Inventor 2016 iLogic and External Rules Bug

[cody_evjen]

We just upgraded from 2014 to 2016, our iLogic worked flawlessly previously. Since the upgrade all our users have encountered the same problem every time the go to execute a rule that runs an External Rule in it we have a failure. We have about 20 external rules we use on a regular basis and it seems to always be the same files. The dialog prompt says that it can't find the External Rule but it can clearly be seen in the External Browser. To fix this we need to re-add that External Rule in. Not a big deal we have a work around. Here's where it becomes annoying, every time we run any rule we need to add the External Rule again....every time. iLogic is suppose to streamline work not add extra steps. Has anyone else experienced this or perhaps have a solution?

[Mark.Lancaster · Accepted solution]

I haven't seen or heard about this but I would have to test to see if I could duplicate it.  However in Inventor 2016, the adv ilogic configuration has been updated to help streamline the loading of external rules.  Have you done that on each machine

[bretrick30 · Accepted solution]

I have had a similar issue, it started with one of the Service Packs for Inventor 2013 and has never been fixed in 2014 or 2015.  My issue was that each time Inventor was restarted, the rules could not be found.  They didn't even show up in the External Rules browser.  Back then, I submitted a support case, but was told that since I found a workaround to "fix" it, they were going to close the case.  I argued and nothing ever happened.

Here is what I did:

There is a xml file called user.xml in the following location.  Part of it will be difference depending on what release you are on, this was for Inventor 2013.

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Autodesk,_Inc\DefaultDomain_Path_dyn3yltervsx4dgsvto5pwd10whykmwn\Autodesk®_Inventor®_2015

1. edit the user.xml file  (I used Visual Studio Express, which is free to download)
2. Find "ExternalRule" in the xml file
3. You will find a section that looks like this:

<setting name="ExternalRuleFilenames" serializeAs="Xml">

                <value>

                    <ArrayOfAnyType xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"

                        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">

                        <anyType />

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\BarMaterial.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\CoilMaterial.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\CreatePDF.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\CustomerDrawing.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\GlassRailMaterial.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\MVComponentProp.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\PartBlanks.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\PipeMaterial.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\SheetMaterial.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\TubeMaterial.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\MaterialSelection.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\MaterialVisibility.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\PartsListExport.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\NameSolids.iLogicVb</anyType>

                        <anyType xsi:type="xsd:string">\\engsvr\Inventor_Standards\External Rules\SheetList.iLogicVb</anyType>

                    </ArrayOfAnyType>

                </value>

            </setting>

4.  Make sure all of you external rules are listed in this section.  

5.  Save the xml file and it was fixed.

I believe there are issues with this xml file not being written to.  I am also having an issue where the iLogic Browser does not stay open after Inventor is Restarted.  Each time we have to re-open it after starting Inventor.  I replaced my Inventor 2015 user.xml file with my Inventor 2014 user.xml file and it solved that issue for a while but then it came back.  A different support case was opened for this issue as well and I received the same response.

Hope this helps.

[cody_evjen]

I have done this in our previous version on Inventor however I forgot to do it after the upgrade. I'll let you know if it pans out.

Thanks for the help!

[cody_evjen]

Thanks for the reply! I also had issues with browser disappearing in Inventor 2014, I have not seen that issue in 2016 yet. I'll keep this one in mind if I notice further issues.

[DRoam]

Has anyone found a better alternative to this? Do I really have to go in and edit an XML file in order for Inventor to detect my External iLogic rules that are clearly visible in the iLogic browser?

This bug is turning something that should be a wonderfully streamlined process into a huge hassle.