*Suggestion* Reference Internal Parameters from External Part

[temple_dawson]

I have recently had a thought regarding a specific type of workflow (although not entirely uncommon) and a certain roadblock which has annoyed me after using Fusion 360 professionally for the last year and change. The following suggestion is just that, a suggestion to reference parameters from a central design in external parts, which would be especially handy for projects which require multiple unique parts to reference a set of user parameters (i.e. most of my projects).

A link is already created between a "part" and "assembly" file so that parts may be modified, and updated in the assembly. Parts may also be edited in place when external to the assembly. Both are great features, but lack the ability for that external part to reference any parameters from the assembly in which it is located.

The reason for this is simple, when an assembly made of entirely internal parts gets large enough; the design history (although I try to keep mine organized) becomes too long, it becomes burdensome to update anything as the time to reload all features after the modified feature can be extensive, and Fusion takes a performance hit while that document is open.

Comparatively, an assembly of pure external parts loads and updates much faster, and has a much simpler design history containing only part insertion and assembly. However, currently there is no way to reference external parts to one base set of parameters without setting the same parameters in each design and updating each one before updating the assembly file.

The edit in place feature is somewhat nice for this, as rather than having to open each file it can be done from the assembly. But when an assembly has even 10~20 (let alone 40-50) parts this becomes a task that could be done much faster if the common parameter was modifiable at the assembly level.

I'm not looking for a fast solution to this, rather putting it forward as a suggestion for implementation that may very well be swept under the rug. I have no preconception as to the complexity of the integration of a feature such as this, but I know it has been something I've dealt with for a while.

I've attached two snips of a medium length assembly which required all parts to reference a base set of parameters and one another. Across 19 unique parts there is 310 features in the design history (when each group is expanded it is quite long). Thanks for reading and your consideration.

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

I may not be catching all of your desires, expressed in your post, but I invite you to take a look at this Blog Article and Video and see if it fits your needs.

[temple_dawson]

Thanks John. This is pretty much what I was looking for. Cannot believe I didn't notice the insert derive could take parameters from parts as well. Appreciate the video.