Inventor 2016 iLogic and External Rules Folder

[AlexFielder]

Hi all,

I have a fairly large amount of iLogic rules stored externally, and I recently decided to do a bit of house keeping by sorting them into folders such as:

Modelling

Drawings

Helper Rules

and so on.

This worked fine until today when I am presented with the following:

I have renamed a couple of the paths in my folder but to no avail.

Thoughts/Ideas?

PS. my list of rule filenames and their respective path lengths are as follows:

rulename	path length
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\AddRemove\De-Author.iLogicVb	65
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\AddRemove\Dedupe_and_Hash.iLogicVb	71
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\AddRemove\delete empty folders.iLogicVb	76
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\AddRemove\embed inventor drawings.iLogicVb	79
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\AddRemove\Remove Missing OLE Links.iLogicVb	80
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\AddRemove\Remove Unwanted Linked Parameter Tables.iLogicVb	95
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\AddRemove\Remove Unwanted OLE Links in Inventor Files.iLogicVb	99
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\AddRemove\RemoveColourOverrides.ilogicVb	77
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Balloon Filtering iLogic.iLogicVb	79
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Batch PDFs from Drawings.iLogicVb	79
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\ChangeLayerofOccurrences.iLogicVb	79
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\CopySheet.iLogicVb	64
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Create_View_Reps.iLogicVb	71
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Drawing Automation Code.iLogicVb	78
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Drawing Creation Code.iLogicVb	76
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Drawing Template - Move and Resize View Code.iLogicVb	99
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Export Open Inventor dwgs to AutoCAD.iLogicVb	91
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Insert Revision Table.iLogicVb	76
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\promptedentrytoiproperty.iLogicVb	79
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\RunPlatformDrawings.iLogicVb	74
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\SaveAs_PDF_(Single_Or_Multi-sheet).iLogicVb	89
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Sketch Symbol Text Changer.iLogicVb	81
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Synchronize iProperties between parts and drawings.iLogicVb	105
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Text_Changer.iLogicVb	67
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Title Block Definition Create and Insert API Sample.iLogicVb	106
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Turn Sketch Symbol Leaders on.iLogicVb	84
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings\Turn View Labels on.iLogicVb	74
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Helper Rules\Ground_and_Root.iLogicVb	74
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Helper Rules\iProperties.iLogicVb	70
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Helper Rules\Parameters.iLogicVb	69
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Helper Rules\PartsandAssemblies.iLogicVb	77
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Helper Rules\ProcessPartFilesInaFolder.iLogicVb	84
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\AlignUCSToAssy.iLogicVb	70
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\All Sketches Off In Assembly.iLogicVb	84
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\All Sketches Off In Part.iLogicVb	80
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\CaptureSketchBlockLocations.iLogicVb	83
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Check Sketch Constraints.iLogicVb	80
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\CheckForCURequired.iLogicVb	74
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\CheckiPartForErrors.iLogicVb	75
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Compare File volumes.iLogicVb	76
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Contact Constraint Simulation.iLogicVb	85
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Copy_Camera_to_open_documents.iLogicVb	85
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Create a New iLogic Rule automatically.iLogicVb	94
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Create Drawings From Assembly.iLogicVb	85
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Create DT- Drawings From Assembly.iLogicVb	89
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Create DT- View Reps From Assembly.iLogicVb	90
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Create_Assembly_from_Excel.iLogicVb	82
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Create_Balconies.iLogicVb	72
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Create_Cables.iLogicVb	69
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Create_Labels.iLogicVb	69
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Create_standard_parts_from_Excel.iLogicVb	88
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\CS Data Standards.iLogicVb	73
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\DesignCheckerResultsFromAssembly.iLogicVb	88
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Export Part to Step (Stage by Stage).iLogicVb	92
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Export to 3D PDF and Attach or Embed.iLogicVb	92
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\FEATURECOUNT.iLogicVb	68
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Flat pattern save as dxf.iLogicVb	80
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Generate iPart Members from Folder.iLogicVb	90
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Generate iPart Members from Parent Assemblies.iLogicVb	101
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Generate iPart Members.iLogicVb	78
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Ground&RootSelectedComponents.iLogicVb	85
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\HyperLink to Excel.iLogicVb	74
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Inventor 2016 - ILogic to write Parameter to every part in the Assembly.iLogicVb	127
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\MakeComponentsProgramatically.iLogicVb	85
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\MetalShopPn.iLogicVb	67
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\MirrorPartInAssembly.iLogicVb	76
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Move EOPs In Assembly.iLogicVb	77
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\MoveToPlane.iLogicVb	67
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\PrintRibbonInformation.iLogicVb	78
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Rename Parameters.iLogicVb	73
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Replace references from external list.iLogicVb	93
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\run design checker on each component.iLogicVb	92
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\RunCorrectBomForExcel.iLogicVb	77
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\RunCreateAssemblyFromiLogic.iLogicVb	83
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\RunCreateAssemblyFromiLogic_UPLOAD.iLogicVb	90
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\RunExportToMultipleFormats.iLogicVb	82
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\RunFeatureCountonAssembly.iLogicVb	81
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\RunGraitecPartCreator.ilogicVb	77
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Selective Colour Change.iLogicVb	79
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Suppress Weld Prep.iLogicVb	74
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\sweep-length-code-snippet.iLogicVb	81
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Synchronize iProperties between part parameters and iProperties.iLogicVb	119
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Toggle Sketches and Workplanes.iLogicVb	86
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Turn On-Off all Workfeatures with iLogic.iLogicVb	96
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\under constrained sketches.iLogicVb	82
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\UpdatedCurrentlyOpenDocuments.iLogicVb	85
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling\Workplane Grid Creator.iLogicVb	78
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Module Rules\Modules.ilogicvb	66
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Module Rules\Update.iLogicVb	65
C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\PJ\06 Add Size To Parts.iLogicVb	69

