linking an excel file using inventor 2010 and windows 7

[Anonymous]

when i try to link an excel file to the parameters dialog box i get a message telling me it is "NOT IMPLEMENTED". i just upgraded to windows 7 because it is now supported by autodesk.

[mcgyvr]

#1- Have you run Excel on its own already since installing the OS?
#2-"Supported" does not mean it works yet. (To me it should but not to Autodesks marketing department who likes to jump the gun.) "Supported" in this case means they simply won't tell you to go away when you find things that don't work and they are required to try to fix them as soon as possible...(which could be in days..weeks..or months).

[Anonymous]

Many people are having issues with Excel in Windows 7. By "Supported",
that means they are probably working on a fix for this. I'll wait for
IV2011 before moving to Win7 ( sitting on my desk).
--
Dennis Jeffrey, Autodesk Inventor Certified Expert
Autodesk Manufacturing Implementation Certified Expert.
Instructor/Author/Sr. App Engr. Tel. (260) 399-6615
http://teknigroup.com

[Anonymous]

mcgyvr

excel works fine seperately. i can access excel files previously linked prior to the windows 7 upgrade. i just cannot link any new excel files. this is very fustrating. i am almost dead in the water now. i am looking into installing XP Mode, but i think it may cause further fustration.

paul

[mcgyvr]

> {quote:title=osheske wrote:}{quote}mcgyvr
>
> excel works fine seperately. i can access excel files previously linked prior to the windows 7 upgrade. i just cannot link any new excel files. this is very fustrating. i am almost dead in the water now. i am looking into installing XP Mode, but i think it may cause further fustration.
>
> paul No one can help you but Autodesk for this issue. Too bad they completely misled you already by publishing an article claiming support for Windows 7 when they aren't ready for it. This article made you (and many others) believe you could install W7 without issue but infact that is not the case.
I beleive Autodesk should either make it priority #1 to immediately release the required hotfixes/service packs or publish a retractment claiming they jumped the gun on this. Too bad neither will happen because they are a large company and can do whatever they want with little to no consequences.
You should submit a support case with a critical status and complain till you are blue in the face. or remove your w7 OS and install Vista or XP. I would really suggest removing w7 and not reinstalling it till 2011 is out or Autodesk addresses all the issues (which might not happen till then anyways).

I was flaming mad when I saw that article about Windows 7 support. I knew that many users like yourself will read that as Inventor works on 7 already and install it because you have it just ready to go.

[kstate92]

I have no idea, but I wonder if 32bit vs. 64bit and/or the Excel version could be factors.

I've never understood the (IMHO) foot-dragging OS and App programers have displayed vis-a-vis 64bit (AMD64 was introduced ten years ago) Especially for such heavy-duty programs like Inventor, where the only correct answer to the question "How much memory do you need?" is MORE.

[RonnieWilkins]

Right-click the Inventor Icon, select Properties.
On the compatibility tab, check 'Run this probram in compatibility mode for:' and select Windows Vista.
Click OK.

Now you should be able to link excel files. However, this does not fix the issue with editing iParts with Excel.

Tested with:
Windows 7 Ultimate
Inventor 2010
Excel 2007 SP2

Edited by: RonnieWilkins on Oct 27, 2009 1:01 PM Edited by: RonnieWilkins on Oct 27, 2009 1:03 PM

[Anonymous]

Apparently a particular registry entry, normally added during Office
2007's installation, is not added when Office 2007 is installed on
Windows 7. To work around this so you can edit iParts with Excel 2007 on
64-bit Windows 7, you can try the attached workaround script.

NOTE: The following has only received minimal testing by me on a handful
of machines. Only implement the workaround if you absolutely need a fix
*now*.

The first time you run the script, it will copy the 32-bit entry to the
64-bit location in your registry so 64-bit Inventor can find Excel. If
you run it again, it will remove the new entry.

If you'd prefer to do it manually, use Registry Editor, find
"HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID", add the
"{00024500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" key below it, add the
"LocalServer32" key below that, and set its default value to
'"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE"
/automation' (substitute the correct path for your machine).

We're currently looking into fixing this without requiring such a
workaround.

Brad Town
Software Developer
Autodesk, Inc.


RonnieWilkins wrote:
> Right-click the Inventor Icon, select Properties.
> On the compatibility tab, check 'Run this probram in compatibility mode for:' and select Windows Vista.
> Click OK.
>
> Now you should be able to link excel files. However, this does not fix the issue with editing iParts with Excel.

[ToddHarris7556]

THANK YOU.

Todd Harris
Win7/64 Ultimate
IV2010 Pro SP1/Sub Bonus/iLogic

[Anonymous]

thank you all for your input.

