Copy, paste and move components in a second design

[Jaeger1787]

Hi Folks.

I wish to copy and paste a couple of components from one design into a second one.  Subsequently, I need to move one of the components to line up with the other.

Starting in design no. 1, I changed a couple of  the bodies highlighted here to components

Having saved them to new designs, I then used the 'insert into current design' function to paste them into the second design.

At this point, although both components were in the new design, they needed aligning as in the original design.

Selecting both components resulted that they both were moved simultaneously.  If I only selected  one component (the ring for example) the othe component disappeared from the screen.

How can I move one component whilst keeping them both in view?  Is it possible to join them?  Why do they disappear when unselected?   Both components are visible until I click away, even though they are marked as 'visible' on the browser.  Your advice please.

Keith

[laughingcreek]

are you actually using move and align commands?  that's the first problem.  unless built in place, components are only positioned with joints.

if those 2 components where an assembly instead, and jointed to each other within the assembly, this would probably be easier.

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

saving a local component (using Save Copy As) does not save its position in the parent assembly.  That position is owned by the parent assembly, not the component itself.  So, I would not expect these two components to be in the same orientation, assuming they have been moved in the parent assembly, if inserted into another design.

"Selecting both components resulted that they both were moved simultaneously."  This is expected, I hope.

"If I only selected  one component (the ring for example) the othe component disappeared from the screen".  This is not.  If you can reproduce this, and can share the design and a screencast showing this, we would like to investigate.

Another approach you can use here is Derive.  If you Derive a new design containing both of these components, and insert that into a new design, they should:

• retain their orientation with respect to each other 
• can be moved together by selecting the common parent component.

But, as @laughingcreek says, the better approach here is to use Joints and Joint Origins to position components.  Much more reliable and robust than Move or Align

[Jaeger1787]

Thanks, Guys.  Other activities prevented further experimentation, so apologies for not replying sooner.  Much appreciated.

Keith