Top down design

steve_lynn

I am just starting to change from solidworks. One thing I found very useful in SW was the ability to create parts within the assembly model. Is this function available in Onshape

mahir

Strictly speaking, Onshape won't let you create parts in an assembly, but you can still get the functionality you're looking for. Assemblies and parts work a little different in Onshape. The default design process in OS is similar to the master model method in SW. You design all your parts in a single multi-body part studio. And if you don't have any need for relative motion between parts, you don't even need to create an assembly. So, by default all your parts are created "in context" to your other assembled parts. You can also create a separate part studio for each component and then assemble them, but that defeats the purpose of OS's natural workflow. I hope that helps wrap your brain around how OS works.

3dcad

In addition to @mahir 's descriptive answer if you work with imported assembly, you can use 'flatten' during import to get everything into single part studio.

In future I'm sure we will see part creation / editing in assembly context also but it is not here yet.