AssemblyDesign Tool Bar

 

Use this command to check for interference between to components or the assembly. Blanked and/or suppressed components in an assembly will be ignored during these calculations.

 

Required Inputs

 

• Base - Select the first set of components or middle-click for a full assembly check.

• Check - Select the second set of components or middle-click to check against all remaining components.  If an interference is detected a new feature (displayed in red) is created equal to the volume of the interference.

 

 

 

Tools > Assembly Manager > > Inquire (Part Level)

 

Use this command to display the Inquire Entity Information Form with information related to the highlighted component in the Assembly Manager.  Move the cursor over a component in the manager, right-click and select Inquire.

 

Here is some of the information that will be displayed:

 

• Name

• Reference File

• Regen Status (on or off)

• Layer

• Color

• Display Mode

• Anchor Constraint Status (yes or no)
   

 

 

Tools > Assembly Manager > > Blank (Part Level)

 

Use this command to remove (blank) the selected component from the display. Blanking unnecessary components in an assembly will decrease the time required to perform many display intensive functions such as Shaded Display, Render the Display, and Hidden Line Display.  This command is logged to the active assembly's history.
 

1. Right-click on a component listed in the Assembly Manager.

2. Pick Blank.
   
   The icon next to the component in the Assembly Manager will change from to indicating that it is currently blanked and the component will be removed from the display.

 

 

Notes

 

• Blanking a parent component will blank all of its children components if any.

• If a child component is blanked before its parent component is blanked, it will remain blanked even if its parent is unblanked. Blanking a component is explicit to that component.

• Blanked components are subject to the Blank Swap command.

• Blanked components are subject to the Unblank All Entities command. You can also use the Unblank Component command to unblank a selected component.

• Use the Blank Entities command to blank entities within a component.

 

 

 

Tools > Assembly Manager > > Unblank (Part Level)

 

Use this command to unblank the selected component and return it to the display. This command will only appear if the selected component has been blanked with the Blank Component command.
 

1. Right-click on a component listed in the Assembly Manager.

2. Pick Unblank.
    

The icon next to the component in the Assembly Manager will change from to indicating that it is currently unblanked and the component will be returned to the display.

 

 

Notes

 

• You cannot unblank a component if its parent component is currently blanked.

• Unblanking a parent component will unblank all its children components unless they have been previously blanked. Blanking a component is explicit to that component.

• Unblanked components are subject to the Blank Swap command.

• Unblanked components are subject to the Unblank All Entities command.

 

 

 

Tools > Assembly Manager > > Auto Regen (Part Level)

(on a Component) > Auto Regen (Part Level)

 

Use this command to set the Auto Regen status of a component.  Select one of the following options shown below.  The checkmark symbol will appear next to the child component node symbol in the Assembly Manager for the component. Refer to the NOTES section below for more information.

 

• None - the component is not regenerated when its parent is regenerated.

• At insertion - the component is regenerated when the operation that inserts it is regenerated.

• At end - the component is regenerated at the end of the regen of its parent part/assembly.  Components will be regenerated sequentially according to their order of insertion.  It is assumed that components do not reference each other.

 

Notes

 

• Because VX allows you to reference geometry and variables from almost anywhere, dependency checking for component regeneration can become potentially difficult for you to predict. Therefore, when an assembly is regenerated, the regen message is passed to all components flagged with Auto Regen.
  
  The instanced components are always regenerated with no dependency checking. Therefore, the only thing that causes a component to be (or not to be) regenerated when its parent is regenerated is setting Auto Regen for the corresponding component. Note that component alignment is always regenerated independent of Auto Regen. Auto Regen only influences whether regeneration is propagated down into the part instanced by the component.
   

• When Auto Regen of a component is set using the Link Manager, the "regen" message is sent to the part linked by the component, when the component's parent part is regenerated. When a component has Auto Regen set, it is displayed in the History Manager with an arrow (->) after the component's name. This indicates that a regen "message" is passed from the component to the part that it instances.

 

 

 

Tools > Assembly Manager > > Clone (Part Level)

 

Use this command to aid in the creation of variant designs from existing parts or assemblies. Here are two example scenario.

 

Required Inputs

 

• Entity - Refers to the part being cloned.  You can pick the Redefine button to change the component.

