Break Link problems

[Anonymous]

Ok, i need to break all my links because i need to export the whole modell for my coworkers. (they use other cad software)

-> I get this error when i want to break a link with a very simple part that has no errors in it:

Error: The selected instance has some essential dependent instances. Break Link is currently not supported!

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/a918c937-c02d-4c79-80ec-6d3533563473

-> And i get really strange result with another part:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/bdfc2434-291a-4dfd-b4a1-d3bed9921a1d

here is my assembly:

http://a360.co/1PgZrZX

[zhanganchun]

The message "The selected instance has some essential dependent instances." means some Features in current document depend on the selected XRef document. For example, copy/paste XRef instances can make this kind of dependency. "Remove" an instance with a RemoveInstance Feature in timeline can also make this kind of dependency. You can check the features in Timeline for detail. It would be a limitation of current Breaklink implementation. Currently after we delete those downstream features in timeline, we can breaklink that XRef.

For the second issue, do you mean some invisible instances can become visiable again after break link? That would be a bug. Please turn off that as a workaround currently. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

ok i understand.

the other problem is (as you can see in one screencast) that a lot of components loosing scale after breaking the link.

[zhanganchun]

Yes. thanks. that's a scale Feature issue after break link. As a workaround, If you don't care about the model history, you can try convert the whole model to Direct Modeling by "don't capture design history" from the root component menu. In direct modeling mode, break-link don't need to tackle downstream dependencies, so it would always succeed. This can also bypass the first issue you meet.

[TrippyLighting]

I'd say that both of these issues are bugs that are diminishing the value of linked components. Are these going to be tracked as bugs ?

The second issue might be resolvable if Fusion 360's error messages woulde halfway intelligable for mere mortals 😉

Having looked at this model before in detail in another thread, I find the recommendation to delete the design history somewhat out of place!

This is a complex piece of machinery that lives by the design history.

[zhanganchun · Accepted solution]

Yes. Keeping the model parametric would always have advantage.

Those issues were on track. Supporting breaking link with downstream dependencies is a future improvement. More things need to do to support this, because we need redirect those downstream dependencies to the newly breaked components. Breaking links is more complicated than creating links because of those dependency things;-)

[gearshredder]

I found that I dragged a component template I made (a vise with stock parameters) into the file when a component was active. I activated the top component before dragging into, and then I could break link. It was the CutPaste in the timeline that moved the component from one component out to the base component that broke it.