Assembly Configurations

With a part instance or assembly in the workspace, open the Configuration panel:

1. Click to the right-side of the graphics area (as shown above)

2. The Configurations panel opens:

   

3. Click to open a table:

   

By default, the caret to the left of 'Configuration' is expanded (shown above to the right of the red arrow), click the caret when you are done with a section of the panel to collapse that section.

4. Click in the first row to activate it and enter the names of the input in the Name column. For example, to configure a pattern on a part, you might name the rows 2x2 and 4x4. Use Tab to move from one row to the next.

   

   The active row is indicated by a blue bar to the left of the row.

5. To configure a parameter value for the indicated row, click .
6. Select the Mate, instance or pattern that contains the parameter (click it in the Assembly list) and select the parameter in the dialog that opens (shown below outlined in red). The parameter is then outlined with a broken yellow line and a new column is created for that parameter in the table (shown below, in the Configuration panel, to the left of the red arrow).

   

   The column name defaults to the name of the entity selected (as a top-level heading) plus the field name (as the subordinate-level heading), in this case Box <1> is the entity selected, and the field names have been changed to 2 x 2 and Long by the user.

Hover over the fields in the feature dialog to see which parameters can be configured. Parameters available for configuration are highlighted in yellow when you hover over them.

7. To edit a configured instance of the parameter:
   1. If the parameter is an entered value, click on the row in the table and enter a new value.
   2. If the parameter is a selection in a dialog, double-click the row in the table to open the feature dialog.

      The appropriate field in the feature dialog is highlighted in blue. Make your selection on the model or in the Instances lists for this parameter.

8. When finished defining the configurations, click the Done button in the orange message at the top of the window, or close the dialog box.
9. Repeat step 6 through 8 for each row.
10. Repeat steps 5 through 8 to add another feature parameter to the table.
11. To test the inputs with the model, in the Feature list, under Configurations, use the down arrow to select from the menu:

    

The model should update accordingly. If it doesn’t, check the model for design intent and the configurations definition for accurate selection.

Onshape has a mechanism for also configuring assembly properties for each of the configuration inputs and options you have previously defined, directly from the Configuration panel. The properties available to be configured include: name, description, part number, revision, vendor, project, product line, title 1, title 2, title 3, not revision managed, and exclude from all BOMs.

To configure an Assembly property:

1. With an existing configuration input in the Configuration panel, click at the top of the panel (shown below outlined in blue):

   

   

2. Click .
3. Select the assembly property you wish to configure (Properties are included in the list). (This example uses Project.)

   A table is created with the previously selected configuration input in the first column and the property in the second column:

   

4. In the Configuration column, use the down arrow to select from the list of configuration options.
5. In the Project column (project property), enter the name.
6. To add more part properties for another configuration option, click .
7. Select a new configuration option from the first column.
8. In the Project column (project property), enter the name.
9. Repeat as necessary to configure the properties for the necessary configuration options.

When configuring part number properties, you can right-click and select Generate new part number, when automatic part number generation is turned on (through your Professional Company settings > Numbering schemes or Enterprise settings > Numbering schemes):

To change the name of a configuration, click the name (Configuration) and type a new name. Click out of the edit box to save.

After a part with configurations has been inserted into an Assembly, you can change the configuration of it, on any device:

1. Right-click on the part (or the part name in the Instances list) and select Change configuration.

   A Change configuration dialog opens:

   

2. Select a new configuration option.
3. Click when you are satisfied with your selection. (Use to cancel the operation.)

For iOS and Android devices, tap the three dot menu and select 'Change configuration' to access the configuration dropdown and select a different configuration. Tap the Generate button to generate the new configuration of the part.

You can copy and paste into and out of a configuration table, to aid in entering or editing input values.

To copy a configuration table:

1. Open the menu in the upper right corner, next to +Configure features.
2. Select Copy table.
3. Once you have copied the table, you can paste it into a spreadsheet.

Note that the column names also come in with the table. Now you can edit the table and copy/paste it back into Onshape:

1. Select just the rows and columns with data (not the column names or headings).

You can also pad your table with extra empty rows, if you wish. Just include the extra rows in the spreadsheet when selecting for the copy command.

2. Issue a Copy command.
3. In the Onshape Configuration table, click the top, left cell of the table.
4. Issue a keyboard Paste command.

Onshape automatically replaces whatever data was in the rows and columns of the configuration input table with the data that was copied. Onshape also includes the default units for each input parameter, automatically.

Note that if there are more rows copied from the spreadsheet than are in the Onshape configuration input table, those rows are included in the paste. Onshape creates the rows on the fly.

However, if there are more columns copied from the spreadsheet than are in the Onshape configuration input table, those columns are not included in the paste. Onshape does not yet create columns on the fly. You can, however, create additional columns (configured features) in the configuration table before pasting.

When inserting a part with excluded configurations into an assembly, you'll see the Excluded from properties icon next to the part.