whatyoushoulddo
OnanSMP400system,unabletocleartheelectroniclevelUARTinterruptinthe
Whatyoushoulddo
MP601DCCRAMfailure
ThepatternreadfromtheDCCboardRAMdidnotmatchthepatternwritten.The
RAMisbad.

Whatyoushoulddo
MP619DCCEPROMchecksumerror
ChecksumgeneratedfromDCCEPROMcontentsdidnotmatchstored
checksum.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP621DCCEPROMdirectoryerror
ThefirstwordinanEPROMchipsetwasnotreadas4140hex.Thiswordisat
0F0000(hex).
Whatyoushoulddo
MP650InsufficientDCCRAM
ThereisinsufficientRAMfortheDCCcontrollertooperate.
Whatyoushoulddo
MP651ToomanyDCCsoftwarerategroupspresent
TherearetoomanyDCCsoftwarerategroups.
Whatyoushoulddo

MP697Servooffpushbuttonstuck
Theservooffbuttonisstuck.Thebuttonmayhavebeenpressedwhenthe
systemwasturnedon.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Tocleartheerror,powerMPdown.
2. PowerMPbackup.
3. Checktheservooffbuttontoseeifitisopen.
4. Checktheconnectionsbetweenthecontrolpanellocatedatthetopofthe
MPconsoleandtheservochassis,andbetweentheservochassisand
DCCboard.Makesurealltheconnectionsaresecure.
MP698Estopcircuitopen
Theemergencystop(Estop)circuitwasopenatpowerup.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. SomesystemshaveconsoleEstopbuttonsthatlockwhenpressed.If
locked,twistknobclockwisetorelease.
3. PowerMPbackup.
4. CheckallEstopbuttonsandthecircuittoseeifanyareopen.
DCCErrorInformation
DCCerrorsaredisplayedontheDCCboardLED.
IferrorMP160occursduringstartup,checktheDCCboardLED,cyclepowerandwatchthe
LED. AsequenceofcharactersflashesontheLEDastestingtakesplace.Eachcharacter
representsatestofaspecificsystemcomponentorofcommunicationbetweencomponents.If
oneofthesetestsfails,thecharacterrepresentingthattestremainsontheLED.TheDCCLed
sequenceis:
A TestingsharedRAMmemorycells
B TestingDCCtoMPinterrupt
C TestingMPinterruptacknowledge
D TestingMPtoDCCinterrupt

E TestingDCCROMandRAM
F AlltestspassedwaitingforfirstMPinterrupt
IftheDCCboardfailsafterthesystemison,errorMP060orMP151occurs.Theseerrors
indicatethattheMPisunabletocommunicatewiththeDCCboard.ChecktheDCCboardLED
forthefollowingnumbers:
1 32mssincelastD/Aupdate
2 32mssincelastMPupdate
3 DCCtoMPinterruptnotacknowledgedfor32ms
8 Systemrunningnormally
9 WaitingforinitialMPsharedRAMsyncup
OntheDCCboardLED,adecimalpointbeforetheerrornumbermeanstheCPUisinactive.A
decimalpointaftertheerrornumbermeansthehardwaredetectedafailuretoupdatetheD/Afor
32milliseconds.
ThefollowingtablecontainstheavailableDCCerrorcodes:
DCC001
DCC002
DCC003
DCC132millisecondssincelastD/Aupdate
Thedigital/analog(D/A)convertersontheDCCboardhavenotbeenupdatedfor
atleast32milliseconds. RefertoDCCErrorCodesforadditionalinformation.
Whatyoushoulddo
DCC232millisecondssincelastMPupdate
TheDCChasnotbeenupdatedforatleast32milliseconds.RefertoDCCError
Codesforadditionalinformation.
Whatyoushoulddo

DCC3DCCtoMPinterruptnotacknowledgedfor32milliseconds
TheDCCsentaninterrupttotheMP.TheMPhasnotacknowledgedthe
interruptinthelast32milliseconds.RefertoDCCErrorCodesforadditional
information.
Whatyoushoulddo
3. ReseattheMPCPUboard.
RCUErrorInformation
RCUErrorInformation
AnRCUerrorisgeneratedonlybytheolderRemoteControlUnitRCUI.RCUerrornumbers
appearinthescrollingdisplayontheRCUI.
AnRCUerrornumberisfollowedbyathreedigitnumberrepresentingtheversionnumbersofthe
threeEPROMsintheRCUatlocationF8,F10andR12. Youcanseetheversionnumberby
pressingtheDISPLAYkeyontheRCUI.
ThefollowingtablecontainstheavailableRCUerrorcodes:
RCU003
RCU700
RCU701
RCU702
RCU703
RCU704
RCU705
RCU706
RCU707
RCU708
RCU003Resourceshortage

UsertriedtorepositionnonexistentPH9orrotarytable,ortriedtocommanda
rotarytablemovewithservopoweroff.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. PresstheCLEARkeyontheRCUI.
2. Ifyouaretryingtomoverotarytable,turnonservopower.
3. IfyouaretryingtomovePH9orrotarytablewithservopoweron,make
sureyoursystemhastherequiredhardwareandisproperlyconfigured.
RCU700RCURAMfailure
RCUonboardRAMhasatleast1badmemorybit.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. NotethedisplayontheMP.
3. PowerMPbackup.
RCU701RCU6802RAMaddressfailure
RCUonchipRAMhasfailed.
Whatyoushoulddo
3. PowerMPbackup.
RCU702RCU2114RAMfailure
RCUonboardRAMhasatleast1badmemorybit.
Whatyoushoulddo

3. PowerMPbackup.
RCU703RCU2114RAMaddressfailure
RCURAMchiphasfailed.
Whatyoushoulddo
3. PowerMPbackup.
RCU704RCUEPROMchecksumorversion#error
ThereisanRCUchecksumerror.
Whatyoushoulddo
3. PowerMPbackup.
RCU705Stuckkeyerror
AkeyisstuckontheRCU.
Whatyoushoulddo
3. PowerMPbackup.
RCU706RCUEPROMAchecksumerror

ThereisachecksumerrorinEPROMatboardpositionF8.
Whatyoushoulddo
3. PowerMPbackup.
4. Reseatthe2716chipatboardpositionF8.
RCU707RCUEPROMBchecksumerror
Whatyoushoulddo
3. PowerMPbackup.
RCU708RCUEPROMCchecksumerror
Whatyoushoulddo
3. PowerMPbackup.
TempCompErrorInformation
ATempComperrorisgeneratedbythetemperaturecompensationfeatureon systemsthat
supportthisoption.TempComperrorsareappendedtotheInspectionReportanddisplayedin
thePromptMonitor.
ThefollowingtablecontainstheavailableTempComperrorcodes:

TempComp200
TempComp201
TempComp202
TempComp203
TempComp204
TempComp205
TempComp206
TempComp200TempCompnotavailable
Temperaturecompensationhasbeenrequestedbutiscurrentlynotavailable.
Themessagedisplayedincludesanumberinparenthesesattheendthat
indicatesthespecificreasonasfollows:
2>Nopartthermistorsareavailable
1>Temperaturecompensationhasbeendisabledbyapreviously
reportederror.
0>Temperaturecompensationisnotproperlyconfigured.
128>Theindicatedthermistorhasfailed.
RefertoTempCompErrorCodesforadditionalinformation.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Ifpossible,correcttheidentifiedproblem.
2. Ifthewarningreoccurs,callyourGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentative.
TempComp201Absolutetemperaturelimitexceeded
Temperaturecompensationhasbeenrequestedbutathermistorcurrently
indicatesatemperaturethatexceedstheconfiguredsystemabsolute
temperaturelimits.Temperaturecompensationisactivebutsystemconditions
mayprecludeachievingthedesiredsystemaccuracy.Themessageincludesthe
thermistornumberandrecordedtemperaturethatcausedthewarning.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Ifthewarningreoccursandcannotbeexplainedbytheenvironmental
conditions,callyourGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentative.

TempComp202Gradienttemperaturelimitexceeded
Temperaturecompensationhasbeenrequestedbutthedifferencein
temperaturebetweenapairorthermistorsindicatesatemperaturegradientthat
exceedstheconfiguredsystemlimits.Temperaturecompensationisactivebut
systemconditionsmayprecludeachievingthedesiredsystemaccuracy.The
messageincludesthethermistornumbersandrecordedtemperaturesthat
causedthewarning.
Whatyoushoulddo
TempComp203Transienttemperaturelimitexceeded
Temperaturecompensationhasbeenrequestedbuttherecordoftemperatures
recordedbyathermistorindicatesatemperaturechange(transient)thatexceeds
theconfiguredsystemlimits.Temperaturecompensationisactivebutsystem
conditionsmayprecludeachievingthedesiredsystemaccuracy.Themessage
includesthethermistornumberandrecordedhighandlowtemperaturesthat
causedthewarning.
Whatyoushoulddo
TempComp204Lasercompensationisinactive
Onalasersystemahardwarefailurehasoccurredthatpreventsproper
compensationofthelasermeasurementsforenvironmentalconditions.The
systemisoperationalbutcannotachievedesiredsystemaccuracies.
Whatyoushoulddo
2. Ifthewarningrecurs,callyourGiddings&Lewisservicerepresentative.

TempComp205Probecalibrationdatamaybeinvalid
Temperaturecompensationhasbeenrequestedbuteithertheprobeshavenot
beencalibratedsincepoweruporthetemperaturechangesinceprobecalibration
exceedstheconfiguredsystemlimit.Thevaluedisplayedwiththemessage
indicateswhetherthefirst(1)orthesecond(2)conditioncausedthewarning.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Recalibrateprobestoensurehighestsystemaccuracy.
TempComp206Rotarytablecalibrationmaybeinvalid
Temperaturecompensationhasbeenrequestedbutthetemperaturechange
sincerotarytablecentercalibrationexceedstheconfiguredsystemlimit.The
rotarytablecentershouldberecalibratedtoensurethehighestdegreeofsystem
accuracy.
Whatyoushoulddo
1. Recalibratetherotarytablecentertoensurehighestsystemaccuracy.
MiscellaneousTopics
AKAutomaticTracking
TheADcommanddirectsthesystemtoenableautomatictracking.
CommandFormat
MLString"AK p1,p2"
Example
1. MLString"AKY"
Automaticallytrackasurfaceintheactivepartreferenceframe.
2. MLString"AK Z"
Automaticallytrackasurfaceintheactivepartreferenceframe.

3. MLString"AK"
Disable
4. MLString"AK1,1,0"
Automaticallytrackasurface.Theprobeistomoveinitiallyinpart
coordinatedirection(1,1,0)untilthesurfaceiscontacted.
5. MLString"AK1,1,0,C"
Automaticallytrackasurface.Theprobeistomoveinitiallyinpart
coordinatedirection(1,1,0)untilthesurfaceiscontacted.Whenthe
surfaceiscontacted,theprobewillcontinuetotraveluntiltheprobeself
centersalongthespecifiedvector
Input
p1=signedpartaxisorpartcoordinatedirectionvector(Stringoptional)
p2="C"(Stringoptional)
Theoptionalparameterp1specifiesaseitherasignedpartaxisdesignator(e.g.,
+XorZ)orasanumericXYZpartcoordinatedirectionvector.Ifanumeric
vectorisspecifiedthenitmustbenonzero.Itmaybeaunitvectorbutthisisnot
required.Ifp1isnotspecifiedthentrackingisdisabled.
Theoptionalparameterp2mayonlybetheletter"C".
Inthefirstexample,Yisthep1argument.Itindicatestoautomaticallytracka
surfaceinthemachineYaxis.ThesurfaceliesinthepositiveYdirectionfrom
theprobecenter.
Inthesecondexample,Zisthep1argument.Itindicatestoautomaticallytracka
surfacenominallyperpendiculartothemachineZaxis.Thesurfaceliesinthe
negativeZdirectionfromtheprobecenter.
Inthethirdexamplethereisnoargument.Itindicatestodisableautomaticmode
forsoftprobetracking.
Inthefourthexample,thepartdirectionvector(1,1,0)isthep1argument.It
indicatestoautomaticallytrackalongthedirectionvector(1,1,0)(e.g.,i=1,j=1,
andk=0).
Results

ThiscommandisaddedtotheDCCcommandqueue.Whenexecuted,the
systembeginstracking.Ifthesoftprobeisnotinsurfacecontactwhenthis
commandisexecutedthentheprobeismovedinthespecifieddirectionuntilin
surfacecontact.Thetouchmodeofthesoftprobeisdisabledifactive(seeTF
command)andthesoftprobeisactivated(seeBRcommand).Thesoftprobe
musthavebeencalibratedpriortoexecutionofthiscommand.
Notethatmachinevelocityisrestrictedtotrackingspeed(seeKScommand).
SkipAction
Ignorednotexecutedifpartofaskipblock.
ErrorMessages
MLB090DCCisnotavailable.
ASAutomaticScanning
TheAScommandsetsupcontrolsforanautomaticscanning/datacollection
operation.BeawarethatithasbeenredefinedforSMP400,version104.0and
later.
CommandFormat
MLString"ASp1,p2,p3,p4,p5,p6"
Example
1. MLString"ASY,S55.6,I10"
Performanautomaticscan,collectingsamplesasafunctionofYposition
beginningatYequalto55.6andcollectingadatapointevery10units.
Datapointsareaccumulatedonlyinthescandataarray.
2. MLString"ASA,C12.3,5.75,S0,I1,USER"
Performanautomaticscan,collectingsamplesasafunctionofpolarangle
relativetotheworkingplanepoint(12.3,5.75),beginningatzerodegrees
andcollectingadatapointeverydegree.Datapointsareaccumulatedin
thescandataarrayandintheUserSummationArray.Datareturnedto
thehostwiththeRNcommandisinRadius/Angle/Heightformat.
Input
p1=Independentaxisforscan(Stringrequired)

p2=Centerpointforpolarscan(String/numericoptional)
p3=Startingvalueforindependentaxis(Stringoptional)
p4=Intervalbetweensuccessivetargets(Stringornumericoptional)
p5='USER'or'INTERNAL'toselectsummationarray(Stringoptional)
p6=Numberofpointstocollect(Stringornumericoptional)
Therequiredparameterp1specifiestheindependent"axis"forthescan.This
canonlybeA,P,S,X,Y,orZ.AspecifiesapolarscanwithdatareturnedinR,
A,H(radius,angle,height)format.Pspecifiesapolarscanwithdatareturnedin
normalX,Y,Zformat.Sindicatesthattargetsaretobespacedalongthesurface
withtheinitialprobelocationtobetreatedas0.0.X,Y,andZindicateapartaxis
tobeusedastheindependentaxis.
Theoptionalparameterp2istheletter'C'followedbytwocoordinatevalues.This
parameterhasmeaningonlyforpolarscansanddefinestheworkingplane
nominalcenterofthescannedsurface.Thevaluesspecifiedinordercorrespond
toXandYfortheXYplaneYandZfortheYZplaneandZandXfortheZX
plane.Forpolarscanswhenp2isnotspecifiedthecenterpointisassumedtobe
at(0,0).
Theoptionalparameterp3istheletter'S'followedbytheindependentaxis
startingcoordinate.Ifp4(below)isspecifiedwithoutp3thendataiscollected
beginningatthecurrentprobeposition.Notethatp3cannotbespecifiedwithout
p4.
Theoptionalparameterp4istheletter'I'followedbytheincremental
displacementbetweentargets.Ifp3andp4arebothomittedthenitisassumed
thatthescantargetsareabsoluteratherthanincrementalandhavebeen
previouslycommunicatedusingtheSBcommand.
Theoptionalstringparameterp5canbe"USER"or"INTERNAL".Ifp5is
specifiedthenthescandataisaccumulatedinthespecifiedSummationArrayas
wellasinthescandatabuffer.
Theoptionalparameterp6istheletter'N'followedbythenumberofpointstobe
collected.Ifnotspecified,datacollectioncontinuesuntilanRNcommandis
executed.
Results
TheAScommandputstheSMPintoadatacollectionmode.Beforethis
commandisexecutedtrackingshouldbeenabled(seeAKcommand)andthe
probeshouldbepositionedaheadofthefirsttargetifdoingclosedloopscanning
ortheprobeshouldbepositionedtoitsnominaldeflectionifdoingopenloop
scanning.Followingtheexecutionofthiscommand,appropriatemove
commandsareexecutedtomovetheprobethroughthetargetarea.Finally,the

commandRNisexecutedtoterminatedatacollectionand/ortoreturnthe
collectedscandatatothehost.
SkipAction
Ignorednotexecutedifpartofaskipblock.
ErrorMessages
MLB080Thesoftprobeisnotenabledortrackingisnotturnedon.
MLB164Insufficientanalogprobedeflection.
BBBeginBlock
TheBBcommandmarksthebeginningofacodeblockthatisusedwithSkip
Action.
FormatofMLBCommand FormatofSheffieldRoutine
MLString"BBp1" BeginBlock"p1"
ExampleofMLBCommand ExampleofSheffieldRoutine
Example#1
MLString"BBFRONTFACE" BeginBlock"FRONTFACE"
Input
p1=Maximumof10characters(Stringrequired)
p1givesanidentifyingnametotheprogramblock.Thenamecanbe10orfewer
alphanumericcharacters.
Results
Thefunctionsetstheinternalflagsthatindicatethebeginningofablock.
SkipAction
Anerroroccursifthiscommandoccurswithinablockofcodebeingskipped.
ErrorMessages
MLB014Thereisanestedcodeblock.

BeginBlock
TheBeginBlockroutinemarksthebeginningofacodeblockthatisusedwith
SkipAction.
FormoreinformationontheBeginBlockroutine,seetheMLBcommandBB.
BFTurnSoftProbeOff
TheBFcommanddisablesthesoftprobe.Ifathreeaxisanalogprobe(e.g.,the
RenishawSP600)isinuse,thenthetouchprobeisenabled.
CommandFormat
MLString"BF"
Example
1. MLString"BF"
Input
None.
Results
Thesystemdisablesthesoftprobeandstopsincludingsoftprobedeflectionsas
partofthetippositioncoordinatedata.
SkipAction
Ignored.
ErrorMessages
None.
BRTurnSoftProbeOn
TheBRcommandenablesthesoftprobe.Thetouchprobeisdisabledwhenthis
commandisexecuted.
CommandFormat
MLString"BR"

Example
1. MLString"BR"
Input
None.
Results
Thesystemenablesthesoftprobeandstartsincludingsoftprobedeflectionsas
partofthetippositioncoordinatedata.
SkipAction
Executesevenwheninsideaskipblock.
ErrorMessages
MLB080Thesoftprobehasnotbeencalibrated.
EBEndBlock
TheEBcommandmarkstheendofacodeblockthatstartedwithaBB
command.
FormatofMLBCommand FormatofSheffieldRoutine
MLString"EB" EndBlock
ExampleofMLBCommand ExampleofSheffieldRoutine
Example#1
MLString"EB" EndBlock
Input
None.
Results
Thecommandmarkstheendoftheblockofcodethatbeganwiththeprevious
BBcommand.
SkipAction

ErrorMessages
MLB015Thereisnomatchingblockbeginning.
EndBlock
TheEndBlockroutinemarkstheendofacodeblockthatstartedwithaBB
command.
FormoreinformationontheEndBlockroutine,seetheMLBcommandEB.
ILInitializeLibrary
TheILcommandinitializestheMeasurementLibrary.Flagsandvariablesrevert
tothedefaultstateatsysteminitialization.Thisfunctiondoesnotclearsystem
errorscausedbyafaultinthesystemhardware.Separatecorrectiveactionmust
betakenforsucherrors.
CommandFormat
MLString"IL"
Examples
1. MLString"IL"
Input
None.
Results
Thesystem:
Deletesallmeasuredfeatures,
Resetsthepartandmachinescaleratiosto1:1,
Cancelsaxistranslationsandrotations,
Setsthefeaturenumberandsequencenumbertozero,
Revertstothedefaultvaluesformeasurementunitsandtheworking
plane,and
Clearsallothervariablesorsetsthemtothedefaultvalues.
Thisfunctiondoesnotaffect:

SelectedtiporProbediameter,
Calibrationofanyprobetips,
Calibrationoftherotarytable,or
Savedreferenceframes1through48.Otherreferenceframesaredeleted
SkipAction
Thisfunctionmaynotoccurinasectionofcodetobeskipped.Error.
ErrorMessages
None.
IOIOStat
TheIOcommandallowstestingofoneoftheinput(readonlyorreadwrite)bits
orchangingthestatusofoneoftheoutput(writeonlyorreadwrite)bits.
CommandFormat
MLString"IOp1,p2"
Examples
1. MLString"IO3,1"
2. MLString"IO2"
Input
p1=0through67(Numericrequired)
p2=0or1(Numericoptional)
p1isanumberwhichcorrespondstotheinputoroutputbitwhosestatusisbeing
viewedorchanged.p1mustbeadigitfrom0through67.Somebitsareread
only,somearewriteonly,andothersarebothreadandwrite.ConsultGiddings
&Lewisfordetails.
Ifp2isspecified,p1identifiesanoutput(writeonlyorreadwrite)bit.p2maynot
bespecifiedwithareadonlybit.p2indicatesthestatetowhichtheoutputbit
identifiedbyp1istobechanged.p2mustbeeitherazero(0)oraone(1).
Theoutputbitsarelikeswitcheswhichmaybeopenedorclosed.FortheControl
Board,whenp2iszero(0),theswitchisclosed,andwhenp2isone(1),the
switchisopen.OntheAuxiliaryDigitalInputOutputBoardandtheTemperature
CompensationBoard,theswitchisopenedwhenp2iszero(0),andtheswitchis

closedwhenp2isone(1).Inthefirstexample,thestateofthewrite/onlybit
number3isbeingchangedtoone.
Ifp2isnotspecified,p1identifiesaninput(readonly,readwrite)bit.The
programmercanonlyviewthestatusofabitwhichhasbeenidentifiedasan
inputbit.Thestatusofaninputbitcannotbechanged.Inthesecondexample,
thebitwhosestatusistobeviewedisthereadonlybit#2ontheControlBoard.
Results
Ifp2isnotspecified,thecurrentstatusoftheinputbitidentifiedbyp1isstoredin
thevariableS7.ThevariableS7mustbecheckedimmediatelyafterexecuting
thisfunctiontoverifythestatusoftheinputbit.IfS7iszero(0),thereisno
currentflowintotheinputbit.IfS7isone(1),thereiscurrentflowintothebit.
ThisistruefortheControlBoardandtheAuxiliaryDigitalInputOutputBoards.
FortheTemperatureCompensationBoard,ifS7iszero,theinputbitisanopen
circuit(+V).IfS7isone,theinputbitisground(OV).Forthereadwriteinputbits,
S7containsthelastvaluewrittentotheoutputbit.
Ifp2isspecifiedintheIOcommand,thevalueofS7ismeaningless.Notethatall
inputbitsand/oroutputbitsmaynotbeavailabletotheuser.Availabilityis
dependentontheMPconfigurationpurchased.
SkipAction
ErrorMessages
MLB005Communicationerror.
MLB006Outputmasklogicaltranslationerror.
MLB007Outputunavailable.
MLB021FirstParameterInvalid.
MLB022SecondParameterInvalid.
KDSetnominalsoftprobedeflection
TheKDcommandsetsthenominalsoftprobedeflectiontobeused.
CommandFormat
MLString"KDp1"
Examples
1. MLString"KD0.05"

Setthenominalsoftprobedeflectionto0.05units.
Input
p1=nominalsoftprobedeflection(Numericoptional)
Theoptionalnumericparameterp1specifiesthenominalsoftprobedeflectionin
currentunits.Thisvaluemustbepositive.
Ifp1isnotspecifiedthenthecurrentsettingfornominalsoftprobedeflectionis
returned.Thedefaultvalueafterinitialization(IL)is0.05".
Results
Ifavalueisspecified,thenominalsoftprobedeflectionissettothisvalueexcept
asnotedabove.Ifavalueisnotspecifiedthenthecurrentvalueisreturnedto
variableS7.
SkipAction
Executednormally.
ErrorMessages
KSSetTracking/ScanningSpeed
TheKScommandsetstheprobespeedtobeusedduringDCCmoveswhile
trackingorscanning.
CommandFormat
MLString"KSp1,p2"
Examples
1. MLString"KS0.5"
Setthetracking/scanningmovespeedto0.5unitspersecond.
Input
p1=tracking/scanningmovespeed(Numericoptional)
p2=tracking/scanningmovespeed(Numericoptional)

Theoptionalnumericparametersp1andp2specifythedesiredtracking/
scanningmovespeedincurrentunitspersecond.Thisvaluemustbepositive.If
thespecifiedvalueexceedsthemachineallowedmaximumthenthatwillbe
usedratherthanthespecifiedvalue.
Ifonlyp1isspecified,thep1valueisusedforbothopenloopandclosedloop
scan. Ifbothp1andp2arespecified,p1isusedforopenloopscanandp2is
usedforclosedloopscan.
Ifnoisspecifiedthenthecurrentsettingsfortracking/scanningmovespeedare
returned.Thedefaultvaluesafterinitialization(IL)are0.1"(or2.54mm)per
second.
Results
Ifavalueisspecified,thetracking/scanningmovespeedissettothisvalue
exceptasnotedabove.Ifavalueisnotspecifiedthenthecurrentopenloop
valueisreturnedtovariableS7andtheclosedloopvalueisreturnedtovariable
S8.ThesystemusesthisasthemaximumvelocitywheneveraDCCorjoystick
moveiscommandedwhiletrackingasurfacewithasoftprobeorscanningwitha
softprobe.
SkipAction
Executednormally.
ErrorMessages
RNReturnScanData
TheRNcommandterminatescollectionofscandataand/orreturnscollected
scandatatoMeasureMax+.
CommandFormat
MLString"RNp1"
Examples
1. MLString"RN"
IfscanningisactivewaitfortheDCCqueuetobecomeemptyandthe
finalmovetobeintolerance,thenterminatescanning.Returnthenumber
ofdatapointstothehost.

