"Update Linked Document"

don_williams909

Although somewhat of a misnomer, this feature in the assembly tree is kind of a pain in the neck.  For starters - we're not updating the document, but the part "to" the already updated document.

Can't we have a simple button to push on the menu bar that will update the parts automatically, without having to select them all individually?

Honestly, the parts should automatically update, since changing a part is actually making a "new" part, and the only thing updating is the part due to being forced to make a "Version" of a document.
There Must be an easier way than all this version stuff, and then all the work we're forced to do, left in its wake...

don_williams909

I hope that made some sense...

MBartlett21

You can right click on the Assembly tab and choose update

tim_hess427

@don_williams909 - I actually like the current functionality to NOT update links automatically when a part changes. Its a little more work, but this way, I don't have to worry about assemblies changing when I've made part changes that aren't approved and released. I think I've read that Onshape's devs did things intentionally for this reason.

Also, I think, if you have an assembly in the same document as the parts, you can insert parts from the current workspace and they will update automatically, which can be helpful for when you're making frequent changes and need to check clearances and other things in the assembly quickly.

Not sure if this addresses your concern completely, but just wanted to add my thoughts as to how the current functionality can be useful to prevent accidental assembly changes.

billy2

@don_williams909 I keep things in the same document to avoid the update/version thing. Once it's matured, I move it into it's own document which invokes the update/version thing. 

My workflow is to start with everything in a document and as assemblies mature, I move'm out into their own documents. 

Keeping everything in a document isn't the right workflow either. Moving things around seems to be working. I've moved assemblies back into a document to avoid the update/version paradigm.

Moving docs around will cause you to lose versions, but it's not a concern of mine.

Docs referencing other docs invokes update/versioning and I also like this.