Lock Global Settings - for example Corporate Settings

[freesbee]

The idea is to offer the possibility to lock specific inventor settings for CAD Managers and CAD Administrators.

[PROPOSAL]
Several registry-free cross-platform programs offer this possibility. Among them FireFox is probably implementing this concept in one of the best possible ways. The combination of the file Firefox.cfg saved to the program path and defaults\pref\autoconfig.js, controls locked settings, with the effect that a user has noway to change a setting that is locked: the setting in the GUI appears to be grayed out. Being saved next to the Firefox.exe inside the %ProgramFiles% a user without administrative rights cannot tamper the files anyhow.
One possible solution could be one new file like

"C:\ProgramFiles\Autodesk\Inventor XXXX\Preferences\InventorLockedSettings.xml"

(or whatever would make more sense) which would lock the value of the settings specified in there and grayout the corresponding controls in the GUI.
According to @DannyHubbard "...there has been some thoughts of making an administrative XML for Application options that would prevent settings from being changed without having to modify the Desktop icon or anything. A timeframe for the work required is currently unknown". This idea would give additional driving force for this feature to be implemented, so please, also non-admin users, vote this idea: it is essential for CAD Admins to deliver a reliable and stable inventor deployment

[HISTORY]
Historically CADManagers only had the option to shoot registry entries at user login to obtain the effect that certain settings are locked. With that strategy settings are NOT locked: they simply go back to the default (and correct) values at next login.
Starting with 2018 and the progressive transition to the "registry free" approach, a similar effect can be obtained by passing a specific XML file to the exe with a properly crafted link that the user is supposed to click when launching inventor. On one side this strategy is safer than the previous one because the potentially unsafe situation only lasts between two inventor restarts, instead of between the next user login. On the other hand this strategy is more dangerous as the previous one, because if Inventor is started by opening an inventor file (doubleclick on the inventor file), the /IMPORTOPTIONS switch would be ignored.
A typical example of such setting can be the "Content Center Location of Libraries", but there can be many other.

[WHY THE CURRENT STRATEGY IS NOT SUFFICIENT]

...inventor.exe /importoptions="path to xml" /language=...

(yes, you can point it to a server location if you want. I don't  )
Besides the limitation that windows does not offer a native command to handle links (not every IT guy is able to control a .lnk file on the desktop of 100 workstations systematically), one additional limitation to this strategy is that .lnk files have a length limit of what can be passed, so

"C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 20XX\Bin\Inventor.exe"
/IMPORTOPTIONS="C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 20XX\Preferences\myOptions.xml"
/IMPORTCUSTOMIZATIONS="C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 20XX\Preferences\myCustomizations.xml"
/language=ENU

(this command should be one single line) could be too long for a link to be handled.
There can be workarounds, but again not optimal.

[bradeneuropeArthur]

Hi @freesbee,

Related to this!

inventor-vault-prompts-settings-amp-vault-prompts-settings-via....

Regards,

[freesbee]

...I shall report that in the recent time Firefox has switched to an even better strategy, consolidating all locked settings in the policies.json file located in the \distribution folder of the install directory. This way an admin has full direct and immediate control of all policies that are enforced.

This does not change the original idea, only gives developers a real example of how this specific task is handled by other developers. If Mozilla has managed, it cannot be too complicated for Autodesk to do the same...

[freesbee]

[Example 2] Refresh out-of-date standard parts during placement

The fine motivations why it should be possible to grayout this specific checkbox are explained in the "Example 2" of the related idea "Disable specific commands and Workflows (for CAD-Managers)". Being able to prevent the update during placing systematically would perfect the workflow and close the loop on this aspect.

[guido_overath]

Nice ideas! From my point of view the best way is to do that via AD-GPO.

I tried that several times successful but it is very hard to find the right keys. So it's on Autodesk to publish the keys so that an Admin is able to create very quick an AD-Template with the keys he need to set/lock.

On each login the Template take effect and sett the needed parameters...

CursorSize means Crosshair  Size.

[freesbee]

[Example 3] iLogic External Rules

In several cases the CAD Manager needs to grant that certain specific iLogic rules are available consistently across all workstations, as they are "Corporate iLogic Rules". Till version 2021 you could be  creative and inject one specific iLogicOptions.xml file at every user login into the

"%AppData%\Autodesk\Inventor XXXX\iLogicPreferences\iLogicOptions.xml"

This will have the effect that one user would find consistently the corporate iLogic rules folder to be available in the External Rules. Starting with version 2022 the settings previously defined in the iLogicOptions.xml are embedded in the

"%AppData%\Autodesk\Inventor XXXX\UserApplicationOptions.xml"

and you will need much higher PowerShell skills to be able to grant that iLogicOptions are consistently present in that file.

If you manage this challenge, you will be safer, but not safe: any nasty user could delete anytime those settings, and the "faulty situation" would remain till the next logon. Therefore the solution initially suggested 4 years ago still appears to be the most practical way to address the current limitation: one xml file

"%ProgramFiles%\Autodesk\Inventor XXXX\Preferences\InventorLockedSettings.xml"

(or any other reasonable name) which would lock the value of the settings specified in there and grayout the corresponding controls in the GUI. If no file is there, inventor behaves as "out of the box". The wise CAD Manager will have the possibility to inject that file and keep inventor under control.