export/import and integration with external source control

[d_hg]

Hello!

I've been really enjoying F360 - the team has done an excellent job getting it running.

One point of frustration for me has been integrating work with my organization's existing source control and backup strategies. I appreciate that F360 has its own internal version tracking and backup, but most of our existing work (source code, design docs, etc) is already managed in git repos and other databases.

Note that in F360, we distributed design files that reference, for example, hundreds of mcmaster parts that are kept organized in a folder structure.

I've begun exporting to .f3z files and committing these to our git source control, but it has the following issues:

• After importing back into F360, all folder structure is lost. McMaster parts get mixed in with custom designs.
• When multiple exported designs reference the same parts, those parts are imported multiple times and references are lost.
• All version history seems to be lost on import (not a big deal since I'm versioning externally, but a little surprising).

I've also considered unzipping the f3z files and committing the contents to source control, so that individual file changes and manifest changes show up in git diffs. This is potentially great!

What would be great is if an entire project could be exported at once, and preserve internal folder structure. I could unzip the contents and commit to git. Then I could re-import a project to F360 and restore the state along with folder structure at any point in time.

Thanks for your consideration!

- Devon

[MichaelAubry]

Hi Devon,

Unfortunately we don't have a great answer for you yet on this. At this time we're only supporting Fusion as a stand alone cloud-based file mangement system. We don't have any external intergration workflows to recommend at this time.

That said... We will have functionality coming out in the upcoming months (look for talk around this summer) called "A360 Connect" which will allow you to sync with data on your local machine. Github along with many other online file sharing tools posess similar sync options.  My hunch is when we get this you'll be able to better intergrate/accomidate your existing management system to work with Fusion. 

I've attempted to provide a few ideas for your bulleted items:

• After importing back into F360, all folder structure is lost. McMaster parts get mixed in with custom designs.
  • There is a way to import while maintaining the file hierachy.  Drag-and-drop the folder from within A360 (the browser based part of Fusion) instead of the data panel within the Fusion360 Modeling App: 
    • 
  • Then just drag and drop in the folder. Folder heirarchy will be maintained:
    • 
  • This isn't a silver bullet. A360 uploads do not automatically convert .f3d files back to a Fusion item - which is needed to reopen within Fusion. What this means is you'll be able to view in our viewer but you won't be able to reopen in Fusion. The workaround is to right click on the file within the Fusion data panel and create a Fusion Design:
    • .
  • Then just delete the original. (We agree this is far from ideal. It's in our backlog. It does get you your file struture though)
• When multiple exported designs reference the same parts, those parts are imported multiple times and references are lost.
  • Correct.  Exporting will lose x-ref based links. There isn't a workaround at this time I can think of to accomplish otherwise.
  • Upload new version would be approriate for smaller jobs.
• All version history seems to be lost on import (not a big deal since I'm versioning externally, but a little surprising).
  • Correct. On the file management side of things each version is its own file.  Exporting only exports the loaded version. It isn't setup to bundle a set of versions.

Hope that helps.

Very Best,

Mike

[d_hg]

Hi, thanks for the response!

On the first bullet - importing while preserving file structure - I think we might be talking about slightly different scenarios? In my case, I've exported a single .f3z file, which contains x-refs to designs in folders on A360. There isn't actually a folder to upload on my local drive.

For example, I might export the 4U generic enclosure below. This contains references to many items in folders, but on import everything gets dumped into a single place.

[MichaelAubry]

Hi Devon,

My bad, that is different. Thanks for the clarification. Exports for the .F3z files do simplify to a single path. Unfortuantely,  there isn't a way to change that right now.  I think the best way to go for now is to minimze your dependancies on xrefs.

Very Best,

Mike

[n.baltensperger]

Hey dear Autodesk people

It is now 9 years later. Is the situation still the same? Do you have a solution to work with local files?

You are forcing us to abandon EAGLE by making it unavailable by June 2026. What shall we do with the hundreds of archived EAGLE projects that are versioned within several independent legacy code bases alongside documentation, other CAD files, etc.? 
Are you seriously expecting us to import files into your silly Fusion cloud where it is disconnected to all previous project data, just to being able to open it in Fusion???

[picadilly]

Interesting, that there no reply to this issue at all. SAD.