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Changing Library Paths - Inventor Single User

9 REPLIES 9
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Message 1 of 10
tdswanson
2895 Views, 9 Replies

Changing Library Paths - Inventor Single User

Hey everyone:

 

I've got a Library setup called "Vendor CAD" and it's referenced in all my project templates and most existing project IPJ's.  I'm thinking of re-organizing my server and actually creating a CAD drive and moving all these files to an area protected from the non-CAD users.

 

Anyway, once I move the files, is there a way that I can batch change the existing IPJ's to refer to the new path?  There's about 70 or so files, so it's not monumental, but I'd really like to not do it manually if possible.

 

Also - please note, I'm a single user, so I'm not using vault at all.

 

Thanks!

9 REPLIES 9
Message 2 of 10
blair
in reply to: tdswanson

If you edit the Project file to include this directory, the only time it will ask to resolve is on the first time you open a model. In the bottom corner of the search dialogue box the check mark to use this directory to resolve other instances must be checked. After this all other IAM files that are opened will open without any issue or the Resolve Dialogue box appearing.


Inventor 2020, In-Cad, Simulation Mechanical

Just insert the picture rather than attaching it as a file
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Delta Tau Chi ΔΤΧ

Message 3 of 10
SBix26
in reply to: tdswanson

I think a pretty simple script would do the job.  If you open a project file with a text editor (Notepad, for example), you'll see that it's an xml file, and it should be pretty straightforward to do a text string find and replace operation on all of them.  If you have really old projects, the format is different, but the same find and replace should work.

Sam B
Inventor 2012 Certified Professional

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Inventor Professional 2013 SP1.1 Update 1
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SpaceExplorer/SpaceNavigator NB, driver 3.7.18
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Message 4 of 10
tdswanson
in reply to: SBix26

Blair - Yes I fugured that this would happen, however, the scenario that you laid out will only happen in the first project, correct?  I'm looking for a way to edit all my IPJ files en masse.

 

Sam - I figured there was a way to just edit the IPJ files outside of the actual Inventor interface, but I must confess total ignorance to writing scripts for something like this.  Can you give me some pointers (like software) to get me started in the right direction?  I've opened an IPJ file just in notepad and yes I can find the library path, but that still requires me to open each file individually.

 

Thanks guys for looking at this with me!

Message 5 of 10
SBix26
in reply to: tdswanson

I was afraid you would ask that... I don't have anything to offer other than using a command line batch file, and I'd have to learn that all over again from scratch.  But try opening a command prompt and type 'help'.  That will tell you what commands are available, and you can get individual help on each command.  You can string commands sequentially in a text file (use extension .bat) and then run it.

 

But I'm no expert on this, so other input would be welcome.

Sam B
Inventor 2012 Certified Professional

Please click "Accept as Solution" if this response answers your question.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventor Professional 2013 SP1.1 Update 1
Windows XP Pro 32-bit, SP3
HP EliteBook 8730w; 4 GB RAM; Core™ 2 Duo T9400 2.53 GHz; Quadro FX2700M
SpaceExplorer/SpaceNavigator NB, driver 3.7.18
still waiting for a foreshortened radius dimensioning tool in Drawing Manager

Message 6 of 10
tdswanson
in reply to: SBix26

Hmmmm......  I'm just old enough to have done some DOS programming and stuff, so that's not foreign to me, but I've never tried to do anything along the lines of a find and replace.  I'll have to start Googling.....

 

Thanks

Message 7 of 10
blair
in reply to: tdswanson

Yes, as stated, you will only get the search dialogue, the first time this is done on the first assembly you will open. After that any time a IAM file or IDW is opened it will appear as if nothing was ever moved. You will most likely be prompted for a save when the file is closed.

 

You shouldn't need any batch file process.


Inventor 2020, In-Cad, Simulation Mechanical

Just insert the picture rather than attaching it as a file
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Delta Tau Chi ΔΤΧ

Message 8 of 10
tdswanson
in reply to: blair

Blair - I have approximately 70 IPJ files in various locations on my server that have this library location mapped in them.  In the lower portion of the project box, under the "Libraries" category, I have a path called "Vendor Parts" with a path of "Z:\Vendor Documents\Vendor CAD".  The new path needs to be "\\<server_name>\Vendor CAD\".

 

In the Vendor CAD folder, there subfolders by manufacturers, like McMaster, Carr-Lane, Acme, etc.  Some of the manufacturers have sub-folders under them as well, by item type.  So the nesting can be a few levels deep in some cases.

 

I just did the following:

 

1.  Open Inventor, activate "Project A".

2.  Add the new library path under "Libraries" in the lower half of the projects box

3.  Navigate to the old folder location containing vendor models and make a slight name change to break the link.  (All models have been copied to the new location with all the same sub folder structure.)  This way I know I'm pulling from the new location, not the old.

4.  Open the first IAM file

5.  I get prompted resolve the first vendor file, so I click the new library shortcut in the LH pane and navigate to the folder containing the vendor model that I need to resolve.  The checkbox about using this for future unresolved links *IS* checked.

6.  At this point, any other parts in this same folder are fine.  However, I do get asked again about other parts that are in "parallel" folders.....  Meaning folders that are not parent or child to the folder of the last resolved part.

7.  I manually resolve a few parts and this IAM is fine.  Save the file, close.

 

Now, when I activate the IPJ file for Project B, I have to start over from scratch and repeat the process.  This is what I was hoping to avoid with automation.

 

Did I miss something in your previous posts?

 

Thanks!

Message 9 of 10
blair
in reply to: tdswanson

I missed the "Parallel" folders. You would need to do this for each new folder. I assumed that the parts were moved to a new single folder.


Inventor 2020, In-Cad, Simulation Mechanical

Just insert the picture rather than attaching it as a file
Did you find this reply helpful ? If so please use the Accept as Solution or Kudos button below.
Delta Tau Chi ΔΤΧ

Message 10 of 10
tdswanson
in reply to: blair

Alright, so here's what I did.

 

In my case, there's nothing unique from one project file to another for each customer.  More specifically, all of the project files for Customer 1 can be identical, but there are some small library path changes to Customer 2's and so on.

 

Since I've only be using Inventor for around 9 months, we've only done projects for 4 or 5 different customers.  So I fixed up a "new" generic IPJ file for each customer.  I went into each project folder and changed the name from "Project 1.ipj" to "Project 1.ipjbak" so I'd always have the original.  Then I pasted in a copy of the new IPJ file and renamed it to the original.  This part didn't really take too long.  As time permits, I'll go back through projects and update them to IV2013 where necessary and sniff for pathing issues that need resolved. 

 

It's a pretty manual process, but it didn't take as long as I thought it would.

 

On a side note, my workflow for creating new projects helped to streamline this.  It's a hybrid of several suggestions that I read on this forum.  But basically, in each customer folder, I have a folder called "Project Folder Template" that's got a typical subfolder structure and a generic IPJ file tailored for that customer.  When a new one comes up, I'll paste a copy of the template, then rename the folder and the IPJ, activate it and start rolling.  It's very slick.

 

Thanks for all your help everyone!

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