Copy sub-assembly to use as new design options

[hithere8]

Scenario: In my assembly (say GA.iam), I have many sub-assemblies and parts. I would like to develop a new option of some sub-assembly (say SubAsm-OptionA.iam). How can we make a copy of everything of SubAsm-OptionA.iam to SubAsm-OptionB.iam with its own lower level components, such that I can modify SubAsm-OptionB's sub-components?

Problem: by default, if a copy of an assembly is made using Windows Explorer, Inventor will look for its original sub-components. That means, in above scenario, all sub-components of SubAsm-OptionB.iam will point to that of SubAsm-OptionA.iam's components, which is not what I want.

Solution:

- complete above steps for Copying from OptionA to OptionB.

- Zip OptionA's file folder (say, OptionA.zip).

- Completely remove OptionA folder.

- Open SubAsm-OptionB.iam from its folder OptionB. Inventor will find broken links and show a Resolve command. 

- Run Resolve command. Since the components that point to original files can't be resolved automatically, Inventor will show a dialog box allowing user to pick the folder to locate the missing files. In our case, it is folder OptionB.

- Choose folder OptionB. Inventor will resolve all broken links.

- Now all sub-components for SubAsm-OptionB.iam will be linked to that in folder OptionA.

- Unzip OptionA.zip to restore its content to have OptionA's stuff back.

-  Now we get both OptionA and OptionB that can be worked on further independently.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! If I understood the requirement correctly, this is so-called Copy Design workflow. There are three ways to do that.

1) iLogic Copy Design. Start up Inventor without opening any file. Click on iLogic Copy Design button -> follow the dialog instruction.

2) Design Assistant. Open the top-level assembly. Go to File -> Manage -> Design Assistant (or you can start up the standalone version in All Programs -> Autodesk -> Autodesk Inventor).

3) If you use Vault, there is a Copy Design too there too. The workflow is pretty similar to #1.

Many thanks!

[hithere8]

Thanks Johnson,

I do use all those methods as you mentioned from time to time. However, many times I need a quick way to just duplicate from OptionA to new options while keeping all file names and file folder structures identical except the Option names. I don't want to go through all details as assumed in those methods mentioned in your post, I don't want to specify destination folder/file names individually. Those standard methods are just too complicate for my simple task.

As the screenshot below, I needed to copy from OptionA to OptionB so that I could make further changes for OptionB based on design in OptionA. In this case, the method I suggested can be handy.

I do appreciate your quick response.

Sincerely,

dw

[hithere8]

Also came across this blog article about Inventor Copying Assembly here written by Paul Munford.  Especially I like the infographic that was used in that post, thus recommend it here.

[PaulMunford]

Hi hithere8,

Trying out different options when designing using a parametric/distributed CAD package like Inventor can indeed be tricky. It might seem like a simple task to you, but to Inventor it's complicated.

Vault makes this much easier. You can do a 'copy design' - adding 'Option A' or 'Option B' suffixes, then use 'Change component' in your assembly to switch between options.

If you don't have Vault, another method would be to keep your process linear. before you explore a new option, 'Pack and Go' to get a 'Snapshot' of your design that you can return back to. Then proceed with your changes. If you need to go back to 'Option A' you can grab the old version of the components from Pack and Go.

If you want to compare versions, you can use your project files to make sure that you are picking up components from the right source.

File names, file paths and copying designs will always be a complicated subject with a distributed file system... which is probably why Fusion360 uses a single document design environment (like AutoCAD!).

Does that help?

Paul

[MechMachineMan]

I don't like wholesale copying of files (because then you get multiple files of the same name or similar on the server and your file management gets way tougher over time.)

What I do:

1. Create a parallel 'Option A' folder to the 'Original Design Folder'

2. Create a new project file using Option A as the workpath and original design as a library.

3. Open up the 'highest level sub-assembly' you need to see for analyzing the fit of the new Option A

4. Save and replace until you get down to the level you need (saving files in the Option A folder. This allows you to edit them; every file still referenced from the library will give you warnings.

5. Make necessary design changes using save and replace. 

[w.pepping]

I have an add-in that makes a copy of your assembly or sub-assembly.

After that you can replace your old subassembly with the new one.