2009

■ Designate a component as grounded.
■ Edit or delete the assembly constraints between first-level components.
The features of an activated part can be edited in the assembly environment.
When you activate a part, you are working in the part environment.
Double-click a parent or top-level assembly to reactivate it.
Visibility of Components
Controlling component visibility is critical to managing large assemblies. You
may need some components only for context, or the part you need may be
obscured by other components. Assembly files open and update faster when
the visibility of nonessential components is turned off.
The visibility of any component in the active assembly can be changed, even
if the component is nested many layers deep in the assembly hierarchy.
Workflow overview: Change the visibility of a component
1 Expand the browser until the component occurrence is visible.
2 Right-click the occurrence, and then clear the check mark on Visibility.
Combinations of visible components can be stored in design view
representations, described later in this chapter.
Assembly Structures
The structure of an assembly is the organization of the components. Grouping
parts into subassemblies simplifies the browser. Subassemblies can also reflect
manufacturing processes. With Autodesk Inventor, you can change the
contents of subassemblies or create new ones at any point during the design
process and over the life span of a product.
The top level of an assembly structure can consist of parts and subassemblies.
Each subassembly can consist of parts and more subassemblies. Moving a
component (a part or subassembly) into a subassembly is demoting. Moving a
component out of a subassembly is promoting.
136 | Chapter 7 Managing Assemblies