Set Annotation Positions by Distance (DriveWorks Documentation)

Set Annotation Positions by Distance

The Set Annotations Position by Distance Generation Task sets the XY position of an annotation.

We recommend applying this task in Post-Drive Tasks, Generation Sequence.

This ensures all views are resized and positioned before the Annotations are driven.

Properties

Property Name	Description
(Name)	The unique name for this task.
Annotation Positions	A table of annotation positions. Columns must be: Sheet or View Name, Annotation Name, Axis, X Value and Y Value (in that order).

Example Annotation Positions Table

As the table will mostly be dynamic we recommend using a Calculation Table.

Sheet or View Name	Annotation Name	Axis	X Value	Y Value	Reference Horizontal Anchor	Reference Vertical Anchor
Drawing View1@Sheet1	RD1@Drawing View1@<DrawingName>.Drawing	YOnly	0	115	Left	Bottom
Drawing View1@Sheet1	RD2@Drawing View1@<DrawingName>.Drawing	XOnly	-20	0	Left	Bottom
Sheet2	DetailItem126	Both	50	50	Left	Bottom
Drawing View3@Sheet2	D1@Distance1@<AssemblyName>.Assembly	YOnly	0	115	Left	Bottom
Drawing View3@Sheet2	D1@Sketch1@<PartName>.Part	XOnly	-20	0	Left	Bottom
Section View A-A@Sheet2	RD3@Drawing View5@<DrawingName>.Drawing	XOnly	-10	0	Left	Bottom

Sheet or View Name

When an annotation is attached to a view, the format is:
<ViewName>@<SheetName>
For example:
Drawing View1@Sheet1
For Detail or Section Views the <ViewName> is the name displayed in the SOLIDWORKS Feature Manager.
For example:
Section View A-A@Sheet1
When an annotation is on the sheet (not attached to a view), the format is:
<SheetName>

Annotation Name

When an annotation is a Model Dimension from an Assembly the format is:
<Annotation Reference>@<Feature Reference>@<AssemblyName>.Assembly
When an annotation is a Model Dimension from a Part the format is:
<Annotation Reference>@<Feature Reference>@<PartName>.Part
When an annotation is a Reference Dimension attached to a view the format is:
<Annotation Reference>@<ViewName>@<DrawingName>.Drawing
For Detail and Section Views The View number (not the View name) is required in the address of the annotation.
For example:
RD1@Drawing View2@<DrawingName>.Drawing
The View number can be found by right clicking the View name from the SOLIDWORKS feature manager.
Alternatively to see the exact address, refer to How To Find The Annotation Name below.
When an annotation is a Reference Dimension attached to a sheet the format is:
<Annotation Reference>

How To Find The Annotation Name

To find the Annotation Name you can use the DriveWorks Capture Pane inside SOLIDWORKS:

Open the captured Master Drawing file in SOLIDWORKS.
Switch to the Annotation Text tab of the DriveWorks Task Pane.
Select the Annotation you want to position.
The dimension address will appear in the Address field of the DriveWorks Task Pane.
You can copy and paste this into DriveWorks for use in rules.

You do not need to Capture the Annotation to use the Set Annotation Position Generation Task.

Positioning The Annotation

The Axis property determines which of the X Value and Y Value properties are used to position the Annotation.

Property Value	Result
Both	Will use both the X Value and the Y Value properties to position the Annotation.
XOnly	Will ignore the Y Value property and will only position the Annotation in the X Axis.
YOnly	Will ignore the X Value property and will only position the Annotation in the Y Axis.

The X Value and Y Value are expressed as a distance in the document units. For example, X Value = 50, this will position the Annotation 50mm (when the document units are mm) from the bottom left corner of the Sheet or View.

The X Value and Y Value properties accept negative values.

If an Annotation is not attached to a Drawing View, the X Value and Y Value are in relation to the entire sheet.

If an Annotation is attached to a Drawing View the X Value and Y Value are in relation to the Bounding box of the Drawing View.

X Value = 0, Y Value = 0, is the bottom left hand corner of the Sheet or View.

This Task works best when placed in Post-Drive Tasks. All views will have been resized and repositioned before the Annotations are positioned.

Generation Sequence

This Task can be added to the following Generation Sequence(s):

Pre Drive (will be run before the Main Drive Sequence)
Post Drive (will be run after the Main Drive Sequence)

DriveWorks Pro 22 Set Annotation Positions by Distance