SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Part III: Working with Assemblies

Interestingly, this feature cannot be deleted from the part; you must delete it from the assembly.

External reference symbol

The external reference symbol appears as a dash followed by a greater-than sign (->). External refer-

ences indicate more than just in-context features. You can also create external references by using the

Split Part command as well as the Insert Part (base or derived part) or the mirrored part functions.

Figure 16.6 shows the expanded FeatureManager for a part with an in-context reference in a sketch.

External references can have four states, which Figure 16.6 shows. These are

l (^) In-context (->)
l Out-of-context (->?)
l (^) Locked reference (->*)
l Broken reference (->x)
FIGURE 16.6
The in-context “carrot” on Extrude1 and Sketch1
In-context ->
The in-context symbol signifies that the relation created between two parts within the current
assembly is fully resolved. It can find both parts involved in the relationship and the assembly
where the relationship that was created is active.