Is their any way to do this?....

I've successfully created a tube that passes through a series of holes,
thanks to you guys. Now I would like to know if their is any way to put an
arc length constraint to the 3d sketch? I can manage to put a distance
constraint from the origin to the last point in the 3d sketch, but that just
allows me to parametrically change the length of the shortest distance
between the 2 points. I would like be able to parametrically change the arc
length of the resulting line created from the 3dsketch points. Is their any
way of doing thins in sw 2003?

 

It would be easier for people to understand your question and give you a
good answer if you could get your terminology straight. You talk about an
"arc length of a line created from 3D sketch points". It doesn't make any
sense. I'm guessing you have a 3D spline. You can measure the length of a
spline, but you can't constrain the length in SW2003.

matt

 

Yes, the 3d sketch command creates a 3d spline out of work points, and when
I select the resulting 3d spline with the measure tool it calls the value
"arc length", so that's what I used as a description for what I was looking
for in my last post. Can sw 2004 constrain "arc length" from a 3d spline?

 

No, SW2004 cannot constrain the length of a spline.

You could constrain the lengths of a bunch of individual lines and make a
fit spline, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're after.

 

Ok, thanks

 

I was thinking about an add-in or macro that would do this. The problem is
how (even in 2D) as a spline generally has a buch of degrees of freedom on
which you can act (position each control point, alter tangents, even add
control points...)
In other words, there is no single solution to your problem, so you must
define more clearly how you want the spline to be "constrained".
In the meantime, you might use our free Spliner addin which shows the length
of any curve you select while you edit it.
(http://www.dynabits.com/sw/free/spliner.htm)

 

Embassy Works used to be able to do this, in particular the nailboard
flattener could constrain a 2D spline's length. You could manipulate it
however you wanted, but the length would never exceed or fall short of the
set length.

This did not happen in the SW window, though, it had a separate window for
the nailboard. You could stretch it out tight or scrunch it up. EW
splines didn't seem to work like SW splines.

matt

 

It seems like what he wants to do is to simulate a pre-cut length of wire
(rope, tube, etc.). The overall length is fixed, but it can be bent or
shaped as needed as long as the total length does not change. Kind of the
opposite of the routing package where you determine the curve length based
on constraints (thru points). I think this would be a useful function.
Anyone want to submit an enhancement request?

 

Yeah, no doubt this would be useful. I've submitted it, and everybody else
who would like to see it should do the same.