I just thought I would share a couple of things picked up in the last year or so that overcame some aggravations with the feature tree in parts:
1) When I would try to reorder a feature to just under an expanded feature (an extrude, sweep, loft, or other sketch/curve based feature that has been expanded to show the absorbed curves) I would get one of those 'no smoking' signs indicating I couldn't drop it there. I used to curse, abort the drag, collapse the expanded feature (so the absorbed sketches/curves were no longer visible), so I could then drag and drop the feature I wanted to reorder. Well, I was a little chagrined when I accidentally learned that I was dropping at the wrong point. If I would try to drop below the absorbed sketches, I would get the no-smoking sign. If I went further and dropped the moving feature directly on the expanded FEATURE (not below its visible sketches/curves), the feature I was moving would reorder correctly.2) When in rollback, you can see all your features under the rollback bar, some of them with absorbed sketches/curves that you ought to be able to access. Those sketches/curves would be above the rollback bar if the feature tree were 'flat', allowing relations, sharing, or other uses if the feature tree were flat. But unfortunately they were sucked below the rollback bar by the feature that used them. The presence of the plus next to the rolled back features was a tease - clicking the '+' once to expand like in the regular tree doesn't show the absorbed item. So I would roll down, expand to show the absorbed sketches/curves, then roll back up to where I wanted to work so I could make the reference. I recently learned that you CAN expand features that are in rollback by DOUBLE clicking the + next to the feature. Depending on history, you can now easily access the absorbed items for references/sharing
3) Similar to tip 2, when going into parent-child on a rolled back part, we only get to see the kids of the rolled back features, not the grandkids or the great grandkids below the rollback even though there are plusses next to the kids in the box. Well, yup, if you double click the plus next to a kid you can see what the grandkids, etc are. Downside - it doesn't show the same as if the part were not rolled back4) Lofts and sweeps absorb multiple sketches/curves. If you expand the feature and rollback somewhere in the midst of the absorbed sketches/curves you can get a "flat" representation of where those sketches/curves are in history. Unfortunately, you often can't drag an unused sketch or curve from higher in the tree into the middle of this flat history of previously absorbed curves to make references - you get another of those no-smoking signs. However, you CAN add a new feature when the rollback bar is in the middle of this flat representation (I use planes). You can then drag anything down to below the plane, reordering where you were not allowed to reorder just a second ago. When done, I delete the workaround planes.
5) Folders often mess with flat history of the tree mentioned in 4. Just suck it up and delete that folder, and you can get a true flat history. When done, remake the folder (Ctrl+C the name before deleting, then Ctrl+V into the new folder name to save typing)I'm sure a lot of the above is widely known, but I figured I would post it just in case it helps someone
-Ed
Speaking of saving typing - I thought I would save Wayne a little time :)
"That's just too funny - WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??? :-))) I don't think I would ever admit to something quite that bad - too funny! (I know, paybacks are hell.......) Hey, at least you know now, though. :-))"
(just kidding, Wayne)