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Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

(OP)
I have an assembly model that consists of two components.  A drawing was created of this assembly.  Later one of these components was found to no longer be needed.  I still have a drawing of the assembly that now contains only the one part.

The drawing is of a sheet metal component that has some PEM hardware inserted. The assembly is an "inseparable assembly" and we do a drawing of the assembly file only.  No drawing is ever created of the part.  In this redesign, the pems are no longer be needed, we can do away with the assembly file.

Ideally I would like to replace the assembly reference within the drawing with the part model.  I would then delete the assembly file.  I don't want to recreate the drawing from scratch and can't seem to trick SW into recognizing the part file.

Anyone ever run into this situation?

Thanks in advance,
Shaggy

RE: Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

Go to the standard "Open" box in Solidworks and highlight the drawing you want to open, but don't open it.  In the lower-right=hand side there is a "References" button, pick it.  There will be 2 columns in the "Edit Referenced File Locations" dialog box.  On the left-hand column, double-click the part/assembly you want to change, and another "Open" dialog box will pop up.  
Pick the part you want to replace it with, and OK the rest.  You may lose a dimension or 2, but if the parts are alike, most should be there.

Flores

RE: Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

(OP)
Gentlemen,
Those methods were the first two I tried.  In that order as a matter of fact.

The first results in an error message stating:
Invalid Operation: Cannot change file type (e.g. from Part to Assembly)

The second give this message:
Cannot rename or replace file with different SolidWorks file type.

I thank you for your input, but unfortunately it looks like I am up the creek.  It sure seems like SW should allow the user to do this.
-Shaggy

RE: Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

What version of SW are you using?


Making the best use of this Forum.  FAQ559-716
How to get answers to your SW questions.  FAQ559-1091
Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of.  FAQ559-520

RE: Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

Being able to substitute a part for an assy (and vice versa) was introduced in SW2003.


Making the best use of this Forum.  FAQ559-716
How to get answers to your SW questions.  FAQ559-1091
Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of.  FAQ559-520

RE: Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

(OP)
I am using 2004 Sp 4.1.

I have tried both of the methods outlined above and got the error messages as stated.

I will outline my steps for the SW explorer method to see if I am missing something:
1. Open SW Explorer.
2. File > Open > Drawing in Question
3. Right Click on Assembly Icon in Feature tree that is beneath Drawing icon.
4. Select Replace
5. Browse for part to replace the assembly. (when attempting to change file type in the drop down, only assemblies are an option [cannot browse for part]).
6. Manually type in part that I want to replace the assembly with.  Hit OK
7. Get error message.

The version of SW Explorer I am using is 12.1041.0 Copyright 2004.

Just to verify I am trying to replace an assembly with a part in the context of a drawing, not an assembly.  Is there possibly a setting that I have missed that will allow the action I have outlined?

Thanks again for the input.
-Shaggy

RE: Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

(OP)
Just downloaded latest version of SW Explorer... Same result.  I would sure like to know how you got it to work.

Thanks,
Shaggy

RE: Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

You cannot replace an assembly with a part. That has not been possible since the beginning... unless they changed something recently that I am not aware of.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP
3DVision Technologies

www.3dvisiontech.com
www.scottjbaugh.com
FAQ731-376
FAQ559-716 - SW Fora Users

RE: Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

(OP)
CBL,
That help topic pertains to the context of an assembly, not a drawing.

When you get it to work via the Open > References method, are you:
1.  file > open
2.  single click on the drawing
3.  going to references, then dbl-clicking on the assembly path.
4.  This lets you browse.  Then you select the part that was the only part within the assembly?  

And you're not getting an error?

Thanks for taking the time to assist me with this problem.
-Shaggy

RE: Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

(OP)
Forgot to add.
Could maybe someone else try this with SW 2005.  I am still using 2004.  This maybe something added to 2005.

RE: Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

Shaggy18VW ... My apologies, I did not do the final "Finish" step as I did not want to mess up my production assy at work. I stopped when the reference list showed the new part/assy. I just tried again at home with an old assy & yes, I did get the same error you mentioned.

What do you mean by "inseperable assy"?

Could you just suppress the PEM hardware & let the drawing update from that?


Making the best use of this Forum.  FAQ559-716
How to get answers to your SW questions.  FAQ559-1091
Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of.  FAQ559-520

RE: Drawing reference: Was assembly, is Part.

(OP)
An inseparable assembly could be something like a weldment (from a documentation standpoint).  Excluding the multibody weldment capability that SW has introduced, imagine building an assembly that gets welded together.  You would create part files, build the assembly and create a drawing of the assembly.  The assembly drawing would have all the necessary dimensions to create the weldment.  It probably would not have separate details of the sub components.  What we ultimately want is the assembly to conform to our specific dimensions, not the parts.  To a certain degree, we don't care what the parts' dimensions are, as long as the assembly conforms.  The premise of the inseparable assembly is basically once it goes together, it isn't coming apart (without damaging the components).

The example with the pems is inseparable because once the pems are inserted, they aren't being removed.  We would do a drawing of the assembly model, locating the pems the way you would locate holes.  We do not call out the hole size because the manufacturer may not end up using pems at all.  He may use some knock-off clinch fastener with its own recommended hole size.  All I want is a 4-40 x .50 stud.  I don't care what size hole he put it in.  This is basically what we had before the re-design.  Now we no longer need the pems at all.  They have been deleted from the assembly model.  The original holes sizes were changed to now be clearance holes.  But my drawing still looks at the assembly.  I don't want this extra model file floating around, taking up a marginal amount of space and confusing the heck out of somebody 5 years from now.  I would like the drawing to look at the part.  As it appears, SW will not allow me to change the model reference.  So it goes.  I think I may send in an enhancement request.

Thanks for everyone's help on this one.

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