|
BORN and Related Utilities
With the courtesy of Mel Boss and Alan McDougal, we are pleased to post here some useful program file utilities for creating BORN (base orphan reference node) starter parts... plus setup files for defining global symbols and standard views.
| Description | Download File (use MB3=Save-target/link-as) |
Courtesy of |
| An Overview of the BORN Approach | -- | Mel Boss |
| BORN Tutorial | -- | Mel Boss |
| Simple BORN Global Symbol | born-boss.prg | Mel Boss |
| BORN Program File | born-mcdougal-ms8.prg born-mcdougal.prg |
Alan McDougal |
| Global Symbol Startup File | globsymstartup.prg | Mel Boss |
| Standard View Setup File | viewsetup.prg | Mel Boss |
[if you have problems running these prg or unv files -- with the error message "System read error on line 1 of command input file" (prg) or "0 lines processed" (unv) -- read this article on ASCII File Conversion Unix/NT]
Overview of the BORN Approach
This article from the SDRC working ideas publication (1995, No. 3) describes a procedure developed to avoid deleting assembly relations inadvertently. This procedure, named Base Orphan Reference Node (B-O-R-N), maintains assembly relations between parts throughout a design cycle, even when:
 | The interface features between parts are deleted. |
| All the geometry of a given part is deleted (redesign). |
Since the 1995 working ideas article, a number of improvements have been made to I-DEAS. Mel commented in a July 1998 posting to the ICCON mailing list:
"I recently re-read my first BORN article (1995) and was amazed by how much of its original content no longer applies to our most recent MS6... Well, I-DEAS has sure come a long way since MS2. Relational reference items no longer "belong" to the root node on the part history tree by default. Roll-back resolves many problems. CS (coord sys) translate and Point/Offset practically make Plane Offset obsolete and with it the problems with plane display issues. Most notable enhancement is assembly constraints in MS6. Having tried to make the former capabilities work and given up in disgust, I'm quite pleased with the new methodology. I haven't had it fail on me, lock-up or do much of *anything* unexpected. It's *almost* fun - okay then, at least it's not painful."
BORN Tutorial
This is a presentation (in html and PowerPoint downloadable form) that walks the student through the BORN method.
Simple BORN Global Symbol
In the spirit of "simplicity is the hallmark of elegance", Mel provides this program file fragment that can be used to define a global symbol "new". Then whenever you want to start a new part, simply type "new" in the command window and the global symbol will quickly define a coordinate system and have you pick it to name the new part. In fact, rather than using this program file, you can simply copy the following line and then paste it into your I-DEAS command window and... voila, you've got a BORN starter part!
/cl /w gl off /ma na
This global symbol is also created as part of the comprehensive
BORN Program File
This is a more elaborate program file that attaches workbench wireframe to the new BORN part, creates standard axis reference lines, and checks for name uniqueness for the new part.
Some caveats:
| There seems to be a bug sometimes that when you run the program the coordinate system comes in hidden for some reason. I can't seem to pin it down but all you have to do is pick "Show" and then the CS to get it back on the screen. This doesn't happen often, but you should be aware of it. |
| The three reference lines don't go all the way to the center. This is to make the vertex of the CS easier to pick. The reason for the reference lines in the first place is to prevent very long reference lines from being added to your part during construction operations. |
| The three reference lines are of fixed length (0.25 units). You may wish to change this for your applications. |
Global Symbol Startup File
This is a very nice program file (perhaps renamed as "userprof.prg" if you wish) that does the following:
| creates a set of 40 standard colors |
| defines a number of very useful global symbols |
This program file is intended for I-DEAS users to create a set of standardized global symbols in a given model file. Run this program ONCE to create a set of standard global symbols and Save your model file. Note that the global symbols are segregated into logical catagories such as Display, Preference, Viewing. ODD numbers turn things ON. EVEN numbers turn things OFF.
Creates a set of standard colors in your modelfile. It is IMPERATIVE that this program be executed FIRST (prior to) creating ANY new colors in your modelfile so that color id numbers matchup among users.
Steve Zeise was also nice enough to code this up in a nice table as a summary below or you can printout a page as a standalone reference cribsheet.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Standard View Setup File
This program file requests what the user considers to be the "front" or "plan" view and then defines six standard orthographic views (front, back, left, right, top, bottom) and, if desired, 24 standard isometric views.
