Multi assembly per file

[leoheck]

Hi @Zolko-123 , is this allowed?

If not, why?

Right now, I can create more than one Assembly Part. But I cannot use the second one.
Also, I would like to call my Assembly something else.

For instance, I have a Part that is a Lego Brick.
Then I would like to have one Assembly that is a 1x10 Tower and another Assembly that is a 2x5 Wall.
I want to have both of them in the same file. Is this possible?

[Zolko-123]

Many questions :

I would like to call my Assembly something else

you can change the Label (the displayed name) but not the internal " Assembly " name. There are several reasons for that

Is this possible?

yes, see screenshot (I didn't make a real Lego brick, the Body is empty, it's only to show the functionality)

Select a Std_Part and click on "Insert Part" and you can insert a Link into that Part, which becomes an assembly. You can even change the icon of the Std_Part to that of an assembly.

What you cannot do is to use the Asm4 placement tools, those only work on real assemblies : those where the Std_Part is named Assembly ... and there can only be one

[leoheck]

you can change the Label (the displayed name) but not the internal " Assembly " name. There are several reasons for that

Yeah, the internal name is fixed. Alright, so I can "relabel" the Assembly to something else and use it as a subassembly on another file, right?

What you cannot do is to use the Asm4 placement tools, those only work on real assemblies : those where the Std_Part is named Assembly ... and there can only be one

This is what I am talking about. Can I have 2 (or more) Real Asm4 Assemblies per file? Why is it not possible? I would like to use the Asm4 Placement tools, of course, this is the most valuable thing.

For instance, this is possible on the new (Ondsel) Assembly.
They use this concept of Activated Assembly to tell the workbench where it should insert parts and do the operations.
It is like how the Body works, right?

If this is the reason Asm4 cannot handle 2 or more Asm4 Assemblies per file, I think Asm4 could do the same. What to you think?

[Zolko-123]

Is there something that you cannot do today because of this limitation, or is this a usability request ? If the former then I'd like to see a concrete example, if it's the latter then it will have to wait.

Your example of Lego bricks can be solved by having the Tower_1x10 and Wall_2x5 assemblies in 2 different files ... as you would in ALL other CAD software.

[leoheck]

Is there something that you cannot do today because of this limitation

Yes, I cannot have 2 or more real asm4 assemblies inside of the same file and this should be a trivial thing.

I design electronic devices including boards and plastic.

My goal is to organize better my files/projects.

I have a file that has batteries, and I would also want to have battery packs in it.
A battery pack is a compound of multiple batteries. It can have different arrangements/formats. In this case it would be good to have multiple packs which are the Real Asm4 Assemblies inside of the same file.

as you would in ALL other CAD software.

Well, I don't use other CAD software. I use Freecad. I don't see that it is right to limit yourself based on the limitation of the others. This is a small feature and could potentialize the usability of the Asm4.

[Zolko-123]

My goal is to organize better my files/projects

you can use Groups for that, they are the poor man's secondary assemblies

[leoheck]

Groups are just a folder, right? They don't use LCS to guide the assembly, do they? Groups cannot be translated as well.
I understand a Part Std_Part is the poor man's secondary assembly, but group does not look like that.

[Zolko-123]

FreeCAD + Assembly4 allows a lot of workflows you can choose from

[leoheck]

I feel you are not understanding what I am talking about.

[Zolko-123]

you said it clearly:

I would like to call my Assembly something else

won't happen. End of story. I was trying to explain this politely but you didn't want to understand.

The reason is that Assembly4 is not designed for you, but for everybody, including German, French, Russian and Chinese, and if everyone could call an assembly something they wish then it would be impossible to share complex designs in complex assemblies. Therefore: an assembly is always called "Assembly" internally. You can give it another display name but internally it will always be called "Assembly". And this makes it unique in each file as is the case for all CAD software.

[leoheck]

See, by name I meant Label. Sorry for the confusion.

[leoheck]

The goal I am aiming for is this:

Allow multiple Assemblies per file.

Does this work already?
If not, Is there any good reason this is not like this right now?
How can someone make it happen?

For this to work, I believe that:

• Assemblies will continue having unique (internal) Names it does not matter. This is generated automatically, Asm4 should not care about it either.
• Assemblies can have different (user attributed) Labels. This is still the normal/standard behavior.
• The built assembly should be Activated to be edited/constructed. This should work as in Part Design.

Having this feature will give so much flexibility for this Workbench.