Importing Wire Harness from AutoCAD Electrical to Autodesk Inventor

Hello!

I'm somewhat new to AutoCAD Electrical and Autodesk Inventor. I've taught myself a lot over the past few weeks, though. Actually, I had never used either program before about a month ago.

So I've had some measure of success, as I've managed to publish a full electrical schematic using AutoCAD Electrical and I've made it fairly far into my wiring harness project. So far, I've successfully managed to import my wiring information from AutoCAD Electrical to Autodesk Inventor, but not without some minor problems. My reason for this thread posting is actually to address one such problem:

Currently, when I import a wiring report from AutoCAD Electrical to Autodesk Inventor, I have to manually go through every single wire type in my report (from Autodesk Inventor) to match the wire types with those located in the Autodesk Inventor library. I've tried multiple wire Layer Names from AutoCAD Electrical, including identical names to those found under the Generic wire category from Autodesk Inventor's Cable & Harness Library. For example, "14AWG_BLK" and "14AWG-BLK" are among those Layer Names which have been tested. Despite matching Layer Names (AutoCAD Electrical) with Part Numbers (Autodesk Inventor), with case-sensitive and exact precision, wires are still not generated automatically during the Import Harness Data process; it still requires manual matching of wires.

Does anyone have any idea why this issue is present and/or how to make the process more automated for future operations? The goal here is to save time by eliminating the need for manually entering wiring relationships between AutoCAD Electrical and Autodesk Inventor.

Thanks in advance for any assistance or helpful information you provide!

Have you gone through the Inventor tutorials?

I think exactly this problem is addressed by one of the tutorials showing you how to use or create a translator file.

There are also some classes here - http://au.autodesk.com (might go back a few years in the archives)

What version of Inventor?

You should have posted this question in the Inventor section of the forum.

Have you gone through the Inventor tutorials?

I think exactly this problem is addressed by one of the tutorials showing you how to use or create a translator file.

There are also some classes here - http://au.autodesk.com (might go back a few years in the archives)

What version of Inventor?

 

You should have posted this question in the Inventor section of the forum.

Yes, I have spent several days going through tutorial files found using Google. I was previously unaware of au.autodesk.com, though, so thank you very much for the URL. I'm actually in the process of downloading two seperate webcasts which might hold the information I seek. I was hoping for a complete response tailored more to my exact question, but the resource redirection is highly appreciated nonetheless.

Thanks again!

I was hoping for a complete response tailored more to my exact question, but the resource redirection is highly appreciated nonetheless.

 

Thanks again!

What does your VAR say? You didn't even supply a dataset? Hard to tailor a response without example files. Hopefully the generic information will help.

I don't even see where you answered my question about what version of Inventor you are using? 2010? 2011? 2012? Other?

Your profile shows Electrical 2009. Are you using an older version of Inventor?

Both AutoCAD Electrical and Autodesk Inventor Professional are the 2009 versions. I don't know what you mean by "VAR" or supplying a dataset. My question was a very general one regarding how to make AutoCAD Electrical export wire connections to Autodesk Inventor in such a way that manually specifying wire part numbers via the Cable & Harness Library in Autodesk Inventor wouldn't be necessary. I believe I already have enough resources now to eventually find the answers I am seeking, though. Thanks again for your efforts.

Also search your hard drive for a file named something like *routsys*.pdf (GetStartwithRoutSys.pdf) I can't remember the exact name.

You asked a general question and got a general answer.

VAR = Value Added Reseller - the outfit who sold you your software and should provide basic support.

dataset = your files that you are trying to use to solve this problem (to get specific step-by-step instructions)

One thing I should have mentioned was that when right clicking the problem wire (the wire in the Imported Harness Data screen) with the exclamation mark next to it as shown below...:

...the option to Add to Cable & Harness Library, when selected, gives the following message,...:

...which I believe is the result of a network error, but am not certain. Alternatively, I can successfully open the Cable & Harness Library as shown here,...:

...but it is in read-only mode, which prevents me from adding anything new to the library. Does anyone have any idea how to make the Cable & Harness Library editable? I have verified that no one else in the building currently has the Cable & Harness Library open, which renders this (search for the word "read-only") unhelpful.

...which I believe is the result of a network error, but am not certain.... ...but it is in read-only mode...

Can you post image of your project (*.ipj) settings (you are using projects - correct)?

We just figured it out! On the network (which I do not have access to), the .IWL file was checked in the properties as read-only. The network manager went in and created a backup, then unchecked read-only so I can now add new wires to the library. In summary, the solution was the network admin had to change the Cable & Harness Library read-only file "Cable&HarnessDefaultLibrary.iwl" to make it editable by unchecking the read-only box under its properties.

Yes, I was using an open project... a very, very large open project, checked out from vault (network).

OK -this is what I was looking for, not sure it was solution as I didn't try out in Vault enviroment.