Create and edit your own configuration files with Configuration Editor dialog boxes. A configuration file is a customizable set of instructions on how to extract or export nest data. For example, it can define that the fifth layer of a DXF file contains geometry that should be excluded from the nest. These mappings are retained by Inventor Nesting and included in exported nest data (such as MSI files). Inventor Nesting includes a default configuration file. You cannot edit this file, but you can create customized versions of it to match your workflow. If you consistently use the same mappings in your work, you likely will not need to make changes to a configuration file once you create one that works for you.
Note: When using the
Mark feature to create engraving features, you can use the Mark Through and Mark Surface styles with their default settings without needing to update the configuration file. If you customize the default settings of the mark styles, you will have to manually update the configuration file in the Extract Configuration Editor. Update the configuration file by adding a layer, giving the layer the same name as the Mark feature layer name (the API converts the name to uppercase and replaces any space characters with underscore characters), and then by specifying the layer as Etching Data.
To open the Export Configuration Editor:
- In the Export tab of the Options dialog box, click Edit.
To open the Extract Configuration Editor:
- In the Sources dialog box, right-click a row and select Edit Configuration, or;
- In the Extract tab of the Options dialog box, click Edit.
- Difference Between Extract and Export Dialog Boxes
- Extraction is when you bring shapes into a nest. Export is when you export a nest to DXF or MSI formats. The dialog boxes for Extract and Export are virtually identical; the differences are that in Export:
- There is no preview.
- No Source Field box is needed, since the source is a sheet within Inventor Nesting.
- The Layer and Purpose columns are reversed, since the data is being processed in the opposite direction.
- Active Configuration Folder
- The folder where you would like to store configuration files so that they can be detected by
Inventor Nesting and loaded into a drop-down menu. This can only be changed in the Extract or Export tab of the Options dialog box.
Reveal: Show the folder in Windows Explorer.
Refresh: If the configuration file has been modified on disk while the Options dialog box is open, this refreshes the dialog box with the latest changes.
- Configuration Files
- Configuration files found in the Active Configuration Folder. The active configuration is bolded.
- Double-click: Set a configuration file as active.
Create: Create a configuration file using the current settings in the dialog box.
Delete: Delete the current configuration file from the computer.
- Source File
- Enter or select a path for the source CAD file to use with the configuration. (Only applies to Extract.)
- Layer Mapping
- Use this table to control how values in your CAD file are mapped to
Inventor Nesting during extraction or export.
- Source Layer Name column: You can edit the values in this column, but they must correspond to the layer names in your source file. They cannot contain spaces; for example, "Layer5" would be valid, but "Layer 5" would not.
- Target Layer Name column: The layers in Inventor Nesting to which entities will be extracted.
- Add a layer row to the table.
- Remove the selected layer row from the table.
Remove all layer rows.
These are the default mappings commonly used in CAD workflows.
Layer Nesting Entities CAD Elements 0 Automatic 1 Nestable contours Circles, lines, arcs, polylines and text 3 Etch box Lines, arcs and polylines 4 Etching data Lines, arcs, circles, polylines and text 5 Non-nestable entities; area for these elements is still calculated Lines, arcs, circles, polylines and text 6 Extra data Lines, arcs, circles, polylines and text 14 Grain 15-99 Junk Not shown at all 251 Ignored for nesting purposes Shown on geometry souces, but not used in nests - Configuration Parameters
- Set parameters in the configuration file; for example, "NoText" to eliminate text during extraction. Hover the mouse pointer over each parameter for descriptions.
- Preview
- Preview and the results of the extraction; use the slider to zoom in on details. (Only applies to Extract, not Export.)