i'm wondering if anyone can recommend some tips or "best practices" when working with multiple configurations on a part. specifically, i'm using configurations to "build" an assembly from the ground up for use in our assembly drawings. each "configuration" represents the next step in assembly including adding parts, fasteners, and exploded view.
this is all very straightforward if you are working in a straightforward manner. STEP001 add some parts, mate, explode. STEP002 add more parts, add more mates, explode.
but what happens when i'm up to STEP005, and need to go back and add a couple of parts to an earlier step? so if i go back to STEP001 and add a part, add fasteners, and mate it, these parts appear in all following steps. but the mates are suppressed.
so it appears to me that the mates are being automatically suppressed in any configuration other than the config where i added those parts. but the parts themselves are not being suppressed. i seem to remember an option on how parts are handled with multi-configuration parts, but i don't remember the specifics (or where that option is!)
but if anyone can recommend a better method for what i'm trying to accomplish i'm all ears.
Right click on the configuration, select Properties and look at the Advanced Options section of the property manager. Be sure to read the Help docs for this, which state:
"The following properties control what happens when you add new items to another configuration, and then activate this configuration again."
Also, Configure Component and Configure Feature, which are available from the right click menu of components and mates respectively, should be your new best friends. You can pick a dozen components or mates and set the suppression status in all the configurations from one handy window. You can also organize your components and mates into folders so, for example, you can group all your Step 005 mates together.
Jim S.