Creo Tutorial How to Make

and Edit UDFs (User

Defined Features)
February 3, 2015steventaitinger
User Defined Features (UDFs) are Creo objects that you can create to speed
up the creation of common features you use or to give your features more
parameters and smarts than you would normally have time for since you
only need to do it once to use it many times. This is my mostly exhaustive
instruction set for Creo UDFs. I have detailed how you can create my two best
UDFs so that you can see real world examples of how to make UDFs quickly
that can save you lots of time. Each example highlights many of the tricky
parts so read both examples even if you arent trying to build that UDF
exactly.
Problem:
You notice yourself spending a significant amount of time creating similar
features over and over again
Ex. 1 Generic Thread revolves and cosmetic threads.
Ex. 2 Stub Acme revolves, notes, and cosmetic threads (click here for a free
Stub Acme Dimensions/Note Calculator I made)
Solution using UDFs:
In Ex 1 I will show you how to create UDFs. In Ex 2 I will show you how to edit
UDFs. There are key differences and editing UDFs is particularly bothersome.

Ex. 1 Generic Threads

To create a UDF create a new part or use an existing one. It is usually easier
to create a new one because it is better to create references in UDFs that use
as little references to non-UDF geometry as possible. If you reference part
datums or geometry of other features in a part that are not included in the
UDF group of features than when you go to place the UDF in another part you
will have to select all those references in the new part even if they could be
implied by fewer geometry references. This wastes time when using a UDF.
Create the features of your UDF. Make sure all your UDF feature references
are as self-contained as possible. Ie. Instead of the side plane I will reference
the edge surface of the cylinder since I need that anyways for my revolve.
Instead of the top plane I will use the center axis as that more closely
matches my design intent and protects me when trying to add the UDF to
parts that dont meet the current Weatherford standard of having a TOP
plane. We could even imply the end surface by making the end point of our
chamfer liner vertically constrained over the end point of the ID surface line.
However, I do want to be able to choose which end of the ID surface the face
of the thread should be on so I do need an end surface reference. The one
step that is easy to miss is when setting up the sketch plane. Set the sketch
plane to have the FRONT plane and the end surface as references.

For the thread revolve geometry I set it to have a little chamfer for looks and
a 3/4 TPF taper to match the most common thread looks. I set the thread to
be only 1in long because in UDFs if you have adjustable geometry you want it
to be as small as possible in the UDF so you can apply it to the smallest parts
possible without having to redefine the feature while you are placing the UDF.
It is easier to edit a dimension to be larger after you have placed it than to go
through the menus or a failed placement trying to remember which feature
needs to be redefined. A TPF is entered into the revolve taper angle over
the diameter directly as atan(.75/12). As I accept that value it asks me if I
want to add that formula as a sketch relation.
Feature or sketch level relations of features in the UDF group are added to the
part the UDF is placed in as feature or sketch level relations. Part level
relations and parameters are not added to the destination part. We will talk
more about relations and parameters in Ex 2.

Lets create a sketch to represent the cosmetic thread for this udf.

Again lets make sure that only the end surface and the FRONT plane are
selected as initial references to setup the sketch plane. We can reference the
geometry of the revolve since that is included in the UDF feature group. I
keep saying UDF feature group since we will actually group all the features of
the UDF at the end. Grouping the UDF features is an important step that
keeps the UDF from asking for names for internal references and from asking
the user to select references before they place the UDF even though the
references dont exist yet. When the UDF gets placed it is easy to ungroup
the features if required. I made the cosmetic thread terminate at the end
point of the taper so that you can place this generic thread UDF in a part
where the generic thread extends to the full length of the blanking ID without
failing. If I would have set the cosmetic thread to be constrained on the flat
part of the ID then for parts like I previously mentioned it would error.
I create a sketch/construction level centerline in order to not add a new
datum to the destination part. Then I mirror the sketched lines over the
datum and with all lines selected set the line style property to hidden as this
shows up nicely in the PDFs in Windchill.

