SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [256]
Managing Bodies
Managing bodies in SolidWorks is not as clean a task as managing parts in an assembly. As you work with bodies, you may discover some surprises in how bodies are managed. This section prepares you for the challenges involved in managing bodies in SolidWorks.
Using Body folders
The top of the FeatureManager includes a pair of folders: one called Solid Bodies and the other called Surface Bodies. These folders are only there if you have solids or surfaces in the model, and they reflect the state of the model at the current position of the Rollback bar. As a result, the folders can change and even disappear as you roll the tree back and forth in history. Figure 19.20 shows the top of a FeatureManager that has both solid and surface body folders. Notice that the number in parentheses after the name of the folder shows how many bodies are in that particular folder.
FIGURE 19.20
Body folders in the FeatureManager
An odd fact about these folders is that you are allowed to rename the folders, but the name changes never remain. If you go back to rename the folder again, the name that you previously assigned will display.
You may encounter another problem with the display of FeatureManager header items in general when they are set to Automatic display (display only when they contain something). This does not guarantee that the folder is going to display when it should. A more direct way of saying this is that the Automatic setting works incorrectly from time to time. For this reason, I suggest using the Show option to display important folders. Figure 19.21 shows the Options page (Tools⇒Options) that controls the visibility of folders.
FIGURE 19.21
Control the visibility of FeatureManager items
By right-clicking either of the bodies folders, you can select the Show Feature History option, which shows the features that have combined to create the bodies in an indented list under the body name. This view of the FeatureManager is shown in Figure 19.22. This option is very useful when you are editing or troubleshooting bodies.
FIGURE 19.22
Using the Show Feature History option
Figure 19.22 also shows the other options in the right mouse button (RMB) menu. All the bodies in the folder can be alternately shown or hidden from this menu, as well as deleted. While the Hide or Show state of a body does not create a history-based feature in the tree, the Delete feature does, as discussed previously.
You can expand the Display pane in parts to show display information for bodies. In Figure 19.23, the Display pane shows the colors assigned to the solid bodies, as well as the fact that several surface bodies exist but are hidden.
Also in Figure 19.23, the DisplayManager tab shows colors assigned to specific bodies. This is helpful when trying to decipher appearance overrides, which are more common on multi-body parts than on single body parts. The DisplayManager is new in SolidWorks 2011.
The folders also make bodies easier to identify, especially when combined with the setting found at Tools⇒Options⇒Display/Selection⇒Dynamic Highlight From Graphics View. This setting quickly turns the body outline red if you move the mouse over the body in the body folder.
FIGURE 19.23
The Display pane showing information about solid and surface bodies
Hiding or showing bodies
You can hide or show bodies in one of several ways. I have already described the method of using the bodies folders to hide or show all the bodies at once, but you can also right-click individual bodies in the folders to hide or show them using the RMB menu. Remember that with the context bars, you have the option to use them with the RMB menu as well as with left-click selections. I include all context bar options in the RMB menu generically.
If you can see a body in the graphics area, then you can right-click the body and select Hide under the Body heading. This works for both solids and surfaces.