Upon starting CM4D, you will see the Startup Options dialog box. Follow the directions below to create a new CM4D document.
When you start CM4D, select the New Document radio button then click OK. A new CM4D document will open. If you have not reviewed the User Interface topic, please do so before continuing. You will need to be familiar with the names and locations of the various items within CM4D's User Interface to continue.
Change the size of the sheet by right-clicking in the margin, and choosing a paper size.
Resize the windows and adjust your toolbars as desired by dragging and dropping. Once you have saved your document or exit CM4D, each subsequent session of CM4D will reflect your interface preferences.
Part 1: Making Database Queries
The first thing you will need to do is to connect a DataSource to your document. This DataSource will be used for each query made within this document, and will contain all of the data accessed for all your reporting.
A new DataSource connection can be added to your document in the CM4D Navigation Tree located on the left side of the CM4D Interface.
Right click on the DataSource
(
) icon and select New
Database DataSource from the context menu.
The DataSource Type wizard will open. Enter your connection information as provided by your system administrator.
Once you are connected to a DataSource, the Query Properties dialog will open automatically. Change the default "Query 1" label to "Decklid Assembly".
Select the check boxes for the "Load query on open" and "Activate Last Sample on Load" options.
Click OK.
The Features dialog will open. This is where you can select the Routine you would like to load from the list of the routines that are available in your connected DataSource. Multiple Routines can be selected using the Shift or Ctrl keys.
Some routines will automatically load the associated samples. If samples are loaded, the Query icon will appear green.
If the Query icon is yellow, then no samples have been loaded, and you will need to load samples manually.
Double click the Samples folder to open the Samples dialog and select your load options.
Now that you have data loaded in your document, you can continue on with loading images and creating DataSets.
Part 2: Loading 3-D Images
The images shown in view annotations are associated with routines in the database. For example, a Decklid Assembly routine can be associated to an image file. If a query containing the Decklid Assembly routine was used as the DataSource of a view annotation, the Decklid Assembly image would automatically be shown in the view. The file may be a wireframe, a 2D image, a 3D image, or a CAD link, but for this example, we will be loading a 3-D image of the Decklid part.
To connect a specific image file to the routine in your document, double-click the routine and select the Image tab from the properties dialog.
Select the 3D Image radio button, and then browse the Image Source of the file you want to load for your routine.
Click OK to close the Routine Properties dialog and apply your changes.
To load an image into your
document, you must first have a View annotation on your sheet. New CM4D
documents have a default view available on Sheet 1 of the Main Set, or
your can create a new view using the View (
) tool.
Right click within the View annotation's border and select Properties from the context menu.
In the first tab of the Properties dialog, labeled "View", locate the menu labeled "View Image Type" and select DataSource Image.
Click Ok.
You may need to adjust the orientation or placement of your image. You can do this using the Zoom and Zoom 3-D toolbars.
First, double click the image View to put it into Edit Mode. You know your image is in edit mode when a thick blue border appears and your cursor turns to the word "EXIT" whenever you bring it outside the border of the image view.
Using the Translate 3-D tool, click and drag your image to the center of the View.
Select the Rotate 3-D button. Click and drag the image as desired. Try moving the image in different directions to get a feel for how the rotation works.
There are also preset options
available for orienting your image in the context menu. Selecting XY will
orient your image on the X and Y axis and zoom the image to fit the window.
Using the 3-D Zoom Fit (
)
button will also zoom your image this way, except without orienting your
image.
Part 3: Creating DataSets
Open the DataSets tab of the Tree Bar.
Right-click the DataSets folder, and then select New DataSet from the context menu. New DataSets are named DataSet with a number following (the first one created will be named DataSet 1).
Double click DataSet 1 to open the DataSet Properties dialog box, and enter a label for your DataSet in the edit field such as "Trend_Left & Right_POS".
Click the Sift Rules button right below the DataSet Label field. The Sift Rules dialog will open.
Select the characteristics X, Y and Z under the Surface feature type. If there are any additional characteristic types selected under Surface, clear those check boxes.
Clear the check boxes next to the remaining SMI Types.
Click OK to close the Sift Rules dialog.
Next, select the Data Source tab of the DataSet Properties dialog box. In the Query region, select the Decklid Assembly query.
To select a range of features, select the List radio button and click the Edit button. In the Feature List dialog, select all of the Left and Right features while holding down the Ctrl key. When you have selected all the desired features, click the left arrow button. This will set the feature list. Then click OK.
Under Samples, select the All Samples radio button.
Click OK to close the DataSet Properties dialog and apply your changes.