Constraint (Object)

A geometric constraint set for geometric elements of a part, a sketch, or a product.

Properties


Property AngleSector() As
Returns or sets the constraint angle (or angular) sector. The geometric elements of an angle constraint (e.g. : 2 lines or 2 planes) divide the sketch or the space in 4 regions which are called angle or angular sectors, numbered from 0 to 3. 1 / 0 ---/--- 2/ 3 By default, the constraint is created in the sector number 0. One angle sector corresponds exactly to particular values of the Dimension.Value, the Side and the Orientation. When changing the angle sector, the Dimension.Value, Side and Orientation are also modified.
Parameters:
AngleSector=0
The default sector of a constraint. Dimension.Value = angle Orientation = catCstOrientSame Side = catCstSidePositive
AngleSector=1
Dimension.Value = angle-180 if angle>180 abs(angle)+180 otherwise Orientation = catCstOrientOpposite Side = catCstSidePositive
AngleSector=2
Dimension.Value = abs(540-angle) if angle>180 180-fabs(angle) otherwise Orientation = catCstOrientOpposite Side = catCstSideNegative
AngleSector=3
Dimension.Value = 360-abs(angle) Orientation = catCstOrientSame Side = catCstSideNegative
Example:
The following example retrieves in angleSector the angle sector of the angleCst angle constraint and then changes the angle sector 
 angleSector = angleCst.AngleSector
 angleCst.AngleSector = 2
Property Dimension() As (Read Only)
Returns the constraint dimension. The dimension may be meaningless for some types of constraints such as tangency constraints, or if the constraint is not currently satisfied. Use the property to check whether the constraint is satisfied.
Example:
The following example returns in cstDimension the dimension of the firstCst constraint: 
 Set cstDimension = firstCst.Dimension
Property DistanceConfig() As
Returns or sets the distance constraint configuration. Distance constraints between lines and cylinders offer often more degrees of freedom to geometry than acually desired. This property allows to limit these degrees of freedom without having to redefine additional constraints. This property is useless for constraints whose type is not distance.
Example:
The following example retrieves in distCstConfig the configuration of the distCst distance constraint: 
 distCstConfig = distCst.DistanceConfig
Property DistanceDirection() As
Returns or sets the distance constraint direction. This property is useless for constraints whose type is not Distance (1). Distance constraints may be measured along a particular direction. This property will be used if the direction is a reference axis : In 2D, 1 means the horizontal axis, 2 the vertical axis. In 3D, 1 stands for the X axis, 2 for the Y axis, 3 for the Z axis. 0 means that no direction is specified and the distance is measured as usual.
Example:
The following example retrieves in distCstDirection the configuration of the distCst distance constraint: 
 distCstConfig = distCst.DistanceDirection
Property Mode() As
Returns or sets the constraint driving mode. For constraint types supporting the concept of value, such as distance constraints, the driving mode tells whether the constraint value actually drives the geometry position, or, conversely, is driven by it.
Example:
The following example retrieves in currentMode the driving mode for the distCst distance constraint: 
 currentMode = distCst.Mode
Property Orientation() As
Returns or sets the constraint orientation. This is used for constraints that involve two geometric elements and specifies the orientation for the second geometric element with regard to the first one, when several possible orientations are all satisfying the constraint.
Example:
The following example retrieves the in distCstOrient the orientation of the distCst distance constraint: 
 distCstOrient = distCst.Orientation
Property ReferenceAxis() As
Returns or sets the constraint reference axis. AxisParallel or AxisPerpendicular constraint types define which axis they relate to through this property, which makes no sense for constraints of another type.
Example:
The following example retrieves in refAxis the reference axis for the axisPerpCst AxisPerpendicular constraint: 
 refAxis = axisPerpCst.ReferenceAxis
Property ReferenceType() As
Returns or sets the constraint reference type. This property is used only for Reference constraints in the Assembly context.
Example:
The following example applies to the reference constraint refCst2 the reference type of the constraint refCst1. 
 refCst2.ReferenceType = refCst1.ReferenceType
Property Side() As
Returns or sets the constraint side. Some constraint types need to relatively position the constrained geometries, when several possible configurations are all satisfying the constraint.
Example:
The following example retrieves in distCstSide the side of the distCst distance constraint: 
 distCstSide = distCst.Side
Property Status() As (Read Only)
Returns the constraint status. The constraint status is a diagnosis on whether the constraint is satisfied.
Example:
The following example retrieves the status of the distCst distance constraint. 
 distCstSts = distCst.Status
Property Type() As (Read Only)
Returns the constraint type.
Example:
The following example returns in cstType the type of the firstCst constraint: 
 cstType = firstCst.Type

Methods


Sub Activate()
Unsuppresses a constraint for the update process. An activated constraint is again taken into account for the calculation of the part or product.
Example:
The following example es the pad1 pad:
Example:
The following example activates the tangencyCst constraint : 
 tangencyCst.Activate
Sub Deactivate()
Suppresses the constraint from being updated. A deactivated constraint is not taken into account for the calculation of the part or of the product.
Example:
The following example deactivates the tangencyCst constraint from being updated: 
 tangencyCst.Deactivate
Func GetConstraintElement( iElementNumber) As
Reads an element of a constraint.
Parameters:
iElementNumber
The number of the element of the constraint to be read. (1 for the first element,2 for the second, 3 for the third). Notice it must not exceed the total number of elements of the constraint. (eg : not allowed to read the third element of a tangency).
oCurrentElement
An element of the constraint.
Example:
The following example reads the first element of a constraint 
 Dim reference1 As Reference
 reference1=tangencyCst.GetConstraintElement( 1 )
Sub GetConstraintVisuLocation( oAnchorPoint, oAnchorVector)
Returns the constraint visualisation location. When displayed on screen, the constraint is visualized as a dimension positioned close to the constrained geometric element(s). This method retrieves the data used to position this representation within the 3D space.
Parameters:
oAnchorPoint
A Safe Array made up of 3 doubles: X, Y, Z, representing the coordinates in model space of the point where the constraint value is displayed.
oAnchorVector
A Safe Array made up of 3 doubles : X, Y, Z, representing the vector normal to the plane onto which the constraint value is displayed.
Example:
The following example retrieves in anchorPt the anchor point of the tangencyCst tangency constraint: 
 Dim anchorPoint(2)
 Dim anchorVector(2)
 tangencyCst.ConstraintVisuLocation anchorPoint,vectorPoint
Func IsInactive() As
Indicates whether a constraint is suppressed from the update process. A suppressed constraint is not taken into account for the calculation of part or the product. The method returns True if the constraint is not active, False if the constraint is active.
Example:
The following example returns in isInactive whether the tangencyCst constraint is suppressed from the update process: 
 Set isInactive = tangencyCst.IsInactive
Sub SetConstraintElement( iElementNumber, iNewElement)
Replaces an element of a constraint.
Parameters:
iElementNumber
The number of the element of the constraint to replace. (1 for the first element,2 for the second, 3 for the third).
iNewElement
A new element of the constraint.
Example:
The following example changes the second element of a constraint 
 Dim reference1 As Reference
 tangencyCst.SetConstraintElement ( 2, reference1)
Sub SetConstraintVisuLocation( iNewX, iNewY, iNewZ)
Sets a new location for the constraint visualization.
Parameters:
iNewX
The new value for the constraint anchor point X coordinate
iNewY
The new value for the constraint anchor point Y coordinate
iNewZ
The new value for the constraint anchor point Z coordinate
Example:
The following example changes the anchor point coordinates to 10,0,0 
 tangencyCst.SetConstraintVisuLocation 10,0,0