File Name/iLogic
@rjay75 Is there any way to rename the part without losing the parameter link to the name of the part using ilogic?
Hi @yatinp175. You will need to provide a lot more detailed information than that for us to be able to tell you with any accuracy why things are not working properly, or how to fix the problems. A good start would be including the code that you are currently using. Another good start would be describing the steps involved in the process in as much detail as possible, maybe even with a bulleted list. It sounds like you expect the 'Description' iProperty's value to change to match some portion (path, file name, file extension, all, some ?) of the file name of the newly created document, after you have performed a SaveAs operation. Does that sound accurate? Well then, we would need to know how the new document is being created. For instance, are you using the 'New' command, where it presents you with a dialog to choose a template to create the new document from, then generates a new document that is not saved yet? Or are you opening the actual template document itself, then doing a SaveAs operation, to directly create a new file on disk for the new document? Knowing the details of how these things are being done is usually important in these types of situations.
SaveAs scenarios are the most difficult to deal with, because, unlike regular Save operation and SaveCopyAs operation, where you are left with a reference to the document that just got saved...the SaveAs operation leaves us with the same reference to the original document, instead of the new document that just got created. The only way to get a reference to the new document that gets created by a SaveAs operation is to capture the 'FullFileName' (full file path, file name, and file extension) that was specified during the SaveAs operation, then use that to 'Open' that file, to get a reference to the document that gets loaded from that file. The iLogic 'Event Triggers' dialog Event named "Before Save Document" will not help, because it has not been saved yet. The one named "After Save Document" will not help either, because it remains focused on the 'original' document (which is the Document that triggered the event). Not only that but, some events have a 'before' and 'after' timing aspect to them, and during the 'before' timing, the new file has not been created yet, so no information is available for new file name yet, then during the 'after', when that information is available, if you set the value of that iProperty, that will make the document 'dirty' again, so it would need to be saved yet again. If the document was closed after save, but the iProperty was changed after save, then when you open the document again, the iProperty will have its original value, because it did not get changed before save. And you do not want to insert instructions to save a document inside of a code that runs after save, because that can cause an endless cycle of trying to save the document.
The Inventor API events (outside of the iLogic 'Event Triggers') usually give us much more control than what the iLogic 'Event Triggers' can give you, but they can be complicated to use, and are generally best managed within an Inventor add-in, not just regular iLogic rules. One example is the ApplicationEvents.OnSaveDocument Event, which says that it is only for regular 'Save' and 'SaveCopyAs' scenarios, not for 'SaveAs' scenarios. But then there is no ApplicationEvents.OnSaveAsDocument Event. However, there is a FileUIEvents.OnFileSaveAsDialog Event, but it only gets triggered by the actual user interface dialog getting called to be shown, not by doing a SaveAs by code. Some of the Inventor API tools can likely get us a reference to the 'new' document object, or the full file name of the 'new' file, but that process may be more complicated than you initially had in mind, possibly requiring an Inventor add-in to manage it.
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
Hi @yatinp175. Thank you for posting your code, but that is still not much information. You still did not answer all of my questions.
- Are you using the 'New' command when creating the new document?
- Or, are you opening your template file, then doing a SaveAs to create a new file?
- Are you running this rule manually, or are you relying on a specific event to run this rule automatically?
- If you are running it manually, then at what point in time are you running it?
- If the rule is getting ran automatically, using an event shown within the 'Event Triggers' dialog, then:
- Which tab of the Event Triggers dialog was the rule placed within?
- And which event name(s) was the rule placed under?
Below is an alternate iLogic rule that includes a lot more 'feedback' information about when something is encountered that you may not be expecting, but it requires that you have the tab for your iLogic Log window available (it does not need to be the 'active' tab). You must also have the iLogic Log level set to either 'Debug' or 'Trace', to see those levels of iLogic Log entries in the iLogic Log window. That can either be set in the iLogic Configuration settings (Tools tab / Options panel), or within the iLogic rule itself, at the bottom of the rule editor dialog. Then, after the rule runs, click on that iLogic Log tab to review any notes that this rule may have written to it, for a better idea of what it may have encountered.
- If the document has not yet been saved, then it will not yet have any value for its file path, its file name, or its file extension, so it will write that to the iLogic Log window, then exit the rule.
- If the file name without extension is empty (usually due to it not being saved yet), it will write that to the iLogic Log window, then exit the rule.
- If the Part Number iProperty value is empty, it will write that to the iLogic Log window, then exit the rule.
- If the Part Number value does not match the file name without extension, it will write that to the iLogic Log window, then exit the rule.
- If the Description iProperty value is empty, it will write that to the iLogic Log window, then exit the rule.
- If none of those situations were encountered, then it will write the FileName_Description value to the Document.DisplayName value, then update the document.
However, even with all those checks included, there is still no guarantee that it will work the way you want, because like I said before, the SaveAs scenario is complicated to work with.
Dim oDoc As Document = ThisDoc.Document
If oDoc.FileSaveCounter = 0 Then
Logger.Debug("Document is not saved yet, so no path or file name exist for it yet!")
Return 'exit rule
End If
Dim sFileNameWithoutExtension As String = ThisDoc.FileName(False)
If sFileNameWithoutExtension = "" Then
Logger.Debug("FileName was empty!")
Return 'exit rule
End If
'get value of Part Number iProperty
Dim sPartNumber As String = oDoc.PropertySets.Item(3).Item(2).Value
If sPartNumber = "" Then
Logger.Debug("Part Number is empty!")
Return 'exit rule
ElseIf sPartNumber <> sFileNameWithoutExtension Then
Logger.Debug("Part Number does not match file name, without extension!")
Return 'exit rule
End If
'get value of Description iProperty
Dim sDescription As String = oDoc.PropertySets.Item(3).Item(14).Value
If sDescription = "" Then
Logger.Debug("Description is empty!")
Return 'exit rule
End If
Dim sNewDisplayName As String = sFileNameWithoutExtension & "_" & sDescription
'set new value to Document.DisplayName
oDoc.DisplayName = sNewDisplayName
oDoc.Update2(True)
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)