Custom Content Center - boolean user parameter

[cmines]

I have added a blank column to a custom content center family table that has a boolean data type.  When I try to map this to a boolean user parameter in the family template using the parameter mapping in the family properties, I get a "Data types mismatch".  In the template this parameter was set to false.  Am I doing something wrong, or is there a trick to getting this mapped correctly?

Thanks!

[jingyi.liu]

Could you attach your files here?  It will help to figure out your problem.

[cmines]

I hope these are the files you need.  Please let me know if they aren't.  I didn't know where the xls file for the custom family is kept, so I just did a save as.   I also noticed the labels for the columns I added were missing, so I took a screen shot of the table in Inventor - where they show up

Thanks for your help!

[jingyi.liu]

Hi Cmines

The reason you missed the label was due to no column caption.

Through the model and  spreadsheet, I almost see your point, there are several boolean type user parameters, you want to map to it.

you can only map a boolean parameter to feature suppression or working feature visibility.

So far, you can only define a numeric type user parameter in your model, and add a integer/real type in family table to map it.

[cmines]

Hi Jingyi Liu,

Thanks for checking in to this.  Just to make sure I understand correctly,  if I have 10 members in a family, for example, that when placed as a standard content center part I need user parameter A to be true and all other members in the family should have user parameter A set to false, it can't be done?  If not, is this a feature that will be added in the future?

Thanks,

Chris

[jingyi.liu]

Yes, it can't be done so far, you can't map a boolean type parameter in family table to a boolean type user parameter in your content center part. 

As a workaround, you can define a numeric type user parameter (unitless) in part, and define a integer/real parameter in family table and assign its value 0 or 1. 

I will log it as a wish.

[cmines]

Thank you so much for your help and suggestion!  I will give it a try.

[freesbee]

...are you aware of any strategy to map the boolean column to the member color?

It would help me a lot to be able to write a formula which leaves the part color untouched if the value is true, and would change the color to (for example) red if the value is false.

Of course I could define the color member by member, but this way it would be more elegant...

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Massimo,

I am wondering if iLogic rule could help here. The iLogic rule can be embedded in the part published to CC.

Many thanks!

[freesbee]

Dear Johnson,

Thank you very much for the tip.

On one side I read it as a kind of implicit confirmation that there is noway to put this logic in the family table, which was actually my idea. Yesterday, on the train traveling to AU (Germany) I have done an experiment populating the table column mapped to the member.color with the override for that specific member. If the cell is empty, the member gets the color from the corresponding material. If the cell is populated with a valid color ("appearance" to be strict), then the member gets the overridden color. That works perfectly, also on Standard Parts updates.

why NOT iLogic in Content Center

For this specific task I will not pursue the iLogic strategy for the following reasons:

1. in my experience on Content Center customization it is always better to locate as much "logic" as possible in the family table. If the logic is placed in the template (as I clearly do for non member specific elements), it is harder to maintain it because you need to access and replace the template
2. family members need to be "as static as possible"
3. one ambitious guy who has taken over one of my content centers has placed iLogic in some family templates. I did not investigate the problem deeply, but those families always give errors on migration tasks

(please, do not understand me wrong: I am not saying that it does not work; I am only saying that my direct experience with that strategy was not positive, and it's only my 2-cent opinion)

Since I also need to maintain it efficiently, I'll stay on the safe side 😁

The real need

In the project that has generated my question we are customizing a content center onto the KANBAN availability of the company. Nevertheless families will be built on current norms (as it is preferable to do). Besides other minor details, designers have asked if there is a quick way to understand if one member is in KANBAN or not: they don't want to access the ERP system for reading this information. From the "database point of view" that is clearly a boolean field which is member specific in the family table. Now the point is "how do I make that information visible to the user". Unfortunately there is not very much I can do on this point (unless I have brutally missed something). Additionally these guys do not leave me much freedom in PLs (partslists), so I am really limited in my actions.

One idea that I imagined could work was to color the member in another color (red for example) if the member is NOT available in KANBAN. Since writing this explicitly in the corresponding column already gives optimal results, if that will be the way to go I will follow that path: maintaining one boolean column and maintaining also the next column mapped to the member.color cannot be that dramatic.

And now... I'm almost in AU 😃

Thanks for your answer, and have a nice day!!