Creating Intent Surfaces in an Assembly
You can define a set of intent surfaces in an assembly to use as references for annotations, appearance operations, or other assembly operations. The set can contain multiple surfaces from different components at different levels in the assembly. Follow the steps below to create a set of intent surfaces.
1. In an open assembly, click > > 
Reference. The Datum Reference dialog box opens.
Reference. The Datum Reference dialog box opens.2. Select 
Intent Surface from the Type list.
Intent Surface from the Type list.3. Set the reference type to select surfaces in the assembly.
◦ 
In Context—To select surfaces in an assembly.
In Context—To select surfaces in an assembly.◦ 
Local—To select surfaces in a part. Click To Create an Intent Surface Using Datum Reference Features in the Related topics below for more information on creating intent surface reference features in Part mode.
Local—To select surfaces in a part. Click To Create an Intent Surface Using Datum Reference Features in the Related topics below for more information on creating intent surface reference features in Part mode.4. To name the intent surface feature, click the Define intent name checkbox under Intent Name. A prefix and an instance are populated in the boxes.
5. Select surfaces or other intent surfaces from the assembly components.
6. Click OK. A new reference feature appears in the Model Tree.