Embed a drawing with another drawing 2

[Fonzee]

Hi all,

I have an opportunity and wanted to throw this out to see if it was possible. My client creates assembly drawings as a multiple page drawing with the last pages containing the piece part prints of all of the parts in the assembly. I have no problem creating a drawing like this, but they also have a piece part template embedded into the assembly drawing that pulls the parameters from the part to populate only the piece part template and not affect the assembly template parameters or vice versa. The drawing is currently only on PTC Co-Create so I am sure it is not fully parametric like it appears in the reference drawing but this got me thinking. Could I create an assembly drawing, then embed a piece part print (must be fully parametric and reference back to the piece part), and have the embedded piece part populate the piece part template parameters within the assembly drawing and then have the BOM of the assembly drawing populate the item number in the piece part drawing template? How is this for a mind bender??? lol... It might be simple but I cannot figure it out. What do you all have? Thanks!

Joel

 

[ctopher]

I'm not understanding what you mean by "piece part template parameters within the assembly drawing".

Chris, CSWA
SolidWorks 13
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[Fonzee]

What I want to do is create a part and then create a drawing of that part. Then I want to create an assembly that contains the part. Next I want to create the assembly drawing to show the information needed to create the assembly and finally I want to embed my part drawing into the assembly drawing. I also want to be able to open the part drawing from the assembly drawing. See the attached image. Thanks!

 

[SBaugh]

You cannot embed a Drawing into another Drawing. Drawings are the top of the Hierarchy within SW. There is no drawing inside a drawing. You can open the part, then right click on the part and select open Drawing. But you cannot click on a part within your assembly and open that parts drawing (you can only open that part), nor can you right click in your assembly drawing to open a part drawing... just not possible.

You could potentially create an annotation with a hyperlink in a drawing that would allow you to open a part drawing of your specification. That would get around this issue if you really want something like that.

Hope that helps,

Scott Baugh, CSWP
Berry Plastics
Cad Admin\Design Engineer
GEASWUG Greater Evansville Area SWUG Leader

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"

faq731-376

 

[Fonzee]

Thanks Scott. I was just working with the hyperlinking, but I do not think that will work either since our client is using a pdm system. I will just create an assembly drawing and import the parts without the use of a separate drawing. I could see where this might be a nice option for companies that use the practice of showing the piece parts on the assembly drawings. Our client is not using a BOM in the assembly where you would normally show the piece part information which is why this is a unique situation and where the embedded part drawing would work well. Thanks to everyone for the help.

 

[ctopher]

I agree with Scott.
The drawing you show is strange. I have never seen drawing borders within a drawing.
Create the assy first, then add it to a drawing. You can add an exploded view of the assy on the first sheet, including BOM, then the piece parts on additional sheets.

Chris, CSWA
SolidWorks 13
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

But you cannot click on a part within your assembly and open that parts drawing

Not sure when that capability was introduced, but you can in SW13.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The following SPRs exist at the Customer Portal. Adding your vote to either or both, will increase their priority level.

SPR 578292: Add ability to open/create drawing of a part from within an assembly/drawing
SPR 611778: Add option to open part (component) drawing from the assembly drawing (view) and bill of material

 

[Fonzee]

ctopher,

The reason I would want to do this is to create a drawing that is fully parametric and will tie directly to the piece part drawing and part. My client does not use a BOM in the assembly drawing. The bom is generated from an SAP system. This drawing that I have shown was created in PTC Co Create so I am sure that it was not fully parametric, but I think the option to do this would be ideal. This would allow the drafter to create the part drawing as he/she normally would and then import that drawing into an upper level drawing to eliminate clutter and also show the parameters of the part model in it's own drawing to eliminate confusion on the shop floor.

CorBlimeyLimey, Thanks for the heads up on the SPR. I will go in and vote.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Fonzee,

Not sure I understand your "eliminate clutter" comment. The drawing you show is more cluttered than any separate drawing would be.

Do know about the multi-sheet drawing option?

http://help.solidworks.com/2013/Eng...s.htm?id=d480178b5fe441fa99e7f00807b41823#Pg0

 

[Fonzee]

Maybe not the best use of verbage when I said clutter. I just meant that it seems simple to create a drawing as one would normally do for a part, but then have the option to use that drawing as is or add it to an upper level assembly drawing.

As a work around I have created a block with the "template" layout that I needed and I insert that block into my part model within the assembly drawing. This give me the look and feel that the client is looking for and also populates the block information with the part parameters.

 

[Fonzee]

I do use the multiple page drawings which is what I am doing in this situation. The first page is my assembly, the second page contains my part information with the blocks.

 

[Updraft]

Assembly drawings and part drawings should be separate! What you have shown goes back to the ACAD ways of doing things where everything can exist in one file. That had its conveniences, but was still a very poor practice. There are good reasons to not do that anymore!

I started to describe how you could do pretty much what you want to do with a custom drawing template and the associated actions, but then decided that would be enabling a horrible practice. Consider this, from an assembly drawing you can navigate to any part/subassembly you choose and open it and from there its drawing. If you need even more direct navigation then you might look into SolidWorks Composer.

There are reasons for industry standards and good practices. Life is better when these are followed since communication is ultimately clearer and faster. After all, that is the purpose of the drawings in the first place, to communicate information.

- - -Updraft

 

[SBaugh]

I think that is the way Solidworks was designed in the first place and that is the way I would have built it in the first place with multiple sheets including the part drawings with the first page representing the assembly. This is a good solution as long as the file stays within a manageable size.

Scott Baugh, CSWP
Berry Plastics
Cad Admin\Design Engineer
GEASWUG Greater Evansville Area SWUG Leader

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"

faq731-376

 

[ctopher]

I agree with Updraft that they should be separated. Trying to go outside the norm, or standards, creates more headaches for others.
Minimal understanding of drafting practices usually creates new internal standards.

Chris, CSWA
SolidWorks 13
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[Fonzee]

Updraft,

I do not agree with your comment that the assembly drawings and part drawings should be separate. I work with many clients that still use this practice efficiently and they all have pdm systems in place. I may have been off base with the embedded part drawing in the assembly drawing, but it was a thought that I had so I put it out here is receive feedback. My proposed process would have been closer to your statement since assembly drawing and part drawings would be separate and then I would have imported a linked version of this part drawing into the assembly drawing to keep everything tied together. Just my 2 cents and was not saying what the client was doing was the way all companies should do it. Thanks to all for the replies