Move features between components in timeline.

[mah6786]

Hi,

   I added an extrude feature a while back in my timeline, and I realized that I had the top-level assembly selected when I made that extrude instead of the sub-component like I had intended.  Is there any way to drag that feature to the correct component?  If I delete the extrude and re-do it under the correct component, it breaks a bunch of references. 

[laughingcreek]

probably not.  sometimes you can drag the sketch that you used for the profile into a component, and the features that use that sketch will follow, but if that creates timeline conflicts it won't work.  best bet now is probably to just move the body directly into the component.  I would probably then drag the feature as far up the timeline as possible. 

(FWIW-this is one of the many reason's I suggest avoiding cross component referencing.  information should flow down) 

[mah6786]

I wish the F360 developers would develop some methods to help reorganize the timeline.  Right now if you make a mistake early on or change your mind about how your assemblies are nested it's difficult to fix without making a mess.

The startup company I work at is evaluating CAD packages, but I'm afraid to recommend F360 because I don't think we have the discipline to plan out the whole structure from the beginning.  Being able to go back and fix the timeline/nesting structure of the assemblies would be really nice and a bit more user friendly.

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

a small point of clarification:  Modeling features such as Extrude are not really "owned" by a component.  Or put more accurately, features are owned by the components they affect, not by the active component.  Sketches and bodies are owned by a component.  So, if the extrude in question was a "New Body", then that body's ownership is determined by the active component, certainly, but if it is a Cut or Join, it doesn't matter what component was active.  I assume in your case that this was a New Body, so, no, unfortunately, there is no way to go back and edit a New Body feature to apply to a different component.  You can sometimes drag a body from one component to another, but that is very limited, and if you have lots of downstream features, it is likely to be blocked (also, you cannot drag/drop bodies while rolled back).  So, you are likely going to have to re-do that extrude, and fix up downstream errors, unfortunately

[mah6786]

Thanks Jeff.  I did indeed make a new body.  If the team is taking feature suggestions, being able to change part ownership of new bodies would be at the very top of my list.  Considering you guys figured out how to get an AI to generate part designs for us, I can't imagine this being very difficult.

[emoo493]

I was actually able to accomplish this. If you move the sketches to the new component, the bodies will follow, but each "feature" will be a new body. To resolve this, I edited each feature in the history starting from the second feature onward and changed the operation from "New Body" to join, and it did indeed join all the bodies together into one body, and placed the sketch and body under the new component as if I had created it that way in the beginning. I'm sure this will mess up some derived history, but if that component or body doesn't have history, then you should be good!