Importing assemblies

The Meridian Enterprise Assembly Import Wizard can be used to import a variety of CAD assemblies into a vault. After you select the top level file of an assembly, the tool scans the file for links to other files that are referenced by the selected file. It then imports all of the files and creates Meridian Enterprise references that represent each link found. The Assembly Import Wizard supports the following CAD drawing formats:

  • AutoCAD/Mechanical Desktop
  • AutoCAD sheet sets
  • AutoCAD Electrical projects
  • AutoCAD Plant 3D projects
  • Autodesk Inventor
  • SolidWorks
  • MicroStation
Note:
  • Importing an assembly that has circular references will create matching Meridian references correctly except for the returning references to the main assembly.
  • The Assembly Import Wizard is not capable of importing assemblies that were last saved in an older version of Autodesk Inventor than is currently installed. For example, if the assembly was last saved in Autodesk Inventor 2011, and the installed version is Autodesk Inventor 2012, the assembly first needs to be migrated to Autodesk Inventor 2012, before the Assembly Import Wizard is capable of importing it. For assistance in automating this task with Meridian Enterprise, consult a system administrator.
  • The references that are created between Autodesk Inventor parts, assemblies, and drawings are influenced by the SupportInventorDWG registry value that is described in the Accruent Meridian Enterprise Administrator's Guide.
  • Before importing SolidWorks assemblies, disable the SolidWorks option Search file locations for external references.
  • Before importing a large assembly or many smaller assemblies to a vault that has been configured to use local workspace, temporarily disable local workspace synchronization as described in Configuring local workspace until the import is completed. The synchronization could interfere with the import and result in error messages like The specified file cannot be opened.

To import an assembly:

  1. The Assembly Import Wizard can either recreate the existing assembly source folder structure in the vault or create a new folder in the root of the vault in which to recreate the source folder structure. You can move the files after you import them if you want to place them in a different location. If you want to create a new folder structure in the vault to contain the assembly, create it on your PC and copy or move the assembly files there before proceeding.
  2. Start the Assembly Import Wizard program. By default, it is located at C:\Program Files (x86)\BC-Meridian\Program\BCAssemblyImport.exe. The Welcome to Assembly Import Wizard wizard page appears and lists the types of assemblies that you can import.
  3. Select an assembly type and click Next. The Assembly Location page appears.
  4. Click Browse and select the assembly that you want to import. If you want to import all assemblies in the selected folder, select Import Folder. Click Next. The Vault Location page appears.
  5. Click Select and select a vault for the destination of the assemblies. If you want to create a new subfolder for the imported assemblies, type its name in the text box. Click Next. The Manage Preferences page appears.

  6. Click options or type values using the descriptions in the following table.

    Assembly import options
    Option Description

    Raise new object events

    Causes the VBScript events that are related to new document creation to occur. Select this option if you want the vault script to react to the imported assembly files the same as if the files were imported using other methods.

    Import title blocks

    Imports title block properties if they have been configured in the vault by a system administrator.

    Click Next. The Completing Assembly Import Wizard page appears.

  7. Click Finish. The import status of each assembly is shown along with a progress bar while the files are imported.

    When the import is finished, the results are shown on-screen and saved in the file BCAssemblyImport.log located in the same folder as the program. By default, this is C:\Program Files (x86)\BC-Meridian\Program. If any errors occurred during the import, you can click Add to log to append the error messages to the log file for later analysis.

  8. Click New Import to repeat the process with a different assembly. Click Close when you are finished.
Note:
  • If the Assembly Import Wizard appears to have stopped working, it can actually be because another application that is used during the import has stopped and is showing messages that are hidden behind the visible windows. Minimize all visible windows to expose these messages, or use Alt-Tab to switch to the other application.
  • To correct an imported assembly that does not have Meridian references, use the Synchronize References from File command as described in Synchronizing references.