One of my desired goals is to be able to minimize the steps needed to build up a parametric component from flattened (no history based) sketch files.
This desire led me to the conclusion that it would be great if components which had parametric relations within themselves only, that is, no external references to parent components, etc, should have the ability to remember those parametric settings and be portable as such, that is, follow copy/paste or use in other projects. That would be a wonderful addition, because then there would be no more need to rebuild them when moving them around, esp when reinserting them into a design.
I do not know all the consequences of doing this, but I figure there must be a way to introduce this without creating a rats nest. Maybe a "reconnect" dialouge is needed to re-connect missing references to sub-components. But it would be nice to see Autodesk designers state the nature and challenges of the "rats nest" of dependencies and/or the resulting complexity more clearly, so someone can think a way to add portable parametrics more elegantly and sooner. Maybe a third "glue" object is needed to be responsible for organizing parametric relations within a hierachy of components or to "expose" such properties via polymorphic methods as used in COM objects. (I know, God forbid. Maybe a version without long chains of grandchildren objects)
In my example, I begin my template by drawing a single sketch alone in a seperate design project, then turn off design history to flatten it. (who needs all those early drawing mistakes in the timeline anyway.)
The sketch represents the rectangular shape of a axle that rotates from zero to 45 degrees, with the intention to make these two angular positions parametric so they can be set in the property window. Ultimately, the two rectangles are projected into a third sketch, to mask the underlying complexity, and project the "magenta" colored geometric framework on which to anchor "bridge" geometry to end up with a parametrically variable slot for a real axle to fit into. (I'm making a cable chain with rectangular axles that are constrained within an X-shaped slot)
It would be nice to make the parametric parts once off on the side, get them perfect, and then add them to the main project, self contained within the component in which they reside. That is, not bloating the history with unnecessary rebuilding steps.
I imagine this implies something like the timeline should be broken up so each component has a self-contained timeline, then relations between components should be established and maintained in a seperate parent object for all other relations within a "design project". Or more complex, each component oversees it's children, as imposing as that sounds. Maybe there is a better way based on how you guys plan to allow collibration. As they said, the data itself must be collibrative in structure. OK, so does that mean I have to rebuild each and every parametric object if I don't want it's imperfect invention process bloating the history, both do/undo and the timeline?
I know we are talking hierachys and webs, and it can get maddening, but perhaps some conponent-local-only, no grandchildren, atomic parametric memory would not make a rats nest and could be added without much fuss without breaking some collibration data safety rule.
