No #1 Most Necessary Enhancement!!!!!!!!

[leeave96]

CAD interoperability is really an important goal. The CAD industry has done a pretty good job of avoiding this - having us settle for STEP, ACIS, etc. It is one thing to expect some difficulty with going from one CAD package to another, but the lack of interoperability within a single CAD program is unacceptabe! This is where Alibre is with both Vault and WFS.

1. Vault ought to be able to import/export Alibre files without the internal ID being part of the file name.
2. Regardless of the file system used, be it Vault or WFS, the internal ID should NOT be the only file identifier. If Alibre cannot find a file with the proper ID, it should offer the user the ability to search for the file based on the file name. Back in the good ol' repository days, one could search selected or all repositories for a missing file. Currently, at least with WFS (I can't remember with Vault) you only have the option to replace.

Not everyone is on the same network or at the same office and the ability to do the above would be really great. BTW, this is ALL possible with Solidworks.

In addition to the above:

A) There should be a utility that would allow one to, to use a Solidworks term, "pack and go" function so you can pick a top level assembly and copy all parts, subassemblies, drawings and BOM's for that top level assy for export to another machine - regardless of if you are using Vault or WFS.
B) There should be some utility within WFS that would allow a user to rename a WFS alibre file and update the links to where it is used. This is a function SW has had for sometime now.

It would be great if we could better interact with other Alibre users, be it those with Vault, WFS or xpress Alibre with WFS.

I am really hopeful that V12 will include the above.

Thanks!
Bill

 

[indesign]

Take the assembly and save as an Alibre Step file. It packs all the assembly files in one file. (this does not do 2d drawings though)

 

[DavidJ]

Did I read somewhere that saving the drawing as an Alibre stp will include the assembly, parts & BOMs ?? I guess this would work best if the all drawings were done as pages within a single drawing file.

 

[indesign]

It does appear so. Just tested and if all the drawings are in a single file and it contains all the parts in the assembly then the entire group is saved in the Alibre Step file.

So this then makes my life even easier now.

Need that one in the tips thread if it is not already.

 

[pickarskiracing]

Since interoperability has come, how about this one: MULTITHREADING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pretty please? There are assemblies I work on that take 2-3 minutes to open; there are drawings associated with them that can take up to ten minutes to update views after modifying the assemblies. With quad-core processors all the rage with the kids these days, can Alibre please put more of them to work?

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

I agree. I have a dual core 64 bit processor with 32 bit XP at work and a quad core 64 bit processor with 64 bit XP at home, but Alibre is only a 32bit single core process. I would benefit much with at least utilization of multiple core processors. I also think there are also many smaller problems that have been overlooked in Alibre Design over at least the last few major versions. I don't think they should "addon" to make this castle any higher without a better and more stable core foundation.