Using the ANNOTATION FEATURE Dialog Box
The ANNOTATION FEATURE dialog box contains two tabs, Definition and Properties.
In the Definition tabbed page, a button next to Orientation displays the name of the active annotation plane. You can click the button to change the annotation plane to be used for creating the next Annotation Element.
For each Annotation Element included in the Annotation feature, the elements list displays:
• Element Name—The name of the Annotation Element. When you create the element, Creo Parametric gives it a default name, such as AE NOTE0. You can type a different name. The name has to be unique within the model.
• Type—The type of the Annotation Element, such as Note, Symbol, and so on.
• Backup Refs—The attribute that defines whether the backup references of the Annotation Element are to be created. This column is visible only if you set the af_copy_references_flag configuration option to yes.
When you select a name of an Annotation Element in the elements list, it becomes active. You can manipulate its references, specify its parameters, edit the annotation item included in it, or remove it from the Annotation feature.
If you right-click on an Annotation Element name in the elements list, the shortcut menu contains the following commands:
• Edit—Redefines the properties of the annotation in the selected Annotation Element. Similar to the Edit command described below.
• Repeat—Creates a new Annotation Element of the same type and the corresponding UI of the selected Annotation Element type appears.
• Duplicate—Creates a new Annotation Element that is an exact copy of the selected Annotation Element.
• Parameters—Specifies the parameters of the selected Annotation Element. Similar to the Parameters command described below, but here you can select multiple elements. In this case, only parameters that are common to all the selected elements appear in the Parameters dialog box. If you add parameters, they are added to all selected elements.
• Current Orientation—Opens the ANNOTATION PLANE dialog box and allows you to redefine the current annotation orientation for the Annotation Element.
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The Current Orientation command is not available for non-graphical Annotation Elements.
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• Text Style—Modifies the text style of the underlying annotation. This command is not available for non-graphical elements.
• Remove—Removes the annotation from the Annotation feature. To convert the annotation element to a stand-alone annotation, make the Annotation Element non-graphical.
• Make Non-Graphical—Change the type of Annotation Element to Non-Graphical and make the underlying annotation independent.
Below the elements list is the References collector. It contains the names of the geometric references and the reference description associated with the active Annotation Element. The checkbox next to each reference name indicates whether the reference is Strong or Weak.
The Definition tabbed page also contains the following buttons:
• Add—Adds an Annotation Element to the Annotation feature. Once you add a new Annotation Element, it becomes active.
• Edit—Invokes the user interface that lets you redefine the properties of the annotation item included in the active Annotation Element. For example, if the Annotation Element type is Note, clicking the Edit button opens the Note dialog box, which lets you edit the note text, modify its placement, attachment, or location, add a hyperlink, and so on. If the Annotation Element type is Non-Graphical, clicking the Edit button opens the Edit Annotation dialog box, which contains the same options as the Add Annotation dialog box and lets you change the annotation type.
• Parameters—Lets you specify parameters of the active Annotation Element. Clicking this button opens the Parameters dialog box, which lists all the parameters currently associated with the Annotation Element, and lets you create additional parameters and manipulate existing ones.
• Remove—Removes the active Annotation Element from the Annotation feature.
• Columns—Invokes the Annotation Columns dialog box that allows you to select the columns of the Annotation Element list and the References list to be displayed. You can select the list that you want to customize from the Type list and move the names of the columns that you want to view in the list to the Displayed box. You can also specify the width of the displayed columns.
• References—Displays a list of Annotation Element references collectors. Click Annotation References, Surface Collector, and Chain Collector to expand or hide the respective collector. These collectors let you select additional references of the appropriate type to be associated with the active Annotation Element. Each of these references can also be designated as Strong or Weak.
◦ Clicking the Details button next to the Chains collector opens the Chain dialog box, which provides you with a variety of tools for defining chains of edges or curves.
◦ Clicking the Details button next to the Surfaces collector opens the Surface Sets dialog box, which provides you with a variety of tools for defining surface sets.
When references need to be addressed Creo Parametric displays the collector names in red.
If you right-click in any of the collectors, the shortcut menu contains the following commands:
• Single References Collector—Activates the References collector, which lets you select single geometric references of any type.
• Curve Collector—Activates the Chains collector, which lets you select chains of edges or curves.
• Surface Collector—Activates the Surfaces collector, which lets you select sets of surfaces.
The Properties tabbed page contains the feature name and an icon to access feature information.
At the bottom of the ANNOTATION FEATURE dialog box, there are two buttons:
• OK—Create the Annotation feature, or accept its new definition, and close the dialog box.
• Cancel—Cancel creation or redefinition of the Annotation feature and close the dialog box.