Create a button to clear all active memory (similar to what CREO offers) so we don't have to restart Inventor.

[Aubrey_Campbell]

Anytime I need to clear the active memory in Inventor I have to close and start a new session.  There should be a simple button on the ribbon somewhere (or in a dropdown) that allows a user to clear all active memory if they have no files open.  CREO offers this and it is a great tool to have!  .... Unless I'm missing something in Inventor and there is a way to clear active memory (I don't think there is)? 

[n_Sovljanski]

@maxim.teleguz 

Create new part in assembly (ex. Part1). delete Part1, and create new part but type Part1. If your code works there will be no errors and you can create Part1 again.

[jfamero1]

I agree that this would be very beneficial.

[brett_schuster]

I am missing the point of needing this. What errors or problems does clearing the memory solve? I have never had inventor or my PC slow down from to much memory usage. I am just trying to understand the purpose for this. 

[maxim.teleguz]

I found more stuff. The inventor.config shows this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- //inventor/Main/sources/AddInApps/CCClient/AddIn/CCV2/App.config -->
<!-- This App.config file is copied to Bin\Inventor.exe.config by //inventor/Main/sources/AddInApps/CCClient/AddIn/CCV2/PostBuild.bat -->
<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <sectionGroup name="autodesk.inventor.content">
      <section name="logging" type="System.Configuration.DictionarySectionHandler,system, Version=1.0.3300.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089, Custom=null"/>
    </sectionGroup>
    <section name="microsoft.web.services3" type="Microsoft.Web.Services3.Configuration.WebServicesConfiguration, Microsoft.Web.Services3, Version=3.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" />
  </configSections>

  <appSettings>
    <!-- Controls client cache allocation limit. MaxCachedObjects controls the maximum number
		 of cached objects before a purge is done. CachePurgeInterval controls how many objects
		 are removed when a purge is done -->
    <add key="Connectivity.Content.MaxCachedObjects" value="500"/>
    <add key="Connectivity.Content.CachePurgeInterval" value="100"/>
    <add key="Connectivity.Content.MaxSearchResults" value="2500"/>
    <!-- WebService timeout (in milliseconds) -->
    <add key="WebServiceTimeout" value="1000000"/>
    <add key="EnableWindowsFormsHighDpiAutoResizing" value="true" />
  </appSettings>

  <microsoft.web.services3>
    <messaging>
      <maxMessageLength value="51200"/>
      <mtom clientMode="On" maxMimeParts="1024"/>
    </messaging>
    <security>
      <!-- Specifies the time buffer used by WSE to determine when a SOAP message is valid.
           Set to the max of 24hr in seconds. -->
      <timeToleranceInSeconds value="86400" />
    </security>
  </microsoft.web.services3>
  <startup useLegacyV2RuntimeActivationPolicy="true">
    <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.7"/>
  </startup>
  <!-- .NET 3.5 and earlier allowed managed code to catch access violations and other corrupted
       process states.  Starting in .NET 4.0, managed code no longer catches these exceptions.
       The "legacyCorruptedStateExceptionsPolicy" element restores the .NET 3.5 behavior.
	   
       "loadFromRemoteSources" allows DLLs to load from network shares. Customers have requested
       this capability in iLogic rules. -->
  <runtime>
    <legacyCorruptedStateExceptionsPolicy enabled="true"/>
    <loadFromRemoteSources enabled="true"/>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="Newtonsoft.Json" publicKeyToken="30ad4fe6b2a6aeed" culture="neutral" />
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-10.0.0.0" newVersion="10.0.0.0" />
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
    <!--
        Switch.System.Windows.Interop.MouseInput.OptOutOfMoveToChromedWindowFix=true
        Switch.System.Windows.Interop.MouseInput.DoNotOptOutOfMoveToChromedWindowFix=true
        To follow MS update: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/february-9-2021-kb4601056-cumulative-update-for-net-framework-3-5-and-4-8-for-windows-10-version-1909-and-windows-server-version-1909-f3e984f3-d534-7c61-d8e9-b5d9885832fe
    -->
	<AppContextSwitchOverrides value="Switch.System.ServiceModel.DisableUsingServicePointManagerSecurityProtocols=false;Switch.System.Net.DontEnableSchUseStrongCrypto=false;Switch.System.Windows.Interop.MouseInput.OptOutOfMoveToChromedWindowFix=true;Switch.System.Windows.Interop.MouseInput.DoNotOptOutOfMoveToChromedWindowFix=true" />
  </runtime>
</configuration>

[Aubrey_Campbell]

Digging into code and/or writing rules, or anything else for this is not the solution.  I feel you are missing the point. 

