ANVIL EXPRESS Frequently Asked Questions

• Quickly create 2-D orthographic views?
• Change the location of my part files?
• Change the way Toolbars are displayed?
• Change the location Dialog boxes are displayed?
• Create Components?
• Still run ANVIL-5000?

Quickly create 2-D orhtographic views?
An easy way to create multiple orthographic views in ANVIL EXPRESS is to use the 2-D Profile project icon. This icon is found on the 2-D Geometry toolbar by clicking the 2-D/3-D Project curves icon. This functionality is useful when creating the views used by SNAP2-3D or for parametric drafting. 2-D Profile Project allows you to create the Right end view, Left end view, Front view, and Back view, plus oblique views.

After you click the 2-D Profile Project icon, you will be asked for the projection direction. This will depend on which view you are trying to create. After choosing a direction, you are prompted to select the curves that you want to project. You must determine which entities you want to place in the view you are trying to create.

Next you are prompted for a projection mode. This allows you to create the "thickness" of the view.

Finally, you are asked for the projection dash mode. This will automatically determine which entities are hidden and will give them a dashed font if you choose the solid and dashed option. Some trimming may be required, but this functionality will save you construction time.

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Change the location of my part files?
The default location for Express part files (.AXP) is determined when ANVIL Express is installed. The default location might be C:\Express\usr\parts. This location is saved in the Preferences, and can be changed at any time by doing the following:

1. From the main Express menu, choose File / Preferences. Choose the System tab page in the Preferences dialog box.
2. In the Directories section, locate Part files in the Keyword column. The path shown in the Directory column is the current location of Express parts. To change it, click the Part files keyword.
3. The current part path will display in the middle of the dialog. From here you can click the Browse button to locate the new part folder.
4. Click Proceed to close and update the Preference settings.

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Change the way Toolbars are displayed?
ANVIL EXPRESS lets you control the number of free-floating toolbars that remain on screen as you work. This does not apply to floating toolbars that have been docked at the edges of the work area.

From the File menu, choose Preferences, choose the setting you want from the Toolbar Display drop-down menu in the System tab page. There are three options: 

• Keep None - when an icon is clicked from an open floating toolbar, the toolbar is immediately closed.
• Keep One - when an icon is clicked from an open floating toolbar, the toolbar remains open for repeated icons to be used. If a different expanding is clicked to open a new floating toolbar, then the previous toolbar is automatically closed.
• Keep All - behaves the same as Keep One, except that previous floating toolbars are not closed when another toolbar is opened, allowing multiple toolbars to be open at one time.

NOTE: If some messages are too long for the available space or if some dialog boxes don't look quite right, you probably need to reset the system font to the Windows default, which is Small Fonts. To do so, save your work and close ANVIL EXPRESS (and all other open programs). Then, right-click in an open part of the Windows desktop and then choose Properties from the pop-up menu. Pick the Settings tab, choose Small Fonts from the Font Size drop-down list, pick the OK button and follow the on-screen instructions. After that, if you need to adjust the size of menu text, scroll bars, and other shared interface elements, just repeat the process and pick the Appearance tab in the Display Properties dialog box. Note that changes made in the Display Properties dialog box apply to all your Windows programs, not just ANVIL EXPRESS.

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Create Components?
Components are a means to save geometric data from any ANVIL part to the disk for use in other parts. This is a very efficient way to transfer geometry between parts. Do the following to create component masters:

1. Pick the Manage Master icon in the Object toolbar.
2. Enter a name for the component. The default is the part name.
3. Specify the type of Origin Mode for component creation. An existing Point or Coordinates allows for more precise placement of the component instance.
4. Click the Select Entities button and the select the desired component entities.
5. Set the Instance Creation Mode to No Instance. This leaves your selected entities unchanged.
6. Click the Create Master button to create a local master (in the part) and a global master (.gcm) on the disk.

To use the global master in this or another part, do the following to create component instances:

1. Pick the Manage Instance icon in the Object toolbar.
2. Choose the Component Name from the pull-down list or browse the hard drive for the desired component.
3. You can enter a scale and rotation value. Both values are applied relative to the origin position you specified when the component was created.
4. Choose an Origin Mode for locating the component.
5. Click the Create button to create a component instance.

There are numerous properties (modals) that can be controlled when creating or retrieving components. You'll find these modals in the Component Modal dialog in the Object toolbar.

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Change the location Dialog boxes are displayed?
You can adjust the position that dialog boxes are displayed so they don't overlay geometry underneath the dialog.

From the Express menu, choose the Window / Dialog Position menu.

From this dialog you can choose a position for most dialogs in Express, enabling you to keep them in a portion of the work area where they don't cover geometry your working on.

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Still run ANVIL-5000?
If you are still running ANVIL-5000, or wish to run it along with Express on a Windows operating system, you must have at least version 6.0 of ANVIL-5000. Additional details are available for downloading version 6.0 for any supported operating system.

ANVIL-5000 is upwardly compatible with ANVIL Express. However, if you wish to take files back to ANVIL-5000, there are limitations in backward compatibility within the CAM module, as Express has new CAM entities and structure that cannot be edited/modified in ANVIL-5000.

MCS will continue to support ANVIL-5000, and provide fix updates until March, 2003 for all non-Windows platforms. ANVIL-5000 on Windows NT 4.0 and 2000 will be supported indefinitely. Technical support will continue indefinitely for our ANVIL-5000 customers on all platforms.

For more information about ANVIL-5000 supported operating systems and Windows configuration, you can view the ANVIL-5000 release notes.

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ANVIL EXPRESS and ANVIL-5000 are registered trademarks of Manufacturing and Consulting Services, Inc. Other companies' trademarks are used for product identification only.

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