Mate button not working

[nalves]

After doing an exploded view of an assembly component, my mate button gets suppressed. I had this problem once and I had resolved it, but now I don’t remember how I did it. Can anyone help me, it is really annoying.

Thanks in advance

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Does the Mate button become active when the Explode is collapsed?


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[AnneVan]

I do believe you cannot add mates when in an exploded config. I'm assuming it's because the exploded config is not in true assembled form? If that makes any sense?

Anne Van Epern
C.G. Bretting Mfg., Ashland, WI

http://www.bretting.com

SW 2006 SP4.1 DBWorks 2005
Quadro FX 3000
Pentium 4 2GHz 1GB RAM
WinXP 02 SP2

 

[yanceman]

In an exploded view, you can click on the mate icon, but when you do, the exploded view collapses. If you cancel the mate feature manager, the assembly returns to its exploded state.

Yanceman

 

[nalves]

First thanks to all.
CorBlimeyLimey: the mate button does not became active after collapsing.
I don't now if this happened because i have saved the file in the exploded mode. i've noticed that if i do an exploded view and than undo the operation, the mate button get's active again.

 

[smcadman]

Out of curiosity, have you tried CTRL+Q after "un-exploding" the assembly? After un-exploding the view, my mates show a (-) symbol if I hit the rebuild button, but a CTRL+Q rebuilds the mates and the parts no longer have (-) next to them.

Flores
SW06 SP4.1

 

[nalves]

I still have the (-) symbol even after CTRL+Q. I also tried the rebuil and nothing. The mate button is there but still inactive. This is really annoying!! I love SW

 

[smcadman]

Does this happen only with that assembly, or with all assemblies? If it happens with all assemblies, you may have to repair SW. There are some FAQ's here on how to do this and I think Scott has the same on his site:

http://www.scottjbaugh.com/Tips_Tricks/Tips_Tricks.htm

Flores
SW06 SP4.1

 

[nalves]

it happens with only this assembly, but if with another assembly file i do an exploded view and then save it, i'm having the same problem.
I will try try the repair now

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

What happens if you activate/return to the parent config before saving?


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[nalves]

that could work but i have made more than one saves till now. Is there any way to return to a previous state of save, like a log file or semmeting? How can a do that?

 

[dutch7777]

Check the SWX backup directory for previous (saved) versions.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I don't know of a way to do that unless you have multiple Automatic Backups enabled. Check the Tools > Options > Backups for settings & location.

However, I have just made a test assy, exploded it and saved in the exploded state ... my Mate button does NOT become suppressed. As Yanceman stated previously, if the mate button is clicked, the explode collapses but returns to the exploded state when the mate manager is closed.

This is with SW06, I cannot remember if previous versions reacted the same.

Try the following;
How do I Repair or Modify of a SW Installation? faq559-908
Alternative to try before reinstalling faq559-507
How do I do a clean uninstall & reinstall of Solidworks? faq559-488


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[dutch7777]

Using 05 here and the mate button "does" suppress upon exploding.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

nalves ... What version of SW & SP are you using? Try updating to the latest SP before repairing, etc ... or upgrade to SW06 if possible.


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[SBaugh]

From the Solidworks Knowledge base:

Question:
Why is the mate icon on toolbar grayed out?

Answer:
The mate icon will become grayed out if an assembly has a configuration that is in an exploded state. Once the configuration is collapsed, the mate icon will become available.

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[nalves]

thanks for the tips and answers. I'm using SW05. I don't understand. Is there a another way to collapse an exploded view, like a button or someting?

 

[ctopher]

Search for "explode" in SW Help.

Chris
Systems Analyst, I.S.
SolidWorks 06 4.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 06-21-06)

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

As dutch7777 pointed out, his install of SW05 does the same as yours, so it is probably a limitation of that version. This may have been fixed in SP5 for SW05. If not the problem appears to have been resolved in SW06 ... it does NOT have the limitation.


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[SBaugh]

CBL,

The knowledge base post I posted is for SW06, so there is that form of limitation.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376