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Altering Custom Library Parts BOM....

13 REPLIES 13
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Message 1 of 14
dunc1n
1351 Views, 13 Replies

Altering Custom Library Parts BOM....

Hi folks,

 

I am having a bit of a nightmare here. I have created a custom library (custom content center), and that went fine. All I done was copy a family of RHS from the desktop content center into my custom content library. I then created a small test assembly with frame generator to see if I could use my custom library. It worked fine BUT when I place it into a drawing and create the parts list, the parts list shows all the info in an order that is no use to me. (see attached *SNIP A*)

What I would like is that when I use frame generator along with my custom library, then take it into a drawing, the parts list needs to look like the attached file (see attached *SNIP B*).

 

So really, I want the "Unit QTY" to vanish, I want the "QTY" to show the Quantity of that part within the assembly, I want the "stock Number" to vanish and I want the description to show the size of the member (what the "stock number" currently shows) along with the length of the member.

 

Now I know I can edit all this for each part within the parts list BUT I need the parts list to show this info EVERY time AND automatically.

 

How do I go about doing this????

 

Thanks

 

Dunc1n

13 REPLIES 13
Message 2 of 14
cbenner
in reply to: dunc1n

Ok,... first the quantity... that's the easy one.  Add a column in your BOM for "Item Qty".  That will show the quantity you are looking for in your example.  "QTY", and "Unit QTY" you can get rid of.  If you do that at the template level, and/or create a special template just for frames (as we did), this would always be your BOM structure for frames.

 

Now the hard part, the decription showing the length.

 

In every Frame Generator part there is a variable called G_L which stores the length of the part.  In your Content Center family tables for frame generator parts, edit the description column by right clicking on the column header and selecting "Column Properties".  Your Description will probably be set up as an expression (middle of the screen).  If you set this expression to be: =<stock number> - <g_l>

this will get what you want in the Description column.  If you want the string "Detailed" to show as in your screen shot... add that to the end of this equation enclosed in quotes:  "Detailed" ( make sure you include a space or it will not show up in the BOM. 

 

Doing this may affect your Filename column, so you may need to tweak this as well.  In the example I looked at, Filename was mapped to description, and that didn't work so well.  If you use Frame Generator, it will create it's own filenames anyway so this will only be a problem if you place a part directly from the Content Center as a custom... in which case you are prompted for a filename anyway.

 

I advise copying one of your steel parts as a test... then play around with tweaking the Content Center columns until you get what you want... that way you don't mess anything good up. 

 

If you need more help let me know, there is a lot here and it's hard to explain in a quick couple of paragraphs.

 

Message 3 of 14
dunc1n
in reply to: dunc1n

Ok thanks, BUT... I dont have a description column in my family table?!?!?!

 

I understand what to do but if I could just somehow get that description column into the family table!!!!

 

Any ideas????

What part template does frame generator use anyway??? i.e. does it just use "standard.ipt" or will it use the ipt template that is set up in my project?

 

Thanks again

 

Dunc1n

Message 4 of 14
cbenner
in reply to: dunc1n

You can add columns to a family table.  On the toolbar along the top of the editor there is a button to add columns, you can call it description and map it to the Inventor Property "Project.Description". 

 

editor.JPG

 

That way anything you enter in that column in the Family Table will be pushed out the the part's iproperties.  About the only thing you cannot control with Frame generator is the filename, and even that you can override when you place a frame member.

 

I believe Frame Generator uses Standard.ipt template... so anything special you want in your FG parts, make sure it's in that template.

 

 

 

 

Message 5 of 14
dunc1n
in reply to: dunc1n

Ok thanks for that but I am getting a new problem now.

 

I create a column called "description" and link it to "project.description". I fill in the expression to suit and everything works fine EXCEPT it shows the length as 0.001 instead of the real length!!!

It shows the real length in the "Part Number" column so I even tried just copying the expression from this column and pasting it into my description column and it STILL doesnt work?!?!? It just seems to ignore the length calculation (and only the length calculation) in my new column!!!

Any ideas why its doing this and how I can fix it???

 

I have attached a screenshot of the iProprties of one of the pieces of SHS. It shows that the part number shows the length but the description doesnt, even though they have EXACTLY the same expression inserted into their column properties.

