When you save a part that has external references to another document, the path and the internal ID of the referenced document are saved with the current part. The software needs this information to locate and verify the original document the next time you open the derived part.
You can specify whether or not referenced documents are opened when you open a part that has external references.
Locating Derived Parts
Suppose you create a derived part, then you inadvertently move or rename the original document. When you try to open the derived part, the software notifies you that the externally referenced document (the original) was not found, and you are given a chance to look for it. If you choose not to look, the operation is cancelled.
If you decide to look for the referenced document, you have the following choices:
- If you locate and select the original document (in a different directory, or with a new name), the derived part opens using the new name or path. Because the internal ID matches, the external reference updates as expected. When you save the part, the new name or path is saved also.
- If you select a different document, you are notified that the internal ID does not match. Then you can either accept the selected document anyway, or keep looking.
Rebuild Errors
If you accept the selected document, the model may have rebuild errors, especially if you have added features in the derived part document. If the geometry of the document you selected is not the same as the geometry of the original referenced document, the additional features may have rebuild errors.