To change which configuration of a part is used within an assembly in SOLIDWORKS, you typically use the "Configure Component" option directly within the assembly environment.
Changing a part's configuration as it appears within an assembly is a common task for creating variations of a product. This allows you to show different versions of a part (like different lengths or features) in various configurations of your assembly without modifying the original part file directly for each instance.
Here's how you change a component's configuration within a SOLIDWORKS assembly, utilizing the capabilities described:
Steps to Change Component Configuration in an Assembly
Follow these simple steps to access the tools for modifying a part's configuration within your assembly context:
- Locate the Component: In your SOLIDWORKS assembly, find the specific part (component) whose configuration you want to change. This can be done in the graphics area or the FeatureManager Design Tree.
- Right-Click: Right-click on the desired component.
- Select "Configure Component": From the context menu that appears, click the Configure Component option.
This action opens the Modify Configurations dialog box, which is the primary tool for managing component configurations within the assembly.
Understanding the Modify Configurations Dialog Box
The Modify Configurations dialog box is a powerful interface for controlling the state of the selected component across different configurations of the assembly.
According to the references, within this dialog box, you can perform several key actions:
- Create New Assembly Configurations: While focused on a specific component, this dialog also allows you to create new configurations for the parent assembly itself. This is useful when you're defining a new assembly variation where this component's configuration or suppression state will differ.
- Change Component Configuration: For each listed assembly configuration, you can specify which configuration of the selected part should be used. A dropdown menu typically allows you to select from the available configurations defined in the original part file.
- Suppress or Unsuppress the Component: You can control whether the selected component is suppressed (hidden and excluded from the BOM) or unsuppressed (visible and active) in each different assembly configuration.
Using this dialog, you can easily define complex assembly variations by controlling the configuration and suppression state of multiple components across different assembly configurations.
Example Scenario:
Imagine you have a bolt part with configurations for different lengths (e.g., "M8x20", "M8x30"). In your assembly of a machine:
- You create an assembly configuration named "Short bolts".
- You right-click the bolt component in the assembly and select "Configure Component".
- In the "Modify Configurations" dialog, for the "Short bolts" row, you select the "M8x20" configuration for the bolt component.
- You might create another assembly configuration named "Long bolts" and, in the same dialog, select the "M8x30" configuration for the bolt component in that row.
This allows you to switch between the "Short bolts" and "Long bolts" assembly configurations, and the bolt component will automatically update to the specified part configuration.
