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Inceptra CV5 Tips Tricks
Inceptra CV5 Tips Tricks
› CATNoStartDocument = Yes
› Any value after the = sign turns on this behavior (yes, no, 1, etc.)
› Prevents starting a new blank CATProduct when CATIA is started
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Authoring Tips
› If you type in the correct units for any measurement, it will automatically
convert that unit to your default. So ‘mm’ for millimeters, ‘in’ for inches, ‘ft’ for
feet, etc.
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Authoring Tips
› Arrow Keys for hidden items selection. Hover over and area and then pick
the up or down arrow on the keyboard, you will get a pop out allowing you to
pick through a list of the items in that are in that immediate area (behind you
arrow). Simply a very fast way to select things for operations.
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Hotkeys
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Hotkeys
› Setup a Hotkey for ANY command. I have hotkeys for Hide/show, Toolpath
replay, Save All, etc. Really useful for any heavily used commands, or to
commonize commands between different CAD tools.
› Do this by pick Tools>Customize and selecting the Commands tab. Then Select
“All commands from the list (1). Next, Select the command from the list that you
want to build a shortcut for (2). Then, Click Show/Hide Properties (3) Finally,
enter in the text string which represents the hotkey you wish to use (4).
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Power Input
› Command lines “Power input” This give the user the ability to directly type in the name of a command or
search term to perform some action. For example: C:Join will execute the “Join” command from the
generative shape design workbench. n:Point* Will search for and highlight all tree feature that have a
name starting with ‘Point’.
› c: as command: The default prefix is c: which lets you run commands.
› f: as favorite: The default prefix is f: which lets you search for objects using your favorite or
predefined favorite queries.
› t: as type: The default prefix is t: which lets you search for an object by its type.
› n: as name The default prefix is n: which lets you search for an object name.
› NAME: The default prefix is NAME: which is identical to n: except that the search is case sensitive
› g: as name in graph: The default prefix is g: which lets you search for an object name as it is
displayed in the specification tree.
› NAME IN GRAPH: The default prefix is NAME IN GRAPH: which is identical to g: except that the
search is case sensitive
› s: as set: The default prefix is s: which lets you search for an object belonging to a selection set.
› SET: The default prefix is SET: which is identical to s: except that the search is case sensitive
› col: as color: The default prefix is col: which lets you search for an object of a specific color.
› vis: as visibility: The default prefix is vis: which lets you search for visible elements, or elements
hidden in the No Show space.
› l: as layer: The default prefix is l: which lets you search for an object located on a specific layer.
› d: as dashed: The default prefix is d: which lets you search for elements using specific linetypes.
› w: as weight: The default prefix is w: which lets you search for elements using specific thicknesses.
› symb: as symbol: The default prefix is symb: which lets you search for elements with specific point
symbols.
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Shareable licensing
› Sharable License Tab – If you have sharable licenses for things like
Functional Tolerancing (FTA, LOE, etc) The user should pick them from the
“Sharable tab” Under Tools>Options>General
› This keeps it from being a “default” every time you open CATIA. It also
allows you to add that sharable license without restarting CATIA. If you pick
it from the licensing tab you have to restart to gain that ability.
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Specification Tree
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Specification Tree
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Command repetition
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Release level of CATIA file
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Sketcher
Sliding Sketch vs. Positioned Sketch
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Selection
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Sketch analysis
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Multi-constraint editing
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Sketch Outputs
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Part Design
Solid Combine
› Create a complex solid from 2 sketches using the Solid Combine tool
(similar to a Front/Top view approach)
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Body polarity
› If the first feature of a Body ‘adds’ material, then the Body has a Positive
polarity
› If the first feature ‘removes’ material, then the Body has a Negative polarity
› You can use this to your advantage during Boolean operations. The Assemble
Boolean operation lets CATIA choose the appropriate action based on Body
polarity
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Search
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Search
› Once you create a search, you can save it as a favorite to be used later
› Search favorites are stored in the CATSettings
(SearchFavoriteQueries.CATSetting)
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BOM Attributes
› The properties of the Part are what CATIA uses for all BOM functions
› Anything you want to show up in a BOM needs to be filled out in the Properties
dialog
› Part properties can be driven by formulas (common for reporting stock sizes
automatically)
› You can add additional custom properties – the name of the property becomes
the column heading
› Important that all parts use the same spelling/case or you will have multiple columns
for the same information (i.e. if one part has “SUPPLIER” and another “Supplier”, there
will be two columns in the BOM instead of just one)
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Generative Shape Design
Isolated Primitives
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Duplicate Geometric Feature Set
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Merging Distance
› The default Merging Distance can be set in ToolsOptions for functions like
Join
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Untrim
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Extrapolate
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Plane parallel to screen
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Parallel Curve
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Update Diagnosis
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Assembly Design
Insert With Positioning
› You can insert an existing component in an assembly and position it with the
help of a wizard-like dialog (rather than placing it at assembly zero and
moving it in a secondary set of operations
› Insert Existing Component With Positioning
› Works like the Snap tool, but can optionally create constraints (check box)
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Analyze Constraints
› To find out the state of your constraints, and how many parts are
unconstrained, use the AnalyzeConstraints tool
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Enhanced Scenes
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Reuse Pattern
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Flexible Assembly
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Bill of Material
› Using the Properties defined on the CATPart documents, CATIA can export
a BOM from the Assembly
› AnalyzeBill of Material
› The top section is listed by sub-assembly, the bottom is a total recap of all parts
regardless of assembly structure
› You can customize the displayed columns by clicking Define Formats
› You can then “Save As” to Text, Excel, or HTML
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Bill of Material
› You can exclude any part or product from the BOM by editing the Properties
and un-checking “Visualize in BOM”
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Drafting
Font Size Precision
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Annotations
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Annotations
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External Files
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Overload Properties
› Use Overload Properties to change the visual attributes for one or more
parts in a view
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Superpose
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Advanced Bill of Material
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Thank you!
Jason.Curtis@Inceptra.com