i-part modifications not propagating to factory member and dwg

[ASCO-engineering]

Hi,

We've been working with i-part / i-assemblies for some time now, and i have repeatedly come across the issue that when making a modification to an i-part, the modification is not propagating correctly to the factory member.

Latest example: a simple U-section with a single hole pattern in it. The i-part table merely modifies the length of the member and the spacing of the hole pattern.

I modified the dimensions of the U-section (both it's extruded length as well as the sketch involved). The original drawing was indeed updated with the geometrical parameters in the part list (we ise i-logic to copy the parameters to the part list), but the model geometry itself was not updated at all. Even by manually commanding inventor to generate the member there was no result whatsoever. No file was re-generated until i edited the hole feature directly (re-entering the hole diameter in the dialog). It seems to me that inventor only executes the generate member file command if it deems it necessary, and not just because i told inventor to do so. Not only is this very frustrating, it also throws the reliability of the drawings out the window. Everytime something like this happens undetected it costs us time and materials etc, which is not acceptable.

I know i most likely can't expect any updates for the 2012 release we're working with anymore, but i would hereby like to emphasise that it's more important to have a reliable CAD program instead of adding yet another fancy feature.

I-part and i-assembly functionality is extremely useful, but reliability must be improved. Especially the updating functionality and it's link to vaulted files etc. Please ensure this is improved in the next releases!

Misha

[Jon.Dean]

I will take a look at the problem you describe and get back to you with my findings.

Jon.

[Jon.Dean]

Have you got a simple example, so I can check your iLogic rules, as well as the part file.

I don't need the members, I can re-create them.

Jon.

[ASCO-engineering]

this is the part in question. It consists of a simple U-extrusion of which the sketch dimensions are driven with i-logic. The extruded lenght is provided in the i-part table, as well as the values for the spacing and number of holes in the part, the starting position of the first hole, and the title of the part.

The title and material goemetry is used in the material table of the dwg.

This part was originally a U-section 40x40x40x4, and the extruded length was 50mm shorter, which also meant the start dimension of the first hole was 25mm smaller. After the first trial in manufacturing, it was found that the part should be changed to what is is now. So when i updated the model, i opened the dwg. I get the notification that the part is out of date etc, so i check out the child ipt as well as the dwg file and regenerated the part in the factory.

The dwg then showed the correct values in the material list, but the view itself was not correct. It still showed a U section of 40x40x40x4 instead of 50x50x50x5, and still of the incorrect length too. I was not able fix this by merely regenerating the file again. Nothing happens then, including no changes to the time stamp of the actual file. I had to make a model change to force inventor to require a regen.

File included with the post.

[Jon.Dean · Accepted solution]

If you modify an iPart or the iPart table, then when you have finished it is important to save the iPart and re-generate all the part members by highlighting them all in the browser and right clicking and selecting "Generate Files".

Once this is done you can open any of the drawing files and the views will be updated.

Jon.

[ASCO-engineering]

indeed i did save the file, and like i stated before, i did manually select each member and selected generate files. The point i'm trying to get across is that this did not result in a newly generated file at all. I've seen this more often, for instance if you've only made a change to some i-properties of a file. Inventor does not deem that change to necessitate a regeneration of the members whereas the info has to be updated on the dwg. You can see the time/date stamp of the generated member file does not change after having selected generate files.

To me it seems like IV just ignores my command to regenerate the file after a modification has been made. 

[Kildar]

I'm having similar issues with iParts / iAssemblies too, although I'm not using any iLogic, and I've got an additional wrinkle:

Every time I open a drawing, I have to manually regenerate all the factory members, whether or not any changes have been made.  I could manually regenerate the factory members and then immediately afterwards open up the drawing ... and boom, gotta do it again. Somehow it's out of date.

It's frustrating

I'm using 2013 Pro.

Edited by
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