Selective CAD Import Option
Within the Direct CAD Access Settings is an option that allows a user to choose which features within a large CAD model to import called the Selective Import:
It lists all components of the CAD model or assembly in a tree-like view on the left, and a legend at right indicates the type and quantity of all of the entities to be imported. In this dialog you can choose to deselect entities from the source CAD file that you do not wish to import. This provides several benefits:
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It saves you the effort of having to clean up the CAD file of un- wanted items after import.
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It makes the import process shorter.
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It allows you to circumvent portions of a CAD file that may be causing import errors.
Selective Import Controls
When the Choose CAD Features window opens it offers a view of the features contained within the CAD file in the tree on the left. Much like the SA tree if lists the separate components by name. On the right hand side is a list of the number of items in a selection of feature categories:
Selection of individual components can be made in the feature tree. The selected (checked) items will be imported.
The controls along the bottom of the window offer options for both selection and display within the CAD tree:
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Expand All. Provides a means to expand all the nested components within the tree.
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Collapse All. Provides a means to collapse all the components to the top level.
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Include by Name. Provides a means to add selection of items through a wildcard name search
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Exclude by Name. Provides a means to removed selection of items that are already selected through a wildcard search.
The plus and minus icons directly within the CAD tree can also be used to expand and contract each individual section within the tree.
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Components...Provides a means to select from referenced components when importing an assembly.
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Apply to all by type.This check box can be used to simplify selection of items of a particular type such as excluding all GD&T Annotations for example.
Merge Options
On the bottom right are two additional options to merge a large number of items:
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Merge Surfaces. Offers an option to merge surfaces from a CAD file. This can be particularly helpful with *.Iges files or similar in which each face is a separate surface.
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Merge Curves. Offers a means to combine b-splines or "curves". This will merge groups of curves producing a much reduced number of curves in the resulting SA tree.