Once you measure or construct your features, you can generate the inspection report. The first step in preparing a report is to calculate dimensions according to specific requirements. While this chapter covers PC-DMIS's legacy dimensions, understanding the information here may help you to create the newer Feature Control Frame (FCF) dimensions discussed in the "Using Geometric Tolerances" chapter.
You can calculate dimensions immediately after you complete a measurement or later in the measurement routine. PC-DMIS displays the result of each dimensioning operation in the Edit window.
See the "Editing a Measurement Routine” chapter for general information on how to modify the Edit window report.
PC-DMIS also allows you to specify nominal values, modify the output format, and/or print out the results of the calculations.
To change the nominal or tolerance values displayed in the Edit window, click on the value to be changed and type in a new one.
To show or hide nominals or tolerance fields in the Edit window, change the selected check boxes in the Dimension Output Format area of the Dimension tab in the Parameters dialog box (Edit | Preferences | Parameters). See the "Parameter Settings: Dimension tab" topic in the "Setting your Preferences" chapter.
To change the measured values of a feature (for example, to get the radius of a circle to print out), see the "Modifying Report and Motion Parameters" topic in the "Setting your Preferences" chapter.
To dimension a feature, select the Insert | Dimension submenu from the menu bar, or access the Dimension toolbar and then select the desired dimension. This chapter covers the legacy dimensions found in the Dimension submenu.
You can toggle between using the legacy dimensions and the newer Feature Control Frame dimensions by selecting the Insert | Dimension | Use Legacy Dimensions menu item.
The main topics in this chapter include: