Datum Plane dialog box

Plane Type

Lists the construction methods you can use to create planes:

• Inferred — Determines the best datum plane type to use based on objects you select.
• At Distance — Creates a plane parallel to a planar face or another datum plane at a distance you specify.
• At Angle — Creates a plane at a specified angle from a selected planar object.
• Bisector — Creates a plane midway between two selected planar faces or planes. If the input planes are at an angle to each other, the plane is placed at the bisected angle.
• Curves and Points — Creates a plane using various combinations of points, a line, a planar edge, a datum axis, or a planar face (e.g., three points, a point and a curve, etc.).
• Two Lines — Creates a plane using a combination of any two linear curves, linear edges, or datum axes.
• Tangent — Creates a datum plane tangent to a non-planar surface, relative to a second selected object.
• Through Object — Creates a datum plane on the surface normal of a selected object.
• Point and Direction — Creates a plane from a point and a specified direction.
• On Curve — Creates a plane at a location on a curve or edge.
• YC-ZC plane, XC-ZC plane, XC-YC plane — Creates a fixed datum plane along the corresponding axes of the Work Coordinate System (WCS) or Absolute Coordinate System (ABS).
• View Plane — Creates a fixed datum plane parallel to the view plane, passing through the origin of the WCS.
• By Coefficients — Creates a fixed, non-associative datum plane on the WCS or absolute coordinate system using the equation Ax + By + Cz = D.
• Fixed — Available only when editing a fixed datum plane.
• Constructed — Available when you edit a plane created using an option not available on the lists; to access all parameters of a constructed plane, you must use the Datum Plane dialog box.

Plane Type-specific options

Inferred

Select Object (Objects to Define Plane) — Lets you select one or more objects to define the plane. The objects you select determine the plane type and the type of additional objects you select. You can use the Point Constructor to specify point objects. As you select objects, based on the plane type NX infers, additional options for that type appear.

At Distance

• Select Planar Object (Planar Reference) — Select a planar face, plane, or existing datum plane as a reference.
• Distance (Offset) — Specifies the offset distance. Type a value or drag the Distance handle.
• Reverse Direction — Reverses the offset direction; the plane moves to the opposite side and the plane normal also reverses (mirror-like).
• Number of Planes — Specifies the number of copies of the new plane to create, spaced evenly using the same offset value.

At Angle

• Select Planar Object (Planar Reference) — Select a planar face, plane, or datum plane as a reference for the angle.
• Select Linear Object (Through Axis) — Select a linear curve, edge, or datum axis to define the angle's axis of rotation. Cannot select an object perpendicular to the reference plane.
• Angle Option — Method to define the angle: Value (specifies the angle value), Perpendicular (makes the plane perpendicular to the reference and pass through the axis), Parallel (makes the plane parallel to the reference and pass through the axis).
• Angle — Appears when Angle Option = Value; sets a degree value.

Bisector

Select Planar Object (First Plane, Second Plane) — Select the first and second planar faces, datum planes, or plane objects to define the bisector plane.

Curves and Points

Curves and Points Subtype — lists subtype methods. With all methods you must first specify an origin point and then reference objects.

• Curves and Points — Determines the subtype based on objects selected. After selecting the origin point: selecting a line/datum axis/linear curve/edge makes the plane pass through both objects; selecting a planar face/datum plane makes the plane pass through the point but parallel to the reference object.
• One Point — Creates a plane through a single point.
• Two Points — Creates a plane through a single point and perpendicular to a second point.
• Three Points — Creates a plane through three points.
• Point and Curve/Axis — Creates a plane with a point and a linear object (line, datum axis, linear curve, or edge).
• Point and Plane/Face — Creates a plane with a point and a planar object (planar face, datum plane, or plane).

Reference Geometry fields: Specify Point (all subtypes except Curves and Points), Select Object (Curves and Points subtype), Select Curve Object (Point and Curve/Axis subtype), Select Planar Object (Point and Plane/Face subtype).

Two Lines

Select Linear Object (First Line, Second Line) — Select two objects to define the datum plane: linear curves, linear edges, or datum axes.

• Two coplanar lines: the plane includes both lines.
• Two non-coplanar, non-perpendicular lines: use Alternate Solution to get a plane through the second line, parallel to the first.
• Two non-coplanar but perpendicular lines: the plane contains the first line and is perpendicular to the second (Alternate Solution gives the reverse).

Tangent

Tangent Subtype — All subtypes require first selecting a non-planar face.

