Plug-in, macro or function to "snap" when assembling recurring parts

Hi all

To put it in context, I work in a design office in an event company and I design a lot of event structures, especially scaffolding. Generally these are complex non-standard structures that cannot be generated by the vendor/manufacturer's software. So I draw on SolidWorks to have very precise assemblies and avoid surprises in the field.

However, the design is sometimes long because I have to constrain all the elements and a majority of the assembly is represented by only 3 pieces or 4 pieces. So thanks to the mastering on SolidWorks however I wanted to know if there is a function, a plug-in or a macro to create points so that you can directly "snap" constrain parts in two clicks, instead of constraining the three orientations and three positions ... A bit like at the beginning of each assembly where one origin is constrained to another origin. The idea will be to have several origins on the parts and to choose which ones to go with which to position and orient it directly. (I tried with landmarks but solidworks sends them directly to the origin...)

I hope I've been clear enough and I'm putting you a picture of one of my assemblies in PJ so that you can better visualize my problem.

Thank you in advance for your answer 

Vyctor Mathé  


1.jpg

See magnetic constraints from version 2017:

http://help.solidworks.com/2017/French/SolidWorks/sldworks/t_example_magnetic_mates.htm

 

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Some examples to be adapted of course if feasible to your type of structure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me7gkUMl168

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGvznAZS5xE

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Hello

 

Be careful, magnetic constraints work very well with a 'SOL' reference and not with various surfaces.

Think instead of using constraint references, less easy to use but very practical.

https://www.lynkoa.com/contenu/cr%C3%A9ation-dune-r%C3%A9f%C3%A9rence-de-contrainte

 

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Hello

Thank you for your answers and they were very helpful in finding a solution that worked for me. I tested each of your solutions which are very practical, good to know and finally I found another more precise solution by creating a reference on each part and constraining the parts by these same references (As I explained in my question...). 

Thanks again to you Todesco and Sbadenis! 

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