2. MLString"RN0"
IfscanningisactivewaitfortheDCCqueuetobecomeemptyandthe
finalmovetobeintolerance,thenterminatescanning.Returnthe
collecteddatapoints(beginningwithpointnumber0)andthenumberof
datapointstothehost.
Input
p1=pointindex(Numericoptional)
Theoptionalnumericparameterp1cannotbeanegativenumber.Ifspecified,p1
requeststhatscandatapointsbereturnedtothehostbeginningwithpoint#p1.
Notethatthefirstpointcollectedhasindex0(zero).Ifp1isnotspecifiedthe
collecteddataisnottobereturnedtothehostcomputer.
Results
TheRNcommandcompletesascandatacollectionoperationinitiatedbytheAS
command.IfscanningisactiveitwillbeterminatedwhentheDCCqueue
becomesemptyandthefinalmovetobeintolerance.Ifp1isspecifiedthe
collecteddatapointsarereturnedfromthescanbuffertothehostcomputerand
storedintheS9array.ForallscantypesexceptA(seeAScommand),thepoint
dataisstoredintheS9arrayinnormalX,Y,Zorderthatis,theXcoordinate
datavaluesarestoredinS9(*,0),YvaluesinS9(*,1),andZvaluesinS9(*,2).
ForascanoftypeA,polarradiusvaluesarestoredinS9(*,0),polarangle
valuesarestoredinS9(*,1),andthirdaxisvalues(height)arestoredinS9(*,2).
ThenumberofcollecteddatapointsisreturnedtovariableS7.
SkipAction
Ignored.
ErrorMessages
None.
SBScanTarget
TheSBcommandtransmitstheindependentaxistargetsfromthescanbuffer
S9(*,0)totheMP,sothattheycanbeusedinthenextscan.Thepartprogram
mustexecutetheSBcommandbeforeitexecutestheSNcommandifituses
absolutetargets.
CommandFormat

MLString"SBp1"
Examples
1. MLString"SB100"
Input
p1=Numberoftargetstotransmit(Numericrequired)
p1specifiesthenumberofindependentaxistargetstotransmit.p1mustbean
integerequaltoorgreaterthan1.Intheexample,p1is100.Theprobescans
100targetsforthismeasurement.Thefirsttargetisinthescanbufferlocation
S9(0,0).Ifyouarescanninginseveralphases,transferalltargetsatonce.S9is
arealarray,sothenumberofdigitsthatmakeupthetargetcoordinatevalueis
notrestricted.
Results
TargetsaresenttotheMPstartingatS9(0,0).Iftheprogramtransmits100
targets,thelasttargetsentisatS9(99,0).
SkipAction
Ignorednotexecutedifpartofaskippedblock.
ErrorMessages
None.
SNScan
TheSNcommandisusedtoinitiateasurfacescan.ThisisforMeasureMax
version1.03systemsonly.
Warning
TheSNcommandisnotsupportedbycurrentMeasureMax+systems.
CommandFormat
MLString"SNp1,p2,p3,p4,p5"

Examples
1. MLString"SN1,XY,400,12,.1"
2. MLString"SNXY,400"
Input
p1=Columninscanbuffer(Numericoptional)
p2=Dependentandindependentaxes(Stringrequired)
p3=Numberoftargetstoscan(Numericrequired)
p4=Startingposition(Numericoptional)
p5=Intervalbetweensuccessivetargets(Numericoptional)
Theoptionalnumericparameterp1istheindexofthecolumnintheS9scan
dataarraytobeusedfordependentaxisscanresults.Ifp1isnotspecifiedthen
scanresultsarestoredincolumnzero(0).
Therequiredstringparameterp2definesthedependentandindependentaxes
forthescan.Thefirstletteridentifiesthedependentaxis.Validsettingsforp2are
XY,XZ,YX,YZ,ZX,ZY,XW,YW,ZW,andRA.
Therequirednumericparameterp3mustbeavaluefrom1to1000andspecifies
thenumberoftargetstobescanned.
Theoptionalnumericparametersp4andp5definethefirstindependentaxis
scantargetandthespacingbetweentargetsforanincrementalscan.Ifp4and
p5arenotspecifiedthentargetsareabsoluteandmusthavebeenpreviously
transmittedtotheMP(seeSBcommand).
Theusermusthavetheprobeinpositionbeforethefirstscantargetbeforethis
commandisexecuted.WhenthiscommandisexecutedtheWAITlightonthe
MPcomeson.Theuserthenmovestheprobealongthescanpathtocollect
data.AfterthefirsttargetispassedtheWAITlightwillflashuntilallscantargets
havebeencollected,thengoout.
Thefirstexamplescans400targetsalongYcollectingXdataincolumn1ofthe
S9array.ThefirsttargetisataYreadingof12andsubsequenttargetsare
spacedata0.1intervalinthepositivedirection.
Thesecondexamplescans400targetsalongYcollectingXdataincolumn0
(default)oftheS9array.TheYaxistargetshavebeenpreviouslysentwiththe
SBcommand.
Results
ThesystemcollectsthescanneddataandstorestheresultsintheS9array.

SkipAction
Ignorednotexecutedifpartofaskippedblock.
ErrorMessages
MLB080Improperprobeinstalled.Eitherahardprobeorananalogprobe
isrequired.
TFTouchModeOff
TheTFcommandpreventsthesystemfromsensingdeflectionofthetouch
probeexceptduringcommandedtouchesorseeks.Inthismode,thesystemcan
ignoretouchesresultingfromthevibrationexperiencedbyalongprobethatis
travelingatahighvelocity.Becausedamagecanresultiftheprobecontactsa
surfacewithforce,useextremecautionwhenusingthisfunction.
WheneverthiscommandisusedinapartprogramtheTNcommandshouldbe
usedtoreenablethetouchprobebeforeterminatingthepartprogram.
CommandFormat
MLString"TF"
Example
1. MLString"TF"
Input
None.
Results
Afterthiscommandisexecutedthesystemdoesnotrecognizetouchprobehits
exceptduringprogrammedDCCtouchoperations.Recognitionoftouchprobe
hitscanbereenabledbytheTNcommandorbyapartprograminitialization.
SkipAction
Executesevenwheninsideaskippedblock.
ErrorMessages

TNEnableTouchProbe
TheTNcommandsetsthetouchmodetoon,reenablingthetouchprobe
previouslydisabledwiththeTFcommand.Ifathreeaxisanalogprobe(e.g.,the
RenishawSP600)isinuse,thenthesoftprobeisdisabled(seetheBF
command).
CommandFormat
MLString"TN"
Example
1. MLString"TN"
Input
None.
Results
Thetouchprobeisenabledduringallmoves.
SkipAction
Executesevenwheninsideaskippedblock.
ErrorMessages

ModifyingRegistryEntries
ThePCDMISSettingsEditorapplicationletsyouchangeregistryentriesthatcontrolvariousPC
DMISsettings.
TolaunchthePCDMISSettingsEditor,makesureyouhaveclosedPCDMIS,thenaccessthe
SettingsEditorshortcutfromtheprogramgroupwhereyouinstalledPCDMIS.Toaccessthe
helpfileassociatedwiththePCDMISSettingsEditor,launchtheSettingsEditorandpressF1.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual ModifyingRegistryEntries 1607

Glossary
9
95%ConfidenceFactor:GivenaGaussiandistribution(orfilter)oferrors,an
adequatenumberofhits,andtheresultingstandarddeviation,youcanbe
95%confidentthattheactualdimensionwillbelessthanthemeasured
value.
A
ABangles:ThepositionoftheseAandBaxesdeterminetheanglesaprobewill
useduringtipcalibration.ThesearealsoreferredtoasABpositions.*Ais
theverticalwristangle.A=0whenthetipispointingstraightdownandit
isnormaltotheprobe.*Bistherotationangle.B=0willvaryaccording
tomachinetypeandbrandandalsoprobeheadtype.
ActiveTip:Theactivetipreferstothepartoftheprobe(alsoreferredtoasthe
stylus)thatiscurrentlyloadedforuse.Severaltipscanbeconsidered
activeatatimeandarereferencedintheActivetiplist.
ActiveTool:Thisreferstothecalibrationtoolthatisusedtocalibratetheactive
tip.SeealsoTool.
ACTL:ThismeansActual,meaningthe"measured"sizeorlocationinformation
asopposedtothe"theoretical"sizeorlocationinformation.
ActualPoint(APT):Outofthemultiplereadingsthatthecontrollertakesduring
theprobingcycle,theActualPointistheonethatisreturnedfromthe
controller.
AlignmentBlock:ThisisasectionofpartprogramcodeintheEditwindow
beginningwiththe"Label=ALIGNMENT/START,..."commandlineand
continuingtothe"ALIGNMENT/END"commandline.
Alignmentoffset:ThisisthedistanceofthepartfromtheX,Y,andZ(0,0,0)
location.
AlignmentRotationFeature:ThisRotatebutton(foundinAlignmentdialogbox)
allowsyoutorotatethepartaboutaparticularaxis.Thisisusedfor
creatingalignments.
AnalogProbe:Thistypeofprobeisanelectronicdevicecapableofperforming
acontinuouscontactscanofapart'ssurfacewithouthavingtoleavethe
part'ssurfaceinordertorecordmeasurementdata.Whennotperforming
scans,theprobefunctionssimilartoaTouchTriggerProbe(TTP).
Arguments:Theseareconditionsusedinasubroutineorequation,suchasan
IFTHENstatement.IFacertainargument(orcondition)ismetTHENa
certainresultfollows.
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual Glossary 1609

Assignment:Assignmentistheprocessofgivingthevalueofanoperation,set
ofoperations,orarealnumbertoavariableandisaccomplishedbyuse
oftheassignmentoperator(=).Theassignmentoperatorisautomatically
createdwhentheassignmentoptionisselected(fromthemenubar,
selecttheAssignmentoption).
Asterisk(*)MetaCharacter:Theasterisk(*)metacharacterwillmatch,ortake
theplace,ofanycharacterorcharactersinasearch.
Axes:Thisispluralforaxis.SeeAxis.
Axis:Anaxisisoneofthereferencelinesinasystemofcoordinates.The
variousaxes(pluralforaxis)areXPLUS,XMINUS,YPLUS,YMINUS,
ZPLUS,andZMINUS.Anaxiscanalsobedefinedasthederivedmedian
linealongthelengthofacylinder,cone,slot,orellipse.
AxisCounters:Thesearedigitalreadouthardwaredevicesconnectedtoyour
machinethatgiveareadoutofthemachine'saxesX,Y,andZpositions.
B
BallTip:Tipshapedasasmallball.
Baricenter:Thecenterofgravityforaholeofanyshape.
BasicScript:Abasicscriptisaseriesofbasiccommandswritteninthe
programminglanguageBASIC.
Baud:Thisistherateatwhichdatacanbetransmittedorreceivedbya
computer.Thisisusuallydefinedasanumberofbitspersecond(bps).
BendRadius:Thisisessentiallyanoutsidecylinder(pin)measurementfor
sheetmetal.Itmeasuresthecenterlocationandsize.
BestFit:Thisisamathematicalprocessthatcalculatesfeatureoralignment
parametersbyminimizingcertainerrorconditionsbetweenmeasuredand
theoreticalpointsorfeatures.
BestGuessAlgorithms:ThesearemathematicalcalculationsthatPCDMIS
usestodeterminewhatfeaturetypeisbeingmeasuredbasedonthe
numberofhitstaken.Basedontheresultsofthecalculations,PCDMIS
makesitsbestguesstodeterminethefeaturetype.Incorrectguessescan
beoverriddenusingtheOverridecommandonthemainmenu.
BlockEdit:ThisreferstomovingaportionoftextfromoneareaoftheEdit
windowtoanotherarea.
Boss:A"boss"isusuallyanexternalconeorcylinderthathasaflattoptoitthat
aboltmaythreadinto.Sometimesthisisalsotermedasa"Stud".
BoundaryCrossings:Thisnumericalvalue(usedintheNumberofBoundary
Crossingsbox)tellsPCDMIShowmanytimestheprobe'sBallCentercan
crossthegivencondition'ssurface(planar,spherical,cylindrical)before
stoppingagivenscan.OncetheBallCentercrossesthecondition's
1610 Glossary PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

surfaceforthenthtime(wheren=thenumberentered),thenthescan
stops.
BoundaryPlane:TheBoundaryPlaneiscreatedperpendiculartotheBoundary
PlaneVectorwiththesameXYZcoordinatesasthestartpointofthescan.
TheBoundaryPlaneisoftenusedtodeterminewhentostopascanby
indicatingamaximumnumberoftimesthescanmaycrosstheboundary
plane.
BoundaryPlaneVector:TheBoundaryPlaneVectorisdeterminedinitiallyby
thedirectionfromthestartpointofascantothedirectionpointofthe
scan.
BoundaryPoints:Thesearesamplepointswhichwilldeterminethelimitsofthe
areatobecontainedwithinascannedlineorsurface.
BoxSelecting:BoxselectingisafunctionwithintheGraphicDisplayareathat
allowsyoutodrawaboxwiththemousearoundagroupoffeatures,
highlightingthosefeaturesinaFeatureIDlistbox.
BoxTolerancing:AvariationofBoxSelecting.BoxTolerancingcanbe
performedwithanopenDimensiondialogwindowandBoxSelectinga
groupofmeasuredfeatures.ThetoleranceoptionsintheDimension
Dialogboxcanthenbeusedtoapplythesametolerancestoallofthe
featuresthatareselected.
Branching:Branchingisthepath(nottheprobepathbutthelogicalpathorflow
thatanexecutingpartprogramtakes)followedduringexecutionofapart
programwhichmaybevariableasaresultofsomelogicalstatement,
suchasIF,ELSEIF,ELSE,DO,andWHILE,thatcausesthepartprogram
toexecutedifferentlydependingonthevalueofsomeinputorvariable
thatiscomputedormeasuredinthepartprogram.
C
CADCoordinates:Theposition,expressedasX,Y,andZvalues,ofafeaturein
aCADfile.
CADfile:ACADfileisagraphicalimagefilecreatedusingComputerAided
Draftingwhichcontainsinformationaboutapartorpartsandtheir
features'dimensions,orientations,andsizes.Thesefilesareusually
savedinoneofthefollowingformats:IGES,DFX,DES,STEP,and
XZYIJK.
CalWrist:AbbreviationforCalibrateWrist.Usedtocalculatetheprobehead
offsetsforeachwristpositionthatisused.
CalculateBoundary:AbbreviationforCalculateBoundaryPoints.Usedwith
PerimeterScanstodeterminethelimitsoftravelduringthescanning
operation.

Calibration:ThisprocesssimplytellsPCDMISthelocationanddiameterofthe
probetip.Itisalsoreferredtoas"qualification".
CalibrationTool:ACalibrationToolisacalibratedartifactusedtoqualifya
probetip.Itisnormallyaprecisiontoolingball.Itisalsoknownasa
"QualificationTool".
Capability:Thisisacalculatednumberbasedonmeasureddataandthe
tolerances(USLandLSL).Ittellsyouhowwellaprocesscanproduce
partswithrespecttothespecifiedtolerances.
CapabilityinEquationForm:Itistheminimumbetween:(USL
XBarBar)/(3*sigma)and:(XBarBarLSL)/(3*sigma).WhereXBarBaris
themeanofthesubgroup'smeansforthedatainconsideration.Inorder
fortheprocesstobelabeledas"capable",thecalculatedcapability(above
equation)mustbegreaterthantheuserenteredcapabilitythreshold.Ifa
processisnotcapableitisconsidered"incapable".
CapabilityThreshold:Thisisthenumberbywhichtheprocess'scapabilityis
determined.Thecapabilityandthecapabilitythresholdaretwodifferent
values.
CarBodyAlignment:MostCarBody(andAircraft)alignmentshavea
coordinatesystemthatisoffinspace.Inthecaseofacar,itisusually
downinthelowercenterofthecar,undertheinstrumentpanel.
Dimensioningoffeaturestakesplacefromthatpoint.
CD:CollisionDetection.
Centroid:Thecentermostpointofafeature.
CharacteristicPoint:ThisisameasurementusedbytheNC100videoprobe
thatisessentiallyanAnglePointmeasurement.Ithastwomeasurement
types.1)Measuresapointattheintersectionoftwosurfaces(this
measurementtypeismostlikeananglepoint).2)Measurestwopoints,
oneoneachsurfaceataspecifieddistancefromtheintersection.
Child:A'child'isacommandthatisdependentuponanothercommandinorder
tofunction.
CircMove:CircularMove.
ClearP:AnabbreviationforClearancePlane.Itisalsoacommandenteredinthe
Editwindowtodefinetheplanetheprobemustcleartoavoidcollisionwith
thepart.
Cmk:Machinecapabilityprocess.Thisvalueisusedtodeterminehowwella
givenprocesscanmatchthespecificationlimitsfortheprocess.
CMM:CoordinateMeasuringMachine.
CollisionTolerance:IndicatesameasurablevaluefromthesurfaceoftheCAD
data.Itisdesignedtoalertyoutoanycollisionsbetweentheprobeand
part.

Columnlocator:Anothertermfor"Gripper".
Columnpassinglane:Thecolumnpassinglaneisasmallcorridorbehindthe
usablefixturevolumewherecolumnsaremovedfromonearmtothe
otherandpulledfromtherackforplacementonthemachinetable.
Comm:Communicationsport.
ContinuousContactScanning:AContinuousContactScancanbeperformed
onlywhenusingeitherananalogprobe,hardprobe,orsomelaserprobes
andopticalprobes.Inthistypeofscantheprobetipisbroughtincontact
withthesurfaceofapartandmovedinalinearfashionwithoutleavingthe
surfaceofthepartuntilthescanoraportionofthescaniscomplete.
Controller:EveryCMMhasacontroller.Thecontrollerdrivestheservosto
movethemachine,readsthescalestokeeptrackoftheposition,
interfacestotheactualprobe,etc.AgivenCMM(ormachine)cananyone
ofseveraldifferenttypesofcontrollers.
CoordinateSystem:AcoordinatesystemconsistsofanoriginandX,Y,andZ
axes.
Coplanar:Coplanarmeansthatfeaturesresideinthesameplane.
Cpk:Processcapabilityindex.Thisvalueisusedtodeterminehowwellagiven
processcanmatchthespecificationlimitsfortheprocess.
CTE:CoefficientofThermalExpansion
CutPlane:TheCutPlaneisatheoreticalplanewhichiscreatedperpendicularto
theCutPlaneVectorwiththesameXYZcoordinatesasthestartpointof
thescan.TheCutPlaneisusedtoenableascantobecreatedwithall
pointsbeingatthesamelevelrelativetotheCutPlaneVector.
CutPlaneVector:Thecutplanevectoristhecrossproductoftheinitialtouch
vectorandthelinebetweenthestartandendboundarypointsonscans.If
thereisnoendpoint,thenthelinebetweenthestartanddirectionpointis
used.
CutVec(CutVector):SeeCutPlaneVector.
D
DataPage:DataPage(tm)isastatisticalprocessingsoftwarepackagewhichlinks
seamlesslywithPCDMIS.
Datum:Adatumisan"imaginary"and"perfect"userdefinedfeatureusedasa
referencepointfromwhichtomeasureotherfeaturesonapart.
DatumReferenceFrame:Adatumreferenceframeisanalignmentcreated
fromthecurrentsetofdatums.ItisdefinedbytheorderofyourA,B,C,
etc.datums.
DCC:DirectComputerControl.

DCCMode:ThismodeputstheCoordinateMeasuringMachineintoDirect
ComputerControl(orDCC).Withthismodeturnedon,thecomputerisin
controlofmanyCMMfunctions.
DD:DiameterofDatum.
Delimiter:Theverb,todelimit,simplymeanstoseparatepiecesofinformation.
Adelimiterthenisasymbolthatseparatesdistinctpiecesofinformation.
InwrittenEnglishforexample,theperiod,questionmark,andexclamation
markaredelimitersthatdelimit(orseparate)thesentences.
Delta:Usedtoindicateanoptionwherechangeoranamountofchangeis
expectedtooccur.
Dependentcurve:ADependentcurveisdependentonthefeaturesetitwas
createdfrom.Thismeansifthefeaturesetischangedlateron,thenthe
constructedcurvemayalsochange.
Dependentsurface:ADependentsurfaceisdependentonthefeaturesetitwas
createdfrom.Thismeansifthefeaturesetischangedlateron,thenthe
constructedsurfacemayalsochange.
Depth:Thisdefinesthedistancebelowthesurfaceofapartwherethe
measurementwillbetaken.
DES:IfimportingaDESfiletype,thisstandsfor"DataExchangeStandard".If
workingwithstatisticaldatabases,DESstandsfor"DataEvaluation
System".
DF:DiameterofFeature.
Diameter:Themaximumchordlengthofacircle,cylinder,orsphere.Inthecase
ofPCDMIS,thechordlengthwillbeappliedtoabestfitfeatureunless
specifiedotherwise.Imaginearoundfeaturewithalinepassingthrough
thecenterofit.Thelengthofthissegmentisreferredtoasthediameter.It
issometimesreferredtoasthethicknessorwidthofthefeature.
DIMS:DimensionalInspectionMeasurementSystemfileformat.Thisisthe
formatofthePCDMISpartprogramfiles.
DirectionPoint:TheDirectionPointofascansetsthedirectionofthescan.The
scanwillcontinuefromtheStartPointheadinginthedirectionofthe
DirectionPointuntilitreachestheEndPoint.
DiskTip:Tipshapedasasmalldisk.
DRO:DigitalReadOut.
DXF:DrawingInterchangeFile.
E
Element:Anelementissimplyanothernameforafeature.
ELM1:ThisabbreviationstandsforElement1.

ELM2:ThisabbreviationstandsforElement2.
ELOGO.DAT:ThisdatafileisusedtoformattheEditReport'sfooter.Itisonly
usedontheverylastpageoftheEditReport.
EndAng:EndingAngle.
Endeffector:Anartifactthatisplacedagainsttheparttoholditstationaryinat
leastoneaxis.Typicallythisisaspherewithadefineddiameter.Spheres
areusedbecausetheywillonlycontactthepartatasinglelocation.Other
typesofendeffectorscanbepins(formatingholes),cylindersforlocating
edges,andspecialtypiecesspecificallytailoredtothepartbeingfixtured.
EndPoint:ThisistheEndingPointofascan.Whenthescanexecutionreaches
thispointitstops.
EndTouchVector:Thecompensationvectorforthelastpointofascan.
Endofram:ThistermreferstotheXYZcoordinatesattheendofthearm(or
ram)only,notfiguringintheXYZcoordinatesoftheprobetip.
EndVec(EndVector):SeeEndTouchVector.
ErrorMap:AllCMM'sareconstructedwithinherentinaccuracies.After
construction,mostCMMmanufacturerslaserverifytheirmachinesto
recordtheseinaccuracies.Theseerrorsarethenstoredelectronicallyina
computerfile(calledabcomp.dat)whichcanbeaccessedbyPCDMISto
enhancetheaccuracyoftheCMM.Inessence,thecomputerfileisan
ErrorMapoftheCMM.SeeVolumetricCompensation.
Export:TheprocessofconvertingthedrawinginformationcontainedinaPC
DMISpartprogramtoaCADstandardoutputfilesuchasIGES.
Expression:AnexpressionisauserdefinedconditionusedwithPCDMIS'S
flowcontrolcommands.Iftheconditionismetornot,youcandetermine
whatactionPCDMIStakes.
Extrude:Whenaprobeismovedfromonelocationtoanother,geometric
volumeiscreatedthroughthemove.Theterm"extrude"isusedtodefine
thevolumeofspacethataprobewillbeinasitmovesfromonepointto
thenext.Thevolumeisthencheckedforcollisionwiththepartortable.
F
FaroArm:ThisreferstothearticulatingarmCMMproducedbyFaro
Technologies,Inc.
FeatureHeight:Thedistancefromthebasetothetop(center)ofthefeature.
FeatureLength:Themeasuredvaluealongitsgreatestdimension.
FeaturePointer:AFeaturePointerisavariabletypethatworksdirectlywithan
existingfeature,providingdirectaccesstothatfeature.Forexample,the
statementASSIGN/V1=CIR1wouldcreateafeaturepointertothe

featureCIR1andassignittovariableV1.V1couldthenbeusedtoaccess
CIR1.CIR1.Xwouldaccessthemeasuredxcomponentofthecentroidof
CIR1.
FeatureSet:AFeatureSetisacollectionofpreviouslymeasuredorcreated
elementsintooneconstructedelement.TheitemsmakinguptheFeature
Setdonotnecessarilyhavetobeofthesamefeaturetype.
FeatureWidth:Themeasurementofafeaturefromsidetoside.Themeasured
valuealongafeature'sshortestdimension.
FILEI/O:ThismenuoptionstandsforFileInput/Output.DatacanbeInput
(written)toorOutput(read)fromthesefiles.
FindNoms:FindNominalValues.Whenthisoptionisselectedfromthe
Nominalsoptionofascandialog,PCDMISwillpiercetheclosestselected
CADsurfaceinanattempttogatherthetheoreticalCADdataforeach
scanneddatapoint.Thisinformationwillthenbeusedtocalculatethe
deviationofeachpoint.
FixedDelta:Anoptionformanualscanningwithahardprobewheredatapoints
willonlybegatheredatspecific,or'fixed,'incrementsbetweeneachother.
Fixedprobe:Afixedprobeissynonymouswitha"hardprobe".Itisaprobethat
doesn'tuseatouchtrigger.
Flatfeaturetype:Flatfeaturetypesareplanarfeatures.SeeFlatfeatures.
Flatfeatures:Flatfeaturesaredefinedaspoints,planes,andlines.SeeFlat
featuretype.
FlatGuess:Thisisamodeofoperationutilizedwhenusingahardprobetoset
orderofprecedenceforthesoftwaretoguessthetypeoffeaturebeing
measured.FlatGuesswillattempttosolveforaplanebeforeacircle,
cylinder,cone,orsphere.SeealsoRoundGuessandGuessMode.
Floatingtoolbar:Afloatingtoolbarisatoolbarthatisabletobemovedoutofits
setpositionandallowedto"float"atadesiredlocationonthescreen.
FlowControl:Thisreferstooptionswithinthesoftwarethatallowyoutocontrol
thedirectionofthepartprogram.
FlyMode:ThisisanoptionreferringtohowPCDMISwillmovetheprobe
aroundthepartduringthemeasurementprocess.Tobeutilized,theCMM
musthaveaDCCcontrollercapableofFlyModeoperation.
FOV:FieldofVision.Thisreferstowhatyoucanseethroughtheeyeofa
camera,anintegralportionofvideoprobes.
G
Gap&Flush:GAP=Distance(inthesameplane)betweentwomatingsheet
metalparts.FLUSH=Heightdifferencebetweentwomatingsheetmetal
parts.Forexample,ifyou'relookingatatopviewofanautomobile,the

distancebetweenacar'sfenderandhoodisthegap(distancebetween
thetwopartsinoneplane).Ifyoulookatasideviewofthecartheflush
forthefenderandthehoodwouldbetheheightdifference.
GaussianFilter:See95%Confidencefactor.
GD&T:GeometricDimensioningandTolerancing.Thisisastandardized,
internationallanguagethatusesarecognizedsymbologytocommunicate
apart'sdesignspecifications.
Geometries:Geometriesarefeaturesorgeometricalshapessuchaslines,
circles,etc.
Gripper:Thisdevice,usedwithflexiblefixturing,isplacedontheendoftheram.
It"grips"(orholds)columnsinordertoeitherremovethemfromtheirrack
andpositionthemontheworktable,orremovethemfromtheworktable
andplacethembackintheirrack.Thegripperalsousesairinjectors
(muchlikeairhockey)toliftthecolumnoffoftheworktable.
GuessMode: Whenafixedprobeisused,PCDMIScan'tdeterminethetypeof
featurethatisbeingmeasured.Guessmodeallowsyoutoindicate
whetherthefeatureisflatorroundreducingthepossibilityofanincorrect
guess.
H
Hardprobe:Ahardprobeisaprobewithoutatouchtriggerorremovablestylus.
HEADER.DAT:Thisdatafileisusedtoprovideformattinginformationforthe
EditReport'sheaders.Thisincludesallthepagesafterthefirstpage.
HighPointFeature:AHighPointFeatureisthetypeoffeaturecreatedwhen
usingtheHighPointoptionofAutoFeatures.(Fromthemainmenu
AccesstheAutoFeaturesdialogboxandthenselecttheHighPointtab)
TheHighPointisthepointalongaspecificvectorthroughasurfacewhich
hasnootherpointatahigherdistancealongthatvectorwhencompared
tothecentroidofthesurface.
Hit:Contactingthestylustipwiththepart.Alsoknownasprobing.
HitBuffer:Thehitbufferstoresprobehitsbeforeyoucreateafeaturefrom
thosehits.ThestoredhitscanbedeletedbypressingtheALTand''
(minus)keycombination.
HitRetract:Thisnumberisauserspecifieddistancewhichtellstheprobeat
whatpointtospeedupagain,afterretractingfromaprobehitonapart.
Homeposition:ThisXYZpositionisthe0,0,0machinelocationthattheprobe
movestoeachtimethemachineispoweredonoroff.

