Custom table/property for sheet metal area

Lucas_Kuhns

Does anyone know how I could create a custom property for the area of a sheet metal part's flat pattern?

eric_pesty

Haven't tried this but if you can't get it directly you could use the volume and divide by the thickness... Depends if you want to include any cutouts or not...

Lucas_Kuhns

I would want the true area of the part like this:

eric_pesty

This should just be (part volume / thickness) since the thickness is uniform...

Lucas_Kuhns

That is very true. The thing is, I'm not a programmer. Is it simple enough that taking the training course in FeatureScript would get me everything to do this? Is there someone on here I could pay to build this?

eric_pesty

I haven't tried it yet but it should be fairly straightforward I think?
Here's a "step by step" process for created a computed property (the example computes the volume so all you need to do is figure out how to get the thickness and divide the two): 
https://cad.onshape.com/FsDoc/computed-part-properties.html

MichaelPascoe

If you are having someone write your custom features or API, CADSharp is the way to go. I have seen tasks automated that I didn't know were possible in Onshape. You can reach out to me or visit our website CADSharp.com

About this specific question, yes, this is possible. @eric_pesty is right. 

Here are some different approaches you could take:
Face area: Custom feature
Volume / thickness: Custom feature

FeatureScript 1821;
import(path : "onshape/std/geometry.fs", version : "1821.0");

export enum Options
{
    Description,
    Custom
}

annotation { "Feature Type Name" : "Set property area (CADSharp)" }
export const setPropertyArea = defineFeature(function(context is Context, id is Id, definition is map)
    precondition
    {
        annotation { "Name" : "Face", "Filter" : EntityType.FACE }
        definition.face is Query;

        annotation { "Name" : "Tangent connected faces", "Default" : true }
        definition.tanConnectedFaces is boolean;

        annotation { "Name" : "Save as", "UIHint" : UIHint.SHOW_LABEL }
        definition.options is Options;

        if (definition.options == Options.Custom)
        {
            annotation { "Name" : "Custom property ID" }
            definition.customPropertyId is string;
        }
    }
    {
        const part = qOwnerBody(definition.face);
        var face = definition.face;

        if (definition.tanConnectedFaces)
        {
            const tangentConnectedFaces = qTangentConnectedFaces(definition.face);
            face = tangentConnectedFaces;
        }

        const area = evArea(context, {
                    "entities" : face
                });

        debug(context, face, DebugColor.GREEN);

        if (definition.options == Options.Description)
        {
            setProperty(context, {
                        "entities" : part,
                        "propertyType" : PropertyType.DESCRIPTION,
                        "value" : toString(roundToPrecision(area.value, 3)) ~ " m^2"
                    });
        }
        else if (definition.options == Options.Custom)
        {
            setProperty(context, {
                        "entities" : part,
                        "propertyType" : PropertyType.CUSTOM,
                        "customPropertyId" : definition.customPropertyId,
                        "value" : area
                    });
        }
    });

Note that to set it as a custom property, you will need to create that property as a company admin or owner first, see this Onshape tutorial.

Lucas_Kuhns

@MichaelPascoe Thank you for your help. I may have a project or two for CADSharp.

MichaelPascoe

Of course.

Great, I'll send you a DM. 

antlu65

Here is babby's attempt at it: Sheet Metal Area. Pls let me know if it needs additional functionality - or if it's completely off the mark. Cheers!

Lucas_Kuhns

WOW! Very cool. It seems to work great.