Page 362 - Mastering SolidWorks

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336 CHAPTER 11 Working With Part Configurations

Controlling Items with Configurations
With every new release of SolidWorks software, it seems that more items become “configur-
able”—that is, able to be driven by configurations. Configurable items for parts include the
following:

◆ Feature dimensions, tolerances, and driving/driven state
◆ Suppression of features, equations, sketch relations, and feature start and end conditions
◆ Sketch planes used by a sketch
◆ Materials
◆ Configuration-specific custom properties
◆ Parts, bodies, features, and face colors

◆ Derived configurations
◆ Properties that can be assigned, such as mass and center of gravity
◆ Base or split parts
◆ Sketch pattern instances
◆ Sketch text
◆ Scale feature sizes
◆ Cosmetic threads

◆ Equations
◆ Global variables
◆ Helix feature parameters
◆ Size of Hole Wizard holes
You can control configurations in several ways:
◆ Making changes manually to dimensions and features

◆ Using the Configure Feature/Modify Configurations table
◆ Using an Excel-based design table
◆ Using the Configuration Publisher
Finding Configurations
SolidWorks configurations are listed in the ConfigurationManager. This is a tab at the top of the
FeatureManager area, shown in Figure 11.1.
TIP You can split the featureManager interface into two by dragging the splitter bar at the top of the
panel. this very useful function is shown in figure 11.1, and it enables you to see the Configuration-
Manager in the upper panel and the featureManager in the lower panel. also remember that you can
detach the PropertyManager from the left-side panel area.