Assembly Group & Rearrange Parts In Assembly Tree

[schenman]

Date: Thursday, August 17, 2023 1:04:10 PM
Alibre Design™ Expert
Version: V27 64-bit [Build 27038]

This can be very problematic as a Group can be accidentally deleted and all the parts under it will be deleted from the assembly. The Group should be made undeletable when it contains any part. The tool should dissolve the Group before it deletes it. Or the user should be made to first remove the parts under it before being allowed to delete.

 

[simonb65]

The Group should be made undeletable when it contains any part. The tool should dissolve the Group before it deletes it. Or the user should be made to first remove the parts under it before being allowed to delete.

This would also then be consistent with other delete functions of features, etc whereby they can't be deleted if something is dependant on them. Good spot!

 

[HaroldL]

As long as we're talking about Groups, why is the font for the group name so large in the group list dialog? Seems out of place when compared to the other dialogs and UI fonts.

 

[schenman]

As long as we're talking about Groups, why is the font for the group name so large in the group list dialog? Seems out of place when compared to the other dialogs and UI fonts.

View attachment 39437

I don't get that large font with groups.

 

[RocketNut]

I have a group question. When doing a complex model a part group can screw it up because the draw order is changed. Like a sketch that depends on another sketch.

 

[albie0803]

Group is only applicable to Assemblies, not parts.

 

[Max]

Do you really not want to be able to delete a group and all its components?

For example, would you prefer a dialog to popup saying "This is not empty - are you sure?" instead?

 

[JimCad]

Is there an option to remove the group folder but leave the items ungrouped but still in the tree?
Or do you drag the ones you want to keep out first & then delete the group?

 

[multicaduser]

I would like to see, when deleting an assembly group, the "option" to delete the contents or leave them. Haven't had a chance to download v27 yet so no chance to play yet and don't know what the options are.

 

[schenman]

Do you really not want to be able to delete a group and all its components?

For example, would you prefer a dialog to popup saying "This is not empty - are you sure?" instead?

The odds of anyone wanting to delete a Group with all the parts in it aren't good. I would like it to be like the parent/child relationship between a sketch and its feature where you can't delete the sketch before you delete the feature.

 

[schenman]

I would like to see, when deleting an assembly group, the "option" to delete the contents or leave them. Haven't had a chance to download v27 yet so no chance to play yet and don't know what the options are.

There is the option to Dissolve the Group which removes the parts from the Group and put them back into Part Explorer.

 

[schenman]

Is there an option to remove the group folder but leave the items ungrouped but still in the tree?
Or do you drag the ones you want to keep out first & then delete the group?

The Dissolve does exactly that.

 

[JimCad]

Perfect. Thanks.

 

[Andy]

It would be good to be able to create sub-assemblies in this fashion. So, grouping a number of parts together would retain constraints between them as well.
When designing, sub-assemblies are not always clear until further down the track when looking at manufacturing and BOM. It is then a pain to redo parts of the main assembly to accommodate the sub-assemblies.

 

[albie0803]

Yes, I have proposed this before. Inventor has the ability to group as set of parts into a new subassembly whilst in the main assembly.
It would need to:
register the selected parts
register any constraints between the selected parts
register any constraints between the selected parts and other parts/planes/axes
create a new assembly with the selected parts and apply the saved constraints
delete the selected parts from the main assembly
insert the new assembly and apply the saved constraints to anchor it as it was
refresh the assembly window to show the new condition

or something along these lines.

 

[schenman]

Yes, I have proposed this before. Inventor has the ability to group as set of parts into a new subassembly whilst in the main assembly.
It would need to:
register the selected parts
register any constraints between the selected parts
register any constraints between the selected parts and other parts/planes/axes
create a new assembly with the selected parts and apply the saved constraints
delete the selected parts from the main assembly
insert the new assembly and apply the saved constraints to anchor it as it was
refresh the assembly window to show the new condition

or something along these lines.

I have a project where I am adding a new toilet on the second and third floor and created a sub-assembly for the new toilet inside the main assembly then deleted the rest of the parts on a copy of the main assembly and saved the sub-assembly as NEW_TOILET_ASSY. I then deleted the new toilet parts from the original main assembly and then brought the sub-assembly NEW_TOILET_ASSY back in. I work on the sub-assembly in its own assembly workspace and work on the main assembly with the sub-assembly in place. It works for me. Copy attached.
Regards

 

[Zc@d]

Also it would be great to be able to add patterns in groups

 

[hermit.shed]

Yes, I have proposed this before. Inventor has the ability to group as set of parts into a new subassembly whilst in the main assembly.
It would need to:
register the selected parts
register any constraints between the selected parts
register any constraints between the selected parts and other parts/planes/axes
create a new assembly with the selected parts and apply the saved constraints
delete the selected parts from the main assembly
insert the new assembly and apply the saved constraints to anchor it as it was
refresh the assembly window to show the new condition

or something along these lines.

I would like this too. IIRC solidworks called it demoting

 

[HaroldL]

Also it would be great to be able to add patterns in groups

I agree with that. It would seem logical that if you add some indvidual screws to a group, and you have a pattern of the same screws, you should be able to add the pattern to the group so all the screws are together. Not sure the reason why they can't be added now, it must be some programming issue/restriction.

 

[JimCad]

Inventor used to struggle with grouping patterns. Sometimes OK but sometimes not. I think it's more complicated than it looks for the poor old computer to calculate all the cross references?