How to copy a part?

[Steve]

Hi!

How does one open an existing model out of Work Manager, make changes, and save it as a new model?

When I try to do it, when I go to save 3D data the option to "create new part and document" is unavailable.

Thanks!

Steve

[jkramer]

Hi,

Get the part from Workmanager, in OSD choose Part & Assy > Copy, and copy the part before you do anything with it.
The Copy of the part is a new part, and you can save that as new "masterdata and document" in WM.

Another tip in this context: make sure you understand the difference between a "normal" copy and a Shared Part. See the help info from the functions "Copy" and "Share".

Regards,
Jaap Kramer

[Steve]

Yup, I know the difference between share and copy. Thanks for the tips!

Steve

[Steve]

Ok, how do I do this on an assembly level?

I have opened an assembly out of Work Manager.

I want to make a copy of this assembly as a new part, and change a couple of the parts in it.

I would think that I would make a /share/ of the assembly, so that all of the common components were also shared. Then I figured I would unshare the assembly itself, and delete out the components from the new assembly that are different. But this does not seem to work.

How does one make a copy of an assembly, keeping all of the common components shared?

Steve

[Steve]

Ok, I figured it out. The trick is to share the top level assembly, and then unshare the assembly, but check the "one level" button so that although the new assembly has been unshared, all of the components are still shared. Then delete the components from the new assembly that are no longer needed, and add in the ones you do need.

Steve

[rcurrier]

or similarly, when you use part & assembly/ copy,
select the assembly to copy, and select one level.
This will also copy the assembly structure, but maintain
shared parts below it. then you can add and remove as required.

A few less steps .....

Hope it helps....

[May Kung]

If you have an attached drawing (viewset owned by top assembly), immediately after you make the Copy (One-level) is the perfect time to use the Attach Drawing to Copy command. If you do this before you start unsharing/deleting parts, you can make it a lot easier on yourself to create a drawing for the new assembly.

[Steve]

Thanks for the tips!

Steve

[dszostak]

In the September release of Designer Modeling, the integerated add-on Model Manager has a new time-saving feature that automatically reassociates copied stuctures and drawing information from Designer Modeling to the database.
The following info is from our What's New documentation for v12:
Models copied in OneSpace Designer are linked to supporting documents
In the past, when you copied a part in OneSpace Designer, and saved it in Model Manager, the new model was not linked to any existing items. Now the new model is linked to any supporting documents that the original model is linked to. If a drawing was saved for the original, a new drawing is created and saved for the copy.

This is a major time-saving capability, especially when you have assemblies which are always above 50 parts or more. This customer requested feature is part of the base product in v12.