PowerSHAPE

14. Levels

14. Levels
Levels
Levels allow you to put different objects on different levels, which can de displayed or hidden to manage complex models. There are 1000 Levels in PowerSHAPE so it is a good idea to give them useful names. Levels 998 and 999 are reserved for Admin. It is good practise to generate a levels standard so no matter whose job you pick up within the company you will still be able to easily find the required data.

Example
Create a new model. Create a workplane at 0. Import the file Corner_Bowl.dgk from E:\Users\Training\PowerSHAPE_data\psmodels_n_dgk. Select an ISO1 view.

This model contains a mixture of wireframe and surfaces. The model may also contain duplicate entities that could either be wireframe, surfaces or a mixture of both. It is advisable to either move these items to a level or delete them.

Drag a window around all of the visible surfaces and wireframe. From the Tools menu select Find duplicates.

Check the box Find duplicates in current selection then Accept the form.
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There are a number of ways to see if PowerSHAPE has detected any duplicates. Firstly they will be highlighted yellow on the screen, the Delete of the screen will become active or clicking the Selection Information any items found. icon at the top icon will list

PowerSHAPE has detected some duplicates within the model so for this exercise they will be transferred to a level. Note There is a problem with PowerSHAPE being able to detect Duplicate solids. The work around for the moment is to convert solids into surfaces before running Find Duplicates. If no duplicates are found then Undo to return back to Solids again.

Select the level icon.

This brings up the levels form. This form is used to name levels and to switch levels on and off. By default, levels 0 to 4 are switched on as shown by ticks on the left and have also been given names.

Place the cursor in level 5 and type in Duplicates to give the level a name.

Dismiss the levels form.

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There is a levels toolbar, which displays the used levels of the model by number on the left of the screen. These can then be switched on and off.

To place the duplicate items on to level 5, position the mouse pointer over the level number in the Levels Toolbar, and press the middle mouse button.

The level toolbar can be seen on the left hand side of the screen. It displays the first 5 levels and then any other levels you have created. Levels are switched on and off by clicking on the level number.

Click on the level 0 (General) to switch it off, and then click on level 5 (Duplicates) to turn the level on.
Turning off level 0 (General), will remove the complete model from the screen so that when level 5 (Duplicates) is switched on, the items on that level can be viewed clearly.

Selecting the active level to work on can be achieved using the current level pull down form (top of screen). By choosing a level it will make it active. Be careful when doing this that nothing is selected otherwise the item will be moved to that level.

Select level 0 (General) from the pull down form (seen above).

A warning will appear explaining that the level selected is switched off. Alternatively select the level number, 0 on the levels toolbar to switch the General level on.

Select Yes to activate the General level. Turn off level 5 (Duplicates) if not already off.
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Open the Levels form and create two further levels, 6 as Core and 7 as Cavity. Dismiss the form. Select the bottom solid and press the middle mouse button over level number 6 in the levels toolbar. Select the top solid and repeat the above process for level 7.
Both items are now assigned to there own levels and can be switched on individually at any time. The component solid and construction wireframe remain on level 0 (General). PowerSHAPE has the ability to allow Grouping of levels. By grouping items together the user can manage parts of the model more efficiently and effectively. For this next exercise we are going to group together the remaining wireframe and component solid.

Select the level icon. In level 8 type the following, Component : Wireframe and in level 9 type Component : Surfaces.

The word Component represents the Group name and the word Wireframe or Surfaces the level name.

Dismiss the Levels form.

The two levels now belong to the group called Component. On the Levels toolbar, the following changes can be seen: A new button appears representing the group of levels. The buttons of the two levels have changed to the same colour (Blue). The colour of the group button matches that of the two levels.

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Levels can be turned on and off using the group button. If you right-click on a button on the level toolbar, a pop up menu is displayed. This menu is used to turn on a single button using the Solo option or blank and unblank objects. In the case of a group button, when you select Solo, all the levels in that group are turned on. If further Groups are created then a new colour will be assigned to that Group making it easily distinguishable from others.

To easily separate the wireframe from the surfaces select the Quick select all wireframes icon from the Select menu. Place the wireframe on to level 8 using the middle mouse button over the level number in the levels toolbar. Drag a box around the remaining component solid and place it onto level 9.
It is important to remember that whatever level is displayed in the Levels pull down menu at the top of the screen, any further wireframe or surface creation added will be assigned to that level.

From the Levels pull down menu select the General Level.
In some instances it is advisable to make safe copies of surface or wireframe entities to save time having to recreate them later on if required. For this exercise we will copy the core solid and paste it onto the General level 0.

Turn on Level 6 to display the Core solid. Drag a box around the solid to select it. The solid will turn yellow. Select the Copy icon from the top menu Select the Paste icon next to the Copy icon that has now become active.
It may appear as though nothing has actually happened, but the surfaces that are displayed yellow are the new copies of the original. Care needs to be taken that multiple copies are not created accidentally when using the Copy/Paste functions. This could cause problems later on when Limiting or Filleting etc.

Move the new copy of the Core solid to the General level 0 using the middle mouse button technique. Switch off level 6. Toggle on and off Level 0 (General) to check if the new copy has been successfully transferred.

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14. Levels Pump Project Example.continued

Using the pump example we can put the blanked wireframe onto a named level.

PowerSHAPE

Open the model pump-project2. Name level 5 as geometry, Quick select all wireframes and apply blank except (Ctrl K). Move the selected wireframe to level 5 and switch the level off. Save the model.

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