Enhanced Features

[dsulli555357]

Now that version 9 is approaching, I thought I'd share a short list of things that SW includes and that I think would be great to have available in IronCAD. Forgive me if V9 (or earlier versions) already have any of these.

 

1) Depth of holes in 2D: SW has a button that is selected when a hole callout is needed. It even adds the total number of holes along with the hole depth.

 

2) When dragging a hole callout, the leader should not only move around the circle, but should also switch sides automatically.

 

3) Clicking on a dimension should result (instantly) in a drop-down window having commonly changed/added items available without having to click through tabs.

 

4) Radiused corner intersections should be selected without having to zoom in. SW does a good job with this. And speaking of zoom....

 

5) Zooming in with your cursor being at the center is immensely convenient - essentially no more panning. This applies to both 3D and 2D.

 

6) Standard clearance holes, drill sizes, and pipe taps - very handy.

 

7) Sketching lines while working in 3D: Bi-directional offset is handy.

 

8) 3D changes being reflected in 2D drawing: SW is very robust in this regard - very few disconnected dimension lines.

 

Well, that's all I have so far. All-in-all, IronCAD is still a far-superior program for getting things done quickly. Most SW users do not know what they are missing. The main goal with every program should be to eliminate clicks. In order to do this so that most users benefit, I believe many assumptions need to be made so that the most common selections are available with just one or two clicks.

 

This is why I think it is good for us to try other programs once in a while. Take their best ideas and incorporate them into IronCAD.

 

Best regards,

 

Dave

[Cary OConnor]

Thanks. All are good ER's if not available. It is just a matter of priorty for these and others that customers want/need.

 

BTW:

 

3) V9 has right-click quick access to common commands and styles.

4) Not Sure I understand. However, V9 has a selection filter on dimensions that should help in this.

5)Zoom to Cursor is in V8. Turn it on under tools/options/mouse.

8) Please send cases for this. This is the only way we can address this. We have some additonal areas to consider that SW does not like the Kernel collaboration that is going on that may change edge id's. Anyway we want to fix these as much as you do. We just need reproducible cases that we can see what is happening.

 

Cary

[dsulli555357]

Thanks. All are good ER's if not available. It is just a matter of priorty for these and others that customers want/need.

 

BTW:

 

3) V9 has right-click quick access to common commands and styles. That's great; I hope to try this someday. In SW, clicking on a dimension brings up an all-inclusive window that allows you to change/add tolerances, symbols (including note triangles - very handy), unit precision, display options - in other words, all this stuff is displayed in a column on the left side of the screen so that you don't have to click through tabbed windows.

4) Not Sure I understand. However, V9 has a selection filter on dimensions that should help in this. In SW, a selection filter is not normally needed. For me, dimensioning a side of a part view often requires that I select the intersection of, let's say, a vertical line endpoint and the corner radius. Still, a selection filter can only be a good thing.

5)Zoom to Cursor is in V8. Turn it on under tools/options/mouse. Ah, I didn't know this. This works well in 2D, but not in 3D. For some reason, the model zooms off in another direction. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.....

8) Please send cases for this. This is the only way we can address this. We have some additonal areas to consider that SW does not like the Kernel collaboration that is going on that may change edge id's. Anyway we want to fix these as much as you do. We just need reproducible cases that we can see what is happening. IronCAD has made great strides in this area, although SW is still a bit more robust. It takes a fairly big change to confuse it.

 

 

Cary

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Thanks for your quick reply, Cary. This is something that would never occur in a SW home forum!

 

Dave

 

[wgrein]

Good points Dave.

1. I never use the 'transfer thread callout to drawing' as I get a callout for every hole, when I just want 1 callout with (x6) after if there are 6 holes. If the holes are linked, then there should be only 1 callout on the drawing.

 

5. I know what you mean, but I think I know why. What it does on my system is move the point that the curser is at to the centre of the screen at the same time it zooms in. What you need to do is keep moving your curser to the point you want to zoom in on as you zoom in. You will quickly find that your curser is in the centre of the screen along with the part you are zooming in on.

 

 

Wayne

 

[Mike Allen]

I don't know if this is exactly what Dave is referring to in point 4, but it is sometimes quite difficult to place a dimension on a small-radius corner. You have to be zoomed in far enough so you can pick the curve between the endpoint & midpoint of the arc, or you can't place the dimension. I've also noticed this on very small holes.

[dsulli555357]

Good points Dave.

1.  I never use the 'transfer thread callout to drawing' as I get a callout for every hole, when I just want 1 callout with (x6) after if there are 6 holes.  If the holes are linked, then there should be only 1 callout on the drawing. Exactly

 

5.  I know what you mean, but I think I know why.  What it does on my system is move the point that the curser is at to the centre of the screen at the same time it zooms in.  What you need to do is keep moving your curser to the point you want to zoom in on as you zoom in.  You will quickly find that your curser is in the centre of the screen along with the part you are zooming in on. I will have to try that method out - thanks!

Wayne

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[dsulli555357]

I don't know if this is exactly what Dave is referring to in point 4, but it is sometimes quite difficult to place a dimension on a small-radius corner. You have to be zoomed in far enough so you can pick the curve between the endpoint & midpoint of the arc, or you can't place the dimension. I've also noticed this on very small holes.

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This is exactly what I'm talking about. In SW, this is not an issue.

 

Dave

[Guest mwalls]

Dave,

 

Yes, Wayne is correct in how the cursor zoom works. I myself do not like the way it works. I would rather it zoom to what is directly under the cursor and not try to center it to the screen. There are too many mouse moves and zooming that takes place now as the view and cursor location start to come together in the center of the screen. It certainly is better than nothing, but I would like to see it the other way. The spaceball solves all the zoom issues, but I still would like to be able get to the set views by assigning the buttons on the spaceball to them instead of having to use the icons. If I have missed how to do this I hope someone can enlighten me. Just my .02 worth.

 

Mike

[dsulli555357]

Mike,

 

This is why it's good to compare! I've also noticed that SW does NOT have any good way to allow you to choose the center of rotation. Supposedly, double-clicking on the desired spot on the model sets the center of rotation, but it just doesn't work well at all. Having the target command in IronCAD is a good thing.

 

Dave