Rename a part used in multiple assemblies

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I have a workflow issue regarding renaming parts - hopefully someone can point me in the right direction. 

Scenario:

I have a part, A.ipt.  This part is used in multiple assemblies, X.iam, Y.iam and Z.iam. 

To rename the part I open X.iam in Design Assistant and rename it. 

When I open the assemblies, as you would expect X.iam is fine, but Y.iam and Z.iam say the part is missing and I need to manually select the replacement (i.e. the renamed part). 

I'm clearly using the wrong approach here, so any advice would be appreciated.

(Note: I'm not yet using Vault, that's my next nut to crack).

Regards, Dan

[swalton]

Does the "Find Files" button do what you need?  I don't have a convenient test data set right now to check.

For a one-off or once-in-a-while need, I might make a container assembly file to use with Design Assistant.  The structure would look like:

Container.iam

  X.iam

   part.ipt

  Y.iam

   part.ipt

  Z.iam

   part.ipt

Open Container.iam with Design Assistant and change the name of part.ipt there.

In most cases, I find that I am better off if I use the correct file name at document creation.  Changing later can be painful.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Dan,

Let me understand the request better. Are you trying to rename the actual file, A.ipt? Or, you want to rename the component occurrence name of A.ipt shown in different assemblies? These are two different things.

For the first one, to avoid losing reference in other assembly files, you will want to create a uber assembly and place X, Y, and Z to it. Then open the uber assembly in DA and change the name of A.ipt. Otherwise, if you do it only in X, the file will not be found by Y and Z.

For the second one, you can open each assembly and rename the browser name. A.ipt will remain as A.ipt. But, its occurrence names in different assemblies can vary.

Many thanks!

[SBix26]

If X.iam, Y.iam and Z.iam are all found under the same project workspace (or you make a project for this task that includes the locations of all those assemblies), then you should be able to:

1. Open one of them in Design Assistant
2. Switch to Manage view
3. Highlight A.ipt
4. Right click on the action column in that row and select Rename
5. In the lower pane check the box next to assemblies (see image below), and uncheck all the others
6. Click on Find Files; the assembly files that include A.ipt will be displayed there
7. Select the ones you want (probably all?) and change the Action column to Update
8. Right click on the Name column for A.ipt and select Change Name
9. In the Open dialog give the new name for A.ipt (you can also change folders if you wish) and click Open
10. Click the Save button in the toolbar

Depending on the size and scope of your project, the Find Files step may take a long time-- Inventor is opening every assembly file within the project search scope and checking to see if A.ipt is a component.  If this is too large a task, then the container assembly method suggested by others will be necessary.

Hope this helps,

---

Sam B
Inventor Pro 2019.0.1 | Windows 7 SP1
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