> Assemblies > Mates > Mates: Frequently Asked Questions
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Managing Mates
- Why can I not have redundant dimensions or distance mates?
- What are the best practices I should follow to set up mates?
- How do I know what mates are on a part?
- What do I doif I get a mate Idon'twant?
- What do I do if my mate combinations cause errors or move parts in unexpected ways?
- When I add a mate, my parts do not move as expected. Why?
- A component will not move when I try to drag it. Why?
- Does the order I apply constraints matter?
- Can I use mates to temporarily position parts?
Changing, Deleting, or Suppressing Mates
- How do I change a mate?
- Can I delete or suppress a mate?
Mate Error Symbols
- My assembly has many yellow errors but my assembly looks fine. Why? What do I do?
- What'sthe difference between red and yellow errors?
- What'sthe difference between the (+) and (?) prefixes to components in theFeatureManager design tree?
Mate Errors
- An error message appeared after I added a mate. How do I fix mate errors?
- The mate or mate icon I want to add is not available. Why?
- I have a redundant mate. How do I know what mate it is redundant with?
- Can I purge redundant mates?
- My mating angle flips direction. Can I stop this from happening?
- There are mate problems when mirroring. What do I do?
Answers: Managing Mates
- Why can I not have redundant dimensions ordistance mates?
The software treats dimensions asparametric, modifiable entities. If you can add dimensions to entitiesalready defined by relations or mates, you can violate the relations ormates by modifying the dimension. For example:
Fully definedsketch. Redundantperpendicular relation added. Sketch is still fullydefined. Redundantdimension added. Sketch is over defined. Changing the dimension later to somethingother than 90° can conflict with the relations. To prevent thispotential conflict, the software makes the sketch over defined,requiring you to delete the dimension, make the dimension driven, ordelete the relations.
Resolving conflicts are moredifficult when redundant relations exist. You need to delete theperpendicular relation and the adjacent horizontal or vertical relation.The SketchXpert functionality displays all possible solutions.
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- What are the best practices to follow to set upmates?
ToMaximize... Use thistechnique... Robustness andPerformance Mate components toa common component for optimum performance. Robustness Use face-to-face mates, if your design intentpermits, because they are more robust andpredictable. Performance Use subassemblies to limit the number of top-levelmates. The application solves all top level mateswhen it rebuilds an assembly. Click PerformanceEvaluation
(Tools toolbar) to display assemblystatistics.Efficiency whenadding mates - Use mate references if yourmodels use similar components that you need toreplace regularly. Click Mate Reference (Reference Geometry toolbar) and set themates.
- Use Smart Mates.
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- Use mate references if yourmodels use similar components that you need toreplace regularly. Click Mate Reference
- How do I know what mates are on a part?
In the assembly's FeatureManager design tree, do one of the following:
- Right-click a component and click ViewMates.
- Right-click the assembly feature and click Tree Display > View Mates anddependencies. Expand components to see the mates.
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- What do I do if I get a mate I don't want?
Use these techniques:
- Click Undo if you havenot yet closed the MatePropertyManager.
- Suppress the mate. Right-click the mate in theFeatureManager design tree, click Properties,andthen click Suppressed.
- Use MateXpert to diagnose and resolve matingproblems. Click Tools > Evaluate > MateXpert.
- Check the Matealignmenton theStandard,Advanced, or Mechanicaltabs in the Mate PropertyManager.
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- Click Undo
- What do I do if my mate combinations cause errors or move parts in unexpected ways?Back to Top
Use these techniques:
- You may have conflicting mates. Use MateXpert to check for conflicting mates, then delete or edit one of the conflicting mates. Click Tools > Evaluate > MateXpert.
- You may have an improper Mate alignment. Edit the mate and in the MatePropertyManager,click Aligned orAnti-Aligned forMate alignment.
- Use MateXpert to diagnose and resolve mating problems. Click Tools > Evaluate > MateXpert.
- When I add a mate, my parts do not move as expected.Why?
When you mate to an analytical surface, a validsolution is to mate to the virtual extension of the analytical surface.The components might not move as you expect.
Totry to achieve the mate, move the components as close to the correctposition as possible.
In thisassembly, you want to place the lever's edge on the halfcylinder. OriginalPosition RequiredPosition Select entities tomate. Position after themate is applied. Why does the lever move here? Thelever mates to the virtual extension of the analyticalsurface, shown in red. Move the lever closerto the correct position, then apply the mate. The lever mates tothe correct position. Back to Top
- A componentdoesnot move when I try to drag it. Why?
- Check if the part has mates that restrictmovement. A tooltip appears if the part is fully defined.
