NO Way to move sketches from point to point

I am trying to move a selected group of lines in a sketch from one
location to another. It seems that I must input x and y values. I
would like to do a move with snaps like I used to do in Autocad. For
instance, move all the lines from the endpoint of one line to the
origin. Does anybody know a way to do that? I don't think I can use
constraints, because I have a number of items selected to move. I don't
think I can do it with dimensioning, because I would need a dimension
with a "0" value,, which I don't think Solidworks will allow me to do.

Any thoughts anybody?

 

"merge"

 

and/or "coincident"

 

You can move a group of unconstrained sketch geometry point to point, but
it's not the same as Acad.

The group you want to move either has to be constrained in such a way that
it can move, but not change shape. Or it must have no constraints or
dimensions at all.

Select the end point of the geometry (I'm assuming an imported ACAD sketch),
and cntrl-select the origin. RMB to bring up the menu and click
"coincident". If the sketch does weird stuff, hit the "back" icon, find the
problem, and try again.

allot of people, fresh from ACAD, try to do their sketching in ACAD and
import it. This is a mistake. Most times the sketch ends up being much too
complicated, and messing with it takes more time than starting in SW.

Sketches should be as simple as possible, with things like fillets added to
the solid as features.

P.S.
The "move-copy" in SW is really stupid and unituative. As far as I'm
concerned it's usless.


Regards

Mark

 

2 things you can try;

1) if dimensioned & constrained properly (except for location/relation to
part origin) you can grab a endpoint and drag entire sketch to origin.
however, if sketch isn't constrained enough, it will become distorted.

2) if no dims/relations exist or if some exist then ... select tools,
sketch setting, no solve move. window select entire sketch, grab a sketch
entity (not an endpoint) and drag to approximately where you want it.


and 1 thing to try and remember;

1) forget about how acad does things

 

I was able to do what you suggested in par 3 below because the sketch
(from solidworks) was a closed shape. I was making the mistake of
wanting to select all the lines first. Your way was to just select the
"from" point and the "to" point and constrain them. If I had a bunch
of lines that were not part of this closed box that I wanted to move,
this method would not work. Seems like there should be another way.

Thanks!

 

Can't find anything for "merge" in the helps.

 

No, no, no - none of the others gave you the proper answer. It's a trick
that apparently few people think of.

Select all that you want to move. CTRL select the point that you want to
position on the origin (or somewhere else,) and without letting go of the
CTRL start to drag. Then before you get to your drag point let go of the
CTRL so you don't end up with a copy. You will find that the point will
then snap in place.

WT

 

You can definitely do what you are after, very similar to AutoCAD. This is
a trick I regularly use and that I learned on this board a few years back.
It's kinda hard to explain, so ask questions if this isn't clear:

1. Draw a temporary line from one of the entities to where you want to move
the entities to. This is the equivalent of an AutoCAD construction line and
you'll end up deleting it. You may already have a line in your sketch that
you can use.

2. Window select all of the things in your sketch that you want to move.

3. Hold down control and click-hold on endpoint of your sketch where to drew
your construction line. You'll have the little circle by your mouse pointer
to indicate the endpoint.

4. Let go of control and drag your elements to where you want to drop them.

5. Mouse over the other end of the construction line to get the endpoint
indicator again. Release the mouse button. This will move all of the
selected items from one endpoint to the other.

 

damn, thats nice to know.

 

I believe the tool your looking for is under Tools -> Sketch Tools -> Move
or Copy. All you have to do is select the entities you want to move and
either enter a X,Y displacement, or you can move by "grips".

Brent

 

THIS is what I needed to do. It's funny that it's not built into the
move/copy so that it is easier, but it works!

Thanks very much. I appreciate it!!!!!!
Blessings to you!
Jim

 

Brent,

That's what I was thinking. Just didn't have time to reply until now. I
wonder why nobody else has mentioned that yet. Maybe not that many people
know that it is a new feature in SW04. It is very, very similar to the
AutoCRAP move from base point to end point.

 

I have 2003.
Moving by x,y is not precise when the numbers are out many decimal
places and cannot be entered precisely.

 

Ah! Didn't realize you were on 2003. Sometimes it helps to mention that.

As for the solution for 03, I think the only way is like Wayne Tiffany
described.

 

There are a couple of ways to do it:

- Tools, Sketch Tools, Modify. As long as your sketch doesn't have any
relationships to anything outside of the sketch, you can click a point and
drag it to a new location, which moves everything in the sketch

- Tools, Sketch Tools, Move or Copy. This will allow you to just move a
section of the sketch if you want.

- Or, kind of a lo-tech way would be to use the "autodimension" tool to
constrain a sketch to itself, and then just drag it to the new location.


In any case, the advice to forget what you know about autocad is the right
thing to do.

matt