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Is there a way to highlight selected parts in an assembly?

Question asked by Andrew Buc on Sep 11, 2017
Latest reply on Mar 13, 2018 by Andrew Buc

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To give an idea of what I mean, here's a screen grab where I've typed "o-ring" into the search box. Trouble is, this results in isolating all components in the assy that have "o-ring" in their file names, leaving them hanging in space, out of context. This does me no good whatever. I'd like to see the entire assy, but with the selected parts somehow highlighted. I was able to do this in another modeling program, and I really miss the functionality.

Is there a way to do what I want that I'm not aware of? A colleague who's worked with SW for 20+ years didn't have any suggestions. Thank you.

Steven Dod Sep 11, 2017 3:33 PM

Correct Answer

You can use Component Selection under Tool menu. I chose the Advanced Select and set Category1 to Custom property and Category2 to Description. Condition would be contains and the value would be your "o-ring". This is a good tool to get familiar with.

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Jeremiah Feist Sep 11, 2017 1:36 PM

option 1;

with the filter just showing the "o-ring" parts, drag a box to select them all, and assign a color. then clear the filter.

option 2;

with the filter just showing the "o-ring" parts, drag a box to select them all, and then use "invert selection" to select everything else, and set to transparent. then clear filter.

option 3;

???

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Todd Blacksher Sep 11, 2017 2:11 PM

I haven't messed with it much, but this looks like something that could be done with Assembly Visualization.

You can sort by any of the columns (or you can add others that refer to custom properties)

This is a quick example sorting by vendor, I wanted to show all of the hardware from one vendor (DMB)

I added the color sliders, so everything above the DMB parts is red, everything below is blue, and all of the DMB parts are white.

todd

one more quick edit - since they are already sorted in the Assembly Visualization tree, it is easy to select parts and change them to transparent -

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Steven Dod Sep 11, 2017 3:33 PM

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Adam Hartles Sep 13, 2017 7:56 PM

Not perfect, but how about click the funnel icon (specifically the black triangle) and turn off "Filter Graphics View". Type your search which filters the tree only (graphics remain intact showing parts in context)- use CTRL/SHIFT Select for the items in the tree.

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Andrew Buc @ Adam Hartles on Mar 13, 2018 4:30 PM

I've tried your suggestion and Steven Dod's, and both were helpful. Assembly Visualization looks intriguing, but I found that it took a long time to run on a smallish assembly, using a powerful computer. If it's possible to run an AV and then save it in an assembly so it doesn't have to be generated fresh every time, that would help. But that's a separate issue, which I'll need to research.

Anyway, your suggestions are an improvement on what I had. Thanks!

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5 Replies

Jeremiah Feist Sep 11, 2017 1:36 PM
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Correct Answer
option 1;
with the filter just showing the "o-ring" parts, drag a box to select them all, and assign a color. then clear the filter.

option 2;
with the filter just showing the "o-ring" parts, drag a box to select them all, and then use "invert selection" to select everything else, and set to transparent. then clear filter.

option 3;
???
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Todd Blacksher Sep 11, 2017 2:11 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
I haven't messed with it much, but this looks like something that could be done with Assembly Visualization.
You can sort by any of the columns (or you can add others that refer to custom properties)
This is a quick example sorting by vendor, I wanted to show all of the hardware from one vendor (DMB)
I added the color sliders, so everything above the DMB parts is red, everything below is blue, and all of the DMB parts are white.
todd
one more quick edit - since they are already sorted in the Assembly Visualization tree, it is easy to select parts and change them to transparent -
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Steven Dod Sep 11, 2017 3:33 PM
Unmark Correct
Correct Answer
You can use Component Selection under Tool menu. I chose the Advanced Select and set Category1 to Custom property and Category2 to Description. Condition would be contains and the value would be your "o-ring". This is a good tool to get familiar with.
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Adam Hartles Sep 13, 2017 7:56 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Not perfect, but how about click the funnel icon (specifically the black triangle) and turn off "Filter Graphics View". Type your search which filters the tree only (graphics remain intact showing parts in context)- use CTRL/SHIFT Select for the items in the tree.
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- Andrew Buc @ Adam Hartles on Mar 13, 2018 4:30 PM
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  I've tried your suggestion and Steven Dod's, and both were helpful. Assembly Visualization looks intriguing, but I found that it took a long time to run on a smallish assembly, using a powerful computer. If it's possible to run an AV and then save it in an assembly so it doesn't have to be generated fresh every time, that would help. But that's a separate issue, which I'll need to research.
  
  Anyway, your suggestions are an improvement on what I had. Thanks!
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
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Is there a way to highlight selected parts in an assembly?

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