Can't i replace a file in a placed view in a drawing?

[Karol-Or]

I made a complex drawing.

Now i changed the part file just a little, the placement of a few holes, and saved it to a new name.

I need both versions.

In the Design Assistant i copied the drawing file to a new name.

Now i want, in the design assistant, to replace the file the drawing refferences, but can't, the replace option is greyed.

Isn't it possible?

I understand there might be larger changes, is that the reason?

[-niels-]

If i understand correctly then, no, you can't do that with the design assistant in that order.

What you can do however is make a copy of your drawing and then replace the model reference in Inventor itself.

The function is on the manage tab (IV2014).

[Karol-Or]

Is there a way to maintain all the the dimensions and text? since in this method all are erased

[pcrawley]

Providing the new part is created using the "Save Copy As" method, you shouldn't have lost any annotation - apart from faces/edges that have changed.

Alternative to Design Assistant:  Vault Copy Design.  Select the IDW - copy it - and in the Copy Deisgn dialog just select those components that need to become new parts (i.e. copies).  You end up with a nice clean copy, all referenced correctly.  Even renamed & renumbered if you want too.

(That's not supposed to be a sales pitch for Vault, but I wasted too much of my life using Design Assistant to ever want to go back.)

[-niels- · Accepted solution]

Like pcrawley said, if you've used "save copy as" then you shouldn't have lost annotations.
If you only made small changes, and don't mind re-doing them, the correct way to make a copy like this with the design assistant would be:

Open the original IDW in design assistant,
Set both the idw and the model (ipt, iam) to copy,
Give both the required new filename.
Open the new file and make your changes.

If you use the design assistant on the IDW file and do like described above it will change the reference to the new file and leave you original the way it is.