What does the negative sign mean in SolidWorks?

What does (-) mean in SOLIDWORKS?

ago. Additional comment actions. The (-) means its not fully constrained/defined.

Why is my sketch under defined?

In this tech tip we’ll answer the common question: Why is my SOLIDWORKS Sketch Pattern Under Defined? The reason is because the sketch instances can rotate. You could previously Fully Define the instances by adding a Horizontal or Vertical relation on one of the construction lines tied to the instances.

What does the blue feather mean in SOLIDWORKS?

A yellow icon indicates that the component is fully loaded into memory and all of its features and mates are editable. Lightweight. A blue feather overlay appears on the icon of a lightweight part. Out-of-Date Lightweight. A red feather overlay appears on the icon of an out-of-date lightweight part.

What does the question mark mean in SOLIDWORKS?

In Solidworks it means that the sketch is not fully constrained.

What is a contour in Solidworks?

A Contour is simply an enclosed shape. We see them all the time in circles, rectangles, and squares. The more closed contours we add into our sketch, the more complex it becomes. These multiple Contours create regions in our sketches as seen below.

How do you shade a sketch in Solidworks?

Shaded Sketch Contours

1. Drag the shaded area.
2. Apply relations to entities.
3. Make blocks of the shaded sketch selections with the Make Block tool on the shortcut menu.
4. Use the Extruded Boss/Base tool on the context toolbar by right-clicking the shaded sketch.

Why are some lines blue and some black in Solidworks?

As you begin a sketch, you can drag the entities to change their shape or position. In this rectangle, the black left and bottom lines are fixed to the origin, but you can drag the top and right lines. Blue indicates that the entity is not fixed, and light blue indicates that the entity is selected.

How do you fully define a mate in Solidworks?

Adding Mates

1. Click Mate (Assembly toolbar), or click Insert > Mate.
2. In the PropertyManager, under Mate Selections, select the entities that you want to mate together for Entities to Mate . …
3. Click to close the PropertyManager, or click before you click to create a new mate.

How do you constrain a sketch in Solidworks?

To add dimensions and relations when you recognize features:

1. Click Options (Features toolbar) or Insert > FeatureWorks > Options .
2. Click Dimensions/Relations and select Enable Auto Dimensioning of Sketches and Add constraints to sketch.
3. Click OK.

What does lightweight mean in Solidworks?

Both parts and subassemblies can be lightweight. When a component is fully resolved, all its model data is loaded in memory. When a component is lightweight, only a subset of its model data is loaded in memory. The remaining model data is loaded on an as-needed basis.

How do you make a lightweight part in Solidworks?

For a single component, right-click the component and select Set to Lightweight. For an entire assembly, right-click the top level assembly icon and select Set Resolved to Lightweight. For a subassembly and its components, right-click the subassembly icon and select Set Resolved to Lightweight.

How do you turn off automatic loading of lightweight parts in Solidworks?

Click Tools > Options > System Options > Performance. Under Assemblies, select Always for Resolve lightweight components.

What does question mark mean in assembly?

There is no answer because the value is undefined! Some space is allocated for the data, but it’s value is unitialised (or undefined). In other words it can contain anything at all (random data that was already at that memory address).

How do you fix a broken reference in Solidworks?

Replacing Broken References

1. Select a file with a broken reference.
2. Click Tools > Update References . …
3. Select a reference to replace and click Edit > Replace File.
4. In the Replace File dialog box, browse to the file that will replace the broken reference.
5. Click Open.