Creating a parametric parallelepiped

In this task, you will use the Parallelepiped command to create a parametric parallelepiped.

1 After starting the command, in the Point drop-down list select the type of placement point for the parallelepiped you are going to create:
Base center The point you specify will be the center of the parallelepiped base.
Base vertex The point you specify will be one vertex of the parallelepiped base.
Center of mass The point you specify will be the center of mass of the parallelepiped.
To go on with this task, select Center of mass.
 
2 Click in the position you want to place the center of mass of your parallelepiped at (or use the Snap commands to place the parallelepiped with reference to an existing entity inside the model). As soon as the placement point is specified, a set of handles is displayed.



At any time during the creation of the parallelepiped, you can:
  • Change the position of the placement point just by clicking in a different position.



  • Change the orientation of the parallelepiped. The three arcs represent the three angles of rotation (about each of the three orthogonal directions). You can rotate the parallelepiped about an axis by dragging the corresponding arc or by typing the value of the rotation into the Angle box which shows up when you pick the arc.



    You can also use the X Axis, Y Axis, Z Axisdrop-down lists under Axis Alignment:
    Line to align the axis to a line. Select the line.
    2 points to align the axis to the direction identified by the two points. Select the two points.
    End point to align the axis so that its second endpoint coincides with a point. Select the point.

     
3 Define the the Width, the Height and the Depth of the parallelepiped. You can either type the values into the said mini-dialog boxes, or define them interactively by dragging the corresponding handles.



By double-clicking on the corresponding red circle markers, you can also invert the direction of the parallelepiped edges.
 
4 The final result of the command can be either the set of six surfaces composing the parallelepiped or a unique parametric solid parallelepiped. At any time during the creation of the parallelepiped you can decide about the result you want to obtain by controlling the status of the Associative Mode check box:
  • When the box is checked, the resulting entity will be a parametric solid. A drive dimension will be associated with the length of each of the three parallelepiped edges (width, height and depth) and the icon of a solid will be displayed in the Model Structure.
  • When the box is cleared, the final result will be the six surfaces composing the shape.
For further details, see "Associative surfaces". To go on with this task, select Associative Mode so as to obtain a parametric solid.
 
5 Click or to confirm your selections and actually create the solid.



Click to discard your changes.