I/Ochannels:Anumbereddeviceinthecontrollerthatallowsyoutosetthe
stateto1or0.Compatibledevicescanthenbeconnectedtoeach
channel.Onecommonexampleistoconnectonechanneltoanairsupply
foranexternaldevice.Settingthechannelto1turnsontheairandsetting
itto0turnsitoff.
ID:IdentificationorIdentity.AlsoLabelorFeatureName.
IGES:InternationalGraphicsExchangeSpecificationfileformat.
Import:TheprocessofretrievingaCADfilefromadatabaseandprocessingit
intothePCDMISpartprogram.
Indent:Avaluesetinfromtheedgeofthefeature(tothepointlocation).
Independentcurve:AnIndependentcurvenolongerdependsonthefeatureset
thatwasusedtocreateit.Ifthefeaturesetchanges,theindependent
curvewillnotchange.
Independentsurface:AnIndependentsurfacenolongerdependsonthe
featuresetthatwasusedtocreateit.Ifthefeaturesetchanges,the
independentsurfacewillnotchange.
Indexable:Theabilityoftheprobewristtobepositionedatcertainpredefined
(indexed)angles.Thesepositionsaremechanicallysetatregular
incrementsonindexingprobeheads.Theseindexescanvaryfrom15to
lessthe0.1.Whenawristisindexableitmeansthatithasthecapabilityof
beingmovedtodifferentpositionswithintheincrementsavailableonthat
specificwrist.
Indirection:Thevalueofthevariablepointedtobythegivenvariable.
InitSampleHits:Theinitialsamplehitsaretakenwhenlearningaparticular
feature.Samplehitsareusedtodeterminethesurfacevectorintowhich
themeasuredfeatureprojects.
InitialTouchVector:Thecompensationvectorforthestartpointofascan.
InitVec(InitialVector):SeeInitialTouchVector.
INTOF:Intersectionofthegivenfeature.
IterativeAlignment:Thisalignmenttakesanumberofpointswhich
approximatestheideal(ornominal).Fromthepoints,amathematical
computationrepeatedlyadjustsortriestoapproximatethealignmentto
thenominal.Inasense,itdoesa"bestfit"computationwiththepoints.
K
KinematicMount:Akinematicmountreferstoasetofusually3precision
toolingballs,receiversfortheballs,andafasteningdevicewhichisused
toprovideahighlyrepeatableconnectionpointforstyli,probes,orprobe
heads.Kinematicmountsarefrequentlyfoundondeviceswhichmay

employanautomaticchangerandwillprecludetheneedfor
requalification.
Knot:Aknotisapartofthemathematicaldefinitionofaspline.Theyare
associatedwiththecontrolpointsofasplineandhelptodefinetheshape
ofthespline.
L
LearnMode:ThistermisusedtodescribethestateofPCDMISwhencreating
orappendingtoapartprogram'sinstructionsintheEditwindow.
Learning:Thistermisoftenusedtodescribetheprocessofcreatinginstructions
whichappearinthePCDMISEditwindow.Thiscanbedonethrough
typingintheactualentries,selectingmenucommandfromthemenubars,
orbytouchingmeasurementpointsonaphysicalpartwiththeCMMand
pressingthejogbox'sDONEbuttonorthekeyboard'sENDkey.
LEVEL3+:Thismeansthatthreeormorefeaturesareneededtoperformthe
Levelcommandforaniterativealignment.
LEVELset:ThisisthesetoffeaturesneededtoperformtheLevelcommandfor
aniterativealignment.SeeLEVEL3+.
LineDistance:Thelengthofalinesegmentbetweentwofeatures.
Literals:Operandswhosesymbolsliterallydescribetheirvalue."3"isaliteralof
typeinteger."3"meansthenumberthree.Itnevermeans"4"or"2".A
variable,suchas"V1"doesnotliterallydenoteitsvalue,ratheritisalabel
orholdingplaceforavalue."V1"couldholdavalueof"2","3",or"4"or
anyothernumberofobjecttype.Literalsoftenhaveveryspecificfunctions
andmeaningsandattimescanbeusedinplaceofarguments.Seealso
"StringLiterals".
LKsystems:LKsystemsareCMMsorCMMcontrollersproducedbyLK,as
opposedtoSHARPEmodels.
LMC:LeastMaterialCondition.
Logo.dat:Thisdatafilecontainsinformationthatformatsadocumentheaderfor
thefirstpageoftheEditReport.Itmaycontaininformationsuchasdate,
time,etc.
Looping:Theactofrepeatinganyportionofthepartprogramapredetermined
numberoftimes.
M
MachineCapability:Thisisthesameastheprocesscapability(seeCapability
Threshold),exceptstandarddeviationiscalculatedinadifferentway.It
thiscasestandarddeviationiscalculatedbasedontheindividualdata,not
subgroupdata.Thisisessentiallytheonlydifference.

MachineCoordinates:Theposition,expressedasX,Y,andZvalues,ofa
featureorobjectwithinthemeasurementvolumeofaCMMwithrespectto
themachine'szeroreferenceposition.
ManualProbingPoint:Thisreferstothefactthattheoperatormanuallymoves
themachinewhentakingthehitratherthanthemachinemovingitselfin
DCCmode.
MarkSet:Thishighlightsagroupoffeaturesthatwillbemeasuredwhenthepart
programisexecuted.
MarkUsed:TheMarkUsedfunction(selectedfromtheProbeUtilitiesdialog
box)willscanaPCDMISpartprogramandmarkorhighlighttheprobe
anglesthatareusedorreferencedbythepartprogram.Thiswillthen
allowanoperatortoeasilydeterminewhichprobeanglesortipsneedto
bequalified.
MasterArmMode:Thismodeallowsonearm,designatedbytheuserasthe
"Master",onamultiarmCMM,totakeprecedenceoveranotherarm,
designatedas"Slave",inordertoavoidcollisionofthearms.Thisisalso
knownasMaster/Slavemode.
MaterialThickness:MaterialThicknessisapropertywhichcanbeassociatedto
CADfiles.Manytimes,especiallyonpartsconstructedofsheetmetal,a
CADfilewillrepresentonlyonesideofthematerial.Therefore,inorderto
accuratelymeasureanddimensionontheoppositesideofthepart,a
correctionthicknessmustbeapplied.
MDI:MultiDocumentInterface.Thisisaprogramoruserinterfacethatallows
morethanonefileopenatatime(PCDMISforexampleallowsyouto
havemorethanonepartprogramopenatatime,makingitanMDI
application).
MeasurementVolume:Themeasurementvolumeistheareainthemachine
thatcanactuallybeusedformeasurement.Althoughthemachine
dimensionsmaybelarge,theactualspacethatisavailabletousefor
measurementcanbemuchsmaller.Themeasurementvolumecan
increaseordecreasedependingontheprobeconfiguration(typeofwrist,
probebody&stylus)beingused.
MetaCharacter:Ametacharacterisacharacterthatactsasawildcardfor
anotheralphanumericcharacterorcharacters.Therearetwometa
charactersavailableinPCDMIS:theAsterisk(*)metacharacterandthe
Questionmark(?)metacharacter.
Microns:Amicronisaunitofmeasurement,onemillionthofameter.
MinusLowertolerances:GivesaplustoleranceintheMinusTolerancefield.
(i.e.1.000+.003/+.001).
MMC:MaximumMaterialCondition.

MMIV:ThisstandsfortheMicroMeasureIV(tm)measurementsoftware
package.
Modelspace:Thisisthe3Dcoordinatespacetowhichsurfaceandcurve
geometryismapped.
Modes:ModesaredifferentprogramstatesavailabletoPCDMIS.Eachmode
offersspecificfunctions.ThemodesavailabletoPCDMISinclude:
ProgramMode,TranslateMode,DCCMode,ManualMode,andTextBox
Mode.
Mountpoint:AdefinedXYZlocationusedduringcertainfixtureandprobe
changeroperations.
MovementRange:Theactualspace(volumeorarea)thatcanbeusedona
machineformeasurement.ItisalsoknownasMeasurementVolume.
MovingAverage:Thisistheaveragevalueofasetofdatapointsthatmoves
overtime.Example:Givenasubgroupsizeof3(thenumberofdatapoints
usedincalculatingamovingaverage)andthefollowingsetofdata:
[1,2,3,4,3,4,5,4,3,2,3]thefirstmovingaverageiscalculatedfromthefirst
threepoints:[1,2,3].Itsvalueis2.Thesecondmovingaverageis
calculatedbymovingoveronesteptotherightwithinthedata,givingthe
followingdata:[2,3,4].Itsvalueis3.Thenext3pointsare:[3,4,3].Its
averageis3.33.Thenext3are:[4,3,4].Thisisdoneuptotheendofthe
data.
Mrad:Thisisanabbreviationformilliradians.Amilliradianisanangularangular
distanceofonethousandthofaradian.
N
Nestedsubroutines:Thesearesubroutineswhicharecalledfrom(ornested
within)anothersubroutine.
Newtons:A"newton"isaunitofforce.Onenewtonistheforceneededto
accelerateamassof1kilogramtoaspeedof1meterpersecondper
second.
NormalTo:Thephrase"normalto"acertainfeatureorgeometricalelement,
simplymeans"perpendicularto"orata90angletosomeotherfeature.
Notch:Afeaturetypewhichissimilartoonehalfofasquareendedslot.
NumHits:See#Hits.
NumRows:See#Rows.
O
ODBC:OpenDatabaseConnectivity

OffsetFeature:PCDMISallowsthreetypesofOffsetFeatures,OffsetPoints,
OffsetLinesandOffsetPlanes.AnOffsetFeatureisonconstructedoneor
moreotherfeatures.EachfeaturecomprisingtheOffsetFeaturemaythen
haveanoffsetorcorrectionvalueassociatedwithit.Thereby,each
featurecontainedintheoffsetfeaturemayormaynotactuallycoincide
withthenewconstructedfeature.
OLE:ThisstandsforObjectLinkingandEmbedding.
OnError:OnErrorisafunctionofsomeCMMcontrollerswhereifanelectronic
probecontactsordoesn'tcontactapartunexpectedly,thePCDMISpart
programwillbranchtoaseparatesetofinstructionstobeexecuted.This
functionmaybecalledfromthemainmenubyselectingtheOnError
menuitem.
OpenGL:OpenGraphicsLibrary.Thisreferstoalibraryofgraphicroutines
usedtoaidinthedisplayofgraphicalinformation.
Operand:Thepartofanequationthatisbeingoperatedonbyanoperator.In
theequation"2+3",thenumbers2and3areoperandsandtheplussign
(+)istheoperator.
OpticalProbe:AnOpticalprobeisaprobethatusesopticstodetermineits
location.Forexample,alaserprobewouldbeconsideredanOptical
Probe.
ORIGINset:ThisisthesetoffeaturesneededtoperformtheSetOrigin
commandforaniterativealignment.SeeSETORIGIN1.
Outliers:Outliersare"wildpoints"andusuallyresultfromglitchesinthe
measuringprocessratherthanrepresentingactualmaterial.Youmayfind
itusefultoidentifyandignoresuchpoints.
P
PA:ThisabbreviationstandsforPolarAngle.AlsoseenasPANG.ThePolar
AngleisusedincylindricalcoordinatesandisusedwithPolarRadius.See
PR.
Pang:ThisabbreviationstandsforPolarAngle.AlsoseenasPA.ThePolar
AngleisusedincylindricalcoordinatesandisusedwithPolarRadius.See
Prad.
Parameterspace:Thisisthe2Dcoordinatespaceofasurface'sparametric
domain.Forexample,onecornerofasurfaceisdefinedatparameter
position(0,0)andtheoppositecornerisat(1,1).Varyingthisparameter
betweenthesetwopositionsdefinestheentiresurface.Giventhe
geometricdefinitionofsurface,aparameterspacepositioncanbe
mappedtoamodelspacepoint.
Parent:A'parent'isacommand(orinformationfromacommand)usedin
anothercommand.

PartCoordinates:Theposition,expressedasX,Y,andZvalues,ofafeature
onaphysicalpartwithrespecttoanoriginlocation.
PartProgram:Thepartprogramisthetextualdescriptionofhowtomeasureor
inspectanobject.Eachpartprogramhasauniquenamewitha.prg
extension.ThepartprogramiscreatedbytheCMMoperator.Thepart
programcanbe,butisnotalways,associatedwithaCADmodel.Ifitis
associatedwithaCADmodel,theCADfilewillhavethesamefilename
asthepartprogramwitha.CADextension.
Perm:Abbreviationforpermanent.SeePermSampleHits.
PermSampleHits:Thenumberofsamplehitswhichwillbeusedinmeasuring
aparticularfeatureduringexecutionofapartprogram.
PH9:ThisisthemodelnumberofaparticularRenishawprobehead.The
abbreviationstandsforProbeHead9.Thistermisalsousedtorefer
genericallytoarticulatingmotorizedwristtypeprobeheads.
PiercePoint:AnintersectionpointfoundonaCADsurfaceusingthemeasured
hitcoordinatesandapproachvector.Itisequivalenttoaraythatusesthe
approachvectorandstartsfromthehit'sXYZlocationandthen,usingthe
approachvector,piercesthesurfaceatanappropriatepoint.
Pins:Pinsareremovablefeaturesthatstickoutofapart(asopposedtoholes
whichgointothepart).Pinsaresimilarto"studs".
Pitch:Pitchisthedistancemovedalongtheaxisofthefeatureinonerevolution.
PlaneVec(PlaneVector):SeeBoundaryPlaneVector.
PNTTOL:ThisabbreviationforvectorpointtoleranceisusedintheEditwindow
(asPNTTOL=n)tospecifythevectorpointtoleranceformanualtouches
inaniterativealignment.
PointtoPointDigitizing:PointtoPointDigitizingisaprocessofgatheringthe
dataaboutthesurfaceofapartforreverseengineeringpurposes.Datais
gatheredbyscanningthepartwithamachineandsoftwarecapableof
generatingdiscretemeasurementpoints.Onceasufficientnumberof
pointsaregathered,theyaretakenasagroupandprocessedtogenerate
theelectronicsurfacesofapartwhichcanbeusedbyCADsoftwareto
completeadesign.
POLAR:ReferstoaPolar(alsoseenintheEditwindowasPOLR)coordinate
systemcontainingUandVcoordinates.Urepresentsthepolarradiusand
Vrepresentsthepolarangleorvector.
POLR:AnabbreviationforPolar.
Polyline:Incomputergraphics,apolylineisacontinuouslinemadeupofoneor
morelinesegments.Apolylineissometimestreatedasasingleobject,or
itmaybedividedintoitscomponentsegments.
Potentiometers:Theseareinstrumentsthatmeasureelectromotiveforces.

PPAP:PPAP(ProductionPartApprovalProcess)definesrequirementsfor
productionpartapproval.
PR:StandsforPolarRadius.AlsoseenasPrad.ThePolarRadiusisusedin
cylindricalcoordinateswithPolarAngle.SeePA.
Prad:StandsforPolarRadius.AlsoseenasPR.ThePolarRadiusisusedin
cylindricalcoordinateswithPolarAngle.SeePA.
PreHit:Thisisnumberwhichdeterminesatwhatdistanceaprobewillreduce
speedswhileapproachingaparttotakeahit.
Precedence:Precedenceinalgebraicexpressionsorassignmentoperations
referstotheorderinwhichoperationsoccur.Forexample,multiplication
hasahigherprecedencethanadditiontherefore,theexpression"2+3X
6"evaluatesto20since2isaddedtotheresultof3X6.Notfollowing
precedencemightresultintheerrantresultof30.
Probe:ThesensingunitthatisattachedeithertotheRamoftheCMMorthe
indexablewrist.Theproberequiresastylusbemountedtoitinorderto
gathermeasurementdata(exceptinthecaseofahardprobe).
ProbeChanger:ArackplacedinthemeasurementvolumeoftheCMM.The
probechangersecuresmultipleprobetypesforuseinasinglepart
program.TheCMMcanswitchbetweenprobetypeswithouttheneedfor
operatorassistance.
ProbeDepth:TheProbeDepthisthelocationoftheprobealongtheZaxis,
normaltotheCMM'stable.
ProbeExtension:AProbeextensionisacylindricalpiecethatisinserted
betweentheprobeheadandtheprobeitself.
ProbeShanking:Thisistheaccidentalcontactoftheprobe'sshankwiththe
partorafeatureonthepart.
ProbingCycle:Thisisthecycleofoperationananalogprobe/controllergoes
throughtotakeapoint.
PROE:ProEngineerCADfileformat.
Profile:"Aprofileistheoutlineofanobjectinagivenplane(twodimensional
figure).Profilesareformedbyprojectingathreedimensionalfigureontoa
planeorbytakingcrosssectionsthroughthefigure."ASMEY14.5M1994
DimensioningandTolerancing.OftenonCADdrawings,whenyoulookat
asurfaceindifferentviews,itwon'tlooklikeasurface,butacurve,line,or
acollectionofindividualpoints.Thesearetheresultofthisprojectionofa
threedimensionalfigureontoaplaneorbytakingcrosssectionsthrough
thefigure.
ProfileError:Thisisthedeviationoftheactualormeasuredprofilefromthe
theoreticalornominalprofile

Programmode:ThismodeallowsyoutocreateyourpartprogramintheEdit
window.ItalsoshowstheimageoftheprobeintheGraphicalDisplay
window.
Pt:AbbreviationforPoint.
Q
QualificationTools:SeeCalibrationTool.
Qualify:Toqualifyalsomeanstocalibrate,ordeterminetheposition(ofaprobe
tip,forexample).
QuestionMark(?)MetaCharacter:Thequestionmarkmetacharacter(?)acts
inthesamewayastheasterisk(*),exceptthatthequestionmarkmeta
characterwillmatchonly1alphanumericcharacter.
R
Radian:Aradianisaunitofanglemeasurementsuchthatanangleofone
radianhasanarclengthalongtheedgeofthecircleequalinlengthtothe
radius.
Ram:Thisreferstotheendofthearmtowhichtheprobeisattached.Ona
horizontalmachine,theRamisthehorizontalbeamonthemachineand
usuallymovesintheXorYaxisofthemachine.Onaverticalmachine
(commonlycalleda"bridge"machine)theramismountedverticallyand
movesintheZaxisofthemachine.
ReadPOS:ReadPosition.ThisfunctionwillgetthecurrentXYZcoordinates
fromtheCMMcontroller.
RECT:Rectangular.Usedwherethereferencedcoordinatedsystemshouldbe
expressedinrectangular(XY)orCartesian(XYZ)form.
References:Anexpressionsyntaxthatreferstothevalueofdata.Allofthe
syntaxusedtoaccessdifferentdataelementsofthepartprogram.
"CIR1.X"isareferencetothemeasuredxvalueofthecentroidofthe
featurecalledCIR1."LINE.LENGTH"isareferencetothelengthofLINE.
"C1.INPUT"isareferencetotheinputofthecommentnamedC1.
RelearnMode:Thisisascanoptionforexecutionofascan.IftheExecute
optionisselectedtoRELEARN,theneverytimeascanisreexecutedthe
compensationvectorsforeachscanpointarerecalculated.
RFS:RegardlessofFeatureSize.
RLE:RLEstandsforRunLengthEncodingandisawayofcompressingbitmap
files.
Rmeas:RelativeMeasurement.Canbeusedtocreateanewautofeatureat
coordinateswhicharederivedfromtheactualmeasuredcoordinatesofa
previouslymeasuredfeature.

ROI:ThisisacomputerizedboxdisplayedonthecomputerscreenfortheNC
100videoprobe.Measurementofthefeaturemustbewithinthebox.
ROTATE2+:Thismeansthattwoormorefeaturesareneededtoperformthe
Rotatecommandforaniterativealignment.
ROTATEset:ThisisthesetoffeaturesneededtoperformtheRotatecommand
inaniterativealignment.SeeROTATE2+.
Roundfeaturetype:Aroundfeaturetypeisacircularorcurvedfeature.See
Roundfeatures.
Roundfeatures:Roundfeaturesaredefinedascircles,spheres,cones,and
cylinders.SeeRoundfeaturetype.
RoundGuess:Thisisamodeofoperationutilizedwhenusingahardprobeto
setorderofprecedenceforthesoftwaretoguessthetypeoffeaturebeing
measured.RoundGuesswillattempttoSolveforacircle,cylinder,cone,
orspherebeforeaplane.SeealsoGuessMode.
RTF:RichTextFile.
S
ScanPointDensity:TheScanPointdensitydeterminesthenumberofhitsthat
theCMMreturnsforeachmillimeter.
Scripting:SeeBasicScripting.
Sectionlines:SectionLinesareCADentitiesthatcanbesuperimposedona
CADdrawing.Thoughtheycontainnodimensionalordrawinginformation,
theycanbereferencedbyaSectionscantoprovidealinearscanacross
oneparticularsectionofapart.Thesearereferencelinesusedby
engineerswhenspecifyinglocationsofpartfeatures.
SETORIGIN1:ThismeansthatonefeatureisneededtoperformtheSet
Origincommandforaniterativealignment.
Shank:Thisistheshaftportionofthestylusthatextendsfromthemeasuringtip
tothestylusmountingjoint.Inthecaseofashanktip,thereisno
precisiontip(seeshanktip).Theshaftwhichsupportsthequalificationtool
isalsoreferredtoasashank.
ShankQual:ShankQualificationisutilizedwithsheetmetalstylitoprovidethe
axisdirectionoftheshankaswellasthecenterpointofthesphericaltip
end.
ShankTip:Tipshapedlikeastraightshaft.
Shanking:Atermusedwhentheprobeistriggeredbycontactingthepartwith
theshankofthestylusasopposedtothetipofthestylus.Whenthis
occurs,erroneousdataisgathered.
SheetBodies:ThisisUnigraphic'smodelingengine'sterminologyforsurfaces.

