assembly, parts,drawings copy

Using WF3 without Intralink nor Windchill.

I'd like to copy an entire assembly copying also all parts ( so far it's
ok) but also all drawings of all parts.
Is it possible in one shot ??
thanks a lot
Pier

 

Using WF3 without Intralink nor Windchill.

I'd like to copy an entire assembly copying also all parts ( so far it's
ok) but also all drawings of all parts.
Is it possible in one shot ??
thanks a lot
Pier
I think I know what you'd like to see. It would be the 'Save a Copy' screen of the drawing (which will include the assembly in the list plus all the components) and a check box that says 'Include drawings'. I think it might be possible, but it won't be that easy. And, because I haven't tried this for real, it would be a good idea to try it on a dummy assembly/drawing and a couple assembled components/drawings as a test.

The trick to all of this is how to handle the associativity of models, assemblies and drawings and getting the renaming order right. What I have done before, in session, is to rename parts so that they registered, with the drawing in session, as renamed in the drawing models 'registry'. Then, you can either rename or do a 'save a copy' on the drawing to give it the same name as the component. With all assemblies in session that use the part as a component, this has the added benefit of registering the rename in its BOM and in the BOM of any assembly drawing using the part.

So, in short, rename all the parts/drawings at the lower levels first. Having a structured BOM in front of you can help here. Then, work your way up through assembly level assemblies/drawings. Once all the components' drawings are renamed/saved, the top level is a simple save a copy because it's already aware of all the renamed components.

David Janes

 

Pier,
I'm glad you don't use Intralink which would make this a different
game altogether.
File>Backup is a good option. Different from File>Save a copy, Backup
asks for a directory, and puts the current object and its associates
into that directory. So, if you have drawing A which references assy B
which contains parts C and D, then A thru D will be found in the new
dir - very handy. However, if there's also a separate drawing of part
C, you'll have to open that separately to get it saved. Basically,
Backup makes copies of the current object plus all the objects that
are required to make it work - e.g. if you have a drawing of a part
open, it will copy part + drawing, but if you have the part open, it
just copies the part. What counts is what is the active window at the
time you do Backup, not necessarily what windows you have open in Pro
altogether, so activate the window that contains the "most top-level"
object you need to copy.
Just check using Win Explorer what files will be backed up to make
sure you got all you needed.
Another route is to use Win Explorer to do the task to begin with,
which might work better with more complex object structures - just use
Explorer to copy your whole working dir, then purge the copy (search
the archives for Spekan) to get rid of old files you don't need.
Sepp

 

Thank you all of you
I understand that there is not any automatic way to do what I hoped.
You suggested me nice "workarounds" but, if there is a complex top-level
assembly, it's not easy to copy everything.
Thanks a lot
Pier

 

Thank you all of you
I understand that there is not any automatic way to do what I hoped.
You suggested me nice "workarounds" but, if there is a complex top-level
assembly, it's not easy to copy everything.
Thanks a lot
Pier


Yup, outside of Intralink and its Oracle metadata, yer screwed. So, while drawings know their children (parts/assemblies) the children are unaware of their parent (the drawing). Only an Intralink report on 'Where used' will give you that information. Which is not particularly useful in the task you're engaged in. Again outside of Pro/e, TOOLKIT could be called upon to create a program to do what you're hoping for but, again, it's not a built-in solution. And it could be a day or more of programming/debugging to get it to work right. Thus, the workarounds. The back door methods. The oblique attacks. Not our choice, obviously.

David Janes

 

If I undrestood you the right way you need to copy and change names to all
those "entities" (assembly, part, drawings).
Save a Copy works perfectly. Just open the top assembly file and go to "Save
a Copy". ProE then asks for the new names for all subassemblies or part and
everything is done in a second. If you don't want to rename some of the
parts, you don't need to. Drawings change automaticaly.

The key is to set this option in config.pro file:
rename_drawings_with_object both

Although there is a possibility that I didn't understand what you need at
all...

T.Cabraja