Inventor: Manage CC/Lib files from the Inventor project folder
Upchain maintains Inventor’s Content Center and Library files (hereafter referred to as CC/Lib files) in their original location as long as the path to this location is correctly specified in the Inventor project file. When working with Upchain, you should have an Inventor project file that points to your home folder. You should also ensure that you and all of the designers on your team have the same CC/Lib location specified in their Inventor project file when working with Upchain to ensure CC/Lib files are always downloaded to the correct location and correctly identified as registered.
If the CC/Lib file has drawings, copies of these drawings are added to the home folder.
About the Inventor project folder path
The project folder path is stored as a relative immutable attribute in the Configuration Properties (CP1) file for each CC/Lib file. This relative path is recorded in:
- CAD plugin > Item view > CAD attributes
- Upchain web > BOM > selected item's details pane > CAD attributes.
The relative path is important. When you register CC/Lib parts, they are uploaded from the location on your computer as specified in your Inventor project file. If another user downloads the CC/Lib part, it is downloaded to the location as specified in their own Inventor project file settings with the relative path information added on.
For example, if user A registers a CC/Lib file from C:\Users\userA\Documents\Inventor\Content Center Files\R2024\ANSI, then when user B downloads the assembly containing this same file, it is downloaded to C:\Users\userB\Documents\Inventor\Content Center Files\R2024\ANSI.
This assumes both users have configured their Inventor project file the same. If the path to the CC/Lib folder is not the same, then this may result in Inventor and Upchain not correctly recognizing registered CC/Lib parts. Therefore, it is important to ensure consistency in Inventor project settings across all users in your tenant.
1Upchain uses .cp files to store key attributes. It is created when the CAD file is registered and is downloaded whenever the CAD file is downloaded.
Common operations and the project folder workflow
The following table describes how different operations are impacted:
| Operation | Description of the project-folder workflow |
|---|---|
| Create item | CC/Lib files are added to Upchain from the project folder without renaming them. The relative path from which the CC/Lib file was registered is stored in Upchain. |
| Check in (after check out) | CC/Lib files cannot be checked out and so their version numbers are not incremented. |
| Open/Download | Upchain checks read the active Inventor project file to determine where CC/Lib files are stored. Upchain uses the stored relative file path to download the CC/Lib file to that location. If the CC/Lib file is in the project folder already, then it will not be downloaded again. This saves a lot of time when downloading large assemblies that may have many CC/Lib parts. |
| Search/Advanced search | Upchain searches in the project folder for the specified file. |
| Search > Insert | Upchain uses the CC/Lib file in the project folder. |
| Search > Replace | Upchain uses the CC/Lib file in the project folder. |
| Import CAD using the CAD Importer or Generic plugin | Adds the CC/Lib files to the home folder, and manages these files from the home folder. |
| cBOM View > Refresh | No changes. |
Required configurations
The following tenant properties are important to how the project folder workflow works. Contact your Tenant Administrator if you need these configurations enabled or disabled.
| Tenant property | Expected behavior |
|---|---|
file.delete.onsave |
Regardless of how the file.delete.onsave tenant property is configured, the CC/Lib files in the project folder will not be deleted when the assembly is successfully checked in.Note: If using the Generic Plugin or CAD Plugin > Find item operation to bring CC/Lib files into Upchain and file.delete.onsave is turned on, then CC/Lib files are treated as regular CAD files and deleted from the home folder after check in is complete. |
redownload.files.to.home.folder |
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