SheetmetalStylus:Asheetmetalstylusisdesignedformeasuringverythinpart.
Thesheetmetalstyluswillhavesemisphericalballonitsendwithashort
sectionofshankwhichiscoaxialandconcentrictothecenteroftheball.
SheetmetalThickness:SeeMaterialThickness.
SHSP:StylusHolderSettingPiece
Sigma:TheGreekletteroftenusedtorepresentstandarddeviation.
SNSDEF:ThisstatementisaDMISmajorwordusedtodefinedsensorsinthe
DMISlanguage.
SoftProbing:SoftProbing(orSFT)isLeitzterminologyforafrequentlyused
probingmodeusedtomeasuresoftmaterials.
SolidBodies:ThisUnigraphic'smodelingengine'sterminologyforsolids.
Spacer:Auserdefinedvalueindicatingtheoffsetdistancebetweentheedgeof
afeatureandasamplepoint.
SPC:ThisstandsforStatisticalProcessControl.InPCDMISSPCchartscanbe
createdandupdatedfromadefineddatabase.
Spline:Asplineisaspecifictypeofcurveorsurface.Splinesareusedin
modelingbecauseoftheirmathematicalpropertieswhichmakethem
easiertouseinawidevarietyofways.Splinescanbeusedinbothcurves
andsurfaces.
Squareup:"Squareup"meanstoalign(orrotate)thepartintheGraphical
Displaywindowuntilthatpartlinesupandisparalleltoanedgeofthe
screen.
StandardDeviation:Thisistherootmeansquareofthedeviationfromthe
mean.Inequationformitis:sqrt((sum((xim)^2))/n1)where:m=the
meanvaluen=thenumberofdatapointsxi=theithdatapoint.
StartAng:StartingAngle.
Startpoint:TheStartPointinascanisthebeginningpointofthescan's
execution.
StateMode:ThefourstatesofoperationareTranslateMode,2DRotateMode,
3DRotateMode,andProgramMode.Thesefouroptionscanbe
individuallyselectedfromPCDMIS'Stoolbaricons.
StatisticalOutputFile:Thisfilecontainsprintablestatsforapartprogram.
Informationissavedinthefilenamed"xtats11.tmp"usuallyinthe
PCDMISdirectoryorthelocationthatyouchosetoinstallPCDMIS.
STEPAP203&AP214:STEPstandsforStandardfortheExchangeofProduct
ModelData.STEPwasforwardedtotheinternationalcommunityin1988.
Itisastandardforthecomputerinterpretablerepresentationand
exchangeofproductdata.TheobjectiveofSTEPistoprovideaneutral
mediumcapableofdescribingaproductthroughoutitslifecycle.

StepMode:StepModeisavariationinexecutionofapartprograminwhichthe
CMMwillexecuteonlyoneblockofcommandsatatime.User
interventionisrequiredfortheprogramtocontinue.Ineffect,thisis
'stepping'throughthepartprogram.
StitchTypeScan:ThisisthetypeofscanningperformedonDCCCMMswhich
haveTouchTriggerProbes.Duringthescan,theCMMwillcontactthe
part,moveawaytheretractdistance,movetothenextprehitpoint,then
moveinandcontactthepart.Thisprocesscontinuestorepeatuntilthe
scaniscomplete.ThetermStitchTypecomesfromthisprocesswhichis
similartothefunctioningofasewingmachine.
STL:Stereolithographyformat.AnASCIIorbinaryfileusedinmanufacturing,
providesalistofthetriangularfacetsthatdescribeacomputergenerated
solidmodel.
Studs:Studsarenonremovablefeaturesthatstickoutofapart(asopposedto
holeswhichgointothepart).Pinsaresimilarto"studs".
Stylus:Alsoreferredtoas"ProbeStylus"isacylindricalshaft(shank)witha
highprecisiontip.Thestylusscrewsintotheprobebodyandisusually
interchangeablewithotherStyli(pluralforstylus).
StylusChanger:Thestyluschangerisarackthatisplacedinthemeasurement
volumeoftheCMM.Itholdsmultiplestylitoallowfortheuseofmultiple
styliinasinglePartProgram.TheCMMisabletoautomaticallyswitch
betweenstyliwithouttheneedforoperatorintervention.
StylusExtension:AStylusextensionisacylindricalpiecethatattachestothe
probebodyandtothestylus.Itisusedtoextendthelengthofthe
measuringtip.Multipleextensionscanbeusedatonetime.
Subroutine:Asubroutineisasubprogramwithinthepartprogram.Thesesub
programscontaincommandsfromthecurrentfileoranexternalfileand
thatareabletobeusedrepeatedly.
SurfaceofRevolution:Thisisasurfacewhichmaybegeneratedbyrotatinga
curveplaneaboutanaxisinitsplane.
SystemCalibration:ThisistheprocessofcheckingtheaccuracyofaCMMand
makingadjustmentsmechanicallytotheCMMorelectronicallytothe
VolCompfiletoreducetheinaccuracy.
T
TValue:Thedistanceofthemeasuredhitfromthenominalpointalongthe
nominalCADsurfacevector.Intechnicalterms,itisthecompositeofthe
differenceinthe3axesforthehit,essentiallythesquarerootofthesums
ofthesquares.
TAPERTIP:Tipthathasbeentaperedtoaconicalshapewhichgetssmaller
towardtheend.

TARG:Thisstandsfortarget.Itisthesizeorlocationinformationatwhichthe
CMMwilltrytomeasure.
Tessellation:Theactofbreakingupasurfaceintoagroupofpolygonsinorder
toshadeagraphicalimage.
THEO:Thisstandsfortheoretical.Itisthenominalsizeorlocationinformation.
Thread:Theportionofthetipthatisscrewedintoanotherpartisreferencedby
thesizeofthread.Thetreadisthecorkscrewedbandthatholdstheparts
together.
TimeDelta:Thisuserspecifiedvalueisusedtoweedouthitstakenwithmanual
scansusingahardprobethatcomeinfasterthanthespecifiedtime
increment.Theincrementsareinseconds.
Tip:Thisistheportionofthestylusthatcomesintocontactwiththepartbeing
inspected/measured.Stylimayhaveseveraltypesoftips.Thetipcanbea
ball,disc,orapointer.
TOG:TOGisa"toggle"fieldintheEditwindow.Totogglethroughtheavailable
optionswithintheEditwindow,placethecursorovertogglefieldand
pressF7.
ToolChanger:SeeProbeChanger.
TouchTriggerProbe:Thistypeofprobeautomaticallytriggersahitwhenit
touchesthepart.
TP:TruePosition.
TraceField:ThisisatwofieldcommandintheEditwindow.Thefirstfield
representsthename,ortitleofthetracefield.Thesecondfieldwilldisplay
thecurrentvalueofthetracefield(i.e.,Temperature:75,orShift:
afternoon).TraceFieldsareusedintheXSTATS11.TMPfilefordatabase
programssuchasDataPage.
Translatemode:ThisplacesPCDMISintoaprogramstatewhichallowsyouto
movethepartonthescreenaswellaschangethepart'sdisplaysizein
theGraphicalDisplaywindow,etc.
Trihedron:Agraphicalrepresentationoftheplanesmeetingandformingapoint.
Alsotermedatrihedral.
TTP:SeeTouchTriggerProbe.
U
UG:UniGraphicsCADfiletype.
UPR:ThisstandsforUndulationsPerRevolution.

Variable:Anobjectusedtoholdavalue.Avariablehasanameandavalue.
Thenameisusedtoaccessthevalueofthevariable.Thenameis
constant,thevaluecanbechanged.Forexample,thestatement
ASSIGN/V1=2createsavariablewithanameofV1andavalueof2.
ASSIGN/V2=V1+2accessesthevalueofV1.IfV1stillhadavalueof2
whenthisassignstatementwasexecuted,V2wouldthenhaveavalueof
4.Avariableisavaluethatreferstointeger,real,stringorpointoperands.
VariableDelta:VariableDeltaisatypeofscanthatcanbeaccomplishedonly
withahardprobe.DuringaVariableDeltascan,datapointsarereadonly
whentherequirementsofaspecificminimumtimeincrementanda
minimumdistanceincrementareachieved.
VDAF:VDAFstandsforVDASurfaceDataInterfaceformat.VDAFSwas
publishedasaGermannationalstandardin1986.Itisusedbythe
GermanMotorManufacturersAssociation(VDA)toexchange3DCAD
modeldata.
VDAFS:SeeVDAF.
ViewID:ViewIDisauserdefinednameforaviewthattheuserhassavedin
memory.
VolCompFile:The"comp.dat"file.ForaCMMtomeasureaccurately,thisfile
mustbelocatedinthePCDMISoperatingdirectoryofthecomputerused
tooperateCMM'swhichareVolumetricallyCompensated.SeeVolumetric
Compensation(VolComp).
VolumetricCompensation(VolComp):VolumetricCompensationisthe
processofaccessingaCMM'sErrorMapandapplyingtheerrorasa
correctionfactortomeasurementsinordertoenhancetheaccuracyofthe
CMM.ThisisaccomplishedautomaticallybyPCDMISonceaCMMhas
beenproperlyinitialized.(SeealsoErrorMap.)
W
Weight:Avaluecalculatedfromatoleranceusedwhencalculatingabestfit.
Thesmallerthetolerancethelessroomthereisforerror.Asmaller
tolerance,then,carriesagreater"weight"orimportanceinabestfit
calculation.
WildCards: WildCardsaremadeupoftwometacharacters,theasterisk(*)
andthequestionmark(?).Theasteriskmetacharacter(*)willmatch,or
taketheplace,ofanycharacterorcharactersinasearch.Thequestion
markmetacharacter(?)actsinthesamewayastheasterisk(*),except
thatthequestionmarkmetacharacterwillmatchonly1alphanumeric
character.
WireBodies:ThisisUnigraphic'smodelingengine'sterminologyforwireframe
features(wire,lines,curves,etc).

WorkingPlane:TheActiveandPassThroughPlanesdefinetheworkingplane.
PCDMISwillallowyoutoindicatethespecificplaneintowhichafeature
isprojectedwhenitismeasured.Theterm'working'isthesameas
'current'or'active'whenreferringtotheworkingplane.
WristMap:SeeErrorMapandVolumetricCompensation.
WristWarningDelta:ThisoptioncanbefoundonthePart/Cmmtabofthe
SetUpOptionsdialogbox.IfaCADselectedfeaturetobemeasureddoes
nothaveavectorwhichagreeswiththeactiveprobeanglewithinthe
WristWarningDeltalimit,awarningisgenerated.
X
X,Y,andZCenter:Thesevaluesshowthelocationofthecenteroftheballtip.
XBarR:XBarisawayofwritingoutthestatisticalsymbolXwhichisthemeanor
average.ThustheXBarchartisameanoraverageofaprocess.Thisis
usuallycalculatedovertimeandthechartissetupsuchthattheXaxisof
thechartistimeandtheYaxisofthechartisthemeanvalue.XBarRisan
abbreviationfor"XBarandR".ThisisessentiallyanXBarchartwith
additionalinformation.The"R"representstherangeofdatainanygiven
sample.Asampleisdefinedasapredeterminednumberof
measurements.Therangeofasampleiscalculatedbysubtractingthe
MinfromtheMaxofthesample.Thisisthenplottedatthesametime
positiononthechartasthemeanofthesamplegivingtwodatapointsfor
thesampleatthattime.
XBarS:XBarisawayofwritingoutthestatisticalsymbolXwhichisthemeanor
average.ThustheXBarchartisameanoraverageofaprocess.Thisis
usuallycalculatedovertimeandthechartissetupsuchthattheXaxisof
thechartistimeandtheYaxisofthechartisthemeanvalue.XBarSisan
abbreviationfor"XBarandS".".ThisisessentiallyanXBarchartwith
additionalinformation.The"S"representstheStandardDeviationofthe
sample.Thereisamathematicalequationtodeterminethestandard
deviationofasample.
Z
Zrail:TheZrailistheverticalarmoftheCMM.
Index
#ReturnData .......................................................177 2DimensionalOption .......................................... 854
...button...........................................................1408 2sidedlighting .................................................... 290
.DATFiles ...........................................................268 2D
2DimensionalAngle ............................................860 Angle ............................................................. 860
PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual Index 1631

BestFitCommandLine...................................792 ArmsToolbar ................................................. 502
Distance..........................................................854 Plane .............................................................. 161
RotateMode....................................................280 Probe.............................................................. 166
2Dor3DBestFitAlignments...............................794 ProbeChanger ................................................ 202
3DimensionalAngle ............................................860 ProbeFile ....................................................... 204
321Alignment...................................................780 RotaryTableToolbar ...................................... 502
Step1 Tip ................................................................. 167
MeasuretheAlignmentFeatures .................780 ActiveXControls.............................1058,1094,1273
Step2 ActualMeasurement ............................................ 888
Level,Rotate,andTranslatetotheFeatures.781 Add
Step3 Button .......................................................... 1353
CompletingtheAlignment..........................781 DirectorytoList............................................ 1026
3D FeaturestoExistingMarkedSets..................... 380
AlignmentCenterofRotation ..........................796 RotabAngles .................................................. 199
Angle..............................................................860 AddorRemoveSlotsfromtheDialogBox ........... 211
BestFitCommandLine...................................793 AdjustFilterConstruction .................................... 759
ConnexionControlPanel...................................11 AdvancedButton Scanning ................................ 926
Distance..........................................................855 AfterChoosingtheBestNominalPoint ................ 375
Grid ................................................................273 AIMS
GridColor.......................................................287 Exportingto...................................................... 91
RotateMode....................................................281 AlignmentDependentGenericFeature ................. 766
3DGrid,Adding...................................................273 AlignmentIndependentGenericFeature ............... 766
3DxWare ...............................................................11 AlignmentInsideLoops ....................................... 806
Acceleration.........................................................178 AlignmentOption ................................................ 404
Accelerationtab ...................................................174 AlignmentTrihedron............................................ 772
Active Alignments
AlignmentList ................................................774 2DAlignment................................................. 794
1632 Index PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

2Dor3DBestFitAlignments..........................794 Iterative .......................................................... 779
321Alignment..............................................780 IterativeAlignment ......................................... 781
3DCenterof Rotation......................................796 IterativeAlignmentDialogBox....................... 785
AlignmentDialogBox.....................................774 Level .............................................................. 785
AlignmentID ..................................................774 Level3 ........................................................... 785
AlignmentName .............................................804 NewAlignmentMode..................................... 378
AlignmentUtilitiesDialogBox........................772 Origin............................................................. 786
AlignmentsList...............................................482 Overview........................................................ 769
BestFit ...........................................................789 PlaneandTwoCircles..................................... 448
Alignment ..................................................789 PlaneandTwoLines....................................... 448
AlignmentDialogBox................................796 PlaneLinePoint............................................. 448
Button........................................................779 Recall............................................................. 805
MathType.................................................643 Recalling ........................................................ 805
PointFitting ...............................................796 RotateandTranslate........................................ 794
Types.........................................................794 RotateOnly .................................................... 794
ChangingNominalValues ...............................813 Save ............................................................... 802
CommandFormat............................................770 SaveAlignmentDialogBox ............................ 803
Constraintsfor3DBestFitAlignments............794 Saving ............................................................ 801
Conventions ....................................................772 TranslateOnly ................................................ 794
Cylinder,LineandaPoint ...............................448 AlignmentsList ................................................... 482
DependentGenericFeature..............................766 AllowfinetuningofAlignment............................ 129
EquateAlignmentDialogBox .........................808 AlwaysSaveStatstoFile ..................................... 146
FeatureWeights ..............................................795 AlwaysTrackFOVCenter ................................... 197
FineTuning.....................................................129 AmbientLighting................................................. 318
FixtureTolerance ............................................788 Analysis ............................................................ 1277
ForcePartAlignment inCarBody ...................136 Multiplier ..................................................... 1277
IndependentGenericFeature............................766 Options......................................................... 1283

Settings ...........................................................828 J
SizeOptions..................................................1286 UsingShortcutKeysandShortcutMenus . 1474
AnalysisArea.......................................................610 ApplyButton ......................................................... 30
AnalysisObject ..................................................1061 ApplyingorRemovingaReportTemplate.......... 1169
AnalysisWindow ...............................................1277 ArchiveTab......................................................... 317
Analysis,Graphical ............................................1277 ARCSEGMENTENDINDEXfunction ............... 1388
Analysis,Textual................................................1277 ARCSEGMENTSTARTINDEXfunction ........... 1388
Angle...................................................................766 Argument
BetweenNominal............................................859 DeletefromaCALLSUBcommand .............. 1014
Degrees...........................................................150 EditDialogBox ............................................ 1008
GD&T ............................................................445 ArrangingOpenWindows.................................. 1439
Offset..............................................................362 ArrayFunctions ................................................. 1388
Relationships...................................................445 ArrayIndicesObject .......................................... 1367
Type ...............................................................860 ArrowSize .......................................................... 353
ANGLEDimension ..............................................858 Assemblies .......................................................... 294
AnglestoCalibrate...............................................199 AssembliesofParts.............................................. 294
AngularDefinitionFormat....................................644 AssignTo .......................................................... 1354
Angularity............................................................882 AssigningaNewCommandtoAnArm.............. 1432
AngularityErrorbyUsingtheANGULARITY AssigningExistingCommandstoaNewArm..... 1433

Option:............................................................883
Assignment........................................................ 1354
AnimateProbeduringProgramMode ...................130
Asterisk(*)MetaCharacter.................................. 326
AnimatedProbeChanger......................................561
AutoAlign........................................................... 779
AnimatingthePath...............................................338
AutoCircleHits................................................... 118
AnyOrderExecution.................................... 111,118
AutoContinueExecutionifFindHoleFails........... 129
Appendix
AutoCreateDimensions ...................................... 151
C
AutoDimensionSetup ......................................... 151
ModifyingRegistryEntries.......................1607
AutoFeatures

Angle..............................................................766 AvailableDimensions .......................................... 404
AutoAlign ......................................................779 AvailableInputParameters................................... 257
BestFitMathType..........................................643 AverageValuesfromaSet................................... 753
BoxSelectingforIDs ......................................565 Axes.................................................................... 851
BoxSelectingSheetMetalFeaturesIDs ...........329 AxesandAngleOffset ......................................... 996
BoxSelectingtoCreateMultipleAutoFeatures565 AxesDropDownlist............................................ 838
Calculationlist ................................................606 AxesforLocationDimensions ............................. 833
Diameterbox...................................................592 Axis .................................................................... 938
Guessing .........................................................491 BackFaceCulling................................................ 290
GuessingbyFeatureType................................491 BackgroundColor................................................ 285
IDbox.............................................................572 BackgroundColors,Changing.............................. 188
Incrementbox .................................................584 BasicButton Scanning....................................... 926
Lengthbox......................................................586 BasicHelp........................................................... 431
QuickCreation ................................................565 BasicHit ............................................................. 405
Typelist..........................................................572 BasicHitsbyProbing,Editing.............................. 647
AutoFeaturesToolbar ..........................................491 BasicMeasurementFormat
AutoLineHits......................................................118 foraCircle ..................................................... 636
AutoTriggerarea .................................................179 foraCone....................................................... 637
AutomaticCalibration ........................................1428 foraCylinder.................................................. 637
AutomaticFileSave .............................................123 foraLine........................................................ 635
AutomaticLabelPositioning................130,330,1477 foraPlane ...................................................... 635
AutomaticMeasurements ...................................1447 foraPoint....................................................... 634
AutomaticallyAdjustProbeHeadWrist................124 foraRoundSlot.............................................. 638
AutomaticallyScaletoFit.....................................128 foraSphere .................................................... 636
AutomatingPCDMIS ............................................13 BasicScanDialogBox......................................... 962
AutoTrigger .........................................................179 BasicScript
Avail/MMIVtoWindows...................................1451 asaCommand .............................................. 1410

asaMenuorToolbarItem.............................1411 ClearAll......................................................... 385
EditMenu .......................................................429 ClearAllIcon ................................................. 487
Editor..............................................................426 Insert .............................................................. 487
EditorToolbar.................................................426 Next ............................................................... 385
Inserting........................................................1410 NextIcon........................................................ 487
BasicSyntaxHelp ................................................431 Toggle ............................................................ 385
BestFit ................................................................779 BothOption(forTruePositionandLocation) ....... 830
Alignment .......................................................789 BoundaryPlaneVector ........................................ 938
AlignmentDialogBox.....................................796 BoundaryPoints .................................................. 931
ConstructedCircle...........................................673 AddingandDeleting ....................................... 931
ConstructedCylinder.......................................725 BoundaryPoints ............................................. 927
MathType......................................................643 Editing............................................................ 931
OptionsforLineProfileDimensions ................881 UsingtheCADDataMethod........................... 930
OptionsforSurfaceProfileDimensions ...........881 UsingtheKeyinMethod ................................. 929
BestFitAlignment ...............................................790 UsingtheMeasuredPointMethod................... 930
BestNominalPoint ..............................................375 BoxSelecting
BlankLines,Delete ..............................................405 AutoFeaturesIDs ........................................... 565
BlockofTextfromaFile ID(s)............................................................... 328
Reading.........................................................1326 MultipleAutoFeatures.................................... 565
Writing .........................................................1334 SheetMetalFeaturesIDs................................. 329
BodyAxis BoxSelectShortcutMenu.................................. 1482
Direction1ofPatchScan.................................932 BranchingonaCMMError................................ 1001
Direction2ofPatchScan.................................932 BranchingwithSubroutines ............................... 1003
LinearOpen ....................................................933 Breakpoint,Toggle .............................................. 383
Rotary.............................................................933 Breakpoints ......................................................... 382
Technique .......................................................933 InsertBreakpoint ............................................ 486
Bookmark ............................................................384 InsertDefaults ................................................ 383

RemoveAll.....................................................384 CalculatingOffsetsExample ................................ 715
RemoveAllIcon .............................................487 Calculationlist..................................................... 606
RemoveBreakpoint.........................................486 Calibrate
RemoveDefaults.............................................383 CalibratetheUnit.......................................... 1458
BrightnessofHighlight.........................................318 CalibrateTips ............................................... 1469
BrowseButton .....................................................264 CJoint........................................................... 1461
CAD DualArms .................................................... 1428
Assembly ........................................................294 IndexableRotaryTable ................................... 199
Delete .............................................................343 InfiniteRotaryTable....................................... 200
Deleting ..........................................................341 ProbeChanger ................................................ 205
Editing............................................................308 RotaryTable................................................... 199
Elements .........................................................308 Calibrate ProbeChanger .................................... 204
EqualsPart......................................................404 CallSub............................................................. 1009
EqualsPartButton...........................................780 CallSubroutineDialogBox................................ 1012
Info.................................................................299 AddNewArguments .................................... 1013
Information .....................................................303 EditArguments............................................. 1013
Links.................................................................. 9 CallingaSubroutine........................................... 1009
NominalPlaces= .............................................147 CALLSUBStatementsinMultipleArmMode.... 1014
SelectDialogBox............................................565 Cancel ................................................................... 31
Tol..................................................................937 CarBodyAlignment ............................................ 136
Transform .......................................................346 Case/EndCase ................................................... 994
CADCoordinateSystem.......................................349 Case/EndDefaultCase,Default.......................... 994
CADmodelupdates,checkingfor.........................351 CausinganArmtoWaittoPreventCollision ...... 1435
CADVerify .........................................................304 CenterofRotation................................................ 796
CalculateBoundary ..............................................937 CenterPointandRadius....................................... 941
CalculateErrorMap ...........................................1458 Change
CalculatingNominalsExample.............................714 Color .............................................................. 310

Name ..............................................................310 ClearList............................................................. 344
SizeofViews ..................................................272 ClearMarked....................................................... 486
View.............................................................1280 ClearancePlane
ChangingtheLanguage ..........................................52 Active............................................................. 161
Channel................................................................186 Inserting ......................................................... 978
CharacterfromaFile ClearancePlanes.................................................. 161
Reading.........................................................1321 ClearingBoundaryPoints..................................... 932
Writing .........................................................1330 ClearingTemplateAssociatedData .................... 1147
CharacterSets ......................................................365 ClearPlanetab...................................................... 161
CheckBoxes ..........................................................30 ClipPlanesTab.................................................... 321
CheckDistance ....................................................172 ClippingPlane ..................................................... 324
CheckPercent ......................................................172 Adjusting........................................................ 324
CheckingforaFile'sExistence ...........................1345 Close ..................................................................... 32
ChildMode ..........................................................378 CloseFile .......................................................... 1466
Circle CloseFileafterReadingorWriting .................... 1320
ChangingtheDirection....................................677 CMM
Options ...........................................................857 Acceleration ................................................... 174
Circular Error............................................................. 1001
FeatureType ...................................................644 Position .......................................................... 209
Features ........................................................1447 Coaxiality............................................................ 862
Circularity............................................................863 COAXIALITYDimension ................................... 862
CJointCalibration ..............................................1461 CoaxialityGD&T ................................................ 862
ClampingValue ...................................................173 CollisionDetection .............................................. 339
ClearAll ..............................................................378 CollisionDetectionOptions ................................. 339
ClearAllBookmarks............................................385 CollisionList ....................................................... 340
ClearAllBookmarksIcon ....................................487 Color
ClearButton...........................................................32 ChangeFeatureColor ..............................333,335

ChangingtheReport'sTextColors.................1052 POINTINFO................................................. 1299
DefiningEditWindowColors..........................186 PRINT/REPORTCommand.......................... 1309
Depth..............................................................266 ReadPoint...................................................... 408
DimensionColors.................................... 331,471 RecallAlignment............................................ 805
Edit.................................................................310 RoundSlotMeasurement ................................ 638
ColorSchemeExport............................................188 SphereMeasurement....................................... 636
Comm ProbeChanger ........................................203 CommandLines,Adding...................................... 772
CommandButtons..................................................30 CommandMode .................................................. 487
CommandLineFormat DisplayOptions .............................................. 189
2DBestFit......................................................792 KeyboardFunctions ........................................ 416
3DBestFit......................................................793 CommandSetproperty....................................... 1154
Alignment .......................................................770 CommandShortcutMenu................................... 1492
CheckDistance ...............................................406 Commands
CircleMeasurement.........................................636 Adding ........................................................... 399
CommandFormat............................................633 Copying,CuttingandPasting .......................... 399
ConeMeasurement..........................................637 DraggingandDropping................................... 400
CylinderMeasurement.....................................637 EditingDataItems .......................................... 400
DimensionCommand ......................................822 Inserting ......................................................... 392
DIMINFO .....................................................1294 MarkingforExecution .................................... 376
Extension ......................................................1352 Removing ....................................................... 399
GeneralCommandFormat...............................652 Selecting......................................................... 393
GenericFeature ...............................................763 SummaryMode .............................................. 397
IterativeAlignment..........................................782 CommandsRelatedtotheAnalysisWindow,Inserting
..................................................................... 1277
IterativeAlignmentRules ................................784
Comments ........................................................... 408
LineMeasurement...........................................635
CommentText.............................................. 1308
PlaneMeasurement .........................................635
EnableReport............................................... 1308
PointMeasurement..........................................634

