Running two instances of the same assembly

[hititfaster]

Hi, I've tried the search but not really got an ideal solution for this one.

I'll start from the top... I am working on a project that necessitates me taking a previous pack and go of files, copying them to another location and making changes and alterations in order to create a new assembly (and therefore product).

I have a dual monitor set-up, and would like to be able to open (I'm not really bothered how) two windows: one containing the original assembly to reference distances etc and the second containing the new assembly on which I'm working. My problem comes when I try to open both the old and the new at the same time (I could live with just being able to alt+tab between windows!) the modifications I've made to the new ass'y roll into the old one and render it useless for referencing! The only solution I have come up with is to use an e-drawing on one screen and the new model on the other, which is not ideal.

Any ideas?!

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

"taking a previous pack and go of files, copying them to another location"

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting that statement, but after using P&G to make a new set of files, why would you just copy them to another location? If the P&G files are saved to another folder, and given unique names, you should have no problems.

 

[Eltron]

In order for this to work you would have to change the name of the files in the pack-and-go assembly. SW doesn't do well with files that have the same name.

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[bstones]

I've done this before by opening two sessions of SW but be sure to open your reference model in the 2nd SW session. There is no recovery log in the 2nd session. Also, with two sessions open you'll be tying up twice as much RAM. So if you have complex assemblies and patterns beware, cause more than likely it's going to crash. But its always worth a shot.

 

[MDGroup]

SW wont let you have 2 different files open with the same file name. If the file name is the same, it will refernce only one of the instances.

So, you can re-name one set of the parts/assemblies. You can pack-and-go the old assembly again to add a suffix (xxx-original, or xxx-old).

Or set up 2 computers.
Or use the eDrawing like you suggested.

 

[Nella95]

If you want to reference - you have to use an e-file, or *.dxf, or something with a different extension if you're using the same file name.

As I'm sure it's been said 5 times previously - you can't have two files with the same file name even if they're in different directories (file locations). --But if you re-name the file or use different extensions it shouldn't be a problem as long as you pack-and-go it.

 

[hititfaster]

"Perhaps I'm misinterpreting that statement"

Slightly, but only because I haven't explained as fully as I could: I have taken a pack and go that was created by the original designer, I didn't create them. I copied them so I was modifying files and leaving the originals alone.

I tried opening two versions of SW but I think my machine isn't up to it... It has issues with one version some times!

I think the answer is to rename files so I can effectively open the assembly as I really need it - no compromises.

Thanks guys, helpful intro to the forum!

 

[ctopher]

Also if you have both assy's with the same name in different folders, then open each one and different times, the references possibly could get mixed up. The SW search could find the wrong parts.
Better to have them different file names. Rename using SW Explorer.
Also better to use a PDM app to track your changes. You can check in a different revision and the other can open a previous revision. Having copies of the same files in different folders can cause future nightmares.

Chris
SolidWorks 10 SP4.0
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[SnowCrash]

I had a struggle yesterday which may shed some light on doing this. Previously I had my files out on a network drive as my desktop was unstable and so to be sure I did not lose files I worked on the network for a while. I had copied everything from my hard drive to a mapped network drive, including common parts.
When I returned to working locally I used SUBST: to map my local directory to the same drive letter I had networked before and changed the network location to a different drive. I have done this in the past.
When I loaded assemblies SW still went out and pulled files from the network. I noticed this several days later when some details did not match changes I knew I had made.
Turns out the problem was that tools/options/file locations still referenced the network explicit location and so it always tried to load the old files.
Be sure your file locations point where you really want them.
"my point, and I did have one . . ."

--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2010 SP 4.0
HP Pavillion Elite HPE
W7 Pro, Nvidia Quaddro FX580

 

[drawoh]

...

I think the answer is to rename files so I can effectively open the assembly as I really need it - no compromises.

The answer was to rename your files, anyway. If two things are not identical, they should not have the same drawing number and the same filename. This is basic good documentation practise.

JHG