Part/file name conundrum

[lamb]

We are starting a new, large project and would like to get the numbering scheme right. This is a university project and we have many people who are not full-time mechanical designers (including myself :-). Mostly people have made up their own names, formats and conventions, but I would like to set up standardized templates, file naming conventions etc. We will use Vault Basic which will help to enforce these conventions. For file names I would like to use a dumb numbering system, such as PPP-nnnnn, where PPP is the project code, and nnnnn is a number.

What I am struggling with is, if you use the convention that "part no. = filename = drawing name" you end up with a Windows folder that has just numbers for files, and the same in the Inventor browser. You cannot add Windows tags with a user-friendly name/description and have file explorer display. In the inventor browser you can rename the nodes in an assembly, but if the Part number and File name iProperties are the same, that doesn't help.

A couple of possible solutions are:

1. Treat the Part number iProperty as a part name and use that for the browser nodes. That doesn't help with looking in Windows File Explorer, but maybe it helps in the Vault browser.
2. Have the file name be the part number plus a description, e.g., "PRJ-00016, encoder mount.ipt". That at least guarantees unique file names.

A separate issue is whether or not part numbers need to be consecutive. If there are two designers working on assemblies with many parts, should they have to check out a part number for each part as they create it? Is it a generally acceptable to issue each designer a block of, say, 100 numbers, and if they use those up, issue them the next available block of 100? This is a bit like intelligent numbering in that you can derive the designer from the number, but that is not the intention, it is just for easier administration.

Any thoughts, criticisms, ideas welcome!

[SBix26]

This is what I see in Windows File Explorer when hovering over an Inventor part file (having last run Inventor 2025):

It shows several iProperties including Description, which is what I think you're asking for.

I think your scheme of handing out blocks of numbers to different contributors should work well.  Gaps in the numbering sequence mean no more or less than do gaps in Inventor sketch numbers (bothers those of us with a touch or more of OCD, but we live with it).

---

Sam B

Inventor Pro 2025 | Windows 11 Home 23H2

[chris]

@lamb The best and most simple "numbering system" I've ever dealt with in 25 years of doing 3D CAD was this.

I personally would keep names and descriptions out of the "part number" and file name", but that's just me, if you want that stuff showing up in your parts list, map that to description, stock number, etc.

(full disclosure, I like it because it's my idea!)...

[IgorMir]

A quick search of the forum delivers plenty of discussion on the topic. Here is one of them:
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-forum/numbering-schemes/m-p/10298545
Cheers,

Igor. 

[lamb]

Indeed, I have seen those posts, but they do not really address my questions. They deal with numbering schemes in general, but not with how to manage them in Inventor. It is not really feasible to have a spreadsheet as the reference, because while you are working in Inventor, you want to see what each part is in assembly without having to refer to the spreadsheet.

My preference would for inventor to have a part name field that could be used in the browser, but that does not solve the problem of identifying parts in Windows File Explorer if the filename is just the part number ...

[lamb]

If you keep the part name out of the file name, how do you identify what a part is? If you have fifty or a hundred parts in an assembly, you don't want to look every one up in a spreadsheet>

[chris]

@lamb What is a "part name"? I deal with "part numbers" that have "descriptions" (sometimes "stock number"), are you using the term "part name" to describe the "part number", "filename" "stock number" or "description"? it's not that it's right or wrong, but it will help me understand what you are talking about.

[swalton · Accepted solution]

I am one of the part number=filename=drawing file name folks.  Before Vault, my employer had a spreadsheet that we used to track part number/description/etc.  I would have CAD on one screen, and the spreadsheet in a second screen or window.  Alt-Tab back and forth as I needed.  I also kept a design notebook where I recorded key file names, preliminary assembly structures, key decisions, calculations, and vendor info.

Now I have Vault Pro.  I keep a Vault session open and Inventor open.  I use open-from-Vault as a key workflow to make sure I am getting the correct files.  I open from disc if I have design authority for a component, otherwise I open from Vault.  I want to make sure I consume the latest changes from my co-workers.  I still keep a design notebook.  Now I name it after the assembly/part it covers and store it in Vault.

Vault is very good at displaying any iProperty that the user wants.  Search is better than Windows Explorer. 

Make sure to enforce a common workspace and a single project file with Vault.  I also like enforcing unique file names.  I don't think Vault Basic has automatic part numbering/file naming utilities, so I suspect you will have to implement a part number/filename spreadsheet too.

I'd issue a block of numbers to each designer, then let them ask for more as needed.  I'd also look at the folder structure.  It may make sense to divide up the folders based on the whole project, or into groups that match the project teams.

A Formula SAE team might have a suspension, chassis, powertrain, and body groups.  Each group could have their own folder, then one for the all-up car.

[lamb]

I mean the part description. We are not a manufacturing company, and we design many different types of things for radio astronomy instrumentation from waveguide devices to cryostats and antennas. It's amazing how many parts are "base". or "lid" or "bracket" 😁 ! Filename is just that, and part number is what I would like to use as a unique identifier. I also intend to use "part " number to refer to an assembly of parts or assembly of assemblies.

Hope this clarifies.

[lamb]

Thanks Steve, I think that using Vault in the way you state is a good paradigm. Vault Basic does not enforce a naming convention, but it does (optionally) enforce unique naming. It may take some discipline to keep the spreadsheet up to date, but perhaps there is a way of doing that (semi?)automatically.

[chris]

@lamb Just to point out, the above example I gave of the part numbering "system" I use is used with Vault Pro. Because of its simplicity, it works well in an ECO process, as the item names are generated from the file name which is also the part number. No spreadsheets to keep track of, no need to worry about a "smart numbering system, (I mean other than what year and month it is.)

I'm not saying that system would work for you, but it might be a good idea towards something that does. I've worked for companies who used two and three digits to define departs, system types, materials, etc... in the end, they all fail because they get too complicated, there's nothing complicated about a year, month, and consecutive number.

Just don't expect to have "cool" part numbers like your VIN#. I've never had a problem remembering where something is or finding it, as, at a minimum, you can easily remember a year or a time of year, plus the way I name the folders, it's easy to sort by descriptions.

I think if you check out those other threads, and take the feedback you've been given here, you'll be able to come up with something that works for you and your company.