Input .............................................................1305 AutoEllipse.................................................... 693
Operator........................................................1303 AutoLine ....................................................... 703
Readout.........................................................1307 AutoPlane...................................................... 740
Report...........................................................1304 AutoPoint ...................................................... 666
ShowinReport..............................................1308 AutoSphere.................................................... 698
CommonProperties............................................1136 BestFit
ComparisonofOffLineandOnLineVersions .......15 Circle ........................................................ 672
CompensatingforTemperature.............................256 Cone.......................................................... 719
CompensationMethod..........................................259 Cylinder .................................................... 724
Compileicon........................................................427 Ellipse ................................................690,691
CompositeBoundary ............................................937 Line........................................................... 705
Concentricity........................................................861 Plane ......................................................... 731
CONCENTRICITYDimension ............................861 Slot............................................................ 741
ConcentricityGD&T ............................................861 Sphere ....................................................... 696
Cone BestFitType .................................................. 673
ChangingtheDirection....................................720 Cast
ConfigurationsofPCDMIS ...................................13 Circle ........................................................ 676
Constraintsfor3DBestFitAlignments.................794 Cone.......................................................... 719
ConstructGenericFeatureDialogBox ..................764 Cylinder .................................................... 725
ConstructedFeatures ............................................402 Ellipse ....................................................... 692
AdjustFilter....................................................759 Line........................................................... 707
AlignmentLine ...............................................704 Plane ......................................................... 733
ApplyTensionFactor ......................................751 Point.......................................................... 658
ArcfromPartof aScan ...................................680 Sphere ....................................................... 697
AutoCircle .....................................................671 ChangingNominalsDirectlytoCalculateOffsets

.................................................................. 737
AutoCone.......................................................721
AutoCylinder .................................................726 .................................................................. 714

Circle..............................................................667 ExampleofCalculatingNominals ................... 714
CircleataScan'sMinimumPoint ....................682 ExampleofCalculatingOffsets ....................... 715
CircleDirection...............................................677 FilterSet......................................................... 754
CirclefromaCone ..........................................686 GenericFeatureDialogBox ............................ 764
Cone ...............................................................716 HighPointPlane............................................. 733
ConeDirection ................................................720 In/Out
ConstructedFeaturesToolbar ..........................490 Circle ........................................................ 671
ControlPointList............................................747 Cone.......................................................... 718
CornerPoint....................................................659 Cylinder .................................................... 723
Create ...............................................................32 Ellipse ....................................................... 690
CreateAnalysisViewCommand....................1281 Slot............................................................ 742
CreateCorners ................................................751 Sphere ....................................................... 696
Curve..............................................................744 Intersect
CutoffFrequencybox ......................................758 Circle ........................................................ 675
CutoffWavelengthbox....................................758 Line........................................................... 707
Cylinder..........................................................721 Point.......................................................... 660
CylinderDirection...........................................726 LineDirection................................................. 711
Cylindrical ......................................................757 LineFeature ................................................... 699
DataUsedtoConstructtheArc........................681 LinefromPartofaScan.................................. 711
DataUsedtoConstructtheLine.......................712 Linearoption .................................................. 755
DecimalPlacementConventions......................653 MidLine ........................................................ 708
Dependent/IndependentCurve .......................745 MidPlane ....................................................... 734
Dependent/IndependentSurface.......................749 MidPoint ....................................................... 662
DialogBoxDescription .....................................27 Offset
DropPoint ......................................................659 Line........................................................... 713
Ellipse.............................................................687 Plane ......................................................... 735
EllipseDirection..............................................693 Point.......................................................... 662

ParallelLine....................................................709 Continue.............................................................. 113
ParallelPlane ..................................................738 ControlPairs........................................................ 985
PerpendicularLine ..........................................710 ControlPoint
PerpendicularPlane.........................................739 Edit ................................................................ 746
PiercePoint.....................................................663 List................................................................. 747
Plane...............................................................727 ControlPoints...............................................955,956
PlaneDirection................................................740 ControlPointsTypes............................................ 955
PlanefromanAlignment .................................731 ControllerCompensatesAxesOnly ...................... 259
Point ...............................................................655 ControllerCompsAxesandPart........................... 259
PointattheOrigin ...........................................663 ControllerSupport ............................................... 261
Projected Controlsarea ....................................................... 950
Circle.........................................................676 CoordinateSystem............................................... 644
Cone ..........................................................720 Copy ................................................................... 360
Cylinder.....................................................726 CopyaPartProgram.............................................. 51
Ellipse........................................................693 CopyI/OCommand ........................................... 1340
Line ...........................................................711 CopyIcon ............................................................ 427
Point ..........................................................665 CopytoActuals ................................................... 643
Sphere........................................................698 Create.................................................................... 32
SetofFeatures.................................................751 Corners........................................................... 751
Slot .................................................................741 fromFile ...................................................... 1415
Sphere.............................................................694 Levels............................................................. 298
SphereDirection..............................................698 New ............................................................. 1414
Surface............................................................747 CreatingCustomReports ................................... 1203
TangentCircle.................................................678 CreatingMultipleArmMachines ......................... 533
VectorDistancePoint......................................664 CreatingTemplates ............................................ 1159
ConstructedFeaturesToolbar ...............................490 CurrentLabels ................................................... 1000
Constructiondialogbox........................................652 CurrentTempboxes............................................. 258

CurveandSurfaceModes .....................................277 Options......................................................... 1025
CustomFixtures ...................................................536 DataPageOption................................................ 1025
Adding............................................................536 DataPageVariableName ................................... 1027
CustomReportEditor.........................................1157 Datums................................................................ 842
Cut.......................................................................360 Compound ...................................................... 898
CutIcon ...............................................................427 DatumswhenRepeatingDimensions.................... 843
CutPlaneVector(CutVec) ...................................938 DCC
CutoffFrequencybox ...........................................758 ErrorInformation.......................................... 1581
CutoffWavelengthbox.........................................758 DebugFile........................................................... 220
Cylinder StartingaFreshDebugFile ............................. 221
ChangingtheDirection....................................726 DebuggingPartProgramsOffLine .................... 1449
Cylindrical ...........................................................757 DecimalPlacementConventions .......................... 653
Cylindricity..........................................................865 DefaultButton ....................................................... 31
DataCollected......................................................177 DefaultDimensionInfo,Edit................................ 826
AssignFrom..................................................1354 DefaultFeatureTolerance .................................... 146
AssignTo......................................................1354 DefaultTolerances............................................... 148
DataFields,Editing..............................................368 DefaultUserInterface,Restore............................... 35
DataItemShortcutMenu....................................1491 DefiningDatums.................................................. 898
DataItems............................................................398 DefiningMachines............................................... 531
DataSource........................................................1029 DefiningProbes ................................................... 505
DataType ............................................................765 DelayBeforeReadingPart ................................... 261
Datatypes ..........................................................1236 Delete.................................................................. 360
DataUsedtoConstructtheArc.............................681 Button .............................................................. 31
DataUsedtoConstructtheLine............................712 Commands ..................................................... 393
Database DeletingaFile .............................................. 1343
Directories ....................................................1026 DeletingCAD................................................. 341
Edit...............................................................1029 DirectoryfromList ....................................... 1026

FeatureMenuOption.......................................345 Conventions.................................................... 823
FeaturesDialogBox ........................................343 Delete............................................................. 345
Infos .............................................................1299 DialogBox ..................................................... 823
PartFiles...........................................................52 DialogBoxOptions ........................................ 825
Depth EditColors ................................................... 1282
editingformeasuredfeatures ...........................646 Format............................................................ 403
forDCCScans ........................................ 949,953 Headings ........................................................ 161
forProbes......................................................1443 Listbox ........................................................ 1299
DESInput ..........................................................1443 Options......................................................... 1283
DESOption........................................................1028 OutputFormat ................................................ 159
DescriptionArea ................................................1353 QuickStartToolbar......................................... 448
Deselect ...............................................................311 Text................................................................ 160
DeselectAll .........................................................953 Toolbar........................................................... 489
DesktopSettings...................................................266 DimensionColors,ColorBar ............................... 471
DetectingCollisions .............................................339 DimensionColors,Editing ................................... 331
Deviation .............................................................848 DimensionInfoBoxes,Inserting ........................ 1286
ArrowMultiplier .............................................118 DimensionInfoBoxes,ShowingorHiding........... 480
PerpendiculartoCenterline...................... 849,916 Dimensiontab...................................................... 158
Symbols ..........................................................161 DimensioningFeatures
DeviationsOnly ...................................................149 2DDistance.................................................... 854
DialogBoxTabs ....................................................33 3DDistance.................................................... 855
DialogBoxes,Accessing ......................................393 Angle ............................................................. 857
DialogEditor........................................................431 AngleDegrees ................................................ 150
Diameterbox........................................................592 AngleOffset ................................................... 362
Diffuse.................................................................318 AngleType..................................................... 860
Dimension Angularity ...................................................... 882
CommandFormat............................................822 Axes............................................................... 851

AxesforLocationDimensions.........................833 InfoFormat................................................... 1290
AxesforTruePositionDimensions..................847 ISOLimitsandFits......................................... 839
AxialFeatures .................................................849 LineDefinitionFormat.................................... 644
BestFitOptionsforLineProfile ......................881 ListArea ...................................................... 1299
BestFitOptionsforSurfaceProfile..................881 Listbox ............................................................ 29
BothOption(forTruePositionandLocation)...830 Location ......................................................... 831
CircleOptions .................................................857 LocationAxes............................................... 1292
CircularRunout...............................................873 LocationOptions ............................................ 835
Circularity.......................................................863 MaterialConditions ........................................ 825
ClearList ........................................................346 Options........................................................... 160
Coaxiality .......................................................862 Parallelism...................................................... 870
CommandFormat............................................822 Perpendicularity.............................................. 868
Concentricity...................................................861 Profile ............................................................ 876
ControlOptionsforLineProfile.......................880 Roundness ...................................................... 863
ControlOptionsforSurfaceProfile..................880 Rulesfor2Dand3DDistanceDimensions ...... 853
Cylindricity.....................................................865 Runout............................................................ 873
Deviation ......................................................1297 Straightness .................................................... 866
DimensioningaVariableExample ...................889 Symmetry....................................................... 884
Distance..........................................................851 TextBoxMode............................................... 283
EditDimensionColors ..................................1282 ThroughKeyboardInput ................................. 887
Flatness...........................................................867 TotalRunout................................................... 873
FormandLocation ..........................................880 TruePosition .................................................. 840
FormOnly ......................................................880 TruePositionInBetween................................ 890
FormOption(forTruePositionandLocation)..830 Variables ........................................................ 888
GapOnlyforLocationDimensions..................836 Dimensions.......................................................... 403
ID=[Feature] .....................................................28 AutomaticallyCreateintheEditWindow........ 824
InfoCreationRules .......................................1288 UsingtheKEYINOption: .............................. 887

DIMINFOCommand .........................................1294 DimensionsOrientation................................... 856
Direction1Technique Nominal ......................................................... 853
LinearCloseScan............................................932 Relationships .................................................. 851
LinearOpenScan............................................932 DISTANCEDimension........................................ 852
PatchScan ......................................................932 ShortestBetweenTwoLines ........................... 855
RotaryScan.....................................................932 DMIS
SectionScan....................................................932 Mode.............................................................. 488
Direction2Technique OutputFile ....................................................... 61
PatchScan ......................................................932 DMISImport
DirectionTechniqueareas ....................................932 Advancedtab.................................................... 81
Directories ...........................................................804 ErrorLogtab .................................................... 81
DiscreteMeasurements.......................................1448 Generaltab ....................................................... 79
Display ..............................................................1022 Modulestab...................................................... 81
AngleDegrees.................................................150 Do/Until ............................................................ 990
asIcon ..........................................................1416 CodeSample .................................................. 991
AsRadius........................................................849 DoControlCalculations..................................... 1027
Controlsarea...................................................950 DockingorUndockingItems.................................. 42
DimensionInfo ...............................................826 DockingSpeed..................................................... 203
hitsformeasuredfeatures ................................645 Document ............................................................ 409
Metafile .................................................. 308,411 DOStoWindows............................................... 1451
option ...........................................................1408 DoubleBuffering................................................. 265
Options .........................................................1288 DoubleCoercion................................................ 1399
OutlineofPlane ..............................................133 DoubleReference .............................................. 1356
DisplaySpecificFeatureNames............................311 DraftMode............................................................ 63
DisplayingaFileDialogBox ..............................1346 DrawPoints......................................................... 293
Distance...............................................................851 DrawingSurfaces................................................. 278
BetweenHits........................................... 933,934 Drives.................................................................. 804

DropDownAxes..................................................775 Else/EndElse..................................................... 988
DropDownListBox ..............................................33 CodeSample .................................................. 988
DropPointColumn ..............................................372 ElseIf/EndElseIf.............................................. 986
DualArmCalibrationProcedure .........................1424 CodeSample .................................................. 987
DualArmProgramExecution .............................1434 EmbeddingHyperViewReports ......................... 1309
DXFInput..........................................................1443 Emission.............................................................. 318
EdgePointOnlyMode .........................................124 EndAlignmentCommand.................................... 771
Edit........................................................................23 EndLoop............................................................. 998
Box...................................................................28 EndNumber ........................................................ 996
EditBoxesfortheGeneraltab ..............................118 EndofaFileortheEndofaLine,Checkingfor . 1347
EditWindow EndTouchVector(EndVec) ................................ 938
ChangeColors.................................................188 Enhancements.......................................................... 1
Colors .............................................................389 EnteringMultipleArmMode ............................. 1423
CoreConcepts.................................................388 EquateAlignment ................................................ 404
DefaultColors.................................................389 EquateAlignmentDialogBox.............................. 808
DefiningColors...............................................186 EquateOriginalAlignment................................... 808
FeatureCreation ..............................................651 EquatinganAlignment......................................... 807
FontsandColors .............................................385 EquatingCADtoMeasuredPartData................... 808
Layout ............................................................189 EraseHit ............................................................. 113
Navigation ......................................................388 ErrorLabel .......................................................... 789
OutputandPrinterOptions ................................57 ErrorType ......................................................... 1002
Printing.............................................................55 ErrorsCodes...................................................... 1499
Scrolling ...........................................................34 Excel,Exportingto ................................................ 97
Setup...............................................................186 ExclusionZone.................................................... 983
Toolbar ...........................................................485 Step1TurnonExclusive Move....................... 983
Ellipse Step2EnterCornerPointValues .................... 983
ChangingtheDirection....................................693 Step3ClickOK.............................................. 984

ExclusionZoneCommand,Inserting.....................982 ExecutionModeOptionsDialogBox.................... 112
Executableflag Resizing ......................................................... 115
cad++................................................................13 Exit ..................................................................... 428
debug................................................................13 ExittoFileManager .......................................... 1468
offline ...............................................................13 Export ............................................................... 1467
online................................................................13 Exporting
operator.............................................................13 aColorScheme............................................... 188
pro13 AvailableOutputOptions................................ 107
reverseaxes.......................................................13 CADDataorProgramData............................... 90
userprivilege.....................................................13 CADorProgramData....................................... 90
Execute................................................................110 DESFile........................................................... 92
Block ..............................................................110 DWG................................................................ 93
Feature............................................................110 DXF ................................................................. 93
From...............................................................110 GdsFile...................................................102,137
FromCursor....................................................110 GenericText..................................................... 95
FromStartPoints.............................................111 IGESFile ......................................................... 99
MarkedSets ....................................................381 IGESWriteSetup ........................................... 106
Mode ..............................................................943 STEPFile ......................................................... 99
PartPrograms................................................1449 STL................................................................ 100
Program ..........................................................486 toaBASICFile ................................................ 92
Tab .................................................................968 ToaDataView(AS3)File................................. 92
Execution toaDMISFile.................................................. 93
ExecutingPartPrograms..................................109 toAIMS ........................................................... 91
FindNomsTolerance .......................................118 toanIDEASDCIModelFile ........................... 97
Mode ..............................................................115 VDAFSFile ................................................... 101
OutofOrder....................................................111 XYZFile ........................................................ 101
ProgressBar....................................................114 Exporting/DWG..................................................... 90

Exporting/DXF.......................................................66 inaPartProgram .......................................... 1349
ExpressionBuilder .............................................1351 IntegerCoercion ........................................... 1399
ExpressionElementType ..............................1352 KeepingExpressionValuesOnly .................. 1349
ID1352 Literals ......................................................... 1355
Expressions..........................................................411 Operators...................................................... 1372
AccessingaReport'sObjectProperties...........1403 Outputtoa FileUsingExpressions.................... 58
AddButton ...................................................1353 TypingExpressions....................................... 1350
CheckingforCorrectness...............................1351 Values .......................................................... 1349
CheckingtheExpressionforCorrectness........1351 withBranching ............................................. 1350
Components ..................................................1354 withFileInput/Output................................. 1350
DescriptionArea ...........................................1353 ExpressionsandTracefieldstoCustomizeHeaders

andFooters..................................................... 396
DoubleCoercion ...........................................1399
ExpressionsandVariables
Editbox ........................................................1353
ArrayFunctions ............................................ 1388
Expression ....................................................1000
Arrays .......................................................... 1366
ExpressionBuilder ........................................1351
AssignFrom ................................................. 1354
FeatureArrays...............................................1366
AssignTo ..................................................... 1354
Functions ......................................................1374
AssigningValuestoVariables....................... 1354
FunctionsAsMembersofanArrayExample..1397
ExtendedSheetMetalOptions.............................. 602
FunctionsCreatingOtherFunctionsExample.1397
ExternalCommand ............................................ 1407
FunctionsDefinedRecursivelyExample ........1397
asaMenuItemorToolbarItem..................... 1408
FunctionsPassedasVariablesExample .........1396
Example ....................................................... 1409
GenericFunctionExample.............................1395
Inserting ....................................................... 1407
IDExpressionCombinations..........................1403
ExternalDirectoriestoSearch .............................. 262
IDExpressions ..............................................1401
ExternalObjects
IDWildCards...............................................1402
Editing............................................................ 385
IDsforfeatureswithinSubroutines,BasicScripts,
orExternalPrograms ................................1402 Inserting ....................................................... 1309

ExternalPartProgram.........................................1412 ArrayID ....................................................... 1401
FactorySettings,RestoringfromtheController .....219 Arrays .......................................................... 1366
FeatureAppearance Color .......................................................333,335
GraphicOptions ..............................................336 ConstructedfromtheEditWindow.................. 651
FeatureControlFrameDimensionRules ...............895 Delete............................................................. 344
FeatureControlFrames Display........................................................... 333
Command .......................................................910 Editing............................................................ 333
Creating ..........................................................897 FeatureName ................................................. 766
Datums ...........................................................898 FeatureType................................................... 765
Defined...........................................................894 Hiding ............................................................ 333
GD&Tdialogbox............................................900 Hiding andShowing........................................ 333
Introduction.....................................................893 ID333
ReportingTables .............................................921 IDsinStatisticalDatabases ............................. 997
ReportingTruePositionsFCFs ........................916 ListArea ...................................................... 1299
ShowingorHiding ..........................................480 Listbox ............................................................ 29
SimultaneousEvaluation .................................914 SelectingOnLine........................................... 329
SymmetryFCFDimension ..............................916 ShortcutMenu .............................................. 1477
Trihedron ........................................................913 Theoreticals .................................................... 644
UsingFlatnessPerUnitArea ...........................908 Weights .......................................................... 795
FeatureID FeaturesUseDimensionColors............................ 147
DisplayON/OFF .............................................335 File........................................................................ 23
Editing.................................................... 329,333 Copy ............................................................ 1340
FeatureListbox .................................................1299 DisplayinginaDifferentWay....................... 1418
FeaturePointers..................................................1365 Menu............................................................ 1280
FeatureSetsasBestFitAlignmentInputs..............795 MenuforBasicScript ..................................... 428
FeatureTooltips ...................................................329 Name.............................................................. 803
Features Open ............................................................ 1319

OpenOptions ................................................1465 attheBeginningofaFile .............................. 1336
Operations.........................................................50 RecallingPosition ......................................... 1339
OperationsToolbar..........................................495 SavingCurrentPosition................................. 1337
FileExists ..........................................................1345 Filter
FileInput/Output DeviationAbove........................................... 1302
DialogBox....................................................1318 HitInterval ................................................... 1301
SampleCode NoneUsed.................................................... 1301
EOFandEOL ..........................................1347 OutofTolerance........................................... 1302
FileClose.................................................1321 Tab................................................................. 966
FileCopy .................................................1341 Typelist ......................................................... 756
FileDelete ...............................................1344 Widthbox....................................................... 758
FileDialog ...............................................1346 Worst ........................................................... 1301
FileExists ................................................1345 Filters................................................................ 1301
FileMove.................................................1342 Find..................................................................... 363
FileOpen .................................................1320 Icon ................................................................ 427
ReadBlock ..............................................1326 FindNext ............................................................ 430
ReadCharacter.........................................1322 Button ............................................................ 367
ReadLine.................................................1324 FindNominals ..................................................... 123
ReadUpTo..............................................1329 DuringExecution............................................ 129
RecallFilePosition ..................................1339 Tolerance........................................................ 118
RewindtoStart.........................................1336 FindNoms
SaveFilePosition.....................................1338 Overriding ...................................................... 371
WriteBlock..............................................1335 FindNomsOverride
WriteCharacter ........................................1331 DialogBox ..................................................... 372
WriteLine................................................1333 fromtheEditwindow...................................... 376
Filemenu................................................................ 7 inExecuteMode............................................. 376
FilePointer inLearnmode................................................. 373

FindVector(s)button............................................576 While/EndWhile ..................................... 989
FindWhat ............................................................367 DefaultCase/EndDefaultCase...................... 994
FindingandReplacingText ..................................363 Do/Until ....................................................... 990
FindingNominalPoints Else/EndElse................................................ 988
AllCADSurfaces............................................374 ElseIf/EndElseIf......................................... 986
ChoosingaNominalPointLater ......................374 EndingaPartProgram .................................. 1003
PreviousSurface..............................................374 EndingGenericLoops..................................... 998
PrioritySurfaces..............................................374 GenericLoops ................................................ 995
FineProbing.........................................................178 If/EndIf........................................................ 985
FixedDialogPositions..........................................128 JumpingtoaLabel.......................................... 999
FixedRadius ........................................................673 Labels............................................................. 998
FIXED_RAD .......................................................673 NewSubroutine ............................................ 1004
FixtureTolerance .................................................788 Subroutine .................................................... 1009
Fixtures................................................................536 While/EndWhile .......................................... 989
Flatness................................................................867 FlushforLinearOpen ........................................... 949
FLATNESSDimension ........................................868 FontsandColors.................................................. 385
FlipXYZ .............................................................362 Fonts,Custom........................................................ 35
FlowControl Footer.................................................................. 395
CallingaSubroutine ......................................1009 FormattingKeywords...................................... 395
Case/EndCase...............................................994 Footers ................................................................ 393
CodeSample UsingExpressionsandTracefieldstoCustomize
.................................................................. 396
Do/Until...................................................991
ForcePartAlignmentinCarBody........................ 136
Else/EndElse ...........................................988
ForcetheInsertionofaCertainMeasuredFeature
ElseIf/EndElseIf ....................................987 Type............................................................... 640
If/EndIf ...................................................986 ForcingaGivenFeatureType .............................. 494
Select/EndSelect......................................992 FormandLocation............................................... 880
Subroutine................................................1017 FormEditor ..............................................1158,1194

FormFeedCommand,Inserting..........................1312 GenericFeature.................................................... 764
FormOnly ...........................................................880 CommandFormat ........................................... 763
FormOption(forTruePositionandLocation).......830 GenericFeatures .................................................. 763
FormatCommand.................................................403 GenericFunctionExample ................................. 1395
Forms ................................................................1193 GenericLoops ..................................................... 995
FormsinReports ................................................1193 Ending............................................................ 998
Forms,UsingtoGiveOperatorInstructions.........1106 GetCurrentTemps............................................... 261
FullCalibration ....................................................205 GetNominals....................................................... 958
FullReportMode ...............................................1036 GivingOpenWindowstheProgramFocus.......... 1440
Functions ...........................................................1374 GlobalCommands ............................................... 411
forReportExpressions ........................ 1222,1230 GOTO ................................................................. 999
FunctionExamples........................................1395 GotoLabel........................................................... 999
FunctionsList ...............................................1374 Graph
FunctionsandOperators: ....................................1222 EachAxis ..................................................... 1289
Gain.....................................................................184 Options......................................................... 1289
GapOnlyforLocationDimensions............... 137,836 WorstAxis ................................................... 1289
GaussFilter/CutoffFrequency ............................675 GraphicDisplayOptions ...................................... 265
GaussFilter/CutoffWavelength ..........................706 GraphicItemstoolbar........................................... 480
Gaussian ..............................................................756 GraphicOptions................................................... 336
GD&Tdialogbox.................................................900 GraphicViewtoolbar........................................... 479
AdvancedTab .................................................905 Graphical............................................................. 829
FeatureControlFrameTab ..............................900 GraphicalAnalysis............................................. 1277
GeneralCommandFormat....................................652 GraphicalRepresentationofVectors..................... 940
GeneralTab .........................................................970 GraphicsDisplayWindow...................................... 25
GeneralTabCheckBoxes.....................................122 2sidedlighting ............................................... 290
GenerateScan .............................................. 957,958 2DRotateMode.............................................. 280
GeneratingaDebugFile .......................................220 3DGridColor................................................. 287

