unstable parts

[HDS]

We have a part that is unstable on regen. All most every other time you hit crtl-Q it will fail. You crtl-Q again and it fixes itself.

The part is mostly surfaces. It has references to a master model and on other parts that are open in session. All parts are in PDM.

What should we look for that would cause this type of behavior?

What do you do when you see it?

How often do you see it?

[Glenn Schroeder]

If it has multiple external references I'm not surprised you're having problems with it.

[AlexLachance]

Try removing useless references and having your master model locked if possible, sometimes that stops the random failing.

[HDS]

how do you lock the master model?

[AlexLachance]

right click on it, go to external references, and lock it's references. Sorry for the frenchness of the screenshots.

[RichGergely]

Surface parts can be a real issue with this kind of thing.

Agree on the lock or even more solid is break references if you know the surface references with never change.

I wonder if the OP has verification on rebuild on, if not turning it on might show an issue you were unaware of.

[AlexLachance]

Surface parts can be a real issue with this kind of thing.

Agree on the lock or even more solid is break references if you know the surface references with never change.

I wonder if the OP has verification on rebuild on, if not turning it on might show an issue you were unaware of.

True! Verification on Rebuild can cause this to pop-up on master models. My VAR has blamed it on "outdated templates", which wasn't the root cause, just their easy answer to wash their hands and say it's our fault.

[HDS]

Verification on rebuild is off.

Still making changes to master so we can not break the link.

Keep the ideas coming. This is all useful.

[RichGergely]

Verification on rebuild is off.

Still making changes to master so we can not break the link.

Keep the ideas coming. This is all useful.

You need to turn it on and then rebuild to see if there is anything wrong.

Verification on rebuild does make Solidworks slower (you may not notice it though) but it makes sure the models are as robust as possible.

Also with it permanently on it is less likely you will have issues at later Solidworks upgrades. When you put a new version of Solidworks on and you open a previous release file Solidworks will do an in depth rebuild (the same as verification on rebuild) and suddenly a whole load of old models/assemblies might not work anymore.

[the_h4mmer]

What should we look for that would cause this type of behavior?

A method I use for finding the source(s) of these kinds of issues, is to rollback the feature tree to about half way, then force your rebuild. If it fails, then it's somewhere in the first half, if it doesn't, it's probably in the second half of the feature tree. Rinse and repeat to find the 'start' of the problems. Definitely will be subjective to know what to do when you find the problem(s).