Isolating a Part

This task shows you how to isolate a part in an existing assembly in order to move it independently from the other contextual parts.

Contextual Links:

If you remark that there is such a Part with these symbols (brown gear and red flash) in your Assemby: , you can edit this Contextual Part. The brown gear and the red flash signify that the Part reference is contextual and that this instance is not used in the Part Definition. This symbol can appear when you copy / paste or insert a Contextual Part into another CATProduct without taking into account the contextual links.

In this case the user needs to resort to the Define Contextual Links or Isolate Part commands in order to redefine the context of the Part and this red flash will be turned into a blue chain or green arrow.

For more information about broken contextual links, please refer to Defining Contextual Links: Editing and Replacing Commands.
Open the IsolateFunction.CATProduct document.

The option "Keep link with selected object" must be selected in Tools > Options > Infrastructure > Part Infrastructure.

  1. Double-click Sketch1 in Skeleton.CATPart in order to edit it.

    For instance, move the left side of Ctx1.CATPart. And go back into Product Structure workbench.

    Before the manipulation of Ctx1.CATPart: After:

  2. Go to Assembly Design workbench and click the Update icon or go to Edit > Update and the Update contextual command. As a consequence, Part3 (Part3.1) moves in order to follow the movement of Ctx1 (Part2.1) and the hole coincides between the two parts. If you modify one Part, the other one adapts itself to this change. This is due to the fact that both CATParts depend on the same document, Skeleton (Part1.1), and the option Keep link with selected object is activated.

    Ctx1 (Part2.1) and Part3 (Part3.1) are contextual parts. They depend on the Sketch1 in Skeleton (Part1.1) in which they were created.

  3. If you want to make modifications impacting only on Ctx1 (Part2.1), select in the contextual menu of Ctx1 (Part2.1) Component > Isolate Part. When Ctx1 (Part2.1) is isolated, its symbol in the Specification Tree changes from to meaning that it is no longer a contextual part:

  4. Modify again the CATPart within the Sketcher and return in the Assembly Workbench. Only Part3 (Part3.1) has turned red in the Geometry space.

  5. Update the document. As a result, Part3 (Part3.1) has not moved to adjust to Ctx1 (Part2.1).

    You can move independently Ctx1.CATPart from Part3.CATPart. As a consequence, when CTX1 is displaced, Part3 does not move and the hole does not coincide between the two CATParts.