v23 - Request Thread

[cadtec]

According to the annoyance report we have the following three top annoyances, which we hear again and again on the hotline:

1.) Reconnect lost dimension.

2.) Away from exponential notation in Physical Properties.

3.) New sketch in a assembly -> Snap directly onto 3D-Edges/Vertices without having to project beforehand.

Nothing complicated, but very important according to Max's guidelines, to mention only the annoying top 3 things.

 

[HWF]

1. Include actual mechanical constraints so that they can be used in a way that would allow mechanical simulations, cams and eccentric gears should be possible as well as other types of mechanical constraints springs.

2. Not being able to re-align a part to the coordinate system is a real pain. Having to do it in CAM or importing the model as a boolean is a real kludge.

3. Having to use another software package to convert STL to solids so that they can be edited in Alibre is very disappointing.

 

[IMAhobbyist]

Atom3D

Alibre

• IMAhobbyist
• Oct 21, 2020

1) Sketch arc options as shown
2) Option to select between old and new sketch cursor
3) Functional threads tool

 

[oldfox]

1. When editing an assembly, I don't want to be bothered with specifying the "path" every time. Enable both "Save" and "Save as".
<admin> - I'm not sure I understand what you mean? Can you be more explicit?

************************** EDIT ******************************
When working on an assembly, for example, constraints, I work in stages. When I'm
finished with one group I want to save it. "SAVE" is grayed out and "SAVE AS " is the
only option. Why can't "SAVE" be enabled so I can just save. Alibre know where it
came from so I shouldn't have to go the "SAVE AS" route and have to choose the file
path again.
11/16/20 @ 1605 CST

2. Allow optionally enabling or disabling the feature toolbar that pops up when editing a sketch, right over where I want to work.
<admin> - Does System Options > All Workspaces > Sketching > Show Sketching Inplace Editing Menu do what you need?

****** It looks like it might. I'll have to watch it for a while. I'll keep you updated.******
11/6/20 @1137 CST

****** No. It is still happening but not as frequent. A lot less annoying now. Still
can't put my finger on the exact sequence of events that cause it.
11/12/20 @ 0403 CST

3. If the frequent need to save is not necessary for operation of the software, then make it an option to be enabled or disabled by user.
<admin> System Options > Recovery provides a way to customize autosave. Is that sufficient?

****** I don't see this being the same now. I guess it was a V21 vs V22 thing. ******
11/6/20 @ 1200 CST

 

[beastro]

1. Callout (Mouse hoover) for applied sketch constraints to know exactly what is constrained, as automatic constraining sometimes creates a mess.
<admin> - currently when you hover over a constraint symbol in 2D, the affected items highlight. Is that insufficient?
Thanks for the hint, I was not aware of that feature and just checked it out. I also noticed that this only works for sketches created with V22+. That feature is not backward compatible.
However, possible actions like deleting to be performed on constraints are a bit ambiguous, as right clicking does not offer any information on whether the right click is being applied to the constraint or not. Also, at least in pre V22, sometimes automatic constraints don't carry a symbol or the symbol is hidden. In short, I feel that once the constraint is applied there is no intuitive way of going back to be able to select it and for example delete it.
2. Ability to constrain spline based faces in assembly. In particular tangent constrain
3. More sketch constraints: Centre of poligons for example etc., Add the option to assign offsets to Sketch constraints (Offset from Tangent, Offset from coincident, offset from colinear for a true one click parallel constraint). Another addendum: EQUIDISTANT CONSTRAINT which would be the inverse of symmetric constraint. The ability to centre a line symmetrically between to sketch figures.

EDITED 26/10/2020

 

[Ernie512]

1. Update projected reference lines when the face they represent is changed.
<admin> - if you project with "maintain association to source", the projected items will update. It sounds like you want fundamental geometry changes - i.e. you project a circle but change it later to a rectangle - you want the projected circle to update to become a rectangle?
2. The sketch tool "Arc to Start, end, radius" has a name so long it has to compress my sketch tools and all the labels are hidden. Change it (or just the name) so it doesn't do that and instead does what it does when changing the rectangle or spline pulldown, or even to tangent arc
3. (Probably not V23) Give us actively supported, integrated PDM since my company is beginning to transition to solidworks for better quality management through their PDM.

 

[albie0803]

1. Be able to add certain scripts (protected maybe) to the script ribbon for one click operation.
2. Add dimensions to the popup menu when a view is selected on a drawing.

3. When adding a plane tangent to a circular edge, add it above the key plane instead of below it, so that the new plane's normal(arrow) is facing out rather than in. Currently, when adding a sketch to the new plane you end up looking through the part rather than at the part and things like holes have to be reversed.

4. Go through every number input field and remove the space that's there.

May be edited in the future. - EDITED

 

[Eddy So]

1. A Standard Parts Library (such as "http://partlibrary.alibre.com/index.php") should be included in the Dynamic Design Library.
2. A View Cube Menu (a menu with more functions concerning view control or management) can be activated by a RMB click.
3. Tracing Images can be toggle on or off during sketching.

