Where are the settings shown in Advance iLogic Configuration dialog stored?

[AlexFielder]

Hi all,

A customer recently asked a colleague where the "External Rules" paths are stored inside of Inventor 2017.

I'm aware of the following article which applies to versions prior to the 2016 release:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/inventor-products/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcartic...

But despite finding a user.config for both 2016/2017 inside of the "%USERPROFILE%\appdata\Local\Autodesk,_Inc\" sub-directories on my system neither of the files contains paths such as these:

<string>C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\AddRemove</string>
<string>C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Drawings</string>
<string>C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Helper Rules</string>
<string>C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Misc</string>
<string>C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Modelling</string>
<string>C:\Users\alex.fielder\Dropbox\iLogic\Properties</string>

My guess is that the reason these paths are no longer stored externally is because of the Import/Export function that was added inside of Inventor 2016?

The problem the customer has is that they have multiple Inventor users and whereas before they could simply deploy the user.config file to each users' machine using AutoIT or Microsoft's SCCM or similar systems they would now have to go to every machine and import the settings for every user.

I have scoured my Windows 10 system for any files which mention part of the above path (using Notepad++'s "find in files" option) but have so far come up empty for 2016/2017 installations.

I even thought that perhaps it was stored in the Windows registry somewhere but RegScanner came up empty too.

If anyone can shed any light on this that would be fantastic!

Regards and Thanks,

Alex.

[AlexFielder]

So, thanks to @salariua it seems there is a file located thus*:

"%appdata%\Autodesk\Inventor 2017.1\iLogicPreferences\iLogicOptions.xml"

Which contains the settings concerned.

The annoying** thing for me as I have recently installed Inventor 2017 R3 is that there is also a copy of the above file located here:

"%appdata%\Autodesk\Inventor 2017.2\iLogicPreferences\iLogicOptions.xml"

So I guess the customer will need to ensure that all his workstations are patched to the same level before pushing out a deployment script that updates the most relevant path above.

Interestingly, whenever you tell Inventor to export the iLogic configuration it also updates the newest of the above files.

*My Notepad++ "find in files" search eventually completed a search for "Helper Rules" in all xml files whilst Adrian & I were conversing and it too came to the same conclusion.

**It also REALLY bugs me that despite having Inventor 2017.3 installed, the second path above is "2017.2" - perhaps this is a configuration setting that has been overlooked by development or is more of an internal Autodesk versioning issue?

[salariua]

We got interrupted before finishing our discussion but I am seeing the same thing and I think someone needs to look at this (Autodesk) and make sure the folder name are consistent with the Inventor release.

I can understand why we need separate configurations for each Release, Update but it's confusing at the moment.

R1 should create a folder 1
R2 ...2
etc.

Now we see R3 in folder 2 and R2 in folder 1.

[MjDeck]

Hello,

The separate 2017.1, 2017.2, etc. directories for the updates are not intentional. Sorry about that. There really should be only one 2017 directory, and it will be used for all updates. We can fix this in 2018.

Here's some documentation about including this config data in a deployment. If Inventor finds an iLogicOptions.xml file in a folder named "iLogicPreferences" under your install folder (usually C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 20xx) then it will use those settings as the default. (If it finds another file in the %appdata% location that you discovered, then the settings from that file will override the default.)

Note: you will see a folder named Preferences in the install directory. There is no folder named iLogicPreferences: you have to create it.
Also, the help says that the config file should be in a slightly different location. We will correct the help. The file should be in (for example)
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2017\iLogicPreferences

[salariua]

Hi Mike,

I know about the help page and I must have read it a dozen times and I agree it needs updating and making it more clear.

"

Adding iLogic configurations to deployments

A set of default options are in place in the iLogic Configuration dialog box if you have not manually updated these options. You can manually update options to an Inventor deployment. If the \Bin\iLogicPreferences\iLogicOptions.xml file is located, it will be loaded to provide default options.

• To create an Inventor deployment with preselected iLogic options, export your options to the iLogicOptions.xml file.
• Create an iLogicPreferences subdirectory.
• Manually add the file to your deployment within the directory, \Bin\iLogicPreferences.

"

Can add this file after installing inventor to get it working?

I am 95%-98% sure (age margin) I've done a test in 2017.2 and it didn't work.

I have created a folder and copied over a xml file and after restarting inventor it didn't picked up the new file.

Is this possible or am I misinterpreting (age thing again).

[MjDeck]

Hi Adrian,

 Yes, you can add that file after installing Inventor. But you also have to delete the file in the %AppData%\Autodesk location.
 Inventor will look for the file first under %AppData%. If it doesn't find it there, then it will look for the custom deployment file in iLogicPreferences under the install folder.

 If you change any settings in the iLogic Configuration dialog, they will get saved to the %AppData%\Autodesk location.

[salariua]

---

@MjDeck wrote:

you also have to delete the file in the %AppData%\Autodesk location.
 Inventor will look for the file first under %AppData%. If it doesn't find it there, then it will look for the custom deployment file in iLogicPreferences under the install folder.

---

that explains it. I haven't deleted the %AppData% file before creating the one in Program Files ... Bin folder.

---

@MjDeck wrote:

 If you change any settings in the iLogic Configuration dialog, they will get saved to the %AppData%\Autodesk location.

