m

Al ple
lc p
op ro
yi vid
ng e
d
an b
d yA
re S
us C
e EN
st T
ric fo
tly r
fo rev
rb ie
id w
de o
n. nly
Autodesk Inventor 2014
iLogic
Student Guide
Cover Page

Sa

Revision 1.0
April 2013

Authorized Author

Sa

m
Al ple
lc p
op ro
yi vid
ng e
d
an b
d yA
re S
us C
e EN
st T
ric fo
tly r
fo rev
rb ie
id w
de o
n. nly

ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge

Autodesk Inventor 2014
iLogic
Revision 1.0
Prepared and produced by:

ASCENT Center for Technical Knowledge

630 Peter Jefferson Parkway, Suite 175
Charlottesville, VA 22911
866-527-2368
www.ascented.com

ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge is a division of RAND Worldwide Inc., providing
custom developed knowledge products and services for leading engineering software
applications. ASCENT is focused on specializing in the creation of education programs that
incorporate the best of classroom learning and technology-based training offerings.
We welcome any comments you may have regarding this training manual, or any of our
products. To contact us please email: education@ASCENTed.com.
ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge, 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced in any form by any photographic,
electronic, mechanical or other means or used in any information storage and retrieval system
without the written permission of ASCENT, a division of RAND Worldwide, Inc.

Autodesk, Autodesk Vault, Autodesk Inventor, and Autodesk Inventor Engineer-to-Order Series
are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or
affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or
trademarks belong to their respective holders.

General Disclaimer:
NOTWITHSTANDING ANY LANGUAGE TO THE CONTRARY, NOTHING CONTAINED HEREIN CONSTITUTES NOR
IS INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE AN OFFER, INDUCEMENT, PROMISE, OR CONTRACT OF ANY KIND. THE DATA
CONTAINED HEREIN IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT REPRESENTED TO BE ERROR
FREE. ASCENT, ITS AGENTS AND EMPLOYEES, EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES,
LOSSES OR OTHER EXPENSES ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF ITS MATERIALS OR IN
CONNECTION WITH ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION EVEN IF ASCENT, OR ITS
REPRESENTATIVES, ARE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, LOSSES OR OTHER EXPENSES.
NO CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES CAN BE SOUGHT AGAINST ASCENT OR RAND WORLDWIDE FOR THE USE OF
THESE MATERIALS BY ANY THIRD PARTIES OR FOR ANY DIRECT OR INDIRECT RESULT OF THAT USE.

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS INTENDED TO BE OF GENERAL INTEREST TO YOU AND IS

PROVIDED "AS IS", AND IT DOES NOT ADDRESS THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ANY PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL OR
ENTITY. NOTHING HEREIN CONSTITUTES PROFESSIONAL ADVICE, NOR DOES IT CONSTITUTE A
COMPREHENSIVE OR COMPLETE STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES DISCUSSED THERETO. ASCENT DOES NOT
WARRANT THAT THE DOCUMENT OR INFORMATION WILL BE ERROR FREE OR WILL MEET ANY PARTICULAR
CRITERIA OF PERFORMANCE OR QUALITY. IN PARTICULAR (BUT WITHOUT LIMITATION) INFORMATION MAY
BE RENDERED INACCURATE BY CHANGES MADE TO THE SUBJECT OF THE MATERIALS (I.E. APPLICABLE
SOFTWARE). RAND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
THE WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

m
Al ple
lc p
op ro
yi vid
ng e
d
an b
d yA
re S
us C
e EN
st T
ric fo
tly r
fo rev
rb ie
id w
de o
n. nly

Preface ...................................................................................................iii
Class Files ..............................................................................................v
Chapter 1 Introduction to iLogic.......................................................1-1
1.1 Design Automation Overview...............................................1-4
1.2 iLogic Overview .....................................................................1-6
1.3 iLogic Workflow .....................................................................1-9
Practice 1a Working with a Logical Model ........................... 1-11

Chapter 2 Understanding Parameters and Equations....................2-1

2.1 Equations ...............................................................................2-3
2.2 Parameters ...........................................................................2-10
Practice 2a Add Parameters................................................ 2-18
Practice 2b Building a Logical Part Model I ......................... 2-25

Chapter 3 Getting Started with iLogic..............................................3-1

3.1 iLogic Interface ......................................................................3-4
3.2 Function Overview...............................................................3-12

3.3 Rule Creation Workflow ......................................................3-20

Practice 3a Review, Run, and Create Rules ....................... 3-29

Chapter 4 Rule Creation ....................................................................4-1

4.1 Conditional Statements.........................................................4-4
4.2 Operators................................................................................4-9
4.3 Parameter Functions ...........................................................4-12

Sa

4.4 Feature Functions................................................................4-17

4.5 iProperty Functions.............................................................4-21
Practice 4a Working with Conditional Statements ............... 4-26
Practice 4b Building a Logical Part Model II ........................ 4-38
Practice 4c Driving iProperties using iLogic Rules .............. 4-42

