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Best approach to use library parts in assembly

J

Joshi

Member
Hi,

I'm new to Alibre so it's possible that I approach this totally wrong. Currently I want to model a shelf. The basic parts are a vertical bar and a horizontal bar. Since I need different lengths of both, I've made everything parametric and added the parts to the Library with the relevant parameters choosable.

When it comes to assembling everything in an assembly file I'm not sure how to approach this. What I tried is using the library's "Generate" feature in the assembly to add the parts. But it looks like after adding the part from the library there's no easy way to change one of the parameters again, i.e. if I notice that I need the bar to be longer.
What's also confusing me is when I try to save the assembly: I get a dialog warning me about overwriting files. I'm not sure why that is but I assume that it wants to overwrite the files from the library?

Can someone with more experience outline how to approach assembling something that consists of many similar parts that may only vary in a few parameters?

Thank you for your help!

Joshua

P.S.: I'm using the expert version
 
J

JimCad

Alibre Super User
Not used the library yet but you could just "save as" for your parts and adjust the parameters to suit.
Are you a Solidworks or Inventor etc. user?
Your previous experience may help someone to help you.
Jim
 
DavidJ

DavidJ

Administrator
Staff member
Having inserted parts from the Library, the offered save location for assembly and all parts will be your previous save location - you should only get the duplicate warning if there are files of the same name there. If so simply change the destination in the save grid, or change names of individual files.

Each file created from Library is 'free standing' - it can be edited just any other Alibre part can. From in the assembly use either 'Edit Here' or 'Edit in Separate Window'.
 
J

Joshi

Member
JimCad said:
Not used the library yet but you could just "save as" for your parts and adjust the parameters to suit.
Are you a Solidworks or Inventor etc. user?
Your previous experience may help someone to help you.
Jim
Click to expand...
Thank you

I'm coming from FreeCAD. Their chaos with assemblied (even though it already got better) is one of the reasons why I'm trying out Alibre right now.
 
J

Joshi

Member
DavidJ said:
Having inserted parts from the Library, the offered save location for assembly and all parts will be your previous save location - you should only get the duplicate warning if there are files of the same name there. If so simply change the destination in the save grid, or change names of individual files.

Each file created from Library is 'free standing' - it can be edited just any other Alibre part can. From in the assembly use either 'Edit Here' or 'Edit in Separate Window'.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if I understand that correctly. When I added my h_bar to the assembly (from the library) and try to save the assembly i get a dialog warning me that he wants to overwrite h_bar, even though I already put my h_bar one folder deeper then my attempted assembly save location.

Actually I don't even understand why he wants to save h_bar at all. Isn't it just linked into the assembly?

Are there some general tips on how to make an assembly consisting of many of the same parts with just parameters different?

My ideal scenario looks like this:
- I make the assembly
- I add the different kinds of parts that I need (horizontal and vertical)
- I duplicate these parts
- for each of the duplicates I can change the properties somewhere in the tree, i.e. to make one 1000mm, the other 2000mm etc
 
DavidJ

DavidJ

Administrator
Staff member
If you DUPLICATE then you can't have different parameters. Editing one instance will edit all of them (as there is only one part file)

If you generate library parts (with differing parameters) and give each a unique name before saving, you can then edit each part independently.

In Expert - you can use Configurations, which does allow differing parameters for variants in the same file.
 
J

JimCad

Alibre Super User
Joshi said:
Thank you

I'm coming from FreeCAD. Their chaos with assemblied (even though it already got better) is one of the reasons why I'm trying out Alibre right now.
Click to expand...
I used Inventor for a few years and tried Freecad when I retired. Freecad works but I found the interface so alien to me that when I saw Alibre I bought it. As with anything it's all down to putting the time in and becoming familiar with it. I seem to spend too much time on here and not enough time using Alibre so I'm still a novice.
Very good software at a great price though.
Jim
 
J

Joshi

Member
DavidJ said:
If you DUPLICATE then you can't have different parameters. Editing one instance will edit all of them (as there is only one part file)

If you generate library parts (with differing parameters) and give each a unique name before saving, you can then edit each part independently.

In Expert - you can use Configurations, which does allow differing parameters for variants in the same file.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the advice with the duplicate, I would have definitely stumbled upon this!

The approach with the configurations sounds interesting to me!

So if I understand correctly it would look something like this:

- I model my h_bar (for example). I then create multiple configurations within that file, changing the bar length in each of them
- I add the part to my assembly as often as I need it
- for each instance in the assembly I activate the correct configuration

Did I understand it correctly?
One question that would remain: How do I do this if I have i.e. 3 or 5 parameters? In that case I would get an exploding number of configurations pretty soon.
 
DavidJ

DavidJ

Administrator
Staff member
Yes, basically correct. You need to also study configuration locks - these allow a lot of control over how configurations behave.

I'd need examples to comment further on your final point.
 
J

Joshi

Member
DavidJ said:
Yes, basically correct. You need to also study configuration locks - these allow a lot of control over how configurations behave.

I'd need examples to comment further on your final point.
Click to expand...
Yes, already studied the locks :)

Regarding my final point: Imagine my bar has not only a length but also two dimensions of width (to have bars of different thickness) and then different amounts of mounting holes, all controlled via parameters. Now with the current approach I'd have to create a configuration for each of the combinations of these four numbers that I need in my example - that can be many.
It would be easier to change the parameters of the part for a single instance within my assembly. Is that possible?
 
albie0803

albie0803

Alibre Super User
As long as the bar in the assembly you want to change is a unique part.
Assume you have a "base" bar as a part. You need 3 the same and one that is a bit thicker.
Open the base bar and do a SaveAs to a new name and then tweak the one parameter.
Now add the base bar (or copy it or pattern it) 3 times in the assembly then add the tweaked part.

If you added 4 base bars and then tried to tweak 1 then you would tweak all of them, as they are the same part.
So the answer is no.
 
DavidJ

DavidJ

Administrator
Staff member
That's where the Library comes in - you can set up Length, Width, Thickness to be chosen at creation - along with options for holes or not.

Number of holes might be controlled indirectly by length from equations.

That can all be in one 'master' file - then unique pieces are created at use.

Or you might choose to have separate files for groups of size (say by cross section).

Toolbox might work better if there are lots of parameters that change - that way one basic part file, many rows in spreadsheet to drive all possible variations. Unique parts created at point of use.
 
dwc

dwc

Alibre Super User
Joshi said:
try to save the assembly i get a dialog warning me that he wants to overwrite h_bar, even though I already put my h_bar one folder deeper then my attempted assembly save location.
Click to expand...
Don't worry about this too much. It happens at times when for some reason AD decides to make a new thumbnail picture of the part. The part hasn't changed, but the thumbnail picture has.
 
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