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Creating an in-context part

To create another new part in the assembly, and use the first part to drive this one, you must once again click the New Part icon. When you see the cursor with the green check mark, click the 5 x 4 end face that you created using the Extrude feature.

When you do this, the first part you created turns transparent. This is to help you identify which part is being worked on (the non-transparent part is current). You can find the settings controlling this behavior at Tools⇒Options⇒Colors. Toward the bottom of that page is a setting called Use specified colors when editing parts in assemblies. You can find a related setting at Tools⇒Options⇒Display/Selection; under the heading for Assembly Transparency for In Context Edit is a drop-down list with three options: Opaque Assembly, Maintain Assembly Transparency, and Force Assembly Transparency. The default is Force Assembly Transparency. These options are shown in Figure 10.4.

FIGURE 10.4

Establishing assembly transparency while editing in-context parts

To create the sketch for the first feature of the in-context part, click the same face that you just clicked to place the second part, and use the Offset Entities to make a sketch loop offset by 0.25 inch (6mm) to the outside.

To contrast two methods of selection, after using the face selection to offset to the outside, right-click one of the edges of the face of the Box part, and choose Select Loop from the menu. Make sure that the yellow arrow shown in Figure 10.5 points as shown, not perpendicular to the sketch plane. Then use the Offset Entities to offset sketch lines from the selected loop of edges toward the inside again by 0.25 inch. Figure 10.5 shows the preview of the second offset.

With this single sketch containing a nested loop, use the Extrude feature to extrude 0.5 inch (12mm). When complete, use the Confirmation Corner again to exit the part. You should now have an assembly, which is not saved, a part that is saved with the name Box, and a second part that is just a virtual component.

After exiting Edit Component mode, you should also see that the two parts are the same color. Click a face of the newly created part, click the Appearance drop-down menu, and select the indicator for the part. Figure 10.6 shows the cursor pointing to this indicator. Change the part color using the panel that appears in the PropertyManager (don't change the entire appearance, just the color).

FIGURE 10.5

Using two methods to offset sketches in context

FIGURE 10.6

Changing the color of a virtual component

Editing the driving part of an in-context reference

Now comes the tricky part. You are going to change the overall shape of the Box part, and observe the effect on the virtual component. In order to do this, click the sketch under the Extrude feature in the Box part and select Edit Sketch from the popup toolbar.

Caution

In SolidWorks 2011 SP 2.0, if you have not saved the assembly yet (recall the earlier warning about losing references), the prompt to save the assembly that you get when selecting Edit Sketch on a part in an unsaved assembly does not work. If you use Edit Component, it prompts you to save the assembly for that operation too, but in that case it works. This function appears to be inconsistent, so you may need to manually save the assembly.

Note

Notice that there is a difference between using Save As from the menu and the Save button from the Title bar toolbar. Save As only allows you to save the assembly file, while the Save command enables you to save both the assembly and the virtual component.

Once this is complete, you are ready to edit the sketch of the Extrude feature in the Box part. If necessary, expand the Box part in the FeatureManager by clicking the plus symbol to the left of the name and then click the plus symbol next to the Extrude feature. Now you can click the sketch, and select Edit Sketch from the popup list.

While editing the sketch of the box, right-click one line of the