Inner workings of components

I’ve researched a little, but still not understanding the proper use of components and the component browser and I’m hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

I’m modeling a custom residential structure. In order to keep the model from slowing down from size, I have the project set up over a few different files. I’ve been copying / paste in place various elements from one file to another so as to coordinate and validate the entire structure. In the past some of the members here have advised me that components are a better way to do this.

In the first image, I have taken the steel columns on a floor, and made them a component by selecting all and selecting “make component”. I selected “Component Attributes” and locked the component’s position in the XYZ axis. And I saved to a local collection.

Now, when I go to bring this component into another file via the component window, I would expect that it would keep the position attributes and automatically be placed in its original location from the original file. But it doesn’t, as the second image shows. Same thing with importing it into another file - the position attributes get lost. So, I’m left with copy / paste in place.

Am I missing something?

Thanks

Bob

I don’t think ‘you are missing something’ - that’s just the way components (even Dynamic Components) work. The whole component doesn’t know where you want to put it (though the relative position of subcomponents can be controlled in Dynamic Components).

So Edit/Paste in Place is the approach I would use.

But it only works if you do the Copy from a model with the component in the right position to start with. You can’t do that directly by insertion from the component browser.

However, you COULD do something similar from the browser if the component has its origin in a known place - say, the origin of the ‘master plan’ copy. Put a construction point at the origin in the component (use a plugin, or at a pinch the Tape Measure tool), then place that from the component browser insert operation at the ‘known origin’ in the parent model.

Hi John

Thanks for responding. Yes, when I set up my various files for creating a model, I start with 3 “reference planes” that define planes in the XYZ axis. These are the first objects to go into the various files in which I create the parts of the model. So, while including the origin in a component allows placement of that component accurately, so does paste in place.

Regards

Hi Dave

Yea, what you gif shows is exactly the way I’d think it would work. But my component isn’t. In the first image I included, I’m showing the component attribute dialog with the position parameters locked in as you describe (=X,Y, and Z position). The 2nd image shows those same attributes in a new model file into which I’ve placed the component. And the attribute dialog is missing the position parameter.

How do you get the attributes to persist? In the model file in which I created the component, it acts as expected - I move it along any axis and it springs back to its original position, as in your gif animation. But, whether I load the component into a new file either from the component dialog or File>Import command, those position attributes are lost.

Scratching my head…

Bob

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