Surface Selection Options in NC

In NC, there are several ways to pick surfaces:

Screen Parameters

Select the appropriate screen parameter:

Parameters displayed for the Finish procedures, when picking Part Surfaces:			Parameters displayed for all other procedures when picking surfaces.

Parameters:

Select All Displayed Surfaces

Select all the surfaces displayed in the graphics window.

Select Surfaces by Criteria

Select surfaces that meet specific criteria. This displays the criteria selection dialog. This enables you to pick a group of surfaces based on colors, sets, etc.

If the criteria did not find any relevant entities (the value button shows 0), the procedure behaves as missing geometry.

Automatic Boundaries

Automatically create boundaries to define the edges of the part faces. The system automatically defines those edges and you have the flexibility to modify them if required. Using this definition, the system knows that the machining is to be done exactly up to these edges.

Automatic Boundaries and the exact location of the relevant edges are essential for the prevention of Waterfall motions and also for the Horizontal Machining Expansion calculations (for overlaps and extensions).

Automatic Boundaries = OFF: Note the 'waterfall' motions at both ends, as well as in the holes and gaps.	Automatic Boundaries = ON: The 'waterfall' motions no longer exist.

When Automatic Boundaries = ON, additional parameters are available enabling you to modify the automatic boundaries, if required. For a detailed description of this option, see Automatic Boundaries.

Manual Boundaries

Manually select the required boundaries, in the correct order. For an example of when this option may be used, see Automatic Boundaries. The Contour Manager is displayed is displayed to assist you.

Preview the result. This option is displayed when Automatic Boundaries = ON.

Close and exit the surface selection options.

Manually

Pick surfaces one by one. See the cursor symbols in Cimatron when picking geometry.

By Box

To pick a group of surfaces, drag a box with the mouse that includes the desired surfaces. The box does not have to entirely include the surfaces; any surface partially enclosed by the box will be chosen. See picking entities 'By Box'.

Popup Operations

In addition, you can right-click to open the following surface selection popup menu:

Surface selection popup options:	Additional popup options are displayed when selecting Automatic Boundaries:

Options:

Select All Displayed Surfaces	Pick all the displayed surfaces.
Select Surfaces By Criteria	Pick geometry by criteria. This displays the criteria selection dialog. This enables you to pick a group of surfaces based on colors, sets, etc.
Reset Criteria	Reset (clear the selection of) the surfaces selected by criteria.
Reset Non-Criteria	Reset (clear the selection of) all surfaces not selected by criteria.
Reset All	Reset (clear the selection of) all surfaces.
Move Surfaces From Another Group	Move surfaces from one group to another (for example, to switch surfaces in an NC procedure between Part and Check). Once this option is checked, any surface you pick will switch into the current selection, even if it was already assigned to some other group. Option OFF: If this option is not checked, you can only pick surfaces that do not belong to another group of surfaces. Option ON: If the option is checked (as in the example above), you can only pick surfaces that belong to a different group from the current working group; in this case the picked surfaces are removed from their group and moved to the current working group of surfaces. See the Faces Grouping Max. Gap parameter explanation in Automatic Boundaries, for a description of surface groups.
Finish Selection	Ends the selection mode and closes the dialog.
Ignore Contour	Ignore the selected contour. An ignored segment of a contour means that it will not be considered for procedure calculation. This option is displayed when selecting Automatic Boundaries. See Automatic Boundaries: Popup Menu for an example of using this option.
Use Contour	Use a previously ignored contour. This means that it will be considered for procedure calculation. This option is displayed when selecting Automatic Boundaries. See Automatic Boundaries: Popup Menu for an example of using this option.
Convert to Feature	Convert the Automatic Boundaries into a CAD feature. The result of this operation is a composite curve that appears in the Features Tree in the CAD environment (see Switch to CAD Environment). This option is displayed when selecting Automatic Boundaries. See Automatic Boundaries: Popup Menu for an example of using this option.

Additional geometry selection methods are:

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