Drawing and Parts
- HiCAD Drawing
A HiCAD drawing (sometimes also referred to as "scene") consists of 2-D and/or 3-D parts, e.g. assemblies, single parts or holes. A HiCAD drawing has the file format .SZA. - Part drawing or Assembly drawing
In 3-D construction, HiCAD distinguishes between single-part and assembly drawings.
In a part drawing, you subdivide your drawing into main and sub-parts. To define the part structure, you use dummy parts which symbolise the assembly. You then assign the assembly-relevant main parts and sub-parts to them. Instead of dummy parts, you can also use the special component type Assembly.
You can define 3-D drawings as an assembly drawing directly when you create them and - if you are working in parallel with HELiOS - enter them in the database. This provides significantly more efficiency particularly for referencing, itemisation and bills of materials (BOM) creation. A so-called main assembly is created, to which all subsequently created 3-D assemblies, main groups and sub-groups are subordinated.
- Part structure
To structure the drawing, HiCAD distinguishes between assemblies, main parts and sub-parts. This structure, referred to in the following as a part structure or assembly structure, forms the basis of all HiCAD applications. Complex drawings, in particular, require the data to be logically structured, as this is the only way to create drawings the logical structure of which matches that of real products - consisting of assemblies (dummy parts) and single-parts. - Main Parts and Sub-Parts
A main part is the highest organisational unit in the drawing and can consist, in turn, of various parts. These parts that are subordinate to a main part are called sub-parts. The sub-parts themselves can also be structured, i.e. contain subordinate parts. - Assemblies
3-D provides the assembly as a further component type. A component group is a dummy part with isolated points and a special ID. An assembly consists of exactly one main part - the assembly main part - and the sub-parts assigned to this part.
- Active part
One part of the drawing is always the active part. The HiCAD processing functions in the toolbars usually refer to this part. Dimensionings and texts inserted into the drawing are, for example, always assigned to the active part.
- Construction elements
Just as the drawing consists of parts, so every 2-D or 3-D part consists of construction elements required for creating the geometry. Points, lines, circles, conic sections etc. are examples of 2-D construction elements. 3-D construction elements include surfaces, edges, volume bodies and 3-D points. - Attributes
Every drawing and every part has certain properties, so-called attributes. Drawing attributes include not only the scale, the unit of measurement and the coordinate system used, but also additional information like order number, customer or additional texts. Properties which influence the appearance and shape of parts and their geometry elements are called part attributes in HiCAD. Furthermore, you can assign parts other non-graphical attributes (article data), which are taken into account in bills of materials (BOM) creation. - Detail design
In addition to the various geometry elements, other objects which are required for detail design are usually part of the drawing. Typical examples include dimensionings, texts, annotations or hatchings as well as drawing frame and title blocks.
- Auxiliary objects
In addition to the main parts and sub-parts, HiCAD also manages objects without part character. These include auxiliary lines, point and line grids, DIN frames etc.
