iMates in Template Parts/Template Assemblies Exposed in Higher-Level Assemblies

[Jonathan_Schmidt]

We are wanting to use iMates for newer assemblies, which will start from part templates. Here is a basic scenario that we are trying to see if we can support:

• Part Template with baseline geometry and some holes.
  • Contains iMates for a number of the holes.
  • Some of the holes will serve 2 purposes and would thus have multiple iMates (different names) for the same hole:
    • Location of pressed-in hardware/helical coil inserts
    • Insert point for mating part
• Create part from part template and make additional modifications for the specific part
  • This is the part that would be machined
• That part then goes into an .IAM (Apparently, we can't make a template part inside a template assembly?)
  • Adds the pressed-in hardware/helical coils, which get placed using iMates.
  • This is the completed part that would then go into a sub-assembly.

Here's a model tree:

Sub-Assembly.IAM
    |
    - Part.IAM - Part.IPT plus added hardware - This is our completed part
        |
        - Part.IPT - Made from template part that includes iMates to be used in Part.IAM and Sub-Assembly.IAM

The problem is that because the iMates are at the IPT level, when the IAM is created to provide for the pressed-in hardware/helical coils, the iMates exposed in the IPT aren't available in the sub-assembly above.

We are coming up with standard naming conventions for the iMates, but it would be great if we could do one or more of the following:

1. Expose iMates from the Part.IPT in the Part.IAM. Something that would allow the iMates to be passed through to the Sub-Assembly from the Part.IPT.
2. Have a template IAM with a matching template IPT such that when an IAM is created from the template, it pulls in the template IPT to also create a new IPT file at the same time. This way, iMates could be pre-defined in both the IPT and IAM. Creating an .IAM from the template creates a new IAM and new IPT at the same time from their respective templates.
3. Somehow copy or move the iMates from the IPT to the Part.IAM.

Other Issues/Goals

1. We want to pre-define iMates so that they don't have to be created from scratch each time. Would help ensure consistency with the iMate naming convention so that parts can easily be placed in upper-level assemblies.

2. Having 60+ holes with iMates in a part template would not be uncommon. If we manually have to create those iMates in the Part.IAM each time we want to create a new part, it will be time consuming and increase the risk of error.

Thank you for your time!