Name X

hello,
you can export comparison results using the "file > export" Menu. The "Comparison Results" Item creates a text file with point coordinates and error vectors. But it needs a selecton. I.e CTRL+A for all Data points (Hidden Reference!) or manually select a region.
t.

A volume can be calculated in IMEdit. Even though you will get results if the mesh is not watertight, you should close at least the the largest holes.

You could also use shared variable for that application. But besides not using external files, the solution is not so beautiful  ;)

@jrayself
theres no restriction to use shared variables in only one project.  And closing the WM will delete them also.


@PW User
There should be a way to find out IF there is a shared variable at all. "GET_EXISTING_NAMES" just throws an error if there are no names and, what's worse, creates entry with value "0" in the output, so that it's not possible to find out if there is just one shared variable or none using the SIZE command on the output array variable. 



Here's my suggestion:




version "4.0"

#Local variable to store the value
DECLARE localVar

#Variables to check for existing shared variables
DECLARE arraySize
DECLARE arrayOfNames ""


# stuff
DECLARE count 1
DECLARE input
DECLARE error "No Error"
DECLARE varExists 0


# Check if SharedVariable already exists
MACRO SHARED_VARIABLE GET_EXISTING_NAMES (arrayOfNames)
MACRO GET_ERROR_STATUS (error)

# create your variable if no variable exists
If $error == "Error"
    MACRO SHARED_VARIABLE CREATE("mySharedVariable",-10000.0)
ENDIF

set arraySize SIZE(arrayOfNames)

# or look for your variable among the existing ones ....
while $count <= $arraySize
    IF $arrayOfNames[$count] == "mySharedVariable"
        MACRO SHARED_VARIABLE GET_VALUE ("mySharedVariable",localVar)
        set varExists 1
    endif
    ++ count
ENDWHILE

# or create it if your variable does not exist yet
If $varExists == 0
    MACRO SHARED_VARIABLE CREATE("mySharedVariable",-10000.0)
ENDIF

#query the user
INPUT DOUBLE (input,"Title","Message",$localVar)

#rember the input for next macro run
set localVar $input
MACRO SHARED_VARIABLE SET_VALUE ("mySharedVariable",$localVar)

#do anything else with the variable
#....



just had to measure gd&t planarity on an offsetplane :(  the plane consists of three small segments which are parallel but in different heights. One single planarity value should be calculated.
the plane also would have been a datum plane.  any suggestions?

the Images -> Smooth Filter is quite agressive, at least i its standard settings ;)
better try a few times with different settings before using it and alway check the "Minmize data loss..." checkbox. Be aware there's no Undo for the filter...

Its actually the same filter as in the scan pass smoothing you can apply during the scanning process.
Personally, I only use the scan line filter  (SIM Filter) dureing scanning and do the rest of the filtering in IMEdit, or while merging.

hi, seems i did not express too clearly what i needed   ???
i was thinking about a single plane feature that consists of two (or more) sections which have offsets (or step) to each other, but are still regarded as *one* feature (like the offset cross-section).
Not an individual plane that can be created with an offset to another individual plane.
Needed quite frequently for GD&T applictions or plane - axis - centre point alignments.

generally, i see about four ways to get the boundary points:

- probing point clouds, as jrayself already mentioned. you might have to extract a single sided reference from you solid model though. boundary point probing can be done with a shank, which makes the probing process very convenient. also, IMInspect offers to "probe and compare" the points instantly.

- scanning boundary points depends a little bit on the material and might need some training but delivers a very neat pointcloud also without a reference.

- extracting  the boundary points from a surface scan. also requires a (single sided) reference. is very convenient if you scan the part anyway. be sure, to scan the edges of the part carefully.

- extracting internal boundary point. does not need a reference and is a good (brand - new) feature for ectracting features from a line scan. is not intended to work for the outside boundary of a part though, but depending on your part's shape this limitaion could be circumvented.

anyone ever needed a plane with an offset?
in sone parts, the plane used for alignment (plane - vector - center point), is not in one height, but in one or more parallel height levels. This can be accomplished by using RPS, but having a special plane feature would be neat.
Could as well be used for some GD&T applications.

additional features ;)

- three-dimensional versions of all planar features (slot - most important, rectangle/polygon, ellipse)
- torus

QuoteI can get around the error by selecting the "probe is larger than hole" option, but if the probe isn't larger than the hole, won't I be misrepresenting the center point?

You're right, the "large probe" option should only be used if the probe is really larger than the hole. But maybe this an option for you? since it does not seem to be possible for you to use smaller probes, you might consider using a slightly larger instead?

Hi, I'm not sure if I understood correctly, but many goals in PolyWorks can be achieved by converting objects from one type to another using the import - export functions.
So if your tracking produces a polyline, this can easily be converted in points by exporting it in a textfile and importing the same file as (feature-)points.
Selecting only the needed points might be another issue, though.

isn't it possible to use the "new" background pages to have multiple page layouts in a report?

A right-click on the cross-section object offers the item "2D View" in the view menu. It positions the cross-section just like in "One-by-One" View but still allows the display of any other objects. Also, full 3d rotation is possible so be carefull not to accidentally displace the cross-section.
Taking snapshots of these views helps to restore the 3D-Layout if necessary.

Agree, would be a nice feature and is sure easy to implement.

we used auto-match-data points to align a faro arm in a field of about 100 reference points by probing a few of these reference points.
This might be a bit off-topic but shows a nice features of the function: the amount of data points in the source object and the target object can differ significantly.