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Changing XY values reported by Selection Info Pallet; i,e, set current WorkPlane
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* October 06, 2017, 12:12:21 PM
When object's position is moved using Modify -> Transform -> Move function, the values reported in the Section Info Pallet do not change.
    This can be confusing...it seems like the move is not actually changing the objects position, but only changing where it is on the current WorkPlane.
        It seems impossible to change the value reported in Selection Info without selecting each object individually and then changing each XYZ value in the Selection Info Pallet.
            If this is the only way to change the XYZ value reported for each object, this would take an enormous amount of time.

The reason this happens is because the XYZ values reported in Selection Info Pallet for given object are always the values they are given when the object is first created. These values assigned to each point on the object are calculated from the Current WorkPlane including the current WorkPlane Origin.
    Because the current WorkPlane Origin is taken into account when assigning the XYZ values of an object, it's possible to have 2 identical objects occupy the same exact space, and their XYZ values reported in the Selection Info Pallet be different. This is because they were each created on a WorkPlane that had the same Z value, but had a different WorkPlane Origin (different Origin XY value). It turns out a WorkPlane is not simply a Z value...it's a Z value and a specific origin.

Question: How do you reset the values reported in the Selection Info Pallet to be consistent across multiple objects in the same 'Plane'?
    There's a reason why I said 'Plane' and not 'WorkPlane'. This is because objects can be on the same 'Plane' without being on the same 'WorkPlane'. Unless you also specify the WorkPlane Origin, you cannot guarantee the objects are on the same WorkPlane.
    So, to synchronize the values shown in the Selection Info Pallet between objects, you need to:
        Select a WorkPlane (and WorkPlane Origin):
            You can do this using either the 'WorkPlane by Entity', 'Workplane by 3 Points' or 'WorkPlane by Facet' tool.
            Then set the WorkPlane Origin using 'WorkPlane Origin'.
            Then, select all the objects you want to have consistent Selection Info, then execute the command Modify ->  'Place on WorkPlane'.
                 This changes the XY values reported in the Selection Info Pallet to be relative to the current 'WorkPlane Origin'.

The reason this technique is so powerful is because you can now look at the Selection Info for all objects and the XY values will be consistent across all objects you're working on.
It's important to do this after creating multiple objects where the Origin was different and also after you've loaded symbols from the library. This doesn't have to be done every time you build a new object or load a symbol, just when you want to see the correct relationship between objects by looking at their Selection Info.
  And you could go through a lot of trouble placing symbols on a certain WorkPlane before placing them into the Library, however, unless you remember to set the current WorkPlane/WorkPlane Origin every time you pull a symbol from the Library, that WorkPlane will almost always be different.

I've seen posts that try to explain how to do this, however, none of the posts address the following issues directly:
    The user didn't fully understanding the concept of WorkPlane and how critical the WorkPlane Origin is (me)
    An object will have XY coordinates based on the defined WorkPlane/WorkPlane Origin at the time it was created.
    The XY coordinates of an object will not change when a Transform -> Move is performed.
    The XY coordinates only change if edited in Selection Info Pallet or object is moved to another WorkPlane/WorkPlane Origin



October 08, 2017, 02:56:32 PM
Hello John.  I have two questions for you.  First, to what are you referring to when you say "XYZ value in the Selection Info Pallet"?

Alvin Gregorio
Intermittent TurboCAD user since yr. 2000 (ver6.5).  No formal CAD Training.
---TurboCAD: V21PP; V20.2PP; V19DL; V11.2Pro; Windows-7-Pro/64-bit; Intel-Core-i3 CPU; 2.27ghz; 4GB RAM; Intel HD Graphics (CPU based)

* October 08, 2017, 09:33:30 PM

I believe he may be referring to what is found in the "Vertices" section for a Polyline or the "Start & Finish Point" for a Line.

John R.

V17—V21, 2015—2019
Designer, Deluxe, (Professional, Expert, Basic), Platinum
RedSDK enabled
Windows 10 Pro (1903), 64-bit

* November 02, 2017, 08:42:09 AM
Click on 'Tools -> Pallettes -> Selection Info' and the Selection Info Pallette will be shown.
    This is a window that gives details for the currently selected object.
If you then click on any object in the design space...for example a line...you will see the detailed information for that object.
    In the case of a line, it will show 'Metrics', such as 'Start Point', 'End Point', 'Length' and 'Angle'

If you set the WorkPlane and the WorkPlane Origin before adding or modifying new objects, the values shown in 'Metrics' will be consistent across all objects which were drawn with the same WorkPlane Origin (implying the same WorkPlane).
If you do not set the WorkPlane and WorkPlane Origin, the values seen in 'Metrics' in the Selection Info Pallette will not be consistent across all objects. This is true because some objects were not drawn on the same WorkPlane as other objects.

It is brutally crucial that you keep track of the WorkPlane when drawing multiple objects, if you want to be able to change object locations and see their relative locations in the Selection Info Pallette. All Objects in 2D space must be on the exact same WorkPlane to be able to use the Inspector Bar to change Scale X,Y,Z, Size X,Y,Z, Position X,Y,Z, Delta X,Y,Z, Rotate X,Y,Z and Delta Rotate X,Y,Z and see sensible values in the Selection Info Pallete ('Metrics').
Otherwise, it will get very confusing when looking at the Selection Info from one object to another. Your point of reference will be moving, making it impossible to draw anything of any complexity without taking forever to do it.

While I'm working on multiple objects in one design I create both a reference facet (I use an extruded box) and a set of crossing lines on that facet (the crossing lines don't have to be inside the box...they can be anywhere that's convenient), which I use to get back to an exact WorkPlane. I use 'By Facet' followed by 'WorkPlane Origin' to restore the UCS to the exact WorkPlane I want to use for the design. If I need to use more than one WorkPlane I create a new facet and crossing line pair.
In some of my designs I have over 20 Facet/crossing line pairs. I locate each of them on their own custom SCONSTRUCTION layer (SCON1, SCON2, etc.) so I can temporarily hide them.
Other people may have other ways of doing this...this is just what works for me.
« Last Edit: November 02, 2017, 11:27:21 AM by jmwright1058 »