Inventor ETO IvBooleanSolid Class

[cap123]

AutoCAD ETO library has a design for booleanSolid (go to http://docs.autodesk.com/ETOCOMP/2014/ENU/index.html?url=files, click on the "Search" tab and enter booleanSolid)

Is there a similar class available for Inventor ETO library? Does someone already have such a class? If not, how can I create one?

I am assuming that creating it would require use of Inventor API in ETO, which I am not very familiar with and would need some help.

Thanks,

Bhushan

[JackGregory]

We don't support these as first-class Designs in Inventor, because while it is not impossible, it is really not how Inventor normally works.  As a feature-based modeler, Inventor generally operates beyond simple Boolean operations.  Can you provide a use case that would show how simply adopting an Inventor Part would not be capable of the same result?

We do not recommend writing your own, because of the complexities of dealing with the update mechanism of Inventor.

[cap123]

I am modeling a part, a shaft, which is divided into 3 separate zones (as far as shape of the part is concerned). The zones are 2 ends + a center. Each zone can have different shapes. The two end zones can have 15 different shapes and the center portion can have 2 possible shapes. If I build a separate model for every possible cobination of 15 --- 2 --- 15 then I get a large number of models (over 200).

So I decided to model 15 end shapes + 2 center shpaes and orient then and combine them as needed. This gives me all possible combinations with 17 part files. But I do not have ability to boolean solids from Intent.

I also thought of building 3 solids in the same ipt file but let Inent drive which sketch gets selected and oriented for each of these 3 solids from a set of 17 sketches (15 end shapes + 2 center shapes)? This would give me all possible combinations with one part file with 17 sketches. But I don't know how to drive sketch selection for an inventor solid from Intent.

Is there another way of doing this? May be, entirely within Inventor? Please let me know.

Bhushan

[JackGregory]

The "ETO" position in the Inventor family is to configure parts via parameters, and then assemble these into rule-based assemblies.  What you are doing is more like trying to build a rule-based assembly of features into a single part, which isn't directly supported by ETO today (although there aren't any technical reasons why it could not be).  One of the reasons we don't do this today is that Inventor's Part creation tools are pretty strong.  I am not an expert on that, but I believe that you can get what you want in a single part, by selective suppression or enabling of features, which can then be controlled via rules from ETO.

Depending on what your desired output is, you could also build an assembly that looks like a single part.  If you want an IPT file as output, this probably isn't ideal, but if you are making drawings or renderings, it would be fine.

[cap123]

I already have it working as an assembly of 3 parts. But the drawings and section views have lines separating the 3 solids and also some downstream operations within Invntor get messed up.

I am working on creating a single part file with several sketches and corresponding solids and then suppressing all but 3. However, that started getting a bit messy.

After doing all this, I thought the cleanest way do do this might be to combine 3 parts using a boolean.

If I do not want to go beyond what I described (i.e. combine 3 parts into one) and I am willing to accept an unsupported solution then can someone help me to write an IvBooleanSolid class and test it to see if it can handle the part update issues you mentioned?

[Lesoux]

Could you provide some pictures about what you want to generate using ETO just to know about what you are talking?

[cap123]

I will have to check if I can post any data.

Most of the shapes may not be super-complex and could be handled in Inventor with suppression. But my point is that a boolean solid class can do the same thing with least amount of work and fuss. And I found one in the AutoCAD library but not in the Inventor library, which means it has been implemented.

So, I would still like to try and build an IvBooleanSolid class and see if it works in context of the part alone and the overall assembly.

Thanks,

Bhushan

[Lesoux]

Hi cap 123,

Technically, I don't see any issues to make what you want using derive feature and combine bodies. Yes, you need to prepare 17 + 2 parts firstly. The problem is in entities. How are you going to name it? As I understand that drawing is the final target of your job. Without entities you don't have any possibility to create any drawing view object as dimension, leader note, etc. This is a problem.

[JackGregory]

Yes, I don't like to be negative here, but the reason we don't generally do "rule-based Part" files is because Inventor already does so much.  The Combine function in Inventor is exactly what you want (I think, not having seen exactly what is being done), and the parameter-based suppression and definition can make that Part ETO-controlled.  iLogic adds language-based power to that.  So we won't get approval to spend resources on it for something that overlaps Inventor so fully.

[cap123 · Accepted solution]

Jack and Lesoux:

Thanks for your replies. In this case, I will have to accept and do more work in Inventor.

Bhushan