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Inventor View 2013 File Associations

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Message 1 of 21
nlbisd
7673 Views, 20 Replies

Inventor View 2013 File Associations

Hello,

I have installed Inventor View 2013 64bit on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 with and without UAC (results are the same) and noticed that someone did a terrible job of creating the setup (I hope the full version of Inventor 2013 isn't like that).  There are no file associations created for Inventor file types.  I've read other posts of people complaining about the same thing for IV 2012, but I have not tested it on that version.  I've tried the various fixes (dll registrations, etc) for the 2012 version on the 2013 version, but they did nothing that I could tell.  I did notice that the default icon registry key for each file type is sometimes created, but either it's pointing to the wrong place or the dll's are in the wrong place.

For example:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Inventor.AssemblyDocument\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Autodesk\\Inventor View 2013\\Bin\\DTRes.dll,5"

 

There is no DTRes.dll to be found in that path.  But there is one here though:
@="C:\\Program Files\\Autodesk\\Inventor View 2013\\Bin\\en-us\\DTRes.dll,5"

Long story short (and a lot of wasted time later), I've created a registry file that you can import that will create the necessary file associations.  I used an old (installed) version of Inventor View 2011 to get the base keys.  I may not have it all right, but the files that I need (.iam, ipt, and .idw) now open and the icons are correctly associated (as long as you re-apply the HKCU values each time a user logs in, because something runs when Inventor launches that changes registry keys back to non-working).  This registry file will create HKCR and HKCU entries needed to properly open the files.  A logoff or reboot is needed to get the icons right (in my experience).  I take no responsibility for this if it messes up your system (but I'm pretty sure it won't).  Use at your own risk!  You will need to remove the .txt to use the file.

 

And it goes without saying, this should be fixed!!!  It should have never passed QC in the first place.

 

Kind Regards,

Brett

20 REPLIES 20
Message 2 of 21
pierre.masson
in reply to: nlbisd

Hi,

 

You might find this post interesting :

 

http://beinginventive.typepad.com/being-inventive/2011/02/inventor-view-and-thumbnails.html

 

This should fix it.

Pierre Masson Product Support Specialist PS MFG EMEA Autodesk, Inc.
Message 3 of 21
nlbisd
in reply to: pierre.masson

Hello, thanks for your comment.  However, this is not the case with Inventor 2013 Viewer.  Previous to my posting, I did try the same suggestions, but it was not successful.  I do not have access to a fully installed version of Inventor 2013 yet to try dtdv.exe part.  But, still, like I mentioned before, it's not registering the dll's paths correctly.

 

Kind Regards,

Brett

Message 4 of 21
pierre.masson
in reply to: nlbisd

Hi

 

I transfered your feedback to the developers. They will take a look. Thanks a lot

Pierre Masson Product Support Specialist PS MFG EMEA Autodesk, Inc.
Message 5 of 21
ezimmerman
in reply to: nlbisd

We have the same file association issue with IV2012. We were hoping that 2013 was going resolve the problem. Not the case! It is time consuming task to manually make the associations on 75 computers.

 

Come on Autodesk get it right!

 

 

 

Message 6 of 21
nlbisd
in reply to: pierre.masson


@pierre.masson wrote:

Hi

 

I transfered your feedback to the developers. They will take a look. Thanks a lot


When can we expect a revised version of the software?

 

Thanks,

Brett

Message 7 of 21
pierre.masson
in reply to: nlbisd

Hi nlbisd,

 

So far we don't have a clear statement for when it will be fixed.

 

I know that it has been flagged as important, and that they are working on it.

Pierre Masson Product Support Specialist PS MFG EMEA Autodesk, Inc.
Message 8 of 21
mhenson
in reply to: nlbisd

We have found the easiest way to fix this is after install, run a registry cleaner such as CCleaner.  After that you will be able to set file associations by right-click --> Open with.  The Inventor View install has not done a very good job of fixing the registry for at least a couple of years.

 

For Wiin XP do the same but to fix file associations: Windows Explorer --> Tools --> Folder Options --> File Types.  Select or add .ipt or .idw.  Add or edit the Open action. Path s/b similar to "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor View 2013\Bin\InventorView.exe".  At the end of the path add a space then "%1".  So the path s/b "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor View 2013\Bin\InventorView.exe" "%1".  Check use DDE.  Application = InventorView.  Topic = System.  Should look like the attachment.

 

Hope this helps anyone with a similar issue.

 

Message 9 of 21
mconley
in reply to: nlbisd

Autodesk - has this issue been resolved?     We have computers that will not let us associate IDW files with Inventor View 2013.       We can associate the files with older versions of Inventor View but not the 2013 version.   

 

This is a real problem for us because we have an Access database where the user can search for a drawing based on the part number and it displays the drawing path.    Before Inventor View 2013, the user could click on the path and the file would open in Inventor View.    Now this does not work anymore because we cannot assoicate the IDW files with the 2013 version of Inventor View.

