Getting Started - iPropWiz Administrator

As an iPropWiz administrator, your first task is to set up the iPropWiz environment for your users. Users cannot make use of the property editing tools in iPropWiz until some basic setup has been completed. You can modify and add to this environment at any time. The general tasks required of an iPropWiz administrator can include:

Support the installation and licensing of the iPropWiz add-in.

Setup of a user accessible location to hold iPropWiz configurations and support files.

Creation and maintenance of iPropWiz configurations.

Creation and maintenance of iPropWiz lists and other iPropWiz rules.

Creation and support of iLogic rules that can be called by iPropWiz property updates.

Support in updating the iPropWiz add-in

To get started with iPropWiz as an administrator, you set up iPropWiz for yourself and your users. The following table outlines the steps required to prepare the iPropWiz environment for use.

Click the button to view a video on getting started with iPropWiz administration.

Download and install iPropWiz on all computers that require access. This includes iPropWiz administrators and iPropWiz users. iPropWiz is an Autodesk Inventor add-in, so all machines require a recent version of Autodesk Inventor to be installed on the machine. iPropWiz 7 will require different downloads for some versions of Autodesk Inventor. iPropWiz 7.19 versions work with Autodesk Inventor 2019 and 2020, while iPropWiz 7.21 versions work with Autodesk Inventor 2021, iPropWiz 7.22 with Autodesk Inventor 2022, and iPropWiz 7.23 with Autodesk Inventor 2023.

You have the option of using a local license on each machine, or installing a floating license server to enable flexible license use for your team.

An iPropWiz administrator must prepare one or more iPropWiz configurations prior to any use of iPropWiz by others. If you have used a previous version of iPropWiz you have the option to translate your existing iPropWiz configurations to the latest file format.

Start Inventor and open one of the following:

Preferred: Directly open a part, sheet metal part, assembly, weldment, or drawing template that will be commonly used with the iPropWiz configuration you are going to create.

Acceptable: A new file created from one of the above templates.

Note: Templates are preferred as you may add custom properties to them in the process of creating an iPropWiz configuration. The "file from template" approach also works as iPropWiz will add any missing properties to a file when you update the Autodesk Inventor iProperties from the iPropWiz Property Editor.

On the Autodesk Inventor Ribbon > Add-ins tab > iPropWiz panel, click Configuration Editor

You are prompted to selected the folder for the iPropWiz 7 configurations, and optionally translate existing configurations.

Note: Data from iPropWiz versions earlier than iPropWiz 2009 cannot be transferred to iPropWiz 7.

	Activate translation
	Check the check box to activate the UI elements needed to translate existing iPropWiz configurations to the iPropWiz 7 format.

	Browse for existing iPropWiz configurations folder
	Click to browse for the folder where your existing iPropWiz configurations are located.

Administrator password for existing iPropWiz configurations

If your existing iPropWiz setup has an administrative password to access the iPropWiz Configuration Editor, enter it here.

Notes:

If you have forgotten the password, delete the \admin folder in the folder containing your existing iPropWiz configurations. This will remove the password so you can leave the Password text box blank.

All users require read/write permissions on the iPropWiz configurations folder.

Browse for iPropWiz 7 configurations folder

Click the browse button to browse for the folder where the iPropWiz 7 configurations will be stored.

You can create new folders from the browse dialog.

The configurations folder should be located on shared, easily accessible resource (network drive) for all users. During the setup process you can specify a local folder, and then move the folder to the shared location before notifying your users of the location.

Avoid storing the iPropWiz configurations in the same location as the iPropWiz add-in.

Note: The selected folder cannot be the same folder where your existing iPropWiz configurations are stored, or any folder below it.

If you choose to translate existing iPropWiz configurations, a translation report is displayed on completion. Your existing configurations are retained in their current location.

You are prompted for the administrator password. The default is a blank password, so just click OK to open the iPropWiz Configuration Editor ( CE ).

Note: The administrator password from any existing iPropWiz configurations is discarded. The password is always blank on your first access to the CE.

In the CE, on the toolbar, click New . Enter a name for the configuration and click OK.

You are set to add properties to the current property set. A property set is the properties presented to a user in the iPropWiz Property Editor when a document or documents of that document type are selected. The current property set is indicated in the property set combo box on the tool bar. This property set matches the document type you opened in step 2.a.

To add properties to a different property set, you can do any of the following:

Preferred: Open a template for the document type, or a new file from the template. Repeat for each desired document type.

Faster: Select a new property set from the drop down list. Add properties for that property set (see below).

Fastest: Click the Manage Configuration button on the toolbar to copy properties from the current property set to other property sets. You can then activate each property set and modify it as required.

Add properties to property set from the list of available properties in the iProperty browser. See the Configuration Editor - iProperty Browser page for more information on adding properties to the current property set.

Optionally create lists and assign them to properties in a property set. Lists range from very simple value/description lists, to complex lists that can assign values to multiple properties at with a single user selection, or even automatically based on a parameter value or part material assignment. See the Configuration Editor - Manage Lists page for information on creating lists, and the Configuration Editor - Assign Lists page for information on assigning lists to properties in the CE,

Optionally create and assign a property expression to one or more properties, or create an iPropWiz Extraction Rule to extract specific character strings from one property to assign to the value of another property. See the Configuration Editor - Property Expressions page for more information.

Make changes to individual property settings in the Configuration Editor - Property Grid such as marking a property value as required or whether a property value is spell checked as a user enters it.

10.

Define setting for the active configuration by modifying setting on the Options tabs in the CE. These include:

Settings for property entry and general configuration rules.

Settings for user list additions

Formatting rules for exporting Autodesk Inventor parameters, and exported physical properties such as model and flat pattern extents.

Set material lists for use in iPropWiz

Define iLogic rules that can be triggered (by iPropWiz) to run after iPropWiz updates Autodesk Inventor properties.

Spell check settings.

Global settings that apply to all iPropWiz configurations.

See the Configuration Options page for more information.

11.

Save the configuration . You can continue to edit the configuration or activate the CE to edit it at any time.

12.

If required, move the iPropWiz configurations folder to a shared drive where all users have access. Notify your users of the location.