Display State Mode

Display states are listed under Display States in the bottom section of the ConfigurationManager.

To change the display state mode:

  1. Right-click a display state and click Properties.
  2. In the Display State Properties PropertyManager, under Advanced Options, select or clear Link display states to configurations.
  3. Click .

Display States

(Link Display States to Configurations is not selected.)

Display states are independent from configurations, so all display states are available in all configurations. When you change from one configuration to another, the current display state remains active.

Display States (linked)

(Link Display States to Configurations is selected.)

Each display state is linked to one configuration; each configuration can have multiple display states. For linked display states:

  • When you create a new configuration, the software creates a new display state, assigns it a unique name, and links it to the new configuration.
  • When you change from one configuration to another, the software remembers the display state that was last active for the configuration.
  • In design tables, the keyword $DISPLAYSTATE controls the display state of a configuration.
When you change from linked to unlinked display states, all display states from every configuration appear under Display States. If some configurations had identical display states, then some items listed are redundant. To list only unique display states, right-click in any blank area in the ConfigurationManager and select Purge Redundant.

Legacy Behavior

In assemblies created in SOLIDWORKS 2007 or earlier, each configuration has unique display states, although the display states might have the same name (such as Display State-1). When you convert an assembly to the current version of SOLIDWORKS, the software:

  • Assigns a unique name to each display state, in the format <configuration_name>_<display_state_name>.
  • Links the display state to the configuration.

For example, a display state named Display State-1 in a configuration named Default is renamed to Default_Display State-1, and Link Display State to Configurations is selected by default.