Manipulating Components

You can move a component using the Manipulate command and the mouse.


Before you begin:
  • Open an assembly.
  • The element to move must belong to the active component.
  1. From the Assembly section of the action bar, click Manipulate .
    The Manipulation Parameters dialog box appears.

    You can translate or rotate components using one of the following options:

    • The first and second horizontal rows are reserved for translations. You can move your component along the x, y or z-axis as well as in the xy, yz and xz planes.
    • The third row is dedicated to rotations. You can rotate your component around the x, y or z-axis.
    • The fourth column lets you specify the direction of your choice by selecting a geometric element. This element defines the direction of the move or the axis of rotation.
    • There are two options and their statuses are persistent when you exit the session:
      • Free manipulation: this option allows you to freely move the selected component in the default plane only (all other iconic options are disabled when selected). You cannot freely rotate the component.

        The default plane is defined by the current view (top, bottom, left, right, back, front, iso).

        Note: The default plane is the plane of the screen for the iso view.

      • With respect to constraints: this option allows you to move or rotate the selected component by respecting its assembly constraints.
        Important: With this option, the following component orientations in the engineering connection are not accounted for: Position first component or Position second component.



  2. Click Drag along Y axis .
  3. Drag the blue component.
    The component is translated along the Y axis direction.



  4. Click Drag around Y axis .
  5. Rotate the light blue-green component.
    The component is rotated around the Y axis direction.



  6. Select With respect to constraints.
    If you repeat the previous operation, you are not allowed to do it. The existing parallelism constraint prevents you from moving the component.
  7. Click OK to exit.