NX DSL 7.0.0 Release Notes


Drawing Format

Note: All blocks created before NX 5will be shown as out of date. They must be updated before their fields can be edited.

User Client

Updated UI to the new NX 5 UI practices.

Added a toggle  to automatically enter the edit block dialog after inserting a drawing sheet (Ticket #200).

Added a toggle to automatically enter the edit fields dialog after inserting a format block (Ticket #200).

Format block fields that are not displayed in the current block style are now disabled in the edit block fields dialog (Ticket #203).

Drawing sheets that contains a drawing format can now be exported to other parts without needing to remove the format and then re-create it in the other part file. This also means drawing formats will properly work with the NX 5 drawing sheet templates.

Added a Delete All Entries button to the edit fields dialog.

Custom drawing sizes can now be specified when inserting or editing a sheet. If editting the sheet, any drawing format currently on the sheet will be removed.

Drawing sheet names are now validated  so better error messages are presented to the user. Valid characters are alphanumerics and the underscore. Sheet names must begin with a letter.

Drawing scale is now a list common choices. Choose Custom Scale to input a scale not in the list.

Entry symbols can now be associated to a view so the symbol's location is relative to the view's location.

Configure

Block styles can now use a general drawing part as a template in addition to the current tabular note template (Ticket #178).

Format block field definitions must now specify the type of control is used in the block's dialog. Pre-NX 5 block fields default to no control which will result in field being uneditable so they must be updated before the edit block fields dialog will function again. This change introduces the new date control type which is a string control with an associated push button that will set the string field to the current date in GM format..

Format block field defintions with the type of Text and dialog control of NoControl are now considered as static fields. So the field's value will always be set to the fields current default value during block updates. 

Added a delegate library option to block layouts. This allows a block to direct the editting of the block fields to a third party code that will be responsible for handling the UI and making the edits. Delegate functions are primarily for blocks that need more complex dialogs that the built-in UI cannot handle.

Delphi Formats

The Drawing Number field in the title block is now a calculated field by default. For native NX, the value is the text up until the first period in the filename. In Teamcenter, the value is the text up until a dash character is encountered in the part number. There is a toggle button next to the input control to enable editing of the default value.

The Scale field is now a list of choices. The default value is associated to the drawing's default scale.

The History field in the Revision Block edit dialog now has an option to use the NX Annotation Editor for editting the text. This allows the user to easily add GD&T and other symbols and use the preview window to verify the text being entered (Ticket #26).

The title block will be shown as out of date if the company name or address is different then what is entered in the Local Drawing Format Settings.  Updating the title block will update the values.

The Type field in a Designated Characteristics block entry now controls which symbols and fields are valid for input. This should improve quality control in the use of the block. 

The N/A field in the titleblock now properly updates from the values in the revision block. Entering a space to "reset" the value should no longer be needed (Ticket #191).

Part Properties

Expressions

Updated the UI to be consistent with the NX 5 UI. When editing pre-NX 5 created expressions, the previous version will be deleted and you will be asked to reselect the calculation solids.

Added a new way to select the calculation solids. The options now are by reference set and manual selection. The reference set option is the default  and it will use all the solids in the selected reference set for the calculations.

Note

The create note program has been removed since it is now integrated into the format program. When you insert a format block,  a Part Property Note block will be available. You can choose between the consolidated or itemized styles.

The part property note can now be easily edited and the style changed. For example, a note that originially had the surface area property removed can now add it back without needing to recreate the note. New components can also be added to the note without needing a recreation.

API

Since the note is now integrated with the format program, the format program API can now be used to obtain the part property data from the drawing instead of the expressions. The expressions can still be used, but using the format program API will be a more robust method.

DSL Configure Program

Environment variable values are now checked for syntax errors. If mismatched {} or % is found, the value will be highlighted in red.

Environment variable names are now checked to be valid and highlighted red if not. Valid names are alphanumeric characters and underscore. Name cannot begin with underscore or digits. A hash(#) character is also valid in the first position of the name which effectively disables the variable.

Added capability to define external DSL Plugins. The location of external plugins is a Site Settings input field. If set, each subdirectory is considered a potential plugin. Use the Plugin panel to define the applications and variables for the plugin. Note that external DSL plugins will not be automatically added to the NX search path so are not designed for NX custom applications. One use of external plugins would be for common Teamcenter utilities.

Layer Browser

A tool that helps in understanding the organization of the work part. Only one layer will be visible at a time. There are controls that allow stepping through the layers that contain objects.

Object Browser 

A tool that  scans and lists all objects by type(with count) in the work part. The list can be filtered by layer, view dependency, show/hide status, and name. The information of every object  can be shown. Other basic operations on the objects can be accomplished with the tool.