iLogic Design Copy - Unable to change component names?

[SteveX82]

I'm finally wrapping up work on an iLogic Configurator project and have started to brainstorm the best workflow to get this "Smart Assembly" into the design group's hands. I had been anxiously awaiting the new "iLogic Design Copy" feature in IV2012, but just recently learned that users are unable to effectively rename any components with this command.

Is this really true? If we can add prefixes or suffixes, what's stopping us from changing the entire filename?  We haven't upgraded to 2012 yet, but it seems like this may be a silly and unjustifiable restriction to a command that would otherwise save our designers hours of "file-management" (ie, manually renaming parts in Explorer, component replace in assy's, replace references in idw's, etc) each week.

Long story short, it seems that every workflow I've come across has had some sort of silly limitation that makes it undesireable for my application:

• My top-level assembly contains all of the rules, and changes parameter values in the referenced skeletal parts. It also swaps standard parts for other standard parts as needed.
• I need access to rename ALL files (idw's, top-level assembly, subassemblies, and base components) while still maintaining/updating all internal hyperlinks between them.
• iLogic rules must be carried over to the new copied components (the existing "Copy Assembly" command strips the assembly of all rules).

In light of the iLogic Design Copy's apparent shortcomings, can anybody recommend a better workflow?

Thank you kindly,

Steve

[mflayler2]

Any reason why you are not using Vault's Copy Design?

Also you don't really have to wait until 2012 to at least try out the iLogic Design Copy.  It was added in the 2011 Bonus Pack that is free to all subscription customers.

Edit: Or at least using the iLogic Design Copy first and then Rename in Vault?

[SteveX82]

My company doesn't have Vault (don't even get me started...), and our IT department never bothered upgrading to IV2011. We are still running on IV2010 SP3.

Does Vault's Copy Design also copy over iLogic rules? If so, I may have to do some arm-twisting and get ourselves a copy.

[mflayler2]

It does copy the rules.

Basic Vault if free and you have it right now, it just is not installed.

You will need two components to set up a test Vault.

Vault Client (part of a standard install package)

Vault Server (a seperate disc for setup that comes with IV2010 or can be downloaded from the subscription site)

[SBix26]

I also had high hopes for iLogic Copy Design, but with the inability to do a simple string replace, it is totally worthless to us.  When I copy a design, I don't want to add prefixes or suffixes to the file names, I want to modify the existing name.  We do not use Vault and have no plans to add that additional administrative headache to our (my) workload.

[SteveX82]

I share your sentiments, Sam. I just can't see the point of using iLogic Copy Design if designers will have to manually rename their files outside of Inventor and then manually resolve all the broken links afterwards.

Why would Autodesk invest the time and money into developing this otherwise neat tool, but then slice the Achilles tendon by making filenames uneditable?

I really hope I'm missing something, but it seems that Autodesk missed the target on this one.

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Hi SteveX82,

I had the need for a faster, more simple Copy/Rename/Relink tool as well, so I wrote a routine in iLogic to do this:

http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com/2011/08/copy-design-and-revision-rolling-with.html

As written it's pretty specific to my typical folder structure, and it copies and renames all Inventor files in the folder, which in my case is typically just a drawing and model pair. So, judging from your original post I don't think this is exactly what you want, but you might be able to modify it to fit your needs. If you set up an example file set using the file structure I describe, and then use this rule, you can get a better idea of how it works and how it doesn't work.

I use this rule to copy, rename and update links between the drawing and model. I then use another rule to replace models in the assembly with the latest revision of that component, or to replace them with copied designs. We don't use Vault for a number of reasons, but our system is very structured and new part numbers and revision levels are created in our engineering file/MRP system first, so this workflow works really well for us. But I understand that it will likely not be the best approach for people who have the need to copy/rename everything at once.

If you provide a bit more information on your file structure I might be able to help you come up with something (as time permits). My initial thought is that you might be able to create a rename/relink rule to do what you want, and run it after using the iLogic Copy Design tool.

