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Libraries & Folder Structures

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Message 1 of 14
tdswanson
2531 Views, 13 Replies

Libraries & Folder Structures

Hey everyone:

 

I work for a job shop and am the only designer.  We've just made the switch from Acad to IV and I'd like to get some feedback about how to structure my non-vault single user projects.

 

Presently, our network drive setup is like this:

 

Working Files & Customer Prints:  Z:\Customer Prints\<Customer Name>\<Customer Contact>\<Description or PN>

 

In some customers' folder, I may also have a folder with a path like this "Z:\Customer Prints\<Customer Name>\General Design" where I would keep things like mating parts, existing fixtures that new parts may need to mate with, etc.

 

Then I've also got a place for vendor CAD like this: "Z:\Vendor Documents\Vendor CAD\<Company Name>\<Part Types>" etc. for commonly used components, like tooling hardware.

 

In any project, I'd need to be able to access files from these directories.  So when I create a new project, I can obviously reference the workspace folder for the new part files and I can add the paths for the other two examples.  But if I need to quickly edit a file in one of the paths (like to show a work plane or something), I can't do it because library files are not editable.  Plus it seems like it's a bit repititous to add these paths manually every time I create a project.  Is there a better way to do this with my current file structure?

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13 REPLIES 13
Message 2 of 14
SBix26
in reply to: tdswanson

It would help to know a little more about your business-- do you design a line of standard & lightly customized products, or do you design totally unique and unrelated projects, or something in between?.

Message 3 of 14
tdswanson
in reply to: SBix26

We're a light machine shop that pretty much makes snowflakes: every one is slightly different.  Low quantity, typically make it once and it's gone.  However, sometimes we wil get something back years later for modifications.

 

In a nutshell, we're usually doing "non-production" work for the manufacturing industry.  Mostly tooling and hardware for R&D.

 

Thanks!

Message 4 of 14
SBix26
in reply to: tdswanson

Do you share parts between "snowflakes"?  That is, do you have a bunch of stock parts that get used in a variety of different projects?

Message 5 of 14
tdswanson
in reply to: SBix26

Custom Parts - generally not

 

Vendor purchased parts & assemblies - yes, quite often.

Message 6 of 14
SBix26
in reply to: tdswanson

I think that a folder for each project would make sense, along with subfolders under it to help keep things organized.  Then keep your common parts in a separate "library" folder.  Then you can use a separate .ipj for each project, and that .ipj will reference the common parts as a library location.

 

In our operation, we have a project template: a folder with our preferred folder structure included, and a .ipj file with the correct content center, design data, etc. established.  To start a new project, we copy this folder to the project repository, rename the folder and .ipj file, and we're ready to roll.  Essentially, every project is structured identically, and all the .ipj files are identical except for the actual filename.

Message 7 of 14
japike
in reply to: SBix26

We also do mostly custom designs and include standard components. Our structure is almost identical to Sam's and it works very well for us.

Peace,
Jeff
Inventor 2022
Message 8 of 14
tdswanson
in reply to: japike

Thanks guys, both your comments make a lot of sense.  Is there any connection between the IPJ file and the folder that it sits in?  My guess is no, but I'd like to confirm.

 

I'd likely need to make a template folder and IPJ for each customer to ensure that their unique subfolder paths are mapped correctly, but I think it still makes sense to do so.

 

I should probably seize this opportunity to clean up some folders and improve the overall structure within each customer's folder.

 

Thanks again for your help guys!  I've learned a lot from Waguespeck's book "Mastering Inventor 2012" and from the AutoDesk's Wiki site, but this user forum has been a great help as well.

Message 9 of 14
SBix26
in reply to: tdswanson

The .ipj file has no connection to the folder it sits in, as far as I can tell.  But it's sure easier if it sits in the top level folder and that folder is defined as the Workspace.

Message 10 of 14
mslosar
in reply to: SBix26

Is there anywhere this is really expanded upon?

 

Case in point.

 

I think i've got a handle on whether to use a single project file or multiple. Here we have a main engineering type folder where all projects are stored. An issue is that there is in excess of 1000 projects in the folder. Possibly in excess of 2000. In each project, some are completely unique. Many will reference existing standard parts. Those standards are sometimes single pieces and sometime subassemblies.

 

I'm pretty sure we need individual ipj files. However, from what i can tell this also seems to be a bit of a personal preference type of thing. Either way, I don't think i'd want my project file searching through 1000's of folders when opening an assembly.

