Assembly (including iLogic) in Vault Basic library

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I am making a number of assemblies that provide iLogic code for creating the desired composition of components. Now the iLogic code has been processed IN the main assembly. I would like to place this main assembly in the Vautl Library so that colleagues can also use it and save time. We use Vault Basic in combination with Inventor. Now I have provided the questions below regarding assemblies with iLogic and Vault.
The questions are:
- Is it possible to use an assembly with iLogic code from the library?
- How can I best insert this assembly from the library into the assembly where I want to apply it?
- Is it smarter to convert the iLogic code from "internal" rules / "Internal" form is external rules / general forms?

Hopefully someone has answers that unfortunately I have not yet been able to find in books.

Regards, Joop

[MjDeck]

Hello Joop,
It's not possible to use it as a library assembly, because library assemblies cannot be modified. When you run iLogic rules to change the configuration, they modify the assembly (and possibly the parts).
But you can create a copy, modify it, and place it in a larger assembly.
 
Which version of Inventor are you running?
Do your rules use Components.Add() or other functions on the Components object? Or do they use the older function Component.Replace()? I'm asking because if the rules include any filenames as arguments to functions, it can affect how you make copies.

[Anonymous]

@MjDeck 

Good morning,

thank you for your response to my question.

Your explanation was enlightening and clear, but it made me realize that I was on the wrong path to elaborate my idea in order to be able to work faster. This path would eventually require more space on the server's hard drives. So I read your answers carefully and thought about this for a while and I came up with the "possible" solution below.
If I convert the assembly to an iAssembly (table) and then try to use iLogic (External rules and Global Forms) to allow the user to choose which version he / she should apply in the requested design of the customer.

We are currently using Inventor 2020 and Vault Basic 2020.

Hopefully this new idea will work otherwise I wouldn't know how others can build a configurator, for example.

Regards, Joop

[MjDeck]

If your model will work as an iAssembly and iParts, then that sounds like a good idea.

Do you have any parameters that need to have a continuous range of values? That would require custom iParts.
(For instance, you might have a Length parameter than can take on any value between 40 and 60 mm.)

[Anonymous]

@MjDeck :

thank you for your answer.

Your answer was again enlightening and I learned something about Inventor 😉

in the beginning post I wrote about the main assembly that I made and is provided with iLogic code.

Following your previous reply, I am thinking about how to convert the main assembly to an iAssembly.

But I run into some questions that I don't know how to answer in an iAssembly, because this main assembly has to be applied from the Vault Basic Library.

The main assembly is (in iLogic) provided with a number of options such as which type of door handle, thickness of frame, thickness of plate (inside and outside).

But also which door handle may or may not be used with a certain type of lock.

Making this possible in iLogic was a nice challenge and tough job for someone with little iLogic experience and still learning with Inventor ;-).

But now I am facing a new challenge how am I going to convert this to an iAssembly that I can use from the Library but with the current options.  I think maybe a number of things are no longer possible, but before I start converting, I want to have these visible. But you may know how the iAssembly can provide choices, and mean things like frame width and so on.

Thank you for your positive and helpful feedback!

I learn a lot from this.

Regards, Joop

[MjDeck]

Do you have any parameters that need to have a continuous range of values? That would require custom iParts.
(For instance, you might have a Length parameter than can take on any value between 40 and 60 mm.)