Forget this, and your Task Manager fills with stuck Inventor.exe instances. This is not the interop’s fault per se, but the DLL does nothing to mitigate it.
Before manipulating a model, your code must attach to an active thread of the Inventor process.
Click and navigate to the Public Assemblies folder in your Inventor installation directory. Select Autodesk.Inventor.Interop.dll and click OK . Set the Embed Interop Types property:
Right-click References in the Solution Explorer, select Add Reference... , browse to the Public Assemblies path mentioned above, and select Autodesk.Inventor.Interop.dll . autodesk.inventor.interop.dll
The autodesk.inventor.interop.dll file is automatically installed on your machine when you install Autodesk Inventor. It is typically located within the SDK (Software Development Kit) directory of your Inventor installation path.
Autodesk.Inventor.Interop.dll is the essential Primary Interop Assembly (PIA) that acts as a bridge between .NET-based applications (C#, VB.NET) and the Autodesk Inventor COM API Technical Review Core Purpose
What (e.g., exporting files, reading iProperties, building geometry) are you looking to build? Forget this, and your Task Manager fills with stuck Inventor
inventorApp = new Application(); inventorApp.Visible = true;
Autodesk Inventor's underlying programming engine is written in unmanaged C++ and exposed via COM interfaces.
This file is a Primary Interop Assembly (PIA). It contains the metadata and type definitions required by Microsoft .NET languages (like C# and VB.NET) to communicate with Autodesk Inventor's native COM (Component Object Model) API. Key Characteristics Click and navigate to the Public Assemblies folder
: It allows for the creation of plug-ins and add-ins that live directly within the Inventor interface [5.5, 5.17]. Strategic Implementation Tips
System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(partDoc); GC.Collect(); GC.WaitForPendingFinalizers();
Application _invApp = (Application)System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.GetActiveObject( "Inventor.Application" Use code with caution. Copied to clipboard 4. Core Object Model Hierarchy Understanding the Inventor Object Model is essential for effective use of the DLL: Application: The top-level object. Documents: Provides access to all open files ( PartDocument AssemblyDocument DrawingDocument ComponentDefinition:
Autodesk Inventor is built on a legacy but highly robust . Because managed frameworks like .NET Core and .NET Framework cannot execute unmanaged COM code directly, they require a translation layer known as a Primary Interop Assembly (PIA) .