To Work with Projects

After you create a single-user project or an Autodesk Vault project, you can use the Project Editor to customize options such as type, add paths, and add project shortcuts.

Change Active Project

  1. Select File Manage Projects.
  2. In the Project dialog box, at the top, select a project.
  3. Click Apply.

    The selected file becomes active.

Note: If a project is not listed, click Browse. In the Choose Project File dialog box, search for it. The project is located and is added to the list.

Set Options for Projects

  1. In the Project Editor (File Manage ), double-click the project name to make it the active project.
  2. (Optional) Specify the path to your custom material or appearance libraries. For more information see To Work with Material and Appearance Libraries in Projects.
  3. In Use Styles Library, specify how the project uses a style library:
    • Use Styles Library = Read Write. Uses the style library defined in the style library folder options. All designers can create and edit styles, and save them to the writable style library, replacing previous style definitions.
    • Use Style Library = Read Only. Designers cannot save new and changed styles to the style library, and cannot replace Library definitions.
  4. In Frequently Used Subfolders, right-click to add a shortcut to a subfolder of a project location where you frequently open or save files.
  5. In Folder Options, pause the cursor over the different folders to display the path in a tooltip. The path is defined in Applications Options File tab and displays here as long as you retain the [ Default ] setting. For information about changing the location of Design Data see To Move the Design Data Folder.
  6. In the lower pane of the project editor, click Options:
    • Old Versions to Keep on Save. The default is one. -1 saves all versions. Right-click, and select Edit. Enter a value, and press Enter to set the number of versions to keep.
    • Using Unique Filenames. Specifies whether you use duplicate file names in the project. If Yes, and the file is not in the location stored in the reference, the software searches the project folder structure for a unique file with a referenced file name. If No, the Resolve Files dialog box opens so you can locate the file manually.
    • Name. Right-click, and select Rename to change the name of the project. The project name in the upper pane updates, but not the shortcut name. Change it separately.
    • Shortcut. Right-click, and select Edit or Delete. If you delete the shortcut, the software recreates it automatically when you access the project.
    • Owner. Names the project owner, typically the lead engineer, or CAD administrator. Optional.
    • Release ID. The version of the released project data. Useful to document a library folder. Optional.
  7. Click Save to save the project file, or Cancel to close the dialog box.

Edit Projects

  1. Verify that all Inventor files are closed. When files are open, the project is read-only.
  2. Within Inventor, select File Manage Projects. Or outside Inventor, use the Microsoft Windows Start menu to select Programs Autodesk Inventor [version] Tools Project Editor.
  3. In the top pane, click the project to edit.
  4. In the selected project, lower panel, right-click the item to edit, and then select an option. Unavailable options are dimmed.
    • Change the project Type to Single, Shared, Semi-Isolated, or Vault.
      Note: The legacy project types, Semi-isolated, and Shared project types, are unavailable by default. We recommend that you use Autodesk Vault Basic to manage multi-user projects. If you require legacy projects types, click Tools tab Options panel Application Options General tab. Select the check box for Enable creation of legacy project types.
    • For an Included file, choose Open, Edit, or Delete. Search paths in the included file are included in the current file. The project type of the included file overrides the setting in the current file.
    • For a Workspace, Workgroup, Frequently Used Subfolders, or Libraries, choose one:
      • Add path. Browse to the folder to add. Add a custom name, if appropriate.
      • Add paths from file. Browse to another project file. The paths from the file are added to the current project file.
      • Add paths from directory. Browse to any folder where you have files in one of its subfolders. A path for each subfolder of the folder you selected is added to the paths in the selected file location category.
      • Paste paths. Paste a path from the Clipboard into the selected section.
      • Delete section paths. Deletes all paths in the section. Projects cannot find files in deleted paths.
      • Reset. Changes the location of Folder Options for Styles, Templates, and Content Center Files to the default specified in the Applications Options dialog box, File tab.

      For existing workgroup search paths, select Edit, Add Path, Delete, or Move Up or Down.

  5. Right-click one or more Options entries to edit:
    • Options. Choose Create Shortcut.
    • Using Unique File Names. Choose Yes or No. If you choose Yes and a file moves into the project, the program searches through all editable project locations to find the file name. If you choose No, and duplicate file names are found when resolving files, you can browse to reestablish the link manually.
    • Name. Choose Rename to give the project a new name. The name updates in the Select Project pane, but the folder name does not update.
    • Shortcut. Choose Edit or Delete.

    Folder Options locations originate in the Applications Options dialog box, File tab. Right-click to edit individual locations.

  6. Click Save, and then click Close.