Then I will accept the sketch, select my features I want to be placed with my
UDF and group them.
Now we are done creating the features and it is time to actually create the
UDF. The UDF Library command is how you both create and edit UDFs. The
UDF command is just to place a UDF.

From the popup old school style menu you can create new UDFs or edit
existing ones.

Set a name that works with Creos crazy name restrictions. The name you
enter here will be used as the reference part name + _gp.

Always select Stand Alone unless you never want to be able to edit the UDF.
Here again always choose yes to create a reference part unless you dont
want to be able to edit it. You could technically edit a UDF based on a
production part. However, if you make any changes to the features of the
part the UDF is based on without first removing them from the UDF, when
you go to edit the UDF the link between the part and the UDF will be broken.
You will no longer be able to set or update the features of the UDF based on
the part.

When you click yes to include reference part later it copies your current part
and names it the UDF name + _gp. I believe the _gp part is the same as a
regular part. Then the UDF menu pops up. These are the features you have to
create and edit UDFs. It is setup to complete the UDF top down in the menu
even though you can jump to other steps at different times if you dont plan
on using all the functionality.
By default you can start clicking on features to add. Since we grouped all our
features we can just click on the group to select everything we need and then
click done in the SELECT FEAT menu and then in the UDF FEATS menu.

Now if you have setup your features properly it will only ask you for names
for the FRONT plane, the centre axis, the ID surface and the end surface. The
names you enter here will be the descriptions given to the user of what
references to select when adding the UDF to a new part.

Now you are done! To place the UDF in a new part simply have the part open,
click the UDF tool and select the new references. I havent ever found a time
where accepting the defaults is not a good idea.
If you are placing your UDF in a different orientation than in your reference
part you may simply click to the next screen and flip references until your
UDF is placing properly.
If you are placing your UDF in a part that is not initially compatible you may
also redefine the features of UDF in order to place them correctly. Go to the
Options tab. Select the features you think you need to redefine (or just click
all of them). Then uncheck Auto Regeneration. Click the arrow to go to the
first feature. Then click the arrow to go to the last feature and it will jump you
into defining the features you want.
Simply adjust the references or dimensions until it is setup properly and click
ok until you get back to the placement menu. If everything is good you can
accept the UDF.

For any part that is only dimensioned from one orientation this generic box
thread UDF will work perfectly when you want to show a tapered premium or
API thread. If you need to show the thread from different in section views at a
different orientation you will need to copy the cosmetic thread sketch and
paste it in that plane as well in order for it to show up on all the right drawing
views. There are many steps to creating a UDF but it doesnt need to take
more than a couple minutes once you understand what Creo expects from
you. Then you can use those features over and over again easily by just
selecting your new references.

Ex. 2 Stub Acme Threads

Previously we saw that creating simple UDFs can be fairly straight forwards if
you are familiar with selecting the right references and group your features
before making your UDF. UDFs really shine however when they are smart and
can adapt to a variety of situations via relations or when you use a family
table of features. A family table allows you to create a group of similar UDFs
with various feature or dimension combinations that only apply in certain
situations. I will show you both relations and family tables in this example.
Before we start discuss what we want our feature tree to look like when we
are done and why.

Some basic things to note:

The first feature is a geometry analysis feature. It contains a ref to the ID
diameter which we have setup to be the minor minimum of an ID Stub Acme
thread. There is also an OD analysis feature.
There are 3 revolves on the OD and 3 revolves on the ID.
There are 4 cosmetic thread sketches on the OD and 4 on the ID.
Each HAS_INT/EXT_THRD_CUT_PARAMETERS feature also has a sub feature
that is a note that can be placed on a drawing to callout the Stub Acme size.

In Creo designing a feature that can work both as an ID feature with angles or
as an OD feature with angles is impossible as far as I know. Creo doesnt have
any mechanism that knows to flip the direction of an angle if the larger
diameter ref gets switched. We could just use ID features and assume that
the end user is smart enough and motivated enough to just redefine the
angles, but that isnt very nice of us and is probably a waste of time in the
long run.

