yang686526

mating with api
hi,
i'm new to the api and am hoping someone can give me some guidance on this.
i am trying to automate a process; we currently use another software tool to perform calculations to size certain parts for us, all the dimensional information is available for me to access (text file output format). the major part geometry would only change in size, type and thickness. the assembly may have as few as 3 parts or as many 100 parts depending the project and each part could change. what i mean by this statement (all parts could change) is that i can not simply create an assembly with different configurations since the possibly of configurations is driven by projects and calculations and not standards.
my thought now is that the only way to automate this is to create an api that would use a set of base parts that contains all the possible features i would require, 1) create a copy of the part in a project folder, 2) change what i needed for the project (i.e. change configuration of the part to suppress features, modify dimensions), 3) create an assembly and start inserting parts. before i proceed further does anyone see this as not being possible or not advisable?
assuming this is the right path, what is the best way to mate parts using the api? for certain part connections i can use mate references because they can only be used in certain places (e.g. bushing on a shaft), can you in the api specify mating with mate references?
for other parts it is not as simple, there maybe structural steel that i need to mate to another piece of structural steel or multiple pieces of steel that i need to mate to one piece in various locations, my only starting point would be the known location of the initial piece of steel i have placed in the assembly. the concept i have right now is to create reference geometry in the assembly based off the initial piece of steel so that i can mate and constrain the new steel there, is this the best way to go?
thanks,
ed
quick