Another approach to assembly solver (A2plus)

[kbwbe]

Hi @Syres,
thank you for your post. Probably you already have found the error. I will have a look at this section and fix it on master branch.

[kbwbe]

Using v0.4.35, when deleting constraints I was occasionally getting the following error in the Report View but not consistently:

Code: Select all

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\JPS\AppData\Roaming\FreeCAD\Mod\A2plus\a2p_viewProviderProxies.py", line 126, in getIcon
    FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.getObject(self.constraintObj_name).Type
<class 'AttributeError'>: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'Type'

The bug is fixed. Please update to version v0.4.35a .

[kbwbe]

A2plus V0.4.36 has a new constraint.

Angle between an axis and a plane: "axisPlaneAngle constraint"
.

axisPlaneAngleConstraint.png (127.29 KiB) Viewed 1967 times

.
Have fun !

[Koemi]

Still using FC V0.16 and Assembly2. But making small steps to A2plus V0.4.39a (using the Addon manager) and implemented it in FC V0.18 version.

Quite scary to ruin all the parts and assemblies already made the last 2,5 years

Is there already some solution to update assemblies from Assembly2 to A2Plus without losing constraints (searched, but couldn't find it)?
Compared kbwbe screendump with my A2Plus and it seems I am missing a few "A2p_Part" kbwbe above and mine below?

image 26.png (36.96 KiB) Viewed 1822 times

OS: Windows 10
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.4 (GitTag)
Build type: Release
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-18
Hash: 980bf9060e28555fecd9e3462f68ca74007b70f8
Python version: 3.6.6
Qt version: 5.6.2
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: Dutch/Belgium (nl_BE)

[triplus]

Hi people,

A2plus V0.4.33 has a new feature (thanks to a user request). Now you can click a part and move it around under rule of all constraints.

A2plus V0.4.36 has a new constraint.

Angle between an axis and a plane: "axisPlaneAngle constraint"

Thanks!

Is there already some solution to update assemblies from Assembly2 to A2Plus without losing constraints (searched, but couldn't find it)?

Such attempts are usually error-prone and don't work good beyond offering some basic migration capabilities. Therefore for existing Assembly 2 projects best to use FreeCAD 0.16 and Assembly 2, for new projects use FreeCAD and A2plus. The third viable option is to take an existing Assembly 2 project and redefine relations with A2plus (manually). I guess for projects that are still under active development and would benefit by migration to A2plus.

[kbwbe]

Hi @Koemi,

Is there already some solution to update assemblies from Assembly2 to A2Plus without losing constraints (searched, but couldn't find it)?

@triplus already answered this correctly and sorry for no better news. You will probably loose many constraints during migration from A2 to A2plus. The imported parts can be kept alive, but not the constraints. There is a menu entry within the A2plus WB menu: "migrate proxies of imported parts" which updates the imported parts to recent state. The constraints have to be deleted and you have to redefine them manually. Please always keep a robust backup.

Compared kbwbe screendump with my A2Plus and it seems I am missing a few "A2p_Part" kbwbe above and mine below?

I am a little bit confused. If activating the option "enable recursive update..." in A2p prefs, you will see this additional icon:

update-recursive.png (1.45 KiB) Viewed 1776 times

.
But your screenshot does not seem like A2p version V0.4.39a . Please can you provide a screenshot including the workbench selector like this one:

a2plus-V0.39a.png (31.73 KiB) Viewed 1776 times

.
Additional comment: For me, i do not recommend FC0.18.x anymore. If you are doing some transitions, you should directly switch to FC0.19. It is much more performant and already very stable, if you are using the standard and well known features.

[Koemi]

Thanks for your info guys.

Additional comment: For me, i do not recommend FC0.18.x anymore. If you are doing some transitions, you should directly switch to FC0.19. It is much more performant and already very stable, if you are using the standard and well known features.

Ok. I want to do this right away. There is this "Uninstall-FreeCAD.exe" file present inside the "FreeCAD 0.18" folder. Can I activate this without removing the FreeCAD V0.16 installation and what goes with it (like: 2,5 years of hard work for instance)?

Please can you provide a screenshot including the workbench selector like this one:

The WB selector shows V0.4.39a. I will provide a screenshot when FC V0.19 is installed correctly

[Koemi]

am a little bit confused. If activating the option "enable recursive update..." in A2p prefs, you will see this additional icon

Activated the option, still using V0.18 (screendumps: above kbwbe, below mine + content of pulldown A2plus)

Image 2.png (91.01 KiB) Viewed 1743 times

- Apparently "enable recursive update" helps, but still a few buttons missing, also not present in the pulldown of A2plus.
- Version A2Plus V0.4.39a

[kbwbe]

There is this "Uninstall-FreeCAD.exe" file present inside the "FreeCAD 0.18" folder. Can I activate this without removing the FreeCAD V0.16 installation and what goes with it (like: 2,5 years of hard work for instance)?

Better you ask for this in an appropiate forum (help or install/compile). I am no Expert for this.
But here https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/releases/ you can download appimages of FC starting from FC0.16 up to FC0.19. All are running without installation. So you can test new versions. Always keep a backup before testing.

[kbwbe]

- Apparently "enable recursive update" helps, but still a few buttons missing, also not present in the pulldown of A2plus.
- Version A2Plus V0.4.39a

Your installation of A2plus seems to be a mix of an old and the recent version, however. You should delete the complete A2plus subfolder in your Mod directory and reinstall the workbench.