3DGridSetup .................................................273 EditingDimensionColors ............................... 331
3DRotateMode ..............................................281 EnlargingaPortionofthePartImage .............. 280
ApplyingTexturestoSelectedCADObjects ....321 EnlargingthePartImage ................................. 279
ApplyingTexturestotheEntireCADModel....320 EquatingCADtoMeasuredPartData.............. 808
ArchiveTab ....................................................317 FeatureAppearance
Backfaceculling.............................................290 GraphicOptions......................................... 336
BackgroundColor ...........................................285 FeatureColor.................................................. 333
ChangeColor ..................................................310 FeatureDisplay............................................... 333
ChangeName..................................................310 FeatureTypes ................................................. 309
ClipPlanesTab ...............................................321 Graphicviewtoolbar....................................... 479
ClippingPlane.................................................324 GraphicsModesToolbar ................................. 477
CreateLevels ..................................................298 Highlight ........................................................ 287
DeletingtheLOADMACHINECommand .......534 HighlightingSurfacesandCurveswiththeMouse

.................................................................. 278
DeletingtheMachine.......................................534
Ignoretheseobjects......................................... 291
DesktopSettings..............................................266
LayoutandViews ........................................... 272
DetectingCollisions ........................................339
Levels............................................................. 276
DisableMaterials,Textures,andTransparencies
..................................................................291 LightingandMaterials .................................... 313
DisplaytheProbeChanger...............................562 LightingTab................................................... 315
DisplayingExistingMachines..........................533 MaterialTab ................................................... 318
DoubleBuffering ............................................265 MotionOptions............................................... 290
DrawasDefined..............................................292 NameboxforCADElements.......................... 312
DrawasWireframe .........................................292 OpenGLOptions............................................ 264
DrawPoints ....................................................293 Options........................................................... 265
DrawingSurfaces ............................................278 OutputandPrinterOptions................................ 53
EditColor .......................................................310 RotationOptions............................................. 290
EditingCAD ...................................................308 ScreenColors ................................................. 284

ShowingandHidingGraphics..........................293 UppercaseText................................................... 8
ShrinkingthePartImage.................................279 Hide
SizeofViews ..................................................272 Features........................................................ 1482
GraphicsModesToolbar.......................................477 IDs ............................................................... 1482
GraphicsWindowPrintPreview .............................54 SpecificFeatureNames................................... 311
GroupingCommands............................................418 HighThresholdboxes .......................................... 258
Groups ......................................................... 397,418 Highlight ............................................................. 287
Guessing HighlightingSurfacesandCurveswiththeMouse278
AutoFeatureType...........................................491 Hit
FeatureType ...................................................494 AddingHitLines ............................................ 405
MeasuredFeatureType ...................................640 Arrays .......................................................... 1368
HeadersandFooters(EditWindow)......................393 List............................................................... 1298
FormattingKeywords ......................................395 ListBox........................................................ 1298
UsingExpressionsandTracefieldstoCustomize Targets ........................................................... 645

..................................................................396
HitType .............................................................. 949
HeadersandFooters(ReportWindow)................1050
Hits ..................................................................... 405
Modifyingin.DATFiles ...............................1049
EraseHit ........................................................ 113
ModifyinginReportTemplates .....................1050
inU................................................................ 118
HelpFile
inV................................................................ 118
BoldfaceText..................................................... 7
Number .......................................................... 810
BulletedText...................................................... 8
onaFeature .................................................. 1448
Conventions ....................................................... 6
onaSurface.................................................. 1448
HelpButton.......................................................33
HomePosition ..................................................... 533
HelpMenu ........................................................24
HometheUnit ................................................... 1459
ItalicizedText .................................................... 7
HyperViewReportEditor................................... 1031
OrganizationofManual ...................................... 4
HyperViewReport,Migrating ............................ 1034
UnderlinedText ................................................. 8
I/OChannelstab .................................................. 185

I/OConcepts ......................................................1317 RotaryScanVector ......................................... 942
IconthatrunsPCDMISinReverseAxesmode: .1436 Surface1Vector ............................................. 578
ID927 Surface2Vector ............................................. 579
Automaticallypositioning................................130 Surface3Vector ............................................. 579
Box.................................................................572 Import ..................................................................... 9
ExpressionCombinations ..............................1403 ImportOptions..............................................107,266
Expressions...................................................1401 Importing
Manage ...........................................................276 AvailFiles.................................................... 1452
Setuptab.........................................................152 AvailableOptions ........................................... 103
ShowingorHiding .................................. 283,480 CADFile.......................................................... 64
WildCards....................................................1402 CATIAFile ...................................................... 65
ID=[Feature] ..........................................................28 ChorusNTProgram........................................... 74
If/EndIf .............................................................985 Step1
CodeSample...................................................986 ConfigurePCDMIS ............................... 74
IGES Step2
Compatibility ................................................1442 CreateandCalibratetheProbeFileinside

PCDMIS .......................................... 75
DataDialogBox................................................68
Step3
EntitiesSupported .........................................1442
CreatethePCDMISProgramFileand
ImageDisplay .................................................103 ImporttheDMISfile.......................... 75
Make3D...........................................................68 Step4
Setup...............................................................103 EndofautomaticImportPhase................ 75
IgnoreCADtoPart...............................................125 Step5
IgnoreMotionError .............................................124 ManualVerificationofthePCDMIS

Program............................................. 76
Ignoretheseobjects ..............................................291
ThingstoWatchforandSomeHelpfulTipsand
Suggestions ............................................ 76
IJKVector
ColorScheme ................................................. 189
GenericFeatureVector....................................766
DESFile........................................................... 66
LineVector .....................................................580

DirectCADFile ................................................89 Incrementbox...................................................... 584
DMISFiles .......................................................78 Indentboxes
DOSFiles .....................................................1452 forscans ......................................................... 949
DXFFile...........................................................66 IndexableRotaryTable ........................................ 199
IGES(Alternate)File.........................................68 InfiniteRotaryTable............................................ 200
IGESFile..........................................................67 InfinitelyIndexableWrist................................... 1458
IGESSetup .....................................................103 InitialDirectionVector(DirVec).......................... 938
MeasureMaxProject..........................................89 InitialHitsforScans ............................................ 949
MMIVFiles ..................................................1452 InitialVectorsforScans ....................................... 938
MMIVProgram.................................................84 InnerBound......................................................... 943
ParasolidsFile...................................................70 Input.................................................................... 409
PartProgram .................................................1451 InsertBookmark .................................................. 487
ProEFile...........................................................69 InsertBreakpoint ................................................. 486
STEPFile..........................................................69 InsertButton...................................................... 1354
STLFile............................................................70 InsertDefaults ..................................................... 383
TutorProgram...................................................86 InsertForm........................................................ 1314
UnigraphicsFile................................................70 InsertMenu ........................................................... 23
VDAFSFile......................................................71 InspectionReport................................................. 432
XYZIJKFile .....................................................71 InstallPCDMISonAllComputers .................... 1419
ZeissUMESS....................................................89 IntegerCoercion ................................................ 1399
In/Out Interfaces............................................................. 218
Circle..............................................................671 Axila .............................................................. 226
Cone ...............................................................718 BacktalkInterface1 ......................................... 226
Cylinder..........................................................723 BrightInterface............................................... 227
Ellipse.............................................................690 BSEmbedInterface ......................................... 230
Slot .................................................................742 DeaInterface .................................................. 227
Sphere.............................................................696 ElmInterface .................................................. 230

FaroInterface..................................................231 ItalicizedText.......................................................... 7
FederalInterface..............................................231 Iterative ............................................................... 779
GOMInterface ................................................231 IterativeAlignment .............................................. 781
JohanssonInterface .........................................231 CommandFormat ........................................... 782
LeitzInterface .................................................232 DialogBox ..................................................... 785
LKDriverInterface ..........................................235 Rules .............................................................. 784
LKRS232Interface..........................................237 Jump ................................................................... 114
ManmitiInterface............................................239 Jumptoandfrom................................................. 369
ManmoraInterface ..........................................239 JumpingtoaLabel............................................... 999
MetrocomInterface .........................................240 JumpingtoSpecifiedLineNumbers ..................... 369
MetrologInterface...........................................241 KeepExistingDimension'sAxes .......................... 137
MitutoyoInterface...........................................242 KeepingExpressionValuesOnly ....................... 1349
MoraInterface.................................................244 KeyboardVariation
MZeizzInterface .............................................244 JoiningorMergingKeys ................................. 466
NumerexInterface...........................................245 KeyinginProbeDepth....................................... 1446
OmnitechInterface ..........................................247 Label ................................................................. 1000
ReflexInterface...............................................247 CustomTemplates ........................................ 1171
RenishawInterface ..........................................248 Display........................................................... 335
RomerInterface...............................................248 Manage .......................................................... 276
SharpeInterface ..............................................248 Ordering....................................................... 1180
SheffieldInterface ...........................................250 TemplateEditor ............................................ 1155
Tech80Interface..............................................253 Templates..................................................... 1171
TheodoleInterface...........................................254 Labels
WenzelInterface .............................................254 AutomaticLabelPositioning ........................... 130
ZeissInterface.................................................255 BackgroundColor........................................... 333
ZssGPIBInterface ...........................................255 EditingAppearance......................................... 333
ISOLimitsandFits ..............................................839 LineColor ...................................................... 333

Shadows..........................................................333 Position .......................................................... 301
ShowingorHiding .................................. 283,480 Reposition ...................................................... 301
LabelsinReports................................................1180 Select ............................................................. 300
Language ...............................................................52 ToCreateaNewLevel.................................... 300
Last........................................................................31 Levels
LastExecutionReportMode...............................1036 Creating.......................................................... 276
LastTwo................................................................31 Deleting.......................................................... 276
LayoutandViews.................................................272 Modifying....................................................... 276
Changing ........................................................272 LightingandMaterials ......................................... 313
Leapfrog LightingTab........................................................ 315
Accept ............................................................813 Line
Operation ........................................................808 ChangingtheDirection ................................... 711
LeapfrogMeasurementOptions ............................810 DefinitionFormat ........................................... 644
LeastSquares .......................................................673 Profile ............................................................ 876
LEAST_SQR .......................................................673 LinefromaFile
LegacyApplications...............................................64 Reading ........................................................ 1323
LegacyReport....................................................1046 Writing......................................................... 1332
LeitzClampingValue...........................................173 LineMethod
LengthBetweenScanPoints.................................747 Direction1ofPatchScan ................................ 932
Lengthbox...........................................................586 Direction2ofPatchScan ................................ 932
Level LinearCloseScan ............................................ 932
Alignment .......................................................775 LinearOpenScan ............................................ 932
Create .............................................................300 ROTARY ....................................................... 932
Deselect ..........................................................300 SectionScan ................................................... 932
Displaying,Creating,andManipulating ...........274 LinePROFILEDimension ................................... 878
Manipulations .................................................303 LineTechnique.................................................... 933
New................................................................300 LinearFeatures .................................................. 1447

Linearoption........................................................755 Defining ......................................................... 531
Lines Deleting.......................................................... 534
Deleting ..........................................................823 DisplayintheGraphicsDisplayWindow......... 533
Editing............................................................823 Errors ............................................................. 112
Linesoversurfaces...............................................274 HomePosition ................................................ 533
LINESEGMENTENDINDEXfunction ...............1388 Interface ......................................................... 218
LINESEGMENTSTARTINDEXfunction...........1388 SwitchingBetweenProfiles............................. 117
Link ...................................................................1415 Macro
ListBox .................................................................29 Play................................................................ 496
ListFilesofType .................................................804 Play/RecordToolbar ....................................... 495
Literals...............................................................1355 Record............................................................ 495
LoadProbe...........................................................408 Make3D ............................................................... 68
LoadingtheActiveProbe .....................................218 MakeCAD3D..................................................... 297
LOADMACHINECommand,Deleting.................534 MakeVariablesGloballyVisible.......................... 135
Location...............................................................831 ManagingOnScreenElements ............................ 276
LocationAxes ....................................................1292 Manual
LOCATIONDimension .......................................832 Compensation................................................. 259
LocationDimensionLines,Adding.......................822 FineProbing ................................................... 178
LocationOptions..................................................835 Mode.............................................................. 115
LoopIds...............................................................997 Organization ....................................................... 4
Looping ...............................................................996 PointTriggerTolerance................................... 182
LoopingOffsetsandAlignments...........................997 ScanOptions .................................................. 970
LowForce............................................................176 Mark ................................................................... 377
LowThresholdboxes ...........................................258 MarkAll.............................................................. 377
Machines MarkAllIcon ...................................................... 486
Axes ...............................................................532 MarkCurrentFeature........................................... 486
Commands ......................................................112 MarkedSets......................................................... 378

Delete .............................................................382 Increment ....................................................... 935
Execute...........................................................381 Iterations ........................................................ 788
Icons ...............................................................381 Max/Minboxes.................................................. 935
Lock ...............................................................382 MAX_INSC ........................................................ 673
RemoveFeatures.............................................380 MaximumAcceleration........................................ 174
Reposition.......................................................381 MaximumInscribed ............................................. 673
Sample............................................................379 MaximumNumberofpagesproperty.................. 1154
Window ..........................................................460 MeasAllAlways ................................................. 787
WindowinOperatorMode ............................1468 MeasAllOnce..................................................... 786
MarkingCommandsforExecution........................376 Measure3............................................................ 808
MarkingExternalObjectsforExecution..............1417 MeasureOrderlist ............................................... 584
Markings MeasuretheAlignmentFeatures........................... 780
ChildMode .....................................................378 MeasuredFeature
ClearAll .........................................................378 AngularDefinitionFormat .............................. 644
ClearMarked ..................................................486 BasicHit ........................................................ 405
ParentMode....................................................378 Circle ............................................................. 440
MasterNominal....................................................947 CircleCommand............................................. 636
MasterProbeFileCalibration .............................1430 CircularFeatureType ..................................... 644
Matchcase ...........................................................367 Cone............................................................... 441
Matchwholewordonly ........................................367 ConeCommand .............................................. 637
MaterialCoefficientboxes....................................257 CoordinateSystem.......................................... 644
MaterialConditions..............................................825 CopytoActuals .............................................. 643
MaterialTab.........................................................318 Cylinder ......................................................... 441
Materials, Disable.................................................291 CylinderCommand......................................... 637
Max DialogBox ..................................................... 642
Angle..............................................................935 Editing............................................................ 642
Force...............................................................176 ForceType ..................................................... 640

ForcingaGivenFeatureType..........................494 Remove ............................................................ 37
GuessingaFeatureType..................................494 Menus,Customizing .............................................. 36
HitTargets ......................................................645 MinAngle ........................................................... 935
Inserting..........................................................639 MinIncrement ..................................................... 935
Line ................................................................439 MIN_CIRCSC ..................................................... 673
LineCommand................................................635 MIN_SEP ............................................................ 673
OverrideGuess................................................647 MinimumCircumscribed...................................... 673
Plane...............................................................440 MinimumSeparation............................................ 673
PlaneCommand ..............................................635 Minus.................................................................. 851
Point ...............................................................439 Tolerance........................................................ 853
PointCommand...............................................634 Tolerances ...................................................... 838
RoundSlot ......................................................442 TolsShowNegative........................................ 147
RoundSlotCommand......................................638 MinutestoSave ................................................... 118
Sphere.............................................................442 Mirror.................................................................... 50
SphereCommand ............................................636 MirrorCAD......................................................... 346
SquareSlot......................................................443 MiscellaneousFunctions .................................... 1388
MeasuredFeatures................................................404 MLBErrorInformation...................................... 1499
MeasuredFeaturesToolbar...................................494 MLB001........................................................... 1500
MeasuredHitsDialogBox....................................646 MLB003Communicationserror........................ 1500
MeasurementPropertiesarea ................................583 MLB004Numericerror .................................... 1501
MeasurementResults,Reporting.........................1031 MLB005Communicationserror........................ 1501
Measurement,Ending.........................................1449 MLB006Outputmasklogicaltranslation error .. 1501
MeasuringFeaturesOffline ...............................1446 MLB007Outputunavailable............................. 1502
MemoryPages ...................................................1028 MLB010UnidentifiedFCS ............................... 1502
MenuItem MLB011Firstrecordinskipfileisinvalid ........ 1502
Editing..............................................................37 MLB012Invalidrecordinskipfile.................... 1503
Moving .............................................................36 MLB013Skipfileaccesserror .......................... 1503

MLB014Nestedcodeblocks .............................1503 MLB040Summationarraydoesnotcontainenough

features......................................................... 1510
MLB015Missingbeginblock...........................1503
MLB041Pointsdonotdefinethefeature........... 1511
MLB016Nestedskipsequence..........................1504
MLB042Summationsinvalid............................ 1511
MLB017Invalidendskipblockfunction ...........1504
MLB043Segmentationinprogress.................... 1511
MLB018Impropertolerancingmode .................1504
MLB044Segmentationnotinitialized ............... 1512
MLB019Improperparameter ............................1505
MLB045Commandcannotbeskipped.............. 1512
MLB020Noparameterpermitted ......................1505
MLB050RCUnotavailable.............................. 1512
MLB021Firstparameterinvalid........................1505
MLB060Rotarytablenotavailable................... 1512
MLB022Secondparameterinvalid....................1505
MLB061Rotarytablecounternotavailable....... 1513
MLB023Thirdparameterinvalid.......................1506
MLB062Notallowedonrotarytablewithcounter
MLB024Fourthparameterinvalid.....................1506 ..................................................................... 1513
MLB025Invalidparameterspecified .................1506 MLB063Notallowedonerrorcorrectedrotarytable

..................................................................... 1513
MLB026Invalidtipspecified ............................1506
MLB064NotallowedonaHirthcouplingtable. 1513
MLB027Excessiveangulardeviation ................1507
MLB070Referencenotsaved ........................... 1514
MLB028Insufficientnumberofparameters.......1507
MLB071Featurestorageoverflow .................... 1514
MLB029Dimensionalarrayvaluesoutofrange.1507
MLB072Featurenotfound ............................... 1514
MLB030Featurestackdoesnotcontainrequired
features .........................................................1508 MLB080Improperprobeinstalled..................... 1515
MLB031Firstparameterspecifiesinvalidtype...1508 MLB088RCUDrivebuttonusedwithQU ........ 1515
MLB032Secondparameterspecifiesinvalidtype MLB089RCUReturntoscreenbuttonusedwithQU
.....................................................................1508 ..................................................................... 1515
MLB033Planeisinvalidtype............................1509 MLB090DCCnotavailable.............................. 1515
MLB034Cannotintersectconcentriccircles ......1509 MLB091Contactnotmadewithpart................. 1515
MLB035Lineperpendiculartoworkingplane ...1509 MLB092Insufficientclearance ......................... 1516
MLB036Invalid(null)featureaddressed ...........1509 MLB093Remoteautonotconfigured................ 1516
MLB037Invalidfeaturetype.............................1510 MLB094Remoteautointerlocknotengaged ..... 1516
MLB038Cannotintersectlineparallelwithcylinder MLB095Servopowerfailedtoengage.............. 1517

axis ...............................................................1510
MLB096UnabletoselectAutomode................ 1517

MLB100Probeheaddatumerror.......................1517 MLB162APCrackcouldnotberaised.............. 1525
MLB101Probeheadobstructerror ....................1518 MLB164Insufficientanalogprobedeflection .... 1525
MLB110Tip0notcalibrated.............................1518 MLB166Notacircle ........................................ 1525
MLB111Sphericalcalibrationfixturerequired...1518 MLB168Unexpectedtouch .............................. 1526
MLB112Temperaturechangeinvalidatedtip0 MLB169Unexpectedendoftravel ................... 1526

calibration .....................................................1519
MLB170Touchprobewillnotrearm ................ 1526
MLB113Negativeprobediameterinvalidated
calibration .....................................................1519 MLB173PH9probeoverload ........................... 1527
MLB114Excessiveprobeoffsetsinvalidated MLB190Toomuchprobedeflection................. 1527

calibration .....................................................1519
MLB191Cameoffsurface................................ 1528
MLB115Fileerroronfeatureorprobestorage
operation.......................................................1520
MLB505UserKeyUnknown............................ 1528
MLB116Notoncircleatbeginningofcircularmove
.....................................................................1520 Mode
MLB120Partimproperlyalignedorscaled ........1520 cad++ ............................................................... 13
MLB130Operatorabort ....................................1520 debug ............................................................... 13
MLB131Electroniclevelnotavailable ..............1521 offline............................................................... 13
MLB132Electroniclevelinterfacetimeout ........1521 online ............................................................... 13
MLB140Pointnotavailable..............................1521 operator ............................................................ 13
MLB150APCracknotconnected......................1522 pro13
MLB151APCfirmwareorinterfacenotpresent.1522 reverseaxes ...................................................... 13
MLB152APCracknotcalibrated......................1522 userprivilege .................................................... 13
MLB153APC/MPcommunicationerror............1522 Mode=MAN/DCC ............................................. 405
MLB154APCracktimeoutorlockfailure.........1523 ModifytheDimensionPriortoPrinting ................ 824
MLB155APCrackovertravel ...........................1523 Modifying............................................................ 370
MLB156Safepositionnotdefined.....................1523 NominalValues .............................................. 370
MLB157Noextensionsloaded..........................1524 TargetValues ................................................. 370
MLB158Toomanyextensionsloaded ...............1524 Monitors.............................................................. 266
MLB160Firmwareentitynotfound...................1524 Motion
MLB161APCrackcouldnotbelowered...........1524 Commands ..................................................... 405

Options ...........................................................290 MovingDialogBoxes ............................................ 34
Parameters ......................................................158 MPErrorInformation ........................................ 1528
Tab .................................................................170 MP001Badcommandmessagesyntaxerror...... 1531
MountPoint ProbeChanger................................208 MP002DestinationnotpresentorMPruntimesystem

error ............................................................. 1531
Mouse
MP003Resourceshortage................................. 1532
trackballstyle .................................................... 9
MP004Numericerror ....................................... 1532
MouseorMotionController .................................... 9
MP007CPUEPROMchecksumerror ............... 1532
MouseTerminology ................................................ 6
MP008CPUEPROMchecksumerror ............... 1533
MoveAllCommand,Inserting..............................981
MP013MPtoHostbufferoverflow.................. 1533
MovebyanOffset................................................778
MP015MPforegroundtobackgroundbuffer
MoveCircularCommand,Inserting ......................979 overflow ....................................................... 1533
MoveClearPlaneCommand,Inserting .................978 MP018MPinternalcountererror ...................... 1533
MoveCommands .................................................407 MP019MPandDCCfirmware incompatibility . 1534
MoveCursorTo...................................................925 MP021AtlasY2counterfault........................... 1534
MoveExclusiveCommand .................................1435 MP022AtlasY3counterfault........................... 1534
MoveFeaturetoReferencePlane..........................127 MP023AtlasY2beamblockerror .................... 1535
MoveIncrementCommand,Inserting ...................976 MP024AtlasY3beamblockerror .................... 1535
MovePointCommand,Inserting...........................973 MP025AuxiliaryXaxisA/Dconversionerror .. 1535
MoveRotaryTableCommand,Inserting...............981 MP026AuxiliaryYaxisA/Dconversion error .. 1535
MoveSpeed .........................................................406 MP027AuxiliaryZaxisA/Dconversionerror .. 1536
MoveSpeed% .....................................................172 MP028SP600+12voltfuseblown ................... 1536
MoveSweepCommand,Inserting.........................980 MP029SP60012voltfuseblown .................... 1536
MoveSyncCommand ........................................1435 MP030SP600+5voltfuseblown ..................... 1536
Inserting..........................................................979 MP031Probeovertravelfault............................ 1537
MovetoaFeature.................................................778 MP032Counterhardware/configurationmismatch
..................................................................... 1537
MOVE/PH9_OFFSETCommand .......................1453
MP033Waxiscounterfault.............................. 1537
MovingaFile.....................................................1342

MP034Xaxiscounterfault...............................1538 MP095APCexcessiveentryspeed.................... 1546
MP035Yaxiscounterfault...............................1538 MP105HosttoMPcommunicationinterrupted . 1546
MP036Zaxiscounterfault ...............................1539 MP108MPtoRCUcommunicationserror ........ 1547
MP042TemperatureCompensationhardwareabsent MP109RCUtoMPcommunicationserror ........ 1547

.....................................................................1540
MP111HosttoMPcommunicationerror........... 1547
MP043TemperatureCompensationhardwarefailure
.....................................................................1540 MP117Waxisservoamplifieroverheat............ 1548
MP045ExcessiveMPhardwaretemperatures ....1540 MP118Xaxisservoamplifieroverheat............. 1548
MP046TemperatureCompensationorDigitalI/O MP119Yaxisservoamplifieroverheat............. 1548

boardfailure..................................................1541
MP120Zaxisservoamplifieroverheat ............. 1549
MP047TemperatureCompensationD/Afailure.1541
MP121Waxisservoamplifierfault.................. 1549
MP048TempComporLasersystemconfiguration
error..............................................................1541
MP122Xaxisservoamplifierfault................... 1549
MP055SP600interfacecardA/Dconversionfailure
.....................................................................1542 MP123Yaxisservoamplifierfault................... 1550
MP059Renishawemergencystoperror .............1542 MP124Zaxisservoamplifierfault ................... 1550
MP060DCCtoMPacknowledgetimeout..........1542 MP127Piezotoucherror................................... 1551
MP064APLchecksumerror..............................1542 MP129WaxisHirthcouplinglockfailure ........ 1551
MP077Waxisbeamblockerror .......................1543 MP130Operatorabort ...................................... 1551
MP078Xaxisbeamblockerror ........................1543 MP131WaxisHirthcouplingunlockfailure..... 1552
MP079Yaxisbeamblockerror ........................1543 MP142Waxisbound ....................................... 1552
MP080Zaxisbeamblockerror.........................1544 MP143Servochassispowersupplyfault........... 1552
MP081Laseroffortotalbeamblockerror .........1544 MP146Waxisrunaway.................................... 1553
MP082Laserlockerror.....................................1544 MP147Xaxisrunaway .................................... 1553
MP083Lasernotstableafterwarmuptimelimit1544 MP148Yaxisrunaway .................................... 1554
MP090APCUARTinputerror..........................1545 MP149Zaxisrunaway..................................... 1554
MP091APCdatainputbufferoverflow .............1545 MP151D/Aupdateswerelateormissing .......... 1554
MP092APCGOmessagetimeout .....................1545 MP158Xaxisexcessivebias ............................ 1555
MP093APClockerror......................................1545 MP159Xaxisboundup ................................... 1555
MP094APClidtimeouterror ............................1546 MP160DCCboardinoperative ......................... 1555

