iLogic

[jneiman]

So what I am doing is using iLogic to generate models of units customers submit orders for. Using a form you select your components/options and it auto generates the model itself. The problem I am having is when it comes to saving out that file. Once it is saved out I obviously don't want it to change it any way so that way I know exactly what that customer was shipped. I am utilizing skeletons in these assemblies and sub assemblies. A problem I did notice is however I save my main "template" if i re-open a customer generated order. The skeletons shift back to whatever state is in the main template hence moving components to places they shouldn't be and creating a mess. Is there a way to save out or another way to avoid this issue.? Thanks for the help in advance if there is any confusion please just ask and I will try and clarify.

[mrattray]

How are you saving out these files?

I use a very similar workflow. The way I handle this problem is I only "save off" the idw and I set it to defer updates. Since 80% of the work done here is still in AutoCAD anyways, nobody minds being stuck with 2D.

[jneiman]

Well its a .IAM so I'm dealing with the 3d world not 2d. I'm tried doing a "Save As" and renaming it but it doesn't seem to be working. How do you defer the updating?

[mrattray]

An .IAM file does not contain any actual geometry only links to part files and the mates. The problem is, when the assembly looks back to the part files they've changed, so the assembly changes, too. Therefore, renaming the assembly wouldn't work.

There's no way to defer updates on an assembly for the reason stated above, that only works on drawings.

There's really only two options: either do a pack and go of the assembly and all associated files, or export the assembly as a neutral format file (i.e. step). If you know you wont want to change anything after the assembly has been saved out, which is likely the case since your looking to have a record of what was shipped, then option number two is, in my opinion, the way for you to go.

[jneiman]

We were just talking about this want to run it by you to see if you think it would work as well. Thinking of taking the main file which is the "template" open that do a "Save Copy As" Thinking that should break the link from the main "template" generate your customer product then save it and be done. 

Do you see any problems with this logic at all ??

By the way we are running and using Vault as well so the invoice so to speak will be released once it is done.

[mrattray]

No, that wont work. The problem is when your parts change. You can make all the assemblies you want, but if you change a part all of the assemblies will update and show the change to that part. You need to copy the parts that changed along with the assembly and do a replace component on every part that gets changed -OR- do a save copy as and change the format to step or another non-Inventor format.

The only difference between save as and save copy as is that save as opens the new file inside of Inventor where save copy as does not.

[jneiman]

So if i save it out as a non inventor file how would i then recover it to look at it again if I would need to go back and look at what that customer was sold?

[mrattray]

Saving it as a non-Inventor file will turn everything into "dumb" geometry which will lock everything into place. You can then import that file back into Inventor for viewing and editing through the open file dialog.

[jneiman]

I think this may just work one last question though. So people here view the files through just the viewer program not through inventor itself. Will they be able to open up a STEP file as well or no ?

[mrattray]

No, they wont be able to view the step file. However, if you export to step then import back into Inventor you'll still have "dumb" solids but they'll be .iam files that will work in Inventor View.

[jneiman]

This will work but since we are using and implementing vault the assembly is becoming a "dummy" when I import it back into inventor all the sub-assemblies are going to lose there part tracability through Vault, or this is my understanding.

By the way thanks so much for your help and patience with this!

[mrattray]

By part tracability I assume you mean the revision history? I'm not familiar with Vault, but I imagine that would be a draw back to this technique.

[jneiman]

Thanks for all your help. We actually solved the problem a different way, requires me to do a bit of upfront work. But we are utilizing iassemblies to remove the "common" skeleton that was giving us the problem. Saving out just fine now with no issues of anything changing regardless of what state the template is in.!