Checking for duplicate parts across multiple assemblies

[Anonymous]

I have been given a set of sheet metal assemblies which I will be exporting the flat patters and faces of all the parts to be laser cut out and produced. I have around 20 different assemblies each sent to me via email which were exported using pack and go. A lot of the assemblies share some of the same parts meaning I have duplicate part files (one in each folder from pack n go). Is there any way I can identify which files are duplicates through the set of folders I have automatically or would I just have to do it as I would have by opening the parts that are similar and measuring them to see if the parts are the same. It would be nice if there was a way of automatically scanning all the folders and identifying which parts are the same.

[swalton]

I don't know of an automated way.

Here is a quick-n-dirty manual method.

1. Add all the files from all the different assemblies to a single iam file.  No need for constraints or anything, just all the sheetmetal parts in a single iam file.
2. Open up the BOM editor for that assembly.
3. Add a column for Volume
4. Sort by that column
5. Any parts with the same volume may have the same geometry.
6. Examine the "same-volume" parts to see if they really have the same final geometry/shape.

Edited to add:

I don't bother measuring similar parts.  Instead, I ground one part in an assembly and constrain the other part to overlap the first.  You can assign different colors to each part to make it easier to see the overlaps.  If you want, derive that assembly to a part and subtract one part from the other.  If you get a zero-volume result, the parts are the same.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! If you are talking about detecting files of the same name in different folders, you could do a search for utility like "remove duplicate files" or "eliminate duplicate files." There are quite a few utilities available to do that. It applies to all files, not just Inventor files.

Many thanks!