Copy design - Copy folder structure and and files within

[Anonymous]

Hi. 

I'm looking for a way to copy every single file within a folder structure, including the folder structure itself. In the overview example below this would mean copying to a folder called "Top folder for second unit".

All of these files will be given a new file name and part number during the process, xxxx-yyy-zzz will become xxxx-ppp-zzz and so on. This is the whole purpose of the copy since the same client has ordered two nearly identical units which requires separate documentation. In theory, the same client could order 20 nearly identical units so this process has to involve as few manual operations as possible.

We will use the same process for new clients when we copy template units.

One unit contains on average about 500 ipt's, 80 iam's and 110 idw's.

Folder structure overview:

Content of folders:

• Client drawing no. 1-10 folders (10 separate folders): IDW's made mostly using the top component (located in "Production folder")
• Subassembly no. 1-40 folders (40 separate folders): All ipt's, iam's and idw's (fabrication drawings) for that specific subassembly

Autodesk Vault Professional 2016

Thanks in advance.

[PaulMunford]

I'm pretty confident that copy design 2016 does replicate the folder structure when copying.

I think that the trick here is picking the top level .IAM as the root of your copy design, adding the drawings as referencing files.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Paul.


I think my OP was a bit unclear in regards to the folder structure bit. Like you say, Copy design places the new files in the same folder structure as the original files.

The goal however is a copy of not only the CAD-files, but also the actual folder structure. I want to keep the trees completely separated. An identical mirror with new file names (the folders do not need new names). Is there a way of doing this without having to manually choose destination folder for each file?

Choosing the top model as root and then clicking "drawing view" to get all 110 related drawings works great. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

TL;DR:

Is there a way of copying all files withing a folder structure while at the same time copying the actual folder structure, creating an entirely new set of files and folders?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I managed to copy the folder structure and files perfectly yesterday. So the problem is pretty much solved.

But a new problem appeared:

The rule set specifies that <Part number> should be updated to match the new <File name>. This works just fine when I copy a few items at the time (which means there is nothing wrong with the rule set), but when I copy all files (about 700), the <Part number>'s stay the same.

Do you have any idea what the problem might be?

[olearya]

Hi There, 

Please visit http://underthehood-autodesk.typepad.com/blog/ - there are a dozen or so posts / videos up there on configuring and working with Copy Design - the folder structure can be replicated with drag and drop approach (we have some enhancements planned for that) and the numbering should be controlled via the rulesets (make sure you have enabled rules on the copy).