Replacing Imported Body

This article describes how to replace an imported body within SOLIDWORKS.

When working with other companies, it is common to receive a file in a transitional file type that was created in a different version of SOLIDWORKS or a different program. If you have added features to an imported body, only to learn that the model you have imported originally is now outdated, you can usually save the all the features you have added to the model and just update the imported body. SolidWorks will attempt to rebuild these features whenever possible. Before performing this workflow, we recommend saving a copy of the file before performing this in case the replacement does not work

This command only works on features that were created from an ACIS, Autodesk Inventor, IGES, Parasolid, Pro/ENGINEER, Solid Edge, STEP, VDAFS, or VRML file.

To replace the bodies, follow the steps below:

• In the Feature tree, right-click the feature created from the imported document, and select Edit Feature

• Browse to the file you want imported. You can use the file type to help your search by filtering to your selected file type only. Once selected, the file name appears in the File name box.

• Select the Match faces and edges check box, if desired. This does the following:
• Propagates the dependencies of the old faces and edges in the old body, such as sketches or features, to the new faces and edges in the new body.
• Ensures you get the correct results when you open a file that has imported features.
• Click Open.

Note: An imported solid is replaced only if the data in the new document can be successfully knitted into a body. A surface feature is replaced with the first surface in the new document, and subsequent surfaces in the new file are added to the model.

I imported the bodies from a simple .iges file, here is the before/after files the .iges were made from.

If you have any questions regarding the information above, please contact Hawk Ridge Systems Technical Support at 1-877-266-4469  (US), 1-866-587-6803  (CAN), or support@hawkridgesys.com.