composite curve

It is quite frustrating
I created composite curves from 2 tangent curves in 2001
many times.
They tell you in wildfire to use the copy surface/curve tool.
No problem with surfaces, but with curves I am able to pick only one
of them and it creates a composite curve of one curve only.
When I am trying to pick the second the copy icon disappears.
there must be a simple way.
Do I have to set something in config.pro to be able to do that.
Appreciate any help.
Harry

 

Harry,you can still create composite curves in Pro/e Wildfire. Select a curve
segment. Use the copy surface/curve tool as you were doing. The intial segment
will be highlighted in red with handles, the arrow, all that good stuff. Now, the
trick is selecting the other curve segments. I thought that the control key was
the collector. But, in this case, it is the shift key. Hold it down and click on
the other segments you want to add to the composite curve.

David Janes

: It is quite frustrating
: I created composite curves from 2 tangent curves in 2001
: many times.
: They tell you in wildfire to use the copy surface/curve tool.
: No problem with surfaces, but with curves I am able to pick only one
: of them and it creates a composite curve of one curve only.
: When I am trying to pick the second the copy icon disappears.
: there must be a simple way.
: Do I have to set something in config.pro to be able to do that.
: Appreciate any help.
: Harry

 

Yes I tried it.
You can hold the shift and can pick the second curve till hell freezes over
and it won't pick it.
For some reason known only to PTC you have to hold the shift and
pick the first curve A-G-A-I-N and then you can pick the second curve.
Harry

 

: (Harry Wulf) wrote in message
: > It is quite frustrating
: > I created composite curves from 2 tangent curves in 2001
: > many times.
: > They tell you in wildfire to use the copy surface/curve tool.
: > No problem with surfaces, but with curves I am able to pick only one
: > of them and it creates a composite curve of one curve only.
: > When I am trying to pick the second the copy icon disappears.
: > there must be a simple way.
: > Do I have to set something in config.pro to be able to do that.
: > Appreciate any help.
: > Harry
:
: Yes I tried it.
: You can hold the shift and can pick the second curve till hell freezes over
: and it won't pick it.
: For some reason known only to PTC you have to hold the shift and
: pick the first curve A-G-A-I-N and then you can pick the second curve.
: Harry

Did you try the control key to pick the second one? The thing that seemed strange
to me was using the shift key at all. It isn't the usual accumulator key, unless
you have a chain and want to pick the first, last and everything in between.
Control key, as accumulator, is usually for just two or randomly selecting
individual entities. Or maybe this is just a bug. Talk to PTC about it?

Good luck,
David Janes

 

: Just thought I'd add (newbie observations)

One of the cool things about new revs is that, it doesn't matter how long you've
used the software, you get bumped out of the safe and familiar, into unknown
territory. We all become newbies again. It can be quite disconcerting, IMO,
depending on how much you valued your safe and familiar ground, the one where you
were confident, competent and had most of the answers. It's hard to leave that but
I'm enjoying the progress the software is making.

: If the mouse is positioned to cause the one-by-one to highlight (preselect ON,
: color turns from red to cyan on my system); (1) <SHIFT> the highlight changes,
: (2) <PICK> you "lock in" one-by-one mode and can (holding <SHIFT>) add or
: remove curve segments.
:
You're right about the selection process being key to everything in those
functions that have gone object/action.

: If the original one-by-one isn't highlighted when <SHIFT> is pressed it dumps
: you out of one-by-one mode and into one of the "loop" modes which can be
: cycled through with rmb.
:
Here's the only way I could get a composite curve created with 'Edit>Copy':
1) Preselect (highlights cyan), then select (highlights red) one curve segment.
(More than one selected and 'Copy' stays greyed out.)
2) Pick menus 'Edit>Copy', selected segment shows thick red with t=0, chain, t=0
on arrows.
3) With shift key held down, pick next segment. End point (t=0) jumps to end of
second segment.
4) Continue until all segments picked. End point of approximate composite curve
keeps jumping to end of new segment.
5) Click the green check to finish.

If there's another way to do this, I'd like to know.

: According to Help > Fundamentals > Working with the Model > Selection >
: ...Chains.... you can initiate another one-by-one by pressing <CTRL> and
: picking an edge. I couldn't get this to work, but maybe it's only available
: while some other function (other than copy) is active (?).
:
This may only apply to surface/solid edge chains, not curve chains.

David Janes

 

The only thing I'm sure about with the new selection process is this:

a) you could use a whole damn course on it.

b) it seems to vary from one function to another (accumulator keys, order, cycling
through selections) so it doesn't work the same when making a composite curve and
an edge chain of surface edges or when selecting boundary curves of a surface by
boundary.

c) prehighlighting is key: if it will prehighlight, you can select it, whatever
key you are using for an accumulator. In other words, you need an accumulator
because there's more than one segment to select; you press the ctrl key, but it
doesn't prehighlight ~ well, then, that's not the accumulator key. Try another
one.

David Janes

 

<Snip>

You said that right! Overall, I really do like Wildfire much, much better
now that I've used it more. But I have to admit that the selection process
has taken some 'getting used to'.

S.T.