Fusion 360: Oct. 5, 2016 Update

A new Fusion 360 update went out today and it has several new features in the API.

1. The one I want to discuss first is one that has the potential of breaking some existing programs.  If you use C++ and have written a program that created sketch dimensions then your programs are affected.  Your source code is ok, but you’ll need to compile to create a new dll or dylib file.  What’s changed is that we added a new argument to all of the sketch dimension add methods so you can specify if you want to create a drive or driving dimension. When the API for this was first designed Fusion only supported driving dimensions, which means the dimension controls or drives the geometry. Fusion has since added support for driven dimensions which means the geometry controls the dimension.  The new argument is optional and defaults to creating a driving dimensions so existing Python and JavaScript programs will function the same as they always have.
2. One of the highlights of this release is the addition of the new table command input. This will allow a much nicer interface for many commands and provide the ability to create some commands that just weren’t possible before.  What a table command input provides is the ability to arrange other command inputs within rows and columns.  Below are some examples where Fusion uses a table command input in commands. The first table in the Loft command has three columns where the first column is a read-only StringCommandInput, and the second and third are both DropDownCommandInputs.  The Properties command just uses read-only StringCommandInput objects to display text. And you can see that the Scene Settings dialog uses an ImageCommandInput so it’s very flexible.

   In addition to arranging command inputs in rows and columns it also supports the ability to have a toolbar that contains command inputs. That’s how the “+” and “x” buttons are done in the Profiles and Lofts tables.

    

3. Some additional Data Panel related functionality has been added to the API.  You now have access to all hubs and the projects within each hub. Additional functionality is also supported for files (copy, delete, getting child references, etc.).
4. You can now use the API to define, query, and enable contact sets.
5. One other thing that’s not really part of the API itself but is something that quite a few people use is the Spur Gear sample script and add-in. I’ve updated it to fix an issue it had with units but have also added quite a bit of functionality.  Below is a list of changes and enhancements that have been made.
   • Supports English and Metric definition of gears.
   • Units are either inches or millimeters depending on whether "English" or "Metric" is chosen as the standard. The default standard is chosen based on the default units for the document.
   • All of the timeline items that were created as a result of building the gear are grouped into a single timeline node.
   • Draws a sketch circle in the model that represents the pitch diameter.
   • Models a fillet at the root of the tooth or no fillet if a radius of 0 is specified.
   • Models a hole at the center of the gear or no hole if a diameter of 0 is specified.
   • The dialog is initialized with the values used for the previous gear in the current design.
   • Supports specifying a backlash value. This is useful for both precise gears to help reduce wear so the tooth isn’t in contact both on both sides.  It’s also very important when creating gears using imprecise manufacturing methods.  For example, because of how most parts are 3D printed that aren’t a perfect copy of the original model because of how the printing process works.  This will allow you to provide some extra tolerance so that the gears can still function as needed.

-Brian