Auto Feature Field Definitions

When you create an Auto Feature, PC-DMIS inserts the command for that feature into the Edit window. This topic documents the different fields that may appear in the Command mode of the Edit window for the different features.

Click on one of the hyper-linked features below to see a representation of its code in the Edit window. Click again on the hyper-linked text to hide the code. In the table below, locate the field or command line used in your Auto Feature to see what it does.

Vector Point | Surface Point | Edge Point | Angle Point | Corner Point | High Point | Line | Plane | Circle | Ellipse | Round Slot | Square Slot | Notch Slot | Cylinder | Cone | Sphere | Polygon

Fields or commands in this documentation that are marked with relate to Extended Fields .

ID
This field shows the feature's identification label. See "ID box".

FEAT/CONTACT
This command displays the type of probing and the Auto Feature type. See "Auto Feature Type list".

POLAR or CARTESIAN
This field switches between POLAR and CARTESIAN and displays the X, Y, Z, I, J, K values in the selected coordinate system. See "Polar / Cartesian Toggle".

TRIANGLE or OUTLINE
For a Plane feature, this field switches between TRIANGLE or OUTLINE. It determines how the plane gets displayed in the Graphic Display window. See "Display list".

Used only on these features - PLANE

IN or OUT
This field switches between IN and OUT. It determines whether or not the feature is an internal feature (such as a hole) or an external feature (such as a stud). See "Inner / Outer".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, ELLIPSE, ROUND SLOT, SQUARE SLOT, CYLINDER, CONE, SPHERE, POLYGON

LEAST_SQR
This field determines the calculation routine used to create the feature from the measured hits. It can toggle between LEAST_SQR, MIN_SEP, MAX_INSC, MIN_CIRCSC, and FIXED_RAD. See "Calculation list".

The Plane feature can toggle between LEAST_SQR and MIN_SEP only.

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, CYLINDER, PLANE, SPHERE

THEO/
This stands for "theoretical".

    TX, TY, TZ, TI, TJ, TK represent the theoretical (or nominal) hit location and vector.
    TLI, TLJ, TLK represent the theoretical line vector.
    TEI, TEJ, TEK represent the theoretical edge vector.
    TSI, TSJ, TSK represent the surface theoretical vector.
    TS2I,TS2J,TS2K represent the theoretical vector for the second surface.
    TLENGTH represents the feature's theoretical length.
    TDIAM represents the feature's theoretical diameter. For ellipses, this is the major diameter.
    TDIAM2 is an ellipse's minor diameter. TANG1 represents the feature's theoretical starting angle. TANG2 represents the feature's theoretical ending angle.
    TAI,TAJ,TAK represents the theoretical angle vector.
    TWIDTH and TLENGTH represent the theoretical width and length of the feature.
    TANGLE represents the feature's angle.

ACTL/
This stands for "actual".

    X, Y, Z, I, J, K represent the actual measured hit location and vector.
    SI, SJ, SK, represent the measured vector for the surface.
    LI, LJ, LK represent the measured line vector.
    EI, EJ, EK represent the measured edge vector.
    LENGTH represents the feature's measured length.
    DIAM represents the feature's measured diameter. ANG1 represents the feature's actual starting angle. ANG2 represents the feature's actual ending angle.
    AI, AJ, AK represents the measured angle vector.
    WIDTH and LENGTH represent the measured width and length of the feature.
    ANGLE represents the feature's angle.

TARG/
This stands for "target".

    The fields targX, targY, targZ, targI, targJ, targK allow you to control the measurement location and vector approach direction for execution while having the ability to have a completely different THEO value.

    The fields targAI, targAJ, targAK let you modify the target's angle IJK vector.

    MEAS/
    This stands for "measured".

    The fields X, Y, Z, I, J, K represent the actual measured hit location and vector.

    SI, SJ, SK represent the measured vector for the surface. S2I, S2J, S2K represent the measured vector for the second surface.

NUMSIDES
This editable value must be an integer of three or higher. It defines how many sides are in the polygon. See "Num Sides list".

Used only on these features - POLYGON

RADIUS
This editable value defines a radius for each corner in the polygon or square slot. When taking hits, PC-DMIS moves in along the side by that amount before taking hits. This helps to avoid taking hits directly in the corner. See "Corner Rad box".

Used only on these features - POLYGON, SQUARE SLOT

NUMSIDES

Used only on these features - POLYGON

RADIUS

START ANG
This field defines the feature's starting angle. See "Start and End Angles".

Used only on these features - ELLIPSE, CONE, CYLINDER

START ANG1
This field defines the feature's starting angle horizontally, around the equator of a sphere. See "Start and End Angles".

