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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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
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:
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
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?
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
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.
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