Hello

It was not until I was working on a SW drawing which required to show the routing of electrical cables within a vehicle that I realised that perhaps there is a very subtle yet fundamental functionality missing in SW that prevents the type of drawing I require from easily being created.

I limit this discussion to just drawings that feature drawing views with Display Styles that are exclusively set to "Hidden Lines Removed" and "Hidden Lines Visible". ie. not shaded views.

The functionality I am referring to is the ability to allow certain assemblies and parts (perhaps even bodies) within an assembly to appear visible within the interior of an assembly, despite the fact that they would ordinarily be hidden from view by other external parts/assemblies that would block teh visibility of their lines.

The only way that I have been able to achieve something close to what I want is by superimposing separate views on top of each other.

The following image will explain what I mean/want and what is/isn't possible in Solidworks:

Depending on how complex the "transparent" exterior part is (ie. does its Show Hidden Lines display style result in a mass of lines?), a user might find either one of the workarounds more appropriate to use. The second workaround that makes the "transparent" part's hidden lines visible would appear more correct if the interior parts obscured all the hidden lines that are located behind them.

It will be interesting to know how other users have gone about creating these types of drawings.  Surely I am not the only one who would find it both very useful and much easier if Solidworks just allowed you to achieve the kind of quasi-transparent line drawings I have illustrated above.

I really am surprised that this functionality is not already in Solidworks.

Your comments and experiences dealing with this issue will be appreciated.

Thanks

Adrian