About Dependent Copies of Annotations
Annotation Elements in an Annotation Element propagate feature are dependent on the original Annotation Feature. An Annotation Element propagate feature is created when Annotation Elements are propagated with features such as surface offset, surface copy, or surface mirror within the same model automatically or using
.
In these propagated Annotation Elements, the position of the annotation in the graphics window is independent of the original. All other properties are dependent on the original. However, after you convert an Annotation Element propagate feature to an Annotation Feature, the propagated Annotation Elements in the new Annotation Feature become detail dependent.
Copies of Annotation Elements created by the following methods too are detail dependent on the original.
• Annotation features that are copied using the Partially dependent - Dimensions and AE Details only option in the Paste Special dialog box that opens when you click Edit > Copy.
• Annotation features that are copied using the Copy > Dependent command on the FEAT menu that appears when you click Edit > Feature Operations.
In a detail dependent copy, the Annotation Element references and the position of the annotation in the graphics window are independent of the original. All other properties, such as note text, surface finish values, tolerance values of driven dimensions, tolerance values for geometric tolerances, text style, color and parameters are dependent.
If you make changes in the original Annotation Element, these changes are carried over to the dependent copy of the Annotation Element upon regeneration.
Note the following points about dependent copies.
• In the dependent copy, the position of the annotation in the graphics window is independent of the original. All other properties are dependent.
• Text properties of a dependent copy are dependent on the text properties of the original Annotation Element. However, when you attach an Annotation Element to an entity such as a dimension or another GTOL, the text properties of the Annotation Element become the same as that of the entity that the Annotation Element is attached to.
• You cannot modify the parameters created by the original Annotation Element in the dependent copy. However, you can add new parameters with full access to the dependent Annotation Element.
• You cannot modify the dependent properties of copies using tools such as family tables or variable items in UDFs, flexible components, and inheritance features. These tools allow you to specify a variation for the dependent properties. However, on regeneration, Creo Parametric gives a warning that invalid variations have been specified and that these dependent Annotation Elements will remain unchanged.
• If you change the type of the original geometric tolerance, for example, from Straightness to Flatness, the dependency of the copy is removed automatically.
The dependency between Annotation Elements is sequential. For example, consider three Annotation Elements, A, B, andC. B is dependent on A andCis dependent on B. If you change the color of A, then the color of B changes automatically and subsequently the color ofCalso changes automatically. If you make B independent,Cis still dependent on B and any changes to the properties of B are reflected inC.
You can restore or remove the dependency of Annotation Elements.
You can view the parent-child information of Annotation Elements by clicking Info > Parent/Child on the shortcut menu that appears when you select an Annotation feature or Annotation Element in the Model Tree or the graphics window and right-click. Alternatively, you can view parent-child information by clicking Info > Global Reference Viewer on the menu bar.
Copies of Annotation Features that you create by clicking the Fully dependent with options to vary option and the Dependent copy check box in the Paste Special dialog box that opens when you click Edit > Copyare fully dependent copies. However, in such copied features you can change the copy status of annotations, Annotation Element references and other properties using the Varied Items dialog box that opens when you click Copied feature > Varied items on the shortcut menu. The properties that you can change are annotation values for surface finish and geometric tolerances, visibility status for note, text style, color, and parameters.