The diameter analysis features have been created in order to reduce the
number of steps required to regenerate all features. Let me explain.

First, I should point out that this UDF is not designed for a specific Stub Acme
size. You can place it on any size ID or OD you want and it will generate
accurate Stub Acme geometry assuming that you have modeled to maximum
material values. This means that the OD you place it on should be the major
maximum diameter of the Stub Acme thread and the ID should be the minor
minimum diameter of the internal Stub Acme thread. This means also that if
the user changes the ref diameter after they have placed the Stub Acme UDF,
I want it to again regenerate proper geometry.

Second, the regeneration order of features in Creo goes relations first, then
features top down in the feature tree. The only exception to that is if a
feature higher up in the tree/creation order references features below it (bad
idea). Then it will start trying to make things work as best it can. I ran into
problems when I first created this UDF in Wildfire 4 because some of my
relations were based on features and also drove other relations that drove
other features. Ie. Everything is calculated based on the reference diameter
surface. If I chose to make my ID surface entirely larger than my previous
revolves, it needed 2 regenerations in order to both update the relations,
then the features, then the relations and features again. The problem was
that during the first attempt at regeneration there was no longer any material
for the revolves and it would fail. The geometry features seemed to update
before the relations and this allowed for a smooth one regeneration cycle
again. However, I just tested this in Creo 2 and it doesnt seem like a problem
anymore! Nevertheless, I would recommend caution when using multi-step
relations-features setups.

Now lets talk about my design intent a bit. I wanted to give the user the
option to choose between having an initial thread relief, an end thread relief
or no thread relief at all. And I wanted them to be able to choose to place the
Stub Acme thread on the ID or the OD of a part. In the previous example we
had no choice but to use a generic thread form to show the tapered thread
because when using premium threads the exact thread geometry is
proprietary. With API or Stub Acme thread forms we could actually do a helical
sweep to show the precise thread geometry. The reason I choose to show the
thread form as a hidden line however is for regeneration time. The machine
shops already know how to cut a Stub Acme or an API thread and for clarity
on the drawing we just call out the thread size, blanking dimensions, thread
name and weight if applicable (Oil and Gas threads callout an API casing or
tubing weight to fully specify which thread size). You can see a really useful
script I made to generate Stub Acme thread callouts here. Since this UDF
already knows all the geometry values for the given Stub Acme size it also
generates the callout note for the drawing as previously discussed. The only
way I could think to give the user all the options I want when placing the UDF
is to create a family table of feature groups. This works out well in that it still
only creates one UDF. After the user selects our Stub Acme UDF they can then
decide which reliefs they want if any.

Now lets step through each feature for the ID features to show you how this
is setup. The ref diameter is the first and is fairly straight forwards.

The first revolve is a little bit tricky to understand. I wanted one feature to
contain the relations and parameters that will be referenced by all the other
ID features. I also set this up before I had the ref diameter feature. This
revolve is actually not required if there is a front relief on the part but it
doesnt hurt anything in Creo having revolves remove material from
overlapping spaces.
See below for the relations for the ID features. In order to navigate to feature
level relations and parameters you need to open the relations dialog from the
Model tab. Then in the drop down for Look In, select Feature and then the
feature. This is also how you add feature level relations or parameters.

These are all the relations needed. /* stands for a commented line.

