Part EditAttachment

Description
Part EditAttachment is a utility to attach an object to another one. The attached object is linked to the other object, which means that if the latter's placement is changed afterwards, the attached object will update to its new position.

Usage

 * 1) Select the object to be attached.
 * 2) Go to the Part → Attachment... menu.
 * Note: when working in PartDesign and creating sketches, datum geometry or primitives, steps 1 and 2 are unnecessary: the Attachment dialogue is brought up automatically.
 * 1) Under Attachment parameters, Not attached can be read. The first button below is labeled  to indicate it is expecting a selection in the 3D view.
 * 2) Select a topology element on the object to attach to: vertex, edge or face/plane. Datum geometry from Part containers are also selectable.
 * 3) The first button's label now adopts the type of topology selected. In the white field to its right, the referenced object and its element is added. For example, if a face on a primitive cube is selected, the field will show Box:Face6.
 * 4) Select an Attachment mode in the list. The available modes are filtered by the selected references. Attached with mode  will be displayed under the Attachment header.
 * For live information on the attachment modes, hover the mouse on top of one of the modes in the list for a tooltip to appear.
 * 1) Optionally, add up to 3 more references by pressing the, , and  buttons and repeating step 4.
 * 2) Optionally set an Attachment Offset.
 * 3) Press.

Deactivated
Attachment is disabled. Object can be moved by editing Placement property.

Translate origin
Origin is aligned to match Vertex. Orientation is controlled by Placement property.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Vertex.

Object's X Y Z
Placement is made equal to Placement of linked object.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Any
 * Conic

Object's X Z Y
X, Y, Z axes are matched with linked object's local X, Z, -Y, respectively.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Any
 * Conic

Object's Y Z X
X, Y, Z axes are matched with linked object's local Y, Z, X, respectively.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Any
 * Conic

XY on plane
XY plane is aligned to coincide with planar face.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Plane

XY tangent to surface
XY plane is made tangent to surface at vertex


 * Reference combinations:
 * Face, Vertex
 * Vertex, Face

Z tangent to edge
Z axis is aligned to be tangent to edge. Optional vertex link defines where.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Edge
 * Edge, Vertex
 * Vertex, Edge

Frenet NBT
Align to Frenet-Serret coordinate system of curved edge. Optional vertex link defines where.

Plane is set to normal-binormal (NB) axes of Frenet-Serret coordinates at the point of the edge's curve that is closest to the vertex (or defined by, if vertex is not linked). The object's origin is translated to the vertex if the vertex is first, or kept at the curve if edge is first. This mode is similar to Z tangent to edge, except that X axis is well-defined.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Curve
 * Curve, Vertex
 * Vertex, Curve
 * Attacher mode FrenetNB.png

Frenet TNB
Align to Frenet-Serret coordinate system of curved edge. Optional vertex link defines where.

Plane is set to tangent-normal (TN) axes of Frenet-Serret coordinates at the point of the edge's curve that is closest to the vertex (or defined by property, if vertex is not linked). The origin of sketch is translated to the vertex if the vertex is first, or kept at the curve if edge is first. Effectively, if the curve is planar, the sketching plane is the plane of the curve.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Curve
 * Curve, Vertex
 * Vertex, Curve
 * Attacher_mode_FrenetTN.png

Frenet TBN
Align to Frenet-Serret coordinate system of curved edge. Optional vertex link defines where.

Plane is set tangent-binormal (TB) axes of Frenet-Serret coordinates at the point of the edge's curve that is closest to the vertex (or defined by property, if vertex is not linked). The origin of sketch is translated to the vertex if the vertex is first, or kept at the curve if edge is first.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Curve
 * Curve, Vertex
 * Vertex, Curve
 * Attacher_mode_FrenetTB.png

Concentric
Align XY plane to osculating circle of an edge. Optional vertex link defines where.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Curve
 * Circle
 * Curve, Vertex
 * Circle, Vertex
 * Vertex, Curve
 * Vertex, Circle

Revolution Section
Align Y axis to match axis of osculating circle of an edge. Optional vertex link defines where.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Curve
 * Circle
 * Curve, Vertex
 * Circle, Vertex
 * Vertex, Curve
 * Vertex, Circle

XY plane by 3 points
Align XY plane to pass through three vertices.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
 * Line, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line
 * Line, Line

XZ plane by 3 points
Align XZ plane to pass through three vertices. X axis will pass through first two vertices.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
 * Line, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line
 * Line, Line

Folding
Specialty mode for folding polyhedra. Select four edges in order: foldable edge, fold line, other fold line, other foldable edge. XY plane will be aligned to folding the first edge.


 * Reference combinations
 * Line, Line, Line, Line
 * Attacher_mode_Folding.png

Inertia CS
Inertial coordinate system, constructed on principal axes of inertia and center of mass.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Any
 * Any, Any
 * Any, Any, Any
 * Any, Any, Any, Any

See Align O-X-Y type attachment modes for more details on the following modes:

Align O-Z-X
Match origin with first Vertex. Align Z and X axes towards vertex/along line.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Vertex, Line
 * Vertex, Line, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line, Line
 * Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line

Align O-Z-Y
Match origin with first Vertex. Align Z and Y axes towards vertex/along line.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Vertex, Line
 * Vertex, Line, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line, Line
 * Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line

Align O-X-Y
Match origin with first Vertex. Align X and Y axes towards vertex/along line.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Vertex, Line
 * Vertex, Line, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line, Line
 * Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line

Align O-X-Z
Match origin with first Vertex. Align X and Z axes towards vertex/along line.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Vertex, Line
 * Vertex, Line, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line, Line
 * Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line

Align O-Y-Z
Match origin with first Vertex. Align Y and Z axes towards vertex/along line.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Vertex, Line
 * Vertex, Line, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line, Line
 * Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line

Align O-Y-X
Match origin with first Vertex. Align Y and X axes towards vertex/along line.


 * Reference combinations:
 * Vertex, Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Vertex, Line
 * Vertex, Line, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line, Line
 * Vertex, Vertex
 * Vertex, Line

Attachment Offset
Attachment Offset is used to apply a linear or rotary offset from the referenced object. That means the offsets are relative to the local coordinate system, not to the global. It becomes active when an attachment mode other than Deactivated has been selected.


 * X: sets an offset distance in the X axis of the reference object.


 * Y: sets an offset distance in the Y axis of the reference object.


 * Z: sets an offset distance in the Z axis of the reference object. This coordinate is to be used for the frequent use case that you want to offset a sketch perpendicular to the plane.


 * Yaw: rotates the attached object along the reference object's Z axis.


 * Pitch: rotates the attached object along the reference object's Y axis.


 * Roll: rotates the attached object along the reference object's X axis.


 * Flip sides: if checked, the attached object is reversed from its XY plane.

Limitations

 * Part and Body containers are not supported. While it's possible to use Attachment to align them, the attachment won't be parametrically linked.
 * If selecting two lines results in a traceback with "points are collinear. Can't make a plane", try selecting three points instead.