Current Help System: PC-DMIS Fixturing (View Core Help)

### To Create a New Fixture Definition

1. To create a new fixture, select the
   Insert | Hardware Definition | Fixture menu option to access the Create/Modify Fixture dialog box.

Create/Modify Fixture dialog box

2. Click New to open the New Fixture dialog box.

3. Type a name in the Name box for the new fixture.

4. Type your name or operator number in the Created By box.

5. Type a Description for the new fixture.

6. Click OK. Your fixture definition gets created and added to the Available list.

7. Define each of the fixture points by filling out the information in the Points area. See "To Specify Fixture Points" below.

8. Once you have finished adding all of the fixture points, specify the machine's XYZ axes that match the CAD model's XYZ axes. You can do this by selecting the axes from the CAD +X = Machine, CAD +Y = Machine, and CAD +Z = Machine lists from the Machine Orientation area.

9. For each CAD axis, specify the appropriate offsets in the X Offset, Y Offset, and Z Offset boxes. The offsets are based on the machine's home position. If you don’t know a specific offset to use, click the Center button and PC-DMIS calculates the offsets for you. These calculated offsets will allow you to place your part in the center of the machine volume. If the CAD is loaded in the part program, the CAD coordinates will be considered when calculating the center if you check the Use CAD coordinates check box. If not checked and the CAD is loaded in the part program, the calculation of the center will only use the coordinates of the Fixture Points. The check box is disabled if the CAD is not loaded in the part program.

10. Once you have defined all of the elements of the fixture, save your changes by clicking the Apply button. This saves the fixture definition to the server and verifies your fixture to make sure it is legal on your machine.

The Apply button updates the part program and the Graphics Display window with the fixture. This differs from the Save button which tells the fixture server to save the fixture data to disk. You might use the Save button if you were just creating a bunch of fixtures and didn’t necessarily want them in the part program.