Create AutoLimits in design

Place limits on specified aspects of a design, and receive notification whenever changes in monitored aspects exceed limits.

When you create an AutoLimit, you specify the limits for each notification level. If a change in the model exceeds a set level, a symbol displays in the graphics window.

To monitor the length of a line, circle, ellipse, arc, spline, or edge in the 2D and 3D environments, use the Length AutoLimit.

Note: AutoLimits without defined boundaries or not within specified boundary ranges display in the browser with a gray X.

1. On the ribbon, click Inspect tab AutoLimits panel AutoLimits Settings, and set preferences for each AutoLimit type. Set default visibility and boundaries, such as how tolerances are calculated, precision level, method of calculating limits, and lower and upper limits.
2. Click an AutoLimit command. In the dialog box, click the icon to create the AutoLimit. For example, in the Dimensional AutoLimits dialog box, click Distance.
3. In the graphics window, select the geometry that you want to monitor. In the dialog box, in Selections, the availability of selections depends on the geometry you select.

   If necessary, in the AutoLimit table, select Click to Add, and add more geometry.

4. The Value column shows the total value of selections for that row. The Cumulative column shows the sum, or difference of the rows.
5. In the left column, change the +/- sign to add or subtract the row value from the cumulative total.
6. On the Boundary tab, define the Lower value and the Upper value. Use the comparison mathematical operators (LSign and USign). For example:
   • In the Boundaries table, select Click to Add. The first value establishes the green zone (OK), by default. By default, 10% of the geometry length is used for Lower and Upper.
   • If necessary to select a different mathematical operator, click LSign or USign.
   • Select Click to Add to add the yellow zone (Warning), if necessary. By default, Lower and Upper are 70-90% and 110-130%, respectively.
   • Select Click to Add to add the red zone (Serious Warning), if necessary. By default, Lower and Upper are less than 60 or greater than 140, or 50-70 or 130-150, respectively.
   Note: Do not enter values that allow boundaries to overlap, or enter mathematical expressions in the table. If so, reset the boundaries.
7. In the Level column, change the definition of the warning level for each highlighted boundary. Click the green, yellow, or red option from the list to redefine.
8. From the Display Precision list, select the level of precision (number of decimal places) to specify for tolerances.
9. Click Apply to add the AutoLimit. Continue to create AutoLimits as necessary, or click OK to close the dialog box.

Tip:

• To ease selection of the AutoLimits glyphs, ensure that the selection filter is set to Feature Priority. On the Quick Access toolbar, on the drop-down menu for Select command, and click Feature Priority.
• Use AutoLimits sparingly, monitoring only critical design information. Typically, you can have only one to seven AutoLimits in an assembly.
• To add all five boundary levels at once, in an AutoLimits dialog box, on the Boundary tab, press ALT + click in an empty table. Using this method, only five boundary levels are available.
• If you add boundary levels individually, there is no limit to how many you can add.
• It is most valuable to create rows representing least values to greatest values from top to bottom.
• To insert a lower boundary condition, click an empty table row, and then press CTRL + click.
• In an Angle AutoLimit, to monitor a point-point-point angle, select three points individually. Other angle types require only two selections.
• Boundary tab values correspond to cumulative values on the AutoLimits tabs.
• To show information about the AutoLimit, place the cursor over an AutoLimit browser node.
• When copying AutoLimits, first create a group. Copy the AutoLimits, and then paste into the group.
• If you suppress an assembly component, its AutoLimits are unavailable. If you unsuppress the component, the AutoLimits are restored. (Realtime Refresh must be set to On.)
• AutoLimit inputs utilize the locate Tolerance listed in the Application Options General tab. Thus, when you move the cursor, the highlighted object changes based on the Locate Tolerance and cursor position.