You can load an assembly with its active components fully resolved or lightweight. Both parts and subassemblies can be lightweight.
- When a component is fully resolved, all its model data is loaded in memory.
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When a component is lightweight, only a subset of its model data is loaded in memory. The remaining model data is loaded on an as-needed basis.
You can improve performance of large assemblies significantly by using lightweight components. Loading an assembly with lightweight components is faster than loading the same assembly with fully resolved components. Assemblies with lightweight components rebuild faster because less data is evaluated.
Routing subassemblies cannot be opened in lightweight mode.
Lightweight components are efficient because the full model data for the
components is loaded only as required. Only components that are affected by the changes
that you make in the current editing session become fully resolved. You can perform the
following assembly operations on lightweight components without resolving them:
- Add/remove mates
- Edge/face/component selection
- Assembly features
- Measure
- Section properties
- Mass properties
- Exploded views
- Physical simulation
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- Interference detection
- Collision detection
- Annotations
- Dimensions
- Assembly reference geometry
- Section views
- Advanced component selection
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When a component is lightweight, a feather appears on the component icon
in the FeatureManager design tree.
When a component is lightweight and out-of-date inside a folder, the folder appears as 
in the FeatureManager design tree.