Allow locking a View Representation AND keeping associative links

[DRoam]

The short and sweet:

We should be able to lock a View Representation so new components added to the main assembly and to unassociative sub-assemblies won't be added to the View Rep, but associative View Rep links will be retained.

The explanation:

Say I have a master assembly with several sub-assemblies. I have a View Rep in my master assembly which I'm using for a drawing. One of the sub-assemblies is likely to change (it might be a piping assembly, for example) and I always want my drawing to reflect its most recent state. So, I've set the sub-assembly's View Representation to "Default" and checked "Associative". This is great.

However, in this drawing, I don't want new components that I add to the master assembly and the other sub-assemblies to show up, because I'm already showing precisely the sub-assemblies and parts that I want to be in the drawing.

So, I go to lock my master assembly's View Representation so new components won't show up... only to find that in order to do so, I also have to "remove all associative links". Why?? This is completely unnecessary. We should be able to lock a View Representation so new components added to the main assembly and to unassociative sub-assemblies won't be added to the View Rep, but associative View Rep links will be retained.

[asiu]

When adding parts to an assembly, I would like to have a choice to add that part to:

-all view representations (the current behaviour)

-selected view representations

-the current view representation only

It is very time consuming to have to update each of the view representations manually. This has a potential cascade effect for presentation and drawing files.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Great idea!

[dennis.m.koch]

GREAT and AWESOME Idea.... 

I agree... it is very time consuming to update each of the other View Reps...

[cad.administrator]

Users should be able to control visibililty of components in drawing views to a greater extent.  Specifically, they should be able to designate the default behavior of the view for displaying parts which are added to the model after the view has been created.

Here is an example:

A top-level assembly drawing has been created with several views, including some detail views.  On some of the views, especially the detail views, the visibility of some parts and sub-assemblies has been removed for clarity in depicting one specific aspect of the model.

The assembly is revised 5 times, including adding new parts and replacing others that were previously designated as having the visibility turned off in certain views.  With each revision, the user must revisit every view and turn off visibility of items not necessary to show in that particular view.

Proposed solution:

(See Attached)

Provide the user with an option for each view to designate whether they would like any objects added to the assembly after view creation to have visibility turned off.

*This behavior could be dangerous in some cases if users didn't know the setting was in place, but no more dangerous than a stale cropped view which no longer shows what it originally intended to show.

[asiu]

Hello,

Requested already:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideastation/assembly-insert-part-choice-for-visibility-in-vie...

[DRoam]

Or better yet, give us even more control with something like this:

[andrew.roth.home]

Excellent Idea! It is beyond frustrating making changes to a model after the drawing has been started and having those changes destroy your drawing views.

[DRoam]

We also should be able to turn on/off the visibility of a top-level component without having to remove the view-rep associativity! I understand why this prompt appears if I'm toggling the visibility of a sub-level-component, but there is no reason I should have to turn off the associativity of a top-level component when turning off its visibility. It should just return to the active view state when I toggle its visibility back on.

[Anonymous]

This would tremendously help our work flow. We have the main assembly which is the whole table. Then we will be adding in additional "Stations" To allow the machine to run. We also need to call out all of our parts so the machine shop can cut them. We are trying to work with views or another process since we are still new to this in Inventor here.

[Anonymous]

I agree! I was just getting ready to post this. I have often wondered if I could create a VBA or .Net version of the addoccurrence function to do this.

[DRoam]

Just wanted to add a little more clarity as to what those different "lock" settings would do:

This would allow you to fully control your View Reps so they stay linked to associative view reps, AND you can decide whether un-associative assemblies always stay up-to-date with new added components or stay locked as they are.

[Anonymous]

This could also allow you to make Sections of a whole sub assembly like say a pick and place head for our applications. We can have the whole Sub Assembly View then a View rep that is just a set of components and when you Lock it but keep links that will allow for when a new component is added it doesn't keep adding it to existing view reps. Or am I reading this incorrectly?

[DRoam]

@Anonymous, I think I understand what you're saying -- basically, you're saying that your top assembly has a few sub-assemblies in it that you'd like to isolate (maybe for a drawing).

Right now this is a pain because if you lock your top assembly, then changes to those sub-assemblies won't be captured. But if you DON'T lock your top assembly, then new components added to your top level or other sub-assemblies will show up.

If I'm describing your situation correctly, then YES! The functionality I'm requesting is the perfect solution for you. It will allow you to lock your top assembly such that ONLY your desired sub-assemblies will be visible, AND changes to them will be captured. This is a great example of one of the many very useful applications for better control over view rep asssociativity/locks 

[Anonymous]

@DRoamThank you wanted to make sure that if it was correct we had a good example. It would allow some details that maybe the assembly is large but there is a small section showing part interaction for us it would be just some helpful views for our guys on the floor or for a multi-tooled machine. We can lock a view with one set of tooling then have ones for the other sets allowing the prints that we send out to the customer to show the tooling from the beginning and not require us to keep going back into the view to remove parts that aren't needed. Adding parts that are needed is fine since it is typically not what we are doing but Inventor pushes the new additional pieces to the front rather then not having them show up in the first place.

[DRoam]

Please also vote for this idea: Maintain Design View Representation when turning Part Visibility on/off.

[DRoam]

Here's another View Rep enhancement that would be very useful: Allow visibility overrides to Associative views in Drawings

[inv.ideareview]

Thanks for sharing your Idea. We use this forum to guide product development and help users in the best way we can based on voting. We occasionally merge Ideas or archive old ones to keep the forum working properly - it ensures there is room for people to review new Ideas and that the most relevant and meaningful ones can gain votes. We’re archiving this Idea because it's been on the board for well over a year and hasn't received many votes from the community. If you want to raise it again and try to gain more support, you're welcome to do so. We’ve found that pictures and mock-ups can help get concepts across and win more votes from other users. If you have questions or see a connection between this Idea and others, let us know. - Inventor product team (Inv.idea review)

[ic198]

I'd be happy if the current Lock did not destroy associative links, but on the assumption that someone either out there finds the current functionality useful, please implement either of @DRoam's suggestions! It is maddening to carefully set up view reps throughout assemblies and sub-assemblies, only to have to choose between locking and associativity.

[asiu]

@inv.ideareview

Please add the votes of this idea to this one:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/allow-locking-a-view-representation-and-keeping-associ...

They are basically the same, with a lot better implementation on DRoam's one.

Thank you.