Assembly Config Questions.

owen_sparks

Hi folks.

A couple of numpty questions, if I may, before digging in a bit further.

(Q1) Is this assumption correct? 

"We can't currently configure which parts to bring into an assembly, so the correct method today is to bring in all the options and suppress the bits we don't want."

Example:-

Hypothetical electronics product with a choice of two cases, two batteries and two PCB's

Step 1

Build parts in Partstudio.

Step 2

Make assembly with all the parts. Add configs to suppress the unwanted parts for each option

Shown here with the "all" options so we can see all the parts at once

Same assy with individual configs shown

Step 3 Optional

Top level assembly that drives the previous config for saving "favorite" configs from just one pick list

Am I approaching this from the right direction?

(Q2) Assuming I'm working along the correct lines above mating seems problematic.  In Cody's example we had a known base to mate to, so we could add individual mates and suppress everything except the one we want.  In this instance the base part is also a variable so this would create a whole heck of a lot of mates to create and suppress.  (Imagine there are 6 cases and 6 battery options...)  We can configure where on a part a mate is, but it seems to fail if I try to configure which part a mate is on.  (By which I mean the configuration will let me pick a point on a different part, but it then turns red and fails to resolve.)

Cheers,

Owen S.

owen_sparks

Sorry, should have said this is in no way a criticism, the update is wonderful, a heartfelt thank-you to anyone who played a part in getting this. 

I'm posting to simply explore what's achievable with these new toys!

Cheers,

Owen S.

NeilCooke

@owen_sparks - you are correct with all your assumptions. It is not possible to configure mate selections, so you need a mate for each combination. Of course, if the parts you are replacing are configurations then that is much simpler, but if you are effectively doing a "replace part" then you will have to suppress the unwanted mates. The example I posted this morning does this. 

malay_kumar

You should be able configure the selection in mate connector and that could avoid some suppression configuration. However we don't support configuring selection in mate yet and so it won't work for parts mated through mated mate connector. Configuring instance to a different part studio/assembly is also in our radar. Will it be good enough if we automatically suppress or hide mates not referencing instances in current configuration? 

MBartlett21

malay_kumar said:
Will it be good enough if we automatically suppress or hide mates not referencing instances in current configuration? 

@malay_kumar
I think this would be very useful.

owen_sparks

Hi @NeilCooke cool thanks for the info and I'll have a look at your model

@malay_kumar automatic suppression would be great for now.  I'll try some more configuration of mates and see what works.

Cheers,

Owen S.

NeilCooke

I didn't realise that you could configure the selections in a mate connector - cool, but possibly a little harder to follow. I think I will update my example to use this instead of suppressing mates.