We need a button, not a work around.  This is basic enough and is a simple feature offered by other CAD packages.  We need a baked in solution that is useable by all.  Not just the select few that find this thread and copy someone's code. 

[ambrose]

I'm not really getting why/when the average user would need this feature. It sounds like a sticking plaster for bad memory management (like the "repaint" button in mastercam was a sticking plaster for shoddy graphics code). If there is a problem with memory management then that is what should be fixed.

[maxim.teleguz]

---

@Aubrey_Campbell wrote:

Anytime I need to clear the active memory in Inventor I have to close and start a new session.  There should be a simple button on the ribbon somewhere (or in a dropdown) that allows a user to clear all active memory if they have no files open.  CREO offers this and it is a great tool to have!  .... Unless I'm missing something in Inventor and there is a way to clear active memory (I don't think there is)? 

---

I am a 9 years inventor user. I can tell you for a fact that I restart inventor at least 3-5 times a day so it clears the memory of what is open. 

[ambrose]

I've been using inventor for longer (🍆👋🏻). Every hour I stand up, put my finger on my nose and spin around 3 times to appease the gods of inventor. Just because I do it doesn't necessarily mean it works!

Actually being serious, I too restart inventor fairly often. It's probably not necessary 90% of the time but it feels right. I also do this with LabView and other large software packages I work with. It's in the nature of big software.

My point was just that I'd rather they fixed the underlying problems that make this necessary, not just put a Band-Aid on it  that allows them to ignore the real issue.

What problems do people actually run into that requires this? Discussing that may help the development team to improve memory management/caching.

For those who really want this, perhaps someone could package it up as an add-on. I've never done it but I don't think it's particularly difficult.

[brett_schuster]

I've been using Inventor for 12years and have never had the need to restart during the day unless there is a crash. I have never noticed a slowdown or glitching. I even run a lot of Stress and Dynamic simulations never had the need to restart to make it run better. 

[Aubrey_Campbell]

@brett_schuster ,

Start writing code/iLogic rules.  You will quickly find a need for it!  ... If you do write code or iLogic, maybe you should give restarting a try when your code does not act as expected or is glitchy.  ... You may notice a difference.  ... Most of us do! 

[ambrose]

@Aubrey_Campbell

Thanks for the info. I've admittedly never made much use of iLogic/VBA. If it's a problem experienced when running code then perhaps the clearing of memory should also be in said code. Wouldn't it be better for the user of the code to be able to just run it reliably without having to click some other button first each time.

Even better, wouldn't it be great if the whole thing was unnecessary because Inventor's memory management worked as expected!

[maxim.teleguz]

Just update my code above with an additional line of code. Let me know how that works for you. 

[Aubrey_Campbell]

How many votes are required to promote an idea to the next level for consideration and (hopefully) implementation? 

Is there anyone from AutoDesk that can chime in to let us know what is require to promote an idea? 

Thanks! 

[gregory_nickol]

I see this as more of a bug than necessarily a need for a feature. One that I see often, but can't reliably repeat and sequence of events to generate it.

Inventor has a problem with still keeping files cached after closing them and every file referencing them.

On MANY occasions I modify files (deleting parts/changing visibility, constraint values) to make referencing them easier, then close without saving. Yet even with EVERY file being closed, sometimes when I reopen those reference files to see what they looked like before modification, they look the same as the modified state still. At first this caused me bits of panic thinking I somehow saved them, but no, a restart of inventor shows me that the actual problem was that the files were still cached even though every single document was closed.