Assembly files mixing up

[S7RM7RPR]

Here is my problem.

I have 3 sub assemblys, A B C.

Each subassebly is a duplicate but will recieve unique paramaters. Basically just 3 variations of the same thing with different sizes. All the parts for each subassembly are seperated into different folders.

Each subassembly has a large number of parts that needs to have unique information despite the similar design.

For some reason, at random Inventor will decide to use parts from assembly A, in assebly B. I know this happens automatically if Inventor can't find a file, it just finds another file with the same name even if it's in a different folder inside the same project. 

Having unique names for every single part is going to make it both time consuming, and difficult to make changes in the future. Is there any way I can force Inventor/iLogic to look in specific locations for the parts for each assembly? Currently I have a project file for each subassembly but that means I have to open up the projects for A B and C and save them, then re-open the full assembly so that the subassembly will use the correct parts.

[mslosar]

Probably needs to be in General and not Customization...but....

The only thing i can think of is different project files. If folders A, B, and C have their own project file and all their parts are contained under those folders, there'd be no way for it to pick up the other parts.

As it works, Inventor looks for the parts of an assembly in the Assembly's folder first I believe, then searches the paths listed in the project file (all the way to their conclusion) looking for the parts it needs. If there's a file in there twice, it uses the first one if finds. There's not much checking involved to see if it's the 'right one' or not. 

[CadUser46]

Depending entirely on what you need to achieve with these assemblies I could propose this. You say it's a duplicate but then say it's different sizes which confuses me slightly. 

Create three parts A,B,C.  Derive the assembly model into each of the three parts.  Use maintain separate bodies if you want to distinguish the child parts. 

Adjust your parameters within the part files, this way you only have one copy of the assembly. 

Again depending what you need the parameters could drive changes in length of the 'now' solid bodies in the part file. You can even derive (promote) the parameters of the assembly into the part files. 

Craig. 

[S7RM7RPR]

Apologies, I keep forgetting to get back to this.

Let me try to explain my structure better. First, I'm using iLogic to do all the calculations and send information to all the parts. No problems there. 

Full assembly

- A assy

   -1

   -2

   -3

 - B assy

   -1

   -2

   -3

 - C assy

   -1

   -2

   -3

The entire assembly is stored under one project file. Each subassembly has it's own folder structure. Each subassembly has the same parts (as shown above), but each of the parts in each subassebmly will recieve different variables. Ex, A-1 will get 5mm and B-1 will get 8mm. Same part, two different sizes.

For reasons unknown at random times, A assy will "lose" it's -1 part, but then it will will see the "same" -1 part in the B assy folder and decide to use that instead. I think we've established that this is automatic and nothing can be done about it. However,

My initial question was, can I get iLogic to force Inventor to use specific parts? Meaning that A assy will only use the parts in the A assy folder. Right now my only fix is that I have a project file in each subassembly folder, and I use that to open and save the subassembly.

[CadUser46]

The answer i strongly suspect is no, as it would defeat some of the in built principles that the application is built on.

1.  Autodesk have made it as robust as possible by searching in four different places based on order of priority.

2.  If two parts have different values (geometrically) then they are two different parts and should not be named the same.

You could turn each of the -1, -2, -3 into iParts (family parts) then they woud be physically the same file and iLogic would activate a specific variant of it.

Alternatively you could merge A, B, C into one assembly then supress the unwanted children using Level of Detail rep.

[mslosar]

As I said before, from the way it sounds you have three different assemblies referencing, for example, part1.ipt.

You have a total of three different part1.ipt files each stored in a specific directory under each sub-assembly.

All three sub-assemblies are under a single project file.

If this is all correct, your problem is to be expected. Inventor doesn't distinguish between files of the same name. It sees it's first folder structure and parses it. The first part1.ipt file it finds there, it uses. If there are 2 or 200 it doesn't look at each part1.ipt flle and try and determine which was the one used. It doesn't search out the full path either. IF all the above is true, the only way to get it to work right 100% of the time is unique file names. Unique naming is also virtually a must if you ever move to vault.

Something you can do, is set up your repeating structure as a template. Configure your sub-assembly as a separate entity until it's how you want it. At that point, use the ilogic copy tool to copy the whole thing to your final project location and you can append SA1 (for subassembly 1) or whatever to the front of every part/assembly/drawing/etc in the whole folder. Then adjust your master to the next settings and copy over with SA2, etc. Simple-ish way to generate the unique file structure without much extra effort.

[S7RM7RPR]

Base solution, files need unique names. In my specific case, that isn't going to work for me.

My file structure I posted is an extreme simplification of what I actually have. Each subassy I listed has about 800 parts with multiple subassys. Effectively, it would seem my parts are too unique but too similar at the same time. Hopefully having a template structure that is properly saved should keep the problems to a minimum.

Thank you for your help, I knew it was a longshot. If questions never get asked, solutions are never found.