A custom content library is a user-defined content library that is created using the AMCONTENTMANAGER command.
In the Content Libraries dialog box (AMCONTENTLIB command), custom content libraries are displayed under the Custom Content branch of the tree on the left.
Although AutoCAD Mechanical toolset ships with over a half a million standard parts and features, a specific item you require may not exist. For example, GOST steel shapes and piping parts. There are other cases where you need a variation of an existing standard part. For example, a steel shape with a hole at a specific place. To assist you in such a scenario, AutoCAD Mechanical toolset provides the ability to build your own content and store them in custom content libraries.
Content in custom content libraries can be like block libraries; single view geometries that do not update the BOM upon insertion. They could also be fully fledged parts/features such as those in the standard parts content library. You select a part/feature, select a view, and select a size from among a predefined list of sizes and place it in the drawing area. You can then generate the other views of this part using the AMPOWERVIEW command. As you place a part in the drawing area, the BOM updates automatically.
A custom content library is not a single file, but a collection of files stored in a folder. To make it easy to select a library, the Content Manager lets you select a .gdb file, which is stored within the folder containing the library. The libraries you select in this manner are displayed in the Content Libraries and Content Manager dialog boxes. You can access content libraries from the hard disk of your computer or from a common location on a network drive.
Consider this scenario. You have inserted parts from a custom content library into a drawing. Your CAD Manager has rolled out a new version of the custom content library. Some parts you used in the drawing have been revised. Hence, you must update the parts you inserted in the drawing.
When you double-click (AMPOWEREDIT) a part in the drawing area, the part refreshes automatically. The drawback of this method is that you can only double click one part at a time. The AMCONTENTUPDATE command lets you selectively update multiple parts. However, AMCONTENTUPDATE is not able to update some parts, sometimes. In such a case, double-click the parts to update them.
The AMCONTENTUPDATE command supersedes the ANCONTENTMIGRATE command, which was used to update vario parts.
See also Author, customize and publish content libraries