Read Part Attributes Issues

[andrewdroth]

I'm trying to copy all the part attributes from an old model to a new one and It'll only let me read two at a time.

See video of the issue here.

Any ideas why this would be?

[AstroJohnPE]

Hi Andrew,

Here's what I see.

The first error message references the part attribute file as "blah blah - Rev A". This does not match the name of the file you selected, so there may be something in the filename that it doesn't like.

I do not remember the rules for importing multiple apif files, so that may have something to do with it. The documentation will clarify the capabilities.

[andrewdroth]

Thanks John,

According to this it should work for a different model in the manner I'm using it.

See excerpt below.

• Save/Read Part Attributes: When one or more parts are selected, the commands Save Part Attributes to File and Read Part Attributes from File are available. These two commands are like the Copy and Paste functionality. The main difference is that theSave command saves the data to a file, not to the clipboard. Thus, the data can be read into a different model by using the Readcommand. (The Paste command only works in the current model; the clipboard is cleared if a new model is started or opened.)

  When the Save command is used, a Browse For Folder dialog box is presented. Choose where to save the files and click the OKbutton. The name of the file is automatically set as follows: <FEM File Name>_<Design Scenario>_<Part Number (Part Name)>.apif where <FEM File Name> is the name of the model, <Design Scenario> is the design scenario number, and <Part Number (Part Name)> is the number and name of the part with the name enclosed in parentheses (). All attributes of the part (color, description, element type, element definition, and material data) are saved.

  When the Read command is used, a standard Windows Open dialog box is presented. Select one or more apif files to read and click the Open button. Then, the Select Attributes to Apply dialog box appears. Choose which items to read from the files and apply to the selected parts. The multiple selection capability behaves as follows:

  • If a single apif file is selected, the chosen attributes in the file are transferred to the selected parts without considering the part number. For example, saved attributes from part 2 can be applied simultaneously to parts 3, 10, and 15 in a new model.
  • If multiple apif files are selected, the attributes in the files are transferred to the selected parts only when the part numbers are identical. For example, the attributes for parts 1, 2, and 3 in model A are saved. Parts 2, 3, and 4 in model B are selected when the Read command is used. Since part 1 is not selected in model B, the part 1 apif file is ignored. The attributes for parts 2 and 3 are updated because the files chosen and the parts selected match. Since no apif file was selected for part 4, its attributes are not changed.
    Note: The Read command compares the units stored in the apif file with the model units of the current model. If they are different, the Read command does not proceed. The units must be the same in apif file and current model.

[andrewdroth]

We still can't get this to work.

It seems like the number of parts it will load arbitraily changes from model to model.

Since the part names wont link with the surface names in Inventor, and the part names are overwritten when an .ipt is used to udate the model, this is the only tool we have for keeping part names when updating a model.

Maybe a request to link surface names in IV and part names in SIM would be a good idea?