Match list for iMates

Original author:

jletcher

 

Match list for iMates

 

 Can we get this fixed..

 If I have a Match List set up there is a reason I want the imate to go to the matching imate ONLY...

 

 If I have a nut I have an imate 1/4-20 nut in my holes I put 1/4-20 nut on the other side of the hole I have one called Spacer.

 

 When I place my nut I don't want it to attach to Spacer but to the MATCHING imate.

 

 What good is the list if it will snap to anything?

 

 Match means Match nothing more.

 

 On my spacer I have one called spacer and one with support bar, support channel, Plate, etc.....

 

 The issue is when I tell it to do all matching imates guess what happens.

 

 It may be good to have a pick match option when placing.

 

 If I want one  to match to plate I pick plate if I want the 1/4-20 nut I pick 1/4-20..

 

 Then you can really use this feature as it should not half baked...

 Thank you..

  PS a hotfix or SP would be nice to make this work right..

Comments
Advisor
Advisor

 

 Can we get this fixed..

 

 If I have a Match List set up there is a reason I want the imate to go to the matching imate ONLY...

 

 If I have a nut I have an imate 1/4-20 nut in my holes I put 1/4-20 nut on the other side of the hole I have one called Spacer.

 

 When I place my nut I don't want it to attach to Spacer but to the MATCHING imate.

 

 What good is the list if it will snap to anything?

 

 Match means Match nothing more.

 

 On my spacer I have one called spacer and one with support bar, support channel, Plate, etc.....

 

 The issue is when I tell it to do all matching imates guess what happens.

 

 It may be good to have a pick match option when placing.

 

 If I want one  to match to plate I pick plate if I want the 1/4-20 nut I pick 1/4-20..

 

 Then you can really use this feature as it should not half baked...

 

  Thank you..

 

  PS a hotfix or SP would be nice to make this work right..

Mentor
Mentor

Yes, please - I've been meaning to post this idea myself for months.  The current matching method causes it to match to names in the match list first, but then still match to any other iMate of the same type.  This can make a HUGE mess if you use "place at all matching iMates".

 

It's particularly troublesome with iMates that are simple Insert types.  Bolts go into hydraulic ports.  Nuts go onto hydraulic fittings.  Mass chaos.

 

If there is some good reason for leaving the current open-ended matching behavior, then just adding a checkbox option to the match list for "Exact Matches Only" would be a big help.

Autodesk
Autodesk
Status changed to: Accepted

Accepted idea [534]. Thanks!

Advisor
Advisor

You accepted as a fix or new releases?

 

 This needs to be a SP or a hotfix and when I mean HOT I mean next week....

 

 As it is right now the way Inventor is going I do not want to load any new Inventors and all on old releases should have this working....

Anonymous
Autodesk should really pay attention to this issue... What a major bug this is!
Anonymous

Currently iMates will be satisfied in an order of precedence.

  1. The first matched name listed in properties
  2. Name's of iMates if (1) not satisfied
  3. Other compatible iMates if (1) or (2) not satisfied

When using iMates programatically it would be useful to have the option to turn off (3) and possibly (2) to ensure only iMates explicitly called are satisfied. This would resolve a great deal of debugging work which can be masked by the iMates finding an unintentional match.

 

It is understood that there are many occasions when the current iMate pairing philosphy works well, but for us programers controlling the behaviour without random results is important. Hence the request that this is an optional constraint.

Mentor
Mentor

There is an older submission of this same idea, which shows it as having been Accepted in 2013.

 

 

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideastation/match-list-for-imates/idi-p/4634729

Anonymous
Hi jtylerbc Many thanks for researching this. Yes you are correct, the idea has history. Hopefully it will get implemented soon. There are a few iMate issues I will be raising. Another is the strange issue of angular mates reversing at 180 degrees when used in a iMate. Drives me crazy finding workarounds. Best regards and thanks Peter Peter Slee-Smith The Gatehouse 2B Lynn Road Littleport CB61QG Office: +44 (0)1353 862520 Mobile: +44 (0) 7872 551597
Anonymous

Many thanks for researching this, hopefully it will soon be implemented.

