Replace part in a drawing... ARRRGH!

Since the last release (2003), the ability to replace a part in a drawing
has been gone. How in blazes can I save a copy of a part, modify the part
slightly, then use a copy of the original drawing for the new part?

It ticks me off that I have to start with the drawing, do a save as, then do
a save as on the part. That is not how we work. The part come before the
drawing. The part drives the drawing. The part drives the assembly
(typically).

Here's the scenario:
I have made an assembly. Now I need a variation of this assembly. So I
make a copy of the assembly and all its parts on my local drive. I work
from this copied assembly, obviously. Now I see a part that will need a
couple holes in it, therefore, I do a save as on that part to a new part
number. When I'm done, I can just delete all the parts/assemblies with old
numbers and place the assembly on the network. Now when I open my assembly,
the parts that didn't change will look back to their original location.
So now when I'm ready to make the drawings - after the modeling phase -
I will want to use the drawings on some of the parts that were copied. I'm
not even concerned with the drawing until I'm done with the design. So why
is it that I can no longer replace the part in the drawing with my new part?

If there is a way to replace the part in the drawing after-the-fact, would
someone let me know.

Thanks

___________________
Todd Bennett
Celerity Group, Inc
tbennett<nospam>@celerity.net

 

If there is a way to replace the part in the drawing after-the-fact, would

file>>open

click ONCE on the drawing file you want to modify

in the lower right there's a button labeled references--click it--a new
window opens.

In the left hand side of it, there should be a listing of the path to the
original part in the drawing. Double click on this, and then browse to the
path to the replacement part.
Click OK, etc. to get back to the original "open" window.

Open the drawing file. you'll get some warning messages; in general, ignore
them
You should now have the old drawing, with the new part in it

Quick--do a saveas on the drawing before proceding

finish up the drawing, save, get on with your life. I do it all the
time--works like a charm

 

You can Save as Copy and in the open dialog there is a button labeled
References click this and change the file name you can browse for the new
file or just type it. Then just open the drawing and if everything can
update it will.

Corey

 

You just gotta love news groups.

Thanks guys

 

That's the way I did it ... until SWx 2003 SP5 released!
Does anyone else noticed that it does not work anymore in SP5?

 

I really should visit this forum more often - am half way thru creating 68
drawings for a project that all have 2 sheets (1 bent sheetmetal, 1 flat for
DXF) and would have saved a few hours by this method.... too busy cutting
down trees to sharpen the axe.... Why is all the fun in modelling followed
by hours of tedium in creating drawings?