• Suffix - This suffix will be added to the end of the names of all new objects and files created.

 

Optional Inputs

 

• Prefix - This prefix will be added to the beginning of the names of all new objects and files created.  This can be used along with or instead of a suffix (see above).

• Include child components - If the cloned part has sub-parts (i.e., it is a sub-assembly), the command will clone the complete sub-assembly.

• Include hard-linked objects - The cloned part and its "hard-linked" objects (e.g., Drawing Sheet and CAM Plan) will be copied and renamed using the specified suffix and/or prefix.

 

Scenario 1

 

Consider a scenario where you make AssemblyA that instances Part1A and Part2A.  Each of these (AssemblyA, Part1A, Part2A) has a CAM Plan and Drawing Sheet (or Drawing Packet) associated with it via the Link Manager.

 

The links are flagged as "hard", which causes an asterisk to be displayed in front of them in the Link Manager Form.

 

Activate AssemblyA, bring up the Assembly Manager, right click on the component that instances Part1A and execute this Clone Part command.  Enable the "Include hard-linked objects" option on the Options Form and pick "OK".

 

Part1A and its "hard-linked" Plan and Drawing will be copied and renamed using

the specified suffix and/or prefix.  AssemblyA will be updated to instance the new copy of Part1A (Part1A_1).  The copied Plan and Drawing will automatically be updated to instance the copied Part.  The copied Part will be updated to reference the copied Plan and Drawing via the Link Manager.

 

In this example, the Clone Part command copied the specified part and its linked objects, and updated their references to each other.  If the cloned part has sub-parts (i.e. it is a sub-assembly), the command will clone the complete sub-assembly if you enable the "Include child components" option.

 

 

Scenario 2

 

In another scenario, activate AssemblyA, bring up the Assembly Manager,

right-click "AssemblyA" on the Assembly Manager (top-level item).  Select this Clone Part command with the "Include child components" option disabled.  In this case, AssemblyA is copied but not its sub-parts.

 

The copy of AssemblyA will reference the original Part1A and Part2A. If you apply this Clone Part command to AssemblyA with "Include child components" enabled, then all of AssemblyA's sub-parts will be cloned too.  All "hard-linked" files associated with the copied parts will also be copied if the "Include hard-linked objects" option is enabled.

 

 

Notes

 

• A default suffix is given for renaming copied files and objects.  You can specify a prefix in place of the suffix, or use both a suffix and prefix.  In any case, remember that VX cannot handle object or file names longer than 31 characters.  If you anticipate making variant designs using this Clone Part command, use naming conventions that will keep cloned and re-cloned names from exceeding the limit.
   

• If a cloned name exceeds 31characters, VX will truncate it, but does not guarantee that the cloned name does not conflict with other names in the linked objects.
   

• In general, you should use object and file names of moderate length (12 to 18 characters) and prefixes and suffixes of short length (1 to 3 characters).
   

• If you clone a part without cloning its sub-parts, and the sub-parts have external references to the original part, the sub-parts will try to regenerate their reference geometry from the original part, instead of from the new part.  If you want the external references to extract geometry from the new part, then you should clone the corresponding components at the same time that you clone the parent part.
   

• It should be noted that undo-redo doesn't work with this Clone Part command.  Files that are open and edited at the time this command is executed will be saved, making those changes permanent.
   

• New clone files will be saved to the default VX file directory (refer to the Files Tab of the VX Configuration Form). The only way to undo this Clone Part command is to "manually" delete the new files.  If you cloned a component, but not its parent, the parent file will reference the copied file.  If you "undo" the clone operation by deleting the copied file, then you need to apply the Change Part command (see below) to the original component to get it pointing back to the original part file.

 

 

 

Tools > Assembly Manager > > Change Part (Part Level)

 

Use this command to change the part that component instances in the active assembly.  See also Change Name References.

 

Alignment constraints placed on the original part may no longer be valid on the new part, unless the new part is a copy of the original part.  In this case, you will have to delete the invalid constraints and replace them with valid constraints.

 

Required Inputs

 

• Components - Pick this button to redefine the components to replace if needed.

• File/Part - The parts located in the active are listed by default.  Pick the folder icon to select another VX file.

• Preview - You can preview the selected part's graphics or attributes.  Set the preview mode and select a part from the list.