Setting the Height of an Assembly

New in v4! You can now edit the height of an assembly interactively using the new assembly height tool.

Or, you can enter the new assembly height in the text box and press Enter to apply.

Assembly Height Tool

The current height of the assembly is displayed in the height text field.  The current height is measured from the lowest point to the highest point of the assembly geometry.

Click the button next to the height value to launch the height tool.

When the height tool is activated, the current assembly will be displayed in your view.  Take note of the tool interface:

1. Current height value for the assembly
2. Click the top blue line to stretch or shrink the assembly from the top.
3. Click the bottom blue line to stretch or shrink the assembly from the bottom.
4. Click the green vertical line to adjust the length of the assembly displayed for the height tool.  This only affects the length while the height tool is activated.  It has no effect on the actual height of the assembly.
5. Click the red line to position the stretch plane.  The position of the red line determines how the assembly will be stretched or shrunk.
6. Instead of using the blue lines, you can simply type in a new height value in the measurements field.

In the image below, the red line was positioned near the middle of the assembly and the top blue line was used to shrink the assembly.  The green line was also used to shorten the length.

Next, the red line is moved to intersect the framing above the opening.

Next, the top blue line is used to stretch the top framing.

You can continue to perform adjustments to the assembly height while the tool is active.  Take note of the keyboard controls below:

• TAB = Reset the view so the assembly fits nicely in the viewport
• ESC = Cancel and exit the height tool without applying the changes
• BACKSPACE = Undo the last height change
• CTRL + Z (Undo) = Undo all height changes
• ENTER or RETURN = Apply height changes and exit the tool

Apply the height changes by pressing ENTER or RETURN.  The height tool will exit and your previous camera view will be shown.  The assembly dialog settings and thumbnail will be updated to reflect the height changes you made with the tool.

If you want to apply the new height to an assembly that has already been built in your model, simply select the assembly in your model and apply the attributes.

How does it work?

When setting the height of an assembly, the assembly will be stretched and several changes may occur:

• Profile Member parts may have their own profile 'height' attribute modified to suit the new assembly height if the stretch plane intersects the Profile Member
• Component parts may be made unique and have their internal geometry modified to suit the new assembly height. Components parts will not be scaled by this operation. Rather, the internal geometry will be stretched by moving edges and vertices.
• Profile Member, Component, and Span parts may have their Up / Down offset attribute modified to suit the new assembly height