Hiding assembly parts when editing in context?

tony_459

I'm editing a part in the context of an assembly, but there are many assembly parts in the way and I can't select just the one I need to select. How do I hide an assembly part when editing in context? Thanks!

brucebartlett

You can only hide before create or updating the context of the assembly in the assembly. Once created you can not show hide parts in the part studio.  I always try to think about this before creating but don't always get it right it.

tony_459

Thanks! That's a shame. It's very difficult to use context geometry if you can't access it. You don't run into this issue with derived parts...

john_mcclary

I usually transform->copy in place. All of the parts I want to reference and build of of those. Then delete the reference parts at the end. That way it makes it easier to hide/show stuff on the fly.

If you want to add another part, turn the in-context ghost back on,edit the transform and select more parts

This makes it so you don't need to hide your parts again in the assembly if you want to update your context. 

robert_scott_jr_

turn the in-context ghost back on

How is it turned off? How is it turned back on? - Scotty

john_mcclary

Contexts will be in the top of the tree if available

marcus_bernstein

Section view usually accomplishes what I want to get at in-context, but it can be difficult to get right as we can't select faces of a context. It's easy enough to make a plane based on that geometry, but it would be nice to be able to hide particular parts from a context assembly or use a face from a context part as the basis for a section view. 

bill_daniels

Suppress the unwanted parts first.

john_mcclary

marcus_bernstein said:

 we can't select faces of a context. 

This was reason #1 why I started transform->copy workflow. the more I didn't use that workflow the more limited it seemed, up until I just became "the way" for me.

This one workaround (which is barely a workaround) takes care of all issues I have had ever since.
You can even go further and derive your context (with tweaks) into another part studio or document.
Or make your context a composite part to use in other places... etc. etc.

It just doesn't make sense to me anymore to not have 3D part as a copy. I like working with tangible objects, The ghosting image is nice when you want to review, (but we have isolate and transparency for that)

bill_daniels said:

Suppress the unwanted parts first.

You don't need to suppress, just hide. Which is where display states can come in handy too, if you want to use the traditional workflows