'Remove' Tool Doesn't Work On Linked Components?

[alexpinson5]

I somehow just discovered the parametric 'remove' tool - gone are the days of creating a component called 'OLD' and throwing everything I don't need anymore in there 😉

Is there a reason that you aren't able to remove linked components? For example, finishing up a fixture for a simple part and I decided I'd rather flip the orientation for Op1 and Op2.  Instead of digging back through the timeline, flipping the joints, and redoing everything after the fact it's easier to just use the Remove tool to take out the parts and add them back in as new components (the old me was just hiding them, throwing them in a new component, and forgetting about them - you may point and laugh).

If the part is linked from another file there doesn't seem to be an option to remove it unless I break the link. I also can't remove it by getting to the remove tool via the search menu and then clicking the component in the design tree or the window. My workaround has just been creating a new component called 'Trash', throwing the old, linked components in there, and then removing the top-level Trash component which oddly enough does work. It just seems like an odd quirk that I can't do it directly to the linked component.

[jeff_strater]

Why would you need to use Remove on a linked component in this case?  Remove is only needed where you want to keep the old one around in the history.  If you no longer need the component at all, just Delete it.

[alexpinson5]

Using the Delete tool instead will affect anything that parametrically relies on that component in the timeline. I use delete when I can, but often times it's not worth the hassle. In this case I designed a fixture around the part, so deleting the part nukes the timeline and I'd have to start over on the fixture. I need to flip the part over, and rolling back to flip that joint would cause a lot of the same issues. So the fastest solution is to use Remove on the old part, which maintains the history I need for the fixture component, and insert a new version of the component to re-join it in the new orientation. Maybe not the most correct solution, but certainly the fastest I've found.

[jeff_strater]

yes, if there are references to the component then, yes, those will break with a Delete.  

"I need to flip the part over, and rolling back to flip that joint would cause a lot of the same issues"

Just the rolling back should not cause any downstream failures.  You should be able to edit that joint (or even delete and re-add it) to get the component in the correct orientation, and all downstream references should still solve.  This is the best way to achieve that, IMO.

[alexpinson5]

Not sure I fully agree with you there. Everything may resolve but flipping the joint changes sketch planes, projection orientations, and many times planes or features I've referenced using Distance: To on the extrude tool or something similar. I could go back through the timeline and rebuild each of these references, but on a big file that can be an hour or more of work. Remove and re-insert takes 30 seconds and gets the part where I need it to keep working or move on to CAM.

Although I fully recognize that what I should do and what is most efficient/convenient aren't always the same thing 😀 just curious why Remove wasn't usable unless I put the linked component inside of another component.

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

I just remembered...  This issue came up before and is being tracked in bug FUS-40515.  For some reason, Remove is not available for linked components in the component browser, but it is available in the timeline:

so, give that a try.

[alexpinson5]

Good to know, thanks!

[Phil.E · Accepted solution]

With the major update to build 2.0.18719, Remove has been added to the right click menu for xref  components. Please update Fusion to see the improvement. Thanks for posting about it!