Using Equations to suppress parts not working correctly

[RoyMackay]

Hi Folks, solidworks newbie here

I'm working on a part, that's tied to an global variables stored in a text file (part is part of a larger assembly the rely on one set of global variables). The're a significant amount of feature's (26) that might suppress depending on the global variables. I'm finding that the model isn't reliably working. In the equations tree I have "Cut-Extrude26"="unsuppressed" which is confirmed in the evaluated to column, however after toggling chain drive which is the major variable that suppresses features, and hitting rebuild CutExtrude26 will be suppressed despite showing in equations that it should be unsuppressed. There 5-6 other features that are doing the same thing.

Note I only put the line in the equations for CutExtrude26 in to unsuppress as I saw it was suppressed for no discernible reason

Any help would be much appreciated

Kind Regards

Roydon Mackay

 

[Cadasio]

Could a feature that it is related to be suppressing further up the tree and hence having a knock-on effect?

I would check the parent features of the cut extrude. Right click on the feature in the feature tree and check parent/child relations - or if you have it on, i think there's an option that draws lines on the feature tree dynamically on hover so you can visually see.

If the parent is being suppressed you will need to either break the relationship or make it so it isnt.

 

[Cadasio]

Also, depending on why you are doing all these equations, I would look into a design table or better yet DriveWorksXpress

 

[RoyMackay]

I've checked and it looks like there might be some issues with this. Interestingly though if I delete the equation that's not working and rewrite it at the bottom of the equations that one will work and another one will play up. I did make a bit of effort when I was drawing to ensure none of the parts actually rely on geometry from the other parts but just the drawing order that I did them in could have caused it. Is it worth putting my stop in place and redrawing all the features to ensure there's no dependencies, or will I always have problems with what I'm trying to do and the correct call would be to just set it up using driveworks express or configurations?

 

[Cadasio]

It's hard for me to say without seeing the actual model and what you are trying to achieve. Generally, though I would always favour DriveWorks where possible as I personally find the interface a lot easier to work with...however with it being free it does have limitations and depending on what your goal is, may not produce what you are after. I would certainly look to see if configurations/design tables would be of use to you.