Combine/Join function deletes objects

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I've been trying to combine/join several thin cylinders to a much larger piece. About 300 of them to be exact. They're all selectable and can be modified with no issue, yet after combining, 3/4 of the cylinders are all missing as if they never existed, while the few that remain are properly joined to the main body.

Has anyone ever seen this before? Does anyone know what to do about it? I've tried to make the group independent in hopes that would work, but nothing I'm trying right now is helpful.

[Anonymous]

I suspect you had selected  "cut" operation when you were using "combine" command. You should had selected  "Join" instead of "Cut".  If you had not closed the file you can click the back button to get them back. Always make sure that the correct operations are selected. Even in "Extrude" this is very important. That is one of the reasons we try not to use the "Combine" command most of the time. You should use "Components" and "Sub Components" system to group bodies together because you can reverse the operations easier. Hope it helps !

Attached a screen shot of the Combine Dialogue box:

[Anonymous]

To get the older versions back you can try to  "Promote" older versions at the "Versions" tab at "Home" screen.  Just click "Versions" when you click the preview of your related file. Do not click "Edit" . You will see older versions there, if you had done things correctly. Just click the "promote" opererations to move the older files up. Then you can try to click Edit again. Hope you get them back!

[Anonymous]

The objects do intersect so when I combine them, if cut was selected, there?d be gaps everywhere. Roughly 1/4th of the objects are still there and properly joined as one solid, but the 3/4 that remain act as if they were deleted and never existed.

[innovatenate]

If there is one problematic body utilized in the combine > join, or boolean operation, it is possible it may affect the rest of the bodies in the join. One tip for troubleshooting this issue, is to break the bodies/components that you are joining together up into smaller operations. Split the 300 bodies/components into many smaller combine operation, like 50 or so at a time.

If the 50 are successful, move onto the next batch. If not, undo the operation and split the 50 up into 25 and so on until you narrow down on the problematic bodies. I've run across bodies that fail to join before; however, after slightly tweaking the geometry or repositioning the bodies, I am usually able to get the combine to work to my satisfaction.

Are any of the bodies that you are working imported components? Would it be possible to post a screenshot of the action?

Thanks,

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Fortunetly I've solved the issue. Probably not the "correct" way though! I was able to export the troublesome components as a .SAT, reupload it, and import it into the working document. It joined just fine using the "combine" function.

The original cylinders were created by just copy/pasting them over and over, then grouping them together into a component.