• Tangent — Determines subtype based on the second object selected (point, linear edge, line, face, datum axis, or datum plane).
• One Face — Creates a plane tangent to a selected cylindrical or conical face.
• Through Point — Creates a plane tangent to a non-planar face and a point.
• Through Line — Creates a plane tangent to a cylindrical or conical face and a linear object.
• Two Faces — Creates a plane tangent to two non-planar faces (cylindrical, conical, or spherical).
• Angle to Plane — Creates a plane tangent to a cylindrical face and a planar object/face, with an angle value or perpendicular/parallel option.

Reference Geometry fields: Select Object (Tangent subtype), Select Tangent Face (all other subtypes), Select Linear Object (Through Line), Select Planar Object (Angle to Plane), Specify Point (Through Point). Angle/Angle Option appear for Angle to Plane (Value / Perpendicular / Parallel).

Through Object

Select Object — Select a single object through which the datum plane will pass: curve, edge, face, datum, plane, datum CSYS, CSYS, spherical surfaces and surfaces of revolution, or the axis of a cylindrical/conical/revolved face. Curve, edge, or face objects can be planar or non-planar. If you select a conical or cylindrical face, the datum plane is created on the axis of the face.

By Coefficients

Coefficients equation: aX + bY + cZ = d

• WCS — Creates the plane on the WCS coordinate system.
• Absolute — Creates the plane on the absolute coordinate system.
• a, b, c, d — Sets the values for the equation. A, B, C define the direction of the plane normal. D relates to the plane's distance from the CSYS origin (=D/SQRT[A^2+B^2+C^2]).

Point and Direction

• Specify Point (Through Point) — Defines an origination point for the plane.
• Specify Vector (Normal Direction) — Defines the direction of the plane.
• Reverse Direction — Reverses the normal direction of the vector.

On Curve

• Select Curve — Select a curve or edge. You can select a second object (face, datum plane, datum axis, or another curve/edge) to make the datum plane perpendicular to it at the point on curve.
• Reverse Direction — Changes the location of the plane from one end of the curve/edge to the other without changing the location value.
• Location on Curve / Location list — Arc Length / %Arc Length: sets a value to position the plane along the curve/edge, as a distance or percentage of arc length (0–100). Right-click the handle to toggle between Arc Length and %Arc Length.
• Specify Point (Through Point) — Defines an origin point for the datum; drag the point handle to a new position on the curve (subject to snap point settings).
• Direction list (Orientation on Curve) — Specifies the direction of the plane normal. Select Object appears for Relative to Object. Specify Vector appears for Normal to Vector, Parallel to Vector, or Through Axis.

YC-ZC Plane / XC-ZC Plane / XC-YC Plane

• WCS / Absolute — Specifies the coordinate system on which to create the plane.
• Distance (Offset and Reference) — Adds a distance to offset the new plane from the coordinate system.

Plane Orientation

• Alternate Solution — Appears when there is more than one possible solution for creating the datum plane using current parameters. Displays other possible solutions when clicked, or via Page Down/Page Up keys.
• Reverse Direction — Reverses the direction of the plane normal. The plane preview always displays an arrow from its center pointing in the direction of the plane normal. Common to all types.

Offset

• Offset — Available to all datum plane types except At Distance, Coefficients, YC-ZC Plane, XC-ZC Plane, XC-YC Plane, and View Plane. When selected, creates a datum plane offset from the defined plane, in the direction and at the distance specified.
• Distance — Available when Offset is selected and a base plane is defined. Enter the value or drag the handle to the desired offset distance.
• Reverse Direction — Reverses the offset direction.

Settings

Associative — Available for all non-fixed datum plane types. Makes a datum plane an associative feature that appears in the Part Navigator as Datum Plane. If cleared, the datum plane is created as a Fixed type and appears as a non-associative Fixed Datum Plane. When editing a datum plane, you can change a fixed datum plane to a relative plane by changing the Type, redefining its parent geometry, and selecting Associative.

Note: Datum Plane options on this page are also valid for the Plane dialog box.

Related

• Create a datum plane using Infer
• Create a datum plane using offset
• Create a datum plane using a point and a direction
• Create a datum plane at an angle
• Create a datum plane midway between planar faces
• Create a datum plane through three points
• Size and resize datum planes
• Editing datum planes
• Datum Plane supported combinations of geometries and constraints

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Datum Plane dialog box, NX 2212 Series © 2023 Siemens