[Mcadae]

THANK YOU!!! That made the editing iParts/iAssemblies with Excel work now can you get it to work in Studio with an assembly with Positional representations?

[Anonymous]

*** The problem ***

On Windows 7, an installation of Excel 2007 does not put registry
settings in the 64-bit portion of the registry. As a result,
applications like Inventor cannot access Excel as they have in the past.
This problem is reproducible in new applications as well as existing
applications and is not limited to Autodesk products.

*** The solution ***

The attached script copies entries from the 32-bit portion of the
registry to the 64-bit portion of the registry. This allows 64-bit
applications to use Excel as they have in the past. We continue to look
into additional solutions.

*** Running the script ***

I wrote the script using PowerShell, which is installed by default on
Windows 7. PowerShell needs permission to run scripts, so you will need
administrator privileges to enable this. (When a command to type is in
quotes, don't type the quotes.) I apologize for the added complexity---I
wanted to get something out to everyone as soon as possible.

First, tell PowerShell that it's okay to run scripts:
1. Open PowerShell as an administrator. It's installed by default under
"All Programs/Accessories/Windows PowerShell". Right-click on "Windows
PowerShell" and select "Run as administrator".
2. Type "set-executionpolicy unrestricted" and answer "Y". This will
allow PowerShell to run any script regardless of whether or not it's
signed. If you don't want to remove all scripting restrictions, you can
sign the script yourself, but doing so is well beyond the scope of this
write-up.

To run the script, save the attached script in a particular location. In
PowerShell, run the script by specifying the full path to the script.
For example, if you saved it in "C:\Users\townb\Desktop", you would type
"C:\Users\townb\Desktop\excel-workaround.ps1".

If you ran the previous workaround script, you'll want to overwrite
those entries. The script will prompt you whether or not to do so---you
should answer "Y".

When the script finishes, you can type "exit" to exit PowerShell.

To remove the workaround, run the script again and answer the questions
accordingly.

If you want to set PowerShell's execution policy back to its default,
type "set-executionpolicy default" in PowerShell and answer "Y".

Brad Town
Software Developer
Autodesk, Inc.

[Anonymous]

Hi!

Thanks a lot. 🙂
This helped.

The description about PowerShell helped me to get through.


Best regards
soren skjoldborg
skjoldborg engineering

[Anonymous]

Hi Brad Town!

Thanks again for the The PowerShell script. excel-workaround.zip
that worked for my:
Win 7 64 bit, Inventor 2010, Office 2007
combination.

Unfortunately I got 1 more problem.

The PowerShell script. excel-workaround.zip
doesn't seem to work for the combination:
Win 7 64 bit, Inventor 2009, Office 2007. 😞

Do you have a solution on that?

Best regards
Soren Skjoldborg
Skjoldborg Engineering

[Anonymous]

I would have thought that this script would solve the current issues
with Excel 2007, 64-bit Windows 7, and Inventor. What issues are you
having with Inventor 2009?

Brad

skj_eng wrote:
> The PowerShell script. excel-workaround.zip
> doesn't seem to work for the combination:
> Win 7 64 bit, Inventor 2009, Office 2007. 😞
>
> Do you have a solution on that?

[Anonymous]

Hi!

I have exactly the same issues as I had with the Inventor 2010 before I ran the script.

Soren

[Anonymous]

I've tried it here and everything works after running the script. Try
running the script again to remove the entries (it will ask you to
confirm), then run it again to add them again. See if that fixes it.
Copy and paste the output from both script runs into an email to
me---our addresses are in the format "firstname.lastname@autodesk.com".
I'll see what I can do.

Brad


skj_eng wrote:
> I have exactly the same issues as I had with the Inventor 2010 before I ran the script.

[Anonymous]

Also, try running the attached PowerShell script to generate some
information. It creates "aidebug.txt" on your desktop for you to include
in your email. It dumps the registry information for the two problematic
Excel CLSID entries, some general Inventor registry information, and
version information for an arbitrary DLL installed by Inventor.

Brad Town
Software Developer
Autodesk, Inc.

[Anonymous]

Hi Brad!

I found a short term solution.
Inventor 2009 can link to xls files (office 1997-2003),
Inventor 2009 can not link to xlsx (office 2007)

Inventor 2010 will link to both types.

I will try out your proposals and send you a mail with the results.
But I have some pending work to do,
so it have to wait until later.




Skjoldborg Engineering
Soren Skjoldborg

[Anonymous]

Hi Brad!

I have run the script twice removal/installation.
It helped. Now both Inventor 2009 and 2010 can link both xls and xlsx files.
Thank you very much for your help.
I have send you a mail with a attached file as you requested.

THANKS!

Soren Skjoldborg