SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [39]
Note
All these options are available for parts and drawings as well, except for the View Features option and the View Mates and Dependencies option, which are related to assemblies.
Showing feature names and descriptions
If you are so thorough that you have added descriptions to your features, then you are doing well. The center image in Figure 4.12 shows a section of the FeatureManager for the bicycle frame part; some of the features have had descriptions added with both of the options for feature names and feature descriptions turned on. The image to the right in Figure 4.12 shows the result of turning off the feature name, with only the feature description option turned on. If no feature description has been created, then the feature name displays. Feature descriptions always appear in double quotes.
FIGURE 4.12
Tree display options in assemblies
Showing component and config names and descriptions
The image on the left in Figure 4.13 shows the default arrangement of displaying component and configuration names in the assembly FeatureManager. This example uses the rear wheel assembly from the bicycle assembly. In assemblies, you cannot turn off the component names and the component descriptions. SolidWorks issues this statement when you try to turn off both the name and the description: “You cannot hide both the component name and the file name. At least one must be visible in the tree.”
FIGURE 4.13
Component name options
Using names other than the part filename in the assembly FeatureManager
The message in the previous paragraph distinguishes between the filename and the component name that is listed for individual parts or subassemblies in the assembly FeatureManager. You can specify the component name in the Component Properties dialog box by right-clicking the component in the assembly FeatureManager and selecting Component Properties.
However, you can assign a name for a component that is different from the filename only if a special setting is turned off. (The setting defaults to on.) You can access this setting by choosing Tools⇒Options⇒External References⇒Update Component Names When Documents Are Replaced. These are the steps that you have to go through if you want to change how the part and subassembly names display in the assembly FeatureManager.
After going through the steps in the preceding paragraph, you still receive the warning message about the filename and the component name. This is apparently an “unintended feature,” or bug, and should say that you cannot turn off both the component name and the component description at the same time.
There may be a situation where you want to show a name other than the filename in the FeatureManager. For example, your company may be using sequential part numbers for the filenames that are difficult to read, and you want something descriptive in the design tree so that you do not need a cross-reference sheet next to your computer that equates filenames to meaningful descriptions.
If you prefer, you can avoid a lot of problems by just using the part description instead of the filename or the component name. The choice is up to you.
One of the problems with using the component description is shown in Figure 4.14, where the user did not enter proper descriptions for the parts, and SolidWorks used the default description in the templates. The tire and spokes use configurations, which display in the figure.
FIGURE 4.14
An example of what can occur when you do not enter proper descriptions for parts
Using Component Reference per Instance
SolidWorks 2010 added Component Reference capabilities. In the Component Properties dialog box, shown earlier in Figure 4.7, the second row from the top enables you to enter Component Reference information. This is typically used in