A strange case of iPart claustrophobia in Excel

*** Update : the original post included a step to remove and recreate key columns. This step was unnecessarily complicating the process. I removed the step. See new steps in red ***

Some users, while working with Inventor iParts, like to push Excel to its limits.
On regular occasions here at Product Support Central,  we get questions whether there are any size limitations with Inventor's use of Excel for iParts.

And indeed there are. We have the following limitation for our Excel table, which is close to what Microsoft itself allows in an Excel sheet: the maximum number of  rows and columns in a single sheet is 65000 rows x 255 columns.
So theoretically the max. number of iPart members you can create is  65000.

On top of that  we have built in a limit on the number of iPart member nodes showing in the Inventor browser. That number is limited to a maximum of 1000 members.

When more than 1000 members are defined in the iPart AND at least one key column exists in the table,  we no longer show the members in the browser to avoid excessive time needed to repaint the browser

 

iPart with <= 1000 members	iPart with > 1000 members

 

There is a hidden registry hack that allows you to show more than 1000 rows though.

Here is what you need to do.

1. Close inventor.

2.Start regedit from the Start menu.
3. For Inventor 2011, add following 32 bit DWORD called “MaxRowInBrowser” in registry [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\Inventor\RegistryVersion15.0\System\Preferences\Catalog]

For example, give “MaxRowInBrowser” a value of 1500 if you want to see 1500 rows.
Replace string"15.0" with "14.0" if you are using Inventor 2010.

4.Restart Inventor and open the iPart file.
5.Make a cell edit in the iPart table (you can immedtialy revert the cell to the old value). This will enable the OK button.

6. Hit Ok button. This will update the iPart and the  browser nodes.

7 In the browser context menu change to "List by keys" or "List by members" depending on your preference.

 

Last but not least:  if you are using such complex Excel tables, consider using alternative methods to describe complex families of parts. iLogic and the API spring to mind :-)