Joe S. wrote:
>
> A loss of functionality or maybe I am doing something wrong
> (likely)... When replacing a part in an assembly, a similar part,
> using the "replace" function in WF2.0 by "layout", 9 times out of 10 the
> part would automatically recognize the proper constraints. Not so in
> WF4.0. Every single time I replace a part I have to select the
> constraints again.
This functionality disappeared in WF3. Needless to say this lead to much
complaining by my users. However in WF4 this functionality is back and
much improved. It works like this:
1. select the component to be replaced
2. rmb and select Replace
3. select "Unrelated Component" in the Replace dialog
4. select the open icon and open the component that will be the "new"
replacer component.
5. select "Edit Ref Table"
This will bring up a "Reference Pairing Table" dialog and a smaller
graphics window that contains the 2 components side by side
6. select "Evaluate" in the "Reference Pairing Table" dialog
This will evaluate and pair up matching replacement references based
on the "Evaluation Rules". The references matched here are as good or
better than what we got in WF2 and earlier by layout. You can change
the evaluation rules by selecting "Evaluation Rules >>>".
7. After this then go down through the references that were not matched
and match them up.
8. Select "OK" from the "Reference Pairing Table" dialog.
9. Select "OK" from the Replace dialog.
So when you are done the component is properly assembled and also any
children of the component are still properly assembled. Basically this
process creates an interchange on the fly.
The only drawback I have seen so far is this:
In the graphics window that contain the replacee and the replacer
components there is no way to control layer visibility. This means
there is no way of unhiding layers containing datums that are involved
in the replacement. This means that you have to cancel out, unhide the
layers needed in the replacee and replacer, and then restart the
replacement process.
>
> So far PTC's only response is to suggest the new component interface
You must have talked to someone that didn't know about this new WF4
enhancement.
> function, which is nice but of course no existing parts have any
> defined. Many times I have dozens of assemblies I need to do fast &
> was quite spoiled by WF2.0's ability to replace a part so quickly. When
> we first went to WF2.0 I actually would drag people into my office to
> show them how well it worked!
This actually worked well in WF2 and earlier versions.
>
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Regards,
> Joe S.
> 313 410 9034
>
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