MP161RCUinoperative ...................................1556 MP320Invalidfunctionselected ....................... 1565
MP162Yaxisexcessivebias.............................1556 MP330Keystrokebufferoverflow .................... 1565
MP163Yaxisboundup....................................1557 MP340Offsetangleerror.................................. 1565
MP164Waxisoverspeed..................................1557 MP501MPCPUBoardRAMfailure ................ 1565
MP165Xaxisoverspeed...................................1557 MP502CPUInterruptchipfailure..................... 1566
MP166Yaxisoverspeed...................................1558 MP503NonexistentI/OdeviceorRAMfailure1566
MP167Zaxisoverspeed ...................................1559 MP504Realtimeclockfailure .......................... 1566
MP168Unexpectedtouch..................................1559 MP505Twomillisecondclockinterruptfailure . 1566
MP169Unexpectedendoftravel ......................1560 MP506Controlboardread/writefailure............. 1567
MP170Touchprobewillnotrearm....................1560 MP507ControlboardRCUinterfaceUARTfailure
..................................................................... 1567
MP171MPtoPH9/PH10communicationerror..1560
MP508ControlboardRCUinterfaceUARTinterrupt
MP172PH9/PH10toMPcommunicationerror..1560 failure........................................................... 1567
MP173PH9probeoverload...............................1561 MP510Interrupts notoperating......................... 1567
MP174PH9/PH10toMPbufferoverflow..........1561 MP511ControlboardRCUinterfaceinterruptfail
..................................................................... 1568
MP175Zaxisexcessivebias.............................1561
MP512Interruptpriorityfail ............................. 1568
MP176Zaxisboundup ....................................1562
MP515IEEE488initializationfailure ............... 1568
MP177MPfrontpanelkeyboarderror ...............1562
MP516Frontpaneldecodefail.......................... 1568
MP178MPconfigurationdatachecksumerror...1562
MP517MPpanelswitchstuck .......................... 1569
MP179Probechecksumerror............................1562
MP519EPROMchecksumerror ....................... 1569
MP180MicroprocessorEnhancedAccuracy(MEA)
checksumerror..............................................1563 MP521EPROMdirectoryerror......................... 1569
MP181InvalidMEAdata..................................1563 MP522D/Aboardconversionfailure ................ 1570
MP182Optionalinterfaceerror .........................1563 MP523RS232hostinterfacefailure................. 1570
MP183Probechangerrackdisconnected ...........1563 MP524RS232PH9/PH10interfacefailure....... 1570
MP184Probechangerovertravelerror...............1564 MP525RS232Probechangerinterfacefailure.. 1571
MP186InvalidWaxisMEAdata......................1564 MP526RS232electroniclevelinterfacefailure1571
MP310Invalidfrontpanelkeystrokecombination MP527SMP400FLASHmemoryerror ........... 1571

.....................................................................1564

MP528SMP400FLASHmemoryerror ............1571 MP564UARTinterruptfailure.......................... 1579
MP531SMP400RAMmemoryerror ...............1572 MP601DCCRAMfailure ................................ 1579
MP532SMP400RAMmemoryerror ...............1572 MP619DCCEPROMchecksumerror............... 1580
MP533Noamp/check/divideboardpresent .......1573 MP621DCCEPROMdirectoryerror ................ 1580
MP534Amp/check/divideboardfailure.............1573 MP650InsufficientDCCRAM......................... 1580
MP535NoDCCboardpresent ..........................1573 MP651ToomanyDCCsoftwarerategroupspresent

..................................................................... 1580
MP536DCCboardfailure.................................1574
MP697Servooffpushbuttonstuck.................... 1581
MP698Estopcircuitopen................................ 1581
MultipleArmCalibrationProcedure................... 1424
MultipleArmCMM........................................... 1419
MP540NoTempCompboardpresent ................1575
Step1
MP541TempCompboardfailure.......................1575
InstallPCDMISonAllComputers .......... 1419
Step10
SettheMultipleArmOrigin..................... 1431
Step2
DeterminetheMasterSystem................... 1419
Step3
MP547Processorboardfailure ..........................1576
MatchtheCMMAxesforEachArm ........ 1420
Step4
MP550InsufficientRAM ..................................1577
ConfigureProbeHeadMountOrientation. 1420
MP551Toomanysoftrategroups .....................1577
Step5
SetuptheMasterandSlave....................... 1421
MP561UARTinterruptfailure ..........................1578
Step6
ConnecttheComputers ............................ 1422

Step7 NC100Setuptab ................................................ 156
EnterMultipleArmMode.........................1423 NC100VideoProbe
Step8 Gain ............................................................... 184
Calibratethe MultipleArmSystem ...........1423 LongSegment................................................. 184
Step9 OffsetValue ................................................... 184
CalibratetheMultipleArmProbeFiles .....1430 VideoSetup.................................................... 185
MultipleArmMachines........................................533 New
CausinganArmtoWaittoPreventCollision .1435 AlignmentMode............................................. 378
CreatingaPartProgramUsingMultipleArm CoordinateSystem.......................................... 404

Mode .......................................................1432
Icon ................................................................ 426
FlushforLinearClose ......................................949
Level .............................................................. 300
TemperatureCompensation ...........................1435
MachineforDisplay........................................ 532
Thiscomputer(master)drivesallarms...........1422
MarkedSets.................................................... 379
Thiscomputer(slave)relayscommandsfromthe
maincomputer .........................................1422 MenuItem........................................................ 38
Thiscomputerisnotusedinamultiplearmsetting PartPrograms ................................................... 45

................................................................1422
Probe.............................................................. 505
MultipleArmMode
ProbeFile ..................................................... 1456
UsingCALLSUBStatements.........................1014
Row............................................................... 971
MultipleArmProgramExecution .......................1434
Script.............................................................. 428
MultipleArms......................................................197
Subroutine .................................................... 1004
MultipleUserSettings ..........................................117
Newton................................................................ 176
LongSegment .................................................184
NextBookmark ................................................... 385
Multiplier.............................................................830
NextBookmarkIcon ............................................ 487
NameBoxforCADElements...............................312
NoDisplay ........................................................ 1022
NavigatingtheUserInterface
Option .......................................................... 1408
Introduction.......................................................21
NoGraph........................................................... 1289
NC100Parameterstab.........................................183
NoMachineItem ................................................. 534

NoProbeDefaultItem..........................................211 Button .......................................................... 1065
Nominal...............................................................888 CadReportObject .......................................... 1070
forAngleBetween...........................................859 Checkbutton ................................................. 1080
forDistance.....................................................853 ComboBox ................................................... 1082
Point ...............................................................374 CommandTextObject .................................... 1079
Size.................................................................839 DimensionColorKey ................................... 1083
NominalValues....................................................370 EditBox ........................................................ 1083
Modifying .......................................................370 EditDblBox .................................................. 1084
Nominals EditLongBox ................................................ 1085
Methodarea ....................................................947 Ellipse .......................................................... 1085
ModeTab........................................................969 Frame........................................................... 1086
NominalsDirectlytoCalculateOffsets,Changing .737 Gauge........................................................... 1087
NullfilterScanTechnique .....................................935 Graph ........................................................... 1091
Number GridControlObject ........................................ 1094
DecimalPlaces................................................148 Histogram..................................................... 1093
DeletedFeatures..............................................342 Label ............................................................ 1099
ProbeChangers ...............................................202 LeaderLine .................................................. 1101
SelectedFeatures.............................................342 Line.............................................................. 1103
TimestoOffset................................................362 ListBox ........................................................ 1104
NumberforReturnData .......................................177 MultiEditBox................................................ 1105
NumberedLists....................................................... 8 OLE ............................................................. 1105
Object ................................................................1056 Page ............................................................. 1141
ActiveX ........................................................1058 Pointer.......................................................... 1112
Analysis........................................................1061 Polyline ........................................................ 1113
Arc ...............................................................1061 Radiobutton .................................................. 1114
Bitmap ..........................................................1064 Section ......................................................... 1141
Border...........................................................1063 SectionCutObject.......................................... 1115

Select............................................................1115 Online .................................................................. 15
Slider ............................................................1121 OnLine
Spinner .........................................................1123 PartProgramming............................................. 15
Text ..............................................................1127 OnlySelected ...................................................... 947
TextReportObject..........................................1125 Open ................................................................. 1466
TextVar.........................................................1127 OpenBasic .......................................................... 428
TheFrame/TheView.....................................1140 OpenGL
ObjectProperties,WithExpressionLanguage .....1403 ChangingOptions ........................................... 264
ObjectTypeList.................................................1416 Mode.............................................................. 339
Offline..................................................................16 Options........................................................... 264
OffLine OpenIcon ............................................................ 426
MeasuringFeatures .......................................1446 OpeningaFileforReadingorWriting................ 1319
PartProgramming .............................................16 OpeningExistingPartPrograms............................. 45
Prerequisites..................................................1442 OperandCoercion .............................................. 1399
Probes...........................................................1443 OperandCoercionandMixedTypeExpressions . 1400
OffLinevs.OnLine..............................................15 OperandTypes................................................... 1355
Offset...................................................................937 Operation............................................................... 24
+/ .................................................................937 Operator
Force...............................................................178 Comments .................................................... 1303
Value ..............................................................184 Instructionsfor.............................................. 1106
OffsetDefiningElementarea................................302 OperatorMode
OffsetsDirectlytoCalculateNominals,Changing .714 CalibrateTips ............................................... 1469
OKButton .............................................................31 OperatorModeMenuOptions ............................ 1466
OKtoMove ................................................. 976,977 OperatorsforExpressions .................................. 1372
OldStyleReport.................................................1046 OperatorsforReportExpressions ....................... 1229
ONERRORSupportedInterfaces .......................1002 OptimizeSurface ................................................. 751
OneCADfileforMultiplePartPrograms................65 Option 1 ............................................................ 1460

Option2.............................................................1460 OutputTo............................................................ 830
Option3.............................................................1461 Overridebutton.................................................... 373
Option4.............................................................1461 OverrideGuess .................................................... 647
OptionButtons .......................................................30 OverridingaGuessedMeasuredFeature............... 647
OptionalProbetab................................................175 OverridingFoundNominals ................................. 371
Options ................................................................265 OverridingGuessedFeatures................................ 371
forScanning............................................ 925,962 PageNumbers
forTraceFields .............................................1022 inReports ............................................1141,1222
Menu ............................................................1281 ParallelGD&T..................................................... 870
Password.........................................................122 ParallelTo........................................................... 856
Orderinglabels...................................................1180 Parallelism........................................................... 870
Orientationarea....................................................301 PARALLELISMDimension ................................ 870
OrientationforDistanceDimensions.....................856 PARAMStatements........................................... 1314
Origin ..................................................................786 ParameterSettings
Boxes..............................................................258 Accelerationtab.............................................. 174
Button.............................................................778 ClearPlanetab................................................. 161
OffsetDistance................................................777 Dimensiontab................................................. 158
OriginDefiningElement(s)area ...........................302 I/OChannelstab ............................................. 185
OutofOrderExecution.........................................111 Motiontab...................................................... 170
OutlineofPlane ...................................................133 NC100Parameterstab ................................... 183
Output OptionalProbetab .......................................... 175
asaDMISOutputFile.......................................61 ProbeTriggerOptionstab ............................... 178
OptionsfortheEditWindow .............................57 Probingtab ..................................................... 166
OptionsfortheGraphicsDisplayWindow .........53 RotateTabletab.............................................. 168
toaFile.............................................................59 ParentMode ........................................................ 378
toaFileUsingExpressions................................58 PartImage
tothePrinter .....................................................63

EnlargingaPortionwithintheGraphicsDisplay ViewingPathLines......................................... 474

Window .....................................................280
PathRegeneration ................................................ 338
EnlargingwithintheGraphicsDisplaywindow 279
PathSimulation ................................................... 338
PartPrograminMultipleArmMode...................1432
Pattern................................................................. 361
PartPrograms.........................................................45
Patternmatching .................................................. 367
EditingfromSummaryMode...........................398
PatternsofFeatures,Editing................................. 361
Ending ..........................................................1003
PCDMIS
ExecutingandDebuggingOffLine................1449
Gear ................................................................. 18
Saving...............................................................49
Laser ................................................................ 18
Part/Machinetab ..................................................138
MenuBar ......................................................... 23
PartialCalibration ................................................205
NC ................................................................... 17
Part'sPositionandOrientation ..............................807
RegistryEntries,Editing ............................... 1607
PassBackSettingsfromSubroutine ......................136
SetupOptions ................................................. 118
PassThroughPlane ..............................................161
Vision............................................................... 17
Passing
PDFReport............................................................ 59
NumericCharactersintoaSubroutine ............1014
Percentageofremainingobjectstodraw............... 292
VariablesToandFromBASICScripts...........1411
PermboxforScans .............................................. 949
Password..............................................................122
PerpenTo............................................................ 856
Paste ....................................................................360
PerpendicularTo.................................................. 857
Icon ................................................................427
Perpendicularity................................................... 868
withPattern.....................................................362
PERPENDICULARITYDimension ..................... 869
withPatternIcon .............................................488
PierceCADon3DRotate .................................... 131
PatchScansMaintainLastIncrement ....................131
PiercePointColumn ............................................ 372
PathDefinitionTab ..............................................957
Plane
PathLines ..........................................................1449
ChangingtheDirection ................................... 740
ChangingSize .................................................353
PlaneLinePointAlignment................................. 448
ShowingandAnimatingPathLines..................337
PlayaPreRecordedMacro.................................. 496

Plusbox ...............................................................851 Pointers ............................................................. 1365
PlusTolerance POINTINFOCommand ..................................... 1299
AngularityDimensions....................................884 Polar
CoaxialityDimensions.....................................863 Option ............................................................ 755
Flatness...........................................................868 VectorCompensation...................................... 167
ParallelismDimensions ...................................871 Polar/Rect............................................................ 766
PerpendicularityDimensions ...........................869 PortableToolbar .................................................. 500
RoundnessDimensions....................................865 Positionbutton..................................................... 301
RunoutDimensions .........................................875 PositionGD&T.................................................... 840
StraightnessDimensions..................................867 PositioningAccuracy ........................................... 177
Symmetry .......................................................887 PositioningOnScreenElements........................... 276
Point ..................................................................1297 PositiveReporting................................................ 149
#(number) ......................................................958 Precedence ........................................................ 1374
Coercion .......................................................1400 PredefinedCharacterSets..................................... 365
Density ...........................................................178 Preferences .......................................................... 117
Functions ......................................................1386 PrehitDistance..................................................... 171
InfoFormat ...................................................1297 PressEndKey ..................................................... 123
Reference......................................................1360 PrevTempboxes ................................................. 258
Symbol ...........................................................353 Previewwindow .................................................. 457
PointInfoBoxes,Inserting .................................1295 Options........................................................... 458
PointInfoBoxes,ShowingorHiding....................480 Sizing............................................................. 460
PointNominalDeviation ......................................351 Print .................................................................... 428
PointOnlyMode ..................................................123 FullReport ................................................... 1468
PointTargetRadius ..............................................787 Icon ................................................................ 427
PointTriggerTolerance ........................................182 Preview .......................................................... 427
PointerFunctions ...............................................1386 PrintCommand,Inserting .................................. 1309
PointertoReferenceData ...................................1413 PrintJobPreview................................................... 54

PRINT/REPORTCommand ...............................1309 Calibrate......................................................... 204
Editing..........................................................1312 CalibratingtheCW43ProbeChanger .............. 554
Printer CalibratingtheFCR25ProbeChanger ............. 538
EditWindowOptions ........................................57 Comm ............................................................ 203
GraphicsDisplayWindowOptions ....................53 DefinetheProbeConfigurationforEachSlot .. 210
PrinterOutput ...................................................63 DefiningaProbeChanger ............................... 538
SetupandOptions .............................................53 DeletefromtheGraphicsDisplaywindow....... 562
Printing DropoffaProbewithoutPickingupaNewProbe
.................................................................. 211
Dimensionsto theInspectionReport ................824
MountPoint.................................................... 208
fromtheEditWindow .......................................55
Options........................................................... 201
theGraphicsDisplayWindow............................53
ShowinganAnimatedProbeChanger.............. 561
theInspectionReport.........................................57
SinglePortCalibration .................................... 205
theReportWindow .......................................1036
Slots ............................................................... 209
PrintingReports .....................................................57
Type............................................................... 202
PrintingReports,forMarkedSets ...........................57
UsingaProbeChanger.................................... 538
PrioritySurfaceColumn .......................................372
ProbeCompensation
Probe ...................................................................408
Active............................................................. 167
ChangerType..................................................202
ProbeDepth....................................................... 1443
Comp ..............................................................408
Approximate................................................. 1444
ConfigurationforEachSlot .............................210
Keyin .......................................................... 1446
File ...............................................................1456
onaCone ..................................................... 1446
File,convertingtolatestformat..........................45
onaFeature .................................................. 1444
MapFiles..........................................................88
onaSphere................................................... 1445
ProbeCalibration
ProbeHead
DefiningProbes...............................................505
WristAngle .................................................... 209
ProbeChanger
ProbeinSlot# ..................................................... 167
AddorRemoveSlotsfromtheDialogBox.......211

ProbeModeToolbar.............................................484 PropertiesofObjects.......................................... 1134
ProbeReadoutsWindow Qualification
Edit...............................................................1467 Check ........................................................... 1459
Setup.............................................................1467 QualToolDataFunction...................................... 1388
ProbeTipsList.....................................................483 QuestionMark(?)MetaCharacter........................ 327
ProbetothenoprobeDefault .............................211 QuickFixtures
ProbeToolbox......................................................473 intheGraphicsDisplayWindow ..................... 536
PlacingandSizing...........................................474 Inserting ......................................................... 535
ProbeTriggerOptionstab.....................................178 Installing ........................................................ 537
Probes..................................................................505 Mode.............................................................. 536
Defining..........................................................505 ShortcutMenu .............................................. 1485
List .................................................................482 UsingExisting ................................................ 537
ProbingAccuracy.................................................177 QuickStart
ProbingMode ......................................................177 AlignToolbar ................................................. 448
ProbingTab .........................................................166 Calibrate/EditToolbar................................... 449
ProfileContourPlots,Displaying..........................877 ConstructToolbar ........................................... 443
ProfileGD&T ConstructedFeatures....................................... 444
DimensioningLineProfile...............................876 DialogBox ..................................................... 435
DimensioningSurfaceProfile ..........................876 DimensionToolbar ......................................... 445
ProgramMode .....................................................284 MainToolbar.................................................. 433
ProgrammerComments,Inserting.......................1302 MeasureToolbar............................................. 438
ProjectedDistance MeasuredFeatures .......................................... 439
AngularityDimensions....................................884 QuickWaystoCreateAutoFeatures .................... 565
Coaxiality .......................................................863 Quit................................................................... 1467
ParallelismDimensions ...................................871 Radius/Diameter ................................................ 766
PerpendicularityDimensions ...........................869 RangeofHits....................................................... 753
PromptHistory.....................................................196 RCUErrorInformation ...................................... 1583

RCU003Resourceshortage...............................1584 RecordMacro...................................................... 495
RCU700RCURAMfailure...............................1584 RecoverafterAccidentallyMovingaPart............. 808
RCU701RCU6802RAMaddressfailure ..........1584 Rectangle............................................................. 766
RCU702RCU2114RAMfailure ......................1584 Redo.................................................................... 359
RCU703RCU2114RAMaddressfailure ..........1585 RedoIcon ............................................................ 489
RCU704RCUEPROMchecksumorversion#error RefTempboxes................................................... 258

.....................................................................1585
ReferenceAngle .................................................. 884
RCU705Stuckkeyerror ...................................1585
ReferenceType.................................................... 643
RCU706RCUEPROMAchecksumerror .........1586
References......................................................... 1356
RCU707RCUEPROMBchecksumerror .........1586
ReferencingOneCADfileforMultiplePartPrograms
RCU708RCUEPROMCchecksumerror .........1586 ......................................................................... 65
ReadCMM ..........................................................209 RegenerateHitTargets......................................... 643
ReadLock..........................................................1027 RegeneratingthePath .......................................... 338
ReadPoint ...........................................................767 Relationship
ReadTemperaturefromController........................259 betweentheMachineandthePart.................... 533
ReadingaBlockofTextfromaFile....................1326 forAngleBetweenDimensions ....................... 860
ReadingaCharacterfromaFile..........................1321 forDistanceDimensions ................................. 855
ReadingaLinefromaFile..................................1323 RelativeMeasure ................................................. 630
ReadingTextuptoaDelimiter ...........................1328 RemoveAMenuItem............................................ 37
Readout................................................................410 RemoveBreakpoint ............................................. 486
ReadoutWindow..................................................190 RemoveOutliers/StandardDeviationMultiple .... 674
Recall ....................................................................32 RemoveOutlierscheckbox.................................. 759
RecallAlignmentCommandLineFormat .............805 RemovingCommands.......................................... 399
RecallanAlignment .............................................805 RemovingTexturesfromSelectedCADObjects... 321
RecallingaSavedFilePointer'sPosition .............1339 RemovingtheAnimatedMachinefromtheGraphics

DisplayWindow ............................................. 534
RecallingaSavedViewSet .................................1313
Rename ................................................................. 52
RecallinganExistingAlignment...........................805
RepaintingtheScreen .......................................... 279

Replace ................................................................365 LabelTemplateEditor................................... 1155
ReplaceAllbutton................................................368 Labels........................................................... 1171
Replacebutton .....................................................367 LabelsinReports .......................................... 1180
Replacewith ........................................................367 ModifyingReportHeaders ............................ 1050
Report..................................................................409 ModifyingStandardTemplates...................... 1048
Forms ...........................................................1193 RearrangingReportPages ............................. 1047
GenerationFlowChart ..................................1034 RemovingaReportTemplate ........................ 1169
Parameters ......................................................158 ReportTemplateEditor................................. 1153
TemplateEditor.............................................1153 ReportWindow ............................................ 1035
Templates ........................................... 1044,1159 SharingReportTemplates ............................. 1171
Window ........................................................1035 StandardReports........................................... 1044
ReportandLabelTemplates ...............................1159 CADONLY ............................................. 1044
ReportExpressionLanguage...1221,1222,1235,1266 CADONLY_LANDSCAPE ..................... 1044
ReportMode ............................................ 1031,1035 PPAP....................................................... 1044
ReportTemplate,Custom ...................................1160 TEXTANDCAD ...................................... 1044
Reporting ...........................................................1031 TEXTONLY............................................ 1044
Changes ........................................................1031 Templates............................................1044,1159
ChangingTextColors....................................1052 Toolbar......................................................... 1036
ClearingTemplateAssociatedData................1147 TruePositionFCFs ......................................... 916
CurrentLabels...............................................1000 ViewingaLegacyReport.............................. 1046
CustomLabelTemplates ...............................1171 ReportingObjects
CustomReportEditor....................................1157 AboutProperties ........................................... 1134
CustomReportTemplate ...............................1160 CommonProperties ...................................... 1136
ExpressionLanguage.....................................1221 TheObjectBar ............................................. 1056
FormEditor......................................... 1158,1194 ReportingToolbar.............................................. 1036
Forms ...........................................................1193 Reports
FormsinReports ...........................................1193 CreatingCustom ........................................... 1203

CreatingTemplates........................................1159 Rotate2D
Reports/CreatingCustom....................................1203 byaFactor...................................................... 281
RepositioningCommands.....................................393 byDragging.................................................... 280
RepositioningthePartImagewithintheGraphics toanElement.................................................. 281

Displaywindow ..............................................280
Rotate3D
Reset....................................................................813
byDragging.................................................... 282
Resetglobalsettingswhenbranching ....................126
toanElement.................................................. 283
ResetIDs ...........................................................1482
usingRotateDialogBox ................................. 282
ResettoDefaults ..................................................261
RotatebyanOffset .............................................. 777
RestoretheDefaultUserInterface...........................35
RotatetheTable................................................... 170
RestoringFactorySettingsfromtheController......219
RotatetoaLinebetweenTwoCircles................... 777
Resultsbox ..........................................................813
RotatingtheDrawing ........................................... 289
RetractDistance ...................................................172
RotationandOtherMotionOptions,Changing...... 290
RetrolinearOnlyforLocationDimensions ............836
RotationOptions.................................................. 290
ReturnSpeed........................................................177
Roundness ........................................................... 863
ReverseAxesmode:...........................................1436
ROUNDNESSDimension.................................... 864
ROIBottom .........................................................184
RTFandPDFFiles,DisplayingDimensions ......... 825
ROITop...............................................................184
RTFOldStyleReport ............................................ 59
ROIWidth ...........................................................184
RTFReport............................................................ 59
RotaryTable ........................................................197
RuleTreeEditor ................................................ 1182
Calibrating ......................................................562
Rulers,Displaying ............................................... 274
Ignoring ..........................................................562
RotatingtoActiveAngle .................................562 ....................................................................... 895
Tab .................................................................168 RunMenu............................................................ 431
Workingwith ..................................................562 RunningaMasterPartProgramontheSlaveArm1436
Rotate ..................................................................776 Runout................................................................. 873
Rotate 2 .............................................................786 CircularorTotal ............................................. 874

