STEP file conversion disallows reuse of assets

[TomHia]

Hi,

I've been wondering for a while...when I design tools I usually export product files in STP (different software) and import them in Inventor to serve as background. In order to have better control over them I import as separate parts. Don't look down on me but we use shared cloud location for this kind of purpose and PLM for the product (not my idea).

The thing is, it's common that those files comprise of mostly the same parts - plates, brackets, screws and so on - and whenever I want to import and save a file which includes parts with "conflicting" name/number I need to change the file name for each. Otherwise I'm welcomed with:

These parts are exactly the same. Same geometry, same metadata, etc. and could be just used interchagably. Why doesn't Inventor allow overwriting / replacement or skipping and reuse of assets?

Yes - I can use a prefix or suffix for every part but the folders look like a mess and everything weighs a lot more.

Apparently this stands in opposition to this incident which has not been resolved yet, right? And description given here.

Is there a toggle for the behaviour or the thing I require was present, fixed in the above given incident and the status never updated or what?

 

[James_Willo]

Hi, is there a reason you are not importing the STP as an assembly? You can still get the parts are separate files. Inventor will also name everything for you so this won't be an issue. 

[James_Willo]

The issue you reference above is this workflow. 
Folder already contains files.

STEP file is imported using that same folder.

STEP file has some parts with same names and it overwrites the original files. 

The solution to this is to import your STEP file using it's own folder or somewhere that you know there won't be a name clash. 

[TomHia]

I import it as an assembly most of the time, not as a reference model though. Here are the usual settings:

I know I could create a separate folder, save it there, move it manually and overwrite as long as the project search path is the same. It takes unnecessary actions for no good reason though, at least in my opinion. Unlike the person in the other thread I see no reasonable circumstances where one would pack and unpack their own assembly and loose history tree in the process.

You could add an option to switch the behaviour, because needing an intermediate folder to import and move assemblies several (or dozens) times is kind of unnecessary.

 

[James_Willo]

The suggested fix is to provide a warning to tell people that their file is about to be overwritten, but it's not been implemented yet. Is that OK or is there a different thing you'd like us to do instead when this happens?

[TomHia]

I would see something along the line as an option:

 

[James_Willo]

But if you use prefix and the file that is already in the folder has a prefix it will still get overwritten as Windows only allows unique names in the same folder. 

[TomHia]

Well, indeed. The marked choice was just the remaining thing in the screen shot. The third option alone was the point of interest. Perhaps this modified SS shows it better:

To summarise:

When you want to import, convert and save an assembly from a non-native CAD format to a folder which already contains some files with exactly the same name and extension(the exact same parts 99% of the time) Inventor prevents you from overwriting those files. You need to either save the assembly to a different location or rename it or use a prefix/suffix for all the components.

What would be nice is:

To have a third option in the import window OR in the options for saving the assembly window (see photo below) which enables the overwriting of existing files that have the same name and extension.

 

A small extra point - why "Output location" -> "save in subfolder" is not ideal?

2 reasons:

1. As mentioned before - it creates unnecessary duplicate parts in the project folder

2. There's a limit to the length of the file path in Windows and when exceeded some things do not work properly. I, for example, am quite close to such limit and have exceeded it at times.

[James_Willo]

Sorry I thought you were saying Inventor was writing over your files, but actually I think you're saying it's refusing to overwrite them.

Inventor cannot check the files on import to see if they are identical. Inventor relies on internal IDs and these are brand new files after translation so are not identical even if the geometry and properties are the same. 

The assembly options you refer to are the behaviour of the thumbnail that is created.

[TomHia]

Yes, i wanted to overwrite them since the beginning. 

If what you've said is true, then why would the other user and the incident I linked to in my OP state that their imported files in fact do overwrite the files having the same names in the same directory?

It honestly doesn't matter when Inventor checks the file names. It checks it on save, that's pretty obvious and fine. I suggested that the option for overwrite be added either in import window (saved in memory and executed on save action which would make sense since the user doesn't want to add neither prefix nor suffix) or added to the save window.

[James_Willo]

Sorry I got really confused by what you were saying. I've just tried it now and yes the files get overwritten without warning. I thought you said you were seeing a warning. The suggested solution is to warn before overwrite. I see what you are saying about adding an option to overwrite, but this would not be a binary choice as suggested because adding a prefix or suffix could also result in overwriting the file if there was a name clash in that folder. Therefore we would still need a warning.