Mesh Connectors

Objects in the real world often have points of interest on them which connect to other objects, or which we want to explain. Mesh connectors define a point in space within a mesh, and are the foundation for building a mate, annotation, or dimension.

What are Mesh Connectors used for?

Define a connector somewhere on or near a mesh, then use that connector in various ways:

Connectors help annotations float 2D information over the object.

Your customer wants to change the color of a part by simply clicking it in the 3D scene, rather than having to find it in the configurator. A connector in that part’s scene mesh can be used as an annotation to place a clickable hotspot there, containing that color picker field.

Learn more about floating 2D info over the 3D scene using annotations and hotspots.

Connectors help dimensions show sizes and distances.

How big is an object? or how far apart are two objects? Your user can estimate these things visually in the scene, but sometimes they may want to see actual numbers for confirmation.

Learn more about showing sizes and distances using annotations.

Connectors help draggable meshes mate together.

If your scene offers drag-and-drop to your user, connectors can work like magnets to ensure dragged meshes align perfectly.

Learn more about making drag-and-drop an easy experience with mates.

Mesh Connector Basics

Connectors have 3 basic properties, visualized by a two-colored ball with an arrow projecting from it.

1. Position in space. This is represented by a ball’s position relative to the mesh.

2. Direction, represented by the arrow. The direction is used by dimensions to know how to draw the dimension bar, and used by mates to position any drag-and-drop meshes when it connects.

3. Rotation, or angle. This is represented by the two colored halves of the sphere. Rotation is used by dimensions and annotations to rotate the text, and by mates to rotate any drag-and-drop mesh when it connects.

Managing the connectors on a mesh

Select a mesh, so the properties list appears. Open the “Connectors” expander in the list. All connectors for that mesh are listed.

Connector properties

• Create a connector by clicking New Connector.

• Delete one by clicking the context menu on the connector in the properties list, and selecting “Remove”.

• Hide a connector by clicking the visibility icon on the connector in the properties list.

• Hide all or Show all connectors by clicking the connectors button in the scene menubar at the top of the viewer. You can also resize how the connectors appear during design time, to make them easier to work with. (Connectors are always invisible to the user during run-time.)

  

Property	Options
Name	The name of the connector. Try to keep the name unique. While the same name shared across multiple objects is allowed, doing so makes run-time manipulations more difficult.
Visible	Set this to false to hide the mesh, or true to show it. You can also click the visibility icon next to the object in the explorer. It is a shortcut to this property.
Position Mode	After you position the connector during design-time, remember that the mesh may change size during run-time, thanks to Snap rules. If a mesh does change size, how should this connector be repositioned along the new mesh? Bounding Box Ratio This mode positions the connector at locations relative to a “bounding box” – the smallest box this mesh can fit inside. mesh; e.g. a value of [1, 1, 1] would position the connector at the [top, right, front] of its parent mesh. This is the most common way to position a connector. Often, the faces of the bounding box (or face/edge centers) correspond to boundary surfaces of our configured mesh, making it a convenient way to define mating surfaces without necessarily knowing their explicit dimensions. Absolute This mode positions the connector in absolute units relative to the parent mesh’s pivot. In Absolute mode, [0,0,0] corresponds to the location of the object’s pivot, not the center of its bounding box. With this mode, connectors can more easily be manipulated in explicit scene units, relative to other objects and the scene at large.
move button	Click to show a position gizmo on the connector, helping you edit the Position parameters. These are relative to the origin of the mesh.
rotate button	Click to show a rotate gizmo on the connector, helping you edit the Direction parameters. The rotation gizmo and numbers are relative to the origin of the mesh, and are based on the axis/angle technique. Learn more about Rotation Modes.
cursor button	Click to enter the connector positioning mode. While in this mode, you can easily click any surface of the target mesh and the connector will be positioned on that surface, with its direction normal to the surface. Note that this position and direction is determined from the original polygon at design time. It does not include manipulations to the shape of the original polygon done later during run-time, such as Mesh Features manipulations.
Position X, Y, Z	The position of this connector, relative to the origin of the mesh.
Direction X, Y, Z, Angle	The direction this connector points, relative to the origin of the mesh. A connector’s direction is ignored when it is used as an annotation, but direction is important to dimensions, annotations, and mates.
Metadata	Click the + button to add metadata to this connector. Metadata are key/value pairs added to connectors to store information about that connector. This metadata can be used in Snap code, to make mates smarter. For example, a connector on the end of a cable could be marked as “type/male plug” which could then enable Snap logic ensuring that only mates marked as “type/female socket” could attach there. A third connector on a pipe with metadata of “type/threaded pipe” would be blocked from attaching there.