Part III: Working with Assemblies
You can nest feature-driven component patterns such that one component pattern is patterned by
another component pattern, just as you do using feature patterns. The second pattern can be a
local pattern or a feature-driven pattern.Understanding Other Pattern Options
Figure 15.6 shows the RMB menu for a component pattern. The components of the RMB menu are
as following:FIGURE 15.6The component RMB menu
l (^) Dissolve Pattern. The Dissolve Pattern option removes the component instances from the
pattern feature and puts them in the main part of the assembly FeatureManager. The com-
ponents just become normal components in the assembly without the intelligence of the
pattern feature placing them. The components are left in the assembly without any mates,
simply floating in position.
l Add to New Folder. You can add patterns to folders. If you have a list of patterns at the
end of an assembly, it may make sense to group them into related folders for the purpose
of organization. This is the same as using folders for features, mates, or components.
l (^) Component pattern display options. You can change the appearance of individual com-
ponent pattern instances individually or collectively as a pattern feature. Figure 15.7
shows the display pane where you can control these display options.