Used only on these features - SPHERE

START ANG2
This field defines the feature's starting angle vertically, around the poles of a sphere. See "Start and End Angles".

Used only on these features - SPHERE

END ANG
This field defines the feature's ending angle. See "Start and End Angles".

Used only on these features - ELLIPSE, CONE, CYLINDER

END ANG1
This field defines the feature's ending angle horizontally, around the equator of a sphere. See "Start and End Angles".

Used only on these features - SPHERE

END ANG2
This field defines the feature's ending angle vertically, around the poles of a sphere. See "Start and End Angles".

Used only on these features - SPHERE

MEAS ANGLE
This field defines an angle value determining how much of the arc making up the rounded edges of the Round Slot to measure. See "Meas Angle box".

Used only on these features - ROUND SLOT

INCREMENT
This field defines the increment distance away from the start point that the probe moves when following its search pattern. See "Increment box".

Used only on these features - HIGH POINT

TOL
This defines the tolerance value to use during the search process. See "Tolerance box".

Used only on these features - HIGH POINT

CIRCULAR or BOX
This field switches between CIRCULAR or BOX. It defines the search region. See "Box / Circular list".

Used only on these features - HIGH POINT

OUTER RADIUS
For a CIRCULAR search region, this field defines the search region's outer radius. See "Inner/Outer list".

Used only on these features - HIGH POINT

INNER RADIUS
For a CIRCULAR search region, this field defines the search region's inner radius. See "Inner/Outer list".

Used only on these features - HIGH POINT

WIDTH
For a BOX search region, this field defines the width of the rectangular search region. See "Width box".

Used only on these features - HIGH POINT

LENGTH
For a BOX search region, this field defines the length of the rectangular search region. See "Length box".

Used only on these features - HIGH POINT

BOUNDED or UNBOUNDED
This field appears for Line features. It determines the type of Line feature. It switches between BOUNDED and UNBOUNDED. See "Bounded list".

Used only on these features - LINE

EXTERIOR or INTERIOR
This field switches between EXTERIOR and INTERIOR; it describes the type of angle. See "Interior / Exterior list".

Used only on these features - ANGLE POINT, CORNER POINT

REPORT VEC -
This command indicates the vector used for reporting deviation. See "Extended Sheet Metal Options area".

Used only on these features - LINE, SURFACE POINT, VECTOR POINT

UPDATE VEC -
This command indicates the update vector that is used to pierce the CAD surface. See "Extended Sheet Metal Options area".

Used only on these features - VECTOR POINT

ANGLE VEC
This defines the angle vector for the feature. See "IJK Angle boxes".

REMEASURE
This field, if set to YES, re-measures the feature against the feature's measured values. See "Measure Now and Re-Measure Toggle".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, NOTCH SLOT, SQUARE SLOT, ROUND SLOT, CYLINDER, POLYGON

PUNCH -
This field indicates the direction of the punch through the sheet metal. It is an editable value. See "Extended Sheet Metal Options area".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, SQUARE SLOT, ROUND SLOT

PIN -
This field indicates the direction of the point through the hole formed by the punch. See "Extended Sheet Metal Options area".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, SQUARE SLOT, ROUND SLOT

REPORT -
This field indicates the vector used for reporting deviation. See "Extended Sheet Metal Options area".

Used only on these features - EDGE POINT

SURFACE_REPORT -
This field indicates the vector used for reporting deviation. See "Extended Sheet Metal Options area".

Used only on these features - EDGE POINT

MEASURE ORDER
This toggle field displays the order of measuring the sample hits. The available choices are SURFACE, EDGE, or BOTH. See "Measure Order list".

Used only on these features - EDGE POINT

SQUARE or RADIAL
For a Plane feature, this field switches between SQUARE and RADIAL. It defines the hit pattern for hits making up the feature. See "Pattern list".

Used only on these features - PLANE

SURFACE/, SURFACE2/, SURFACE3/
Any of these command lines switches between either THEO_THICKNESS, ACTL_THICKNESS, or THICKNESS_NONE. If the latter, then no thickness is used. Otherwise, this displays the thickness of the part for the positive or negative values can be used. See "Use Thickness".

EDGE/
For a Line feature, this command determines the edge thickness of the line. See "Use Thickness"

Used only on these features - LINE

MEASURE MODE
This command switches between these measuring modes: FINDNOMS, VECTOR, NOMINAL, MASTER, and SET NOM AX. See "Nominals Mode list".

RMEAS/
This command has three fields separated by commas. If you have a single RMEAS feature (relative feature), it occupies all three fields. If you have an RMEAS feature, one for each axis, they occupy the three fields left to right: X axis RMEAS feature, Y axis RMEAS feature, and Z axis RMEAS feature. See "Setting Up Relative Measure (RMEAS)".

