New sub-Assembly references question

[sirbartoo]

I looked in the archives for an answer to my question but I didnt find what I was looking for.

(SW 2012)
While in an assembly, I would like to take a few parts and create a sub-assembly. These parts have external references (screw holes) defined in the top level. When I create the sub-assembly, I loose the references.

I can do a pack and go, change the file name, delete what I don't want in the new sub-assembly and insert this new sub back into the top level. This way I don't loose any references.

I can also create a new sub-assembly from selected components (loose my references), save, close. Then select the parts one by one and update thier refs to the new sub assembly.

Clearly I am missing something.

 

[sirbartoo]

Nobody has a better way to move part files and preserve references than the ways I listed above? I feel like there has to be a better way.

 

[JMirisola]

I wish I could help but I abhor external references and will remove them ASAP so I've never encountered your particular issue.
I thought, though, that there was an option to keep references but I may be thinking of a different feature.

Jeff Mirisola
My Blog

 

[Updraft]

sirbartoo,

I am with Jeff on breaking external references as soon as possible. There is just too much opportunity for problems by leaving in any longer than necessary. It is typically easy, too, to do this in the assembly by propagating the holes/cuts to the parts, then going to the parts and breaking the references and fixing the sketch planes and any dimensions that were dangling.

- - -Updraft

 

[JMirisola]

One thing, I don't break external references I delete them as I hate seeing ->x in my feature manager. That's more annoying than ->?.

Jeff Mirisola
My Blog

 

[maxh3]

I don't understand the hatred for external references. They can be a pain in the ass when you're working with someone else's model and you don't know how things will update, but when modeled well, they're very handy. I'll make an assembly with anywhere from 4 to 40 components, run it by the customer, and they may want this part taller, that part wider, whatever. I just have to change those few things and not worry about if all of my other holes/features are in the right place, because the external references move them to the right places.

OP, one thing I've done in the past is to create a new assembly with the components you want in the sub-assembly, then go back to your original, main assembly, edit the properties of all of the components that went into the sub assembly to make them not show up in the BOM, hide them, then insert the sub-assembly you created. This way you don't see the components in the top level assembly, they don't show up in the BOM, but they do still update with their external references and you have the sub-assembly you wanted. This is one workaround, I'm sure there are others.