Improvements to Onshape - September 14th, 2021

PeteYodis

@CBowers I have created a ticket for you on this.  I'll ask for a Onshape Support share on that document.  

Theo_R

A nice list of improvements. Folders, Re-release, Project Filters, Ruled Surface - we also need cosmetic threads in drawings. Thanks for the tips @john_mcclary

doug_curtis

The Folders capability is awesome.  Can this easily be extended to include this feature to the Mate Features list ?  It would be wonderful to be able to group mates as well.

Eleanor_Coffin

CBowers said:

I've never seen centermarks look like this. Should there not always be a cross in the middle and the line font should be the same as centerline? 

Mine appears like that too, but changes depending on how closely I zoom in. It appears that the centermark itself (not the extension lines) is made up of dotted lines, too.

eric_pesty

guy_rogel said:

255 users have been asking for over 2 years to have the option to draw external threads so they can make a simple screw drawing which is still not possible in OS, and you are dealing with the center marks colors.....I think somthing is wrong with your priorities 

Have you tried the thread creator feature?
I used it to create 1.5NPSM thread on a 3D print proto and came out great...
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/6b640a407d78066bd5e41c7a/v/845d049782179b9faee8b6e6/e/f8aea9e5c33e02eab0854a4f

nick_papageorge_dayjob

I don't know about that priorities list. I'd kind of guess people will simply up-vote any and every idea. Screw threads on a drawing or in a 3D model in particular is a weird one to me to be #2. I've designed a few custom screws for mass production, and didn't even draw the threads on the 3D or 2D. Just a note on what they should be. I know there are some people that might need them, but for enough engineers to vote on that to make it #2 in a list of requested improvements? I'm not buying that.

danny_payne

These are great updates. Really like the center mark in drawings. I appreciate all the drawing improvements as that is my largest area of headaches.

guy_rogel

john_mcclary said:

guy_rogel said:

255 users have been asking for over 2 years to have the option to draw external threads so they can make a simple screw drawing which is still not
possible in OS, and you are dealing with the center marks colors.....I think somthing is wrong with your priorities 

You can't say it isn't possible to make screw drawings

but I agree, it would be nice to have built in external cosmetic threads.
Until then, here are 4 options for you:

from fastest to slowest:
- split face where threads would be
- create a single helix to represent thread
- use the featurescript Cosmetic Thread to create a double helix Cosmetic Thread - Public | Cosmetic Thread (onshape.com)
- use the featurescript Create Thread to create a full 3D model of the thread PP_ThreadCreator Beta | threadcreator.fs (onshape.com)

Thanks John. Yse I know how to work around this, but still.. this is not a "special feature" if you have female thread as a feture surly a male should be possible as well

Jolly

FOLDERS!!!  Sweeeet.

mogplus8

As a long time aeromodeller I can tell you that the prop on your drawing is backwards. A model engine rotates anti-clockwise as you look at it from the front, i.e. at the crankshaft. Your prop would be a pusher, but the curvature is the wrong way around for that. ;-)

john_allen289

Great improvements and keep them coming. Seen the comments about priority and rollout. I've never had a better experience with a CAD software provider continually seeking user & community feedback to try and keep getting better. Try putting an improvement request in with SolidWorks, then try and avoid paying to actually get it without 'upgrading', and you'll remind yourself what the near past was like.  Onshape's approach to improvements is industry leading.

john_mcclary

john_allen289 said:

Great improvements and keep them coming. Seen the comments about priority and rollout. I've never had a better experience with a CAD software provider continually seeking user & community feedback to try and keep getting better. Try putting an improvement request in with SolidWorks, then try and avoid paying to actually get it without 'upgrading', and you'll remind yourself what the near past was like.  Onshape's approach to improvements is industry leading.

