Problem with FeatureManager::FeatureCut function in API

Hi, this is my first post. I am very new to Solidworks, but I am an
experienced programmer. I've been developing a small add-in for
Solidworks 2005 SP3 with VB.NET, and I think I've found a deficiency in
the FeatureCut function.

When you do a cut-extrude from a sketch, you have the option of
changing where you are cutting "From"; the options in the pulldown menu
are Sketch Plane, Surface/Face/Plane, Vertex, and Offset. Using the
offset option you can create a feature cut that does not necessarily
intersect with your sketch plane.

The problem I have is that the FeatureCut function in the API doesn't
appear to support this part of Cut-extrude (or maybe it does and I
can't figure it out). Could anyone describe how I could accomplish
this same effect through the API? Perhaps the sketch plane could be
translated before calling FeatureCut, but I have no idea if this is
possible. I would greatly appreciate any advice.

 

SW does not always put all the GUI functionality into the API. If you
have searched through help, SW API support on their site, etc. you can
also send a request for help to SW through your VAR. They can clarify
this if nobody else here can.

Also, record a macro while doing this. If it can't reproduce it the
chances are high that the functionality is not there.

 

I think you are miss interpreting the operation. It offsets the
selected surface and that offset becomes the end condition for the cut.
It still intersects the sketch plane. You can do this through the api
using FeatureCut you have to supply the correct parameters though

Something like

Set Cut = FM.FeatureCut(True, False, False, swEndCondOffsetFromSurface,
swEndCondBlind, 0, 0, False, False, False, False, 0, 0, False, False,
True, False, False, False, True)

this also requires pre-selection and the selections must be made in the
correct order. I believe sketch then surface

Regards,

Corey

 

Another note: The FeatureCut method has a ton of parameters but
depending on the type of cut you are doing some of them don't actually
mean anything. I don't know why they don't make them optional It sure
would clean up the code a bit if you could specify the parameters you
need.

Corey

 

You probably can do this by incorporating the actual "Offset From"
entity as one of the user (pre?)selections before calling your code to
perform the cut, and then inserting that selection in the
correct/appropriate location as CS described.

Ken