 

[5130wes]

1. Improve 'Undo' in '2D Sketch'. It doesn't always undo correctly and sometimes not at all.
2. Add 'Offset through point' as well as 'At distance' in 2D Sketch.
3. Allow user to draw a line tangent to to a circle to another point, in 2D Sketch

 

[domcm]

1) View > Rotate sensitivity is too high on high-DPI displays. Small movements of mouse create large rotations; the higher the display DPI the worse the problem. Please either scale rotation sensitivity based on display resolution or add sensitivity slider in settings menu so that sensitivity can be adjusted by the user.




2) Add right click option to remove selected thumbnails from the home window.




3) Allow snapping threshold feature to work for dimension creation (part/assembly and drawing modes).

 

[slipstick]

1. Add more section breaks, for round tube and shaft especially.

2. From within an assy or drawing, clicking the round Alibre thing in the upper left to add a new drawing makes me slow down to be sure I can get the flyout. Making that bigger would be good.

3. When adding a part to an assy, I want to be able to select the plane or orientation the part is placed on when first adding the part. I know adding constraints gets me there, but sometimes the first constraint swings the part around 180 and then I have to futz with it to get it lined up.

 

[dlaery]

In assembly mode, need to have create new part in a new window.

In constraint mode I really miss the option "MATE"
it just wears me out now to do constraints. i have to study the icons to know what they mean
I don't like the nuclear glow on the selected items.

 

[a123qwertz567]

1. Visual Configurations. I would like to have different sets of "visibility configurations". One would create such a configuration and set the visibility of each component in such a set. So it is easy switch large amounts of components visible or invisble, i.e. to show different solutions/variations in an assembly.
2. Cosmetic Groups. Drag and Drop to Group object together. Useful to sort imported parts which have no sub-assemblies. But there is the danger people begin using this to create quick-and-dirty-assemblies....
3. Auto reset 3D-Measurementtool in "Pair mode". First step, I select two faces to measaure the distance. Second step, I want to measure an other set of faces. I now have to manually delete the faces from step one in the selection box. This is annoying to me. It would be nice if it resets the selection when clicking the 3rd face after step one.

 

[Gbcm]

Auto-add Bend details in flat pattern projection:
When create the detailed drawing of a design with the projection as flat pattern, is it possible to add an automatic text description of the bend details, above the bend centerlines?
the automatic text is simply something like "UP 90° R1" (bend direction, bend angle, bend radius) showed in the drawing.

it is easier for the operator to read the drawing and not to make a wrong bend

something like this:

Immagine

• Gbcm
• Nov 3, 2020

 

[Lew_Merrick]

Auto-add Bend details in flat pattern projection:

Actually if we could eliminate the "Lockheed K Factor" and just use the "Neutral Axis Calculation" and the "IML Bend Radius" the resulting Flat Patterns would be more accurate (and allow for differing "IML Bend Radius" values within a design). Providing "CL Bend" positions would just frost the cake. -- Lew

 

[jack_]

2D
There should be some background for dimensions when they are placed in the middle of cross-section.
Sometimes it's necessary to do that.


2D
Surface finish symbol should be scalable - on small elements it looks huge
Also the angle field should have helpers, buttons - the same that are there when you put a text in 3D

 

[Gbcm]

a little Bug in v22:
in design explorer the material is not showed correctly, the material showed is the material of the current part for all the parts.
If you edit a part, the others part material will be the edited one (it's only showed in the design explorer, the true part properties don't change).
Is it possible to fix it in the next v23?




[NOTE from Alibre - QA has been made aware of this post. The issue has been logged ]

 

[simonb65]

a little Bug in v22:
in design explorer the material is not showed correctly, the material showed is the material of the current part for all the parts.
If you edit a part, the others part material will be the edited one (it's only showed in the design explorer, the true part properties don't change).
Is it possible to fix it in the next v23?

Raise a support ticket, otherwise it may go unresolved!

 

[czz2]

if possible:
1. Expanded export options in draft:
Now I need to click on pdf then on dxf(dwg) - I would like to have setup in which I can choose file formats and where they will be saved. Now pdf is is saved in the same catalogue as alibre file, but for dxf I need to change the directory. I would like to have choice where the file is saved and after the config is finished I just put 1 button to save
2. I cant put unbent sheetmetal part in assembly I use it for preparing draft for my cnc machine
3. For big assemblies I would like to have simplify option
4. Sometimes there is a import problem for STEP - no surfaces shown
5. I can't use the alibre as defult soft for DWG, DXF opening soft
6. No scale options in sketch.

 

[markporter]

Please bear in mind that this is based on V21:
1. Equation Editor and equation entry widget poor usability - missing information (type, comment) and functionality in table; no "intellisense" in creating equations; copy/paste an equation to create a new equation also pastes the name and value from the buffer, resulting in tiresome editing; no indication which values are common across configurations and which are not; etc. etc. I admit that this is more than one gripe, but in my view the functionality encompassing equations, parameters and configurations needs review and improvement.
2. Sketches sometimes collapse when adjusting constraints. "Undo" does not always take the sketch back to the previous state.
3. No ability to save custom sheet sizes for drawings; i.e. add them to the drop down list. They need to be set every time I create a drawing to suit a laser bed or CNC machine bed.