Pack and Go

Created by: Dave Kramer, Application Engineer

I recently discovered a few options that I didn’t realize were available and would have saved time over the years using Pack and Go.

Save to Name

Suppose the assembly above is opened and a copy with a generic numbering system is desired. The clunky way is to open the assembly and each of its components then saving each component with a new number. Better option: use Pack and Go. Go to File > Pack and Go. Double click the “Save to Name” field.

When you do that, a dialog box opens asking for the new name.

Type in your new generic name and accept.

Do the same for all the part names and hit Save. Your new file system is in place.

Select/Replace

Suppose you like to keep a made-on date in your file system to keep the versions separate. With Pack and Go, that process is made simple with the Select/Replace function.

A new concept is in order and you’d like to save a copy of the assembly with the date adjusted to avoid overwriting your old concept. Go to File > Pack and Go. Single click the “Select/Replace” option. The following window shows:

In the Search Criteria, Search the “Save to Name” column for the made-on date and check replace text and type in the new date. Replace All, hit close, then save.

Your assembly and components are copied with a new date.

Before discovering these option, and without a product data management (PDM system), I was in the habit of appending the file names with the next revision. “Add Suffix” was the function that I zeroed in on. We nearly made it through the alphabet on one program.  4908-1_fea_…_r_s_t.sldasm. Ridiculous.