What's new / enhancements

Combined installer including Sovelia Sync 2.0

The installation of the Sovelia CAD Add-in has been made easier. With only one package (The Sovelia Desktop Installer) to run that includes Sovelia Sync, The CAD Add-in and the latest configuration files for Sovelia Inventor (L0) Bootstrap points to the "LocalDisk", Sovelia Engineering (L1) Bootstrap points to "LocalDisk" or Sovelia PLM (L2) Bootstrap points to the "Sovelia".

Support for virtual components

In this version we have the ability to create a Sovelia reference for a virtual component that exists in an Inventor assembly.

Once created the virtual component can be included as part of a Sovelia bill of materials and sent to Sovelia for viewing and editing in the HTML environment. It supports all the normal functions of Revise, Status and Details. The thumbnail of the virtual component shows the Assembly thumbnail when Published or Promoted or Revised.

The created Sovelia item of the virtual component also supports the Primary or Secondary workflow.

The property card can be configured specifically for virtual components.

The default behaviour is to send the virtual components as part of the BOM to Sovelia however there is an option in the UIConfig-Inventor.xml to explicitly exclude  virtual components in the BillOfMaterial section has new attribute, IncludeVirtualComponents, sent to Sovelia.

Example:

<BillOfMaterialsAllowBOMForInseparable="false"AlwaysEnableStructuredBOM="false"UseItemQty="false"IncludeVirtualComponents="false"/>

Dynamic loading of iLogic rules

In previous versions Inventor would need to be configured with the precise iLogic routines in the Sovelia Toolbar. You would then need to restart your Inventor session to see the iLogic tool/button appear. Now by placing the iLogic file in the correct folder the iLogic icon and description will appear in the toolbar without having to add additional information to configuration files making the whole process much easier and transparent for users.

* ILogic rules are only configured in the Inventor-profile.xml. A path can be set where the vbs-files are loaded from. Normal loading from the %programdata% folder is also active. The folder can be on a local disk or UNC path. The "ReadAutomatically" switch controls the dynamic loading mechanism. The file name of the file is shown in Inventor.

Inventor-profile.xml Example:

<ILogicScriptsLocation=["c:\\iLogic"|"\\server\folder\"] ReadAutomatically="true">

Replace with Primary

Replace the secondary file with the primary file that is assigned to the Sovelia reference: One or more files can be pointing to the same reference in Sovelia. But only one can drive reference information. "Replace with Primary" finds the file assigned to be the references primary driver, downloads it from Vault and replaces it in the assembly context. 

Inventor Thumbnails

Moved Inventor Thumbnail update to separate action, see config section.

Adding the action to the command Thumbnail should be sent. In the example below it is the Promote command that sends the thumbnail to Sovelia as a PreAction. It can also be generated as part of the Publish and Revise triggers.

Inventor-Profile.xml Example: 

<OnCommand Id="SoveliaEngineering.Promote">

<PreAction Id="SendThumbnailAction"/>

<Conditions/>

</OnCommand>

Busy Indicator

New Busy indicator in property updates dialog and other places to show the system is processing your request. 

Grid Load Performance

Grid loading speed performance enhancement. In a continuing effort to improve performance we have worked behind the scenes to improve the speed the Grid loads when opening or updating the grid.

Property Card width

Property card width is changeable to display more description and field information. Once stretched the property card stays in position even if you close and open the property card again. 

Type tree respects Language files

When selecting the Type tree in the property card the order the types appear in the list respects any alterations from the standard made in the language file on the Sovelia Server.

Show Property Grid button on zero doc in Inventor (My Home)

Although you do not have any models loaded in your inventor session it is still possible to turn on and off the property grid window by pressing the property grid icon in the Sovelia Add-in toolbar window or the X in the Property grid tab.

Send BOM messages

If the BOM is not successfully sent to Sovelia we have improved the messages the user receives so that the user may diagnose the issue better and resolve the problem more easily.

Change state button swap

Above shows the 21.1 version Change State Button layout.

To reflect user feedback the order the "Change State" and "Close" buttons appear in the dialogue box for the Change state command have been swapped to reflect a standard flow from other commands.

Other Fixes or Enhancements

• Clone component did not update Part Number in Sovelia Engineering configuration.
• Grid structure is now kept expanded when refresh and drawing exists.
• Hierarchical fields with mandatory property did not work well in edit dialog.
• Suppressed/missing part reported error.
• Could not publish in Sovelia Inventor configuration.
• Inventor error/crash when closing and checking in drawing with multiple sheets.
• Calculation error is displayed in Property Card when hitting OK or Apply for a short while.
• Fixed tabbing order in property card.
• Fixed error when running calculations and not having geometry. ("'${ExtT}' not found").
• Added sheet names AutoCAD dwg when publishing in Sovelia Inventor configuration.
• Property card changes are updated directly in drawing sheet.
• Clone error message when not connected to Vault fixed.
• Disabled Update Code field input if value is not in list.
• Clicking Name field dirty indicator did not clear value.
• Can now "create from Part Number" in edit dialog.
• Calculations not working correctly in edit dialog.
• Show drawing relations button now show consistent behaviour between different files.
• Property card showed error when Sovelia Sync was reconnecting to server.
• Button order in dialog updated.
• Publish and Promote dialog when action is stopped has been improved.

21.1.1

• Several Assembly views on drawing and secondary relations on drawing breaks drawing relation creation.

Limitations

This is an overview document for a specific version of Sovelia CAD Add-in. Not every detail or feature is covered. You should look for further information or contact us or look at, how-to articles, tutorials, webinars and reference documents on Sovelia.com for more information.