Editing a Part in
an Assembly
Most top-down relationships are created while editing a part within
an assembly. This is also referred to as in-context
editing because you create or edit the feature in the context of
the assembly, instead of in isolation, as you traditionally create parts.
In-context editing lets you see the part in its correct location in the
assembly while you are creating the new feature. Additionally, you can
use geometry of the surrounding parts to define the size or shape of the
new feature.
Even if you are not using
top-down design methods, you can still edit a part in the assembly window
for convenience. For example, while working in an assembly, you could
edit a component's extrusion to reverse its direction or edit a fillet
to add more edges from the same component. These are not considered top-down
design because they don't use any of the other parts in the assembly.
When you edit a part in the context of an assembly, you can use colors
to indicate which component is being edited. You can also change the transparency of assembly
components while editing a part.
To edit a part while in an assembly:
-
Right-click the part and select Edit
Part, or click Edit Component
on the Assembly toolbar.
The title bar shows the name of the part in the assembly that is
open for editing as <part_name> in <assembly_name>.sldasm. Note that the message in the
status bar indicates that you are now editing the part document even though
the entire assembly is visible.
When you edit a part in the context of
an assembly, the referenced configuration in the assembly becomes the
active configuration in all open windows (for example, if the part is
open in its own window).
If the part is used in another open assembly document, with the
Use component’s in-use or last saved
configuration option selected, those instances are also affected.
For more information, see Component Configurations
in an Assembly.
Make the necessary changes to the part.
To return to editing
the assembly, right-click the assembly name in the FeatureManager design
tree, or right-click anywhere in the graphics area, and select Edit
Assembly:<assembly_name>,
or click Edit Component .