Import local parts/sketches or have a local library?

Feature requests
1

i guess this would be more of a feature request if there isnt a workaround.
It would be amazing to be able to import other shapr projects to use globally.
i feel like the additions of variables makes this an amazing approach…

say i have a design thats the sketch of a bolt pattern for drawer slides, and its setup with variables so that if i change the slide length, it will adjust the bolt pattern accordingly.
if i could import that to another project, directly from within shapr to use.
Use override variables within the new project that will affect only the imported part/template and not affect the original. Not only that but its linked to the original design and can update across all or some projects its being used in without overides.
if you want to unlink it, there will be an option at import to unlink, and changes on the original design will not be updated.
you can also unlink some time after import and it will retain the overrides and current state up to the point of unlinking. and then you can continue to use the overrides but no other aspects will get updates from the original.

i hope that makes sense

2 Likes
2

+1, Right now, the workaround is to export a project to .shapr format and then import it to the project. Being able to drag and drop projects into other projects would be great! Also when modeling huge complicated projects, one could create smaller projects to avoid having loading problems etc, and then bring them all together when they‘re done

3 Likes
3

Ya. Just add an extra menu to import, that will list other projects.

And you can use construction axis or planes as alignment references too. They can act as anchor’s in the original part design

4

Hi
I mostly use a bottom up design process rather than a top down.
Draw the components you want for the design project, and keep these all together in the project folder. When when you are happy with the part, export the model either as Shapr file or Parasolid file to a project folder on your PC.
I then have an assembly model in the project, into which I import the component parts and copy as needed.
I tend to import the Parasolid part into my assembly, to reduce the number of sketches and history elements in the model. This maintains the smoothness and speed of operation.
Having a project folder on your PC with all the important component files is good practice.
Yes, updating a part can be a pain because they are simply bodies in a drawing and you have to do the update process by hand.
That was one of the features of Fusion I absolutely adored was component handling and update, and the fact that it told you there was an out of date part.

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For sure. And that’s the way I’m doing it now as well.

But I’ve been building and reusing multiple templates for things lately. And being able to assign anchors and reference lines in the original part and those be maintained through complex projects, but an easy edit in a stand alone project, would be so amazing.
I know you can use the isolation tool and all that but sometimes projects just get too big.
Or you lose track of something you hadn’t quite got a name for yet
Or in collaborative pieces that have no naming standards maybe(I know, another issue entirely, lol)