part to assembly replacement

[pejaer]

Running SW 2006.

Occasionally I create a drawing with a part, only to realize in the future that the part become more complex and "turns into" an assembly. To save time, it would be nice to open up my existing drawing and replace the part with the assembly. Unfortunately, it appears that the replacement function in Solidwork explorer allows to replace a part for a part (or an assembly for assembly).

Any way to do this?

Thanks.
Paul

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

You can replace a part with an assy (and vice versa) in the model but not in a drawing. You need to delete the drawing views and re-create new views of the assy.

A possible workaround would be to save the new assy as a part, and then swap the part.

 

[ShaggyPE]

CBL is correct. FOR A DRAWING it is not possible to switch the file that is referenced from a part to an assy or vise versa. This is an issue I encounter about once a year. I was actually gonna post a link to the thread that I created back in ought-5 regarding this topic, but there wasn't anything fruitful in it. Sorry for the bad news. The good news is, when you recreate the views, at least you already know what they should look like... that should save some time : )

-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Certified SolidWorks Professional
Certified COSMOSWorks Designer Specialist
Certified SolidWorks Advanced Sheet Metal Specialist