Is there a good tutorial for adaptive parts?

[dpsmith85]

I do a lot of models that have pulleys with wire rope in them.  I generally leave out all the wire rope in the model.  Rarely is it necessary that I need it in the model.  Recently, however, I have had complaints that the wire rope in not in the Master BOM.  This is true because I never include it in the model.  I could include it as a swept part and save the correct iproperties information to the rope but if I do that it makes my assembly rigid (because the wire rope is constraining everything in place).  I would like to show my model in different representations without having the trouble of the wire rope not updating to mimic the new representation of the model.  Attached is a picture example of what I'm refering to.

This really leads to my question.  I searched the forums looking for a solution and thought the idea of adaptive parts may be the answer.  The problem is that I would be a complete newbie at using them.  I don't even know the first step.  Is there a good tutorial out there on adaptive parts and how to implement them?

Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong and there is a better solution out there.  If anyone has any other advice on how to accomplish this I would love to hear it.

Thanks

[Cadmanto]

I don't know much about adaptive parts, but a good place to go to for tutorials I have found is youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kepHen20iD4

I guess after you watch this video it will tell you if that is the direction you want to head.

[JDMather]

Many tutorials here http://www.mcadforums.com

and perhaps some relevant classes here http://au.autodesk.com

[rjezuit]

If you are just trying to show it on the BOM, try creating a part at the assembly level and checking virtual component. This allows you to have an "empty" part that you can put iproperties on for length etc. (Create>create in place component, fill in new component name, click the box for virtual component) It will show up as kind of greyed out and you can right click and fill in iproperties. I use it for gaskets/sealants/loctite/paint etc. 

[dpsmith85]

Thanks for all the replies and information.  I will look into more on the adaptive parts but to solve the issue now I think using the virtual part will probably be the quickest option to get the parts into the BOM.

Thanks