 

Here's where i've got some confustion:

Included File(s)

Libraries (not content center lib's)

Frequently used Subfolders

 

Exactly what is the difference?

 

Best I can understand it, using an included file allows me to reference the pieces of another project. That's all well and good, but why would that be 'included files' and not Frequently Used Sub? I can see that maybe a certain job created a new piece that you could use elsewhere so you just reference it, but I'm not sure why all 3 options exist.

 

Libraries. Seems a bit more obvious. A Library(ies) of standard parts that you don't have or don't want in a content center library. Reference in commonly used nuts, bolts, company standards, etc. Should these library folders contain just ipt's? Can they contain folders/subfolders/subassemblies? Is it better to lump everything under one library folder? or would it work better to have a library of widgets, a library of gadgets, a library of fasteners, etc?

 

Frequently used subfolders - As noted above, what's the difference between these and the included file(s)? Seems to serve the same purpose, no?

 

-----------

 

In the context of a projects' folder structure...if your Workspace is defined as c:\inventor\Project1 does each file have to reside in that folder literally? Can you have subs for drawings and assemblies? I'm pretty sure this answer at least used to be no, but it would be nice to be able to have some sort of actual structure there.

 

Sorry for the 64 different questions, but I've not seen anything that seems to address all this. (FWIW, i'm soon going to have to present project files to the office and i need to be prepared for as many questions as possible.)

 

Thanks

Message 11 of 14
SBix26
in reply to: mslosar

Easy questions first: certainly you can have a folder structure under the workspace folder, and that's what the Frequently Used Subfolders are for.  They don't have any special function beyond convenience for single-click access.

 

Library folders generally refer to shared resources, as you suggested.  Important distinction, though: files in the Library are treated as read-only by Inventor, similar to the Content Center folder.  I think that having an intelligent folder structure in your library would make a lot of sense.

 

Included Files are just that-- folders that are not under the Workspace but which you want to have readily available to your project.  You might include another project temporarily, while you're borrowing concepts or actual files from that project, or it might be permanent.  It could be that your project is working on a major component of a large assembly, and that your project would include the top-level project so you have access to attachment points or other common parts of the whole machine. If you have a somewhat complex library structure, you might even define that in a project file, then include that file in all the normal projects, so if something changes in the library structure you only have one file to change, and all the others get it immediately by reference.

 

Hope that helps.

Message 12 of 14
mslosar
in reply to: SBix26

Helps a lot actually.

 

It'd be helpful if it was presented that way in the help files. Or if it is, was easier to find 🙂

 

Thanks!

Message 13 of 14
tdswanson
in reply to: mslosar

Here's a lowdown of how I structured our stuff here.  This is kind of a hodge podge of different suggestions from posts here.

 

We have a server folder structure like this:

 

Z:\Customers\Customer1

Z:\Customers\Customer2

Z:\Customers\Customer3

 

and so on.

 

I also have this for vendor stuff:

 

Z:\Vendor CAD\Vendor 1

Z:\Vendor CAD\Vendor 2

Z:\Vendor CAD\Vendor 3

 

So for each customer, I created this:

Z:\Customers\Customer1\_PROJECT FOLDER TEMPLATE_

 

And in that folder, I placed a generically named IPJ file, and a typical subfolder structure for our internal files.  Within the "dummy" IPJ file, I added a library link to the Vendor CAD area and any other libraries that I need *READ ONLY* access to.

 

So when I start a new project, I copy that WHOLE dummy project folder.  I rename the copied folder, rename the IPJ file, then activate it in Inventor and I'm ready to start drawing and I've already got the correct folder substructure in place for the project.

*******************************

On another note, as you're adding new vendor content as things come up, you'll also have to make yourself a project called "Vendor Parts" that has the appropriate work space folder.  When you need to make ajdustments to vendor parts, activate that project and you'll have write access to everything.

*******************************

On yet another note, I even made a folder under each customer folder for a CAD library, such as:

Z:\Customers\Customer1\CAD Library

 

I did this because there are times that we may have multiple projects based around the same customer product model.  So I didn't want to have to duplicate each product model for a customer's widget in *every single* project folder.  So within each customer's Generic IPJ file, I added a library path to that particular customer's CAD Library.  Then I would only have to have one part model for each product that we used.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Good luck!

Message 14 of 14
SBix26
in reply to: tdswanson

Looks like a logical and efficient structure to me.  Very similar to how we do ours, except we don't have a vendor library, since nothing is shared between projects-- each one entirely self-contained.

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