I have a part that I need to do a FAI on that has over 700 dimensions. I was planning on splitting it up into several smaller programs. I believe I can get most of the features in 1 setup, so I was going to use external alignments. What I need help on is, a lot of the dimensions needed have modifiers on the datums. How can I get the datum features from a previous program into a current program so I can take advantage of the bonus available on the datum features?
There is an option to insert data from one measuring routine into another measuring routine (Insert - Attach Measuring Routine). That would give you access to the datum's position and size for MMB. I have played with it a bit, but it is a little limited and I haven't had the right application to use it. However, that it sounds perfect for what you are proposing.
The challenge is that the imported features are not visible in the graphics display window. You can only refer to them when reporting dimensions, but I think that is all you need. Just be sure to give your datum features some easy to recognize names.
The only thing I'm not sure about is how to use the Attach Measuring Routine option in conjunction with an externally recalled alignment. There is probably a way to make it work with a bit of fussing. If that doesn't work, you can just start each of the programs with the same alignment process before attaching the measuring routine that contains your datum features.
That's a bummer about the software not letting you define datums from the imported features. Sorry, I don't have experience with that to know if it is possible. If you find a way to make it work, please let us know.
That's a bummer about the software not letting you define datums from the imported features. Sorry, I don't have experience with that to know if it is possible. If you find a way to make it work, please let us know.
