Duplicate References
The Copy with References, Derive with References, and Create Project Copy commands can duplicate the Meridian references to and from a source document to the new document. Alternatively, the referenced documents themselves can also be copied by the commands. These commands use the Reference Explorer to help you see the documents with references to and from the source document and to decide which references and/or documents to copy. This can be useful if you want to create a new assembly or sub-assembly based on an existing document and want to retain the references to existing subassemblies and parts or copy them also.
The default action of the commands can be either to create and reference copies of the original assembly or to only reference the source assembly documents. This action is configurable by a System Administrator for each document type. Your ability to override the default action (for example, by selecting a referenced document for copying when the default action is to reference the source document) is controlled by a security privilege that is part of your security role for the source document folder. Likewise, referenced documents that are under change in a document workflow cannot be copied and will display an error message.
By default, the Copy with References and Derive with References commands are only available for AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks, and MicroStation files. Additional file types can be enabled with the ExtForDuplicator value of the following registry key on your computer:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Cyco\AutoManager Meridian\CurrentVersion\Client
PowerWeb Procedures
Use these steps for PowerWeb.
To duplicate references:
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Select the document that you want to copy.
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Choose one of the following options:
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From the Edit ribbon:
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In the Copy group, click the arrow
next to Copy. -
Click Copy With References or Derive With References.
The page refreshes to show only the selected document and its references.
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Right-click the document, point to Copy and then select Copy with References or Derive with References.
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From the Thumbnails view:
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Right-click a thumbnail of a folder or document.
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Point to New and then select Copy with References or Derive with References.
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If the document that you selected is a CAD assembly, in the Assembly ribbon, select options in the Options group to show additional references as described in the following table.
In the Folder Structure group, select the option for how you want a folder structure created for the referenced documents as described in the following table.
By default, all of the related documents are selected for the copy operation. If you have the privilege to override the default, you can toggle the Select for Copy
option to Select Entire Branch for Copy or to Use Original
for any documents that you do not want to copy. -
When you have finished selecting documents, click Start Copy.
The Copy with references dialog shows the reference structure of the documents that will be copied.
If the document type of the source document or its referenced documents has been configured to show property pages for copy commands, the pages are shown with the original document's property values as defaults.
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Type or change property values for the document that is highlighted in the reference structure view.
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If you want to apply the property values to all the referenced documents as well (assuming they are of the same type), enable Apply for all documents of this type.
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Click Next or Finish.
If you did not enable Apply for all documents of this type, additional property pages will be shown for each reference to be copied. Documents with completed property pages are indicated with this icon
.When all required property pages have been completed, a new document is created in the current folder with the same file content and references as the original document. If the default action is configured to create copies of referenced documents, copies of them are created also. The Operation Log panel shows the result of the copy process.
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When you are finished making copies, enable Go to copied assembly if you want to work on the copy next, and then click Close.
PowerUser Procedures
Use these steps for PowerUser.
To duplicate references:
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Select the document that you want to copy or derive from.
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Select the appropriate copy command depending on whether or not you want a reference made between the original and new documents or you want to create a project copy.
The Select Folder dialog box appears.
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Select a destination folder for the new document and click OK.
The Reference Explorer appears, listing the original document and the other documents that either reference or are referenced by the original document. The entire assembly structure can be displayed by expanding each referenced document. For information on using the Reference Explorer, see Reference Explorer.
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To configure command options, click the Options button
. The Assembly Copy Options dialog box appears.
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Select options using the descriptions in the following table and click OK.
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In the Reference Explorer, select (highlight) the documents for which you want to copy references and/or documents and click OK.
If you do not have the privilege to override the default action, selected documents will display a red X icon nearby.
Hold down the Ctrl key and click to select additional documents. Hold down the Shift key and click to select a range of documents.
If the document type of the original document or its referenced documents has been configured to show property pages for the Copy Document command, the pages are shown with the original document's property values as defaults.
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If necessary, type or change property values for the new document and click Next or Finish.
A new document is created in the selected folder with the same file content and references as the original document. If the default action is configured to create copies of referenced documents, copies of them are created also.
Assembly Copy Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
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Display manual references |
Shows references that were created manually as well as those created automatically by the CAD application links. |
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Display inactive project copies |
Along with active project copies, also show project copies that have been released as new master revisions, have been superseded by the master document, or have been merged with the master document. |
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Copy drawing and presentation documents |
Copies any Autodesk Inventor presentation documents related to the selected model. Enabled by default. |
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Include connecting assemblies |
Copies the parent and child referenced documents in addition to the selected document. If disabled, references from the selected document remain connected to the master documents. Enabled by default. |
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Rebuild folder structure relative to the main assembly |
Builds a folder structure to contain the referenced documents. It is built in the selected folder relative to the main assembly. This is the default option. |
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Rebuild folder structure relative to each subassembly |
Builds a folder structure to contain the referenced documents. It is built in the selected folder relative to each sub-assembly. |
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Do not rebuild folder structure |
Does not build new folders to contain the referenced documents. |
