Customizable Note Block in Drawing template

[cschroer22M64]

My engineering team and I are wanting to develop a customizable notes block in the top corner of our drawing. currently we have to type each item out in the manner shown below:

NOTES:

1) Material: *insert single material here*

2) Manufacturing Process: *insert choice of process(s) here*

3) Post Process: *insert choice of process(s) here*

4) Part Mark: *Insert choice of process(s) here*

What I am aiming to do is work this into the title block of our drawings and have the labels and numbers static, not changing, but be able to modify the material and choose the process(s) we want per item per use of a dropdown list. Is this possible? What would be the most efficient way to accomplish this? I am thinking about using some coding help, but would have to do some research into how to implement this into the title block on my own.

Thank you in advance!

[kacper.suchomski]

If you want to add a static text field with the option of manual editing, all you have to do is:

1. create a new drawing.
2. insert a text box
3. complete the initial descriptions
4. save the file as a template

[cschroer22M64]

Thank you for the quick response.

That is what I plan to do for the material section of my original post. I plan to make the material property reference the model property that dictates the material in the part file. so it would look something like this:

Material: <MATERIAL>      (this is called out and directly is referenced from the part file)

My dilemma is still with regards to the other 3 items. For example, what I would like to do is make a drop down selection menu for the other items (manufacturing process, post process, and part-mark). In the template file, I would like to start my line similar to above (ex. Manufacturing Process:), but instead of referencing the material property as mentioned before, I would like to insert a drop down menu of different options to choose from, and also have the choice to have multiple selections. Example of what is desired below:

Manufacturing Process: *drop down menu* [choice of cut from stock, waterjet, cnc machine], *drop down menu* [choice of none else (leave blank), cut from stock, waterjet, cnc machine]...

This is needed in case we need to waterjet a plate, but then a secondary operation is needed to finish manufacturing the part.

I hope this clarifies things a bit. Let me know if you have questions or if I need to clarify anything else.

[kacper.suchomski · Accepted solution]

https://autodesk-inventor-pl.typepad.com/my-blog/2015/12/autodesk-inventor-automatyzacja-wpis%C3%B3w...

I'm thinking about the iLogic form. Here is an example of a form for a table, but maybe you can implement it in a text field. Will you try?

PS. In the video, Invenotr is in English 🙂

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! The easiest way is probably inserting Prompted Text. But, it won't be a dropdown menu. Each text has to be entered manually. I suspect iLogic may be able create a form with prepopulated dropdown list. Please take a look at this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKDohvqtG9o

Many thanks!

[A.Acheson · Accepted solution]

As @kacper.suchomski  and @johnsonshiue  suggested ilogic is the best method for this. I like to keep notes in a sketch symbol but you can also have it in general text as well. Placing this in a titleblock might be restrictive depending on how your sheet sets are set up. If you have multiple sheets then you can only populate notes on one title block per drawing. 

1. Steps are create multivalue parameters to store multiple values. 

2. Create a form and add the parameters.

3. Create drawing custom iproperties or run the rule below which will create the iproperties and set them from the corresponding parameters.

3. Create a symbol and add the drawing custom iproperties.

4. Set notes rule to run on View change event trigger(Edit getting mixed results with the trigger) . This step is only needed if you want to display the material in the form. In is proving a difficult task. The model material is available by standard iproperty but cannot be added to the form for viewing to aid in selecting the notes. The workaround is to create a drawing custom iproperty and set the model material to this property. This property can then be added to the form. When you change the model in the view the rule will run and change the iproperty therefore closing the loop of the workaround. 

Rule.

'Set the multivalue parameters (Dropdowns)
'MultiValue.SetList("PostProcess", "Deburr all edges", "None")
'MultiValue.SetList("ManufacturingProcess", "Cnc Machine", "Stock Cut", "WaterJet")

'Update material using on view change event trigger. 
'Alternatively can use model iproperty directly but cannot display In the form. Workaround To Set custom iproperty To display.  
Try
	iProperties.Value("Custom", "Material") = ThisDrawing.ModelDocument.ActiveMaterial.DisplayName
Catch
End Try

'Some logic to set dropdowns automatically.
If ManufacturingProcess = "Cnc Machine" Then
	PostProcess = "None"
ElseIf ManufacturingProcess = "WaterJet" 
	PostProcess = "None"
Else
	ManufacturingProcess = "Stock Cut"
	PostProcess = "Deburr all edges"
End If


'Set the iproperties on the sheet from the parameters in the form.
iProperties.Value("Custom", "Manufacturing Process") = ManufacturingProcess
iProperties.Value("Custom", "Post Process") = PostProcess 
iProperties.Value("Custom", "Part Mark") = PartMark 

[cschroer22M64]

@kacper.suchomski using the video you provided, i was able to make a note block following the same format, and make it adjustable to what option we want to select. Thank you