Breaking drawing view links 1

[serspec]

I was wondering if there is any way to break the link between a drawing view and the part shown in it. What im doing is making a test fixture for one of our parts. The part is an assembly with around 15 components in it. We are in the process of switching from UG right now so the assembly was brought into solidworks as a parasolid so i could show the part on the fixture. I don't want to have to save every component of the assembly as a .prt if i don't need to so i was trying to add an iso view with the ass'y on the fixture then like isolate it so the drawing will no longer try to find the ass'y when loading. is this possible? I hope i was clear in my description of what i'm trying to do. Thanks for any help!

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Check out Detached Drawings in the Help file.

 

[serspec]

Yeah i checked thought about doing that but i really would like to always have a link between the test fixture model and the drawing. I want to be able to delete the files for the assembly while keeping the iso view on the drawing.

 

[fcsuper]

Sounds like you may wish to use configurations.

Matt Lorono
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
and Mechnical.Engineering Yahoo! Group

 

[serspec]

Hmmm.. I guess i don't see how configurations would help me achieve this.

 

[dgowans]

serspec,

I interpret what you're trying to do as follows:

1) You have a drawing of a test fixture
2) You want to show the part being tested in the test fixture
3) You don't want the drawing of the test fixture to reference the part being tested

Correct?

If so, your best bet is to simply insert a JPEG (or other image file) of the part/fixture into your fixture drawing. The downside of this is that you have no associativity between this view and the part / fixture. This may not be a big deal if your fixture design is pretty well along, but if things are still changing you may find yourself fighting with this view more than it's worth.

 

[uGlay]

Configurations will help you achieve your goals.

SW2008 Office Pro SP3.1
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[serspec]

Yes you got it right. The only reason im putting this view on there is to show how the part is oriented on the fixture. It's not even to scale with anything on the drawing. I figured i would have to add an image file as you said but wanted to see if there was any other way around it. Oh and the fixture is finished so it shouldn't cause too many problems. Thanks for the input.

 

[serspec]

I'm sorry if I sound novice but I really don't see how I can use configurations to get the results I want. I know how to use configurations but I don't understand how I could delete all of the assembly component files and not have an error when opening the drawing.

 

[uGlay]

I guess you can insert a BMP.

you have an se-r spec v?

SW2008 Office Pro SP3.1
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
2.2GHz, 2.00GB RAM
QuadroFX 3700
SpacePilot/SpaceNavigator

 

[serspec]

Yeah i used to. I got rid of it a year or so ago but still use the name all the time because I've had it for like 5 years now.

 

[EEnd]

Rather than using a bitmap, you could create a drawing with just the assembly / view that you want, save it as a DXF / PDF and insert that into your fixture drawing. This should result in a smaller file which looks better when printed.

You could also save your parasolid assembly as a part and reference that in the fixture drawing. Then there would be only 1 extra file to keep around.

Eric

 

[serspec]

I just finished up with it and ended up doing just what Eric said. I got just the view i needed in a separate drawing and saved it as a DXF. It worked out great and looks way better than the PDF did.