AutoCAD Mechanical: Symbol Creation

This Skill Builder demonstrates how to create surface texture symbols including the majority symbol using AutoCAD Mechanical.

In most cases, surface texture symbols specify the surface texture requirements for a specific surface. The majority symbol on the other hand, allows a single symbol to be created which specifies the surface texture requirements for all surfaces unless specified otherwise.

In addition to specifying the majority requirements, the majority symbol can also be a collective indication of all other surface texture requirements in the drawing. Once created, the majority symbol automatically updates to include all specific requirements in the drawing.

The majority symbol is available only if you created the symbol without a leader.

Note: The Majority Symbol option is not supported by ANSI standard.

To begin, download and open surface texture symbols_2008.zip below:

surface texture symbols_2008.zip (zip - 93Kb)

Expected completion time for the skill builder is 7 – 10 minutes.

Insert Surface Texture Symbol on the geometry

Type AMSURFSYM at the command line
Select object to attach: Select the line

Start point: Locate the start point of the symbol

Next point <Symbol>: Press Enter. It makes the majority symbol available for selection within the dialog box.
Select side: Drag the symbol upwards and click a point to place the symbol

The Surface Texture dialog box is displayed. You can now specify the surface texture requirements, and then click OK. The surface texture symbol is created.

Insert Surface Texture Symbol with a leader

Type AMSURFSYM at the command line
Select object to attach: Select the line

Start point: Locate the start point of the symbol.

Next point <Symbol>: Press <Ortho Off> and locate the next point of the symbol.

Next point <Symbol>: Press <Ortho on> and locate the next point horizontally.

Surface Texture dialog box is displayed. Specify the surface texture requirements.

Click OK. The surface texture symbol is created.

Insert as a Majority Symbol

Type AMSURFSYM at the command line Select object to attach: Select a location to place the symbol as shown in the following image.

Next Point <Symbol>: Press Enter

Rotation Angle : Type 0

The Surface Texture dialog box is displayed. Select the Majority Symbol option as shown in the following dialog box and specify the surface texture requirements.

Click OK. The surface texture symbol is created as a majority symbol.

Edit Surface Texture Symbol

Double-click the existing symbol to edit using the Surface Texture dialog box.

Configure Majority Symbol

You can configure the majority symbol representations in the Surface Texture Settings dialog box. Click the  button to display the dialog box.

With the full list representation, the majority symbol acts as a collective indication of surface texture symbols elsewhere in the drawing. The simplified representation indicates that there are exceptions but the requirements are not shown.

Demonstrating the intelligence of Majority Symbol

Once the majority symbol is placed in the drawing, it monitors the surface texture symbols place elsewhere in the drawing. If any of them are changed or new surface texture symbols are added, the majority symbols update automatically. Click the following image to see how it works.

If you use multiple title blocks (created using the AMTITLE command) in model space, the majority symbol only monitors the area within each title border.

In this Skill Builder, you learned how to:

• Insert Surface Texture Symbol on the geometry
• Insert Surface Texture Symbol with a leader
• Insert as a Majority Symbol
• Edit Surface Texture Symbol
• Configure Majority Symbol
• Work with the intelligence of Majority Symbol

If you need to learn more about configuring surface texture symbol, remember to check Help for further information.