Quick Input of Information into Inventor Title Blocks

[BromanSillito]

Our company is currently using Inventor 2014. I have set up title blocks in Inventor for our company. I linked the title block information to Custom Properties so that all of the input is in one place. The problem I am having is inputting information into the iProperties Custom properties tab. I have to change the value for a property, hit enter, then go to my mouse to click on the next custom property before entering a value for the next item. This can be very tedious when doing a lot of drafting. Is there a way to set up the title blocks so that I can input text quickly all in one tab/place and still have the information linked to iProperties (we have a document management software that reads the iProperties to manage the drawings)?

[brendan.henderson]

Yes, it is a pain. Make your life easier by purchasing a copy of iPropWiz and using it. Many benefits including what you're talking about. Disclaimer: I have no affiliation whatsoever with iPropWiz, just a very happy user of it.

[rhasell]

Hi

I use iLogic and have created a form to go with it.

This allows for a single point of entry, and you can "Tab" between fields.

I have populated the form with some arbitrary entries to indicate the form/link to the titleblock.

The revision number is automatic, but the form allows for an override though.

Depending on the Titleblock used, some fields come from the model.

Using this method, I update Sketched symbols as well.

If you need any info on the backend, I can publish my code.

[SBix26]

Are you putting that information into the model custom iProps or into the drawing custom iProps? Brendan's and Reg's solutions should both work for either situation, but for anyone else contributing a solution, it might be important to know.  

In case you didn't already know it (or for anyone else finding this thread), iProps from the model can be set to automatically copy to the same iProps of the drawing when the first view is placed on the drawing.  This is configured in the drawing template Document Settings.

Sam B

Inventor Professional 2015 SP1 Update 3
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit, SP1
HP EliteBook 8770w; 8 GB RAM; Core™ i7-3720QM 2.60 GHz; Quadro K4000M

[BromanSillito]

Awesome! Could I get the code for this from you? I'm a newbie to iLogic but if I had the code I think I could manage it.

[mflayler · Accepted solution]

There is no code really, just build a Form...

http://blogs.rand.com/manufacturing/2014/05/drawing-title-block-forms-dump-the-prompted-entries.html

[rhasell · Accepted solution]

Hi

As Mark mentioned, there is only a form attached to the iProperties.

Things to take note of, is where you wish the information to come from, either the Model, and or the drawing.  I personally use a combination of both.

What I do have is some code to create the Custom fields if they don't exist. See the example screenshot.  I use these properties so seldom, I decided not to include them in my template. (Also because they belong to a notes sketched symbol, which does not live in my template either.)

Once I run the code, the fields become populated and are ready for use.

See Code below. (Note, this took me a while and has mutated from various snippets of code, and lots of de-bugging)

 ' ---------------------start of GDI iLogic code---------------------
Dim propertyName1 As String = "REGION"
Dim propertyName2 As String = "TERRAIN_CATEGORY"
Dim propertyName3 As String = "WIND_LOAD"
Dim propertyName4 As String = "WIND_SPEED"
Dim propertyName5 As String = "WARP"
Dim propertyName6 As String = "WEFT"
Dim propertyName7 As String = "FABRIC"

'define custom property collection
oCustomPropertySet = ThisDoc.Document.PropertySets.Item("Inventor User Defined Properties")

Try
'set property value
oProp = oCustomPropertySet.Item(propertyName1)
Catch
' Assume error means not found so create it
oCustomPropertySet.Add("", propertyName1)
End Try

Try
'look for property
oProp = oCustomPropertySet.Item(propertyName2)
Catch
' Assume error means not found so create it
oCustomPropertySet.Add("", propertyName2)
End Try

Try
'look for property
oProp = oCustomPropertySet.Item(propertyName3)
Catch
' Assume error means not found so create it
oCustomPropertySet.Add("", propertyName3)
End Try

Try
'look for property
oProp = oCustomPropertySet.Item(propertyName4)
Catch
' Assume error means not found so create it
oCustomPropertySet.Add("", propertyName4)
End Try

Try
'look for property
oProp = oCustomPropertySet.Item(propertyName5)
Catch
' Assume error means not found so create it
oCustomPropertySet.Add("", propertyName5)
End Try

Try
'look for property
oProp = oCustomPropertySet.Item(propertyName6)
Catch
' Assume error means not found so create it
oCustomPropertySet.Add("", propertyName6)
End Try

Try
'look for property
oProp = oCustomPropertySet.Item(propertyName7)
Catch
' Assume error means not found so create it
oCustomPropertySet.Add("", propertyName7)
End Try

Dim strRegion As String
Dim strTerrain As String
Dim strLoad As String
Dim strSpeed As String
Dim strWarp As String
Dim strWeft As String

'get values from user
strRegion = InputBox("Enter Wind Region Code.", "GDI iLogic","A" ) 'set default to A
strTerrain = InputBox("Enter the Terrain Category.", "GDI iLogic", "2.5") 'set default to 2.5
strLoad = InputBox("Enter the Wind Load Standard", "GDI iLogic", "A.S. 1170") 'Fixed Value
strSpeed = InputBox("Enter the Design Wind Speed", "GDI iLogic", "39.2") 'Design Wind Speed
strWarp = InputBox("Enter the Warp Factor", "GDI iLogic", "1.0") 'Fabric Warp Factor
strWeft = InputBox("Enter the Weft Factor", "GDI iLogic", "1.0") 'Fabric Weft Factor
strFab = InputBox("What Fabric is being used?", "GDI iLogic", "Fabric Type") 'Fabric Weft Factor

'set custom property values
iProperties.Value("Custom", "REGION") = strRegion
iProperties.Value("Custom", "TERRAIN_CATEGORY") = strTerrain
iProperties.Value("Custom", "WIND_LOAD") = strLoad
iProperties.Value("Custom", "WIND_SPEED") = strSpeed
iProperties.Value("Custom", "WARP") = strWarp
iProperties.Value("Custom", "WEFT") = strWeft
iProperties.Value("Custom", "FABRIC") = strFab

iLogicVb.UpdateWhenDone = True

' ---------------------end of GDI iLogic code ---------------------