Copying, Renaming, then Re-linking an Assembly?

Hi,
I apologize if this has been addressed before.

I am using Solidworks 2004. I want to copy a job assembly (which is
actually going to be split into two jobs, with one being modified to
be more fully automated) into a new folder, and rename all the
filenames to have the new job number. The old job number for example
was 100-XXX-XXX.sldprt for example. I manually copied and renamed all
the parts and assembly files. Then I opened up Solidworks Explorer to
replace all the sub assemblies and parts with the new files form the
new location (ie. 200-XXX-XXX.sldprt).

I was able to replace SOME of the assemblies, but many of them return
with an error saying "...cannot be used as a replacement because it
would create a circular reference". I tried google-ing this error,
and I can't find a good way to copy this assembly. Is there a better
way to do this? How do I get around the error?

Thanks in advance! I'm fairly new to Solidworks; was trained in an
old version of inventor.
Jesse

 

IIRC, the pre-2007 SW Explorer had a find/replace button somewhere on the
right side of the window that could be used to do the rename when you make
the copy. That is the best time to do it.

 

By drawing, do you mean 2D details with dimensions/notes/etc?
The save as method should work fine for all parts, assemblies, sub
assemblies, right?
Thanks for the info by the way, I will try it now.
Jesse

 

If you were using a newer version I would say to use Pack & Go because it
will do it all of that for you.

But, since I don't think it was available back then, I would suggest opening
one subassy at a time, trying to fix them starting with the "lowest" sub, as
in the one that calls out only parts. That way you don't get it trying to
resolve things you haven't fixed yet.

WT

 

When I click on references and did a find and replace to change the
filenames and folders to a new job, it said it couldn't do it because
those folders don't exist? Does Solidworks not create the new folders
itself? I have to create the folders manually?

Jesse

 

Folders need to be created manually.

I am on Swks 2006 and SWks Explorer allows easy dup & rename of
assemblies, but I don't have access to 2004.

SWks Explorer has had a "Copy Document" option under "Edit" menu,
which allows you to rename an assembly, or just put on a suffix
automatically, and its parts and save to a new location/folder.

Check this out first.

Bo

 

Good enough. It's a real pain, but I got it transfered and linked
properly using a combination of the "save as" method, and sw explorer.
Thanks for your help guys.
Jesse