Project design structure plan - request for review

[drew]

After a few (well, many) preliminary explorations of how to create different parts of what I am designing, I am setting out to do the 'real thing'.

I am requesting comments on how I intend to structure the Fusion360 file types and hierarchy.

MAIN PROJECT

>MAIN DESIGN (which is, if I understand it, actually a component but is the topmost one)

    contains main design items needed by many components, bodies, or sketches

    contains the user parameters that will be used in various sketches/bodies/components

    also includes overall elevation and plan views that will be used (traced) to create sketches inside other components

    this is where the subassemblies are assembled into the whole thing

          >SUBASSEMBLY_A COMPONENT      

            an assembly of other components created within this component, but has no bodies of its own

            may have sketches needed by the components inside this component

                         >COMPONENT OF SUBASSEMBLY

                         will contain its own sketches and bodies plus more components

                                        >COMPONENTS (if needed as independent 'jointable' objects within the above component)

                                          each will contain its own sketches and bodies

           >SUBASSEMBLY_B COMPONENT      

            an assembly of other components created within this component, but has no bodies of its own

            may have sketches needed by the components inside this component

                         >COMPONENT OF SUBASSEMBLY

                           will contain its own sketches and bodies plus more components

                                        >COMPONENT(S) (if needed as independent 'jointable' objects within the above component)

                                          each will contain its own sketches and bodies

Is this the correct structure?

Am I asking for trouble by nesting components?

What to do if this is not the proper approach?

Cheers for replies,

Drew

(Edited for typo)

[TrippyLighting · Accepted solution]

Here's a link to the handout @jeff_strater and I created for the class we taught at Autodesk University.

It has a section on Assembly Structure that addresses you questions (and if not I'll improve it so it does!).

It's probably not a bad Idea to go through the whole thing as it will help you avoid any pitfalls!

[drew]

Holy WOW, Peter, that's an awesome doc. Thanks!

So, yes - my plan for organising this is appropriate, and it looks like I have pictured the relationships between the 'levels of containers' the proper way.

Again, thanks for linking to that - I am really surprised it isn't one of the first things you get when Googling for Fusion stuff on the web.

Maybe you can get it more visibility somehow? I'm certian a lot of newbies would love to read that instead of aimlessly watching hours of videos that don't succinctly explain stuff.

[TrippyLighting]

Your structure abov is OK with the exception that a subassembly should only contain other components, maybe sketches, but not bodies. Or in other words you should not have a bodies folder and a component at the same level in an assembly.