 

Message 10 of 21
nlbisd
in reply to: mconley

It does not appear that they've updated their Inventor 2013 client.  A while back, I thought they had, but they're not listing the bytes correctly for the downloads (IE the 64bit version that I have has 539,431,364Bytes, but they list it as 526788KB). 

 

Frustration leaking out here....I don't know why Autodesk can't just go back to Voloview.  It was so much more reliable as a viewer than DWG Trueview and Inventor View.  It's really upsetting that for as big of a company as Autodesk is, they can't get someone to take a few minutes to fix the file associations.  Because of this, I've lost almost all my faith in Autodesk.

Message 11 of 21
pbarnak
in reply to: nlbisd

Smiley LOL

OK. I figured out how to get the extensions to associate with Windows Explorer when Inventor View 2013 is installed and you do not use Inventor 2013. Thanks to the other posts that I read and I was able to add on too. I have uploaded a word document detailing each step. You will have to manually set the extensions, but once done they held and I was able to open the files from my desktop from my shortcuts. I am using Windows XP but it should work on Windows 7. Use at your own risk but it is not hard.

 

Step 1

 

  1. Install Inventor View 2013 and SP1. I did keep Inventor View 2012 installed or reinstalled it.
  2. For good measure, reboot your computer after each installation
  3. Go to Control Panel>Folder Options>File Types.
  4. Find IDW to start with and highlight it then click on Advance.
  5. Click on New and enter the following:
  •   Action-Name it open
  •   Application used to perform action (make sure it looks just like this with the quotation marks)
  •         "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor View 2013\Bin\InventorView.exe" "%1"
  •   Check Use DDE
  •   Application: InventorView
  •   T opic: System
  •  Once done click on OK

Image2

 

 

  1. Click on advance again to change the icon that will show up in windows explorer
  •  Click on Change Icon
  • Use this path to get to the icons and choose which one you want.
  • C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor View 2013\Bin\InventorView.exe

 Image3

 

 

  1. Go back to file extension list and find the one IDW,DWG (this should be right under idw)

Delete this extension.

You will also have to associate all IAM, IPT, etc. files the same way as IDWs.

 

Autodesk NEEDS to correct their mistake ASAP. Problems like this can make you loose customers.

 

Message 12 of 21
pbarnak
in reply to: nlbisd

I wanted to post an update.

Windows took away the Files Tab GUI, so my last instructions is for Windows XP.

To make the changes in Windows 7, I had to edit the registry.

First make a back up of the registry. (If you do not know what you are doing then get the help of an IT pro or someone who knows how to make changes in the registry. Do this at your own risk!)

 

Search the registry for any Inventorview 2012 entries. I find about 4 of them that deals with the files extensions like IDW, IPN, IAM and IPT.

Change the entry from 2012 to 2013. This worked for me.

 

I did not change any other entries that said like last used program Inventerview 2012.

 

Only change the 2012 to 2013. Make sure the entry looks like this.

"C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor View 2013\Bin\InventorView.exe" "%1"

 

I just updated a newer computer with Windows 7 and all I had to do is go into Windows Explorer and right mouse click on the file and clicked on properties. On the first tab is has a button to change the program. I changed it to Inventor View 2013 and it worked fine. (You might have to browse to the proper exe file if this step does not work)

 

If you want to change the icons, then you will have to Google search and find the directions on how to change them in the registry.

 

Message 13 of 21
Mark_Wigan
in reply to: nlbisd

ok from what i can see in the past few weeks of installing inventorview 2014 on about 6 win 7 64bit computers, this file association is still not working.

 

i have read through many of the Fixes and right now trying several methods to resolve this so far to no avail, and spending a lot of time trying to get this sorted.

best regards,
- Mark

(Kudo or Tag if helpful - in case it also helps others)

PDSU 2020 Windows 10, 64bit.

Message 14 of 21
Mark_Wigan
in reply to: nlbisd

as of tonight i am happy to report that this regedit import works well for the 2014 inventorview that nlbisd posted for the group!

 

(i downloaded his file & did a replace all on 2013 in favour of 2014, and  i am glad to say that the settings are for the most part still relevant for a win7 64bit pc).

 

in hindsight, i have to say that to me this inability to associate files in not consistent. i have about 8 users who do not run inventor or vault, who need inventorview to associate with inv files. these are the problem computers. even after carrying out various attempts to resolve the issue (noted in several places through the forumns) there was no success. Same goes even after installing inventor, the associations to inventorview 2014 were not able to be set.

 

Also, on 3 or 4 other pc's where we installed inventor and vault, the associations to inventorview 2014 seemed to stick just fine if we wanted to test it for comparison & troubleshooting.

 

it doesn't make that much sense and i cannot pinpoint the real cause, apart from what nlbisd mentioned that perhaps the developers overlooked something? anyway, his registry import file did the job on the "hard to fix" pc's.

