File Organisation Panel - Lack of basic features

[johnVGKRM]

I've recently switched from using Fusion in university/ Part time to now working in a professional environment, and what's driving me mad is just how poor the data panel is.. simple things like hovering over files to see their full names, being able to click and drag folders into another, being able to copying full folders rather going through individual files, the file filter not working when saving a file and most annoying of all not being able to delete a file that's no longer referenced in any other file but says it is. I've read other forum posts from 5/6 years ago complaining about the same thing yet no improvement has been made on what I would of thought are pretty basic features. does anyone know if these improvements are in the pipeline? or any work around? 

[jeff_strater]

The data panel was never intended to be a full-featured data management tool.  It was always supposed to support quick access to commonly needed capabilities:  Open, Insert Into Current Design, and some light project management operations, such as moving one design to a different folder, and basic version exploration.  The fully capable data management tool ("workaround") is Fusion Team (the web data management tool, AKA "A360").  The "world" icon takes you there.  I would not expect some of these suggestions to ever get implemented, to be honest.  Just because a request was made a long time ago does not affect its priority in getting implemented.

[johnVGKRM]

I think that's a bit counter intuitive, and would improve workflow if the data panel did have more features built in.. but I can understand that it might not be as simple to implement on the software side of things. However, I do not understand why I cant delete files that are no longer in use i.e a body that has been removed from an assembly, that is no longer referenced in any other document but the system says it is, is my only option to create a separate folder of undeletable parts? 

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

The file deleting issue is due to Fusion's version model.  Say you have PartA that you inserted into AssemblyB, then saved AssemblyB.  This is version 1 of AssemblyB.  Later, you go back into AssemblyB and change your mind about PartA - it's no longer needed, then you save again (version 2 of AssemblyB).  You may think that AssemblyB no longer refers to PartA (because version 2 does not refer to it).  However, version 1 is still there, and you can "promote" it to become version 3 of Assembly B, and then the reference comes back.  So, when considering what designs can be deleted, you have to consider not just the current version, but all previous versions as well.  What is needed that does not exist today is the ability to prune back versions.  This would be nice to have.

There are a couple of things going on which help.  One is, in Fusion Team, there is a Trash folder.  You should be able to delete from Fusion Team, which will move the referenced design into Trash.  Also, there is a project going on to make Fusion more tolerant of missing designs (today, it is a problem if a design is really no longer there).  This will all get better, I hope