Inquire

The commands on this page are accessed from Tools tab Inquire panel in the FEA Editor.

Number of Objects in a Model

Count Total Objects: Selecting this command will launch a dialog that will display how many objects are in the current model.

Number of Objects in the Current Selection Set

If multiple lines, multiple construction objects, and so on are selected, right-click and choose Inquire to get a tooltip with the number of items selected.

Properties of an Object

To determine the properties of an object, whether a part, surface, line, and so on, select the object, right-click, and choose Inquire. The types of properties shown will depend on the selection. For example, the inquiry for lines will give the length, coordinates of the ends, and the part, surface, and layer numbers of the line.

Tip: The tooltip appears briefly when the cursor is held over an object regardless of whether it is selected or not. Selecting the object and using the right-click Inquire command will display the tooltip until the mouse is clicked somewhere else.

Lengths of the Shortest and Longest Lines in a Model

Minimum and Maximum Length: Selecting this command launches a dialog box that displays the length of the longest line in the model and the length of the shortest line in the model. The relevant lines are also selected in the display area.

Knowing the longest line can help locate overlapping lines that may exist from poor meshing techniques. Knowing the shortest line is useful when setting a search tolerance before doing a global snap; the tolerance should be less than the shortest line.

Measure Distances

There are multiple ways to measure distances in the FEA Editor:

• Use Tools Inquire Measure to get a measuring dialog box. When in line selection mode (Selection Select Lines or Construction Objects), clicking on an object will give the coordinates of the endpoints and the DX, DY, DZ for the object in the Length of last selection section. When in vertex selection mode (Selection Select Vertices), clicking on a node will snap a rubber band to that node. Click another node to get the distance to the node, and so on.

  For each measurement made, the total is given in the Cumulative length section. Use the Reset button to clear the cumulative measurement.

• If two vertices are selected (Selection Select Vertices), right-click and choose Inquire. A tooltip will appear with the distance between the vertices.
  Tip: Use the Options Setup dialog and set the Decimal under Inquire to control the precision of the numbers shown in the tooltip.

Determine the Angle Between 3 Vertices:

Selected Vertices Angle: Selecting this command will launch a dialog box that will display the angle between the last three points selected. Alternatively, select three vertices, right-click and choose Inquire.

Determine the Angle Between Two Lines:

Selected Lines Angle: Selecting this command will launch a dialog that will display the angle between the last two selected lines. The lines need to share a common vertex.