2009

stage, which is replaced by the actual part or subassembly when detailed design
is required. Parts from one vendor may be replaced with similar parts from
another supplier.
In the following illustration, the Replace Component tool is used to replace
a simple sketched representation with the actual part.
When you replace a component in an assembly, the new component is
positioned with its origin coincident with the origin of the component it
replaces. All assembly constraints from the original component are lost. You
must place new assembly constraints to eliminate degrees of freedom of the
new component
If the replacement part has an iMate constraint, and the part to which it must
be constrained has a matching iMate, the parts snap together automatically
with all constraints intact.
If the part you are replacing is an ancestor of the original part (a copy of the
part that contains edits), then constraints are not lost during component
replacement.
An assembly can be converted to an iAssembly, a special assembly that may
contain many members with different characteristics such as length or
diameter, constraint offsets, or other variations. When you use a member of
an iAssembly as a component, you can exchange one member for another in
the active assembly. To switch one member for another of an iAssembly nested
deeply in the browser hierarchy, you must first make the immediate parent
assembly active.
Mirroring Assemblies
The Mirror Component tool is useful for designing symmetrical parts. Use it
to create a mirror of a source assembly and its components across a mirror
166 | Chapter 9 Creating Assemblies