The relative feature or features in this command must already exist in the measurement routine.

DIRECTION
This command defines the direction in which hits are taken. It switches between CCW (counterclockwise) and CW (clockwise). See "Direction List".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, CYLINDER

CIRCULAR MOVES/
This command has a single YES/NO toggle field. If set to yes, then PC-DMIS moves the probe in a circular motion. See "Circular Moves".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, ELLIPSE, ROUND SLOT, SQUARE SLOT, NOTCH SLOT, CYLINDER, CONE, SPHERE, POLYGON

AUTO WRIST/
This command has a single YES/NO toggle field. If set to YES, then during feature creation PC-DMIS automatically chooses the best probe angle to use for measuring the feature and inserts the appropriate TIP/ command before the feature. See "Auto Wrist".

CLEARPLANE/
This command has a single YES/NO toggle field. If set to YES, then during feature creation PC-DMIS automatically inserts a MOVE/CLEARPLANE command (relative to the current coordinate system and part origin) before the feature. See "Clearance Plane".

GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS/
This command has a YES/NO toggle field. If set to YES, then PC-DMIS displays a graphical analysis of the feature in the Graphic Display window. Three other fields become enabled. These three fields, from left to right, allow you to determine the Graphical Analysis Point Size, the Plus Tolerance, and the Minus Tolerance. See "Analysis area".

SCREEN CAPTURE/
This command by default contains a single CAD/LIVE toggle field. If set to CAD, then PC-DMIS takes and inserts screen captures of the current feature's graphical analysis into the Report window. Three additional fields become available when the first field is set to CAD.

From left to right, do the following:

    Field 2 - Determines what features get output. Those that are out of tolerance (OUTTOL) or all features (ALL).
    Field 3 - Determines the size of the screen shot: 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of the current screen view, or TO FIT to fit the active window.
    Field 4 - Determines the quality of the screen shot: LOW, MEDIUM, or GOOD. See "Analysis area".

FEATURE LOCATOR/
Initially, this command looks like this: FEATURE LOCATOR/NO,NO,"<text instructions>"

The left-most YES/NO toggle field indicates whether or not the Feature Locator tab displays a bitmap image. If you set this to YES, an additional field bounded by quotation marks becomes enabled, allowing you to type the full pathway to the bitmap image to display:

    FEATURE LOCATOR/YES,"<pathway to bitmap file>",NO,"<text instructions>"

The next YES/NO toggle field indicates whether or not the Feature Locator tab plays an audio file (.wav). If you set this to YES, an additional field bounded by quotation marks becomes enabled, allowing you to type the full pathway to the audio file to play:

    FEATURE LOCATOR/YES,"<pathway to bitmap file>",YES,"pathway to audio file","<text instructions>"

The final field, "<text instructions>", lets you display textual instructions in the Feature Locator tab. See "Feature Locator Tab" topic in the PC-DMIS Vision documentation.

SHOW_CONTACT_PARAMETERS
This YES/NO toggle field determines whether or not PC-DMIS displays additional contact parameters used with the auto feature in the Edit window. Setting this to YES displays the following fields if applicable to the auto feature: NUMHITS, NUMROWS, PITCH, DEPTH, STARTING DEPTH, ENDING DEPTH, SAMPLE HITS, SPACER, INDENT, AVOIDANCE MOVE, FIND HOLE, ON ERROR, READ POS.

SAMPLE METHOD
This toggle field determines whether surface sampling is done by using the hits from an existing feature or by sample hits.

See "Working with Contact Sample Hits Properties".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, CONE, CYLINDER, ELLIPSE, POLYGON, NOTCH, ROUND SLOT, SQUARE SLOT, SURFACE POINT, LINE

SAMPLE FEATURE
If the SAMPLE METHOD = SAMPLE_FEATURE, this field appears. It determines the feature to use for surface sampling.

See "Working with Contact Sample Hits Properties".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, CONE, CYLINDER, ELLIPSE, POLYGON, NOTCH, ROUND SLOT, SQUARE SLOT, SURFACE POINT, LINE

SAMPLE HITS
For features that support sample hits, this value defines the number of sample hits to take during feature measurement. Acceptable values depend on the type of feature. See "Working with Contact Sample Hits Properties"

Used only on these features - SURFACE POINT, EDGE POINT, ANGLE POINT, CIRCLE, ELLIPSE, ROUND SLOT, SQUARE SLOT, NOTCH SLOT, CYLINDER, CONE, POLYGON, LINE

SPACER
This field defines the distance from the nominal point location (or locations) that PC-DMIS uses to measure a sample plane if sample hits are specified. See "Working with Contact Sample Hits Properties"

Used only on these features - SURFACE POINT, EDGE POINT, ANGLE POINT, CORNER POINT, PLANE, CIRCLE, ELLIPSE, ROUND SLOT, SQUARE SLOT, NOTCH SLOT, CYLINDER, CONE, POLYGON, LINE

INDENT1, INDENT2, INDENT3
For all but LINE, this defines offset distance from the feature's point or center location to the first sample hit.

