About Libraries in Projects

A library is a collection of related data files that you reference, but usually do not modify.

Examples are a released data set, a set of commonly used components, iPart factory parts, or standard parts. Libraries are located in a folder with a unique name separate from other data files. A single library can be used across any number of projects. You can use some or all files in a library.

In a project file, you right-click the Libraries location, and then use menu options to browse to a folder. By assigning the folder as a library, you indicate that the files are no longer editable using Inventor. In Microsoft Windows Explorer, set your library folders and files as read-only.

Library file names

References to library files include the library name, and the relative path from the library folder to the referencing file. When resolving library references, only the named library is searched. Avoid using duplicate file names whenever possible, even for parts in different folders or different libraries. If you cannot control where referenced parts originate or how they are named, files in different libraries sometimes have the same name. Inventor can resolve the reference because it knows which library to search in.

Share libraries across design workgroups

Members of a design workgroup can share a common project to set names and paths for libraries in their individual projects.

1. An administrator creates a common project with one or more library paths.
2. Each team member creates a personal project, using the common project as a template.

   When you create a project using the project editor, select the common project before you click New. By default, the project that the wizard creates uses the selected project as a template, and includes the same library definitions.

Kinds of libraries for projects

A project can include several kinds of libraries:

Standard content library

Contains Inventor parts or component libraries, such as:

• Inventor Content Library.
• Third-party components.
• Company collections of commonly used components or other design elements, such as color and texture.

iPart factory

Contains Inventor iParts that generate instances of parts, based on parameters you specify.

In a project file, define a library for both the folder containing the iPart factory part files and a corresponding proxy folder.

After the libraries are added to the project, you can add the iParts to an assembly.

• You can locate the iPart Factory in a library folder, and the parts you generate are kept in the associated proxy library. The two library folders bear the same name, except the name of the proxy library has a leading underscore (_) character.
• Do not make iPart proxy libraries read-only, because the factory has to create new files there.

Material and appearance libraries

The Material and Appearance libraries accessible to a project must be listed in the project file. The minimum requirement is one library. You can restore the installed libraries from the Material and Appearance Libraries context menu. Material and Appearance libraries are managed separately from Inventor Styles and do not use the Style Library Manager.

Styles library

Copy or move the style XML files from the Design Data folder to a shared location that all team members can access. Or, generate a new style library using the Style Library Manager utility.

Note: This practice ensures that you can use the styles created from one project in another project that uses the same styles library.

Proxy libraries

The use of proxy libraries keeps the custom design files for a project separate from components that are purchased or reused.

• If you move a library, you change only one line in the project file instead of changing all the references in each file.
• File resolution is faster with the use of proxy libraries.
• Because libraries include the library name as part of the file name, file resolution is faster with library parts.

Other design sets

Another design set can be a whole design or part of a design set that is:

• A design that is already released, and you cannot modify the parts.
• An assembly or component you purchase from a third party, and cannot change.
• A project of another team that is in development. You can only reference it.