Purge command on Solid works

Removal of Unnecessary Features

You can specifically remove features and components from parts and assemblies that are disabled in all model configurations. Also, you may pick and choose which drawings and pieces of unnecessary reference geometry to remove from the model.

To remove inactive features:

1. Right-click the file name in a component or assembly and select Purge Unused Features from the Configuration Manager tab or Feature Manager design tree's top menu.
2. Dialogue box:
   1. Choose the items you want to delete under Suppressed in all settings.
   2. Choose the things you want to remove from Reference geometry and unused drawings.
   Other models may utilize reference geometry and drawings that are indicated as unused in this model. Before you delete the specified components, be sure they are not required by another model.
3. Choose OK.
   The dialogue window for Confirm Delete appears.
4. Choose Yes.

The model is updated without the specified elements.

To undo the deletions, click Undo (Standard toolbar).

The SOLIDWORKS User Community selected the new improvement Purge as one of the Top Ten Concepts at SOLIDWORKS World.

I feel that without properly considering the distinctions between a drawing programme and an intelligent parametric 3D design tool, people assumed that since a command with this name existed in AutoCAD, we need to have it in SOLIDWORKS as well.

I did not support this function very strongly at the time because it was not obvious what should be the focus of purging.

Move forward to the 2016 version, and SOLIDWORKS now includes the new Purge command as promised. Because SOLIDWORKS is so excellent at listening to its users and adopting their enhancement recommendations, I said as anticipated.

The Purge command, unfortunately, can be very dangerous the way it is currently implemented in the 2016 release (SP01), given that the purged features may still be used outside of a part and their absence may result in significant errors in a significant number of assemblies where the part is used as a component.

Furthermore, because the destruction is quiet, its effects might not even be apparent until the damaged assemblies are opened. Hence, a complete team may be impacted without anybody knowing!

Remove any unnecessary configurations of components from the SOLIDWORKS assembly.

In rare circumstances, it could be necessary to eliminate (purge) any unneeded configurations from the assembly's component parts. The fastener or toolbox components might benefit from it because the file may include hundreds of configurations, but only a select handful are actually utilized in the assembly.

This macro enables the creation of duplicates of all chosen components, the deletion of their configurations, and their replacement in the assembly.

It is highly advised to make a backup of your assembly before utilizing this macro.

Notes

• Only components that are permanent will operate with macro. For virtual components, an error will be produced.
• Only part-based (*.sldprt) components will function with macro.
• Only fully loaded components will operate with macro; suppressed or light-weight components are not supported.
• After processing, macro doesn't save the document. To save all changes, choose Save All.
• All replacement parts will be copied by a macro in the same location as the source parts.
• Component can be chosen from the graphics view or the Feature Management tree (it is possible to select any entity of the component as well, such as face or edge)
• If a design table exists, it will be deleted.
• Existing files won't be replaced by macro, and File already exists will be generated if the target file is already present. Manually delete each of these files. Certain files may be loaded into memory even though they are not utilized in the assembly if a macro fails. Release the files by using the Close All command.
• Couples will reunite.

Options

Change the REPLACEMENT NAME constant to specify the name of the replacement file. Utilize free text with the placeholders [title] and [conf], which will be changed to the titles of the source file and the configuration of the component, accordingly.

The [conf] placeholder will be replaced by a join of all configuration names separated by the symbol if the GROUP BY CONFIGURATIONS option is set to True.

Organizational Structures

By using the GROUP BY CONFIGURATIONS option, you may decide whether components that reference the same document in several configurations should be replaced by a single component or if a new single configuration part should be produced for each component independently

Purge

Modify > Purge on the menu allows you to remove unnecessary blocks, text styles, line kinds, and other document definition table components. File size can be decreased or optimized by purging DWG files.

Both purgeable and non-purgeable components are shown in the dialogue box.

If an element is not utilized in the DWG file, it might be deleted.

Choose the components you want to remove from the dialogue box. The multi-selection keys are available (Ctrl, Shift).

The Purge dialogue box offers the following choices when purging a DWG file:

Verify that each piece has been removed: With each deletion, a notice box appears when it is chosen. You need to confirm every deletion.

When this option is chosen, all nested elements-those that rely on other elements-are likewise eliminated.

Selection purge: Removes the components that were chosen.

Purge all: Regardless of the option, purge all components.