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automatic check in/out function Iparts/Iassemblies + force generate files

automatic check in/out function Iparts/Iassemblies + force generate files

We rely heavily on i-part fucntionality, which alsoe means that parts require regular updates. In the current situation, this means having to manually check out all variations that were generated by the factory before being able to update them.

 

The current workaround suggested by our Autodesk retailer is to place all the generated components in a new file so everything can be updated in one go. This is feasible for a small part with few variations, but not for larger assemblies having many different i-parts and variations.

 

instead, why not simply check out all children at the same time as the factory? You know they will need to be updated when the factory is altered, so why can't this be done automatically?

 

Similarly; when opening a dwg of one of the generated files. Inventor can tell the dwg is out of date because it is referring to an out of date part generated by an older version of the factory. Why is it that inventor does prompt to have the user check out the dwg, but not automatically check out the part that should be updated?

 

These are such simple tasks of which the software knows it should be done, so just automate it!

 

And finally; we've often found that not all changes to the factory part will trigger inventor to actually consider the generated parts to be out of date. When i then try to use the generate files function, nothing happens. No new file is generated, regardless of being checked out or not. I would like to see inventor actually responding to a command i'm giving it. If i select generate files, it should generate the file. I should be able to see the time stamp of the file on disk change to the current time, and this does not happen in this case. It forces me to have to make a physical change to the factory )like changing a feature parameter) to trigger inventor and really require files to be re-generated.

 

To me all this sounds so very trivial, and it it would increase my feeling of reliability towards inventor and vault. Not getting the proper response from inventor makes me doubt the sofware and requires me to keep double checking everything. (Note that this issue was already submitted two years ago as a support case but apparently it wasn't serious enough...)

 

cheers,

 

Misha

8 Comments
Mark_Wigan
Collaborator

people who have to deal with this know what a pain it is. please fix it

tmoney2007
Collaborator

Not all factory changes affect all members.

 

Better support with respect to iParts would be great, but forcing a checkout of all members isn't the solution.  If that were the case, we wouldn't be able to revise one member without revising all members.  Maybe if you could check out the members from the vault pane.

 

When you add lifecycles on top of it, you have to make sure that whatever members are being affected by the changes to the factory are in an editable state.

 

Coming from a company that had tons and tons of automation, it is a double edged sword.  The more automation, the less flexibility.

ASCO-engineering
Advocate

I understand what you mean Mark,

 

But in the current situation, revising a single member still requires all other members to be regenerated as the editing can only be done from the factory. This requires the factory to be saved, thereby also creating out of date members. Even opening the factory and switching to a different member is already seen as a modification that might lead to members being out of date. 

LOONYLEN
Advocate

Hello,

 

Not to mention that after regenerating all of the members of a factory, thousands of drawings inside the Vault now display a warning to anyone viewing the drawings that says, "Warning, new data available". This warning has coworkers in sales and manufacturing thinking that they are looking at "out of date" drawings, when they are not.

 

Let's say I've added a new "standard" part (member) to a factory. The entire factory (all members) now need to be regenerated!?! Why? Nothing has changed, I've just added a new member and now thousands of drawings say, "Warning, new data available".

 

Please correct this issue.

 

Len

cadull_rb
Advocate

I don't think there is a simple solution to this one. We use iParts and iAssemblies extensively and with Vault in the mix, Inventor isn't able to change things whenever it likes (read: all the time).

 

It is too time consuming for the factory editor to update all the members and files that use them. We have developed an automated batch update program to propagate any required changes. It includes Vault interaction and new member generation. With our current data set, it takes in excess of 50 hours processing time to run over all the files (partial screenshot below). We also use this tool to execute custom code on large numbers of files.

 

PartialBatchUpdate.PNG

 

We have taken our batch update process and made it available through the Inventor interface with the data set limited to the current document. This allows users to fully update a chain of iAssemblies and correctly save all dependencies relevant to the current document. This enables them to edit an up to date assembly and successfully check everything back into Vault without wasting hours chasing a number of unnamed dependencies that couldn't be saved.

 

With iParts there is the option of placing them into Content Center which provides some stability. If you have limited output options, then iLogic is an alternative to iAssemblies. I think iAssemblies provide an essential role within Inventor and deserve a review. Currently I don't believe it is workable to use iAssembly files set to a release or non-editable state in Vault.

 

Regards,

cadull

inv.ideareview
Autodesk
Thanks for sharing your Idea. We use this forum to guide product development and help users in the best way we can based on voting. We occasionally merge Ideas or archive old ones to keep the forum working properly - it ensures there is room for people to review new Ideas and that the most relevant and meaningful ones can gain votes. We’re archiving this Idea because it's been on the board for well over a year and hasn't received many votes from the community. If you want to raise it again and try to gain more support, you're welcome to do so. We’ve found that pictures and mock-ups can help get concepts across and win more votes from other users. If you have questions or see a connection between this Idea and others, let us know. - Inventor product team (Inv.idea review)
inv.ideareview
Autodesk
Status changed to: Archived
 
David_Early
Enthusiast

PLEASE? This is frustrating. Force effect was realy a helpfull tool, why are they doing this???

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