e-Learning on ProfilesExternal entities are curves that belong to other profiles or solids. They need not lie in the same plane as the profile since the program automatically projects them onto the plane on which the profile is drawn. External entities can be used when you constrain the profile and do not need to be defined in any special way. The program automatically recognizes them as external entities when you use them.
To see the external entities associated with a profile, use the Show External Entities command.
Both profile external references and mating constraints can use existing Symbolic References. See also Inserting/Redefining a Symbolic Reference, for more information on how to attach a Symbolic Reference to parametric entities, and Replacing a component with Symbolic References, to understand the effective use of Symbolic References when components (and components including profiles which contain Symbolic References) have to be replaced.