___ INVENTOR FAQ_ July 19, 2004 ___

[Anonymous]

*** INVENTOR FAQ: July 19, 2004 *** ### Table of Contents 1. Introduction and Rules & Regulations for the groups 2. List of all the Inventor Support Newsgroups (web & newsreader) 3. Frequently Asked Questions about R6/7/8 4. List of Inventor Websites and Resources 5. Bug Submission 6. Common Acronyms Used in the Newsgroups PLEASE DO NOT CROSS POST TO MULTIPLE GROUPS. The exception to this rule is information that applies to all releases (e.g. this FAQ, the Inventor World Cup etc..) Post your question in the group to which version the question pertains. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ### 1.Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome Inventor users, Below are a list of several resources to help with your use of Autodesk Inventor. There is a lot of good information listed on these sites. Answers to the more frequently asked questions can be found in these links. If, after reviewing these sites, you still do not find the answer to your questions please feel free to post in the newsgroup. There are a lot of experienced users that will be more than happy to help you out if possible. PLEASE DO A SEARCH OF THE GROUP FIRST(see below). YOUR QUESTION HAS PROBABLY ALREADY BEEN ANSWERED. Please familiarize yourself with the ground rules for these discussion groups: http://discussion.autodesk.com/ground.jspa Please be descriptive in your topic subjects. Subjects like "Inventor Problems" or "HELP!" do not lend much insight and are often skipped over. A topic such as "How do I loft several non-parallel sketches" is much more helpful. As some newsreader programs cannot display HTML formatted messages correctly, please be sure to post your messages in plain text format. Most newsreaders have an option to format the messages in this manner. If you are having display or crashing related issues please list your machine's specs: Processor, RAM, Operating System, Video Card, IV release & SP #. While it may not be due to these factors it helps to determine the cause. Do not post attachments larger than 1MB in this group. You may post larger attachments in the CUSTOMER FILES newsgroup. Please move the end of part marker to the top of the file and/or zip the files to save space. ZIP ALL INVENTOR FILES! You can find the customer files newsgroups here: WEBBASED Inventor CF (Customer Files): http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=121 NTTP Inventor CF (Customer Files): news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.inventor.customer-files -------------------------------------------------------------------- ### 2. List of the Inventor Newsgroups -------------------------------------------------------------------- As of July 6, 2003 Autodesk revamped their web based newsgroups. The URLs to the groups changed. Below is a listing of each of the Inventor related groups and links to both the web based and newsreader versions of the groups: Discussion Groups Main Menu http://discussion.autodesk.com/index.jspa Inventor Groups Main Menu http://discussion.autodesk.com/index2.jspa?categoryID=21 Inventor 9 http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=144 news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.inventor.9 Inventor 8 http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=75 news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.inventor.8 Inventor Legacy (all content from Inventor 5.3, 6,and 7) http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=78 news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.inventor.legacy Inventor Customer Files http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=121 news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.inventor.customer-files Autodesk Vault http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=101 news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.vault Inventor Customization (VBA and VB) http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=120 news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.inventor.customization Inventor Support (old group - now read only) news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.inventor.support Old AutoCAD Customer Files Group (lots of old IV posts in here): http://discussion.autodesk.com/forum.jspa?forumID=126 news://discussion.autodesk.com/autodesk.autocad.customer-files Google search of the old (defunct) Inventor Support Newsgroup http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&group=autodesk.inventor.support -------------------------------------------------------------------- ### 3. Frequently Asked Questions about R6/7 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Where can I find SP1 & SP2 for R6? A) http://support.autodesk.com/getDoc.asp?id=DL403697 (R6SP1) http://support.autodesk.com/getDoc.asp?id=DL403916 (R6SP2) How about SP1 for R7? http://tinyurl.com/eoah (R7SP1) And SP1 for R8? ftp://adeskftp.autodesk.com/prodsupp/downloads/Inventor8_ais_SP1.exe (AIS) ftp://adeskftp.autodesk.com/prodsupp/downloads/Inventor8_aip_SP1.exe (AIP) Q) Where did my print icon go in R6/R7/R8 ? A)You can access printing commands via File>Plot. To add the icon to your toolbar go to Tools>Customize and click on the last tab. Highlight Management in the left hand pane and then drag the print icon onto the standard toolbar in Inventor. You must do this for each file type. e.g. start a new part file and do this, then close and repeat with assembly, presentation and detail drawing file types. Q) Why do my decals appear as icons? A) You likely have .bmp file types associated with a viewer other than MS Paint. To fix this see http://www.sdotson.com/freetut/Tips%20&%20Tricks.pdf page 8 item # 18 or download iTweak at www.sdotson.com/vba.asp Q) Why do some of my project paths appear in red? A) There are nested paths. For