Transition to Style Libraries

Styles are used to format objects in Autodesk Inventor documents. In Autodesk Inventor 8 and older versions, styles resided in a template or document. Styles can now reside in a style library that contains all style definitions.

Using style libraries, multiple designers access the same styles so formatting is more uniform throughout a project and styles are easier to update.

Why should I use a Style Library?

Using a Style Library provides the following benefits:

• Simplify style data management with other users. Style Libraries are the easiest way to manage styles between users working on the same project. In addition, libraries can be shared with both contractors and customers who use Autodesk Inventor, allowing formatting standards and material libraries to be shared.
• Streamline style administration in Workgroups or Enterprises. A single Style Library for a project allows all users to consume formatting changes from a CAD administrator. Keeping document formatting synchronized becomes an easier task since everyone can update using the shared definition found in the project Style Library.
  Note: This is the best option to use when getting started with style libraries.
• If you work with large assemblies, keeping style definitions in the external Style Library can result in capacity benefits.

When should I start using a style library?

If you are beginning a new project, and you are a new user, an existing user, or small workgroup, using a Style Library from the start of the project is a good choice. Try starting with the default Style Library that ships with Autodesk Inventor and adapting it and the associated templates to your needs.

If you are an existing user or group of users working on active projects, or you are deploying Autodesk Inventor to a large enterprise, consider waiting to deploy Style Libraries. This is especially true for large projects with multiple users, and if you need explicit PDM control of your data. Take the time to develop a set of templates and a Style Library scheme that best fits your processes.

If you are a user that has a project nearing completion, consider delaying a Style Library deployment until after project completion. If it is a project that requires constant maintenance/revision, consider changing it to use a Style Library after design completion, but before the first series of maintenance tasks begins.

How do I get started using a style library?

In a project file (.ipj), you set the Use Style Library option to indicate how a style library is used by the project.

• Set to Read Write to use the style library specified in the folder options. This option means that the style library is writable. Designers can create and change styles, and then save them to the style library.
• Set to Read Only to make styles available to designers, but prohibit them from replacing the style definitions in the library. Designers can create styles and save them in individual documents, but the library is locked.
  Note: This is the best option to use when getting started with style libraries.

If you are uncertain about losing styles you have already created in existing documents, choose the Read Only option. You have access to library styles, and can analyze which of the previously created styles you want to add to the library. With the CAD administrator, you can then reset the project option to Read Write (so the style library is writable), and use one of the management tools to copy styles into the library.

Note: Files must migrate from a previous version of Autodesk Inventor before their styles can be added to a style library.

What happens to styles in my templates?

A template is a regular Autodesk Inventor document that contains styles and other settings you want to use as defaults.

When you set the Use Style Library project option to Yes or Read Only, and then create a document from a template, Autodesk Inventor compares style names to styles in the template. Styles with the same name are retrieved from the style library. A style in the template is refreshed to match the style library version.

If a template contains a style that is not in the library, the style is added to the new document, but not the library. It may be useful if you have a set of custom styles that are not for general use by others using the style library.

When starting a new project with a style library, purge styles from templates that you do not intend to use.

Note (Templates Shipped with Autodesk Inventor):

The default Autodesk Inventor templates have all styles cached locally to support projects are not set to use Style Libraries. The same styles are also saved in the default Style Library. The locally cached styles do not interfere with using the default Style Library.

When a new document is created, all styles inside a template that are not actively used are removed from the newly created document as long as Autodesk Inventor finds a Name/Value match in the project’s Style Library. If these templates are purged of their styles and it affects existing projects that do not use Style Libraries, use the Style and Standard Editor to manually cache all of the desired styles back into the templates.

Use this technique to deploy a common set of templates that can be shared between both projects that use Style Libraries and that do not use Style Libraries.

What happens to styles in legacy projects?

Legacy design projects usually have documents that each have a set of styles.

• Some styles are inherited from the templates used to create documents.
• Some styles are created in-process whenever the existing style did not suit the current need.

Consequently, many documents in a project contain custom styles that are not shared among all other documents.

All documents created from a template contain a complete set of the template styles, even if the document does not need all of them. When using styles, purge unused styles from a document to make your file size smaller. With very large assemblies, the cumulative file size reduction can result in capacity benefits.

Use Manage tab Styles and Standards panel Purge to remove unused styles from individual documents so you do not overload files with duplicated styles.

As long as a purged style was saved in a style library, it can be retrieved if needed. Styles that resided only in a document and not migrated to a style library are permanently lost.

What tools are available to transition to using styles?

You use Autodesk Inventor tools to transition styles:

• Using Create New Style Library, copy an existing library to customize, or create an empty style library and copy styles into it.
• Use the Style Library Manager to:
  • Rename a Style in a library.
  • Delete Styles from a library.
  • Copy Styles between libraries.
  • Create new Style Libraries.
• Use the Style and Standard Editor to create and edit styles. The Style and Standard Editor is document-based, that means creation and editing of styles is performed in the context of the document where the style editor is opened.
• To perform general style management tasks, use document-based batch commands:
  • Update Styles ( Manage tab Styles and Standards panel Update ) updates styles in the document to match the version in the Style Library.
  • Purge Styles ( Manage tab Styles and Standards panel Purge ) manually removes any unused styles and their associated substyles from a document.
  • Save to Style Library ( Manage tab Styles and Standards panel Save ) saves styles inside of a document to a Style Library.