I was wondering if it is possible to like a extruded cut to a part so as you place the part on the assembly it automatically makes a extruded cut on the component
EX. as you place a series of small pipes on a piece of sheet metal the automatically cut a hole into the piece as you place the pipes.
Check out Smart Components in the SolidWorks Help.
http://help.solidworks.com/2012/English/SolidWorks/sldworks/Smart_Components.htm
There is also a Tutorial under Help > SolidWorks Tutorials > Set 2
Cheers,
Anna
Thank you for the help link. Now we are both smarter. I'll have try this out to see if it works and maintains the correct references inside of EPDM.
We are an Engineering-to-order company. So we have monolithic assemblies and piece parts that contain all the hole possibilities for the combinations for the accessories. It would be nice to include the holes on the accessories themselves. That way when that accessory is not used in the configuration (so it is removed from the assy) the holes aren't required. That would save a ton of time in writing all the rules in DriveWorks Pro!
What you are defining is called a "Component First" workflow. This process allows you to define "standard parts" that have embedded Boolean operations that take effect when you insert the component into the assembly. You can then tell the system to apply the cut at the piece part level or assembly level.
This radically changes the semantics of the way we currently work with parametric. In that, we normally build the cuts into our piece parts and then add the components to the assembly that fit inside the cuts. To some extend this is something that is long...long...overdue.
I'm not qualified to answer your SW questions yet...I still need more time on the system...but I can say that this functionality has existed in other systems for awhile and not just on single parts but on assemblies as well (say a bolting configuration of bolt-washer-washer-nut). Just do a Google search using: "Component first" reuse library
Check out Smart Components in the SolidWorks Help.
http://help.solidworks.com/2012/English/SolidWorks/sldworks/Smart_Components.htm
There is also a Tutorial under Help > SolidWorks Tutorials > Set 2
Cheers,
Anna