Feature Manager design tree in Solidworks - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

This table shows a simple Feature Manager design tree with features, their types, and parent-child relationships.

Cell	Value
A1	Feature
B1	Type
C1	Parent
A2	Base Extrude
B2	Extrude
C2
A3	Cut-Extrude1
B3	Cut
C3	Base Extrude
A4	Fillet1
B4	Fillet
C4	Cut-Extrude1
A5	Boss-Extrude1
B5	Extrude
C5	Base Extrude

Formula Trace

=IF(C2="", A2, CONCATENATE(C2, " > ", A2))

Step 1: C2=""

Step 2: IF(TRUE, A2, CONCATENATE(C2, " > ", A2))

Step 3: C3=""

Step 4: IF(FALSE, A3, CONCATENATE(C3, " > ", A3))

Step 5: C4=""

Step 6: IF(FALSE, A4, CONCATENATE(C4, " > ", A4))

Step 7: C5=""

Step 8: IF(FALSE, A5, CONCATENATE(C5, " > ", A5))

Cell Reference Map

    A              B          C
1 | Feature       | Type     | Parent
2 | Base Extrude  | Extrude  | 
3 | Cut-Extrude1  | Cut      | Base Extrude
4 | Fillet1      | Fillet   | Cut-Extrude1
5 | Boss-Extrude1 | Extrude  | Base Extrude

Arrows show parent references from column C to column A.

Column C references parent features in column A to build the design tree hierarchy.

Result

Feature Manager Design Tree (Hierarchy Path)

Row | Hierarchy Path
2   | Base Extrude
3   | Base Extrude > Cut-Extrude1
4   | Cut-Extrude1 > Fillet1
5   | Base Extrude > Boss-Extrude1

This shows the hierarchical path of each feature, combining parent and child names to visualize the design tree structure.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the formula return when the Parent cell is empty?

A The parent feature name

B The current feature name

C An error

D An empty string

Key Result

IF(ParentCell="", CurrentFeature, CONCATENATE(ParentCell, " > ", CurrentFeature))