For the LINE feature, INDENT2 defines the offset distance from the line's end points to the sample hits for points two and three when three sample hits are used. INDENT1 defines the offset distance for point 1 when one or three sample hits are used.

See "Working with Contact Sample Hits Properties".

Used only on these features - EDGE POINT, ANGLE POINT, CORNER POINT, NOTCH SLOT, LINE

NUMHITS
This field determines the number of hits to take when measuring the feature. See "Working with Contact Path Properties".

Used only on these features - LINE, PLANE, CIRCLE, ELLIPSE, ROUND SLOT, CYLINDER, CONE, SPHERE, POLYGON

NUMROWS
This field determines how many rows of hits to use when measuring the feature. See "Working with Contact Path Properties".

Used only on these features - PLANE

NUMLEVELS
This field determines how many levels of hits to use when measuring features with multiple levels. See "Working with Contact Path Properties".

Used only on these features - CONE, CYLINDER

DEPTH
This field determines the offset distance either below a surface or up from the bottom of a feature where PC-DMIS measures the feature. See "Working with Contact Path Properties".

Used only on these features - EDGE POINT, LINE, CIRCLE, ELLIPSE, ROUND SLOT, SQUARE SLOT, NOTCH SLOT, POLYGON

STARTING DEPTH
This field defines the starting depth of the first level of hits for features with multiple levels. This depth is offset from the top of the feature. See "Working with Contact Path Properties".

Used only on these features - CONE, CYLINDER

ENDING DEPTH
This field defines the ending depth of the last level of hits for features with multiple levels. This depth is offset from the top of the feature. See "Working with Contact Path Properties".

Used only on these features - CONE, CYLINDER

PITCH
This field determines the distance between threads along the axis of the feature. See "Working with Contact Path Properties".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, CYLINDER

AVOIDANCE MOVE/
This command indicates when to apply an avoidance move and the amount to move. It contains two fields. The left field toggles between these options:

The right field (DISTANCE = n) lets you define a number value that determines the distance of the avoidance move. See "Working with Contact Auto Move Properties".

USE BOUNDARY OFFSET
This YES/NO toggle field appears if VOID DETECTION=YES and if the current Auto Feature is a plane. It determines whether or not a user-defined boundary offset distance is used for void detection. If this is set to YES, then the OFFSET field appears defining the minimum distance. If it is set to NO, then the OFFSET field is hidden, and the software uses a default distance of the radius of the current tip. See "Working with Contact Auto Move Properties".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, CYLINDER, ROUND SLOT, SQUARE SLOT, NOTCH SLOT, POLYGON

FIND HOLE
This toggle field determines the method PC-DMIS uses to find hole features. Available options include: DISABLED, CENTER, SINGLE HIT, or NOCENTER. See "Working with Contact Find Hole Properties".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, CYLINDER, POLYGON

ONERROR
This YES/NO field determines whether or not PC-DMIS uses improved error checking when it detects an unexpected or missed hit.

If set to YES and a machine error (such as an unexpected hit) occurs, then PC-DMIS displays the Read Position dialog box. You can then use your jog box to move the machine to the feature's location and attempt to re-measure it.

If set to NO, the usual "Movement Interrupted" message appears instead.

See "Working with Contact Find Hole Properties".

Used only on these features - ANGLE POINT, CIRCLE, EDGE POINT, CORNER POINT, ELLIPSE, ROUND SLOT, SQUARE SLOT, NOTCH SLOT, CYLINDER, CONE, POLYGON

READ POS
This YES/NO field determines whether or not PC-DMIS pauses execution above the surface feature displaying a message, asking if you want to use the current data. See "Working with Contact Find Hole Properties".

Used only on these features - CIRCLE, ELLIPSE, ROUND SLOT, SQUARE SLOT, NOTCH SLOT, CYLINDER, CONE, POLYGON

SHOWHITS
This YES/NO toggle field determines whether or not PC-DMIS displays all the hits making up the feature. If set to YES, then PC-DMIS displays a HIT/BASIC command line for each hit.

If you want to see the hits in the Graphic Display window, see "Show Hit Targets".

HIT/BASIC
This command line displays the theoretical XYZ, the theoretical IJK, and the measured XYZ values for the hit.