How to make an independent copy of an assembly and its linked files?

[tookemtoni]

I have a "template" folder . This folder contains an assembly file and its linked files.  It also has extra data like PDFs and DXFs that will not necessarily be linked in the assembly.  I hoped to just copy this folder and modify the files to suite each new job.

Here is what I tested so far...

3 CLICKS BUT A FAIL:

When I copy the template folder via Fusion Teams browser the assembly is independent but linked files are still the original files. Would love a kind of "Paste New" option for example....even better if this can happen in the desktop data panel.

ALMOST WORKS BUT NOT IDEAL:

Exporting the assembly is logical and works but lots of clicks and waiting time for exports and imports.  And the extra data is not included. 

Any other ideas? 

[HughesTooling · Accepted solution]

Your second option, exporting the assembly is the best you can do at the moment I'm afraid. Then you'll need to copy the extra data.

I have a few jobs where I can reuse an assembly and 2d drawing and rather than keep a template on the cloud I've just exported the 2d drawing of the assembly and upload it to a new project every time I need a new version. This gives me a totally independent copy of the 2d drawing, assembly and sub assemblies. Not ideal but all we can do at the moment!

Mark

[aaron.searl]

I'm having this very same issue in 2024, this is the only post I could find exactly describing the issue. It seems what @tookemtoni is describing would be a very common workflow. You make parts, sub assemblies and assemblies, for a project which your company uses on most projects, then you start a new project where you want to use all the same files but have new and independent copies.

Is this possible yet, other than how @HughesTooling describes by exporting a 2D and uploading works, doing it this way I seem to loose all organisation of files in their folders, everything just uploads in one folder, which gets messy with larger projects.

Being able to copy a folder with all its sub folders, assemblies and components, and 'paste new' into a new project keeping the folder organisation is really what's needed. Is there any way of doing this yet?

Thanks 

Aaron

[etfrench]

Have you tried Configurations?

[aaron.searl]

It's something I will be looking into as soon as I get time to delve into it. I've watched all the videos I can find on configurations, but none really go into much depth on larger assemblies, sub assemblies etc. It sounds like it could be really useful to my workflow, I just need to figure out how to use it in my application, I'm hoping some more in depth tutorials are released soon!

I make stairs, I've tried lots of different work flow over the years, this is my current flow, using a bottom up method;

1. I have lots of 'stock' components & sub assemblies which I re use on each stair project. I copy these files as required to the new project folder so they are unique to that particular project. Some parts remain unchanged but most need the parameters adjusted to suit the geometry of the stair. (I'm hoping the new configurations feature has a good way of dealing with this, hopefully with some sort of global parameters feature to almost make a configurator).
2. I have a template 'project folder', with all my sub folders labelled how I like them, i.e. 'metal components', Wood components', 'Sub assemblies'. 3D models, 2D drawings, with separate files, 1 for the 'stair assembly' which is used to bring stair components into and join them together, and one for the 'main assembly' which is used to bring everything together, the 'stair assembly' the 'house model', in a bottom up modelling method to keep things tidy.
3. This all starts in a sub folder within the 'project folder' called 'Quote files', once the client has approved the order, I copy them over to the 'Production files', where I go on to refine them for production. I want the 'quote files' to remain unchanged for future reference, so the 'production files' need to be independent - which is really my question in this thread.

Any suggestions to make this better are more than welcome 😊

Thanks

[cad25JXCJ]

RE: Configurations and the specific "copy" question posted by @tookemtoni  about what occurs when copying at the "Folder" level to a new "Project":

Unfortunately, I am experiencing the same phenomenon when there are linked components that happen to be "configurations" of the same part; when I open the copied Folder, any external components are still linked to the original file (which is still located in the original project).

@aaron.searl Your workflow resembles mine in many ways, and the current lack of control of linked components/configurations when copying causes many complications for mulit-stage record keeping (quotes, production files). 

I ran into this problem when trying to make an new (separate) design file, that inserted three separate configurations of a single configured design. In my case, I am making a banquette/bench with multiple sections. The configurations (End 1, Middle Section, End 2) are assembled in the new "Banquette" file using "insert Component" or "Derive". Both options led to the copied folder remaining linked to the original, making the "Banquette" assembly useless as a Template file for a new client.

Manually exporting and reuploading is not a long term solution, and I sincerely hope that there is a feature in development to manage linking at the folder level, or to manually re-link external parts to the copied files. 

Until then, I'm still open to ideas for workarounds.

[TrippyLighting]

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@cad25JXCJ wrote:

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Manually exporting and reuploading is not a long term solution, and I sincerely hope that there is a feature in development to manage linking at the folder level, or to manually re-link external parts to the copied files. 

...

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Yep, same here!