Add to Accumulate – Now Back in Inventor 2018.2!

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By Jennifer MacMillan

With the release of 2018 we were treated to a new Measure tool (LOVE IT!); however, the Accumulate functionality was not initially included. With the release of Inventor 2018.2 it has made its triumphant return. It is not super intuitive, so I wanted to take some time to explain how it works.

Firstly, it can be used to add (accumulate) multiple linear, area, volume, and angular measurements. Each of these types of measurements will appear as separate entries in the Accumulate field.

The sum of multiple linear measurements, as well as area, volume, and angular measurements can be determined using Add to Accumulate in the Measure dialog box. To accumulate measured values, complete the following:

Once the initial measurement is made, hover over the value in the Measure dialog box and click as shown below. Once selected, the Accumulated Properties area is displayed at the top of the dialog box (as shown on the right) and the initial value is listed.
Select a new entity in the graphics window to measure. The Measure dialog box updates listing its value as Selection 2. The Accumulated Properties area remains at the top of the dialog box.
In the Selection 2 area, hover over the value and click as shown below to add the new value to the previous one. The value updates in the Accumulated Properties area as shown on the right.
Continue to measure and add accumulated values as needed.

A separate accumulated value is maintained for each of the four types (linear area, volume, and angular values). Consider the following when working with accumulate values:

To display the full list of the accumulated values, select the (History) icon. This toggles the history display. If the history display is off, only the total is shown. Otherwise, if on, each accumulated value is shown along with the total. In the second image above the History is displayed.
To clear a single value in the accumulate history list, hover over it and select (Delete) to remove it from the total.
To clear a total accumulated value, hover over it and select (Delete) to clear it.