Is there some unwritten rule dictating how many of these you can have? Or perhaps the path length is too much for iLogic to cope with? (This latter point shouldn't be possible as even the longest path there is < half the 255 character path length (albeit loosely) enforced in Windows itself)

Thanks,

Alex.

[AlexFielder]

Ho hum; As usual,

It seems a workaround for this is to add each sub-folder individually:

And then Inventor is quite happy to display them all:

Regardless, it would be nice to know what the limiting factor is.

[MjDeck]

Hi Alex,

One benefit of the workaround: it reduces the number of levels in the tree 🙂

The limit is 3000 files or 200 subfolders (at any level). We could increase them a bit in the next release. What would you recommend?
The main reason for the limits is to catch cases where somebody might select the whole C:\ drive (or other large folder) by mistake.

[AlexFielder]

Hi @MjDeck,

Thanks for the information.

The weird thing is that I didn't have either 3000 files or 200 sub-folders but still Inventor threw the dummy in the dirt and refused to allow me to have any sub-folders whatsoever.

Are there file extensions or other restrictions that might have been affecting my experience?

Regards,

Alex.

[JarFu]

Hi Alex,

As Mike mentioned, it should only count files with the following extensions:

.iLogicVb

.vb

.txt

We tried locally with Inventor 2016 but not reproduce the issue as yours. Could you please lets know if there is any file special under your iLogic folder?

And the warning message popup as attached if there are 3000+ files under the selected folder. What's the error did you get? Please attach if possible. Many thanks! 

[Anonymous]

Would you consider sharing some of those external rules you have for others to learn from and build upon? A few of them by their titles interest me greatly! 

[Anonymous]

Most of them appear to be here. 

https://github.com/AlexFielder/iLogic

[Anonymous]

Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

Is it possible that .Vb files from other programs are being picked up even though they are not in the same exact file path. Because I am getting this error and I've never even created an iLogic rule in inventor.  I do however have an ERP database that has thousands of them. None of these are under anything to do with inventor though. They are just on the same drive.

[AlexFielder]

So, here I am nearly five years to the day since the original post and amazingly, this is still an issue.

I have the following subfolder:

C:\Users\alex.fielder\OneDrive\Documents\GitHub\ManAndMachine\MandM-iLogic

which contains 801 objects (of which only 218 are files) because:

1. I use git to track changes to iLogic rules
2. I use VSCode and it's "Local History" extension to provide me a backup of changed files in case I mess something up and don't want to revert changes using git.

The number of actual .iLogicVb files in that folder is 21.

21 iLogic files and Inventor is all "too many files or subdirectories y'all":

Yes, I can just add the individual folders like I did before, but how much effort is it to update Inventor/the iLogic subsystem to include a .iLogicIgnore file (copy the git .gitignore mechanism) or something..?

then I could simply add these lines to it:

.git/

.history/

.nppbackup/

and all would be fine.

[AlexFielder]

I just realised I made a typo in the above reply: the reason Inventor gets upset is because I have this morning just tipped over the hard limit @MjDeck alluded to of 200 folders. Likely because I am using git to monitor changes. 😅

[MjDeck]

@AlexFielder , sorry about that. As you say, we should have relaxed this limit by now. And there is no reason to show the files in the .git folder in the iLogic browser.

The .git folder is hidden, so it would be relatively easy for iLogic to ignore it. However, the .history folder maintained by VS Code Local History is not hidden. So a .iLogicIgnore file sounds like the way to go.

Are you running Inventor 2022?

[AlexFielder]

Hi @MjDeck,
Thanks for replying.
Yes, I am running Inventor 2022. I can obviously make the .History folder a hidden folder if that helps things..?

[MjDeck]

Will VS Code Local History work just as well if the .history folder is hidden?
You also have the .nppbackup directory.
It shouldn't be too much more work to add support for a .iLogicIgnore file.

[AlexFielder]

I modified the .history folder to hidden this morning and it hasn't so much as twitched about it. The .nppbackup folder is Notepad++ and it doesn't care about that folder being set to hidden either.

[MjDeck · Accepted solution]

Thanks for testing. Based on your results, we'll probably concentrate on hidden folders for the fix. We can also increase the limits on visible files and folders. This is internal issue INVGEN-56201.

[AlexFielder]

I notice this is fixed in the Inventor 2022.2 patch notes. Great work team!