@pcmoor said:

Just to be clear, copying is not the issue, but using a copy to create a new component is. This is very much the case if a copy or instance is used in another file, isolated, changed then brought back within the influence the original.

Copies of subcomponents can cause problems if they not not made unique, even groups can retain a connection when copied. You change the formula in one sub, it effects all the others that are copies. Move a component into another file, change the formulas, call it something else, bring it back into the orginal file, the subs will "update" to the new formulas, usually the affected components will have red # errors
Reuse or repurpose is okay, but make each sub component unique within a master file, unless the sub is to be used by all (like a shelf,door) then the parent! reference is used rather than the parents attribute dialog heading otherwise cupboard1!doorwidth will overwrite cupboard2!doorwidth whereas parent!doorwith works for both

Fantastic!
Inheritance and Incapsulation: I should have thought to them.
I made a quick and dirty test and I am pretty sure that was the problem.
From now on I will follow your guidelines, thanks so much.

@pcmoor said:

Can you share some of of your components? Maybe private if intellectual property. Stray errors can significantly slow DCs down, they can be caused via copies of subs for a new component without making each part unique.

Let me clean up a little my file and I will be happy to share it.

In the meantime, your sentence ('copies of subs for a new component without making each part unique') make me think about a possible mine misunderstanding of how a DC must be used.

Actually I have 3 copies of the same component, a kitchen cabinet with different formats (4 drawers, 2 drawers, plain panel,...); the format is selects by a 'Type' attribute and the unwanted parts are hidden. The same for the sub-components materials, which can be 'local' or 'global' depending on another flag.
The 3 copies are NOTunique; I did not think this is a requirement.
Is it wrong?

Giacomo

Hi, as said in a previous post, I'm a newbie in dynamic components.
Step by step I am learning something using a Kitchen scene to make pratice.
With just a couple of DCs I did not notice that my PC response was slow, until I reach a 'complexity' of around a dozen among main and sub-components.

Components have some material and sizing attributes and some parts can be hide depending on selected states (I suspect this is the trouble).
Now, to update a component with a new attribute's value it takes between 3 upto 5 seconds.

It is 'expected' or 'slow'?

This is my main configuration:
CPU: Pentium Dual-Core G320 @ 3GHz
RAM: 4GB
Video: GeForce GT730
Windows 7 SP1 32bit
SU 2016

I undestand this is not the optimal configuration, even if few years ago it was, but this is what I can afford right now.

The interesting point is that with a normal scene without any DC, even complex and with hundreds of elements, I do not see any visible slowing down in orbiting, zooming, scaling...

Should be an expected behaviour with my config I think it would be better to forget about DCs.

@pbacot said:

I don't know if this works in your setup or dynamic components for that matter. And I suspect it is no good if you are outputing the chosen material (color) in some bill of materials... But I use
"Material Replacer" to globally change a material in a model.

Thanks for the hint; I'm sure it is very usefull, but at the moment I suspect to have a serious performancies issue, for which I will post right now in a new topic.
Giacomo

@pcmoor said:

Giacomo,
I downgraded the file to 2016
To copy and paste you need to use attribute inspector from the extension warehouse or
https://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?listtype=1&author=0&category=0&search=attribute+inspector&submit=%3F

then find the _option in the dynamic attributes,you will see that have URI formatting. Copy & paste the values using control c,v, You need to remove an "&" to add on further copied values

One can use an excel macro to read and convert a list too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4gcm8HXLV0 shows the use of the macro and Attribute Inspector

you need to private message your email to get the excel macro, as can not load to this forum

I will study and test your material in the next days; I'm sure they will help a lot.
Thanks for your excellent support
Giacomo

@pcmoor said:

@orionis98 said:

I hoped there was a way to define some out-of-context attributes.

There are techniques of achieving this
sample attached where one can choose the default (global) or own input for a bench top

Thanks again for your support; unfortunately I have SU 2016 and can not open your file.

I would ask you another question (I might open a new topic, eventually): following a 'plain' approach, thus assemble a macro component to drive all the real elements, I still have a very boring issue: with tens of material selectors (at least 2 for each element, plus the globals ones) I have to declare a list of materials (the same) for each.
Is there any way to 'copy & paste' the list from one component to another one?

Thanks again
Giacomo

@pcmoor said:

You could create a group or component called kitchen, then build or place components in this environment. "Kitchen" would hold the global attributes. So newly inserted cabinet DCs will read with attributes =parent!.... and update. You could save this file as a template.

Thanks for the answer; this was my original idea, but I find it an impractical solutions because you have to deal with a new 'macro' component to be exploded for any change to one of its sub components.

I hoped there was a way to define some out-of-context attributes.
If there aren't, I will adopt what you suggest.

I'm starting to study DCs, with a quite good knowledge in programming with different languages.
My question, made simple: is there a way to have some global attribute in a scene?

I made a number of kitchen dynamic components (I'm sure this is common starting point, all with their own attributes for materials.
It is boring to select each single element just to change colors, so I wonder if I can define somewhere in an upper level the materials to be referenced globally by all the elements.
This is also to avoid to create a list of materials for each elements.
I thought to use 'Choose' with an index inherited from a 'global' array, but where and how?

Hope this is clear, thanks