Override template settings

Submitted by dwang953 on Mon, 08/10/2015 - 09:37
Forums: 
Journaling / NXOpen API

All of the drawings in my company database have a template border and zones. How could I be able to delete the template border zones labels and then insert my own? I can't seem to access the letters/numbers when I click on them?

NXJournaling - Mon, 08/10/2015 - 09:54

Check your layer settings to see if the layer that the border resides on is marked "visible only". If it is "visible only", you will be able to see it, but not select it.

dwang953 - Mon, 08/10/2015 - 09:57

I checked the layers and it seems to be on a layer that I can't hide. Is there no way else of accessing the labels and hiding them?

NXJournaling - Mon, 08/10/2015 - 10:48

My comment was in response to:

"I can't seem to access the letters/numbers when I click on them?"

Is the layer marked as "visible only" (the "visible only" checkbox has a mark in it)? If so, this is why you cannot select the note. Uncheck the box and you will be able to select the objects on the given layer.

Your second response makes it sound like now you just want to hide them. It is unclear to me exactly what it is that you are trying to accomplish here.

dwang953 - Mon, 08/10/2015 - 11:18

The issue is that for some drawings I can't change the "Visible Only" checkbox for some reason. On these drawings, when I create a border, it places another set of border markings on top of the ones that are already visible. This makes the drawing really difficult to read.

NXJournaling - Mon, 08/10/2015 - 11:30

I know of no way to "lock" the layer visibility setting in native NX. But I would not be surprised if it were possible, especially if you are working in a heavily customized environment (such as doing work for one of the automotive OEM's).

dwang953 - Mon, 08/10/2015 - 13:43

It seems that I am able to make the layer invisible, but it seems to be linked with the title block and it makes that invisible too. Are there any other methods of just hiding the zone labels and markings?

NXJournaling - Mon, 08/10/2015 - 13:58

Are you able to edit the borders & zones to get what you want (Menu -> Tools -> drawing format -> borders and zones...)?

If that doesn't work, I'd normally suggest that you move the labels to an unused layer and just hide that layer... But if you can't remove the "visible only" status, that won't work.

Why do you want to hide the existing labels?

dwang953 - Mon, 08/10/2015 - 14:01

I am using the ReportDimensionSheetZone script from this forum, and it doesn't work with the template zones/borders for some reason. I have to manually re-create the zones/borders in order for the script to register what the border zones are. However, when I do so, it overlaps with the existing template border labels (which I can't seem to access), making it looks very messy.

NXJournaling - Mon, 08/10/2015 - 14:15

"I am using the ReportDimensionSheetZone script from this forum, and it doesn't work with the template zones/borders for some reason."

That's a good clue. I'd guess that the drawing you are dealing with doesn't have a true "borders & zones" object, but was probably created manually in an older version of NX. I don't think that the "borders & zones" object was available until NX 8. I'd guess that either the geometry for the title block was created manually within the file or the file references a "pattern".

Since you cannot select the geometry directly, you are probably dealing with a "pattern". You can define the title block geometry in its own file then reference that file as a "pattern" to your drawing. I don't know if you are familiar with AutoCAD, but it would be very similar to an AutoCAD "X-ref". Some companies still use patterns for their title blocks. The advantage is: when/if the master title block file changes, all the drawings that reference it as a pattern will also update.

Search for "pattern" in the command finder; use "List Associated Parts" to see if any parts are referenced as patterns in your current part.

NXJournaling - Thu, 08/13/2015 - 13:07

Here's another possibility that I had not considered earlier:
If you import the border & zones from a template part, you may not be able to modify them.

So, if you do not have pattern data, the issue you are having may arise from importing from template parts.