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[SteveX82]

Thanks for the link, Curtis!

I'll have to take a look at it from my home PC, as our IT department has prioritized blocking 90% of the internet over installing IV2012 (or even 2011), Vault, or properly managing the company's files.

I'll get back to you with any questions I may have.

- Steve

[jdkriek]

Curtis, this code doesn't seem to work at all and I'm not sure why.

I ran the rule in a folder with 200 or so files and it's picking 2 random files in the folder to copy to the new folder?

All the files are .ipt, .idw, or .iam

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Hi jdkriek, 

I probably wasn't clear enough originally, but the rule as written expects a pretty specific file structure and is meant to work with drawing/model pairs. As mentioned at the link you should probably consider this example code provided for you to build your own copy tool, rather than thinking of it as a finished tool that will fit your exact needs. As written it is not guaranteed to be bug free or to handle errors smoothly.

If you set up a folder with the pathing as per the example you can see it in action, and then begin tweaking and making changes to the code as needed, to fit your needs. 

This code expects a path such as:

N:\12-3456-78\Design Outputs\Rev 1

Where 12-3456-78 is the part number and folder that all files for that part number reside in.

Where Design Outputs is an intermediate folder.

And where Rev 1 is the folder containing the files to be copied.

I don't expect many (any?) users to have a folder structure that mimics this example exactly, so some change to the code will be required, outside of the example folder structure.

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[jdkriek]

I understand the structure is specific to how you do things, but for testing, that's exactly how I have it setup. It still doesn't do what you say it supposed to: " copies and renames all Inventor files in the folder". This is what I'm refering to when I say it's not working. Drawing/Model pairs IS what I need it to interact with, but it's not looking for them, as the parts it does copy have no relation to each other. It's also not copying more than 2 files at any given time.

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Hi jdkriek,

I'm not sure I can offer much help without more details, but if you're running this on 200 files there are a number of reasons that I can think of that might cause it not to work. As stated at the link it's not guaranteed to handle errors smoothly, so I suggest you trim down your test set to just a couple of files, and get it to work, then add files back in as needed to find where it gets tripped up.

As for it copying unrelated file, understand that it looks at the folder to be copied and begins to copy each file based on file names. It does not look at relations of the files until after the copies are created. So most likely it's bombing out early on, and copying just a couple of files.

If you try it with a single drawing and a single model in a folder matching the folder stucture and can't get it work, then please let me know. Also, I know that as written, it will bomb if it encounters an unresolved link in a drawing, etc.

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[jdkriek]

That makes sense Curtis, thanks. I tried with a handful of parts and it seems to work ok. It must be dying after it encounters an error and thus the random results of files. I encountered the same thing with a batch print utility that prints all inventor files in a folder. You could select all files to print, but it would only print untill it found an error and then stopped. Shouldn't be too hard to add some error handling in here. Thanks again.

[ChristinaForest]

I have a huge hope for ilogic design copy but deception 😞

copy asembly, part, rule inside, copy and replace my master sketch, in a first look look great but

when i created my partlist i see a big problem, the ipt part name is ok but not the part number???

[cino.cihan]

I have a similar problem to. I tried both the ilogic design copy and vault but both was same result.

After I copied my assembly I changed the names of parts and now my rules doesn't run because it doesn't update the names in the ilogic rules....

[SteveX82]

Cino,

It sounds as though you may be having a slightly different problem.

So long as you first "stablize" the names of components in your assemblies (ie, rename the default component names from the standard "table123.ipt" format, to a general description such as "Table" or "Chair"), then iLogic should have no problem manipulating the components even after renaming the files themselves. Without stabilizng the browser names, they would change to match the new filenames , and your iLogic code would no longer recognize the components that it once worked with.

If this isn't the problem that you're encountering, please elaborate a bit more, and we'll try to help.

- Steve

[cino.cihan]

Thanks ,

I will try and see...