Cascading Parameters from Assemblies to Subassemblies and to Parts...

[chris911ny]

I work for a custom wooden door and window manufacturer. Our product will be made out of a master assembly with other subassemblies as members. Many of these subassemblies will be the same in nature but different in size and sizes will depend on how they are related to other elements. I thought on having custom parameters in the master assembly that they will cascade down to the subassemblies and from there to the parts but unfortunatelly that doesnt work (parts and subassemblies dont take parameters from master assembly). I tried then having a part only with parameters and then derive them to the parts but that caused problem when i made a copy of the subassembly, all parts referenced back to the original parameter part (and no easy way to re-reference). I thought this was the perfect scenario for parametric modeling but its getting harder than what i thought. Am I thinking it wrong? Is somebody doing a similar application?? I would appreciate your posts.

 

[BOPman]

What version of IV are you running? Reason I ask is, R11 introduced iAssemblies.

Your thinking is almost on the right track. Look up "iAssemblies" and see if it'll help. (It is an awful lot to try to describe.)

 

[chris911ny]

Yes I use IV R11 and I already tried iAssemblies. They can deal with including or supressing components or modify relationships between them but not with modifying the components themselves. The way they sugest to do it in some forums is to add a part that will contain parameters only to my assembly and derive the rest of the components to this specific one. This will work in an individual design but as soon as this assembly is copied all the parts will continue looking at the original files and not the new ones (and, of course, not easy way to re-reference them). I will keep looking...

 

[Coboco]

I work assembly with about 400 parts, using parameters... this is how we do ...
We make Excel file in which we put all parameters we use
than we open one basic part (you don't have to do this way... but we think it is the best way ) and in that part we embed excel file (go tools>parameters>input)
than in every part (or assembly) where you need parameters... just import that basic file ... it will automaticly import all parameters from file... (when you import file change type of file in open window .ipt)

I hope so I helped

 

[BOPman]

The only downfall is that you'll have to know what the dimensions would need to be when you enter it on the spreadsheet. You wouldn't be able to, say, create a door frame and no matter what size it finishes at, the door would automatically feed from.

Is that what you're wanting to do? Have a part that is driven by an upper level assembly? If so, then just create the part within the assembly (Create Component.) Within your sketch(es) project the edge(s) your door would need to be defined by. If you maintain the gap between the two, then when you modify the projected part your new part will change as well. Then you might try parametizing. All within one assembly.