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Improved workflow for Linked Components

Improved workflow for Linked Components

There should be a straight-forward way to convert a component in the active design to a linked component. Currently this is a multi-step process:1. Save Copy As a new design, 2. Delete the original from the model, 3. Insert the saved design as a linked design and 4. Reposition it to the right place in the model.

 

There should be a right-click selection "Make linked component" which would carry out the above mentioned steps in a single operation. If there are multiple instances of the component in question in the model, the user should be prompted whether all should be replaced with the linked model.

 

Further, it should be possible to easily replace an external design with a modified one. I.e. to modify a linked design you could use "break link" to modify the design in its final context and thereafter do a "Make linked component", to replace the previous design (new revision).

 

Of course, ideally you should be able to directly edit a linked component in the context of the main assembly, see this excellent idea Allow Editing Linked Components but nevertheless a good workflow for making linked components in the first place is beneficial, and the UI improvement proposed here would achieve almost the same as direct editing in the assembly context but with probably considerably less implementation effort.

5 Comments
TrippyLighting
Consultant

I suggested this over a year ago. See Mike Promm's response there. @promm any chance we can have an estimate as to when this will happen ?

drazeninventor
Participant

Thanks Lars Christensen for the video related to this idea. I've had this problem quite a few times.

bombolo
Enthusiast

This is the biggest problem with fusion360. Fusion forces you to design everything in one file. Managing related files is difficult. Another problem associated with this is the difficulty of deleting directories and groups of files. I imagine that management similar to solidwork also requires the management of files in the "data panel". Making a "save as" with the "include or not" variable in the source files would be the best solution.

billwightman
Explorer
Thanks again to Lars for bringing this desired functionality front and center. In a large assembly, the suggested workflow might not be possible due to assembly parent/child dependencies affected by deleting components, then re-linking back in. In my case, the need to separate out components stems from multiple setups, fixturing and an abundance of extra sketches required to drive CAM behavior. I found another work around by simply importing the fully linked assembly into a separate new design - calling it "CAM XXXX" and just turning off visibility for all components except those I want shown for that specific CAM operation. Not the most elegant work-around but does get the job done. Thanks for the support... its MUCH appreciated!! - Bill.
colin.smith
Alumni
Status changed to: オートデスク今後検討
 

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