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Folders in Parts List in Part Studio?
simon_owen703
Member Posts: 11 ✭✭
Re-submitted in proper category 
0
Answers
@simon_owen703 seems to be asking about folders for the "parts list" not the "part studio".
The folders in the part studio are only for features in the feature tree. Not for the actual list of parts below the feature tree.
Is this a planned improvement?
Yeah the only problem for me is that I'm tracing a image and I would like easier folder organization
Yeah the only problem for me is that I'm tracing a image and I would like easier folder organization
I have a lot of parts in my parts list and want to organize them, like I have been doing it in SW
This thread was started 6 years ago, and since then, folders have been added in specific places.
In a part studio, parts cannot be placed into folders. It wouldn't make any sense, because parts are created via features sequentially.
In a part studio, you can place features into folders, as long as they are sequential features.
In an assembly studio, you can place individual instances into folders. All assembly mates are solved simultaneously, not in sequence, so the instances list can be in any order, or placed inside random folders. (instance is the assembly term for a part).
When doing multi-body modelling or surface modelling, it is common to generate numerous bodies (parts in Onshape) and multiple surface entities within a single Part Studio. As models grow in complexity, managing visibility and maintaining clarity at the Part Studio level becomes increasingly difficult.
It would be extremely valuable to have the ability to group parts and surfaces into folders directly within the Part Studio. This would allow users to:
This functionality is already available in SolidWorks, Fusion, and several other CAD platforms, where it significantly improves workflow efficiency.
I am specifically looking for organization at the Part Studio level — not in an Assembly. Requiring an assembly as a workaround adds unnecessary complexity and defeats the purpose during early-stage modelling.
Adding folder-based organization for parts and surfaces would greatly enhance usability for advanced modelling workflows. It seems like a relatively straightforward improvement with high impact.
Please consider implementing this capability.
It's not exactly what you're asking for, but creating an open or closed composite part can be a way of grouping/hiding/showing a bunch of parts/surfaces/curves in a part studio. I definitely use it with large numbers of curves when doing complex surface modeling.
Simon Gatrall | Product Development, Engineering, Design, Onshape | Ex- IDEO, PCH, Unagi, Carbon | LinkedIn
Thank you S1mon! The Composite Part feature does help. As you mentioned, it’s not exactly the functionality I’m looking for, but it does provide a partial workaround for grouping and hiding/showing multiple parts, surfaces, or curves within a Part Studio.
That said, I frequently work on modelling projects that involve many distinct parts (bodies, as they are called in Fusion or SolidWorks) within a single Part Studio. The parts are not mechanisms with parts moving or rotating relative to one another so in these cases, I don’t need or want the additional layer of complexity that comes with using an Assembly (fixing, mating and the overhead of managing multiple tabs). These bodies simply need to remain positioned in the 3D space where they were created.
What I do need, however, is a straightforward way to organize bodies and surfaces (in folders) so they can be hidden or shown collectively. When a model contains dozens of parts, repeatedly clicking individual items in the parts list and surface list becomes tedious and slows down the workflow significantly.
I am flabbergasted that parts cannot be organized into folders within a Part Studio in OnShape. In many modelling workflows, this capability is essential (ex.: advanced surfacing workflows). It exists in SolidWorks, Fusion, and several other CAD systems and other 3D modelling software and it provides a simple but powerful way to manage complex models.
From a user perspective, this seems like a relatively modest feature to implement, yet it would have a significant impact on usability and efficiency. For my own workflow, the absence of this functionality is close to being a deal-breaker when considering OnShape.
If anyone from PTC happens to see this, I strongly encourage you to consider implementing folders for parts within Part Studios.
And before dismissing this request as unreasonable or the result of misusing the software, I would be more than happy to walk through real modelling scenarios where this capability becomes critical.
For context, I started working with parametric feature-based modelling in 1995 using Pro/ENGINEER on Silicon Graphics workstations. Over the years I’ve used a range of systems including SolidWorks, OnShape, and Fusion, and organizing bodies within a modelling environment has consistently been a fundamental part of an efficient workflow.