About the Autodesk Inventor link

The TeamWork link for Autodesk Inventor provides the following features:

• Automatic management of file references.
• Automatic re-linking of replacement parts.
• The TeamWork Derive command inside Autodesk Inventor.
• An add-in to Autodesk Inventor to exchange TeamWork properties to and from Autodesk Inventor iProperties from inside Autodesk Inventor.
• The Inventor Migration Tool for updating the Autodesk Inventor file version of all levels of assemblies stored in a TeamWork vault.

The most important of these features are property data exchange and file reference management because they can affect the referential integrity of your assemblies. Some features, such as file reference management, are automatic and don’t require any action on your part. Other features, such as the TeamWork Derive command, are only activated at your discretion.

Property data exchange between Autodesk Inventor and TeamWork occurs by a link between TeamWork properties and Autodesk Inventor iProperties. If your drawing title blocks use iProperties for the title block text, that text can be synchronized with properties in a TeamWork vault. Normal Autodesk Inventor text cannot be linked with TeamWork. iProperty data exchange is configured by a system administrator as described in the BlueCielo TeamWork Configuration Guide .

File reference management by TeamWork entails automatically detecting and tracking Autodesk Inventor references to related files regardless of where the files may reside in a vault, including Local Workspace. This means that TeamWork can maintain the referential integrity of files as you import assemblies into a vault, move them, create revisions, and even exchange files with other parties using briefcases. When you open an assembly in Autodesk Inventor that has file references, the Autodesk Inventor link finds the current location of the files in the vault and updates the locations of the files in the assembly. If you edit a part within the assembly, the link will place the part under change by you, if necessary. The link will even detect if the files have been renamed in the vault and will resolve them correctly in Autodesk Inventor.

The Autodesk Inventor link automatically creates and maintains TeamWork references between related Autodesk Inventor files. These links can be used to view the files that might be effected by changes to a related file and for other uses.

Together with the basic integration provided by Application Integration; assembly, part, parameter, finite element analysis, presentation, and drawing files created or used by Autodesk Inventor can be managed in a TeamWork vault. Conversely, Autodesk Inventor commands that request a file can access TeamWork vaults for document selection. For example, in an assembly, the Autodesk Inventor Create Component command lets you create local components in that assembly. With the Autodesk Inventor link installed, TeamWork intervenes and offers the Application Integration dialog to store the new component. If so configured, the wizard pages will appear just as if you were creating the document in TeamWork. The Field-Path definition may automatically determine the vault location of the new component.

Note    The functionality provided in Autodesk Inventor by Application Integration is subject to the general limitations of Application Integration described in About Application Integration.

Some of the commands for using the Autodesk Inventor link can be found on the BlueCielo menu in Autodesk Inventor and some on the BlueCielo browser shortcut menu. Some commands are also available within the TeamWork application. The following topics describe each feature.