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Help with Components


claytoncarney

I've read all the Doc I can find, but there are still so many high level concepts about DSM that I clearly do not understand...

For instance, I created an assembly with many levels of components and subcomponents. I selected one instance of a component (let's call it Part 1) which is a subcomponent of several other first (e.g., Top Frame) and second level (e.g., Rear) components.

I selected 'Open Component' to extract the component to a separate file to generate an STL for printing. I closed the main assembly document and in that separate file, I reoriented the component to facilitate printing (viz. eliminate need for supports, etc.).

When I returned to the main assembly file, I found that all instances of Part 1 in Top Frame > Rear had been reoriented similar to what had been done in the STL file. However, none of the other Part 1 instances in other Level 1/Level 2 components had changed. Very confusing, considering I had previous modified an instance of Part 1 and found the changes propagated to all Part 1 instances, across all levels (as expected).

To make matters worst, even after exhausting all available Undos in both files, I could not get the Top Frame > Rear instances of Part 1 to return to their original orientations.

Clearly, I just don't understand how DSM uses Components. I could not find anything in the Doc regarding the Open Component command. Is the result internal, external, independent? Nothing. Similar confusion with Activate Component. I've encountered issues with that function as well. Can't even find any info on whether there's a nesting limit for Components, etc., etc., etc..

The Doc is, to me, a bit vague on many aspects of Components.

 

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