Fully-functional secondary Inventor windows

[DRoam]

Support for dragging individual document windows out of the main Inventor window and onto a second monitor was added in 2019. This was a great step in the right direction. However, it doesn't quite meet all of our multitasking needs because the secondary windows are just the graphics canvas area; they don't include the Browser, the Ribbon toolbar, or anything else.

So, the next step to make multi-window even better for multitasking would be to add a dedicated Browser and Ribbon toolbar to secondary Inventor windows. There's already an idea created for that here: Inventor model tree and ribbon on second monitor.

The purpose of this idea, however, is to flesh out the multi-window experience even further. I would like for secondary Inventor windows to be fully functional: not just have their own Browser and Ribbon toolbar, but also have their own BOM window, Parameters window, Property Panel, etc. This way we can really truly multitask, and view the BOM, parameters, features, etc. for two parts or assemblies side-by-side, at the same time, and even copy and paste between them. This would fully round out the multi-window experience and maximize our productivity.

[mjordan3]

I like the idea of adding the browser to a new window (in certain situations), but this kinda sounds like a second instance of inventor may be what you want.

Perhaps an alternative solution would be to increase the cohesiveness of multiple inventor instances so that they work better together and won't trip over each other.

[DRoam]

Hi @mjordan3. Opening a second instance of Inventor has several disadvantages:

1. You can't copy parts/assemblies/sketches/drawing objects/etc. between instances. You can only copy plain text. This is the biggest disadvantage because there's no workaround.
2. Using multiple instances increases the likelihood of data loss due to file change/save conflicts.
3. It's inconvenient. If I already have two assemblies open side-by-side, I want to be able to view their Browsers or Parameter windows side by side (and copy/paste between them) without opening a second instance of Inventor, finding, and opening one of the assemblies again.

I would be fine with "increasing the cohesiveness" of multiple instances as long as it resolves both issues #1 and #2. But it may be a toss-up which is easier to implement (allowing fully-functional secondary windows, or fixing the issues with multiple instances). And if so, allowing fully-functional secondary windows is the clear winner form the usability standpoint.

Thanks for the input!

[JoãoASilva]

Hello @DRoam! First time I tried to multi-task, I opened another instance of Inventor because de second window didn't had the browser and ribbon toolbar. Found out I couldn't drag files between diferent instances ._. I'm with you on this!

[gregory_nickol]

Since the implementation of dragging out a separate window, I've been able to replace my workflow of taking a screenshot of a drawing sheet or a specific view of a model and placing it on my second monitor, and generally I'm able to use other files as references much faster, and that's been a great time saver. But actually WORKING on two screens isn't that practical without all the UI around as well, unless you are good at using hotkeys. Every time you switch windows, you have to first click in the model space before clicking any command on a ribbon or interacting with the browser or you'll be making changes to the wrong file. This could be as simple as returning to a top level when you don't want to; it's not harmful, just inconvenient. Or if you're unlucky you've got a file open for reference and you've deleted or messed with visibility of all sorts of parts that you weren't trying to look at, and now you just accidentally saved that instead of the file you were supposed to be saving.

[J.VandeMerckt]

Hi 2 instances of inventor also doesn't work well with certain PDM systems who connect to a single instance of inventor.
We really like the idea of having to screens of inventor with the model tree of those corresponding screens.
If it goes further then this. Have a fully functional inventor on the second screen then I'm also a fan. I'm sure this will increase productivity when comparing multiple models at once.