Use the Content Center commands to add standard parts or features in your designs, and edit or update placed standard parts or features.
AutoDrop is the default placement method for Content Center components that enhances drag-and-drop techniques with functional design automation. If you switch off AutoDrop, you can select the size of the component in the Family dialog box, and place the component in the assembly manually. The manual placement method is automatically used for all components which do not support AutoDrop.
Standard and Custom parts
Content Center library includes two types of families:
Standard families define all parameters for their family members in the family table. When you select a family member to place in the assembly, the family member data fully specify the standard part to instance.
Members of standard families are by default placed as
standard parts. A standard part file is created in the Content Center Files folder specified in the project. The File Name and Folder Name family properties define the standard part filename and folder. Standard part files are read-only and are edited by using the Change Size and Refresh Standard Components commands. A special icon marks the Content Center standard parts in the assembly browser.
Custom families include one or more custom parameters mapped to a geometric parameter in the family template. A custom parameter can be a range of numeric values, sequence of numeric values, or Boolean. You enter the value of the custom parameter on the part placement. You can create plenty of different parts based on the same member of the custom family.
Members of custom families are by default placed as
custom parts. You select the folder and filename of the custom part file on placement. Custom parts are treated as regular
Autodesk Inventor files, and use the part icon in the browser.
If appropriate, place standard family members as custom parts, or custom family members as standard parts. Select the As Custom or As Standard option in the Family dialog box. To change the default for custom families, set the Custom Family Default option on the Content Center tab of the Application Options dialog box.
Storage location for instanced standard components
Content Center standard components are created in the Content Center Files location defined within an Autodesk Inventor Project file.
When Content Center creates a component, it first searches a cache of previously utilized content located in the Content Center Files location. This search improves access time to commonly used components. It is possible to set a different Content Center Files location per Autodesk Inventor project. However, we recommend to you use the same Content Center File location for every project to optimize performance. Also, do not change the location of the Content Center Files folder while a project is active.
Content Center files managed with a data management system
Each member of a workgroup that uses Vault or other data management system must have a local folder to store Content Center files. The data management system controls the local Content Center Files folder.
If Content Center part files are managed in Autodesk Vault Basic, the following reasons can result in a missing writing permission for a file:
- You canceled the file check-out by clicking No in the Vault check-out message box.
- You configured the File Edit prompt in Vault to Response = No and Frequency = Never Prompt.
- The part file is checked-out by someone else in Autodesk Vault Basic.
Out-of-date standard components in assemblies
A standard part placed in the assembly becomes out-of-date when the family member in the library is different from the existing standard part. The following reasons can cause the difference:
- You placed the standard part from a standard Content Center library and a new version of the standard library is configured. The family member that corresponds to the placed standard part is changed in the new standard library.
- You placed the standard part from a user library and the corresponding family member was edited in the user library.
- You placed the standard part from a user library, and used the Update Tool to migrate and synchronize the library. The Update Tool changed a family member that corresponds to the placed standard part.
- You placed the standard part from a user library and the corresponding family member or the user library is no more available. If the family member was copied from a currently available library, the part is marked as More Current in the Standard Component Refresh dialog box. It can be refreshed by using the parent family. If no parent family is available, the part is marked as Not Available.
Refreshing standard components in assemblies
We recommend that you refresh assemblies after you migrate them into a new Inventor version, or when you edit a library or change the library configuration. If an assembly is not refreshed, it may contain out-of-date standard parts. When you perform a Content Center operation related to an out-of-date standard part, the corresponding part file can be silently refreshed. All occurrences of the out-of-date part (in other assemblies) are then replaced by a new version of the part.
The refreshing process consists of two steps:
- Assembly analysis: Content Center standard parts placed in the assembly and saved in the Content Center Files location are compared with families in configured Content Center libraries. If a standard part differs from the corresponding family member in the library, it is marked as out-of-date in the Refresh list.
- Refresh: You select standard parts to refresh. Then you run the refresh process. The list of standard parts is updated while the refreshing process is running. After the refresh finishes, you can review the results in a LOG file.
Automatic (silent) refresh of Content Center components
When you place, resize, replace, or open a standard Content Center part, a part file is created in the Content Center Files folder. When you later place another instance of the same part, the existing part file is compared with the part from the library. If the library includes a new version of the part, the next step depends on setting of the Refresh Out-of-Date Standard Components on Placement option. The original part file is either automatically replaced with a new part file or the file from the Content Center Files folder is used.
- The Refresh Out-of-Date Standard Parts during Placement option in available on the Content Center tab of the Application Options dialog box.
- The original part file in the Content Center Files folder must be read/write to be replaced. In case it is read-only, check out the part file (or change it to read/write) to finish the placement operation. If you keep the file read-only, the part placement is canceled.
- Filenames must be unique in the storage folder, that means the File Name expression must include all custom columns. When a filename is not unique, two or more family members must use the same part file. If a filename conflict appears on part placement, a warning displays. You can then place the part existing in the storage folder, but this part can differ from the originally selected part. Or, cancel the command, correct the File Name to be unique, and place the part with the corrected filename.
Design View representation for Content Center parts
When you open a file, select Options 
Design View drop-down Hide Content Center Components to open the file with all content center components invisible.
iProperties of Content Center parts
To set the iProperties for a part family, map appropriate family table columns to iProperties by using Content Center Editor.
To change iProperties for a placed Content Center part saved in the Content Center Files location, edit the corresponding Content Center family. Map appropriate family table columns to iProperties. Then use the Refresh Standard Components command to refresh the library part in the assembly.
Work features in Content Center parts
All work features are by default hidden for placed Content Center standard parts. You cannot change the work feature visibility for a standard part in an assembly. You can set the visibility of work features for specific family members by creating a visibility column in the family table.
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