Well said

CGCAD_Engineer1

 

I have a horrible model which is going to be sooooo much nicer with Ruled Surfaces! yesssss This will keep me happy till the update in which the Rho dimension on conics does no longer appear in the way of the cursor

Eric_Wong

Assembly folders, finally! Great update  

john_mcclary

Words can't describe how happy I am with the new replicate feature, especially now that it can handle slots!

perhaps a few seconds of video showing the (parametric) mating of 150 fasteners will demonstrate my joy...

Jolly

john_mcclary said:

Words can't describe how happy I am with the new replicate feature, especially now that it can handle slots!

perhaps a few seconds of video showing the (parametric) mating of 150 fasteners will demonstrate my joy...

Nice! That certainly illustrates your joy. :-D

Misael

The new folders option is great, but when you want to see one part inside the folder and use the option "hide others" for it, it hides everything including the part you wanted to leave in show. Maybe it's meant to be that way, but it's not obvious for me that you lose this option.

steven_elliott555

lougallo said:

steven_elliott555 said:

guy_rogel said:

255 users have been asking for over 2 years to have the option to draw external threads so they can make a simple screw drawing which is still not possible in OS, and you are dealing with the center marks colors.....I think somthing is wrong with your priorities 

@guy_rogel has a good point.  The improvement request forum page was created to allow users to voice opportunities for improvement and allow others to vote them up.  Many of the top 10 open items have been on this page for 2+ years (see attached image)
 


My organization has been asking for 3+ years on more sheet metal features and since then we have gotten hems & flipping the flat pattern.  3yrs of our patience is starting to running out.

Is the improvement request forum still considered the best place for users to upvote ideas?

When we built the forum and the improvement requests area, it was to add another vector of input to our teams. We have requests that come in this public forum as well as from all users directly to our support team.  In addition to this list, which is automated into our bug tracker and support tools, we talk to customers, partners, educators and internal teams for improvements and bug fixes we have to get on the plan as well. It is our goal to ensure we can hear from all angles what is a priority.

I completely understand looking at the improvements every 3 weeks and wondering when your most important improvements will come. I've been there.. .many of us here have.  I hope you believe that we are hard at work each release to try to get as many productive new features delivered in addition to growing the platform, stability and performance each release.  

I don't doubt there are many hard working groups at PTC improving Onshape.  I review each new update release and get to read many enthusiastic users comments who needed those particular updates.

As you know @lougallo - our organization is all about sheet metal and processing sheet metal.  For 3+ years of using Onshape - we still have a desperate need for more tools dealing with formed features, c'sink options in SM, exporting dxf flat patterns that provide tool centers for formed features, better flange corner management, and the list goes on.  Almost anything being proceed with formed features requires the dxf output from Onshape to be processed a second time in another application to prepare it for processing. 

Regardless of engineering and manufacturing disciplines, most users feel the same way a little about having to patiently wait on long standing Onshape feature requests.  I just want to make sure the requests and the method for submitting them has not changed.

Davide_Cev

This is a great update.

but I would like to ask a question about the Folder in the instances list.

What I don't understand is why the folder is an instance itself?

As you can the from the video the part "Sopra" is inside the folder "Coperchio".

If I select the part "Sopra" and select the "Hide Other instances" command from the right-click menu, everything disappears because the "Coperchio" folder is another instance.

Does this happen only to me?

wouldn't be better if the folder wasn't an instance? and if you hide the folder it will the instances inside it and not the folder itself?

the way it works now it is a sort of inception.

Arunabha_Nag

@Davide_Cev
This is a defect. It will be fixed soon.

antero_nick

Ruled Surfaces are great!

For the win, will need the ability to generate a flat pattern of the ruled surface, much like the sheet metal tool functionality.  Is there an existing way to do this that anyone knows about?

konstantin_shiriazdanov

@antero_nick there is this custom feature but one should use it carefully

emagdalenaC2i

It's weird. Why do I have the feeling that we will have great news soon???

It's just a feeling, nothing more...

emagdalenaC2i

Well I was wrong... a new update like every 3 weeks.

It seems that the flu affected my arachnid sense