Rules Explorer

The sidebar on the left is the Rules Explorer. It has two groups: Document Rules (internal rules stored inside the active Inventor document) and External Rules (rule files on disk, from your configured iLogic directories).

Document Rules

Document Rules lists the internal iLogic rules of the document that is currently active in Inventor, each shown with a icon. The list refreshes automatically when you switch documents. Each rule opens into an editor tab when you click it.

External Rules

External Rules is a tree of the rule files found in the external rule directories configured in Inventor's iLogic options. Folders () are shown as a hierarchy and can be expanded and collapsed; external rule files show a icon. Use Expand all and Collapse all in the group header to open or close the whole tree at once.

External rule directories are managed in Settings → iLogic Configuration. The same setting controls which directories Inventor itself uses.

Opening rules

How a single click behaves is set by Open rules with in Settings → Explorer:

• Single click (preview): a click opens the rule in a reusable preview tab (shown in italics). Opening another rule reuses that tab. Double-click the rule, or its tab, to keep it open.
• Double click: a rule only opens on double-click, and always as a kept tab.

See Tabs for more on preview and pinned tabs.

Creating rules

Each group header has buttons for creating rules and, for External Rules, expanding the tree:

Button	Action
New rule	Create an empty rule (in the active document, or the selected external directory)
New rule from template	Create a rule seeded from a template
Expand all	Open every folder in the External Rules tree
Collapse all	Close every folder back to the roots

New document rules are created in the active document; new external rules are created in the selected directory (or the first configured directory).

Managing rules

Right-click any rule for its context menu:

Action	Available on	Description
Rename	All rules	Rename the rule (a case-only change is allowed)
Copy	All rules	Duplicate the rule with an auto-incremented name
Delete	All rules	Permanently delete the rule (with a confirmation)
Open in Explorer	External rules only	Reveal the rule file in Windows Explorer (Alt+O)

Resizing the sidebar

Drag the divider between the sidebar and the editor to change the sidebar width, and the divider between Document Rules and External Rules to change their split. Drag the sidebar narrow enough, or click the Toggle File Explorer () icon in the rail, to collapse it entirely. The layout is remembered between sessions.