Methods of Sharing Parameters Between Inventor Parts - Part 3

In this article I will cover the last two methods of sharing parameters between Inventor parts.  If you have not preview the first two articles, the first one can be found here and the second one here.  The third method is to "Export Parameters".  I will be using the same model as before with two model parameters and one user parameter.

In the original model you can export parameters to an .XML file which you can later import into another part model.  These two commands are found under the Manage tab in the download menu on the Parameters panel.

Selecting the "Export to XML" command will allow you to save the current part parameters to a file of your choice.  After saving, you can use the "Import from XML" command to a the exported parameters to a new part or an existing file.  The imported parameters will be added to the part as User Parameters.  Make sure you are aware that this includes all parameters from the part that the export XML command was executed.  This is not normally a problem because of the "Purge Unused" command inside the Parameters dialog box.  Once you have used the parameters which were imported, this command will allow you to purge all unused parameters from the part.

Please note that this process removes all Key and Export Parameter check marks from the original exported parameter table.

The last method is "Save As".  This may seem an obvious and useless method but can be quite valuable if you are creating multiple similar parts. The parameters from the original part are copied across into the new part created using the "Save As" or "Save Copy As" commands.  One advantage of using this method is the existing Key and Export Parameter are preserved.   If you remove a part feature, the model parameters, for that feature or sketch,  are removed but user parameters are maintained.

So there you have a variety of methods to share parameters between Inventor part files.  Each one has pros and cons and serve various purposes.  I suggest that you practice with all of these and find the best situations for each.  Also try using them between assembly files.  You will have success with all except the "Derive Part" command which is to be expected from the command name.