Save a Copy and Family Tables

[sfarra]

Hi-

I am working on an issue that would help improve our productivity here. We have a few assemblies that are ordered with regularity by our clients. We use a part numbering scheme in the form of XXXXX-YYY-ZZZ where XXXXX is a 5 digit project number, YYY is a three letter description or abbreviation of the assembly or part, and ZZZ is a three number combination that identifies unique parts. The issue I am having stems from the fact that XXXXX changes every time a client orders this assembly (because it is a new project) while YYY-ZZZ stays the same.

I want to use File > Save a Copy... and rename all the assemblies, parts, and drawings using the "Use Template" option. When I do so, I notice that there is an issue with the family tables in this assembly. It seems that the parts that contain family tables (specifically sheet metal parts) come through OK. I need to manually rename the instances but that is not a huge deal. The problem is that all the assemblies that contain family tables (things like components, parameters, and dimensions are all family tabled) lose their family tables after the copy is created. The family tables simply don't exist and views of the various instances are replaced by views of the generic in all drawings. Can anyone explain why this is happening and / or suggest how to stop this from happening? If I can't stop it from happening, I will be forced to use File > Backup..., copy all the drawings to a new folder, and rename all parts and drawings.

I am using Pro E 4.0 here and do not use any kind of file management software like Intralink.

I thank you all in advance for your time!

 

[looslib]

One good reason to not use an intelligent part numbering scheme.
If the only change from one project to the next on a reorder is the project number, but all parts are physically identical, how much wasted disk space do you have by having everything duplicated?
One solution would be to use a Project folder and then name all your parts in that folder by the YYY-ZZZ name only. New order, copy the XXXXX folder to XXXXA and you are done. Set your search paths to load from folder.

As to the Save-As problem with family tables, do you have the whole FT loaded when you do the Save-As or just the instances used in that assembly? Try loading the Generics first then your assembly that you want to do the Save-As to.



"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[sfarra]

Thanks for your response. I wish I could get away from this part numbering scheme but we are mostly a custom design house with this one exception and the powers that be want to keep all file names in the same format. I have proposed this before and crashed and burned.

In regards to your second comment, I actually use the generics as the version that represents normal operating conditions and instances for things like calibration mode and showing guards opening. So I actually open the generic top level assembly when I save a copy. I'm not sure if this is the best practice or not, though.

Seems like this is one of those mysteries of Pro E that we may never understand...

 

[dgallup]

I always have better results with "rename in session" than save a copy. Partly because we do not name drawings the same as the models so save a copy does not copy the drawings which are the most work. You do have to do it one at a time but you can do it in the family table editor.

You can also backup to a folder and then rename everything in the folder. The down side to that is it will backup some reference items like drawing formats that you don't want to duplicate.

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The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.

 

[sfarra]

Renaming in session was my backup plan. I usually backup the model to a new folder and then copy the drawings in windows explorer to avoid brining along unused parts and assemblies. I was just hoping there would be a great way to speed up this process. I guess I forgot what icon I click on in the morning...

Thank you both for your responses!