Building assemblies

The following activities are associated with building assemblies:

• Assemblies are put together using relationships. For general information about assembly relationships, see Understanding Assembly relationships. For a complete list of the assembly relationships, see Show list of assembly relationships

• The procedure associated with putting together assemblies is similar no matter which workflow is used. For a quick overview of the basic assembly procedure, see Assemble parts (workflow). For an introduction to the different assembly workflows, see Understanding Assembly relationships.

• Parts and subassemblies are placed into an assembly by sequentially dragging them from the Parts Library into the assembly workspace and forming relationships with the existing assembly. The Insert Component command (Home tab→Assembly group→Insert Component) is used to open the Parts Library. The act of dragging a part from the Parts Library into the assembly workspace activates the Assemble command (Home tab→Assembly→Assemble) that is used to define the relationships between the placement part and the existing assembly.

• While the PathFinder in the Assembly environment looks similar to and operates like the PathFinder in other environments, it also provides assembly-specific ways of viewing and working with an assembly. It can be used to:

  • Set part properties.

  • Display or update part status information.

  • Activate or deactivate parts in an assembly.

  • Manage what is displayed in an assembly.

  • And many other related actions.

• Often a part is easier to design from within the context of an assembly. The Create Part In-Place command (Home tab→Assemble group→Create Part In-Place) is used to either construct a new part or subassembly within the context of an existing assembly or create and name one or more empty part documents that are ready to use to create associated assembly parts.