Standard part (content center stuff) Descriptions

[Winks87]

I need to have content center parts modified for parts list descriptions.  Example: I need a hex head bolt listed as such, not a B18.2.1.  I know there are several ways to do this, I am curious as to a "best practice" approach.  What has worked for you?  Do I need to create a user library of content center parts?  Will this create problems when upgrade time comes?  Greatly appreciate all input. 

[Francis.Foley]

This is what I have done, I don't know whether its best practice or not:

I keep the contents folder for the parts I use on my server and I am able to adjust the properties by using Windows Explorer to find the part, right clicking on it and then using iProperties to make changes such as adding my part number and description.

[Winks87]

That works if you insert content center parts as custom parts.  I am looking to revise the native content center parts so no additional modification would be required.

[RobJV]

I used to edit my CC extensively for many releases until about 3 releases ago.  It was always a huge pain at upgrade time and the CC had LOADS of bugs related to editing.  I finally gave up and painstakingly went in and actually edited my cc parts that had come out of cc by using a different project file.  This is also a pain.  I think Adesk has fixed some of the bugs in CC and things might have been better as of more recent releases.

I think Paul Doubet (sp?) has done some extensive work in this regard - try getting his attention in the forums.

[cbenner · Accepted solution]

First you need to make sure the part is in a Custom library so you can edit the family table.  I'm not sure how this particular fastener is laid out, but you can map any column to an iproperty.  Right click on the columns, and select Column Properties until you see which one is mapped to Description.  Be aware that columns with blue text cannot be edited, they are a concatenation of values from other columns.  What I would probably do is find the column mapped to Description and take the mapping off.  Then create a new column called whatever you want... map it to the Description property, and add whatever text you want in the column fields.  This can be done right in CC, or you can open Excel to edit there.... look in the upper right corner for the Excel logo.

I'm not at the office right now, I'll be back on Friday, maybe I can attach some screen shot then, if you'd like.  This takes some practice, but you can get these things to show just about anything you want.