AutoCAD Plant 3D

[#1]

I need to extract an MTO into Excel from a piping assembly containing only xref’s.

We create area drawings containing only xref's of the pipe models in that area to be used in Navisworks.
In Cadworx I could create a MTO by opening this piping assembly and extracting the information, this included pipe sizes, lengths, weights, line numbers, drawing numbers, basically any information on the pipe could be extracted very easily. This was then brought into Excel for manipulation by the engineering and purchasing departments. This worked very well and we did not have to worry about erroneous drawings been listed in the database, as it only extracted from the current assembly file.

I know I can use the report on the project data but I want to extract only the information from the xref’s attached in the assembly file. Can this be done?

[#2]

Is there a reason you can't just select the drawings you want to include in the report creator?  You don't have to use the whole project data.  Other than the report creator and data manager, there is no export functionality.

[#3]

That's probably what I will have to do, but it was such a simple operation in CadWorx.

We will be dealing with over 400 pipe models, the piping assembly only contains current models whereas the database will probably contain everything, including different piping options and models that have been removed from the assembly but still in the project.

All I need is for all the information contained in Xref’s to be made available in the data manager, I can then do a quick export to excel.

[#4]

Hi Patrick,

As Dave has indicated the best way to do this would be with the report creator program, not the reports inside the data manager. Theres a bit of settup to do but once done, it should do what your talking about.

I would also like this type of functionality within the Data Manager, I dont see why the data manager could be setup to pull through the xrefed data, especially if they are attached and not overlays.

I see you have added it to the wishlist already, (Ive kudos'ed it to give it a bit more weight).

Having said that, IMO its not good practice to have files 'in the project' that are eroneous. You do not have to delete the files, just remove them from the project browser, they will still be on your hardrive and can be added very easily should those design options replace the one that you have been using. Then you may be able to run your data manager in 'Order by Area' to get the simple export options you require.

Regards,

Richard