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Panel BOM issues - ACADE 2013

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Message 1 of 25
dstnwst
704 Views, 24 Replies

Panel BOM issues - ACADE 2013

We just started using R13 and I am having problems with the panel BOM's.  When working in a project with more than one panel assembly and I run a BOM report on one of the drawings it deletes the BOM reports from other drawings in the project.  The only way I have found to get around this, so far, is to remove the drawing(s) with the BOM report(s) that I am NOT working on from the project, run the BOM on the drawing I am working on, then add the other drawings back to the project.

I have installed SP1.  Are there any others available?  Is any one else having this issue?

24 REPLIES 24
Message 2 of 25
acade2012
in reply to: dstnwst

Check to see if when you put it on the page that you have the insert new (non-updatable) button highlighted.

 

In my experence, when you put the BOM on a page and that is not check it will update all the boms in the project the new time you put a BOM on a page

Message 3 of 25
dstnwst
in reply to: acade2012

I've been using ACADE since 2007 (R6), and I've never had this problem before.  I have always had it set to update because I when I run a report in an existing drawing I want it to update rather than insert new every time.  When you update a report on a drawing it should only update that particular report on that particular drawing.  It should not affect the reports on any other drawing in the project.

Message 4 of 25
acade2012
in reply to: dstnwst

I have used ACAD Electrical since 2006 and it has always been an issue for me with updating existing BOM's. I ALWAYS have to insert them not to update otherwise I have the same issue you spoke of.

 

If you have had success in the past then maybe there is a different setting I am missing.

 

FYI I am on ACADE 2012

Message 5 of 25
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: acade2012

Here are some things to know about how report tables work in AutoCAD Electrical so that you have control over when a report table is updated or not.

 

When you run a report and place it as a table, AcadE looks for an existing, updatable table for that report. For a report table to be a match it must match in 3 ways.

 

First, the report type, i.e. Schematic Bill of Materials, Component, etc.

 

Second, report scope, i.e. active drawing, project-wide.

 

Third, the format .set file. This is the critical one if you run the same report in many different ways and place tables for those. Create a format .set file for the variations of a particular report. When you run the report, select that format file on the very first dialog. Then when you re-run that report and place the table it will only update the table that was run using that same format file. If you do not select a specific format file, it is actually using a default one for the report. So next time you run the same report with same scope and do not select a format file it can still match on the default format file.

 

If you never want AcadE to update existing tables when you run reports, always pick the "Insert New (non-updatable)" option. This inserts a table with no intelligence for AcadE to match it to a report later.



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

Message 6 of 25
dstnwst
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

Okay, I've never seen anywhere to set the "scope" on a report.  Apparently it has been set to active drawing but now it is set to project-wide.  How / where do I set this?

Message 7 of 25
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: dstnwst

This is on the initial dialog when you run a report. You pick the report type on the left, then on the right side there is an option to pick Project, Active Drawing, and in some reports Active Drawing (pick). I've attached a picture to illustrate.



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

Message 8 of 25
dstnwst
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

I went to see if I could find what you were referring to and figured that was it.  I do use that all the time, but it only determins what  drawings are used to generate the report.  This has nothing to do with where the report actually goes.  Running a BOM report on a drawing (I haven't tried it with other reports) in my install of R13 deletes the BOM reports on other drawings in my project.

If no one else is having this issue I can only assume it is a problem with my particular installation.

Message 9 of 25
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: dstnwst

The "scope" of the report has to do with whether AcadE will replace an existing table or not when you select to place a report ion a drawing..

 

It will only delete the table if those three things match when you run the report. So let's say these are the conditions -

 

1) BOM report

2) project-wide (whether you process all drawings or a subset of drawings)

3) no specific format file was selected.

 

So next time you run the BOM report, project-wide with no format file AcadE finds this table anywhere in the project and will delete it and use the new one to replace it even if it is on another drawing.

