Community
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

save to a previous version

save to a previous version

Can we save/"save a copy as" to a previous version of inventor.  This is a great tool in autocad and it would be great to see it in Inventor.  We have sister companys that are currently using a newer version of Inventor and as a result, we can't open their files.  

18 Comments
cadman777
Advisor

Autodesk will never comply w/this, b/c it will prevent their use of "social pressure" to coerce people into upgrading, due to not being able to open newer models that people share w/co-workers and customers.

Why do you think they "restructured" their "upgrade" policy/marketing?

They rely heavily on extortion, just like government, to make their investors rich.

sam_m
Advisor

ignoring "social pressure" - how would it even work?  say release B adds a new command - how can release A understand how to open the file with a command that was never in existance at its release?

 

Even if it's the same command but with new options (or the mathematics behind the command are different) then you couldn't ensure the previous version would manipulate the file in the same way as a later release - which could cause MASSIVE problems.  E.g. a loft is created with specific rails and tangential ends, this is rapid prototyped and approved - the companies moulding dept use the previous version of Inventor and open the file,  adds feeds, some draft-angles, etc. and regen the part, but the Loft command has a different set of equations and the tangential ends are different - resulting in a different moulded part to the rapid prototype - resulting in MD/customer unhappy the finished result is different from their approved sample - resulting in company complaining to Autodesk.

 

The only way around this is to have the "save as previous version" to convert the part into a dumb solid and you've got that already with iges/step export/import.

 

AutoCAD worked fine because everything was lines in 2d/3d space with nodes and end-points (basically a dumb solid) - without a feature-history which the program has to run through to create the part.  This feature tree gives us the control we love about Inventor, so I don't think it's as simple as a marketting decision to force everyone to keep up to date all the time. 

smithar
Autodesk
Status changed to: Under Review
 
JBerns
Advisor

Would a "compatibility mode" be useful if it could just view the model? Similar to Microsoft Word 2003 being able to open Word 2010 files. Granted they can edit the word document in most cases because converting text and margins is much easier than converting 3D model features.

 

For example, how would Inventor 2008 open a Sculpt, Combine, Grill, or Bend feature created with Inventor 2010? These objects can't be eliminated during the Save as process. This is a difficult challenge.

 

As much as I would favor this "Save as previous version" option, the data integrity would always be in question.

 

Perhaps Autodesk could create "object enablers" or "compatibility" tools to allow "view-only" mode for models created with newer versions of Inventor.

 

Of course you could download the Inventor 2013 viewer for that:  Inventor 2013 Viewer download

 

 

Regards,

 

Jerry 

rjay75
Collaborator

This would be a great added feature. Features that are incompatible with older versions could be converted dumb solid bodies with their feature information stored as ingnorable data that is only read should the part be reopened in a later version to allow it to be used as a normal feature again. 

tmoney2007
Collaborator

It should be relatively easy to mark a file as simply migrated.  We have testers that have access to more than one version of inventor on their computer.  If files in the production environment are inadvertently migrated, we are left hoping that there is an old version of the file that hadn't been migrated (which often doesn't happen if they make edits without realizing that they are in the new version. 

 

Alternatively, for our issue, being able to forbid migration for files in certain directories would probably help as well.

 

As a large business using this software with downstream integrations, we can't make the transition to a new version of software without testing.  Each time we have looked at transitioning versions, this is always a reason for hesitation.  If a file is lost, we can lose large amoungs of time ($$$) while we attempt to do a restore from an offsite tape backup of our file server.

DuncanAnderson
Collaborator

I've always believed that Inv could use 'dumb' features to represent the features created in the later version so the older version could open them, when saving as older version.

 

 

azott
Enthusiast

This is very important idea, and autodesk surely it must solve.

_DanSolo_
Advocate

even if they could do this, they would not. None of the 3D CAD software companies do this.

This is how they sell new software. It is all about recurring revenue.

drawings
Advocate

I agree with tmoney2007. Being able to save back one version would make testing the new version a lot more viable. The cad manager or designate could work on live data al ot sooner in the process. This would encourage the earlier adoption fo new versions.

brennabegins
Community Visitor

Old thread...

 

I'm a consulting engineer.  This is a real problem for me.  I do work for Altria (Philip Morris), Dupont, Ball Corporation, Eagle Bluff Design.

 

Each uses a different version of Inventor.  I have to keep 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 active.  At this point I literally have different computers set up on the versions because if some common part gets inadvertantly saved by a newer version things get messed up.

 

Please fix this.

ifuks
Advocate

Wery important feature if it can be done. Autodesk should not think that it will cause people to stay with older version, just the opposite. If there are new features not supported by the old version they can be dumbed or omitted or even "cant convert this dataset" may be an option. It will allow to work with the new version using regular non migrated data for a while and make the switch when ready.

piki.brown
Explorer

Backward compatibility would assist us as a State High School in New Zealand. We run Education versions (2012) and upgrade when the PCs (suites) are upgraded. The time to PC replacement is 5-10 years. This means updating software can't be done due to PC compatibility.

Our difficulty arises when students with current versions on personal desktop machines are not able to access their files at school. Assisting them is challenging while those with laptops can bring their device to class.

If students with the most recent version of Inventor could save in an older version then we could support them on the PCs in the classroom.

We're investigating whether Inventor 2016 alone could be installed to our present machines alongside the already installed 2012 Education Suite.

 

jimm
Explorer

Keep in mind that a lot of CNC machines are now utilizing native software formats for importing the 3D geometry for programming. We have machines that will utilize native 2015 Inventor files for programming, but since we migrated to 2016, we are now forced to translate these files to step or sat files for programming, creating additional steps for programming and more revision controlled files to maintain.

dan_szymanski
Autodesk
Status changed to: Implemented

This idea has been implemented within Autodesk Inventor 2017.4 to associatively reference files last saved in Autodesk Inventor 2018. Special thanks to everyone who cast a vote for it.

 

 

jimmyflash
Advocate

Dan,

can you describe how exactly it is implemented, please? I don't see in Inventor 2018.3.6 any possibility to save to previous versions.

 

Thanks

ChrisMitchell01
Community Manager

There isn't a "save as previous versions", as such. It was implemented by enabling "open newer version". So 2017.4 will open 2018 (or newer) files. 2018.3 will open 2019 (or newer) files, etc.

 

Nothing has been done for this prior to 2017.4 though.

 

Thanks,

Chris

jimmyflash
Advocate

Thanks for explanation, now it is perfectly clear.

Jimmy

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Submit Idea  

Autodesk Design & Make Report