IMAGINiT Manufacturing Solutions Blog

Inventor Task Scheduler – Sequential Tasks

Let’s face it, there are some repetitive tasks with Inventor and Vault that are tedious, time consuming and potentially error prone when they are performed frequently back to back. For example, you have just revised 15 component files and now need to update all of the associated assemblies/sub-assemblies as well as the detail drawings. Let’s not forget that in a Vault environment we need to check out the files and then check them back in after the updates. In this scenario, we could have at least 1 assembly and 16 detail drawings that need to be updated.

The basic workflow looks like this:

• Find and open each file with Inventor
• Check out the file from Vault
• Update the file
• Save the file
• Check the file back in to Vault
• Close the file
• Repeat

It’s not difficult, it’s just tedious.

The Inventor Task Scheduler has a solution for you with the Sequential Task that we can use to check the file out of Vault, update in Inventor, and check the file back into Vault.

Preparation:

You will need two Inventor Project files:

Vault enabled – for Vault tasks

Single user – For Inventor Tasks

As this task will involve working with Vault, you will need to log into Vault.

Here is the workflow:

From the Create Task pull down, select “Sequential Task”.

For this example, we are going to presume that you already have local copies of the files that are impacted by the revised files.

The first step of our Sequence is to check the files out of Vault. (Note: if you are using Vault Lifecycles, make sure your files are in an editable state such as “Work in Progress”.)

From the “Add” pull down, select “Check out from Vault”

1. Verify that you are using a Vault Project file
2. Determine the source for the files to be checked out (in this example we are using a folder and will check out all files)
3. Navigate to the location of the folder or files and select accordingly.

When selecting a folder, you have the option to choose the Inventor file type to check out.

When checking out the files pay attention to the various settings on the Check-out dialog.

Get Latest will download the latest version to your workspace.

From the listed files you can select/deselect the files to be checked out.

Review the settings and adjust as needed.

Create the Update Design Task

From the “Add” pull down, select “Update Design"

1. Verify that you are using a Single User Project file
2. Determine the source for the files to be checked out (in this example we are using a folder and will check out all files)
3. Navigate to the location of the folder or files and select accordingly.

Create the Check In Task

From the “Add” pull down, select "Check in to Vault"

1. Verify that you are using a Vault Project file
2. Determine the source for the files to be checked out (in this example we are using a folder and will check out all files)
3. Navigate to the location of the folder or files and select accordingly.

Completed Sequence Task

Add additional tasks if needed. When  you are ready to run  the  task, set the desired schedule or select immediately  and let Inventor Task  Scheduler do the tedious work.

 

Inventor Task Scheduler Tips

The Inventor Task Scheduler is intended to perform automated tasks and acts as a batch processor in Inventor and other applications. The tips provided here are intended to help you use it more efficiently.

Tips

Inventor Project Files

Not all of the tasks available to you have the ability to support Inventor Project files that are configured for Vault.  To keep your processes flexible, set up two Inventor Project files. These Project files should have identical settings with the exception of “Type”. Set one project file to Single User and the other to Vault.

Multiple Processes

By default, the Inventor Task Scheduler is configured to run one process at a time for each task. To speed things up, particularly for large jobs such as Migrations or Updates, you can increase the number of Inventor processes to run at the same time.

In the Task Scheduler main menu, click Settings Multiple Processes. 

       

In the Multi-Process dialog, do the following and then click OK: 

• • Select Activate Multiple Processes.
  • Specify the number of processes you want to run. The number can be from 1 to 16, regardless of the number of processors (CPUs) available.
  • Select Abort When Physical Memory Is Reached.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: Maximum Combined Memory Usage designates the maximum memory that all the Inventor processes, at any given time, are allowed to consume. Set this value smaller than the physical memory value to avoid swapping. If the combined virtual memory exceeds the value entered, no additional processes start.

Diagnosing Errors

When configuring a task, there is an option to specify the location and file name of the log file.  The default location is: “C:\Users\Public\Documents\Autodesk\Inventor YYYY\Task Scheduler Logs & Reports\”.

When running a task, there are occasions where errors may occur, and that information is stored in the log file.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The log file contains entries for all of the files processed. To simplify the process of identifying only the files with errors use “Export to Excel”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When using “Export to Excel” only the errors in the log file will be exported. Each error type will be organized on individual Sheets.