Shimming Your Knowledge- Changing Dimension Display in Autodesk Inventor.

SHIM (noun) - A thin piece of material, sometimes tapered, used for alignment or support.

I hectic schedule has required I take a different approach to my videos.

Instead of longer videos, which of course take more time to create, I'm going to create something shorter.  Originally I was going to call them "Microtips", but a friend suggested "Shims" as in the shims used in manufacturing.

But instead of using a these shims to adjust components for proper fir, you're shimming your knowledge for more productivity!

Now, let's use a this tip as a shim to adjust your knowledge for a better fit!

To start this out, here's one from the Inventor status bar, which is visible when a sketch is active, there are several buttons listed there, but for this tip, I'm just going to focus on the dimension display icon.

The dimension display menu expanded at the Status Bar

This icon changes how dimensions are displayed on your sketch, each providing you different information.

The options shown are as follows

1) Value - This option is the default for Inventor.  It shows the numerical value of the dimension, using the number of decimal places as set in the file's Document Settings.

Dimensions shown as value

2) Name - The Name options shows the name of the name of the dimension.  Notice that if a parameter is renamed, then that name is shown, instead of Inventor's default "dx" format.

Dimensions shown as name

3) Expression - This option displays both the dimension name, and the value at the same time.  If dimensions are linked to create mathematical expressions, these will be shown.

It also removes trailing zeros from a dimension, as well as showing additional decimal places for a dimension if it contains more than set in the Document Settings.

Dimensions shown as Expressions

4) Tolerance- If you've applied tolerances to a dimension, this setting will display the tolerances on screen. Additionally, any time a tolerance is evaluated at a value other than nominal, it will be underlined.  This is true of any dimension display setting.

For more on using tolerances in Inventor, see my earlier post!

Dimensions shown with Tolerances

5) Precise Value - This option removes trailing zeros from a dimension and showing the full decimal for a dimension if it exceeds the Document Settings.  It also shows the value of a toleranced dimension, even if it's being evaluated at a dimension other than nominal.

Dimensions showing Precise Value

And that's all for a short tip on Dimension Display!  I wanted to create something short and sweet.  I hope this helps!

I'm thinking of continuing to do this with the "little things" that are always a little hidden in Inventor.  If you think that's a good idea, throw in a comment below!

And a final note!  Here's a video describing the steps above!