HowitisMeasured..........................................874 Icon ................................................................ 426
RUNOUTDimension ...........................................875 SaveAlignmentDialogBox ................................. 803
RunoutGD&T .....................................................873 SaveAs ................................................................. 49
RunouttoCheckaCylinderEnd ...........................875 SavePartProgramonExecute.............................. 131
SafeLocation .......................................................209 Save/AlignmentCommand,Editing...................... 802
SampleCode SavingaFilePointer'sCurrentPosition .............. 1337
EOFandEOL ...............................................1347 SavinganAlignment............................................ 801
FileClose......................................................1321 SavingPartPrograms............................................. 49
FileCopy ......................................................1341 Scalebox............................................................. 303
FileDelete ....................................................1344 ScaleFactor......................................................... 118
FileDialog ....................................................1346 ScaletoFit ........................................................ 1280
FileExists .....................................................1345 ScalingtheDrawing............................................. 288
FileMove......................................................1342 ScalingtheModelbyaFactor .............................. 288
FileOpen ......................................................1320 ScanConstructionforPerimeterScan................... 936
ReadBlock ...................................................1326 ScanDone ........................................................... 971
ReadCharacter..............................................1322 ScanSpeed% ...................................................... 173
ReadLine......................................................1324 ScanType............................................................ 926
ReadUpTo...................................................1329 Scanning
RecallFilePosition .......................................1339 Acceleration ................................................... 178
RewindtoStart..............................................1336 AdvancedScanDialogBox............................. 925
SaveFilePosition..........................................1338 Axis ............................................................... 938
WriteBlock...................................................1335 Basic/Advancedbuttons ................................ 926
WriteCharacter .............................................1331 BasicScanDialogBox.................................... 962
WriteLine.....................................................1333 BodyAxis
SamplePlaneAutoTriggerarea............................181 LinearOpen................................................ 933
Save.....................................................................428 Rotary ....................................................... 933
GraphicstoReport.........................................1282 Technique.................................................. 933

BoundaryPlaneVector....................................938 FilterWidthbox.............................................. 758
BoundaryPoints..............................................931 FlushforLinearClose...................................... 949
UsingtheCADDataMethod ......................930 FlushforLinearOpen ...................................... 949
UsingtheKeyinMethod.............................929 Gaussian......................................................... 756
UsingtheMeasuredPointMethod ..............930 GraphicsTab .................................................. 953
BoundaryTab .................................................967 HitType ......................................................... 949
CADTol .........................................................937 HitTypeTab .................................................. 967
CalculateBoundary .........................................937 IncrementBox
CenterPointandRadius ..................................941 PatchScan................................................. 936
ClearPlane......................................................943 PerimeterScan........................................... 936
ClearingBoundaryPoints ................................932 SectionScan .............................................. 938
ControlPointTypes.........................................955 Indentboxes ................................................... 949
ControlPoints ......................................... 955,956 InitialDirectionVector(DirVec)..................... 938
CutPlaneVector(CutVec) ..............................938 InitialHits ...................................................... 949
Depth...................................................... 949,953 InitialVectors................................................. 938
Direction1Tech InnerBound.................................................... 943
forLinearCloseScan ..................................932 LineTechnique............................................... 933
forLinearOpenScan...................................932 LinearMethod
forPatchScan ............................................932 Direction1 ofPatchScan ........................... 932
forRotaryScan ..........................................932 Direction2ofPatchScan ........................... 932
forSectionScan .........................................932 LinearCloseScan ....................................... 932
Direction2Tech LinearOpen................................................ 932
ofPatchScan .............................................932 RotaryScan ............................................... 932
DirectionTechniqueareas ...............................932 SectionScan .............................................. 932
EditingBoundaryPoints..................................931 Linearoption .................................................. 755
EndTouchVector(EndVec)............................938 LocatingPoints............................................... 925
FilterTab ........................................................966 NullfilterTechnique........................................ 935

Offset..............................................................937 SendtotheReport......................................... 1316
Options ................................................... 925,962 Screensize........................................................... 266
ProfileContourPlots .......................................877 Script..........................................................426,1410
SectionLocationforSectionScan....................937 ScrollingtheEditWindow ..................................... 34
SelectingandDeselectingSurfaces ..................924 Search
SplinePatharea...............................................961 CurrentDirectory............................................ 263
SurfaceFeatures............................................1448 CurrentDirectoryFirst.................................... 263
ThinningParameterU......................................750 foraspecificwordorphrase............................ 365
ThinningParameterV......................................750 ID28
ThinningParameters................................ 746,750 SpecifiedDirectory ......................................... 263
TopSurfaceVector(SurfVec)..........................938 SearchFor ........................................................... 263
UVScanSettings ............................................942 SecondExtension............................................... 1353
ValueLimit...................................................1022 SelectCenter .................................................. 941
VariableTechnique .........................................934 SectionCutProfile............................................. 1115
ScanningafterAddingControlPoints ...................957 SectionLocationforSectionScan ........................ 937
ScansasBestFitAlignmentInputs .......................795 Select .................................................................. 786
Screen Select/EndSelect ............................................... 992
Appearance .......................................................21 CodeSample .................................................. 992
Color...............................................................285 SelectAlignmenttoOutputtoGds ....................... 137
Colors .............................................................284 SelectAll............................................................... 31
Modes.............................................................279 SelectCenter ....................................................... 941
View...............................................................271 SelectLast# .......................................................... 29
ScreenCaptures....................................................411 SelectSubroutine............................................... 1009
Editing............................................................308 Selecting
oftheGraphicsDisplayWindow.....................307 FeaturesUsingMetaCharacterMatching ........ 326
SendtoaFile ..................................................308 FeaturesUsingtheGraphicsDisplayWindow.. 324
SendtotheClipboard ......................................307 FeaturesusingtheID(s) .................................. 325

OptionsfromtheMenuBarwiththeKeyboard...25 AdvancedOptions........................................... 606
OptionsfromtheMenuBarwiththeMouse .......24 Axes............................................................... 835
theLastID(s) ..................................................328 BoxSelecting ................................................. 329
SendingCurrentStatstoaFile............................1022 ExtendedOptions............................................ 602
SensorNumbersboxes .........................................257 FeatureProperties ........................................... 572
SeparatorsintheVirtualKeyboardforVisualAppeal Hits ................................................................ 405

.......................................................................467
MeasurementProperties .................................. 583
SetandResetOptions...........................................186
Measurements................................................. 407
SetasPriority.......................................................311
ShortcutKeys
SetofSurfaces .....................................................311
AddtoaCommand ........................................... 42
Settings
Customizing ..................................................... 41
SettingPreferences ..........................................117
RemovefromaCommand................................. 42
SettingsTabforScans .....................................962
ShortcutKeysandMenus................................... 1474
SettingsEditor....................................................1607
BoxSelectMenu .......................................... 1482
NotesforRenishawPHSwithLeitzInterface.1455
CommandMenu ........................................... 1492
ProfileErrorfromaSet ...................................752
DataItemMenu............................................ 1491
SettingsforMultipleUsers ...................................117
MenusReference .......................................... 1474
SettingsToolbar ...................................................481
QuickFixtureShortcutMenu ........................ 1485
SettingsWindow ..................................................450
ReportModeMenu....................................... 1492
Options ...........................................................457
ShortCutMenusintheReportWindow......... 1496
SetupOptions
ShortcutMenusforAutoFeaturePathLines.. 1487
Dimensiontab .................................................144
ShortcutMenusinStandardWindowsDialog
Generaltab......................................................118 Boxes ...................................................... 1474
IDSetuptab ....................................................152 ShortcutMenusintheEditWindow .............. 1488
NC100Setuptab............................................156 ShortcutMenusintheGraphicsDisplayWindow
................................................................ 1477
Part/Machinetab .............................................138
ShortcutMenusontheToolbar...................... 1475
Sheet Metal
SummaryModeKeyboardFunctions............... 401

SummaryModeMenu ...................................1488 ShrinkingthePartImagewithintheGraphicsDisplay

window .......................................................... 279
Show
SinglePointMode ............................................... 943
AllArrows ....................................................1279
SinglePortCalibration ......................................... 205
AllScanParameters ........................................950
Skip..................................................................... 113
Comments.......................................................408
SkipNumber ....................................................... 996
DeviationsTolerance.......................................118
SlaveProbeFileCalibration ............................... 1430
ExtendedSheetMetalOptions .........................127
SlotData,ManuallyEditing ................................. 210
Graph............................................................1298
Slots ProbeChanger........................................... 209
Headings.......................................................1298
SmoothBadData................................................. 751
Histogram .....................................................1281
SmoothingParameterbox .................................... 758
HitDeviations .................................................128
SpaceBall .............................................................. 11
HorizontalLines............................................1298
SpaceBallFunctions............................................... 10
Icon ..............................................................1297
SpaceBallorSpaceMouseModes ........................... 12
IconinTextBoxes ..........................................130
SpaceMouse .......................................................... 11
ID1297
SpaceMouseFunctions........................................... 10
IDs................................................................1482
SpacerforScans .................................................. 949
Max/MinDeviations......................................1281
SPCDatabaseOption......................................... 1029
Menu ............................................................1280
Specular .............................................................. 318
Name ..............................................................311
Sphere
Scanhits .........................................................950
ChangingtheDirection ................................... 698
StartupDialog .................................................130
SplineFilter......................................................... 757
Statistics........................................................1281
SplinePatharea ................................................... 961
TemperaturesinCelsius...................................259
StandardDeviation .............................................. 161
Type .............................................................1298
Multiplebox ................................................... 759
VerticalLines................................................1298
StandardEditCommands ..................................... 359
Showtrackerparametersinoffline........................138
StandardReports................................................ 1044
ShowingandHidingGraphics...............................293

Start.....................................................................428 SendingCurrentStatstoaFile ...................... 1022
StartAlignmentCommand ...................................771 SPCDatabaseOption.................................... 1029
StartLabel ...........................................................789 StatisticalData................................................ 404
StartNumber........................................................996 StatisticsOptionsDialogBox ........................ 1022
StartPoints StatsOff ....................................................... 1023
forMultipleArms..........................................1434 StatsOn........................................................ 1023
SetStartPointicon ..........................................486 StatsOptions ................................................ 1023
StartingaFreshDebugFile...................................221 TraceFieldOptions....................................... 1022
Statistics TraceFields.................................................... 410
AlwaysSaveStatstoFile.................................146 Transfer........................................................ 1025
DataSource...................................................1029 Update.......................................................... 1025
Database .......................................................1029 UpdateDatabaseNow................................... 1030
DatabaseDirectories......................................1026 ValueLimit .................................................. 1022
DatabaseOptions ..........................................1025 StatsFile,DeleteCurrent ................................... 1027
DataPageOption ...........................................1025 StatusBar .............................................................. 26
DataPageVariableName...............................1027 StatusWindow..................................................... 470
DeleteCurrentStatsFile................................1027 StepNext ............................................................ 113
DeleteDirectoryfromList .............................1026 Stop..................................................................... 113
DESOption...................................................1028 StoponCollision ................................................. 339
Display .........................................................1022 StoreMove ...................................................976,977
DoControlCalculations ................................1027 STPFiles............................................................. 256
EditDatabase ................................................1029 Straightness ......................................................... 866
FeatureIDsinStatisticalDatabases..................997 STRAIGHTNESSDimension .............................. 866
LoopIds..........................................................997 String
MemoryPages ..............................................1028 Coercion....................................................... 1400
NoDisplay....................................................1022 Functions...................................................... 1376
OutputTo........................................................830 Reference ..................................................... 1361

StructuralTemperatureCompensation...................257 T2PFile ................................................................. 88
StructureRules...................................................1364 TableAvoidance.................................................. 144
Structures...........................................................1363 TaggedFeaturesinaFeatureSetorScan .............. 796
StructureswithVariablesofTypePoint ..............1364 TargetValues ...................................................... 370
Subroutine..........................................................1009 Modifying....................................................... 370
CodeSample.................................................1017 TempComp200TempCompnotavailable.......... 1587
CreationDialogBox......................................1006 TempComp201Absolutetemperaturelimitexceeded
..................................................................... 1587
Editing..........................................................1008
TempComp202Gradienttemperaturelimitexceeded
Subroutines ........................................................1003 ..................................................................... 1588
SummaryMode....................................................396 TempComp203Transienttemperaturelimitexceeded
..................................................................... 1588
DataItems.......................................................398
TempComp204Lasercompensationisinactive . 1588
Groups ............................................................397
TempComp205Probecalibrationdatamaybeinvalid
..................................................................... 1589
Icon ................................................................487
TempComp206Rotarytablecalibrationmaybe
Layout ............................................................397 invalid .......................................................... 1589
SummaryModeCommandShortcutMenu..........1488 TemperatureCompensation.................................. 256
SummaryModeDragandDrop ............................400 ControllerSupport .......................................... 261
SurfaceandCurveModes .....................................277 Enabled .......................................................... 259
SurfaceFeatures.................................................1448 ErrorInformation.......................................... 1586
SurfaceGridDensity ............................................750 GetCurrentTemps.......................................... 261
SurfaceProfile .....................................................876 HighThresholdboxes ..................................... 258
SurfaceProfileDimension ....................................876 InputParameters ............................................. 257
SurfaceSelectionandDeselection.........................924 Linear............................................................. 257
SwitchingBetweenMachineProfiles ....................117 LocalSettings ................................................. 262
SwitchingBetweenOpenPartPrograms .............1439 LowThresholdboxes...................................... 258
SYMMETRYDimension ............................. 884,916 MaterialCoefficientboxes .............................. 257
SyntaxHelp .........................................................431 Structural........................................................ 257
SyntaxHelpFile...................................................432 TEMPCOMPCommandintheEditWindow .. 261

TimeRemaining..............................................261 Thiscomputerisnotusedinamultiplearmsetting
..................................................................... 1422
UsingSTPFiles ..............................................256
TimeRemaining .................................................. 261
withMultipleArmCalibration.......................1435
Tip ...................................................................... 408
TensionFactor .....................................................751
Calibration.................................................... 1455
TessellatingaPartwithoutaCADLicense..............89
ToFeature ........................................................... 860
Tessellation..........................................................266
ToPoints ............................................................. 958
TextBoxMode ....................................................283
ToXAxis............................................................ 860
TextColor.................................................. 186,1052
ToYAxis............................................................ 860
Textual.................................................................828
ToZAxis ............................................................ 860
TextualAnalysis.................................................1277
ToggleBookmark ................................................ 385
TextureMapping..................................................318
ToggleBreakpoint ............................................... 383
Textures...............................................................321
Toggleicons/AutoWristToggle........................... 596
Disable............................................................291
Toggleicons/CircularMovesToggle .................... 597
Theoretical
Toggleicons/ClearPlaneToggle .......................... 597
PathArea ........................................................958
Toggleicons/ManualPrePositionToggle............. 597
ScanPath ........................................................958
Toggleicons/MeasureNowToggle ...................... 596
VectorforScans..............................................958
Toggleicons/Polar CartesianToggle .................. 575
TheoreticalValues................................................370
Toggleicons/ProbeToolboxToggle ..................... 600
Modifying .......................................................370
Toggleicons/ReMeasureToggle ......................... 596
Thickness.............................................................118
Toggleicons/ShowFilteredPointsToggle ............ 601
forPointOnlyModePoints .............................129
Toggleicons/ShowMeasuredPointsToggle ......... 601
ThinningParameterU...........................................750
Toggleicons/VoidDetectionToggle .................... 600
ThinningParameterV...........................................750
ToggleMultipleArmMarkings.......................... 1433
ThinningParameters..................................... 746,750
Tolerance
Thiscomputer(master)drivesallarms................1422
BClass............................................................ 839
Thiscomputer(slave) relayscommandsfromthemain
computer.......................................................1422 Box ................................................................ 373

forAngleDimensions......................................859 MacroPlay/Record ......................................... 495
forConcentricityDimensions ..........................862 MeasuredFeatures .......................................... 494
forDistanceDimensions..................................853 Modify ............................................................. 39
forKeyboardCreatedDimensions....................888 Portable .......................................................... 500
forLineProfileDimensions.............................879 ProbeMode .................................................... 484
forLocationDimensions..................................837 QuickStartToolbar......................................... 433
forNominals ...................................................947 Reporting...................................................... 1036
forSurfaceProfileDimensions ........................879 Settings .......................................................... 481
forTruePositionDimensions...........................850 ToCreateaCustomToolbar.............................. 41
Radius.............................................................182 TouchScreenMode ........................................ 498
ToolbarArea..........................................................25 VirtualKeyboard ............................................ 496
Toolbar/Portable...................................................500 WindowLayouts............................................. 503
Toolbars Wizards .......................................................... 498
ActiveArms....................................................502 Tooltips
ActiveRotaryTable ........................................502 forafeature .................................................... 329
AutoFeatures..................................................491 TouchScreenModeToolbar ................................ 498
BasicScriptEditor...........................................426 TouchSpeed........................................................ 406
ConstructedFeatures .......................................490 TouchSpeed%.................................................... 173
Custom .............................................................41 TraceFields......................................................... 410
Customizing......................................................39 TransformCAD................................................... 346
Delete ...............................................................41 TranslateaPartProgramFile ............................. 1451
Dimension.......................................................489 TranslateMode.................................................... 279
EditWindow...................................................485 Transparencies..................................................... 315
FileOperations................................................495 Transparencies,Disable........................................ 291
Graphic Items..................................................480 TreatTheoValuesAsifStoredinPartCoordinates134
GraphicView..................................................479 TriangleFilter...................................................... 757
GraphicsModes ..............................................477 TriggerForce....................................................... 177

TrigonometryFunctions .....................................1384 Use
TrihedronforAlignments .....................................772 AutomotiveDeviationLetters.......................... 131
TrihedronforFCF ................................................913 BestFit........................................................... 947
TruePosition................................................ 840,916 CADProvidedID'sforFeatures ...................... 129
TruePositionAxes .............................................1293 CircularMovesonRoundFeatures.................. 128
TRUEPOSITIONDimension...............................841 Datums........................................................... 825
TruePositionInBetween .....................................890 DMISButtoninEditWindow ......................... 131
TruePositiononaGroupofCirclesorCylinders...841 FindNominalsOverrideforScans................... 133
TruePositionReporting........................................916 ONLYPrioritySurfacesfortheFindNominals
DuringScans ............................................. 133
TutortoPCDMISProbeMapFiles........................88
PreviousSurface ............................................. 373
TutorElementFunction .......................................1388
TriggerTolerance ........................................... 182
TutorPCDMISTranslatorOptions...........................88
UseDMISPolarConvention ................................ 136
Type ProbeChanger...........................................202
UseProgramLayoutforExecution....................... 136
Undo....................................................................359
UserAssignedProperties ................................... 1144
Button...............................................................33
UserInterface ........................................................ 21
DeletedCAD...................................................343
Customizing ..................................................... 34
DeletedDimensions.........................................345
Navigating........................................................ 21
DeletedFeatures..............................................344
Restore ............................................................. 35
forBasic .........................................................429
UserLayouts,Deleting......................................... 504
Unicode ...............................................................429
UserDefinedGroups ........................................... 418
Uniform ...............................................................757
UsingtheFunctionLinetoPassVariables .......... 1411
Units....................................................................804
UsingtheGetVariableValueandSetVariableValue
Unmarkspecificlineswithinafeature...................377 ..................................................................... 1411
UnmarkingCommandsforExecution....................400 UsingToolbars .................................................... 477
Update ...............................................................1025 UVScanSettings................................................. 942
UpdateDatabaseNow ........................................1030 Values,Editing .................................................... 392
UpperForce .........................................................176 VariableArrays.................................................. 1371

VariableID ..........................................................998 VirtualKeyboardToolbar .................................... 496
VariableTechnique ..............................................934 VirtualKeyboardVariation
Variables..............................................................888 Accessing ....................................................... 461
VariableswithExpressions .................................1353 Creating.......................................................... 462
Variables.......................................................1361 Deleting.......................................................... 465
Variations ............................................................702 Modifying....................................................... 464
Vector Separators....................................................... 467
ArrowSize......................................................353 WaitandNoWait options .................................. 1408
Vector1CheckBox ..............................................953 Warnings ............................................................. 121
Vector1Row........................................................938 While/EndWhile ............................................... 989
Vector2CheckBox ..............................................953 CodeSample .................................................. 989
Vector2Row........................................................938 Widescreenmonitors........................................... 266
Vectors Widthbox............................................................ 585
Editing............................................................940 Wildcards ............................................................ 363
VerifyCAD.........................................................304 Window................................................................. 24
VersionEnhancements ............................................ 1 WindowLayoutsToolbar..................................... 503
View......................................................................23 WindowsExplorer,ViewingPartProgramsWithin. 45
ViewMenu ........................................................1467 WithAlignment ................................................... 808
ViewtobeinOpenGLMode ...............................339 WizardSourceCodeAvailable............................. 500
ViewWindow ....................................................1279 WizardsToolbar .................................................. 498
ViewingPartProgramFiles ....................................45 WorkingPlaneList .............................................. 483
ViewsList............................................................482 WristCalibration ......................................1458,1461
Viewset..............................................................1313 WristDevice
DefiningandSaving......................................1313 CalculateErrorMap...................................... 1458
Recalling.......................................................1313 CalibratetheUnit.......................................... 1456
Updating .......................................................1313 HometheUnit .............................................. 1459
VirtualKeyboard..................................................460 WristinaPartProgram...................................... 1460

WristInstallation................................................1455 Offset ............................................................. 361
WriteLock .........................................................1028 Pointboxes..................................................... 573
WritingaBlockofTexttoaFile.........................1334 Start/EndPointBoxes ................................... 582
WritingaCharactertoaFile ...............................1330 XYZIJKFiles ........................................................ 73
WritingaLinetoaFile.......................................1332 YEnd.................................................................. 184
XSegment ...........................................................185 YOrigin .............................................................. 184
XYZ YSegment........................................................... 185
ASCIIFile ....................................................1443 Yes /No ............................................................ 1306
Boxes..............................................................765 ZBufferDepth .................................................... 265
CenterBoxes...................................................582 ZMouse ................................................................... 9
Move ...................................................... 975,977

PC-DMIS 4.3 Reference Manual

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PC-DMIS 4.3 Reference Manual

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PCDMIS4.

OVERVIEW: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1

ORGANIZATIONOF MANUAL ................................................................................................................. 5

CAD LINKS .......................................................................................................................................... 9

USINGA MOUSEORMOTION CONTROLLER........................................................................................... 9

COMMANDLINE INSTALLATION .......................................................................................................... 19

CONNECTINGTO INTERNETSUPPORT ................................................................................................... 20

NAVIGATINGTHE USER INTERFACE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 23

THE SCREEN APPEARANCE .................................................................................................................. 23

PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents iii

THE MENU BAR .................................................................................................................................. 25

THE TOOLBAR AREA .......................................................................................................................... 27

THE GRAPHICS DISPLAYWINDOW ...................................................................................................... 27

THE STATUSBAR ............................................................................................................................... 28

DIALOGBOX DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................................. 29

CUSTOMIZINGTHE USER INTERFACE ................................................................................................... 36

iv Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

DOCKINGAND UNDOCKING USER INTERFACEELEMENTS ..................................................................... 45

USINGBASIC FILEOPTIONS: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 47

CREATING NEWPARTPROGRAMS ....................................................................................................... 47

OPENINGEXISTING PARTPROGRAMS .................................................................................................. 48

PERFORMINGFILE OPERATIONS .......................................................................................................... 52

SETTING PRINTER OPTIONS ................................................................................................................. 55

PRINTINGTHE GRAPHICSDISPLAY WINDOW........................................................................................ 55

PRINTINGTHE EDITWINDOW .............................................................................................................. 57

PRINTINGTHE INSPECTIONREPORT ..................................................................................................... 59

LAUNCHINGLEGACY APPLICATIONS ................................................................................................... 66

EXPORTING CAD DATAOR PROGRAM DATA ....................................................................................... 92

vi Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

ExportinganIGESFile ............................................................................................................... 101

ALTERINGTHE IMPORTED/ EXPORTED IMAGE DISPLAY ..................................................................... 106

AlteringtheDisplayofExportedCAD ......................................................................................... 109

SETTING IMPORTOPTIONS................................................................................................................ 111

EXECUTING PARTPROGRAMS ........................................................................................................... 112

Execute ....................................................................................................................................... 113

ExecuteFeature .......................................................................................................................... 113

ExecuteFrom .............................................................................................................................. 113

ExecuteFromCursor .................................................................................................................. 114

ExecuteFromStartPoints' .......................................................................................................... 114

AnyOrderExecution ................................................................................................................... 114

Jump ........................................................................................................................................... 117

ProgressBar ............................................................................................................................... 118

SETTING YOURPREFERENCES: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 121

SELECTINGPCDMIS SETUPOPTIONS .............................................................................................. 122

PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual TableOfContents vii

Machinearea .............................................................................................................................. 145

DefaultTolerances ...................................................................................................................... 153

MODIFYINGREPORTANDMOTION PARAMETERS ............................................................................... 164

ParameterSettings:RoTable(RotaryTable)tab .......................................................................... 174

ParameterSettings:Motiontab ................................................................................................... 176

ParameterSettings:Opt.Probe(OptionalProbe)tab .................................................................. 181

SETTING UPTHE EDITWINDOW ........................................................................................................ 193

DefiningEditWindowColors ...................................................................................................... 193

DefiningtheEditwindowLayout ................................................................................................. 196

SETTING UPTHEREADOUTWINDOW................................................................................................. 197

viii Table OfContents PCDMIS4.3ReferenceManual

FeatureArea ............................................................................................................................... 198

CoordinatesArea ........................................................................................................................ 199

Axis toDisplayArea.................................................................................................................... 200

TrackerArea ............................................................................................................................... 200

PromptHistoryArea ................................................................................................................... 203

AlwaysTrackFOVCenter ........................................................................................................... 203

SETTINGUPMULTIPLE ARMS ............................................................................................................ 203

DEFININGTHEROTARYTABLE .......................................................................................................... 203