Understanding the Autodesk Inventor link

Meridian includes a link to Autodesk Inventor that provides:

• Automatic management of Autodesk Inventor’s complex file relationships. References between files are always maintained, even if the files are moved or renamed within the Meridian file system.
• The ability to map Meridian properties to Autodesk Inventor properties (iProperties). iProperties can then be added to drawing file (.idw) title blocks, thereby enabling title block linking between Meridian and Autodesk Inventor.
• A tool for importing legacy assemblies and parts into the Meridian vault, while keeping the references between files.
• A service module for use with the Autodesk Inventor Migration Tool to update the Autodesk Inventor file version of all levels of assemblies stored in a vault. For more information, see the BlueCielo Meridian Enterprise User’s Guide.
• Automatic updating of replaced parts or assemblies when replacements are available.
• Autodesk Inventor browser integration.
• Integration with the Autodesk Inventor Create Component command to ensure that new parts are created in the Meridian vault.
• Integration of the Autodesk Inventor Viewer or AutoVue 3D (optional) for viewing Autodesk Inventor files within the Meridian vault.

Notes

• For performance reasons, we recommend that the vault be configured to utilize the Local Workspace feature whenever Autodesk Inventor files are managed in the vault. All documentation relevant to the Autodesk Inventor link assumes that Local Workspace has been enabled.
• It is important to keep the Autodesk Inventor document type templates up to date with the version of Autodesk Inventor that you are currently using. This includes .iam, .ipt, and .idw documents. This also applies to existing Autodesk Inventor documents in the vault. Failing to update the documents and templates can result in problems when resolving references and synchronizing document properties. If you have a large number of Autodesk Inventor files in the vault that need to be updated, we recommend that you use the Autodesk Inventor Migration Tool with the BlueCielo service module that is installed by the Meridian Inventor link and is described in the BlueCielo Meridian Enterprise User’s Guide.

You configure the Autodesk Inventor link by editing a text file in Configurator as described in the following topics.