Change configuration of individual items in an assembly array?

Tristan_Neumann

Is there a way to change the configuration of separate parts in an assembly array, either by dissolving the array after making it, or some other way. I am laying out some tags to be laser etched out of one sheet and I created a configuration for the different text on each tag. My plan is to create an assembly with all of my tags and then create a 1:1 scale drawing of that assembly that I can feed into my laser cutters software. This whole process seems very convoluted so if anyone has suggestions for a better approach I'm all ears. 

Thanks all.

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/42148bd9b10839aaa1f014b6/w/eff7047384b102e371c9cc2a/e/ab2334dbe5cd115a5067f8ce

S1mon

Just because the final thing will be separate parts doesn’t mean you need to make separate parts in CAD. You just need the right line weights from your drawing. 

You might be able to pattern an extrusion on a big plate and then create all the text in one feature as long as the line height works with the pattern distance. 

Tristan_Neumann

I tried that, but unless I'm missing something, you cannot pattern text entities in a sketch.

MichaelPascoe

If you want to go the assembly route, you can use Replicate, then right click and dissolve that. Then, right click each instance and change their configuration. This would probably be the most simple approach without using a very specific custom feature.

The trick to getting text configured would be using a configuration variable combined with the custom feature Surface Text by @jan_vykydal. Be sure to check the "Expression based" option so that your text can be controlled by a variable.

If you are doing this all the time, I recommend automating your workflow in some way so you are not wasting time. You can do it yourself or have someone like CADSharp create a custom feature for you. 

Tristan_Neumann

I hadn't thought to use replicate in this instance, but that makes a lot of sense here, thanks for the tip. I didn't have too much trouble configuring the text how I needed it, I'll have to check out the "Surface Text" FS to see what it can do better.

S1mon

I was thinking very low-tech. Just put your list of names with returns. If you size things correctly, each name can land on another tag. It does seem to be limited by the 250 character limit.