A theoretical component that is used as a placeholder for a real component that will be created or placed in the assembly later.

Within Solid Edge there are three types of virtual components:

• Source component -- A virtual component which has 2-D sketch graphics associated with it. You use the Edit Definition command to associate 2-D graphics with a virtual component.

• Instance component -- A copy of the source component. An instance component behaves as a single entity, and reacts to changes made to the source component sketch geometry. You cannot make edits to an instance component, but you can move or rotate it as a single unit.

• Pre-defined component -- A virtual component based on an existing Solid Edge document. You typically create 2-D sketches using the 3-D geometry in the parent document for a pre-defined component.

However, virtual components can also be created outside the Solid Edge environment, in which case they are empty items that are defined later in the design process.