Being Inventive

Controlling the zoom speed of the scroll wheel of your mouse

I bet most of us use a scroll wheel mouse as these type of mice are ubiquitous these days. So I wanted to share a tip with you all.
Generally I am a bit reluctant to share registry hacks as it could get you into trouble if you are not very careful when editing the registry.
But this registry hack is very useful. So it is hard to pass on not communicating this to the world.

There are probably two things you might want to configure as far as the scroll wheel goes: zoom direction and zoom sensitivity.

For the zoom direction we offer a convenient Application option on the Display tab that allows you to reverse the zoom direction.

This is very useful for users that switch regularly between AutoCAD and Inventor.

Fig 1: Controlling zoom direction in Application Options

For the zoom sensitivity we don't offer such a thing as an Application option and you either live with the default that we offer or you can change the value in the registry.
Here is the way how to do it for an Inventor 2013 installation.

1. Exit Inventor
2. Run regedit from the cmd window on the Windows Start menu
3. Locate following registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\Inventor\RegistryVersion17.0\System\Preferences\Display\Wheel Zoom Speed
4. Change the value (default is 1). Changing to 0.1 makes the zoom 10 times slower. Changing to 10 makes it 10 times faster.
5. Exit regedit
6. Restart Inventor.

For older versions of Inventor change the version number string that I marked in red in the registry key.
Example:

17.0 = Inventor 2013

16.0 = Inventor 2012

15.0 = Inventor 2011

Etc.  

Note: users that use a 3DConnexion device don't have to worry about all this as they can set zoom settings in the Properties dialog that gets delivered with the device.

Cheers

Bob

Feedback on Autodesk Inventor Interface

We want to know your thoughts and feedback on the changes made to the Autodesk Inventor user interface over the past 4 years.
What do you think of the Ribbon Bar interface, Marking Menus, Mini-Toolbars?
How do you interact with the interface and how does it help you?
This is your opportunity to tell the Product Managers and Developers of the product what you think and influence the future development of the Autodesk Inventor user interface.

To help collect your thoughts, the Autodesk Inventor team has put together this quick on-line survey for you to provide your thoughts and opinions.
Click on the link below to provide your feedback and thoughts...

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/autodeskinventorUI

Thanks for your time.
Bob

Missing a dialog box?

This issue comes up so often and just did again today, that I thought I’d share a trick. Suddenly the hole or other dialog is no longer visible when you summon its command. The dialog(s) may be off-screen as a result of working with dual monitors, placing the dialog(s) on a second monitor and having switched back to a single monitor. Even if this isn’t the case, they could have been inadvertently dragged or placed outside the viewing area. The trick is the following:

• Invoke the hole command (or any command experiencing this issue)
• Hold the alt key and click the spacebar, then release both
• Without doing anything else, press the “M” on your keyboard (move)
• Without doing anything else click one of the arrow keys on your keyboard
• Now move the mouse around without clicking any mouse buttons because the dialog box will be attached to your cursor and left click when you’ve got in a place where it’s visible.

This technique can be used on any Microsoft-style dialog box and in any application for that matter.

Daren

Default Add-ins for Inventor

You have installed Inventor from Product Design Suite or Factory Design Premium 2012 and you are wondering if it is normal that some functionality is not available.

For instance, you cannot open the IDF Board Files, you cannot start the Stress Analysis environment in your parts and assemblies, etc.

For double-checking if the current behavior is correct, you can read the complete list of the Inventor add-ins here under User Interface > Default add-ins for Autodesk Inventor.

At the same page, you can read as well the complete list of the Inventor Professional add-ins under User Interface > Default add-ins for Autodesk Inventor Professional that you get installing Inventor from Product Design Suite or Factory Design Ultimate 2012.

Ale

Manage Links command in Inventor 2010

When you open an Inventor file, menu Tools > Options you have the Manage Links command.

If the command is active, clicking on it you open the Document Links and Embeddings dialog where you can list all embedded objects and break links to OLE linked documents.

Unfortunately, the command is not available in the Inventor 2010 Ribbon.

What you can do in Inventor 2010, is applying a key to the command from menu Tools > Options > Customize > Keyboard tab.

The command Manage Links is available in the Inventor 2011 and 2012 Ribbon.

Ale

The options for importing and exporting the parameters to XML are missing

If the options for importing and exporting the parameters to XML, are missing in your files, try the steps below for having them back.

 

• Exit Inventor.
• Run the Add-in Manager which you can find on the Windows Start menu. It is in the Tools folder under Inventor 2012.

 

• Make sure that the iLogic add-in is loaded automatically at start-up by checking the “Load Automatically" checkbox.

 

• Restart Inventor.

In case you have problems in loading the iLogic add-in, check if the solution http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS16903013 can help.

Note. The options are not available in Inventor LT, because iLogic in not available in this application.

Cannot open multiple files in Inventor 2012 on XP

Users working on Windows XP might receive a "File Not Found" error when selecting multiple files in the File Open dialog or when dragging and dropping multiple files from Windows Explorer into Inventor. The problem only happens on 2012.

We have found a workaround for this issue.

1. Press the Windows Start menu to access the command line.
2. Type "Regedit" in the Search box to launch the Registry editor
3. In the registry search for the registry key "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{DA1F437C-9BD9-11d4-B87C-0060B0EC020B}\InprocServer32\(Default)"
   The string value you find there is <Inventor_install_folder>\ bin\DtBridge.dll , with <Inventor_install_folder> the location where Inventor is installed.
4. Change the last part of the string from DtBridge.dll to InfoTip.dll
   Example:
   If you installed Inventor 2012 in the default location, the registry key string should be "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2012\bin\DtBridge.dll"
   Change it to "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2012\bin\InfoTip.dll".
5. Close registry.

Cheers
Bob

Inventor 2012 Expand dialogs

You want that the following six dialogs (Extrude, Revolve, Fillet, Chamfer, Face draft and Move face) expanded automatically and permanently instead to display as in the image below when you click on the corresponding command.

 

In order to do that:

• Close Inventor.
• Control panel > System > Advanced System Settings > Environment Variables.
• Implement the following System Variable.

Variable Name: INVENTOR_ROLL_DOWN_DIALOG

Variable Value: YES

 

Note that this will not prevent you from temporarily collapsing any of these dialogs, but on the next use of the dialog, the dialog will come up in expanded mode as long as the variable remains set.
 

Use of 3GB switch with Inventor 2012 on 32 bit machine

Autodesk does not support or endorse the /3GB switch on 32 bit machines.

In many cases, this customization will cause Inventor graphics to be incorrectly displayed.

The new enhancements for marking menu, mini toolbar & select other “may” all consume more memory than their 2011 equivalents.

Instead, we recommend updating to a 64-bit version of Windows as reported as well in the Wiki Help under Autodesk Inventor 3 GB feature (Applies to 32-bit operating systems only)

 

Custom UI Settings in Inventor 2012

Please see Inventor Wiki help topic on Custom settings

"Previous Inventor versions stored customized ribbon and keyboard settings in separate XML files. In Autodesk Inventor 2012, customization settings for the ribbon, keyboard, and the new marking menu are stored in a single XML file.

This new convention makes it easier and faster to restore customized settings when you install a new version of Inventor. It also facilitates sharing customized settings between different computers or with other users in your organization."

Note - Any customization related to classic UI in 2011, for example toolbars will be lost when imported into 2012. Customizations of Ribbon from 2011 can be imported into 2012 Inventor.