Contour Manager - Picking Boundaries/Contours

A boundary/contour is an open or closed series of curves.

An NC contour defines, for example, the tool's working area, and is an entity that is available only in the NC application.

The NC Contour Manager dialog is displayed when picking or editing boundaries or contours and manages all NC contour entities in the NC application. The options/parameters displayed in the dialog depend on whether you are defining a boundary or contour, and also the current procedure. Some example dialogs are shown below:

Boundaries:	Contours: 2.5X Pocket Procedures:	Contours: 2.5X Volumill Pocket:	Contours: 2.5X Profile Closed Contour:

Example Contour Manager for the 2.5 Axes Chamfer procedure:Example Contour Manager for the 2.5 Axes Chamfer procedure:

Specific chamfer-related parameters are displayed. See Chamfer Parameters for parameter explanations.
Open Contour		Closed Contour

The NC Contour Manager dialog consists of the following sections:

A header displayed in blue text to inform you of the type of contour you are picking.
Selection Method:
NC Parameters:
Contour Deletion, Label Display:
Approval Options:

All input contours (or curves) to NC procedures are managed by the Contour Manager. The Contour Manager enables you to perform a variety of contour-related functions:

Create
Modify
Delete
Copy/move (from one procedure to another)
Assign/modify values to the attached NC parameters
Convert to the Composite Curve CAD entity

See Creating Boundaries/Contours (below).

See Editing Boundaries/Contours (below).

Approval Options

The following approval options are available when picking boundaries/contours:

Creating Boundaries/Contours

NC Boundaries/Contours are created by picking the curves appropriate to your requirements. Using the Contour Manager dialog, there are a number of methods available for picking these curves. However, the general contour creation procedure is as explained below.

To pick curves in order to create boundaries/contours:

InvokeInvoke (for more, click Access at the top of this Help topic) the boundary/contour selection mode.

The Contour Manager dialog is displayed in idle modeidle mode with the header (at the top of the dialog) displayed in blue text to inform you of the type of contour you are picking.

At this point you can cancel all activities performed in the Contour Manager by clicking the Cancel button at the bottom of the dialog.

If required, set the parameters in the NC Parameters section and decide how to use the Contour Deletion, Label Display section.
Pick the appropriate curve(s) using one of the several options available.

While picking curves, the Contour Manager is either displayed in idle mode (if you use the Basic Selection mode) or is hidden (if you use one of the options in the Selection Method section of the Contour Manager).

In this example, the Basic Selection mode is used (but it can be switched to Advanced Selection at any time).	In this case, the Automatic Chain option was used by default (because a curve was picked and the required input for the procedure was a closed contour).

When you have finished picking the required curve(s), press <exit><exit>(middle mouse button) to accept the selection and to create the NC contour (which serves as a milling boundary).

The Contour Manager is re-activated showing the contour selection status in the Contour Deletion, Label Display section. In the example belowexample below, the dialog shows that a single NC contour was created and that it is a valid contour. The dialog approval options become available at this stage.

Press the OK button (or <exit><exit>(middle mouse button)) to accept the contour selection and to close the Contour Manager dialog.

The Geometry section of the procedure parameter table shows that one NC contour has been selected.

Note: In 5X Trimming, pick the contours along the edges of the selected part faces.

Editing Boundaries/Contours

When NC Boundaries/Contours have been created, they can be edited using one of the following methods:

By using the popup menu:

When in contour selection mode, pick the contour to be edited (click on it or its flag), right-click on an empty location in the graphic area and select Modify Contour Selection from the popup menu.

Edit the contour as required.

By double-clicking on the contour (only the contour and not its label).

Double-click on the contour to be edited.

Edit the contour as required.

This method is only available under the following conditions:

When the Contour Manager is at idle mode (see Creating Boundaries/Contours - above) or while editing the NC Parameters of selected NC contours (not in the middle of the process of creating NC contours).
When the "Use NC Contour Labels" checkbox is selected.

Example:Example:

In the example below, 3 NC contours have been created and 2 are currently selected (this information is also available from the Contour Deletion, Label Display section of the Contour Manager). Note that the conditions stated above, are met:

Double-click on the contour to be edited.

The following occurs (as shown below):

If any NC contours are already selected, they are unselected and the clicked contour is displayed as the only selected contour.
The label of the clicked contour is displayed (if it was hidden). If this results in the "Max. Displayed Labels" value being exceeded, the label that belongs to the NC contour with the highest "Order Number" is hidden.
The arrow button next to the label is displayed in expanded mode and the contour's parameters are displayed for editing.
(For additional information on NC contour parameters, see Contour Parameters)
(For additional information on NC contour labels, see Contour Labels and Using Contour Labels).

Edit the contour as required.

Additional geometry selection methods are:

Some functionality may be dependent on the product package. Contact your Reseller if you require a license.