Hello everyone!
We have just started using Inventor ETO 2013 with the intention of migrating our existing Autocad 2012+Intent 2012 models, but we are having some issues, the most disturbing of them being the non-existance of the PlanarProfile and ExtrudedSolid designs.
These designs still appear in the wikihelp as shown here: http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Inventor_ETO/enu/2013/Help/0148-Inventor148/0525-Library_525/0538-AutoC...
Trying to create parts of either design will however result in a 'design not found' error.
Are we missing something here, or do they simply not work in Inventor? And in that case, is there a workaround for this? Some cleverly designed inventor part that can be adopted into ETO and serve the same purpose, perhaps? We just need a part where we can provide as a parameter a list with an undetermined amount of points in random locations across a common frame, and be able to extrude the resulting poly in a given direction and length.
Thanks in advance!
You'll need to think about how you want to create 3D geometry in Inventor ... and what you want to do with it. The philosophy is quite different. Some options are:
* The most common technique is to use IvAdoptedPart. This allows you to create the extrusion in "plain" Inventor, and then control the profile and extrusion via parameters.
* You can also use IvPartExtrudeFeature, which, although it sounds like the right thing, is usually reserved for more specialized situations. I fear that if you try to go down this route, it will take longer than using the more-typical "IvAdoptedPart" route, even though that may require you to do more refactoring of your application. But don't necessarily let my "fear" keep you from using this technique if it's the right one.
* You can use "client graphics" to create 3D shapes which are not stored in files, but are very fast.
* There might be a way to do what you want thru the use of "derived parts".
Probably the most important thing is to understand what IPT files you'll need (typically called "factory files") and what you'll generate (typically called "member files"). And whether you're letting ETO deal with it for you, or whether you are managing it yourself. Or whether you don't need any at all.
Sorry I can't really give you a quick-and-easy answer. If someone else has a better idea/answer, feel free to chime in.
Please dig deeper, and feel free to ask more questions here.