Chapter 16: Modeling in Context
Probably the most common mistake you can make with in-context editing has to do with editing
the part versus editing the assembly when they add a sketch. If you intend to add a sketched fea-
ture to a part in the context of an assembly, but you fail to switch to Edit Part mode before creating
the sketch, then the sketch ends up in the assembly rather than the part; you can only do limited
things with a sketch in an assembly. Likewise, if you intend to make an assembly layout sketch,
but you do not switch out of Edit Part mode, you end up with a sketch in a part that cannot do
what you want it to do.Fortunately, SolidWorks has added a remedy for the first situation. When you make a sketch in
the assembly but need to make a feature in the part, you can choose the Propagate feature to parts
option in the Feature Scope area of the PropertyManager for the feature, as shown in Figure 16.5.FIGURE 16.5Propagating an assembly feature to the part
Notice in the image on the right that the last sketch in the part appears as derived. This means that
the sketch and the feature are still driven from the assembly, but they have been propagated to the
part enough to allow the feature to be edited in the part. I wouldn’t go this route just because you
made a mistake and it’s simpler to do this than to move the sketch to the part, but it is an option
that is valid in some situations.