iLogic and Command Questions

Anonymous · ‎02-05-2020

Hello Community,

I've been using inventor for rougly 6 months now, and I lurk on the forums almost every day and notice everyone talks about ilogic. My question is that is it worth it? how much easier does it make drawing?

I do sheet metal, ie counter- tops, shelves, floor troughs, and don't really see the point in iLogic for what i do.

I've attached a part to better understand what items i draw up and get fabricated in our shop.

But I'm always down to learn and maybe I'm just missing the point.

Also with commands, every time i try to customize a command, i can't make it a two button command.

Every time i try to use alt or ctrl plus another key, it always tells me that its not a command and resets to default.

ive been just making my commands like double tapping. For instance, in order to save my view as a pdf, i just double tap "0" on my keypad.

Any way i can use alt and ctrl to my pleasing and not just the defaults?

mcgyvr · ‎02-05-2020

iLogic can be used to automate manual tasks.. If you have a task that you are performing all the time then using ilogic to automate it may be useful..

As far as customizing commands are you getting errors when you try to use ctrl+ whatever.. IT works just fine for me but does alert when a command combination is already in use.

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Anonymous · ‎02-05-2020

could i get an example on what that would be?

like if im doing the same size flanges? or like if Im making the same parts?

and no its just showing it all red but now it accepted what i wanted, so disreguard the command thing.

i don't know why it worked this time but not all the other times ive tried it.

johnsonshiue · ‎02-05-2020

Hi! I guess you are trying to create drawing based on the sheet metal derived assembly part, right? The issue with such workflow is that you only get geometry. All the BOM workflows or properties or model dimensions cannot be transferred from the derived assembly part to the drawing. From documentation's perspective, this part is not much different than an imported part.

I don't think iLogic would help much in your case. Is there any reason why you could not document the entire assembly as an assembly? Does it have to be a derived part?

Many thanks!

Johnson Shiue (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)
Software Test Engineer

Anonymous · ‎02-06-2020

No actually, i create all the part files and dimensions based off drawings our customer sends me.

Everything we do is custom so i was wondering if iLogic was something i should look in to just in case it sped me up?

The attached file from the Original Post shows what type of items we make/i draw.

I just made it a simplified part so i didn't have to post a zip file that had all my parts in it to make the assembly work.

Pretty much my main question is, how does iLogic help with the sheet metal side of Inventor? Or does it cater to more for the engineer side of Inventor and i shouldn't worry about it?

johnsonshiue · ‎02-06-2020

Hi! I think iLogic can faciliate some sheet metal specific workflows. I have seen iLogic rules creating flat pattern for the parts within an assembly and then creating flat pattern views with associated properties. Also, it can also automate the process of exporting to DXF. It largely depends on what you want to do.

Please share an example of sheet metal part. We have quite a few iLogic experts on the board. They can help take a look and suggest the best course forward.

Many thanks!

Johnson Shiue (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)
Software Test Engineer

rhasell · ‎02-06-2020

Hi

I don't use iLogic very much for designing components (Not as much as a lot of other users), however I use it extensively for everything else.

Example:

all Parameter creation and management.
All iProperty creation and management
BOM management, including part and assembly total quantities
Work feature management
exporting of models and sketches
etc

A lot of drawing management code

Parts list management
Title blocks
Symbols
View alignments
Dimension and Text management
Printing and exports
etc

The possibilities are endless, if you do a repetitive task, there is probably a snippet of code that can be written to speed it up.

Reg
2026.1

Anonymous · ‎02-07-2020

i would actually really be interested into making them into flats and importing them to a dxf. Considering i send these to a laser/waterjet to get burnt out.

Right now im using AutoDesk's "Flat Pattern Extractor" and its alright for now, not really on big jobs.

Im Attaching 3 parts that i always seem to be drawing. Downside is, they always have new dimensions, never the same as the last one. i dont know how much that'll change with the coding but just some insight.

Anonymous · ‎02-07-2020

Just from that list, the drawing capabilities are the ones that really stick out to me.

i constantly have to send in approved shop drawings and if i had code to have pre set view positions and everything, that'll speed me up just a little more.

How does that work if one item is 12" wide and, using the same code, you make another drawing with an object 12' wide?

would they overlap or does the code do some magic and scale everything proportionally and not overlap?

Curtis_Waguespack · ‎02-07-2020

@Anonymous wrote:

i would actually really be interested into making them into flats and importing them to a dxf. Considering i send these to a laser/waterjet to get burnt out.

Right now im using AutoDesk's "Flat Pattern Extractor" and its alright for now, not really on big jobs.

Im Attaching 3 parts that i always seem to be drawing. Downside is, they always have new dimensions, never the same as the last one. i dont know how much that'll change with the coding but just some insight.

Hi @Anonymous

Attached is a quick example of what you might do using ilogic with your bottom shelf part. This is an Inventor 2020 file, when you open it you should see a user form pop up that will allow you to configure your part and export a DXF of the flat pattern.

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

Anonymous · ‎02-07-2020

i have opened both files, and i had no pop up happen.

Im using Inventor 2020

do i need to look somewhere or should it be a normal pop up and cover the screen?

When i opened it, the file didnt have the back flange and also theres a cut hole in the middle(?)

Ive attached what i see as soon as i open the program.

Curtis_Waguespack · ‎02-07-2020

Hi @Anonymous

hmmmm, well I'm not sure why it didn't pop up, but you can go to the View tab > User Interface drop down, and choose iLogic

This will bring up the ilogic browser, and then you can click the Forms tab and click the button that says Form 1

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

Anonymous · ‎02-07-2020

That's so cool!

being able to move features and everything just with a slider.

How do i get into learning iLogic? ive looked at the basics and its just confusing for me.

Granted, i more or less skimmed it when i was looking at it so i might have to sit down and commit because that would save so much time if i could just do that with all my bottom shelves, counter tops, cabinets.