---

even if I have removed the %AppData% file; created a new xml in Bin folder before changing the settings in the iLogic Configuration dialog? (would that be created anew automatically?

[MjDeck]

To your question:
> even if I have removed the %AppData% file; created a new xml in Bin folder before changing the settings in the iLogic Configuration dialog? (would that be created anew automatically?

Yes, when you edit and save changes, the system will create the file in %AppData% automatically. It never tries to save to the install directory. Often, Windows permissions will prevent a user from saving to the install directory.
The file in the install directory is only for custom settings that are part of an installed deployment. The user can always edit his settings after a deployment is installed.

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Hi @salariua & @MjDeck,

So after reading through this thread, I still can't determine if this works, or doesn't work?

Are there any clear and concise steps to getting the iLogic External Rules Directory path(s) set in the deployment image, so it can be pushed out to dozens of users?

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

[salariua]

****,

The MAESTRO  is asking me a question.... I'd better answer and pretend I know the answer.

This if from the help pages

"

Adding iLogic configurations to deployments

A set of default options are in place in the iLogic Configuration dialog box if you have not manually updated these options. You can manually update options to an Inventor deployment. If the \Bin\iLogicPreferences\iLogicOptions.xml file is located, it will be loaded to provide default options.

• To create an Inventor deployment with preselected iLogic options, export your options to the iLogicOptions.xml file.
• Create an iLogicPreferences subdirectory.
• Manually add the file to your deployment within the directory, \Bin\iLogicPreferences.

"

So you need to export your iLogic Options to a file called "iLogicOptions.xml" and you need to save this in deployment folder "\Bin\iLogicPreference"

How was this for a Copy Paste message? Of course I haven't tested it.

Hope you can reply a translation to English for all to follow and understand.

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Hi salariua,

Hey thanks for the reply.

Okay this morning when I first replied we could not find the Bin folder, so things seemed unclear, but on second look this is what we ended up with, where "\\SomeSharedLocation\....\" is our server share:

\\SomeSharedLocation\....\Img\x64\Inventor\PF\Autodesk\Inventor 2017\Bin\iLogicPreference\iLogicOptions.xml

We'll test this in a bit and see if it works when running the deployment image.

Thanks again,

Curtis

[MjDeck]

Note: the folder won't work if it's under Bin. It has to be directly under the install directory. Here's a sample:
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2017\iLogicPreferences

This is similar to another folder:
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2017\Preferences

[Curtis_Waguespack]

---

@MjDeck wrote:

Note: the folder won't work if it's under Bin. It has to be directly under the install directory. Here's a sample:
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2017\iLogicPreferences

This is similar to another folder:
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2017\Preferences

---

Hi MjDeck,

I don't understand.

Just to clarify, we're trying to push this setting out as part of a deployment image.

Are you saying that I would export the iLogicPreferences.XML file to C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2017\iLogicPreferences ?

How does the deployment image use a file exported to a local C drive?

Am I missing something?

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

[MjDeck]

You can export it to another location. 
Then when you create the deployment, create a folder named iLogicPreferences and put the iLogicOptions.xml file in there. The iLogicPreferences folder must be side-by-side with the Preferences folder.
(Also, don't change the name of the XML file. It must be iLogicOptions.xml.)

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Hi MjDeck,

Okay we'll try again using this pathing, where "\\SomeSharedLocation\....\" is our server share:

\\SomeSharedLocation\....\Img\x64\Inventor\PF\Autodesk\Inventor 2017\iLogicPreference\iLogicOptions.xml

I'm curious, is there a reason these iLogic configurations paths can not be contained in the Application Options > Files paths?

I think that would simplify the deployment process.

If not maybe just some better documentation is all that is needed.

Also is there someone we can contact to get the information at the Help file corrected, and made more clear?

Thanks,
Curtis

[MjDeck]

Note: it has to be iLogicPreferences (not iLogicPreference).
I have made a request to get the help corrected.
I agree it would be better if these were grouped together with the main Inventor options in both the UI and the XML data. We might be able to do that in future.

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Hi MjDeck,

Thanks for catching that, it was just a typo in my last reply. I actually did change it and had iLogicPreferences as shown below on our last attempt, but the path still did not come in automatically.

Also can you confirm that my expectations are correct here. I am expecting to push the External Rule Directories path with the deployment. This is possible, correct?

We'll try again tomorrow, but the only other thing I can think is that after adding the iLogicPreferences folder containing the exported XML, that we would have to recreate/modify the Deployment Image.

We didn't do that this last time, as we thought that just adding the folder was all that was needed.

Thanks again,

Curtis

[MjDeck]

Yes, it is possible to push the External Rule Directories path with the deployment. If you look at your iLogicOptions.xml file with a text editor, you should see the external rule directory listed there. iLogic will read that data if it finds it.

Copying the file to a folder within a previously created deployment might not work. I think the installer has an index that lists every file, and it won't use files that it doesn't know about. If that's true, then you would have to create a new deployment. I'll verify.

[MjDeck]

Hi Curtis,

 I'm finding out that there is a way to modify an existing deployment. That sounds faster than creating a new one. I'll post more details soon.

[MjDeck]

Use the "Create & modify a deployment" shortcut in the Tools folder of the deployment you created before. It's pretty fast. However, I'd say that the interface for creating a new subfolder and adding the file is not as straightforward as it could be.