keep parts in sync ?

this might be a silly question, but I'm wondering if it is possible to keep one part synced wiht another part.

What I would like to do is to have the main walls depend on hte foundation, so if I change the foundation the walls are aoutmatically updated.

I tried to create the walls as a new part in the assembly, and that seems to work fine except each tiem I save I'm asked if I want to save it as internal or external, and when saved as exteral and the part alone is opened the planes seems to be flipped, the top plane is changed front plane (at least when I select the front view I get the top view from the assembly).

So - what would be the best way to do this if I want one part to depend on the dimensions of another part? (I'm not really looking fro a derived part - I think).

Jesper

“So - what would be the best way to do this if I want one part to depend on the dimensions of another part?”

The way you probably did it is the most common way. Putting the parts in an assy and constraining one part to another part. SW calls this “in-context”.

In your example, after inserting and fixing the foundation and wall parts into an assy… you would start your wall sketch on top of the foundation then “Covert” the foundation perimeter to your sketch. (Convert is short for convert model edges to sketch entities) Converted entities in the wall sketch will be in sync with the foundation. Converted entities are very cool, play around with them… they can be modified and they will still do their basic job. You can also constrain sketches on one part to another, or extrude one part to a point on another part. These are all ways to make the parts associative.

“and that seems to work fine except each tiem I save I'm asked if I want to save it as internal or external”

“New Part” creates a virtual part that is stored inside the assy… not in a separate file. This saves a lot of file management work while designing different variations. The prompt is making sure you know the parts are not saved to a file. You will need separate files if you want individually detail drawings of the parts. If not… you can model the entire building in a single assy file. You can check “don’t ask me again” to avoid the prompt. Then when you want to save individual files use “save-as” or RMB on a part and pick “save part(in external file)”.

“the part alone is opened the planes seems to be flipped, the top plane is changed front plane”

You probably have redefined your standard views using “update standard views” on the “orientation” popup… Maybe trying to get the UCS triad to point the way you want? You can try “reset standard views” on the “orientation” popup. In the future, don’t redefine the standard view, it only causes trouble. Any time your prompted for an X-Y movement X and Y axis will be “normal” as long as you use the “standard” view… regardless of the XYZ direction on the triad.

thank you very much for you explanation. I guess for a what I'm trying to do it makes sense to keep most of it within the assembly then.

Jesper