Are u there?

[tinsmith]

JMD??? I have a CAD question about search paths

[TownBear]

LoL..

[tinsmith]

Hi Bear!! Do u know about dat shtuff???

[TownBear]

hummmmmmm CAD paths... well.. try c:My Documents/My Files/CAD
:D

lol

[Joseph]

search paths ??

Not familiar with that tern Tin what is it?

[Joseph]

Not sure if this is what your looking for but I went ahead and looked up some stuff




Curing Unresolved File Headaches--Part I

If you are part of an engineering-design team with multiple people working in tandem, there's a good chance you've encountered unresolved links while working with associated CAD files. It's not uncommon to find that a co-worker or network administrator, for one reason or another, has renamed a directory or moved some files after you've left work. When you return the next day and begin to work, you realize the software can't find the files your design was referencing a day earlier. Now you have to spend time resolving your assemblies, which could take hours. This is time that you need to complete your project on schedule.

Unresolved files are typically the result of data being relocated. The problem often grows as users unknowingly overwrite or lose files. Project Files, an innovative tool in Autodesk Inventor software, provides the functionality that alleviates these troubles. In the first part of this two part series, I will explain the concepts behind Autodesk Inventor's Project Files: what they are, how they work, and how Project Files will fit into your environment, helping remove the pesky issue of unresolved links.

Project Files

Project Files are text files with a .IJP file extension that contain a list of paths to various folders. They break the dependency between your Autodesk Inventor dataset and its file locations. This basically means that your files may be relocated without editing assembly or drawing files. Guided by a Project File, Autodesk Inventor is able to find the data in the new location without the hassles associated with unresolved links. This is possible because Autodesk Inventor's documents only store a reference's file name, not its location. Instead, the software relies upon Project Files for these locations, meaning the software is flexible with data storage. As an assembly is opened, Autodesk Inventor will automatically search for the data it needs based on the locations listed in the active Project File.

How They Work

For many customers, Project Files provide sufficient design management enabling them to avoid using a PDM system altogether. To simplify project management, Autodesk Inventor lets you create a separate Project File for each design. This unique functionality changes the focus of the data you use on a project-by-project basis. When an assembly is opened, Autodesk Inventor uses search paths within the active Project File as a guide to locate component parts and sub-assemblies. There are four different types of search paths that can be defined within a Project File: workspace, local, workgroup, and library. These search paths make Project Files flexible, allowing Autodesk Inventor to pull data from various independent locations.

* Workspace. This is a "work-in-progress" location on your personal workstation and acts as the default location for creating new files. Only one workspace can be defined with each Project File.

* Local Search Path. Local search paths point to local and/or network locations that only you have access to. You might copy a released design to a local search path location in order to create revisions, modifications, or a one-off design. There can be several local search paths.

* Workgroup Search Path. This search path is defined for file locations that will be accessed by other people working on the project. This could be server space reserved for a project or the location where released files are stored. There can be several workgroup search paths.

* Library Search Paths. This is the location where you would find your company's standard parts, such as fasteners and other hardware. These search paths often point to a server, and parts stored in this location rarely change. There can be several library search paths.

[tinsmith]

Never mind if you're not that familiar at this time. We received a series of parent drawings from a client, which also include the client xref numbers. At this time we put them into several different folders. We wanted to make them so we don't alter the original drawing issue file number. so we changed the seach path under options and redirected the drawing xref's so they find the path bac to the parent drawing. I also have a couple of lisp routines that I am reluctant to use because I don't know what they'll do to the rest of the files. I was just wondering if this was a common thing you've done and had an easy way to do it. This was pretty easy to do and not very time consuming. I was wondering if you had a better, quicker, more automatic way.

[TownBear]

i usually just export to a dif file name to keep the original in tact :shrugs:

[tinsmith]

Also, I didn't get the Project work file search path to work at all. We put them in the main search path directory and it worked fine.

[TownBear]

ok.. no i don't know about CAD... but doesn't it have a Save As or Export ?

you can use those features to save under dif. names while keeping the original

[tinsmith]

Originally blurted out by TownBear
i usually just export to a dif file name to keep the original in tact :shrugs:

It could be dozens of files that effect hundreds. Just trying to find a way to get out of doing it manually Bear.

[Joseph]

As far as Inventor goes Tin I have only played around with it doing solids so I can put it on my website as a kind of promotional tool for school.

I have never been taught it, or taught myself the ins and outs of the program.

We are supposed to be taught Inventor this year along with Catia V5 R9 so you will be able to teach me a thing or two I’m sure.

[tinsmith]

This semester is intermediate Inventor. What helped me a lot is the student version I got from:

http://www.journeyed.com/cgi-bin/sgsh0101.exe?SKW=jemwebspecial&FNM=01&UID=2003010721075831&GEN9=index2.html


I have a two year lease of 5.0 for $208. I am learning 5.3. If you are taking Inventor 6 it could run into some bucks for the student version and there are signifigant differences that would warrant leasing 6. Watch out for the package they try and lease you that has everything. ACAD, MDT & Inv6. Big loot. Like I said I just though I'd ask about that because it's happening now. Thanks anyhoo. Also, in work all I do is ACAD, no Inventor.

[Joseph]

Thanks for the info Tin

I got real lucky when they taught us Solid Edge V 10

I personally phoned the company and asked them how much a student version cost, he looked up the school contract and told me nothing LOL

We get a copy for free lol

The school didn't even know this, so a week later we got our very own copy that never runs out.

Needles to say I was a bit of a star that day with my fellow students, but that only lasted for ohhhhh say 15 mins lol

[tinsmith]

Very, very cool JMD. I guess it's very similar. Some of the things are an improvement. When I'm done with Inventor I'll mess around with SW. U said edge. Hows that compared to SW?


>>Needles to say I was a bit of a star that day with my fellow students, but that only lasted for ohhhhh say 15 mins lol<<


lololl. I know the feeling!:)

[Joseph]

There are a lot of similarities between SW and solid edge so I hear.

I have never used SW but they say its an amazing software

[tinsmith]

Getting back to XREF's, We have several different methods of rerouting those xrefs. There is also a way in Express Tool, but we feel as though it's best for single drawing application only. We used a method that does not alter the client's files and creates a path globally.