/*sets driving diameter

minor_min=DIAMETER:FID_INT_REF_DIAMETER
d = minor_min + (0.6 * p)
/*calculates the values for the note and the cuts
p = 1/TPI
pdt = (0.006 * sqrt(d)) + (0.030 * sqrt(p))
minor_max= minor_min + (0.05 * p)
if TPI10
major_d_offset=.01
endif
major_min = d + major_d_offset
major_max = major_min + pdt
pitch_min = d (0.3 * p)
pitch_max = pitch_min + pdt
relief =ceil(major_max + 0.01,2)
/*sets the dims of cut of the has_int_thrd_cut_parameters feature
D46=major_max
D48=minor_min
/*sets the dims of the int_end_relief_cut feature
D53=relief
D54=minor_min
/*sets the dims of the int_start_relief_cut feature
D58=relief
D59=minor_min

There is also a TPI feature level parameter needed that the user can set
when placing the UDF. I have set the initial value to 8 as that is what we use
for just about everything. In this other post you can see how I calculated the
Stub Acme dimension values with references to the Machinerys Handbook
26e.

The next feature is another straight forwards cosmetic sketch 1in long for
when the user has selected no reliefs.
We then have an end relief cut and another cosmetic thread for when the
user only wants and end relief.
Next you can see the features necessary for only a front relief.
Then the features for both a start and end relief.
You can see with the right features suppressed or active you can achieve
each combination independently. This is the requirement for a family table
UDF to function properly. This could have been modeled with one revolve for
each different scenario as well but I want one feature that can contain the
relations and parameters for each scenario. It would just be asking for a
mistake to include the relations in 4 different features that all make the same
calculations. When you go to update it you would have to remember to
update each one.

Now lets open the UDF Library Menu, click Modify, open our UDF and look at
the family table.
You cant see all the features but there is 16 different features to select for 8
different UDF choices that will be presented to the user. Each choice the user
makes simply selects a group of features that will be added to their part. The
Instance Name you set here will be the name of each option the user gets to
select from. This table is overwhelming to look at in Creo. Luckily there is an
option for importing a table from Excel. Excel is 100 times easy to work with
for tables than Creo. I have previously added 8 new rows to this table. The
Instance Name that is the same as your UDF name is kind of like the master.
it needs to have all the features set to yes and is not an option the user gets
to pick.
The first thing I did in creating this table was to add columns for every feature
that I wanted to include in any UDF option.

This somewhat non-intuitive dialog then pops up where you can choose what
type of element the family table column will contain and how many columns
there will be. If you wanted to have a dimension vary between UDF feature
groups you could select as below.
In this case we are just choosing which features to include and so all of the
features above needed to be added.

I also want the user to easily be able to select the TPI of the Stub Acme
thread before he places it so I add the TPI parameter as variable like below.
That is basically all to it! You can see that a UDF with several options like this
one can take a long time to make. If you know the steps required to make a
UDF though this doesnt take too much longer than it would take to create
each different version of a stub acme thread in the future. Since I have
created a UDF for each one now though I never have to model a Stub Acme
thread again! Also all my notes are associative so when I have to edit my old
models for a design change I can just change the one referenced surface
diameter and all the Stub Acme geometry, cosmetic thread and the note on
the drawing will be updated automatically. Every time I get to do that I thank
myself for making this UDF. That really highlights one of the beauties of UDFs.
When you are slow at work you can spend time making really awesome
things that will save you time for when you are busy! The more areas you can
find to make your models smart also saves you from making mistakes from a
forgetful memory or from being lazy. If I was just changing a Stub Acme
thread by a few thousands of an inch, I probably wouldnt go back into the
model and change everything. I might even just be tempted to only change
the note on the drawing. This way it is the same amount of work to do
everything as it is to just change the drawing!

One last thing I will caution about is workspaces. It might be wise or company
policy to have your UDFs in a different folder than your production work. You
might be tempted to try and edit your UDFs in a different folder without
changing your workspace. This will most likely cause errors upon trying to
redefine features. To edit a UDF you always need to make sure your reference
part (_gp.prt) and the UDF (.gph) are in the same workspace and that
workspace is active. I found that after editing the features on the reference
part, I needed to remove those features from the UDF erase all the current
but not displayed objects in Creos memory and then re-add each feature that
was updated. I am not sure how much this has changed from Wildfire 4 but I
leave it here just in case.