Assembly Manager

Fundamentals

CADfix supports the import and export of assembly data to CATIA V5, STEP, Parasolid and ProEngineer files, but currently only supports the import of this data from IGES, CADDS, SolidWorks and Unigraphics format.

When an assembly is imported the assembly hierarchy is retained by default and either the complete model can be exported as a STEP, Parasolid or ProEngineer file or the individual components of the assembly can be exported as separate parts to any of the other file formats currently licensed. The decision to maintain or explode the assembly hierarchy on import will depend on the value of the preference option Explode assembly hierarchy.

However during batch processing the decision to explode the assembly on import will depend on the target export system and whether or not it can accept assemblies. See the Preference dialog for further information.

The Wizard has been designed to repair, transform and prepare an assembly model for export by cycling through each component in turn. At the end of this process either the complete assembly or individual component parts can be exported. But while the Wizard can process the entire model at the assembly level, access to the interactive repair and defeaturing tools is restricted to the component part level – see Operational Notes below. That is when a Tool is chosen the display is switched to the component part mode.

Using the Assembly Manager

The Assembly Manager is used to select and display the components in the model hierarchy and to gain access to the interactive repair and defeaturing tools.

The Assembly Manager also introduces the concept of a ‘work part’ (label usually prefixed by “Z”). When the work part is set to the top-level assembly or a sub-assembly then the Wizard can be used to repair the entities in that hierarchy and the display is set to assembly mode until a tool under the Tools tab is chosen as stated above. When the work part is set to a component part then the display is switched to the component part mode.

Two symbols are used to distinguish between the different types of work part.

 

The name of the currently selected work part appears in the bottom right-hand corner of the CADfix window.

Click on the Help button to see a brief explanation of the use of the Assembly Manager.

The Assembly Manager displays the model hierarchy in tree form, allowing the branches of the tree to be collapsed or expanded as required. Each branch of the tree is labelled with the element description (where defined). The Assembly Manager also indicates the name allocated to each element by CADfix.

When switched back to the Assembly Manager tab the model view will be redrawn allowing each component part to be identified in the context of the complete assembly.

Click on any element in the model tree to highlight that part. Click Select to select the part identified, thereby making it the current work part.

The Assembly Manager also allows an assembly or sub-assembly to be exploded to a flat data structure. Use the right mouse button to select an assembly and raise a pop-up menu. Choose Explode to explode the hierarchy of the selected assembly.

The content of a component part can also be edited. Use the right mouse button to select a component and raise the pop-up menu. Choose Edit to open the Set Manager allowing the content of the component to be modified.

l              In most assembly tree structures the branches will have a particular name and this is displayed when using the option Show component labels. In certain systems there will also be an alternative string or name and this can be displayed using the Show instance labels option.

Operational notes

It is common for any of the components in an assembly to be referenced multiple times. The geometry defining such a component occurs only once in the database. Specifying a transformation matrix defining its location in the assembly makes another reference to this geometry. Each successive occurrence of such a component is said to be an ‘instance’ of the original. By default, the model is displayed in its assembled form. The model can also be displayed in its unassembled form by toggling the view mode. Multiple instances of a component part are not displayed in this mode.

l              Access to the interactive repair and defeaturing tools is disabled when the work part is an assembly. Therefore when the user selects an interactive tool CADfix will automatically switch to the component view mode.

l              While in assembly view mode the centre of dynamic rotation cannot be picked. Hence the centre of rotation option is greyed on – see above.

l              While in assembly view mode measurements cannot be made from the displayed image. Hence the measurement tool is greyed out – see above.

l              When using the VGL-X driver entities cannot be identified by screen picking if the work part is an assembly