📌 Issue
Many developers and IT professionals seek lightweight ways to extract metadata from Autodesk Inventor files without launching the full Inventor application. A common scenario involves retrieving iProperties from part files using scripting languages such as PowerShell.
✅ Solution
Autodesk Inventor Apprentice Server provides a powerful COM interface that allows you to read Inventor file data—including iProperties—without opening the Inventor UI. This is ideal for batch processing, automation scripts, and headless environments.
Below is a PowerShell script example demonstrating how to use Apprentice Server to open a .ipt part file and display its Part Number iProperty.
💻 PowerShell Script: Read Part Number from IPT File
# Create the ApprenticeServer object
$apprentice = New-Object -ComObject Inventor.ApprenticeServer
# Open the specified Inventor part file
$apprenticeDoc = $apprentice.Open("C:\Temp\Part1.ipt")
# Retrieve and print the Part Number iProperty
Write-Host $apprenticeDoc.PropertySets.Item("Design Tracking Properties").Item("Part Number").Value
# Clean up the COM object
[System.Runtime.Interopservices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject($apprentice) | Out-Null
🔍 Explanation
New-Object -ComObject Inventor.ApprenticeServer: Creates an instance of the Apprentice Server..Open("C:\Temp\Part1.ipt"): Opens the specified IPT file for read access..PropertySets.Item("Design Tracking Properties").Item("Part Number").Value: Accesses the Part Number iProperty.ReleaseComObject: Properly releases the COM object to avoid memory leaks.
🛠️ Products and Versions Supported
This approach applies to the following versions of Autodesk Inventor where Apprentice Server is available:
- Inventor 2021
- Inventor 2022
- Inventor 2023
- Inventor 2024
- Inventor 2025
- Inventor 2026 (Note: Requires separate installation of Apprentice Server).
⚠️ Notes
- In Inventor 2026, Apprentice Server is no longer registered by default and must be installed separately. Refer this blog for more details on Inventor Apprentice Server Enhancement in Inventor 2026
- Running PowerShell as Administrator may be required depending on system policies.