 

If you run a report with these conditions -

1) BOM report

2) active drawing

3) no specific format file

 

then it will only look on the active drawing for a table to replace with the new report's table.

 

 



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

Message 10 of 25
dstnwst
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

When I run a BOM report I do the following:

 

1) select BOM report

2) select either the current drawing or select "project" and the drawings I need

3) use custom bompnl.set (modified to include the fields we use)

 

This is how I have been doing it for the past 5+ years with no problems.  Whenever we upgrade our ACADE I always change the default .set file to match the way we do our BOM's.  I have never had to actually select the bompnl.set when I run the report.  Are you saying that now I have to select it every time I generate a BOM in a new drawing?

 

Message 11 of 25
dstnwst
in reply to: dstnwst

Even if I have somehow been getting around this issue since 2007 without knowing about it, it seems like a "bug" to me that needs to be fixed.

I cannot imagine any instance where someone would want to insert a report into a drawing and have it automatically delete a report on a totally different drawing.

Message 12 of 25
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: dstnwst

No I am not saying that. BOMPNL.SET is the default format file for the Panel Bill of Materials. So unless you select a different one that one is used by default. Not selecting a format file is the same as selecting the default one.

 

What I am trying to explain is what circumstances AcadE will delete an existing table when you run a report and select to put that report on a drawing, even if the table is on another drawing.

 

If you ran a Panel BOM for the project and didn't select a specific format file (so it used the BOMPNL.SET file by default) then if AcadE finds an existing table anywhere in the project that was inserted for Panel Bill of Materials, project-wide and default format file, then it will be deleted when you insert the new table because it is the same report in AcadE's eyes.

 

If you do not want AcadE to do this then you have 2 options -

1) use different format files

or

2) insert the table using the Insert New (non-updatable) option. Then AcadE will not delete it or replace it when you re-run the report.



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

Message 13 of 25
dstnwst
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

So if I create a new .set file and call it panelbom.set, for example, and use it on multiple drawings in the same project, would it delete all of the BOM reports where it is used when I run it, or is it just the bompnl.set that does this?

 

I am amazed that we have gone through 7 upgrades and I have never had this problem before.

Message 14 of 25
acade2012
in reply to: dstnwst

for what its worth

 

I have been with 3 different companies over the last 5 years and that same issue has always been the same with each one I have been at.

 

Thats why I ALWAYS insert with Insert New(non-updatable)

 

like I said for what its worth

Message 15 of 25
dstnwst
in reply to: acade2012

The reason I prefer to use "Inser New" and "Update Existing" is because I have never found any place in the .set files to set things such as the number of lines per column, space between columns, text height or the column width.  Every time I run a report on a new drawing I have to set it up again, but if I insert it as "updatable" then I don't have to set those again for that particular drawing.

If someone could tell me how to do that it would be very much appreciated.

Message 16 of 25
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: dstnwst

Well I think you just hit on one of the reasons you might want to use this report table update feature.

 

Anyway, there are a number of settings you can predefine for tables in the format file. Use the Report Format Setup command to create or edit an existing format file. Select the Put on Drawing option to open the Table Generation Setup dialog. You can define column width, text size, and more. You can use the Format File Wizard to edit or create the default .set file or create ones that you specifically select from the initial reports dialog. 

 

The margins around the text are controlled by the table style itself. AcadE creates table styles when it adds new tables but all the table styles are based on the Standard table style on the drawing. If you set the margins on the Standard table style before any report tables are added then any styles created by AcadE will have the same margins. If you already have existing tables then you can modify the table style's margins and the table object will update.



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

Message 17 of 25
dstnwst
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

Okay, this, to me, seems like a "bug".  There is no scenerio that I can think of where or when I would want ALL bom's in a project to update when I update the bom in one particular drawing.  This has NEVER happened to me in the past seven years, and now it happens all the time.  Something HAS changed with release 13.  I don't know if it is just a setting that I am missing that has always been set one way and is now set differently, or what.  It even happens when I use a custom bom report file.  ALL drawing bom's that were created using that file are deleted and replaced with the new one.  The only way I have found to get around it is to remove the bom sheets of all of the drawings that I do NOT want updated from the project, then add them back after I update the drawing I am working on.

