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Chris3
Chris321-Topaz I
21-Topaz I
June 9, 2023
Solved

Making UDFs with annotation features that are independent of a annotation plane

  • June 9, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 2957 views

I have a UDF that has annotation features

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When I use this UDF in another part, if the annotation plane is different from the one that the UDF was created in then the annotations come in with the suppressed icon next to them and while you can see them briefly if you edit the dimension they are associated to they will not show up using the show annotations button.

Capture.PNG

I opened up a ticket and PTCs response was that I need to place the UDF in the same annotation plane that it was originally made in. This means that I would need 6 different UDFs that all have the same features. My users would need to figure out what annotation plane they are working in and then pick the correct UDF that corresponds.

 

Am I missing something? Does anyone know of a work around for this? If there is none then I can open an idea, seems like PTC should be able to auto change the annotation plane to correspond to one that the UDF placement is parallel to.

    Best answer by Chris3

    I opened a call with PTC and the confirmed the behavior. They stated that if you select the suppressed annotations and then click "move to plane" then it will unsupress and show on the plane you picked. The text is often not in the orientation you want but this does work.

     

    If the annotations were made on the front annotation plan and the UDF in the next part is also made on the front plane everything is great. The issue is when the UDF is used on the right annotation plane for instance when it was originally defined in the front annotation plane.

    4 replies

    tbraxton
    22-Sapphire II
    tbraxton22-Sapphire II
    22-Sapphire II
    September 16, 2023

    I have been facing a similar issue with the use of annotations within UDF shown in drawing views. I gather that you are not working with drawings, but the issue may share elements leading to a common solution. In my case the annotations are created in a section view. I have created a simplified drawing for each UDF that I am importing into design drawings that use the UDF. This is a workaround for 2D.

     

    If you can post the UDF models or at least pictures of the UDF and the annotations captured for re-use that would be helpful.

    I am not sure I follow the response from PTC;

    "need to place the UDF in the same annotation plane that it was originally made in"

     

    Can you place a link to the call log on the support site?

     

    With UDFs the intent is to have all needed references (for features) within the UDF definition. I expect that PTC would follow the same paradigm for annotations defined within the UDF. If this is the case, then perhaps we should consider the definition of a combined state within the UDF and having this propagate to any model receiving the UDF. I am not sure this is currently supported, have you tried this?

    Chris3
    Chris321-Topaz IAuthorAnswer
    21-Topaz I
    September 22, 2023

    I opened a call with PTC and the confirmed the behavior. They stated that if you select the suppressed annotations and then click "move to plane" then it will unsupress and show on the plane you picked. The text is often not in the orientation you want but this does work.

     

    If the annotations were made on the front annotation plan and the UDF in the next part is also made on the front plane everything is great. The issue is when the UDF is used on the right annotation plane for instance when it was originally defined in the front annotation plane.

    D
    dhebel8-Gravel
    8-Gravel
    August 21, 2025

    What version of CREO do I need to include 3D Annotations in a UDF group?

    Chris3
    Chris321-Topaz IAuthor
    21-Topaz I
    August 25, 2025

    You need to put them in an annotation feature and then you can include that feature in the UDF. I believe that annotation features were introduced in Creo 4.

    bbrejcha
    bbrejcha15-Moonstone
    15-Moonstone
    August 26, 2025

    In my opinion UDF's should get themselves a serious facelift starting w/ the name. Catia calls is 'powercopy'  powerful copy / library copy / reusable templates

     

     UDF is not so exhilarating and also not the wording of how powerful these utilities can be.    Im not sure why the plane the MBD is place upon is not picked up in the definition selection.  I suppose this is not the place to direct thoughts on updates for UDF's but I spent 5 min thinking about it and want to list out my thoughts. 

     

    Bart Brejcha designengine.com 

    Bart Brejecha designengine.com
    Chris3
    Chris321-Topaz IAuthor
    21-Topaz I
    August 27, 2025

    @bbrejcha , UDFs are undergoing a facelift with Creo 13. If you want to get your ideas to PTC I would encourage you to sign up for the alpha testing.

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