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Assembly Pane

The Assembly pane lets you view the structure of your models.

To display the Assembly pane, click View > Assembly Tree or click Show/Hide Assembly Pane (Standard toolbar).

Note: Requires the Trees right. See Right Manager.

This page discusses:

Right-Click Commands

Right-click in the Assembly pane to display a context menu.

Command NameDescription
Assembly Selection ModeSelects parent assembly nodes instead of leaf (geometry) nodes when you select actors in the assembly tree or viewport. In default mode (when assembly selection mode is not selected, also known as part selection mode), all geometry under your selection is selected.When in assembly selection mode, the viewport has a blue border. You can also select assemblies while in default mode as follows:
  • Press Alt while making a selection in the viewport.
  • After selecting an actor in the viewport, press the left arrow key. This selects the assembly that holds the selected actor. Continue to press the left or right arrow key to change your selection.
Selection and highlighting colors depend on the selection mode. Choose colors from Document Properties - Selection. See Selection.
Sort Alphabetically Sorts the tree by alphabetical order. By default, the actor order for SOLIDWORKS assemblies matches the CAD system.
Configure ColumnsDisplays the Configure Columns dialog box, where you select columns to display. See Configure Columns.
Search ActorsDisplays the Search pane, where you can search for actors. Right-click and select Search Next Actor and Search Previous Actor commands to find the next or previous actor using the current search criteria. See Search Pane.
Expand AllDisplays all tree nodes.
Collapse AllDisplays only top-level tree nodes.
Load ProductLoads product geometry. Nodes that are not loaded have hourglass overlays on their Assembly tree icons, such as .
Load Head ProductsLoads one level of geometry, not the entire product hierarchy.

Assembly Tree Symbols

This section describes the symbols used in the assembly tree.

To show or hide an actor in the viewport, select or clear the check box next to the actor name.

The symbol indicates a node with children of mixed visibility.

You can also hide an actor in the viewport by selecting it and pressing H. Click an actor's name to select it. Right-click an actor to access functions such as copy, paste, and delete.

Symbol Description
The assembly root.
Note: The root assembly node never displays . To determine if the root node has mixed visibility, examine its children.
Assemblies are yellow and green.

For SOLIDWORKS and Pro/ENGINEER models only, Composer internally tags nodes it identifies as part or assembly nodes. Nodes that instantiate SOLIDWORKS .sldpartor Pro/ENGINEER .prt files are part nodes. Nodes that instantiate SOLIDWORKS .sldasm or Pro/ENGINEER .asm files are assembly nodes.

Parts (.sldprt, .prt files) are yellow.
Internal structures (such as geosets) and other groups are white.
Geometry is green.
Instances of geometry (the same geometry referenced in several positions of the model) are violet and have an 'x' overlay.
Actors with kinematic links defined have a 'K' overlay.
In fully shattered structures and projects, assembly and part nodes in product (.smgXml+ .smgGeom) format are displayed in red. For details about products and fully shattered structures, see File Types.
Product nodes for which geometry is not loaded have an hourglass overlay. You can load product geometry by:
  • Right-clicking and clicking a Products command.
  • Double-clicking the icon.
  • When Load on Visibility is enabled, enabling actor visibility by clicking the check box. See Visibility Toolbar.
Configurations lists all the saved configurations in a file. Expand the active configuration to view the actors corresponding to that configuration.
Note: If a file has only one configuration, then it displays the actor corresponding to that configuration.
Scenarios describes the animation of a set of actors. .
Views gives access to different view types:
  • Views - Lists Composer views, which is useful for switching views while the Assembly pane is active. For details about views, see Views Pane.
Selection sets lists selection sets. Selecting a selection set selects all actors in the set, and the Properties pane displays properties common to all actors in the set. Use selection sets to operate on the same actors repeatedly.
Hotspots lists hotspots. Hotspots are groups of actors, similar to selection sets, with shared highlight, tooltip, and link properties that can supersede those of the individual actors.


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