SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [97]
Virtual components are named Part1^Assem1, where Part1 and Assem1 are default names. You can easily rename the part by clicking the RMB menu and selecting Rename Part. You cannot do this for external parts. If you make an external part virtual, the name in the assembly becomes Copy of filename^Assem1 where filename is the name of the external file. The name of the assembly is always included (and cannot be removed) to ensure that if you have subassemblies that also have virtual components, you will always have unique filenames for all the parts.
Virtual components can also be accessed in their own window, which makes them easier to edit for some purposes. Bills of Materials (BOMs) and numbered balloons work correctly with virtual components.
Best Practice
It is considered best practice to save any parts that will be a permanent part of the assembly as external files. Virtual components should be limited to temporary parts or possibly non-geometry, BOM-only parts such as glue or paint.
Balancing advantages and limitations
In theory, the Layout feature has several advantages:
• You can make parts from blocks within the Layout.
• You can move parts by moving blocks in the Layout.
• It is a great way to structure your relations within an assembly.
• It is useful for motion analysis studies.
In practice, this feature needs some enhancements before it is ready for use on real assemblies. You will probably agree that using 2D sketches as assembly layout sketches is still a better idea than trying to avoid the limitations of the formal Layout feature. The limitations listed are presumably not bugs because Layout was introduced in 2009 and the tutorials in this book were created on 2010 SP 0.0. Here are some of the limitations of Layout:
• The 3D sketch used for Layout has all the limitations that come with 3D sketches.
• Sketch relations are listed in the Mates folder.
• Gaining access to edit the Layout once it has been closed requires a method you don't expect from a sketch: you click the Layout button on the toolbar rather than right-click and edit an icon in the FeatureManager.
• It requires that you use blocks to get all of the functionality.
• A fully defined 3D sketch with blocks is very unstable.
• Part creation from blocks does not offer a time savings.
• You cannot paste copied sketch entities from a 2D sketch into the Layout.
• You cannot use autodimension (or polygons or ellipses) in the Layout.
Although the formal Layout feature has serious advantages over regular layout sketches, at this time the limitations outweigh them. The rest of the discussion on layouts addresses the generic layout technique rather than the formal feature.
Tutorial: Working In-Context
Follow these steps to get a feel for working with parts in the context of an assembly:
1. Open the assembly from the DVD named Chapter 16 Tutorial Table.sldasm.
2. Set the colors that are to be used during in-context editing. Remember that two settings control this — one at Tools⇒Options⇒Colors, and the other at Tools⇒Options⇒Display/Selection — as shown in Figure 10.24.
Set the Assembly Edit Part color to a shade of blue, and the Assembly Non-Edit Parts to a shade of gray.
Also set the Assembly Transparency for In Context Edit setting to Force Assembly Transparency, with the slider at around 90 percent. Now you are ready to begin.
3. Select the Table Top part, and click the Edit Component button on the Assembly toolbar. This command is also available through both the RMB menu and the drop-down menu as Edit Part. (If you right-click