SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Chapter 11: Editing and Evaluation ............................................................................................

Consumed features

When you use a sketch for a feature such as a Sketch Driven Pattern, the sketch is left in the design

tree, in the place where it was created. However, most other features, such as extrudes, consume the

sketch, meaning that the sketch disappears from its normal order in the FeatureManager and

appears indented under the feature that was created from it. Consumed sketches are sometimes

also referred to as absorbed sketches.

Examining the parent-child relationship

In genealogical family tree diagrams, the parent-child relationship is represented with the parent at

the top, and the children branched below the parent. In SolidWorks, parent-child relationships are

tracked differently. Figure 11.2 shows the difference between a genealogical family tree and the

SolidWorks design tree.

FIGURE 11.2

Different interpretations of the structure of parent-child relationships

Genealogical family tree

SolidWorks family tree

You can display the parent-child relations between SolidWorks features, as shown in Figure 11.2,

by right-clicking on any feature and selecting Parent/Child. This helps you determine relationships

before you make any edits or deletions because you can see which features will be removed or go

dangling (lose their references).