Keyboard shortcuts not working. Inv. 2011

[blaste]

Has anyone noticed Keyboard shortcuts not working from time to time in Inv 2011? It's ultimately frustrating because I cannot figure out what is causing the issue. Sometimes restarting Inventor or opening the keyboard shortcuts customize window works and sometimes it doesn't. Standard default shortcuts like "ctrl + p" for printing and custom shortcuts I have added both don't function in Inv. but work just fine in other programs.

Another undesired problem is after rebooting our machines the Project file is switched back to default.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Inventor 2011 Simulation w/ SP1

Windows 7

Vault 2011

[bobvdd]

Three questions.

1) If you go to Tools > Customize > Keyboard > Reset all keys. Do you still have the intermittent problem of CTRL+P not working? CTRL+P is a default shortcut key that comes with Inventor. No need to define it.

2) Concerning active ipj file not sticking. Does this also happen if you close Inventor cleanly (no crashes involved) before you reboot? Make sure that you have only one Inventor.exe process in Task Manager running before you close Inventor. I am suspecting that there could be a second stray Inventor process that somehow gets locks the ipj.

3) You can always export your shortcut customizations with Tools > Customize > Keyboard > Export ... and post it here so that we can have a look at it and see if there are conflicts of some sort.

Cheers.

Bob

[blaste]

Bob,

1.) Resetting all keys did not fix the problem. I did not change any of the defaults but only added shortcuts to iproperties and check in/out from vault, those kinds of things. The common Windows default keyboard shortcuts work in all other programs but not in Inv. 2011. They worked for a little while but just stopping working one day or have been intermitant. Perhaps a recent Windows update caused problems.

2.)It seems to go back to the last "single user" project file only after a clean reboot. If inventor is closed and reopened it retains the same ipj. No other inventor.exe is running so i'm still unsure. i'm not the only one who is having the problem either. I created a new ipj for Inv. 2011 when we upgraded and haven't seen switching like this since Inv. 2008. I've attached the ipj in case you see something i've missed.

Thanks,

[bobvdd]

I don't see anything abnormal in your ipj file other than it being a Vault project file.

What could be the difference between "single" user and Vault project files in this respect?

Maybe there is a read-only flag that gets in the way? But even that is very unlikely as we store the active project flag not in the individual ipj.

I would continue to monitor the Inventor.exe processes in Task Manager, especailly when closing Inventor sessions.

Also the Project Editor tool might help you monitor faster (no need to open Inventor to see which ipj is active).

Concerning the shortcut keys. Can you navigate to the command

     Tools > Options > Customize... > [Keyboard] 
and check "Use default multi-character Command Aliases".

That will have as result that a small dialog will come up that shows all shortcut possibilities when you start typing on the keyboard. With this setting instead of CTRL + P you could simply define a shortcut called PRINT in the hope that it works better by taking a different approach to the shortcuts. Just a thought.

Bob

[blaste]

Vault project file problem seems to be ok. I had the project file dir. and actual location in different places. Thanks.

Still having the keyboard shortcut problems. using multi-character cmd aliases doesn't help. it only makes shortcuts longer which seems a little backwards to me. What I find so frustrating about not being able to use shortcuts is that some work and some don't hitting "F1" brings up the help window as it should yet hitting "F7" won't slice graphics (when it's available of course) why do some work and some don't? my productivity is great decreased when most of the standard shorcuts don't work!

I've run a repair on Inv. 2011 & Vault with no change. Please Help!

[Anonymous]

I have had the problem with F7 slice graphics not working. If you click in the graphics window it will work.  Didn't have to do this with 2010.

[mcgyvr]

I have seen the problem with F7 (slice graphics) too...

Also I keep deleting the hotkey CT (copy to construction) and it keeps coming back after a few days or so.. I haven't figured out the timeframe/trigger.

[SBix26]

I, too, have noticed the regression from 2010.  In 2011 the focus has to be in the graphics area of the screen for keyboard alias/shortcuts to work, which means that any mouse activity in the browser disables the keyboard (F6 for home view, for instance).  It only requires a click in the graphics area to re-activate, but this is annoying, and I'm not yet completely trained.  But this is definitely a regression and should not be allowed to carry over to 2012, or even to SP2.

