Working with Part References

When working with part references, keep the following in mind:

• A design file (.CKD extension) may contain one or more part objects. Each of these part objects is largely equivalent to a single part file in span of information. This is different from many other CAD programs which limit part files to one part per file (ie. SolidWorks SLDPRT).

• Each part object contains its own database, levels, views and CPlanes, independent of any other part objects that may share the same design file. The design file considers each of these part objects as peers to one another.

• A part object may contain a part reference to another part. A part reference is an object that exists as an entity in the host part, yet refers to another part.

• The part reference displays an image of the remote part and is essentially read-only unless otherwise specified, (Edit Part In-Context for example).

• Multiple part references can point to the same referenced part.

• The target part object may be in the same design file as the host part, or it may be in another design file, which could be on a networked drive on another computer.

• Detail entities attached to reference geometry are associative to the geometry that the reference refers to. In other words, they are associative to the entity in the source file, not simply the local part reference entity. If a dimension contains positional information in a part that is hidden or suppressed, the dimension will be suppressed as a result.

• You are able to convert entities within a given file into a new part. For a complete description of this function, see Export>KeyCreator Part.

Loading a Referenced Part:

If an external referenced part cannot be located when you attempt to load a file, an Error Loading Referenced Part dialog will appear. From this dialog, you will have the option to reconnect (try again), abort the loading of the file, or suppress the target part (see Suppress/Unsuppress for an explanation). It is suggested that you use the Abort option if you need to stop the load and logon to a network before working on a part. Select the Reconnect All References That Point to the Missing Part setting to search other references in the part. If any are associated with the part being reconnected, they are updated to the same part.

Reconnecting Nested References at Load:

When trying to reconnect nested references (references to other parts that have references themselves) at load, do a Save All after loading.