direction_of_profile(..)
This formula returns the end of a steel engineering beam (sometimes also called "profile") identified by the user.
Syntax: direction_of_profile(profile)
|
|
Type of variable |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
1st parameter |
profile |
Beam whose end you want to determine |
|
Return value |
Real |
1: Beam start 2: Beam end |
In design variants, feature parameters are usually assigned the formula direction_of_profile(profile_x), where profile_x is a valid variable of type profile.
The End or End_1 / End_2 parameter occurs in virtually all steel engineering processing features!
Explanation
All steel engineering beams (profiles) are assigned a particular orientation through fitting. This enables each beam to have a unique start and end point. You can visualise the orientation subsequently by displaying the part coordinate system (Drawing > Others > 3-D Coordinate System > Activate Part CS). The orientation of the beam is identical to the direction of the x-vector of the coordinate system.
You need to specify the processed end of the beam for virtually all steel engineering processing. That is why the feature needs to note which end of the beam to process. Steel engineering features save this information in the End parameter., which can accept values 1 (start of the beam) and 2 (end of the beam). This value needs, of course, to be parameterised within a design variant, as the orientation of the beam processed by the design variant is unknown. Typically, the End parameter is described using the direction_of_profile(..) formula.
