About Grouping Joints

Joint groups provide a way to link several joints together so that if one changes, all other joints change and continue to match.

In a joint group one joint is the master and the other joints in the group are slaves and must always match the master. Any changes to the master joint are immediately applied to all slave joints.

Note:

You can group joints only when the geometry and the position of the connected elements is the same with the master joint. When this condition is not fulfilled, a warning message is displayed. The joint can be created separated from the group or part of the group, but in this case, it is marked as different.

The master joint is used as template for other joints in new locations.

• You can easily remove a joint from the group to allow editing it independently from other joints of the group.
• A joint can be member of only one group.
• The master and slave joints can be marked using the Search filter

Create the master joint

The connection between the master joint and the slave joints is made through the name that the master joint receives, on the first page of the properties dialog box. The slave joints receive the same name automatically.

Note: The name of the master joint must be unique.

Modify the joint properties within a group

To change the properties of joints of a group, the master joint must be modified.

You can use one of the following methods:

• Search the master joint using the Search filter and modify the properties
• Select any joint of the group and define it as master

Note: Only the master joint can be modified. In the properties dialog box of a slave joint all controls are disabled to prevent editing.