example if you have a workspace defined as C:\project and a path defined as c:\project\parts the latter path will appear in red. See the Autodesk Inventor File Management Document.doc on the 1st AIS CD for more info about projects and how they work. Q) Why do I get an error about not being able to edit a file? A) Staring in R6 any file referred to in a library path cannot be edited. To edit these files you either need to move the library file out of the library path, edit it and then return it to the library or create a new project file that refers to this file as a local or workgroup (non-library) path. Q) Where is the content library in R6/R7/R8? A) While in an assembly, left click on the word "Model" at the top of your browser. This will activate a pulldown. Select Library from the pulldown. From here you can select your content and drag and drop it into the assembly. Q) Why can't I rearrange parts in the assembly browser in R6/R7? A) The ability to do this in R6 was removed due to the addition of assembly features. The feature returned in R8. Q) What is the reflection I see in some parts? It looks like a car.. A) It's a black Mazda Miata in the parking lot of Autodesk in Tualatin, Oregon. The owner is George Hudetz, a member of the Inventor Team. The image can be viewed or changed by modifying (or replacing the car3.bmp file located in the Inventor install directory. A spherical fishbowl image looks the best. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ### 4. Inventor Related Websites and Resources -------------------------------------------------------------------- Drew Fulford's Inventor FAQ (Over 400 Inventor frequently asked questions) http://www.mymcad.com Sean Dotson's Inventor Tutorials & More http://www.sdotson.com Sean Dotson's MCAD Discussion Forums http://www.sdotson.com/forums/ Charles Bliss' iParts and iCode Repository http://www.cbliss.com/inventor Kent Keller's iParts and Code Site http://www.kwikmcad.com/ Charles Bliss' Inventor Parts.com http://www.inventorparts.com Patrick de Stobbeleir's Inventor Tool Site http://hjem.get2net.dk/opad/ Neil Munro's How-To Articles and Tips http://tinyurl.com/dhki Ole Germer's Site (Timken bearings, Involute Gears, Roller Chains etc.) http://www.geocities.com/olegermer/index.html CAD Studio (Czech based but in English) http://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/default.asp?tab=2&CAD=Inventor Jorgen Bjornes' Scanadivan Inventor Site http://www.inventorforum.net/ Elise Moss' Tips and Tutorials http://www.mossdesigns.com/ The Netherlands Inventor Forum (mainly in Dutch) http://www.inventorusers.nl/index.php MCAD Brazil - Brazillian Inventor Site www.mcadbrasil.net Lars Jensen's Inventor Site (Danish and English) http://www.inventordk.dk/ German Inventor FAQ http://www.kacaju.de/ LeaCar LLC (Inventor Tools & Tutorials) http://www.leacar.com/default.shtml Autodesk's Inventor Users Site (iDrop Parts, Articles & Tutorials) http://tinyurl.com/7mgm Autodesk Inventor Graphic Card & Driver Info http://www.autodesk.com/us/inventor/graphic_cards/ Autodesk's Knowledge Base http://support.autodesk.com/enu/Homepage.asp Autodesk Skill Builders Tutorials http://tinyurl.com/2s99w AUGI (autodesk Users Group International) Guilds email lists for Inventor (and other product) support http://www.augi.com/ Official Autodesk Inventor Feature Wishlist Submission Link http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/item/0,,1073397-123112,00.html Official Autodesk Inventor Product Information Page (likes to other pages) http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=2280662 Autodesk University 2003 Class Handouts www.autodeskevents.com/au2003/session_handouts.cfm Various Yahoo Inventor Groups http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Inventor_Parts http://groups.yahoo.com/group/inventorapi http://groups.yahoo.com/group/InventorJobsCanada http://groups.yahoo.com/group/InventorJobsUSA http://groups.yahoo.com/group/woodinventor http://groups.yahoo.com/group/InventorJobsOntarioCanada http://groups.yahoo.com/group/autodeskinventors http://groups.yahoo.com/group/inventorusers -------------------------------------------------------------------- ### 5. Bug Submission Procedure -------------------------------------------------------------------- ###Bug Submission If you think you may have found a new bug: 1. Go to the Autodesk website: http://www.autodesk.com 2. Click on "Contact Us". 3. Click on "Feedback" in the left hand menu. 4. Click on "Products" in the left hand menu. 5. Click on Submit a bug report 5. Now you show see the "Bug Report Submission" web page. 6. Read the instructions, fill out the form, and press the "Submit Bug Report" button Or directly go to the Bug Report Submission" web page: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/item/0,,1073063-123112,00.html More bug report info from Autodesk: "You can also either report it through your reseller or call Autodesk's Safety Net support number at 800-225-6531. If it is determined that what you are calling about is a defect you will not be charged for the Safety Net call." -------------------------------------------------------------------- ### 6. Common Acronyms Used in the Groups -------------------------------------------------------------------- NG = newsgroup CF = customer files (see above for links) iCF = Inventor customer files (se above for links) IV = Inventor R5SP2 = Inventor Release 5 Service Pack 2 (or any other combo of numbers) W2K=Windows 2000 RMB = right mouse button DA = Design Assistant DM = Drawing Manager (a.k.a. the IDW environment) =grin = very big grin (etc..) for more go to http://www.gaarde.org/acronyms/ ###PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS POST. Regards, Kent Keller PS: If you have other sites that you think are useful or general comments, reply to me by email