Removing the Pin/Unpin Icon

[phyllisr]

This is obscure enough to matter only to the obsessive type so I never bothered to pose the question. I also was unable to find a solution with a search for Pin or Unpin.

Ever pin an object and wish you had not? But even if you unpin it, ever wish you could eliminate the icon? Ever want to remove the pin from a family you are modifying without leaving the unpinned icon in place? Removing pin entirely instead of unpinning it only? We found the way to do this. There is no logical reason this works but I have tested this on walls, grids and reference planes. Makes a cleaner file.

Unpin the object or reference plane or whatever. Draw two other objects or reference planes on either side in any non-equal location. Create a dimension string for the three objects and set the equality constraint, thus moving the formerly pinned object. Select the formerly pinned object and you will see the pin/unpin icon has disappeared. You can use geometry already in place and can choose to delete the dimension or not depending on your goal. The key is the equality constraint.

Like I said, pretty obscure. I sometimes wonder if these things are intentional parts of the program that actually matter for something important (and hidden from the teeming masses) or if these things are just an entertaining treasure hunt.

[mibzim]

Well, i hope you found it entertaining finding that treasure - thanks for bothering to share it with us phyllis!

[irwin]

As I recall, the intended behavior was that the unpinned icon would go away as soon as you made any other changes to the document after unpinning. The only reason for keeping the unpinned icon at all was so that you could repin immediately if you had unpinned by mistake. The intention was for it to last just long enough to do that, but then to go away soon thereafter. I see that it works that way in 8.1.

I very much doubt that the behavior in 9.1 in which the unpinned icon stays permanently was intentional. You could report it as a bug.

In the mean time, I have generalized your workaround. It appears that the unpinned icon will go away as soon as the element in question is changed in any way without being selected. Your use of the equality dimension is one way to do that. Another way is to put a locked dimension to another element and then move the other element. Or, demolish the formerly pinned element. If it is a wall you could join another wall to it then unjoin it; or trim it; etc. The least destructive way I've found is to Paint one of the faces of the element to <By Category>. That has no actual effect on the element but removes the unpinned icon.

[dbaldacchino]

Or you could have some coffee, smoke a cigarette and stare at the blue sky in awe of how beautiful the environment around us is

[Wes Macaulay]

Or you could have some coffee, smoke a cigarette and stare at the blue sky in awe of how beautiful the environment around us is

Oh David -- you got me chuckling with this one...

[mlgatzke]

Thanks Phyllis,

In the past, I've had a student mistakenly pin an object while constructing a family - then unpin it upon realization that pinning was the incorrect thing to do. This seems to affect a family adversely - even after it is unpinned. The pinning must leave something residual in the family that creates occasional conflicts. Next time I run into this I'll have to try your and Irwin's suggestions and see if they help.

David, I'd have difficulty sitting back and enjoying the blue sky today as the glare from the deep snow would blind me and the single-digit temperatures would have me shivering too much. With that said, I get your point <snickering with Wes>.

[dbaldacchino]

Hehe, I had to say that, sorry. I'm with Phyllis though, I tend to be very obsessive about getting something to work, especially if it's kicking my behind and I can't figure it out. So, thanks for bringing it up! But I'm trying to mellow down a bit....not doing too good on this resolution though.

[nicqoz]

Hope it's never too late to add to this?
You could also delete and then immediately un-delete (ctrl Z) the offender, and the orphaned pin icon disappears!