Turning 3D Interconnect On or Off

You can turn 3D Interconnect functionality on or off in the SOLIDWORKS software.

To turn 3D Interconnect on or off:

  1. Click Tools > Options > System Options > Import.
  2. In the dialog box, in File Format select General.
  3. Select or clear Enable 3D Interconnect. When selected, you can specify additional options:
    • Create 3D Interconnect links. Imports the 3D Interconnect feature and component links. (Third-party files consist of multiple components (for assemblies) and each component has features.)
    • Feature and Component Level or Feature Level. Displays the component links and feature links with an arrow symbol on each component and feature in the FeatureManager design tree after import.
  4. Click OK.
    When you import, the component and feature links have an arrow on each component and feature in the FeatureManager design tree.
    After importing the file with links, you can manually break the links by right-clicking and selecting Break Link in the FeatureManager design tree. The output of the link depends on the following options:
    • Create external files. Breaks the 3D Interconnect component link and creates the resulting part or assembly as an external file.
    • Create virtual components. Creates the resulting part or assembly as an internal file (virtual component).