topic Re: Make internal component an external link in Fusion Support Forum

Make internal component an external link

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 15:51:14 GMT

I'm working on a pair of glasses in Fusion. I created 1 Fusion file and have 2 sub assemblies within - 1 for the front frame and another sub-assembly for the arm.

I need to make the arm sub-assembly available to be used in different Fusion files, but keep them linked. So if I modify them, they update everywhere they're used. In Solidworks, I would click on the sub-assembly and choose save externally. Then I could import it into other files. But I don't see that option.

Thanks
Alex

Re: Make internal component an external link

julia.paganucci — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 16:08:28 GMT

HI @Anonymous ,

Thanks for posting! If you right click on the component that you are using, clicking on "Save Copy As" will create a new Fusion design of the individual component. This design will be found in the Fusion 360 Data Panel but will not be linked to the original assembly/component group file. More information here and here. If you bring this file into any assemblies, it can be linked and will update as the individual file is change.

Thanks,

Re: Make internal component an external link

jeff_strater — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 17:27:04 GMT

@Anonymous - another option here is to use Derive to create a linked external representation of the internal component. Save Copy As will work, but it then becomes an independent design that has no links to the original. Derive will maintain that link to the original internal component, so if it updates, the Derived design will be out of date and can be updated.

Let me know if you need more details, I can record a screencast.

Re: Make internal component an external link

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 18:45:27 GMT

Thank you, both options sound good but I think derive would be the more appropriate way. A screen cast would be really useful if possible?

Re: Make internal component an external link

jeff_strater — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 19:50:12 GMT

@a.devane - here is a screencast of the Derive method:

Re: Make internal component an external link

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 20:38:53 GMT

Perfect! That’s exactly what I was looking for

Re: Make internal component an external link

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 00:33:01 GMT

Unfortunately this hasn't worked. I've derived the part into the new file but it's not showing up there.

Re: Make internal component an external link

jeff_strater — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 23:36:13 GMT

@Anonymous - can you provide a bit more info to help us understand what didn't work? It looks like you have a Derive feature in your model. If you use the Derive workflow that I showed, and select "new design", it should produce an entirely new design with only that Derive feature in it. It looks like you may have followed a slightly different workflow than I did. Ideally, if you can provide a screencast of what you did, and the design that you want to use, it will be easier to help you. Thanks!