## Constructing a Surface

Construct Surface dialog box

There are two types of constructed surfaces (Independent Surface and Dependent Surface) available in PC-DMIS. The following table shows the two surfaces, along with their necessary inputs. The only input that the surface will take is a patch scan. The scan must contain at least two rows of four points per row.

Note: A future release will allow for clouds of points when constructing a surface.

CONSTRUCT FEATURE TYPE | SYMBOL IN EDIT WINDOW | # OF INPUT SETS | INPUT #1: | COMMENTS
Dependent Surface | DEPENDENT | 1 | Patch scan containing at least 2 rows with 4 points per row | Surface will update as input feature changes
Independent Surface | INDEPENDENT | 1 | Patch scan containing at least 2 rows with 4 points per row. | Uses input feature for construction only

Note: If you select inappropriate feature types, PC-DMIS displays "Cannot construct [feature]. Combination of input features not accepted." on the status bar.

To construct a Surface:

1. Access the Construct Surface dialog box (Insert | Feature | Constructed | Surface).

2. Input the desired patch scan.

3. Select the various construction options.

4. Click the Create button.

The Edit window command line for a sample Surface Construction would read:
feature_name=FEAT/SURFACE,TOG1,CONTROL POINTS U,
CONTROL POINTS V, NUM POINTS FIT,TOG2
THINNING PARAMETER U, THINNING PARAMETER V
CONSTR/SURFACE, INPUT TYPE, INPUT ID

Note: The actual Edit report will be displayed in all CAPS.

DEPENDENT is the default method of construction. | TOG1=Dependent or Independent. TOG2=Tolerance or Proportion The following paragraphs describe the available options for constructing a surface:

More:

Constructing a Dependent/Independent Surface

Thinning Parameters