Noobie.......Break history link?

[Northlandhusky]

Hi,

I am fairly new to solid works and so this may seem a bsic question to some. I have done some searching but not found an answer to this yet.

I want to break some surface construction history to reduce the clutter in my tree suring concepting.

e.g. In a single part. I want to create a surface offset from a solid face. I then want to untrim this surface. No prob's so far, I can do this. However, I no longer want the original offset trimmed surface.

Can I delete this without deleting the untrimmed surface?

Thanks,
Stuart

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The simplest way is to test by deleting the unwanted surface. Obviously, make sure you save the file before testing.

In general, if a feature is a child of a feature higher up the tree, then that parent feature cannot be removed from the tree. However bodies (surface and solid) can be deleted from their respective folders. This creates a Delete-body feature which effectively removes those bodies from the tree from that point on, but without affecting any features before it.

 

[ctopher]

If you simply just don't like the clutter, you can create folder within the tree and move the feature there.

Chris
SolidWorks 09 SP4.1
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[TheTick]

Use folders to organize your features.

If you want to "dispose" of the original surface, youe Delete Bodies. This will get surface body out of the way after you are done using it.

 

[Northlandhusky]

Thanks Guys,

That helps me with solidworks.

I do like the folders option as this is a really nice way to organise and reduce visual clutter.

I was hoping that there may be some functionality like that in catia, where a surface or plane could be "isolated" from its parents. Thereby, allowing items parents to be deleted, leaving a smaller tree, file size and possibly less processing time during updates of large (file size) surface models. e.g. automotive interior lighting lenses, where there are a lot of small optical surfaces.

Thanks for your help and quick responses. Awesome!

Regards,
Stuart

 

[TheTick]

If you are that determined to break the history, there is a roundabout way.

Select the surface body you wish to keep, then perform "Save as --> Parasolid". During the save, you will get a dialog box asking whether to save selected faces or bodies or the entire part.

Once you have your surface exported, delete the parent features and re-import your surface.

Honesty may be the best policy, but insanity is a better defense.

http://www.EsoxRepublic.com

-SolidWorks API VB programming help

 

[BluTurtle]

Open the part in SW.

On top of the Feature mgr tree, Right click the part and choose list external refs.

From the list, choose the ref file and then click break button.

 

[SBaugh]

IMO breaking the histroy of a surface to reduce clutter is a bad idea. Surfacing alone when something breaks is hard to find how it was done. Seems to me removing the history would be even worse. Keeping the data and placing it in a folder would be the better solution.

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"

faq731-376

 

[mjcole]

You can do a move/COPY body to copy the solid then use delete face to get just the surface you want without offset. Then you'll have just the untrimmed surface. You can also try unchecking the offset option to merge with original feature.

Another thing to do would be to select any surface you want removed from surface bodies folder and hit delete key (same as using Delete Body feature.

Delete body will remove it after location in tree but does not remove parent refs like deleting offset feature will.

Michael

 

[Northlandhusky]

Thanks ! These recommendations have helped me.

Although....Note to SolidWorks....Not as easy as in Catia where you can simply right click on a feature and break history. I find this usefull when it helps me to reduce uneeded construction surfaces during quick concept model building.

Stuart Orrell

SW 2010. CS3
Product Designer and Laser Engraver

http://www.progressivestudios.co.uk