Editing a style in a template file an making it stick!

[versamark]

How do I modify the default "style" to correct for our desired font type and size and other dimensioning related variables that will be used in our series of drawing template files. I have created our template formats and all is well with them, however I have tried all the "Help" methods at my disposal to modify the style that comes up when you open a "New" drawing using my templates and make it STICK. I have modified, crated new, exported, and imported with no success. If I open my template to edit the template, the style is correct. If I open as "New Drawing" then all the changes disappear and revert to the ANSI standard. It shouldn't be that hard to fix!!!

 

[aardvarkdw]

Did you save your template as "Standard" or under a different name? I am assuming that you are LMB on the expand arrow next the the blank sheet icon to get a "new drawing", is this correct? If this is what you are doing, you will get a new .idw based on the "Standard" template, not any other user created template. If you want to start a drawing based on another user defined template, you need to LMB on the blank sheet itself and when the new drawing dialogue window comes up, select the new file you want to start.

If this isn't what you are doing, let me know.

David

 

[versamark]

Thanks for the reply. I have created three new templates for specific use within our company. That includes border and titleblocks and our Logos. That went off fairly easily. They are saved as specific named files. We access them from the top menu bar as: File/New/ then from the icons we can pick the approrpriate template. This is where I am having the trouble. It is in these files (not the default one) where I have made repeated attempts to get the style changed.

 

[aardvarkdw]

When you make your changes, are you opening the template from the new file window making changes and then saving? If so, it wont work. You need to open the original file from the template folder. In windows explorer, browse to the template folder, open the template you wish to edit by double clicking on the file. Make your changes, save the file. Your changes should remain. I believe you can browse in inventor as well, but you must "open" the template file, not start a "new" one.

 

[versamark]

That is what I am doing... When I open the file from explorer, the styles are correct for what I have changed. My custom style and Default ANSI are resident as local styles and my custom style is set as the active style. I even went as far as making the same changes to both styles so it wouldn't matter which one got chosen. But still when I select the template from the "file/new/icon select" method, the style values. I have run out of ideas.

 

[aardvarkdw]

Okay try this just for kicks, open a drawing that has the settings you want. Save it to your desktop under a new name. Open the file you just saved from your desktop, and delete any views and notes so that it is a blank document. If you want to you can delete any iproperties information and title block information but you don't need to. save. "Save as" into your templates folder. Start a new drawing using the template you just saved.

Follow these steps and see if it works if it doesn't I can rule out a few things.

 

[versamark]

ok, saving to desktop reopening and sava as to template directory did not loose any modifications. However, "file/new" got me back to the same thing as before. All mods are gone. I don't know if I already mentioned this but the system still shows my custom style for the company as active but it stripped all the mods.

 

[aardvarkdw]

By mods what do you mean? Is it leaving the style names but returning the individual settings to the default?

 

[powerhound]

Hi versamark,
Try this: Once you've set all your defaults as you want them to be, stay in the Styles and Standards Editor and go to the "Object Defaults" icon. Once there, select the ANSI (I assume from your previous posts that that's the one you want) option and use the pulldown menus on the right side screen to select the object style you want to appear for each field. If the text is the big change you're trying to make then filter your selection and show "Text Objects" only. The option for that is right there too. Select which text style you want and then save your work. That should fix you up. I looked through the post and didn't see specific mention of this but if you've already done this and it still didn't work, then you've got me stumped as well. Have fun...

Powerhound
Production Supervisor
Inventor 11
Mastercam X
Smartcam 11.1
SSG, U.S. Army
Taji, Iraq OIF II

 

[versamark]

aardvarkdw,

Yes the mods are all the parameter changes I made within my new custom style. All return to default as I mentioned when trying to use the template for what it is intended.

 

[versamark]

powerhound,

What "Object Default" Icon? I don't have one showing.

I just noticed that the header on the window shows "Styles and Standards Editor [Library - Read Only]". Could it be that I can't change any thing in this mode. If so, how do I get access to the library (write access). This is a stand alone installation of v10 and we don't have a "system administator".

 

[aardvarkdw]

Go to Projects, check the search paths. Is your template folder listed as a library? If it is, switch to another project or create one that doesn't have your templates folder listed as a library. Make your changes and save. See if this works.

 

[versamark]

I can't find anything that relates the template folder to a library. In win explorer it is listed just as a file folder.

I appreciate all the help and effort, but I think I am going to have to devise another method to get this going and try and contact autodesk. Like I said before, it shouldn't be that difficult a task. But then this comes from the same company that gives you two different scroll directions on the mouse to zoom in Autocad and Inventor. What a pain to go back and forth during the changeover. !!!!!!!!!

If I ever get an answer I will post it for posterity.........

 

[aardvarkdw]

You wont find anything in windows about library paths. In inventor you need to select File/Projects and check your current project. In the bottom frame of the dialogue box there will be a section that says "libraries", if the template folder is located in one of the search paths listed here you wont be able to edit the files because they are part of the library.

 

[versamark]

I expanded all the lines and there is no reference to the templates anywhere. The line for "libraries" is greyed out but if you click on it you get the option to add a new path. But there are none listed currently.

There is a line that says "use style libraries = read only. If I right click on that there are three options available: yes, read only, no. What do you think? change it to "yes"???

 

[aardvarkdw]

change it to "yes"

 

[powerhound]

Wow, I'll bet that's the answer. That one was such an easy one that I guess we all overlooked it. When I had the same problem, that was the first thing my tech support guy asked me but in my case it was set to "yes" and the problem was solved by using the solution that I posted.

Powerhound
Production Supervisor
Inventor 11
Mastercam X
Smartcam 11.1
SSG, U.S. Army
Taji, Iraq OIF II

 

[versamark]

Well that indeed lets me make permanent changes to the style library (I did back up the original). I have 4 distinct styles that I need to implement. by saving each one I end up with the last saved style on all my templates. Now I just need to figure out how to have them all co-resident...

 

[aardvarkdw]

That I think you will have to do the hard way (yeah, like this has been the easy way). You should be able to create several different styles within the same drawing and when you save it they will all be available. You will have to choose a default style and then recreate the others within a single drawing.