 

Thanks in advance

Message 6 of 14
cbenner
in reply to: dunc1n

I can't reproduce this on my system.  I copied the expression into "part number" and "stock number", then mapped "stock number" to project.description,... and both iprops came out the same.

 

Can you maybe send me a screen shot of your family table (block out anything proprietary)?  You did use G_L?  Not B_L?

 

Stumped at the moment... but I'm sure we'll figure it out.

Message 7 of 14
dunc1n
in reply to: cbenner

I used G_L as B_L made the text red (saying its a bad expression)

 

I have attached a screen shot of my family table and some other shots that might help you. see whats going on.

 

No idea why this is doing this. It seems to only accept the length in the "part number" and nothing else?!?!?

I have copied the same expression into the stock number column and it still shows no length, AND I even tried linking the part number column to project.description. (see snip D).

Its like it just judt doenst want to show the length within the "description field"?!?!?!?

 

Cheers

Message 8 of 14
cbenner
in reply to: dunc1n

I think I see what you're doing.  Here is a snip of my family table (snip-1).  I got the column called "Designation" set with exactly how I wanted the sizing to show, that column is mapped to "project.stock number".  In a custom column next to it called Cost Center, I have out internal part number for that profile ("NEED" means it hasn't been used and does not have a part number).

 

Now look at how I did the columns for Description and Part Number.  The expression itself shows up in the column, and can be typed in once by adding it as an expression under column properties. (snip-2) This will propogate to all rows in that column, and will show up blue meaning if you enter text there, you are overriding the column property.

 

Now, I placed from Content Center a piece of steel from this table, as standard, just to show the iproperties and how they reflect this.  (snip-3)  notice the "fx" next to Part Number and Description, showing that this is the result of an expression.  On non content center parts, these expressions can also be entered here and will yield the same results.  The only thing this does not work on is filename.  File name comes out just as the expression itself... no idea why.  So I just have to either manually enter filenames for each row (yuck), or combine other properties (similar to what was in your screenshots) to get whatever I want the filename to look like.

 

Bear in mind, though, that Frame Generator has it's own rules for file names, so whatever you put in that column will only show up on parts brought into your assembly from the CC as a custom or standard, NOT through the Frame generator.

 

 

Message 9 of 14
dunc1n
in reply to: dunc1n

Hi, could you please re-send your snips, I cant seem to open or save them?!?!

 

Thanks for your help

Message 10 of 14
dunc1n
in reply to: dunc1n

Ok, so I have KINDA got this working now but I still have a problem....

 

What I done was input the following expression into my custom "description" column, which is linked to "project.description".

The expression is as follows:-

=SHS <G_H>x<G_W>x<G_T> - <G_L> LG.

 

Now this works BUT it reads as follows:-

SHS 50.000mmx50.000mmx5.000mm - 500.000mm LG.

 

I want it to read:-

SHS 50x50x5 - 500 LG.

 

How can I get rid of the decimal places (or at least choose how much decimal places I want), and also get rid of the unit string???

 

Thanks again

Message 11 of 14
cbenner
in reply to: dunc1n

Here are the shots from previous post, embedded.

 

Snip-1:

snip-1.JPG

 

 

Snip-2:

snip-2.JPG

 

 

Snip-3:

snip-3.JPG

 

 

I do not know about removing the decimals or units... never tried that.  If I get a chance this morning I'll look into it.

 

Message 12 of 14
pauldoubet
in reply to: cbenner

OK, here is a quick lesson in how to remove the decimals and units for a CC part. Use the 'Open from Content Center' option on the Open pull down under the main Inventor menu. Save a part from the family you need to modify using the 'As Custom Option'. Edit the parameters for that part and mark the G_W, G_H, G_T, G_L, etc parameters for export. Then right click on one of those parameters and choose the 'Format Parameters' option from the popup. Now select the precision, turn off the units and trailing zeros; for metric units the leading zero is normally left on. Save this file and close it. Go to the CC and select the family, then right click and select 'Replace Family Template', choose the file you just changed for your new template.

 

DONE! (unless I forgot something)

 

Hope this helps, Paul

Message 13 of 14
cbenner
in reply to: pauldoubet
Message 14 of 14
hunkvicky.87
in reply to: dunc1n

Change template file's exported parameter's (fx) custom formate precession to 0 as

i m showing in attachement

 

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