topic Re: Broken Frame Generator in Inventor Forum

Broken Frame Generator

SometimesInventorMakesMeAngry — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 19:59:08 GMT

So I basically did a series of steps that broke a frame generator assembly. I noticed it when the members weren't updating after updating my sketch.

The error I see when I try to create a new frame generator assembly is

[WARNING] Frame Generator: Errors occurred during inserting Frame Member(s) [WARNING] Insertion of frame member(s) failed [ERROR] A frame member could not be created. The reason for the failure is unknown. Please retry.

This is what I did to get this error:

(Unintentionally) deleted the frame assy from my top level assy. In other words, I removed the occurrence-- I didn't delete the file from my storage.
Did many other things that now prevent me from undoing to the state where frame assy worked.

Things I tried to try to get it working again:

Placed the frame assy in the top level assy (I believe this is the reason it isn't updating).
Removed the frame assy occurrence once again to try to create a new frame assy using frame generator. I get the above error.
Deleted the default "Frame" folder where the skeleton and members are placed from my storage. Again, I tried to create a new frame assy using frame generator. I get the same error.
Placed the original (now broken) frame assy. Attempted to change/edit a member using frame generator. Frame generator detects the members and I can edit the profile in the dialog, but does nothing once the changes are accepted.

So I can't edit the frame assy I have and I can't create a new one. What can I do to get a working frame again?

The reason I deleted the frame assy is kind of a long story involving trying to "Copy Components" (Assy environment), it failing and instead Inventor placed a new occurrence of the files I was trying to copy. Thinking I had a copy, I began making changes, including deleting the frame assy. By the time I realized it, I ran out of undos.

Re: Broken Frame Generator

SharkDesign — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:11:58 GMT

This sounds a bit of a mess.

If you're lucky, you can go to the folder where all these things are saved, go in the folder called 'old versions' and reinstate one of those.

I'm assuming you don't have vault, otherwise you just refresh the file.

Re: Broken Frame Generator

SometimesInventorMakesMeAngry — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 21:01:16 GMT

I do have Vault, but I hadn't checked in this file. I will try the old versions. Thanks!

Re: Broken Frame Generator

johnsonshiue — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 20:59:23 GMT

Hi! I don't think Copy Components, Mirror Components, and any replication workflow fully support Frame Gen subassembly. You can use Copy Design to replicate the exact assembly with the frame.

But, if you try to repurpose an existing Frame in a different assembly, you will run into confusing behaviors fairly easily. It is because the Frame Gen assumes that the Frame sub is created within the hosting assembly and there is only one Frame sub. Transporting the Frame sub to a different context loses the model intelligence stored in the original hosting assembly.

Many thanks!

Re: Broken Frame Generator

SometimesInventorMakesMeAngry — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 21:05:48 GMT

Thanks for your reply. My intention was to copy the parent assembly while reusing the frame assy, but then deleting it and creating a new one for the copy. The problem is that Copy Components failed somehow and instead of copying the parent assy, it simply placed a new instance of the original. This is when I removed the frame assy occurrence from it (not realizing I was editing the original parent assy) and it broke the frame assy.

As I described in my initial post, I tried a few things to try to make the frame assy work again, including placing it in the assembly it was created (the parent assy) without success.

Re: Broken Frame Generator

SharkDesign — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 21:10:13 GMT

Next time just do a copy design in vault.

Re: Broken Frame Generator

SometimesInventorMakesMeAngry — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 22:00:22 GMT

You're right. That's probably a better workflow.

In case anyone else encounters this problem, I found a quick workaround:

~~In your parent assy (the one containing the main frame assy), delete the instance of frame assy.~~
~~Close parent assy and all documents referencing it.~~
~~On your local storage, copy and paste parent assy file into a different folder.~~
~~Copy paste the pasted file into the original folder. Accept when Windows prompts you to overwrite.~~
~~Open new parent assy file again.~~
~~Inventor now lets you create a new frame generator assy without errors.~~

This is not resolved by simply restarting Inventor-- I tried that. I don't understand why this works, but it works. I was getting the same error on an unrelated assy and fixed that one with this procedure as well.

After further testing, just open the parent assy instead of trying to in-place edit. I also don't know why this makes a difference.