Annotations of all kinds can be collected together in a defined "group." Groups can contain annotations and also other groups. When you select annotations by group, and you select a group that contains subgroups, the selection includes all annotations of the parent group and all annotations of all the subgroups.
When working with the Inspection Module, you can use either fixed groups of annotations, or variable groups that have the Docuplane condition selected.
Fixed group
A group defined simply by selecting specific annotations. The contents of fixed groups remains fixed until you edit it. Fixed groups can contain any annotations belonging to any part or assembly whose owner is or is under the group owner.
There are two types of fixed groups:
• General group: A fixed group such that member annotations can belong to multiple general groups without restrictions. General groups can optionally belong to a parent group, but do not have to.
• Exclusive group: A fixed group that must be owned by a parent group. Each member annotation can belong to only one subgroup of the parent group; it is "exclusive" to that subgroup within the higher group. However, members can belong to multiple groups belonging to different parent groups.
Variable group
A group defined by applying conditions on the annotations that can be members of it. The conditions can be on a number of properties of the annotations , such as nominal dimension values, tolerance values, or whether they are free dimensions. A variable group's members are not fixed, but can change whenever the conditions are re-evaluated, which is done whenever you access the group. The evaluation criteria are stored with the group's owner. Variable groups can have a parent group.
All groups are visible in the browser under their owners and parent groups in the tree. Groups and subgroups must all have unique names within the tree under their common owning part or assembly.
To create a fixed group of annotations,
1. Click Insert and then, in the Group group, click New Fixed. The Fixed Anno Group dialog box opens.
2. Specify whether you want to create a General group (the default selection) or an Exclusive group.
3. Specify a Parent Grp - a group that will own the new group. This is mandatory for exclusive groups, but for general groups it is optional.
4. If necessary, specify a different Owner for the group, which can be a part, assembly, or container. If you have specified a parent group for the new group, the owner will be taken to be this group's owner, but you can change this to a lower-level owner under the parent group's owner.
5. If necessary, specify a different Name for the group other than the one selected automatically.
6. Optionally, you can add a Description to the group, which appears as a tool tip in the browser.
7. Click Selection, and click annotations or other groups to be members of the group. You can specify any annotations or groups under the specified parent group or owner. Use the Select tool to select multiple items. When creating exclusive groups, each annotation can belong to only one subgroup of the parent group. If you try to add an annotation to a second subgroup, Creo Elements/Direct Modeling issues a warning and forbids the action.
8. Click to complete the operation.
You can create an empty group, that is, not select any annotations or groups as members of the group. Later, you can add annotations using the Modify button.
To create a variable group of annotations,
1. Click Insert and then, in the Group group, click New Variable. The Variable Anno Group dialog box opens.
2. Optionally, you can specify a Parent Grp - a group that will own the new group.
3. If necessary, specify a different Owner for the group, which can be a part, assembly, or container. If you have specified a parent group for the new group, the owner will be taken to be this group's owner, but you can change this to a lower-level owner under the parent group's owner.
4. If necessary, specify a different Name for the group other than the one selected automatically.
5. Optionally, you can add a Description to the group, which appears as a tool tip in the browser.
6. Specify the conditions determining the member annotations of the new group, within the tree of its owner. Select a Parameter from the list, and then specify the conditions on the parameter as follows:
◦ Nom. Value: Specify maximal and/or minimal values on nominal dimension values. Dimensions having values satisfying these conditions will be members of the group.
◦ Tolerance: Specify the maximal and/or minimal upper and/or lower limits on tolerance values. Dimensions having tolerances within these limits will be members of the group.
◦ Text: Enter text to compare with annotations. You can include wildcards (? and *) in the text string. Any annotations - including generic text, 3D Notes, and dimension fix text - containing the string will be members of the group.
◦ Fix Text: Enter text in one or more of the fields to be compared with dimension fix text. Again, wildcards can be used, and any dimensions containing fix text matching the entered string will be members of the group.
◦ Free Annos: All free annotations within the owner tree of the new group will be members of it.
◦ Docuplane: Select a docuplane to add to the group the annotations that belong to this docuplane.
7. Click to complete the operation.
You can change the conditions on variable groups at any time using the Modify button.
New Fixed. The Fixed Anno Group dialog box opens.
to complete the operation.
Modify button.
New Variable. The Variable Anno Group dialog box opens.