Hierarchy Compensation

The Preferences->Hierarchy Compensation command is a toggle, available in all modules except Tools, that controls how objects transform when a link is created by a hierarchy.

When you create an object, the transformation parameters (translation, rotation, and scaling) refer to the global coordinate system. When you create a hierarchy using the Parent command, the reference for the child is no longer the origin but the parent. The parent is not an absolute reference like the origin: it has a scaling factor, a rotation, and a translation.

When Hierarchy Compensation is selected (the default), all transformation parameters are recalculated (compensated) for the child. As a result, the child remains at the same location and size as it was when the link was created.

When Hierarchy Compensation is deselected, the child inherits the transformation parameters of the parent. As a result, the child adds its translation coordinates to those of the parent: it rotates to conform to the parent's orientation and it scales according to the parent's scaling. Once the link is created, the rotation, scaling, and translation are applied the same for all of the children and hierarchy compensation mode has no effect.

For more information, see Manipulating Hierarchies of the Modelling User's Guide.

Last updated 02-apr-1998