Chapter 5 Assembly Rules and Functions ......................................5-1

5.1 Assembly Rules .....................................................................5-4
5.2 Component Functions.........................................................5-10
5.3 Relationship Functions .......................................................5-20
5.4 iLogic Components in Inventor Assemblies.....................5-24
Practice 5a Building a Logical Assembly Model .................. 5-28

2013, ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge

Autodesk Inventor 2014 iLogic

Chapter 6 Drawing Rules and Functions .........................................6-1

6.1 Drawing Rules........................................................................6-4
6.2 Sheet Functions.....................................................................6-8

m
Al ple
lc p
op ro
yi vid
ng e
d
an b
d yA
re S
us C
e EN
st T
ric fo
tly r
fo rev
rb ie
id w
de o
n. nly

6.3 Title Block Functions ..........................................................6-10

6.4 View Functions ....................................................................6-14

6.5 Advanced Functions ..........................................................6-19

Practice 6a Automating Drawing Changes .......................... 6-22

Chapter 7 Rule Triggering & Form Creation....................................7-1

7.1 Event Triggers........................................................................7-4
7.2 iTriggers ...............................................................................7-10
7.3 Forms....................................................................................7-12
Practice 7a Creating Triggers and Forms............................ 7-27

Chapter 8 Miscellaneous Features & Functions .............................8-1

8.1 Rule Options ..........................................................................8-4
8.2 Search and Replace...............................................................8-6
8.3 Wizards ...................................................................................8-7
8.4 Miscellaneous Functions ....................................................8-15

Chapter 9 Project Practices ..............................................................9-1

9.1 Introduction to Projects ........................................................9-3
Create a Configurable Model ............................................................... 9-4
Create a Configurable Assembly ......................................................... 9-8
Create a Configurable Drawing.......................................................... 9-12

Appendix A iLogic Design Copy...................................................... A-1

A.1 iLogic Design Copy .............................................................. A-3

Appendix B Autodesk Inventor 2014 Certified

Professional Exam Objectives.......................................................... B-1

Sa

Index............................................................................................. Index-1

ii

2013, ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge

Preface

Preface

m
Al ple
lc p
op ro
yi vid
ng e
d
an b
d yA
re S
us C
e EN
st T
ric fo
tly r
fo rev
rb ie
id w
de o
n. nly

The Autodesk Inventor 2014 iLogic training guide instructs

students in how to use the iLogic functionality that exists in the
Autodesk Inventor 2014 software. In the practice-intensive
curriculum students acquire the knowledge needed to use iLogic
to automate Autodesk Inventor designs.
In this training guide, you will learn how iLogic functionality
furthers the use of parameters in a model by adding an
additional layer of intelligence. By setting criteria in the form of
established rules you learn to capture design intent, enabling
you to automate the design workflow to meet various design
scenarios in part, assembly, and drawing files.
The main topics in this training guide include:

iLogic functionality overview

iLogic workflow overview
Review of model and user-defined parameters, and
equations and their importance in iLogic
Understanding the iLogic interface components (iLogic
Panel, Edit Rule dialog box, and iLogic Browser)
Rule creation workflow for Inventor parts and assemblies
Using variations of conditional statements in an iLogic rule
Accessing and incorporating the various function types into
an iLogic part, assembly, or drawing file rule
Event Triggers and iTriggers
Creating Forms to create a custom user interface for an
iLogic rule

Icon Reference Chart

Sa

The following icons are used throughout this training guide to

help you to quickly and easily find helpful information.

Indicates the Learning Objectives that are

covered in the current section of the training
guide.
Indicates items that have been enhanced in
the Autodesk Inventor 2014 software.

2013, ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge

iii

Autodesk Inventor 2014 iLogic

Certification

Appendix B includes a list of the Autodesk Certification topics

and objectives for the Autodesk Inventor software. To best
prepare for the iLogic objective, review the entire contents of the
training guide.

m
Al ple
lc p
op ro
yi vid
ng e
d
an b
d yA
re S
us C
e EN
st T
ric fo
tly r
fo rev
rb ie
id w
de o
n. nly

Topic:
Advanced Modeling
Objectives:
Use iLogic

Autodesk Inventor Certification

Free Autodesk Software for Students and

Educators

The Autodesk Education Community is an online resource with

more than five million members that enables educators and
students to download for free the same software used by
professionals worldwide (see website for terms and conditions).
You can also access additional tools and materials to help you
design, visualize, and simulate ideas. Connect with other
learners to stay current with the latest industry trends and get the
most out of your designs.
Get started today. Register at the Autodesk Education
Community (www.autodesk.com/joinedu) and download one of
the many available Autodesk software applications.

Sa

Free products are subject

to the terms and conditions
of the end-user license and
services agreement that
accompanies the software.
The software is for
personal use for education
purposes only and is not
intended for classroom or
lab use.

iv

2013, ASCENT - Center for Technical Knowledge