- Check if the part is fixed. A tooltip appearsattheselectedlocationif the part is fixed.
- Try dragging the part from a differentspot.
- Check the mates because the setup may beincorrect.
- For a mechanism, try dragging a differentpart.
- Sometimes you cannot move a part by draggingit. Try adding a mate to move the part.
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- Does the order I apply constraints matter?
No.
You can apply constraints inany order.
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- Can I use mates to temporarily position parts?
Yes.
In the Mate PropertyManager, under Options, select Use for positioning only. Componentsmove to the position defined by the mate, but a mate is not added to theFeatureManager design tree. You can move the component away from itsposition by dragging it or adding another mate to it.
This option avoids potential mate errors because matesare notappliedto the model.
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(Tools toolbar) to display assemblystatistics.
(Reference Geometry toolbar) and set themates.
if you havenot yet closed the 
or
for
Answers: Changing, Deleting, or Suppressing Mates
- How do I change a mate?
- Expand the Mates folder in the FeatureManager designtree.
- Right-click one or more mates, and click Edit Feature.
- Edit the options in the PropertyManager, then click.
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- Can I delete or suppress a mate?
Yes.
In the FeatureManager designtree, right-click a mate in the Mates folder and click Delete or Suppress.
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.Answers: Mate Error Symbols
- My assembly has many yellow errors but my assemblylooks fine. Why?
Yellow
usually indicates redundant distance mates only if no red errors exist.Fixedcomponents can causeyellowerrors.Diagnose the problem using MateXpert and delete the redundant mates.Back to Top
- What's the difference between red and yellowerrors?
Red
= The mate is being violated. The parts arenot in the positions specified by the mate. Another cause could be that themate is dangling because one of the entities (face, edge, plane, etc.) is nolonger in the model. Investigate red errors first.Yellow
= The mate issatisfied, but another mate (usually red) is trying to move the parts in away that would violate this mate. Another cause could be that this is adistance mate that is redundant to other mates in the assembly.Example:
Theleft and right components are fixed. The blue component floats. A coincident mate(Coincident1) is between thegray and blue blocks.
When you add anothercoincident mate (Coincident2)between the blue and orange blocks:
Coincident2 displays a red
mate error because theparts cannot move as this mate requires.Coincident1 displays ayellow
mate errorbecause the red mateerror is trying to move the gray and blue components and violateCoincident1.Back to Top
- What's the difference between the (+) and (?) prefixesto components in the FeatureManager design tree?
(+) = over defined
Conflicting or redundant over defining mates exist.Delete or edit the mate causing the problem. The best practice is tofix over defined mates when they occur.
(?) = not solved
SOLIDWORKScannot solve the mate. Consider deleting mates, moving componentscloser to the solution, adding more mates, or changing the matescheme.
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usually indicates redundant distance mates only if no red errors exist.Fixedcomponents can causeyellowerrors.Diagnose the problem using MateXpert and delete the redundant mates.
= The mate is being violated. The parts arenot in the positions specified by the mate. Another cause could be that themate is dangling because one of the entities (face, edge, plane, etc.) is nolonger in the model. Investigate red errors first.
Answers: Mate Errors
- An error message appeared after I added a mate. How do Ifix mate errors?
The fix depends on the type of error. UseSearch or look in the Mates section of the Table of Contents to find helptopics about specific types of mate errors. Information about tools (such asMateXpert, mate callouts, AutoRepair
, and View Mate Errors) isavailable. These topics help to identify and resolve mating problems.Back to Top
- The mate or mate icon I want to add is not available. Why?
Only the mates that apply to the current selections are available. For example, you cannot make a concentric mate to a planar face.
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- I have a redundant mate. How do I know what mate it is redundant with?
Use MateXpert to identify redundant mates.
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- Can I purge redundant mates?
No.
You cannot purge all redundant mates. Use MateXpert to identify redundant mates.
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- My mating angle flips direction. Can I stop this fromhappening?
Verifythe mate setup to make sure that it correctly defines your design intent.Use Search or look in the Mates section of the Table of Contents to findhelponcreating mates. If the problem persists, report it to technicalsupport.
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- There are mate problems when mirroring. What do I do?
Use the MirrorComponent PropertyManager to create mirrored assemblycomponents that preserve mates between components. The MirrorComponentfeature holds the mirrored components in position relative to the seedcomponents with respect to the mirror plane. No other mates are required toconstrain the mirrored components.
If you want toapply different mates to the mirrored components, right-click theMirrorComponent feature and click DissolveMirrored Component Feature. Then you can move and rotate thecomponents and apply mates to them.
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, and View Mate Errors) isavailable. These topics help to identify and resolve mating problems.
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