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SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [17]

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components have data loaded from the assembly only. Hidden Lightweight have the data loaded but are not visible.

• Out-of-Date Lightweight and Hidden Out-of-Date Lightweight. Out-of-date lightweight parts exist when changes have been made to the original part, but it hasn't been reloaded yet into the assembly. The symbol notifies you that what you see in the assembly may not represent the current state of the part.

• SpeedPak. SpeedPaks are derived configurations that use only body or face geometry (no parametrics) to display parts and subassemblies within upper-level assemblies. You will learn more about all of these techniques later in this book.

• Envelope. An Envelope is a part in an assembly that is not counted toward the Bill of Materials (BOM) or mass properties. Its primary function is to designate an area for selection. It could designate the range of motion of an operator or piece of machinery, or an area where noise may be above a certain decibel level. Envelopes are intended to be used as part of the Advanced Component Selection that you can access through the menus at Tools⇒Component Selection⇒Advanced Select.

• Update Holders. Update Holders contain the information about external references in assemblies where in-context references have been made. They are hidden by default, but you can show them by right-clicking the name of the assembly and selecting Show Update Holders.

• Flexible Subassembly. SolidWorks solves assembly mates within the assembly document by default. This means that any mates (and motion) associated with a subassembly will not be solved in the upper-level assembly. If a joint is in a subassembly and you want it to move while displayed in the upper-level assembly, you must make the subassembly a flexible subassembly, using the Component Properties dialog box.

• Display Pane. You can open the Display Pane flyout from the FeatureManager by clicking the double arrows at the top-right corner of the FeatureManager. The Display Pane helps you to visualize where appearances, display styles, or hidden bodies have been applied in a part document and where appearances have been applied at various levels (overrides) in an assembly document. The Display Pane is helpful when you're looking for colors that are applied to the model at some level other than the part level.

• Rollback Bar. The Rollback bar at the bottom of the FeatureManager enables you to see the part in various states of history. You can add features while the Rollback bar is at any location. You can also save the model while it is rolled back.

• FeatureManager Filter. One of the most useful elements of the FeatureManager is the FeatureManager filter. The filter resides at the top of the FeatureManager. If you type text in the filter, SolidWorks searches part names, descriptions, tags, comments, document properties, mates, and configuration names for matching text, and only shows matching components in the window. The filter is very useful for quickly finding parts, features, mates, or anything else that shows up in the part or assembly FeatureManager.

Working with multiple document windows

You may sometimes have the luxury of working on a single part at a time, but more often you will have several documents open at once. Fortunately, SolidWorks has several methods for dealing with “information overload,” to help you sort through it all.

Managing open windows

Like most Windows applications, SolidWorks can arrange the open document windows in one of several ways that are available through the Window menu (see Figure 2.6):

• Cascade. This is most useful for accessing documents that are to be edited one by one.

• Tile Horizontally. This is most useful for wide and short parts.

• Tile Vertically. This is most useful for tall, narrow parts, or documents where you want to compare items in the FeatureManager.

• Arrange Icons. When windows are minimized to icons, this menu selection arranges the icons neatly, starting in the lower-left corner of the window.

FIGURE 2.6

The Window menu


The images in Figure 2.7

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