Autodesk Inventor uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) files as a means of storing style information externally from Autodesk Inventor documents. The schema of the Autodesk Inventor Style Library XML files is subject to change from release to release.
XML files are used in two different ways to store style information:
- Style Libraries - a group of predefined XML files that Autodesk Inventor projects actively reference
- Exported styles - one or more files with the extension .styxml, used to share styles between documents outside of a style Library
You use the Style and Standard Editor to add and change styles, but they are saved in the current document. They are not available for use in other documents unless you save the style to the style library.
General Style Management Rules
There are two general mechanisms of Autodesk Inventor styles management: Style Name/Value and Substyles. All management interactions between documents, styles, and Style Libraries use these two mechanisms to ensure that the end object using a style has all required information.
Style Name/Value
Autodesk Inventor uses the style name as the unique style identifier. No two styles of the same type can have the same name in the same container. For example, inside a single drawing, there can only be one dimension style named "Default (ANSI)".However, there can be a dimension style named "Default (ANSI)", and a text style name "Default (ANSI)" in the same drawing, because they are two different style types. When Autodesk Inventor compares two styles of the same name, it checks all of the properties in each style to see if they are equal. This comparison is a value comparison. If a style in a document has a name match to a style in a library, and the values of these two styles are equal (every attribute is the same value), it is considered an exact Name/Value match. The concept of a Name/Value match is used by Autodesk Inventor to perform automated tasks.
Substyles
Styles encapsulate and reuse sets of properties. Autodesk Inventor takes advantage of this encapsulation to reuse one type of property set as a subset of another. One style can reference another style that contains needed information. When a style is referenced by another style, it is regarded as a substyle.
For example, dimension styles have three substyles:
- Primary Text Style: used to format the primary units in a dimension.
- Tolerance Text Style (optional): used to format the tolerances units.
- Leader Style: used to format Hole Notes and Leader Notes.
A style only knows the name of its substyle. It knows nothing about the values of the properties contained in the substyle. When Autodesk Inventor checks if a style in one container (a document or a style library) is an exact Name/Value match to a style in another container, it verifies that each style is referencing a substyle of the same name. A Name/Value match between the substyles is not necessary for the owning style to have an exact Name/Value match.
When a style is copied from one container to another, Autodesk Inventor ensures that any substyle required by the parent style is present in the destination container. If the substyle does not exist in the destination container, it is copied along with the parent style. If the substyle does exist, the destination’s version of the substyle is used.
- Documents in Style Management: Documents, and the objects inside of a document, are the consumer of styles. Documents are the main point of interaction and management. All style creation, editing, and management between a document and a style library is done in the context of an Autodesk Inventor document.
- Style Libraries in Style Management: Style libraries are the central storage location of styles for projects set to use the library. The style library is designed to assist in the management of styles between multiple documents and multiple users, as well as provide some capacity benefits for large assemblies. The style library provides a means of insuring all users have access to the most current style information.
- Templates in Style Management: Prior to Autodesk Inventor 9, templates were the primary source of styles. With style libraries, the role of templates in style management changes depending on the Use Style Library setting of the project. Templates now specify which styles are to be used by default when a new document is created. When a style library is used in a project, the style definitions are copied from the style library when a new document is created.
How can I share styles across documents?
Styles are shared (or copied) among documents in two different ways:
- The styles can be exported using the Style and Standard Editor Import/Export functionality. Tip: To export a style, open a document, select a style (or styles) in the Style and Standard Editor dialog box, right-click, and select Export from the pop-up context menu. To import a style, click Import at the bottom of the Style and Standard Editor dialog box, and select the style to import.
- The style can be saved to a Style Library, where it can be reused by other documents.
Managing Styles Using Style Libraries
In parts, sheet metal parts, assemblies, and presentations, all styles from the active library, as well as styles cached in the local document, are shown in the style drop-drop list or wherever a style is chosen. In drawings, only styles that are locally cached, or are part of the active standard, are displayed and available for selection.
Day-to-day interactions between a document and a style library are transparent. Any style used inside of a document is automatically copied (cached) to that document. It ensures that the document has required style information if a library becomes unavailable, or if a document is accessed from a project with a different style library or a project without a style library.
Considerations that influence what styles (or version of a style) are available:
- The document version of a style always overrides. If a style is in both a document and a library, and the two do not have the same values, the version in the document is used. Editing styles always takes place inside of a document. The style library cannot be edited directly.
- In drawings, styles are filtered by the active standard. Each standard has a list of Available Styles (found on the Available Styles tab of the Standard edit window). These styles appear at the top of the Styles drop-down list of drawing documents as well as style editors that reference a substyle. Note: These styles are not the only ones that can be used in the document.
- Any style cached in a document is available for use. It allows styles that are not part of a library to be used in a document
Automated Management of Styles in Autodesk Inventor
The most common tasks of managing styles between documents and style libraries are performed automatically by Autodesk Inventor.
Automatic Copy into Document:
When a style from the library is used, it is copied into the document automatically with all necessary substyles.
Automatic Style Cleanup:
Styles that are automatically copied into a document are automatically removed from that document whenever they are no longer in use. It allows the document to remain uncluttered of unused metadata without need for user intervention.
Automatic cleanup only happens when Autodesk Inventor is sure that no style data is lost if the style is removed. Styles are only automatically removed from a document if:
- The style was copied by Autodesk Inventor automatically into the document.
- The style is not used by any other object or is a substyle of any other style in the document.
- The style is an exact Name/Value match to a style in the current library
If Autodesk Inventor cannot find an exact Name/Value match for the style in the library, or if a style was manually cached from a library into a document using the Style and Standard Editor’s Cache in Document function, Autodesk Inventor leaves the style in the document until it is manually purged.
Manual Management of Styles in Documents
You perform the majority of style management tasks inside of Autodesk Inventor. You can:
- Edit and create styles
- Rename styles
- Import and export styles
- Manually copy styles into documents
- Update styles
- Remove styles manually
What is affected when I modify a style?
Styles in drawings are related to the active drafting standard of the drawing. The active drafting standard specifies the styles used to format drawings. Each standard has major style types such as balloons and dimensions, which each specify the formatting for individual attributes. Styles define, for example:
- Line weights and leader styles
- Arrowheads and other terminators
- Dimension and text styles
- Symbols and options available for drawing annotations
- Format welding symbols, caterpillars, and end treatments
- Center mark style and size
- Hatch pattern choices
- Formats for parts lists and balloons
Styles in parts and assemblies control lighting attributes.
Styles in sheet metal parts also control lighting attributes and additional sheet metal-specific attributes and options including: gage or sheet thickness, bend, corner, alternative flat pattern representations for punches and unfolding preferences.
Because some styles rely on other styles for formatting (such as the text style used to format dimensions), a change can ripple through all other styles that reference the changed style.
Modified styles affect the current document only, unless you use
Manage tab
Styles and Standards panel
Save
and then update other documents from the style library. Usually, changes to the style library are managed by the CAD administrator.
How can I see the styles I want to modify?
In the Style and Standard Editor dialog box, you can specify the style list. Click the arrow on the Filter and choose:
- Active Standard(Drawings only) to show only the list of available styles for the active standard of the drawing.
- Local Styles to show only the styles in the document.
- All Styles to show all Local Styles, and styles in the Style Library.