Linked equation file causing strange rebuild and dirty file issues?

[ryan-feeley]

I've been observing some weirdness with parts that have global variables defined by a linked equation file (e.g. equations.txt). I'm curious if anyone else has seen this sort of thing and has any guidance for how to use this aspect of the software. Perhaps it should just be avoided?

Examples:

1. If I do a pack-and-go of a part file with a linked eqn file, the part file becomes dirty (asterisk in the file name and requiring save). If I go ahead and save it, and then open an assembly that uses the part file, the assembly needs to rebuild. This is a bother if any parts have in-context references from that assembly, since they also need to rebuild.
2. If I change a value in the text file, and CTRL+B or CTRL+Q the part to suck in the new value, save, and create an assembly from the part, then manually rebuilding the assy or changing the display state of the part file within the assy causes the part file to rebuild and be marked dirty.
3. If I unlink and relink the .txt file, and CTRL+B or CTRL+Q, and create an assembly from the part, then the above behavior occurs with any assy using that part.

I'm currently using SW2020 SP5, but I believe this sort of behavior has been typical for many past versions of the software. I haven't tried 2021 yet. I can post some simple examples files using default templates that have this behavior, if anyone is curious enough to try to reproduce it themselves.