Automatic subassembly update in assembly?

dan_engerer

I need some quick help before I have an episode of buyer's remorse after buying two 1-year long professional plans.

We have an assembly with sub-assemblies in it. When I change something in the sub-assembly, it does not automatically update in the top level assembly, and I'm not even able to update it in the top-level assembly unless I create a new "version" for the sub-assembly. 

How do I get the sub-assembly to automatically update in the top level assembly? I absolutely cannot be creating new "versions" for things every time I make a little change during the design phase, which is about every 30 seconds. I will soon have hundreds of versions which I'm not allowed to delete. Onshape automatically updates individual parts, so why not automatically update individual sub-assemblies? 

martin_cooper667

It will automatically update sub assemblies if they are created within the same document,
i have to redo my subs in the same document on a different tab as I also found this to be a very frustrating restriction
it still is, but we will workaround, like everything else, 
Though the workarounds are starting to stack up now
Its a great program, if you know exactly what something is going to look like before you start, which is never

raj_Onshape

Can you share the document in question with some reproducible steps or create a support ticket for your issue ?

3dcad

martin_cooper667 said:

..
i have to redo my subs in the same document on a different tab as I also found this to be a very frustrating restriction
..

I suppose you don't need to redo anymore as we can now move parts and assemblies between documents without having to worry about links..

A BIG +1 for being able to link to current version, even though then it is possible to break assemblies..

bill_schnoebelen

I have subs in the same document and they don't update? They are in different folders. Any suggestions?

fitz_terra

It seems I'm running into this same issue now. I'm assembling what will be an FB2020 3D printer and have various folder hierarchies to help organise things, with many sub assemblies (also in folders and sub folders).

The super assembly (main assembly doc consisting of sub and sub-sub assemblies) used to update perfectly when I updated one level lower sub assemblies contained in it. I have one other assembly consisting of lower level assemblies in the super assembly, and this all of a sudden broke my super assembly after updating the sub-sub assembly - this is getting very confusing - here is the document if anyone can have a look: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/b74c3402d8a24e461f3c2e59/w/fc83a5cac7defe032f1d57d1/e/186aa87a7d94186b43077e4b

I created V0.1 at the point where the main assy did not update from the subs any more, but the version was only created after the next change which completely messed up the layout. Any insights into what is going one here would be appreciated. I would assume that multiple hierarchical folder structures and assemblies are supported, but wondering if this is not the cause?

Thanks

andy_morris

Onshape supports the multiple hierarchy that you have created in your document. Updates you make to parts and assemblies within this document will be reflected in all level of the hierarchy immediately.

There is an assembly from a linked document so you will need to version that document and then update manually to see those changes in the FB2020 document.

Looking closer into your assembly, the problem seems to be that the Z-Carriage has been moved a long way from the rest of the assembly. (At first I thought the sub-assembly was missing). The versions and history graph shows a drag event after version V0.1. So if you want to get back to that state you can restore to that point.



Another suggestion is to make the drag and assembly behavior easier is to ensure you constrain your sub-assemblies so that they have only the essential motion. If a sub-assembly is under constrained then you can get parts moving large distances when you drag. I suspect this is why the Lead Screw and Bed Holder parts moved a long way from the rest of the sub-assembly.

You can add mates to constrain parts, or use the "group" feature to make a rigid set of multiple parts so they move as one. Let me know if that helps.

fitz_terra

Thanks Andy.

Yes, after getting more familiar with OnShape, I started to expect that the reason the Z-Carriage is all the way out to the one side is due to some movement. I did not do this deliberately though, so at first when I saw this, I could not understand the reason. That is when I switched on all the mate connectors, and then could not find how to switch it off again :-) Thanks for doing that for me.

I'll go check the linked part and get that versioned, and also thanks for showing me ho to restore to a previous version - I knew it was possible, and noticed it could be done on the mobile version, but could not for the life of me find how to do it on the desktop.

Anyway, your help is greatly appreciated on my journey to get to know OnShape.

Thanks.