I agree, not having the ability to publish patterns is a real limitation. To my way of thinking AAX can publish geometry but not "numbers" (or dimensions).
I read Ian's reply and I'm not sure if you end up with a pattern that is re-usable and associative between levels.
I can see the leader point/axis being shared but I can't tell if the pattern resides at both levels. If so, awesome! I will have to try his steps to better understand his process.
What I have found is that often it is desirable to share a pattern between multiple parts. For example you may have a bolt pattern of clearance holes in one part, and a corresponding
pattern of tapped holes in another part. From a top-down design perspective you want both parts to share the same position and layout. Ideally you should be able to alter that layout
in the top level skeleton and have both parts update accordingly.
The work-around we have developed is to publish geometry representing the pattern. I will say that 99% of our patterning is a 2D grid, so this example reflects that.
Assume we are talking about a 2 x 2 rectangular pattern of bolts. I first create a rectangle (sketched curve) in the top skeleton, with each corner of the rectangle representing one point
in the pattern. I include that rectangular chain along with a Csys in the PG feature. I create a CG feature in each part that needs the pattern, and bring in the PG feature.
In the part we use a mapkey that prompts you to select each side of the rectangle. An analysis feature is created for each side.
The mapkey then creates a leader point at the first vertex and patterns the points using dimensions from the analysis features.
This way you have functional patterns/ref patterns in each part, and they are all associative to changes made in the top level skeleton.
Of course this works perfectly for a 2 x 2 pattern. If there are more members to the pattern (i.e. 2 x 4 or something) you need to adjust the repetition values in each part.
I have not come up with a way to successfully pass "numbers"via PG. I suppose using a layout and declared parameters might work(?)
I will be the first to admit this seems like a lot of work, but once you have developed the mapkey it goes pretty quickly.
I feel it is worth it to maintain the benefits of both top-down design and patterning in my designs.
If PTC were to allow patterns to be included as associative PG features, that would be a beautiful thing!
-- Doug
In Reply to Brian Hawley:
Has anyone ever heard the rationale behind not being able to publish
patterns in AAX? This is crippling a couple of very useful features in
Pro/E. I have read the workarounds but would sure like some insight
into the "why" this powerful feature was orphaned in AAX.
Brian Hawley
Cad Systems Admin