[bobvdd]

We have a known regression defect around this with number 1351357.

So far I have been able to reproduce this with the F7 and the S shortcut (indicating that this is a more widespread framework issue in the code). I have not been succesful to reproduce this with the F6 key so far. Here are the workflows.

For S shortcut key for sketch creation:

1.Start new part

2.RMB in the browser and "Exit sketch"

3.Expand origin planes in browser

4.Select XY plane

5.Hit S --> nothing happens

For F7 shortcut key for slice graphics:

1.Create a box

2.Create a sketch on one of the midplanes of the box

3.Exit sketch with green checkmark (make sure to not click with your cursor in the graphics screen)

4.in the browser edit sketch again.

5.Hit F7 command for slice graphics --> nothing happens.

In both cases when you click in the graphics screen before step 5, the shortcut key works.

Bob

[Anonymous]

Thanks for verifying Bob.

[SBix26]

For F6:

1. With model open, orbit to random orientation

2. With the mouse, click to expand/collapse the Origin folder

3. Hit F6 to return view to home position -- nothing happens

4. Click in the graphics area, F6 now works as expected.

For me, at least, this is true for all keyboard commands/shortcuts/aliases.

[blaste]

Thanks Bob

Yeah as long as I click into the graphics screen before using a shortcut key it works. Well at least today. haha I was going crazy trying to figure out what was causing the issue. I thought I had messed up something after adding some custom shortcut keys for iProperties and Vault check in/out functions but after resetting my keyboard shortcuts I knew the problem was much bigger. So will there be a fix for this?

Thanks again,

[bobvdd]

Thanks. I can reproduce this now with F6 as well. I added your scenario to the defect report.

Bob

[n00kie.tdc]

Hey guys, I currently have the same problem. One day left work and turned off the machine. The very next day came back to work and all of a sudden shortcuts does not work. Restoring default settings did not help.

I am using Inventor 2012 64-bit. So did anybody found out how to resolve this? 

[blaste]

n00kie, I've made the upgrade to 2012 64-bit and i'm still having the same issues. The only solution that works for me is to restart inventor. Let me know if you've found out anything else.

[n00kie.tdc]

Can you send me what you did? Because when I bind hotkeys myself, they seem to work ok. But default shortcuts seem not to work. And I seriously have no idea what is the reason. Restarting Inventor does not help. Even machine restart does not help 😃 I found that in order to successfully work in Invetor you have to struggle with it, it is like a whoman 😃

[blaste]

Haha, well I created custom keyboard shortcuts for Checking files in and out of the vault and one for viewing iProperties. I also created 3 for changing views like wireframe, shaded etc. They all work fine until some point where all keyboard shortcuts cease to work. Even the defaults like the home button stop working. I think it most often stops working after i lock my pc to step away from my desk. When i come back, sometimes the shortcuts still work and sometimes they don't. I'm not sure if a background service stops running in windows or what it is. They only start working again after i restart inventor.

[bobvdd]

The original problem that was reported here on 2011 got fixed in R2011 Service Pack 2.

It is new to me that this same problem also exists in R2012.

Are there any specific steps that could help us nail this down (I lock my PC several times a day and I don't notice the loss of shortcuts in 2012) . So there must be something else at play.

Thanks

Bob

[blaste]

I'm not sure how to reproduce it. I can confirm locking my pc is not causing it. I have opened and closed 4 idws and iams and ipts. i'm on my 5th now and after clicking in the work area and pressing the home button it does not return to the home view also none of my custom keyboard shortcuts or any default ones either. Is there some kind of method I can use for trying to reproduce it? I can't attribute a single action that causes it or combination of actions. All i can tell is that it works for a while and then it just stops working until i close and reopen inv. I've gotten to the point that I've just accepted it. I just finish the file I'm working on and then restart inventor. I do appreciate your diligence with this Bob. What kind of related info. can I provide to help try to figure this out?

[PeterBrodt]

Also running Inv 2012 - 64 bit. I see the problem with F7 also. Extremely annoying. It doesn't help clicking in the graphics window. I have to enter the pop up menu and select Slice Graphics.