Insert Derive into a sub-component of a design?

[RogerInHawaii]

Is it true that you cannot Insert Derive into a sub-component of a design?

I have a design that consists of several Components. I activate one of those Components and then select to do an Insert Derive. I select the desired Component that I want to Insert Derive BUT it gets inserted as a Component below the main Component of the design, NOT into the one that's activate. Do ALL Insert Derived Components get put as sub-components of the main design's component?

I had already discovered that you can't re-arrange Insert Derived components after they've been inserted, trying to "manually" move it into some other sub-Component. You get an advisory message saying that such re-arrangement of Insert Derived Components is not currently accommodated. But is it true that you can't even INITIALLY have them Insert Derived directly into some sub-Component?

[schneik-adsk · Accepted solution]

Yes, this is a limitation currently. 

[RogerInHawaii]

Thank you for responding and letting me know.

But that's unfortunate. I imagine most engineers try to keep things well organized in their designs. Having all of the Insert Derived components on the base level of the hierarchy pretty much breaks the "rule" of organization.

I hope that they can address that and allow Insert Derived parts to be placed and moved anywhere, just like any other component.

[Anonymous]

I would like to request this to be added at some point also. 

[Anonymous]

Just found a different way to do what I was wanting; however, I still believe the ability to reorganize components after deriving, without having to break link, would be a good addition for functionality.

I was insert/deriving each individual sub-component from other assemblies whereas I just now realized instead of selecting each individual component under the original parent component at the top of the list to just select the parent component when inserting and it keeps the list of components in the new model much cleaner. 

[schonp]

I'd like to add my vote to improve this functionality. More generally, I'm finding that I want to use the derive functionality because there is no "configuration" functionality. The limitations of the Derive feature and the lack of Configurations makes an organized BOM in a set of drawings impossible when working on designs that utilize parts that are configurations of a basic design. I'm finding that I'm spending more time strategizing how to build an assembly in view of how it will affect a BOM in a drawing than I am on the design itself. 

Currently I'm trying to resuse a number of sub-components from another design. They should be inserted into the new design as part of a sub assembly but this is impossible to implement and I am forced to place them as Top Level Components which has downstream implications for my drawings and BOM.

[Anonymous]

This is unfortunate, I would like to vote on having this feature added as well. This significantly clutters up files. 

[jhackney1972]

I think you can get around this issue if you are using Linked components.  You can add the Derived components into the Linked components and they become sub-components.  Also if you break the link, the derived components stay as sub-components.  I hope I am understanding your question correctly.

[Anonymous]

What is a linked component?

[jhackney1972]

When you go to your Database, select a component or an assembly, and right click, you have the ability to Insert into Current Design.  This means the file will be an external file but "linked" to the assembly instead of being a part of it.  You can right click and break the link at any time but this removes the ability to update the component from the external file.  In my screen capture, you will see the process and also that my assembly is composed of mostly Linked Components (the little chain icon).

[Anonymous]

interesting, this seems to work, what is the difference between derive and
link?

[Anonymous]

interesting, so when do you wanna derive vs link?

[jhackney1972]

Basically, the big difference is with a Linked Component, you get it all and as the linked component is changed, you can update it or break the link.  With a Derived component, you have to option to only bring parts of the component into your design, parameters, sketches, bodies or the full component, you can even mix and match any of these.

If you break the link in either, the component, in either case, loses a lot of ability to edit it at least easily.  Another thing about using Linked Components I like is the ability to use the same file in multiple assemblies and never have to worry about keeping the component up to date.  Linked components is the basic process Inventor uses, where I cut my teeth, so I am very use to it.

[Anonymous]

My Work Around Solution

1. Open the Main Assembly, select the desired sub assembly and do a SAVED AS of the Sub Assembly Component.
2. Open the New Sub Assembly Component and add the Derived Component to it.
3. Open the Main Assembly and add the New Sub Assembly Component as a LINK or DERIVE. And do a delete or remove of the previous sub assembly.

[philwmcintosh]

My solution which seems to be working well for my situation is as follows: I'm drawing up a double door assembly comprising around 30 components, each with 1 to 5 bodies inside and for the lock assembly (separate file) I need the lock assembly, striker plate, cover plates, each in left & right hand versions plus different length lock barrels. So I started with a master file with all these components in it. Next was "Create" > "Derive" (new design) for each of those components (for example "Lock assy LH"). All of the above is located in my "Hardware" folder. I then inserted the left hand lock assy and other components exactly where I wanted them in my feature tree as "Linked" components in my "XYZ double Door assy" model. Pros of this method: If I update my master file the linked components in my door model get updated. Cons: I can't direct model the linked part in my door model and have the master model update but that's fine by me as I'd rather update the master model anyway. Of course you can break the link and make changes to the linked part if you want to but as I said, I prefer to change the master model. Each person's situation is different but in my case I need all my (door lock in this case) components inside the master model as they mostly each rely on the form of others for their features. I can't insert the derived part directly into my door model because of not being to control where in the feature tree it is placed so this method works for me in this situation.

[gautham_kattethota]

Hi @RogerInHawaii @philwmcintosh 

We have fixed this issue sometime back.  You can have a specific component active during the derive process and the selected derive entities are inserted into that component.

Regards