"Descriptive" dimensions gone in V25?

[Toybuilder]

I sometimes would use a "descriptive" dimension like "30mm - 2.5mm" or "30mm + 1in" or "30 - 15" (for degrees) when dimensioning items. But it now seems like if I do that in dimensions, the calculated value is stored instead and replaces the equation form that I used? If a design is metric, I can't seem to enter and retain Imperial measurements, even in the equations table?

 

[HaroldL]

Did you see this in v24? As far as I know there were changes made to the EE in v24. Nothing was done in v25 that was posted in the updates.

 

[Toybuilder]

It was working in V24 because a design I had been working on only in the past month under V24 had some dimensions that were done that way, and when I moved to V25, it stopped working, at least on sketches and in the equation editor, although it seems to still work in the spacing box for the linear part/subassembly pattern dialog. This is after I've opened/closed the design and changed the value a few times:





In contrast, if I were to do something similar in, say, assembly constraints, when I type the formula and then tab out of the box, it will convert the value and store the converted value instead.
I type this in:

and it turns into this:

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Did you see this in v24? As far as I know there were changes made to the EE in v24. Nothing was done in v25 that was posted in the updates.

Version 25 - Alibre

www.alibre.com

Under enhancements and bug fixes:

Equation Editor
Various updates to the equation editor's UI functionality have been made.

 

[Toybuilder]

Personally, I feel like this is a regression, as you cannot enter mixed units entries. There are times when manufacturer data sheets that I work with have mixed units. Specifically, with electronics, lots of standards were initially established on US Imperial based units and while most of the dimensions may be metric, there are specific things like pin-to-pin spacings that have to be specified in inches or there are accumulated errors from rounding to metric.

gets forcibly converted to:

 

[idslk]

there are specific things like pin-to-pin spacings that have to be specified in inches or there are accumulated errors from rounding to metric.

from the API Help:

• Model Units
  These are the internal units used to represent the model, and are never made visible to the user. For new workspaces, these are centimeters.

it seems you will ever get "rounding errors"...

There are times when manufacturer data sheets that I work with have mixed units.

How do you create these data sheets? It is possible to use "Dual Dimensions" in sketches :



aswell in drawings:

Personally, I feel like this is a regression, as you cannot enter mixed units entries.

Regardless of whether I use it, I can't find any sensible reason for this restriction (apart from a marginal increase in speed because the values don't have to be recalculated with a refresh )

Regards
Stefan

 

[Toybuilder]

Oooh, it gets more interesting -- if you type an expression and click the accept button, the expression is stored. But if you then reopen the value and re-accept it, the evaluated value of the expression is stored instead. Video:

 

[DavidJ]

Mixed unit entries work OK in v25 for me.

 

[Toybuilder]

Interesting -- now that I tried it again, I find that mixed linear dimensions seems to be working. But pure imperial gets immediately converted to metric in the EE or on dimensions as I am typing this.

 

[Serenity]

Mixed dimensions in the equation editor seem to be displaying correctly. Entering imperial dimensions only when the model is set to metric will always convert to the metric value in the Equation Editor and other fields in the software. This is working as designed. If you need both Metric and Imperial in your 2D drawings, Dual Dimensions is the way to go.

 

[idslk]

Hello Toybuilder,

If you want to calculate eg. pin spacing in [inch] and pcb width in [mm] and your design is in [mm] you can use a "workaround" in the EE:



Regards
Stefan

 

[Toybuilder]

Are expressions getting reduced automatically intended? See video on comment #7 -- it won't reduce the expression the first time, but then will convert to a reduced value if the value is inspected and accepted the second time.

 

[HaroldL]

One thing to keep in mind is that IF you name your dimensions in the EE then you do not have to edit them in the sketch, which rolls back the model to that feature and sketch dimension. All you need to do is open the EE, edit and OK the named dimension and the model will update with the new dimension value without having to rebuild it manually.

 

[Toybuilder]

One thing to keep in mind is that IF you name your dimensions in the EE then you do not have to edit them in the sketch, which rolls back the model to that feature and sketch dimension. All you need to do is open the EE, edit and OK the named dimension and the model will update with the new dimension value without having to rebuild it manually.

Thank you. I keep re-discovering that I need to do that. I'm afraid I still haven't develop such good habits to do them automatically. I actually just did what you suggested a few times this morning as I'm adjusting some interactions! I'm good at my ECAD tools. Only about 5% as good in my MCAD tools!