When opening a referenced document, SOLIDWORKS performs a search to locate the document. For example, this search may occur when you open a drawing and the referenced assembly cannot be found or when you resolve a suppressed component in an assembly.
When a referenced document is found, the software updates the path to the referenced document in the parent document. When you save the parent document, the updated path is saved as well.
Below are the search order that SOLIDWORKS performed:
Only at the end, if SOLIDWORKS could not find that referenced file, it will prompted to browse/look for the file.
This example shows the paths that the software checks using the following scenario:
-The assembly was last saved as C:\zz\a1.sldasm. You move the assembly to D:\ss\tt\a1.sldasm.
-The first part in the assembly was last saved as C:\qq\p1.sldprt. You do not move this part.
-The second part in the assembly was last saved as C:\zz\yy\xx\p2.sldprt. This part is missing either through deletion, renaming, or some other file management mistake.
-There are two paths in the Folders list of the File Locations Options dialog box: D:\aa\bb\ and E:\cc\dd\.
-You click File > Open to open a1.sldasm in its new location.