Using Inventor without Excel

[jdiwnab]

Is there a way to get Inventor to use a different spread sheet program if you don't have Excel? I have OpenOffice.org which can use Excel files, but Inventor still complains that it can't use Excel. Any Inventor version, it doesn't really matter. I have 4,8, and 10 (given 4, use 8, trying 10).

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by jdiwnab

Is there a way to get Inventor to use a different spread sheet program if you don't have Excel? I have OpenOffice.org which can use Excel files, but Inventor still complains that it can't use Excel. Any Inventor version, it doesn't really matter. I have 4,8, and 10 (given 4, use 8, trying 10).

Inventor complains but will still run. There will be certain functions that won't work. Threads and iParts come to mind. But in most cases threads are just window dressing and you can do things the hard way for iParts.

Our team has several laptops with Inventor and Open Office installed. So if anybody has the answer to getting full functionality we'd like to learn it too. But not having iot doesn't seem to cause any unsolvable problems.

ChrisH

[jdiwnab]

I was just trying to open last year's robot model, that was made on a computer with Excel, on a different computer, that doesn't have Excel but does have OOo. The model has several iParts with threads (mostly bolts). They show up the right size, but complains when opening and when I try and do something with them. I guess I could remake these without the iPart stuff, but it would be nice to run Inventor fully without having Excel.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by jdiwnab

...but it would be nice to run Inventor fully without having Excel.

Yeah, it would be nice to have the ability to set Openoffice as the default spreadsheet reader for Inventor, but I don't know how to do that. Maybe someone at Autodesk does. Openoffice can read the spreadsheets from Inventor, but Inventor prefers Exel. On the good side, you won't need threads that often (and you could conceivably make the hole without them, get the file to another computer with Exel, and make threads there).

[Cuog]

it may just be a DLL from excel that inventor uses for the threads and such that makes it the only option but it may still be possible, your best be3t is certainly going and emailing someone at Autodesk