 

Best regards

Peter

Anonymous

Having the same problem and frustrations with the imates matching all instances rather than just those on the matching list or those with the same name.

 

I note that the status of this idea changed to accepted on 29/09/14 but does not appear to be fixed in 2016 R2

 

Raised a support ticket detailing the issue today ...

Anonymous

It's been accepted in 2013, still doesn't work? Major bummer man.

Advisor
Advisor

I agree, why accept a solution and do nothing about it?

iMates need modernising, and the ability to match named iMates properly is paramount.

 

 

Anonymous

Hi I am currently having the same issue,

Trying to match imate names so they won't connect to other imates in the assembly.

 

I see this thread is already a few years old and Dan Szymanski seems to say it is accepted.

I use Autodesk Inventor Professional 2016 SP2 - Date Thu 04/21/2016.

Should it be solved in this version? What can I do to get this working properly or is there no fix for this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advisor
Advisor

Hello @Anonymous no it is not solved in 2016 and I believe I was told it is not working in 2017. This alone would save hours. 

Anonymous
Thank you jletcher for this confirmation. Thats a pity but we wil have to do with it i gues. In that case it might be even easier to just ad 2 UCS's in both parts and just constrain these together with 1 simple action. (Instead of making imates in both parts). Hope this will get fixed anytime do.
Advisor
Advisor

Does anyone know if this has been resolved in the 2018 release?

Advisor
Advisor

No has not been fixed in 2018 either..

Autodesk
Autodesk
Status changed to: Future Consideration

We are refining procedures around idea status.  Changing this to Future Consideration.

Consultant
Consultant

For clarification, on another thread johnsonshiue wrote the following, which I think adds a better understanding of the issue, or at least some aspect of this issue :

 


johnsonshiue wrote:

 

... I think I understand the issue correctly. This is about the "over-match" iMate behavior. Essentially, when the match list is exhausted, Inventor will continue to match the type. This behavior is indeed confusing and problematic. I wish this behavior did not exist. To certain degree, the implementation of iMate was incomplete. There should be a workflow allowing users to match exact what is intended but nothing more and nothing less. There might be some technical challenge to provide such behavior but it is worth investigating further. I do recall this was on our radar but I am not 100% sure how high it is on the list. I will work with the project team to understand the behavior better and see what the next logical step is.

Collaborator
Collaborator

We really need this to work too, it will speed up our workflow a lot!

radu

 

PS right now is 2018...

Collaborator
Collaborator

This feature would help me lots too...  Especially for when using iLogic/.net to create configurable products which automatically assemble. 

 

I have a lot of composite iMates which just Flush together all 3 origin planes.  No matter how hard I try, the wrong components are always constraining together.

Collaborator
Collaborator

This feature hasnt been fixed and we stopped using it. I assume nobody will touch it in the next few years...

Advisor
Advisor

No this will never be fixed, they are to busy changing the interface.

 

 Word is going around Inventor the software you relearn every release.

 

Lose productivity every release. I can do things faster in Autocad now.

Autodesk Support
Autodesk Support

Using the API could be a workaround. The code shown in this article can be modified based on the requirements:
https://modthemachine.typepad.com/my_weblog/2020/03/hook-up-a-chain-using-imates-with-matchlist.html

Advisor
Advisor

@adam.nagy 

 

 So you are telling me someone is smarter than the Inventor programmers and was able to get it to work but Autodesk can't?

 

 Not very promising, but hey Autodesk has made a productive Inventor software unproductive so anything is possible.

Participant
Participant

Autodesk, Fix this. People are asking about it since 2013. What a disgrace. Fellow Inventor users, Please share and vote this. Raise hell.

I'll add my vote.

Contributor
Contributor

2023 and still not fixed. What a freaking joke.

Advocate
Advocate

Hi. A lot aof customers need this. This Idea was accepted in 2013. Why it's not working in 2024???

Autodesk
Autodesk
Status changed to: Future Consideration

Idea added to backlog for future consideration [INVGEN-534].

Collaborator
Collaborator

Just going to leave this idea here incase anyone wants to vote for it.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/custom-imate-glyph/idi-p/13235478