Examine the Drawing
Take a few minutes now to look at the features of this drawing.
• Notice the part structure. The front face is the top part, while the back face is a sub-part named "slot-grid." Parametric Design only works on the current part, so our macro must be able to switch from part to part.
• Both parts of the drawing are already in the zone.
• Examine the initial constraints on the top part as shown in the figure: Intake Constraints.
a. Make the top part current. Type: EDIT_PART TOP [Enter]
b. Click the Show radio button in Generate Constraints, select User from the Act On list and All Types from the Type list, then click Apply.
The Dimension, Distance, and Symmline constraints ensure that all four intake ports retain their configuration in variations. The Refpoint constraints Pt1 and Pt2 were created only to provide information to our macro. This is explained later.
Figure 270. Intake Constraints
• Examine the constraints on the "slot_grid" part now. (Hint: make "slot_grid" the current part in order to examine it). Notice that the slot radius has been parameterized as "Newrad." How did we ensure that all three exhaust ports will remain the same size?
When you have finished looking at the constraints, make sure that top part is current and that your main window shows both parts.