Assembly Navigator - Renaming Part Names 2

[rc0213]

The part system used, where I work, is to create two different UG files, one is part number and the other is drawing number. And, because a lot of parts are not created in a solid model, I have been adding the drawing file in, as part of the assembly.

The question comes at this point. I want to rename the "Drawing No." File name to the reference "Part No." File name. So, for example, let's say I have an assembly in the Assembly Navigator,

"Part No. 1"
"Part No. 2"
"Drawing No. 1"
"Part No. 3"
"Drawing No. 2"

So, now I want to rename "Drawing No. 1" and "Drawing No. 2" to a "Part No." that I can manually input. But, somehow, I need to keep the original attributes and file name of the Drawing File in tact. Is it possible to rename the Drawing No. File names? If so, how?

I hope I didn't confuse anyone, and that I was clear in my explanation.

 

[cowski]

If I understand correctly, you want the file name to show up differently in the assembly navigator, but do NOT want to rename the existing file (or make a new copy). If this is correct, you can create a part attribute in each file and give it the value that you want displayed in the navigator. Then, in Preferences -> Assemblies -> Descriptive part name style, use the "specified attribute" option and point it to your new attribute. Since it uses a part attribute (as opposed to a component attribute), you'll have to have write access to the files to make the changes stick. Any files that do not have the attribute will show up as <filename>. Caution: this will cause the new name to show up pretty much everywhere in NX (the title bar, the window menu, dialogs - not just the assembly navigator); if you give the drawing a name that matches the model, it can get confusing as to what part you are currently working in or switching to...

www.nxjournaling.com

 

[JohnRBaker]

There's one other thing that you can do and that is to change the name of the Component in the context of the Assembly. Each part of an Assembly, in addition to obviously having its own Part file name, also has a Component name which is unique to the Assembly where the Part file is found and is independent of the actual Part file name. Now if you do nothing, the Component name will be the same as the Part file name except that they are always in UPPERCASE letters irrespective to what case was used for the Part files themselves. Now when working in the Assembly Navigator you've got a couple of choices as to how you you see these names. You can either simple add an additional column showing the Component Names, or you can actually replace the Part File names in the main column of the Assembly Navigator with the Component names and not show Part file names at all.

Now to edit a Component's name, select the Component, either on the screen or from the Assembly Navigator, press MB3, select 'Properties', Select the 'General' tab and there you can edit the Component Name itself. Editing this will have no impact on the Part File name on disk and will, in fact, only have an effect on THIS Component inside of THIS Assembly. In other words, this new Component Name will only be relevant for this one single Assembly file.

Anyway, that's another thing to think about at possibly giving you what you;re looking for.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Digital Factory
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[rc0213]

Thank you, both, for your suggestions. The suggestions were helpful. I do remember, when working at one company, on NX 7.5, they created a "folder" in the Assembly Navigator, and dropped their assembly in that "folder". I was thinking of doing that in this case, but could not find the function on how to create the "folder" in the Assembly Navigator. Since I could not find that, these suggestions will do. Again, thanks.

 

[cowski]

They created a folder in the assembly navigator? That's a new one to me, I don't know how you would accomplish that. Were they running Teamcenter? (I'm not sure that it even makes a difference)

Anyway, if John's suggestion works for you, I'd advise you to use it. It is the way I keep components straight in the assembly. It is such a basic part of my workflow, that I didn't even think to mention it in my response. D'oh!

www.nxjournaling.com

 

[rc0213]

cowski,

I think you are correct about TeamCenter. This company does not use a PLM like TeamCenter. And, the other company did use TeamCenter. So, maybe that is where the folder option was available. I don't know. I may be wrong.

Both of your suggestions worked, in different ways. Your way saves time from having to rename the files in "Where-Used" parts. But, his method is good if you only want to use it only in that part.