(Plant) or (Ship) Helps you move, place, or modify objects with precision by displaying coordinate data at the pointer. The PinPoint command is located on the Tools menu. When you turn PinPoint on, the PinPoint ribbon displays coordinates relative to a target position you set. You can reset the target position at any time. Also, PinPoint provides a way to define a temporary coordinate system with a new origin and axis directions different from those of the global coordinate system.
You can use the PinPoint command while other commands such as Place Equipment are running.
How PinPoint Works
The PinPoint command provides coordinate input to commands as you place objects. The coordinates are relative to a target point that you can position anywhere in a view. You can change the location of the target point at any time by clicking Reposition Target on the ribbon and then clicking a new position in the view. Also, you can reposition the PinPoint target by pressing F12.
As you move the pointer around, PinPoint displays the distances between the pointer position and the target point. Also, these values appear on the PinPoint ribbon. Dashed lines show the PinPoint axes of the active coordinate system and the PinPoint orientation.
The PinPoint command only works on objects that have a right-handed coordinate system.
Rectangular, Spherical, and Cylindrical Coordinates
When you use PinPoint, you can work with rectangular, spherical, or cylindrical coordinates. The default PinPoint mode uses Rectangular coordinates . Rectangular coordinates are the E, N, EL or X, Y, Z-coordinates. When using Spherical coordinates , you use a specified distance and angle. For example, spherical coordinates can be useful when routing pipe at a specified distance and angle. With Cylindrical coordinates , you set radius, height (Z), and horizontal angle (theta) values.
Locking and Freeing Values
You can lock the coordinates using the boxes on the ribbon. When one coordinate value is locked, you can position the other coordinates by clicking a position in the view. You also can set all values using the ribbon boxes. If you want to free the dynamics for a locked value, you can clear the value box by double-clicking in the box and pressing BACKSPACE or DELETE, or by pressing the corresponding function keys.
When you use spherical coordinates and lock the absolute distance, you must also lock at least one of the angle boxes on the ribbon. You cannot unlock an angle while the absolute distance is locked and no other angle is locked.
PinPoint Orientation
In its default orientation, the axes are set by the active coordinate system. You can re-orient the axes by defining a temporary coordinate system using the Define Coordinate System by 3 Points or command on the PinPoint ribbon.
If you select a different coordinate system in Coordinate System box, then you must click Set Target to Origin or to set the selected coordinate system as the origin.
Select Coordinate System Dialog Box
What do you want to do?