 

if anything comes to light i will send an update. As said earlier by others, there is some kinda oversight after inventorview2012 that the devs still need to fix.

 

 

 

 

best regards,
- Mark

(Kudo or Tag if helpful - in case it also helps others)

PDSU 2020 Windows 10, 64bit.

Message 15 of 21
NathanLos
in reply to: Mark_Wigan

Hi,

I just learned of this issue while browsing recent changes to the forum. Thanks for bumping it.

Although I'm not directly responsible for Inventor View, I want to figure out what we can do to resolve this. I will escalate this problem with the Product Support, QA, and Development teams, and will pressure them for a fix. Since we're looking at modifying installation and registration behavior, existing releases probably won't be modified. A future release is a more likely candidate for a fix.

I'll post again when there's information to share.

Thanks,
Nathan
Autodesk Inventor Platform Team


Nathan Los
Principal Engineer
DLS-Mechanical Design
Autodesk, Inc.
Message 16 of 21
mhenson
in reply to: NathanLos

I appreciate you taking an interest in this, but I do have a question.  This has been a problem for at least two years, with no response or interest from Autodesk.  How can we approach problems of this nature in the future so that someone at Autodesk will be more likely to see or work on on a fix?

Message 17 of 21
nlbisd
in reply to: mhenson


@mhenson wrote:

I appreciate you taking an interest in this, but I do have a question.  This has been a problem for at least two years, with no response or interest from Autodesk.  How can we approach problems of this nature in the future so that someone at Autodesk will be more likely to see or work on on a fix?


Ditto!  One Autodesk employee already said that they were going to escalate this before 2014 came out.

Message 18 of 21
nlbisd
in reply to: Mark_Wigan


@Mark_Wigan wrote:

ok from what i can see in the past few weeks of installing inventorview 2014 on about 6 win 7 64bit computers, this file association is still not working.

 

i have read through many of the Fixes and right now trying several methods to resolve this so far to no avail, and spending a lot of time trying to get this sorted.


I found that every time that Inventor View is run, it tries to re-register the faulty file associations thereby changing the registry entries for the next time you log off and back on. As long as you stay logged in, it will typically continue to work (by nature of the way Explorer.exe handles file associations). I've setup my registry entries to be applied from group policy every time a user logs in.  This keeps it working.

 

Kind Regards

Message 19 of 21
Mark_Wigan
in reply to: NathanLos

thanks Nathan

best regards,
- Mark

(Kudo or Tag if helpful - in case it also helps others)

PDSU 2020 Windows 10, 64bit.

Message 20 of 21
multim
in reply to: nlbisd

(Deutscher Text steht unten)

 

Hello to everyone!

I don't know if that's interesting anymore, but the problem with the File Associations isn't fixed in Autodesk Inventor View 2015. I tested the German and the English Version (both on Windows 7 64-Bit). But also the Fix from nlbisd is working for the 2015-Version. Big thanks! We edited the File a little bit for the 2015-Version and also added the File-Type "*.dwg", because Autodesk Inventor View 2015 is able to launch them, too. Please open the Files and check if they work for you, too, before you apply them. I also think for 32-Bit it won't work, because there is a "DTRes.dll" (the File for the Associations) in an extra Directory for 32-Bit.

So, for Autodesk Inventor View 2015 English it's the File "association.txt" and for the German language it is "zuweisung.txt". Use at your own Risk. (Change Extension to *.reg to apply them.)

We also sent this Files to our Contact at Autodesk to remind the Problem and also give a Result, thanks to nlbisd.

Have a nice day everyone!

 

 

Guten Tag!

Ich weiß nicht, ob das noch von großem Interesse ist, aber das Problem mit der Datei-Zugehörigkeit ist auch in Autodesk Inventor View 2015 noch nicht gelöst. Getestet habe ich sowohl die deutsche als auch die englische Version, beides auf Windows 7 64-Bit. Die Lösung von nlbisd funktioniert jedoch nach wie vor. Danke dafür! Wir haben die Datei ein wenig angepasst für die 2015-version und den Dateityp "*.dwg" hinzugefügt, da die 2015-Version auch DWG-Dateien öffnen kann. Bevor ihr die Dateien übernehmt, öffnet sie bitte und prüft, ob sie so für euch in Ordnung sind. Bei 32-Bit funktioniert das ganze glaube ich nicht, da eine weitere "DTRes.dll" (sie enthält die Informationen zur Dateizugehörigkeit) in einem zusätzlichen 32-Bit-Verzeichnis liegt.

Für Autodesk Inventor View 2015 Deutsch die Datei "zuweisung.txt". Für die englische Version die Datei "association.txt". Nutzung auf eigene Gefahr. (Ändert die Dateiendung auf *.reg um die Daten zu übernehmen.)

Wir haben diese Dateien auch an unseren Kontakt bei Autodesk gesendet um an das bestehende Problem zu erinnern und direkt einen Lösungsweg, dank nlbisd, zu bringen.

Einen schönen Tag allen!

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