Disassociation occurs when the program can no longer recognize the link that had been established between a part in Model mode and an instance in Layout mode, or between an instance and its dimension(s).

If a part is changed in Model mode in such a way that the program cannot update the dimension when you return to Layout mode, or if it cannot establish an association between the dimension and the geometry that you want dimensioned, the two will be disassociated. As a result, the dimension will not be updated when you switch modes. As long as an entity, instance, or layout remains instance-specific, the program will maintain the associativity between it and the part file in Model mode. Once the link is broken, the program will disassociate them and replace the formerly instance-specific entity, instance, or layout with layout-specific geometry.

What Causes Disassociation in Model Mode?

When entities upon which dimensions are linked in the original part are drastically modified - for instance, when an entity or intersection is deleted that you had referenced when creating the dimension.

What Causes Disassociation in Layout Mode?

When an instance or layout associated to a dimension (or dimensions) is burst. Through bursting, instance-specific geometry becomes layout-specific geometry, and KeyCreator disassociates the dimension as a result. However, if you only burst an entity that has a dimension tagged to it, the dimension will remain associated. This is because when you burst an entity, KeyCreator blanks the instance-specific entity and replaces it with an identical layout-specific entity. In this instance, the dimension remains associated, but only to the blanked entity, not to the layout-specific entity that you see.

TIP: Burst geometry before applying dimensions.

What Else Can Become Disassociated?

• Instances from the model in Model mode can become disassociated if the instance is burst.

• An entity from both the instance it belongs to and from the model in Model mode can become disassociated if the entity is burst.