Replace a Part With a Linked Version of Itself, Feedback/Idea

samuelwilson4JAAM — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 22:43:57 GMT

Hi All,

This is more of feedback/ideas then a question but there was nowhere in the "Feedback Hub" to put it.

Problem:

Currently in Fusion 360 (V.2.0.8560) there is no way, that I know of, to 'reverse derive' or 'reverse insert into design'. What I mean is if you are working with a design with a top-down approach (all components in one design file) and then you realize it would be best for one or more of the components you are working on to be in a separate design and linked with the original design.

Work-Arounds:

Currently, what you have to do is:

'Save Copy As" for the entire design or just the desired component
Delete/remove the desired components from the original design
"Insert into current design" the copied component into the original design (alternately a "Insert Derive" could be used)
Fix the warnings/errors that arise from this and re-do all joints related to the desired component since they will have been deleted

It is quite a time consuming process, especially if you have multiple parts you want to do this for. This will remove all dependence of the creation of the (new) desired part on the original design file since a copy was made after it was completed/partially completed. There is a way of re-attaching dependency since Edit In Place is a super awesome feature, but that is more complicated and time consuming.

Solution:

The creation of a 'Save as and Link' function which replaces the part with a linked copy of itself (where the 'master' is saved in a different design file). Or the creation of a 'reverse derive' which does as the name suggests, replaces the selected part with a derived version of itself with the 'master' (i'm not sure what it is called) saved to a different design file. The most important part of this function would be that it maintains the joints with the other components in the design. And hopefully it could maintain dependency on the original design when it comes to how the component was related to the others up to the point of the function being done. Having it create an "Assembly Context" for this dependence is how I was thinking about it. I imagine that would be quite a tricky thing to create but I have faith in your team 😀.

I hope that was helpful to other users and the fusion team. It's a bit of a complicated idea so I hope I described it clearly. If anyone needs clarification or has some cool ideas of their own feel free to add to my ideas.

Best,

Sam

topic Replace a Part With a Linked Version of Itself, Feedback/Idea in Fusion Support Forum

Replace a Part With a Linked Version of Itself, Feedback/Idea