Aligning parts for assembly

[rickduley]

I am doing a textbook exercise using Inventor 2015.  This should be the end result:

Trying to align the Blue Plate on the Base Plate I click the Constraint button --> Insert Button --> hole in base plate

If I then just click on the hole in the Blue Plate

and then click OK I get the Blue Plate hole lined up properly, but the Blue Plate inverted.

To get the alignment correct I had to use the ViewCube to see the rear side of the Blue Plate and click on the hole in it from that side.

There must be a way to change the direction of the alignment arrow but I can't find it.  Would someone please help me out here.

Thanks

[-niels-]

It's much like in the real world, if you select the wrong edge it will connect "backwards".
So rotating to the rear side is a good way to see the edge you need.

If you do not want to rotate, you could hold your cursor near the (invisible) edge you need, right-click and choose "select other" to select the edge you need.

Hope this helps.

[rickduley · Accepted solution]

"If  you do not want to rotate, you could hold your cursor near the (invisible) edge you need, right-click and choose "select other" to select the edge you need."

I tried that but I don't get the option to "select other".  Instead, I find that Inventor 2015 shows me the other end of the hole and I can click on that which gives the desired effect.

Thanks

[-niels- · Accepted solution]

Yes, inventor will recognize available edges.

If there are more possible/overlapping edges at the spot where you right click it should look something like this:

Happy constraining!