Problem summary: Parts in an assembly that are based on the Skeleton Sketch Part (SSP) do not update when the top level assembly (TLA) changes configurations.
After reading about the SSP method/process on this very forum (as I understand it was developed by and discussed in some detail in this thread) I was inspired to try it out for my next project. Unfortunately I've encountered issues that have caused me to question the limitations of this method, my understanding of the method, and my wisdom in trying to implement an untested workflow while working against a deadline. I've attached a simplified model to demonstrate the problem with the following structure:
- TEST_TLA.sldasm (1,2,3)
- TEST_SSP.sldprt (1,2,3)
- TEST_SUBASSY.sldasm (1,2,3)
- TEST_SSP.sldprt (1,2,3)
- TEST_PART.sldasm
Initially I had hoped that I could just configure TEST_SSP and everything would work fine. However, I realized that the instance of TEST_SSP inside TEST_SUBASSY doesn't follow the configuration of the instance in the TLA. So, I made configurations 1, 2, and 3 within the TLA, the SSP, and the SUBASSY. When I change the TLA configuration from 1 to 2, all the other configurations change accordingly. However, TEST_PART does not recognize that the SSP it is based on has changed configurations. Just rebuilding the assembly won't do it -- I have to open TEST_SUBASSY for the configuration change to actually affect the geometry.
In the actual assembly I'm building the dimensions of the SSP are controlled by global variables in a design table, with about a dozen top level configurations. And since the actual assembly has many more components than this, opening each subassembly just to get the geometry to update is not feasible for me.
How can I configure my assembly using the SSP method? Any guidance will be greatly appreciated.
Notes:
- I'm working in a PDM environment
- It doesn't seem to matter whether the subassembly or the part are virtual
- Deriving sketches from TEST_SSP to TEST_PART and converting entities has the same effect