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(continued...) Sketches can be shared within a part allowing a single sketch to be used for multiple features without the need to manually replicate the sketch.
A new shared sketch icon appears under each feature in the FeatureManager tree and any edits to the shared sketch ripple through all referencing features.
An additional contour select tool enables the use of portions of sketches.
As a result, a complex multiple contour sketch can capture design intent and be shared between multiple features.
Contour select also helps identify correctly closed boundaries necessary for a feature without needing to use the check sketch for feature tool.
In order to achieve the better surface qualities from lofts and sweeps that result from the use of splines rather than individual sketch entities, the fit spline tool automatically converts sketch segments into a single spline.
Dimensions can be automatically generated in a sketch with the option to specify horizontal and vertical datums for baseline, chain or ordinate schema.
Many new construction methods are opened up by the flexibility to create multiple bodies within the same part.
It is important however to differentiate between a multibody part that should ultimately represent a single BOM item and an assembly where parts are likely to move relative to each other.
Disjoint bodies within a part can be viewed primarily as a construction tool.