Message 18 of 25
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: dstnwst

So far I am unable to reproduce what you are describing. An existing table should only be updated/replaced under the conditions I detailed in a previous post - i.e. same exact report and options, same .set file (or default one), same scope (project or active drawing), and existing table not inserted as non-updatable.

 

So to determine what is happening at your end it would help if you could provide more details.

 

1. What type of report - i.e. Schematic Reports Bill of Materials or Panel Reports Bill of Materials.

2. The first time you place the table what is the display option on the very first dialog that comes up, i.e. Normal, by Group, Purchase List, By Tag?

3. Do you click the Format button and select a specific .SET file?

4. Are you running it on the Project or the Active Drawing?

5. When you first place the table what option are you selecting on the Table Generation Setup dialog for Table option (upper left), Insert New, Insert New (non-updatable), or Update Existing (which should not be enabled if first time you insert a table)?

6. The second time you run the report, same questions, which report and which options?

7. The second time when you go into the Table Generation Setup dialog is Update Existing enabled or disabled? Is Insert New enabled or disabled?

 

Can you upload a drawing with the table inserted on it? I would like to see what intelligence is held on the table.



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

Message 19 of 25
dstnwst
in reply to: PatMurnen_Adsk

For my example, I will just call the drawings 1234 and 5678.  These are two separate drawings with totally independent BOM's.  A lot of our assembly drawings are two or more pages, with the BOM on the last page.  I do NOT have this problem on the one-page drawings where I select "Active Drawing" for my BOM data source.

 

The problem is that when I go through the steps outlined below to update the BOM on drawing 1234 it also replaces the BOM on drawing 5678 as well, not just the one I am working on.  I have been using ACADE since 2007 and this has never happened to me before.

 

I am working on new drawings now, so I do not have any that I can upload for you to look at.

 

1. What type of report - i.e. Schematic Reports Bill of Materials or Panel Reports Bill of Materials.     BOM on panel assembly drawing or electrical assembly drawing.

 

2. The first time you place the table what is the display option on the very first dialog that comes up, i.e. Normal, by Group, Purchase List, By Tag?     Normal Tallied Format

3. Do you click the Format button and select a specific .SET file?     Custom bompnl_d.set

4. Are you running it on the Project or the Active Drawing?     Project, then I select the drawing(s) to include in the table.

5. When you first place the table what option are you selecting on the Table Generation Setup dialog for Table option (upper left), Insert New, Insert New (non-updatable), or Update Existing (which should not be enabled if first time you insert a table)?     Insert New - I DO want it updatable.

6. The second time you run the report, same questions, which report and which options?     Same exact settings, except I select "Update Existing".

7. The second time when you go into the Table Generation Setup dialog is Update Existing enabled or disabled? Is Insert New enabled or disabled?     "Update Existing" is enabled.  I don't know if "Insert New" is enabled or not because I never look at that.  If I already have a BOM on the drawing why would I ever want to insert a new one rather than just update the existing one?

Message 20 of 25
PatMurnen_Adsk
in reply to: dstnwst

Thank you for the information. I am somewhat confused though so maybe I did not ask my questions properly.

 

In your example, on drawing 1234 you inserted the table using the settings you describe. Then on drawing 5678 you insert the table using the exact same settings? And at that point it replaces the table on drawing 1234?

 

What makes the 2 tables independent from each other if the same report is used, same options within the report, project is picked, same .set file is used? To AcadE these tables would appear to be from the exact same report and next time you run the report with all that the same it would want to update and replace the table.

 

Maybe it would help if you sent me your project. You can email me directly at pat.murnen@autodesk.com.



Pat Murnen
Principal Content Developer
Product Development – AutoCAD Product Line Group

Autodesk, Inc.

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