symbol creation - insert image in symbol

[ptc-2229402]

It is impossible to insert images in symbols. When using view element , as group , Dimensions and notes attached to the view are not supports.

As 2D sketcher management is poor in 2D environment, symbol creation can be a good alternative when model cannot render the exact situation

[dhermosillo]

Other things to fix in the sketcher too:

Update the Symbol Sketcher

[lscheeler]

Highest ranking similar idea and is marked as under development:

[Tmetcalf]

Good day Lawrence Et al,

In the idea referenced above, this was the reply from PTC:

"I'm sorry to report that this idea was unfortunately not able to be implemented in Creo 4.0, so we will have to consider it again when we come around to planning our Creo 5.0 release." 

You may read the entire response by clicking the link above.

Best,

Toby

[lscheeler]

Toby Metcalf‌,

I am sorry to hear this.  Can you give some incite on how to raise the priority of improving this interface so that it can be in the next version of Creo5.  This interface is in despite need of even basic improvements???

[Tmetcalf]

Lawrence,

The Ideas process is a whole needs improvement and I am working to change it.

Things are slowly changing and Product Managers are getting more involved within the community as well as providing feedback; we have more work to do.

I do not have an answer to your question, but I will try to find the person who would.

My suggestion for the entire community is this:

Please continue to provide ideas with an objective business case and vote for those you believe are worth implementing. 

Thank you.

Toby

[RaphaelCNascime]

Hi Lawrence,

I share your disappointment about not getting the much-needed improvements to the symbol editing UI into Creo 4.0.

It turns out that, although we valued highly the idea of doing this project, we just had too many other higher-priority things on our plate for Creo 4.0. The team that would be responsible for making the updates to the symbol creation and editing UI was also responsible for the work we did related to updating the UI and workflows for GTOLs, Datum Feature Symbols, Datum Targets and Dimensions in both the MBD mode (3D annotations) and the 2D drawing mode. (We've gotten a lot of great feedback on those projects from people who tried the Sneak Peek)

The problem with the symbol project is that it's not a small effort. We desperately need to update the UI to be more like the rest of Creo, but there are also a number of improvements in functionality needed as well. So, we're biting off a big chunk of work once we decide to do it. Unfortunately had we prioritized the symbol project in Creo 4.0 we would not have been able to do most of the other work mentioned above. The other factor that we consider is the impact to the average user of the work we choose to do. It turns out that nearly everyone who creates a drawing will need to make a dimension, datum feature symbol, GTOL or datum target. But, a smaller percentage of people go into the symbol definition UI. In many larger companies this mode is almost exclusively used by administrators who set up symbols for their user base. So we might have one person who uses it extensively but 100 people who only place already-created symbols and never go into the definition UI. I'm not saying this to justify the old UI and workflows, but just to give you some insight into the tradeoff that we have to make when it comes to deciding between two worthy projects. In this case we felt that the impact of the annotation work was going to be higher than the impact of the symbol UI work.

As I mentioned in the comment that Toby linked to, I'm putting this on my Creo 5.0 list and hoping that we can get it done in that release.

[lscheeler]

Raphael Nascimento‌, Thanks for the details and the point you make is a respectable one, and am glad the new Creo4 features are well received (though I have not yet been able to do test Creo4 ).  I appreciate the difficulty of the decisions that were/are being made, especially with software which has such a large scope.  Especially in light of the fact that this UI is untouched by the other Creo changes, I am guessing the code that drives the symbol editor was done as a standalone module and not connected to the parent structure (e.g. save as/copy vs merge/inheritance) so it makes updating it an entirely new project.

What you say is similar at our company, where a couple people create the symbols and then everyone uses them.  However that doesn't mean that only the creator of the symbols stands to benefit.  Due to the severe capability limitations in both features and time, we creators are limited in what we can create for all users to use.  That means that if the Editor was better, everyone (both creators and users) would stand to benefit tremendously.  Right now the symbol creation is an arduous, tedious, and long processes...so effectively/unfortunately I do the minimum and only when I need to do it.  If it was easier/more capable, not only would I be able to do more, but other people could create content easier and then I would just have to review and approve them.  Right now trying to get a creator in each product group is hard because most users take one look at how I do it and then run (or do the bare minimum)!

For example, who stands to benefit to a significant change in a new coding language that allowed programmers to create better features faster?  Programmer or the end user?

So although I agree with the continued difficulty in weighing benefits of new features against limited time to create them within Creo, you must realize (and factor in) that a better symbol UI/features will benefit everyone and NOT JUST the symbol creators.

To help ensure the appropriate priority, I would suggest contacting some of the symbol creators (probably everyone voting for this feature! ), and ask to see some of the symbols being used at their company.  You may be surprised at (and find helpful) how people are using symbols, and what improvements they would like to see.

Thank you for what you are doing in communicating with us, as well as to the programming management team.

[RaphaelCNascime]

You make a great point about the "indirect" beneficiaries of the symbol definition update. I certainly would recognize that everyone benefits from a new capability in symbols, but I didn't previously consider how even just a UI and workflow update would impact the people who don't actually do the symbol creation...

I would also be interested in seeing some of the types of symbols that people are creating out there. If you have any that you don't mind sharing with me and the development team, send me a private message on the community and we can touch base offline on the logistics of sharing the files.

[lscheeler]

Hi Raphael Nascimento‌, I tried PMing you but may not have received it.  Can you please PM/email me so we can touch base?  Thanks!