topic Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly file? in Inventor Forum

Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly file?

elaine.chan — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:47:28 GMT

@BeKirra wrote:

Did you use project file "*.ipj"?

I think this the way to go when you don't use vault.

But all my part files & assemblies must be in the same folder in order to open the assembly file properly?

I've many assemblies, some assemblies contains sub-assembly files

Post has been made to a separate topic. [Topic split off from] and the topic title has been adjusted from that as well by Tarek_K

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly fil

Sergio.Bertino — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:48:06 GMT

Hi @Anonymous,

Thanks for your post.

As already suggested the best tool would be Vault, Design Assistant can also help there.

How is your actual file structure organized and how would you like it to be? Can you clarify that?

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly fil

elaine.chan — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:48:45 GMT

My assembly consists of plenty of parts & sub-assemblies. I pack and go everything from a shared folder into my own folder. But the sketches & constraints are gone. I can't edit sketch. I can only inspect/measure. I've quite a bit of sub-assemblies, so there'll be quite a few ipj files in my folder.

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly fil

IgorMir — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:49:14 GMT

Hi Elaine;

It sounds strange to me. You don't P&G everything from folders. You P&G the upper level assembly. And the tool finds all the files needed. Once you unpack the files where you want them to be - they are fully editable.

Cheers,

Igor.

@elaine.chan wrote:
My assembly consists of plenty of parts & sub-assemblies. I pack and go everything from a shared folder into my own folder. But the sketches & constraints are gone. I can't edit sketch. I can only inspect/measure. I've quite a bit of sub-assemblies, so there'll be quite a few ipj files in my folder.

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly fil

elaine.chan — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:49:43 GMT

I click on the .iam file I want, then right click & select Pack n Go. Right or wrong? *confused*

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly fil

IgorMir — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:50:16 GMT

Yes, that's right. Just make sure it is a top level assembly. IOW - the one which shows the complete design. Than select the options in P&G dialog box.

Cheers,

Igor.

@elaine.chan wrote:
I click on the .iam file I want, then right click & select Pack n Go. Right or wrong? *confused*

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly fil

elaine.chan — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:50:46 GMT

What if there're sub-assemblies inside the top level assembly?

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly fil

IgorMir — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:51:20 GMT

Try it. They all will get collected.

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly fil

Sergio.Bertino — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:51:52 GMT

Hello @elaine.chan,

I wanted to add also another tip. If you want to include also the assembly drawing, start from it, pack&go from the drawing, and all the related files will be included.

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly fil

IgorMir — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 12:52:36 GMT

There is an option to include all the drawings to P&G as well. For that it is enough to specify the folder where the associated drawings are stored. That option becomes available right after the assemblies and parts files are collected.

Best Regards,

Igor.

@Sergio.Bertino wrote:

Hello @elaine.chan,

I wanted to add also another tip. If you want to include also the assembly drawing, start from it, pack&go from the drawing, and all the related files will be included.

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly

Frederick_Law — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 13:55:16 GMT

@elaine.chan wrote:
But all my part files & assemblies must be in the same folder in order to open the assembly file properly?

I've many assemblies, some assemblies contains sub-assembly files

Short answer:
No, drawing, part and assembly can be in any folder.

Long answer:

Everything needs to be in same folder as 'Workspace'.

Drawings best keep with ipt, iam, ipn in same folder.

For me:

Workspace - C:\Jobs 2018

Then inside with customers -

\Customer 1

\Customer 2

So the full path is -

C:\Jobs 2018\Customer 1

C:\Jobs 2018\Customer 2

Then job number inside Customer -

\0001

\0002

Full path -

C:\Jobs 2018\Customer 1\0001

C:\Jobs 2018\Customer 1\0002

C:\Jobs 2018\Customer 2\0003

C:\Jobs 2018\Customer 2\0004

There could be common parts and hardwares -

\Common Part

\Hardware

Full path -

C:\Jobs 2018\Common Part

C:\Jobs 2018\Hardware

Parts and assemblies can be in any of those folders and used by any assemblies.

I've seen other with folders for drawing, part and assembly.

How to manage them is your problem and a company 'standard'.

There is no right or wrong, whatever works for you.

Now Pack n Go.

Use it only to collect everything and send to customer.

You can Pack n Go keeping folder structure and you SHOULD.

My setup result in very similar structure after Pack n Go.

Best is to try different setup and see how you like it and adjust as you go.

Took me a few years and lots of trial and error to get what I'm using now.

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly

Sergio.Bertino — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 14:30:29 GMT

Hi @elaine.chan,

In the last days, you've got some good answers, the one from @Frederick_Law (Thanks @Frederick_Law!) is pretty detailed.

Could you please let us know if you need additional help?

Please hit the Accept as Solution button if a post or posts solves your issue or answers your question so that other users can see what a solution for a similar issue can be.

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly

johnsonshiue — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 18:39:07 GMT

Hi! Elaine,

No, files do not need to be in the same folder, if you set up Project properly. For files you actively modify, you need to put them in \Workspace\ or Workgroup. And, the files can be in different folder under \Workspace\ or Workgroup. For library components (non-editable), you can add the folder path as Library path. But, they cannot be under \Workspace\, because they should not be editable.

Many thanks!

Re: Inventor: Must part & assembly files in the same folder to open assembly

Frederick_Law — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 19:11:29 GMT

@johnsonshiue wrote:

Hi! Elaine,

But, they cannot be under \Workspace\, because they should not be editable.

Many thanks!

Actually they could and as long as its in 'Library', it'll be read only.

My 'Hardware' folder is inside Workspace as Library. Read only within the Project.