Save As Question....

[jfleming]

Hello,

I have an assembly, which is made up of several "commercial parts" and several "fabricated" parts. The commercial parts are saved in their respective folders within our Parts Library. The Fabricated parts are saved in the appropriate Project Sub-Folder.

I would like to create a copy of this assembly within another Project Sub-Folder. If I use the Save as command, it saves EVERYTHING to that new Sub-Folder, including all of the Commercial parts.. is there a way to pick/choose which items get saved to the new Sub-Folder?

 

[jfleming]

And correct me if I'm wrong, but copy/paste from one folder to another is a big "no-no", correct?

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

You are correct. Copy and Paste leaves the internal identifiers and paths the same so then the copy will still reference the old parts. Do not copy and paste.

There is currently no way to do what you want. There is a work-around I describe in this topic: http://forum.alibre.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=17959

 

[JST]

??????????

I just tried that in 2015.1.1 (just upgraded) and when I re-directed the top level, all the rest stayed where they were in their original source directories. I assume you want to save some and not others in the new directory,

You CAN do what you say it is doing automatically IF you select the "save all as" button below the list. Maybe that has defaulted "on" for you?? Try unchecking it.

It appeared I could also direct saving of individual parts to other places if wanted.

The missing piece is to be able to DO NOT SAVE certain things, and DO SAVE others in the new place, so that the "not saved" ones continue to come from their original source places. and the DO SAVE parts go along to the new place as new copies, doing this as one operation.

For that you need to "save all as" , delete the library parts, then open the file, replacing the missing parts with library parts. You can retain constraints, since the parts have all the same named surfaces etc (they are the same files).

 

[dwc]

This has been one of my complaints about GM from the beginning (I started with Alibre V10), it has no concept of libraries, i.e. standard parts that are never changed. It requires the possibility to write to all the parts files. Why it needs to write a part that is not changed (and it does) is beyond me.
Support says that you can set file to RO in Windows, which is true. But then you risk not being to save your assembly at all because for some reason GM wants to be able to save a file that is RO (and hasn't been changed) and blocks everything.
I would want files catagorized into parts which can be changed and library parts that are read only and the possibility to put them in different directories.
Otherwise I have no way of being sure that my standard parts are not changed by mistake.

On-the-other-hand....
I am having to learn CATIA for work.
A more opaque, unsystematic, full of crevaces and "don't try that" program I am not aware of.
There are at least 3 times as many clicks to do anything compared to GM.
I keep coming with questions that even our CATIA experts can't answer for things that are really simple in GM.
It may be missing a coupe of nice features, but a closer look at the competition makes the daily work with GM look really good.
Don

 

[Giecon.nl]

Do a save as but don't hit "save all as" Click on the folder icon for the parts you want to save to a new location.
I only found out a few day ago this actually works..

 

[jhiker]

Those two little icons in the top left corner will allow you to copy some or all of the properties and locations to some or all of the parts in the assembly - does this help?

 

[Oldbelt]

Click on the folder symbol to the right and a new folder can be chosen for a part in a assembly.

 

[jfleming]

Oldbelt/Jhiker... that worked. Thank You!

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Do a save as but don't hit "save all as" Click on the folder icon for the parts you want to save to a new location.
I only found out a few day ago this actually works..

Click on the folder symbol to the right and a new folder can be chosen for a part in a assembly.

:shock: I had no idea this was possible. I usually use Save All As and it doesn't let you unselect items so I figured it was an all or nothing thing. I have tried clicking in the Save Action column - assuming that it should be a dropdown list of possible actions but it does nothing. :roll:

Regardless the majority of my projects have many drawings for one project and it is still impossible to link them all without Save All As, Delete, Replace.

 

[JST]

Yeah, it works, but you need to select a destination for each one individually.

What is really needed is a "save all as" that has a checkbox, so you can select a place for EVERYTHING, and then UNCHECK whatever is NOT supposed to go there, or NOT supposed to be saved at all. You would uncheck library parts.

Even nicer would be a default selection for library parts so they would ALWAYS come from the library, and NOT be saved, if created with a "library part" check box selected.

 

[dwc]

Y
Even nicer would be a default selection for library parts so they would ALWAYS come from the library, and NOT be saved, if created with a "library part" check box selected.

+1 !!

Don

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

You also can not save an assembly without saving the parts that the program thinks you modified whether you want it to or not. Missing things like this are why I have opted out of maintenance. (I'm also still waiting for simple baseline, chained, and arc length dimensions among other things for those keeping track at home)