You can construct an ellipse by changing any given feature into an ellipse. PC-DMIS constructs the ellipse at the centroid of the input feature. If you use a sheet metal point, the major diameter is the probe diameter. For some sheet metal features (such as slots and notches), PC-DMIS uses the width as the major diameter. For features that do not have a width (lines, points, etc.), PC-DMIS uses a value that is four times the probe diameter. The minor diameter is the length of the input feature. For features that do not have a length (points, circles, etc.) PC-DMIS uses a default length of 1.
You can modify the major and minor diameters of the ellipse; this changes the ellipse from DEPENDENT to INDEPENDENT. This means that when you execute the ellipse, the major and minor diameters do not change based on the input feature but are independent of the input feature, while the position and vector remain dependent on the input feature. This allows you to have control over the diameters in cases where the input feature doesn’t really have a diameter, such as a point. The DEPENDENT/INDEPENDENT field is a toggle field you may change.
PC-DMIS uses these diameter values for all calculations instead of the default diameter values described above.
To construct a cast ellipse:
Open the Construct Ellipse dialog box (Insert | Feature | Constructed | Ellipse).
From the Method list, select the Cast option.
From the Feature list, select at least one features of any type.
Select the In or Out option. For details, see the "In / Out Ellipse" topic in this documentation.
If you want to change the feature theoretical values, select the Feature theoreticals check box and type in the values. For details, see the "Specifying Feature Theoreticals" topic in the PC-DMIS Core documentation.
Click the Create button.
The Edit window command line for this option would read:
CONSTR/ELLIPSE,CAST,feat_1,(DEPENDENT
| INDEPENDENT)