Group Entities

Collect entities into groups to help with simulation setup and advanced selection.

Once entities are grouped, they can be easily accessed for model preparation. It is useful if you divide large models based on the modeling workflow. Part groups will retain entities even when geometrical operations such as split, stitch, and boolean are performed on them.

Group entities in the following ways:

  • With the Group tool.
    1. From the Assembly ribbon, click the Group tool.


      Figure 1.
    2. Choose an entity type using the selector on the guide bar.
    3. Select the entities to group in the modeling window.
    4. From the guide bar, execute the command in the following ways:
      • Click to confirm your selection and remain in the tool.

        This allows you to continue creating instances and helps you visualize and edit instances with the legend.

      • Click to confirm your selection and exit the tool.
  • With the right-click context menu.
    1. Make a selection in idle mode or with any of the tools on the ribbons.
    2. Right-click and pick an option from the context menu.
    • Create a new group
    • Add your selection to an existing group.
    • Remove your selection from any other group and move it to an existing group.
  • Using the Advanced Create dialog.
    1. Open the Setup Browser.
    2. Right-click on the Groups heading and select Advanced Create.
    3. In the dialog, select the entity type.
    4. Choose a grouping method: Per Part | Per Solid body | Per Assembly | Per Metadata.
    5. Select items to the create group from.
    6. Click Apply.
      A group is created per selection in the Advanced Create dialog with the same name as the selection.

Review, Edit, and Delete Entity Groups

View a list of group names, types, and metadata information.

  1. From the Assembly ribbon, click the Group tool satellite icon.


    Figure 2.
    The Groups dialog opens.
  2. Control the display state of groups in the following ways:
    • Right-click on a group and select Show, Hide, or Isolate.
    • Click to show all groups and to hide all groups.
  3. To edit a group, right-click on a group and select Edit.
    The Group tool opens, allowing you to change your selection.
  4. To delete a group, right-click on a group and select Delete.
Tip: Similar functions can be performed using the Group tool legend.