How select hidden items

Often there is a need to make the mating of parts, with a surface or edge that is not visible. The function "Isolate" is not always convenient to apply. Fortunately, it is possible to specify the required element for pairing, even if it is not visible.

Solidworks Help.

Selects entities that are hidden by other entities.

To select hidden items:

1. In a part or assembly document, right-click the model in the graphics area and choose Select Other .
   • The pointer changes to  and a box appears with a list of entities (faces, edges, subassemblies, etc.) that lie beneath the pointer, in the order in which they are encountered. An icon displays the type of entity (face, edge, etc.).
   • Hover the pointer over items in the list to highlight them in the graphics area.
   • To scroll through the list, press Tab or roll the middle mouse button.
   • You can right-click on the model to hide faces, revealing other hidden faces and edges.
2. Click in the list or the graphics area to select an entity.
   

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If the first time in the list is not the desired item, cancel and select the area closest to the desired item.

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SmartMates in Solidworks

In Solidworks, you can simplify the interfacing of components. Press and hold "Alt" to move the mouse pointer to the desired surface, press the left mouse button and drag to the second surface for the auto-conjugation. A pane will appear with the default interface already selected for these surfaces. Those. if the surface is flat, then the automatic interface is a coincidence, if the surface is cylindrical, then the automatic interface is concentric. There are other options for automatic pairing

(SmartMates Procedures)

Desired Mate Action	What to Do
Mate two components already in the assembly.	Press Alt and drag one component onto another.
Mate a new component while adding it to the assembly.	Drag a part from another window onto another part in the assembly. From a part file: Select an entity and drag. From an assembly file: Hold down Shift, then select an entity and drag.
Fully mate a commonly-used component while inserting it in the assembly.	Drag a part with mate references from Windows Explorer or the Design Library into the assembly. This method can fully mate a new component, but you must set up mate references beforehand.

Types of SmartMates

The mates added by the SolidWorks application depend on the situation.

In most cases, the application creates one mate. The type of SmartMate created depends on the geometry used to drag the component, and the type of geometry onto which you drop the component.

The application creates multiple mates under certain conditions:

• If the application finds circular edges to mate, it creates a peg-in-hole SmartMate.
• If the application finds circular edges and a circular pattern that matches on both components, in addition to the peg-in-hole SmartMate, it adds a concentric mate to line up the patterns on flanges ( useful for pipe fittings).

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For more information on auto-mates, see Solidworks Help.

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