family parameters

[..shaner]

hi all, I'm trying to refine my family library and i wanted to add a parameter to all my doors so that i could choose weather my hollow metal frame was a 'wrap-a-round' type (for metal stud walls or if it was mounted on the surface (for a thick concrete wall)

so i was thinking about adding a parameter but i see the options are limited.

my thoughts on how to tackle this:

1. is there any way to add a visibility parameter kind of a Yes/No that controlled visibility
of a 3d object in a family so that i can model both types of frames and control them in
my project?

2. can i make a dimension control the maximum value of a 3d object? for instance, can i
make my 3d sweep for my frame, then say max 6" so it adjusts to wall thicknesses
below 6" but once it hits 6" the frame will stay 6" thick

if you guys have any ideas, we already have about 10 different styled doors, i dont want to double it but having to model all of them with both wrap-a-round frames and surface mounted

thanks everyone for any imput.

[Scott D Davis]

1. is there any way to add a visibility parameter kind of a Yes/No that controlled visibility
of a 3d object in a family so that i can model both types of frames and control them in
my project?

A: Yes. add a Yes/No parameter to your family and name it. Then select the 3D objects you want to control, and go to properties. You will see a Visible checkbox, click the samll gray box to the right of the Visible paramter, and then select the parameter by name that you just made. Click OK to get out of everything. Save your family. you will now be able to control visibility of the 3D conponents in the family in your project.

2. can i make a dimension control the maximum value of a 3d object? for instance, can i
make my 3d sweep for my frame, then say max 6" so it adjusts to wall thicknesses
below 6" but once it hits 6" the frame will stay 6" thick

A: you should be able to make a formula that says "If X > 6", then 6" " It's going to take some parameters and some knowledge of formulas, but you should be able to pull it off.

[..shaner]

1. is there any way to add a visibility parameter kind of a Yes/No that controlled visibility
of a 3d object in a family so that i can model both types of frames and control them in
my project?

A: Yes. add a Yes/No parameter to your family and name it. Then select the 3D objects you want to control, and go to properties. You will see a Visible checkbox, click the samll gray box to the right of the Visible paramter, and then select the parameter by name that you just made. Click OK to get out of everything. Save your family. you will now be able to control visibility of the 3D conponents in the family in your project.

2. can i make a dimension control the maximum value of a 3d object? for instance, can i
make my 3d sweep for my frame, then say max 6" so it adjusts to wall thicknesses
below 6" but once it hits 6" the frame will stay 6" thick

A: you should be able to make a formula that says "If X > 6", then 6" " It's going to take some parameters and some knowledge of formulas, but you should be able to pull it off.

thanks alot, I'm going to try the formulas first, i think thats the better way to go.. that way all i need to do is drop in my doors and it knows, instead of having to use check boxes to change the type

thanks for your help, ill post again if I'm having trouble with the families

[robert.manna]

thanks alot, I'm going to try the formulas first, i think thats the better way to go.. that way all i need to do is drop in my doors and it knows, instead of having to use check boxes to change the type

thanks for your help, ill post again if I'm having trouble with the families
I would be very interested to know if you can make the formulae/parameters method work. Thinking about it some this evening, I still don't see a good way to write an automatic conditional statement, as there is no way to "read" the thickness of the wall. Currently you have to allow the geometry to flex with the reference planes, you could create a set of reference planes paramertized from the wall face. When the width of the wall is 6" or less the parameters for the ref planes could go to zero, allowing the frame to match the depth of the wall. However there is no way (that I know of) for you to automatically determine the remaining depth of space between the reference planes. Thus when the wall grows to greater than 6" the user will have to enter that information in the family. You could easily write a formula to allow the user to simply enter the thickness of the wall and make adjustments as required, but as I said, I just don't see a way to actuallly determine that number without overconstraining the family.....

-R