Content Center multiple parts in same family?

[Anonymous]

My company has not used a content center before and I am beginning to set one up now. We use specific custom hardware and I wanted to know if there was a way I could group the existing hardware into families inside the content center.  I can't figure out how to put multiple existing .ipt files into one content center family. Can content center families only use iparts?

[Mark.Lancaster]

evan.perry8CK5H

Welcome to the community...

If I understand what you're asking for...  No that is not possible without doing some extra work..  Meaning you are unable to move existing stuff here and there to suit your needs.  The information in CC is written in stone and what's already there is in a read-only state (without the ability  to modify).   However you can start from scratch and make your own read/write library and set it up with the hardware you need.

If you could provide more details of what you are trying to accomplish then we can give you exact steps to perform.

[Anonymous]

I created a new library and gave myself access to write to it. I can publish our existing parts to the CC, but right now I have many families with only one part option in them because I am not using iparts.  Is there any way I can set it up where I put multple existing models into one family instead of one ipart with mutiple variations?

[Mark.Lancaster · Accepted solution]

In content center, each family table (or family) is built off a family template.  There's no actual part that gets stored in CC..  The family table and the template infomration creates the part when you select it.  Meaning you are unable to mix geometry/model information in a given family table.    At my last job we had many one row/entry for components in CC.  While others had a complete family table (like an excel spreadsheet) that controlled the dimensional values of the family template.

[Anonymous]

I will be adding cable connector models that will be similar in shape but the geometry wont be something that can be differentiated by just a few dimensions. Would it make sense just to give each connector its own family with only one option in this case?

[Alexrose1942]

i don't think i would use CC for that kind of stuff, i would use a dual screen with one open in a file manager like Total Commander or so, (it has filters based on text you type, while you type), and just drag them to screen (assuming you moved those to the current project).

[Anonymous]

That would work, but I will be working with multiple project files so I created a server CC so I don't have to add each connecter model to each new project file. Is this not a good idea?

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Anonymous

Its up to you..  I came from a piping company where we had numerous instrumentation in our CC as a single family/single row configuration.   There's no set rules stating you can or cannot do that.

Other thing to do if you wanted that information protected, is to create a library defintion in your project file and store those types of components in that directory.

Although @Alexrose1942 information would work too, however under that type of workflow you wouid leave your standard components wide open for anybody to edit them.

[marcello]

There is a solution, but it's a bit of a DIY job:

• Transform all the parts you want in your family into STEP or other files
• Create a *.ipt part file
• Import all the STEP files you've created previously using the functions "Import" from the category "Create" in tyour *.ipt files
• Convert part to IPart
• When transforming the part into IPart, go to the "Masking" menu and select all import functions. You can then specify which "Calculate" functions or which "Hide" functions in the lines of the IPart table.
• Add size parameters for each member
• Publish the part.

My Inventor is in French, so the names I quoted above may not be exact. But I think you'll manage, as long as you don't have too many parts in the same family.