How to add a part length to a part name

david_gough

I often use extruded aluminium lengths to build machine enclosures for customers, and when I have finished the design I export the model as a Parasolid.
When designing the model the length of each extrusion is defined by a Configuration variable.
My clients need to have the length of each extrusion in the part name so that they know what to order, for example, “Alprofil 40 x 40 Light L1000”, where L1000 is the length in mm. Is there any way to append L1000 automatically to the Part Name?
I appreciate that this will have to be done using FeatureScript and would appreciate any help.

Thank you.

owen_sparks

I believe if the "variable" is from a drop down pick list then the answer is yes and directly from the config table, no FS required.

If it's from an actual variable then answer then the answer is not today.  I believe there could be a workaround using individual "Measure Distance" features to wrap back into the names but what we really want it to be able to directly read the part properties values.

Owen S.

philip_thomas

@owen_sparks - to make it work for extrusions, you would take our code for extruding (publicly available) and add these couple of lines. You will already have the extrusion depth (for a blind extrusion). For other types, you would need a few more lines to figure out exactly what the distance was.
The example i posted was just a quickie to show how to change the name of a feature

philip_thomas

@owen_sparks - The problem with the 'Beams' custom feature is that it can make multiple extrusions with miters and other end treatments. 
That makes it hard to roll up to a single value in the feature name.

owen_sparks

I believe if the "variable" is from a drop down pick list then the answer is yes and directly from the config table, no FS required.

If it's from an actual variable then answer then the answer is not today.  I believe there could be a workaround using individual "Measure Distance" features to wrap back into the names but what we really want it to be able to directly read the part properties values.

Owen S.

david_gough

Thanks. It is from an actual variable so I will see what arrives to do it in the future.

philip_thomas

David - here is a simple example of how to do this



https://cad.onshape.com/documents/61e112bec493ae9f0cdd1eef/w/422f340a0bd2767715b1fc6e/e/4e59cdbeeaf56dc6b10245a3

annotation { "Feature Type Name" : "NAME OF FEATURE", "Feature Name Template" : "Feature Tree Name (#volume)" }

export const hoseBead = defineFeature(function(context is Context, id is Id, definition is map)

    precondition

    {

        annotation { "Name" : "Pick a Part", "Filter" : EntityType.BODY, "MaxNumberOfPicks" : 1 }

        definition.myPart is Query;

    }

    {

        var partVolume = evVolume(context, {

                "entities" : definition.myPart

            });

        setFeatureComputedParameter(context, id, {

                    "name" : "volume",

                    "value" : partVolume

                });

    });

owen_sparks

Hi @philip_thomas, nice feature.

I believe were after a length for a cutting list here.  Is there any way to extract a length from a part?

Cheers,

Owen S.

3dcad

And insert it to part NAME so that it's defaulted on export name too..

philip_thomas

@owen_sparks - to make it work for extrusions, you would take our code for extruding (publicly available) and add these couple of lines. You will already have the extrusion depth (for a blind extrusion). For other types, you would need a few more lines to figure out exactly what the distance was.
The example i posted was just a quickie to show how to change the name of a feature

david_gough

Excellent, thanks for all the help, I will give it a go 

owen_sparks

@philip_thomas  Good point Sir, hadn't thought of that.  The same method sounds really useful in the beams FS too.

Thanks for the nudge,

Owen S.

philip_thomas

@owen_sparks - The problem with the 'Beams' custom feature is that it can make multiple extrusions with miters and other end treatments. 
That makes it hard to roll up to a single value in the feature name.

stuart_wood540

@owen_sparks - did you get anywhere with this for ‘Beams’ ? I’m completely new to OnShape ( from Inventor ) and this would really be useful as a stopgap measure for pipe lengths while I get my head around the new ways of working.

NeilCooke

Make sure you are using the correct up to date version of Beams. It will add the length for each beam in the part name and show a cut list in the custom table icon on the right. 

david_gough

I didn't follow it up Stuart but following Neil's comment I will check it out as it seems to be solved. By the way I came from SolidWorks and love Onshape so much more.

stuart_wood540

NeilCooke said:

Make sure you are using the correct up to date version of Beams. It will add the length for each beam in the part name and show a cut list in the custom table icon on the right. 

@NeilCooke I have FeatureScript Beams official v16 and I don't get the beam length showing. Any ideas would be appreciated  ?

Many thanks.

NeilCooke

I removed the length from the feature because it does not take into account beams that have been manually trimmed afterwards. Open the custom table icon on the right to see the cut lengths.