3D Modeler Lets Users Exploit the API
10/6/2009
by
Allen Gager Autodesk Inventor 2010 is a 3D solid-modeling
software package with a lot to offer. In fact, with every release the
developer adds a new host of tools and enhancements. An often-overlooked
tool is the application-programming interface (API). It lets you write
your own programs to interact with Inventor using your favorite flavor
of Microsoft Visual Basic (VB) or Microsoft VB.NET. Inventor interacts
with the Microsoft Component Object Model (COM), essentially the
framework that lets all Microsoft-based products talk to each other and
interact with other software.
A program written in Visual Basic generates a Material Application
dialog box that creates Inventor sheet-metal styles.
To get started, use the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) Editor in
Inventor. Access the editor from the Tools tab on the Inventor ribbon
panel.
The beauty of Inventor’s talking to VB-based programs is the wealth
of free code available on the Web. For example, say you want your
application to browse a network folder structure. Just type-in “browse
network (VB, C#, or VB.net)” in an Internet search engine such as
Google. It lists a number of free code options to place into your
application.
In this VB-based application, a Feature Rename dialog box lets users
modify settings to suit their needs.
In addition, Inventor comes with a rich set of code samples and
tutorials. The examples are clearly written and show users how to
interact with the Inventor dataset. Just copy-and-paste the code from
the samples into your custom application. The samples provide many
common routines.
For additional assistance, check out free online resources. One is an
Autodesk blog by Brian Ekins at
modthemachine.typepad.com.
Ekins actually created Inventor’s API. He is also a speaker at Autodesk
Univ. and his helpful class handouts are available at
au.autodesk.com/?nd=class_listing.
Another good resource is the Autodesk Discussion Group at
tiny.cc/VWFiW. It provides community
assistance and code examples among peers. This is one of the most
helpful and friendly engineering-software communities on the Web, with
thousands of helpful code examples. The Inventor API team also monitors
the community and provides assistance.
With this basic information in hand, what kinds of things can you do
with the Autodesk Inventor API? A few examples follow.
The Inventor Part Browser shows renamed feature tags.
One application I wrote provides A.T. Ferrell’s material standards
for use in Inventor Sheet Metal. Our company has several hundred part
numbers for raw sheet material. Before v 2009, sheet-metal styles were
loaded into a template file. It was not practical to load all our
materials in a single template file. As you can imagine, remembering or
typing all of these variations was out of the question.
The recent application accesses our materials database and loads the
needed material into Inventor to build a sheet-metal style on-the-fly.
The application also provides the number of inches the plasma cutter
must cut. The program creates a DXF file for the plasma-cutting software
based on appropriate software standards. What previously took many steps
is now accomplished in just a few clicks. This approach also ensures
consistency among all our design engineers.
Another application I wrote called the Feature Rename tool is
available at tinyurl.com/l3c2ps.
The program runs inside Inventor and renames the tags in the browser
panel as they are created or edited. The application renames feature
tags based on the actual value of the features in a part file. A dialog
interface lets users customize settings. Written for Inventor 2010, the
application also works with v 2008 and v 2009. A help file comes with
the download.
The Autodesk Inventor API provides nearly endless opportunities to
interact with Inventor and create your own applications to accomplish
your tasks. The hardest part is probably figuring out what you want to
do first.
The software comes from Autodesk Inc., 111 McInnis Pkwy., San
Rafael, CA 94903, (415) 507-5000,
www.autodesk.com .
About the Author
Allen Gager is a design engineer and CAD manager for A.T. Ferrell Co.
Inc. in Bluffton, Ind. He has over 19-yr experience using and
customizing Autodesk software in a production environment and has
designed products in 3D since 1997. Allen is an Autodesk Inventor
Certified Professional and the Manufacturing Solutions Div. Technical
Editor for AU Tech Talk. Contact him at
a.gager@live.com
Article edited by Leslie Gordon,
Sr Editor, Machine Design
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Article reprinted by permission of Penton Media,
publisher of Machine Design |
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