Keeping track of External Relations in SOLIDWORKS 2019 is now easier than keeping track of your relatives?!

Keeping track of SOLIDWORKS External Relations in a model has been simplified in SOLIDWORKS 2019! It might be impossible to remember all the names of your cousins and what job they’re working, the links created between parts and features is clear and simple.

Let’s take a look at the model for this plastic injection mold tool as it contains many external references.

Mold Design training file rendered in SOLIDWORKS Visualize

In the 2019 release of SOLIDWORKS, the external references dialog has been completely re-imagined at the top level of an assembly to list exactly which feature or sketch contains external references, what file they are referencing, and even what type of entity it is! This is a major development which will simplify finding external references and ensuring a quick understanding of any externally referenced parts, right from the top level of an assembly.

Updated 2019 Assembly External References dialog box

Previous Assembly External References dialog box

The previous 2018 External reference dialog contained any parts with external references, but not much more information until you dove down to the part level and looked at the external references separately for each individual part. This made it difficult to control the external references in an assembly.

Can I view individual References?

With the new 2019 External reference dialog, all of the information is available right at the top level assembly which gives simple granular control over managing the relations. When selected, individual referenced entities are even shown in the graphics area to ensure you are modifying the correct one.

Selecting a reference will highlight it in the display

This intuitive interface exists at the part level now, and makes it easier to understand exactly what changes are being made.

Could it get any better?

Along with the external reference dialog change, the Dynamic Reference Visualization also received an update in 2019 to include the ability to quickly break and lock external references between parts in an assembly.

Left click on the ‘dot’ of the dynamic reference to edit references

One last update to References

While this enhancement is a little more subtle, it serves to show if the reference is to a feature, or the sketch hidden underneath it. The feature now shows the states of all sketches being referenced externally, whether broken, locked, or connected.

Stay tuned for even more enhancements for 2019

Enjoy browsing through the other exciting enhancements to the SOLIDWORKS 2019 release as highlighted by the Javelin Bloggers!