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Suppressed components in BOM

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Message 1 of 22
malleswara.rao
12968 Views, 21 Replies

Suppressed components in BOM

we are using level of details to suppress few components. when we are trying to take BOM for that level of details. we are getting the suppressed components also. is there any control we can do avoiding that suppressed component. I know if you make the BOM sequesnce to reference that wont come in BOM. but we need that file for other LOD.

21 REPLIES 21
Message 2 of 22

I don't know of any way to do this. An item in an assembly is allways shown in the BOM unless it is 'Phantom', 'Reference' or part of a purchased or inseperable set.

 

You can work around this by creating a Master assembly, and then 'pushing' the item numbers down into your part files. You can then read the part numbers directly from the part files, and you can create assemblys that better refelect your process.

 

More details here:

http://cadsetterout.com/inventor-tutorials/autodesk-inventor-creating-coordinated-bom-for-large-asse...

 

Instead of this, don't forget that you can filter the results of the BOM in your parts list, for example, only showing Ballooned parts or only showing a range of parts.

 

I hope that helps - let us know how you get on!

 

-Paul-

 


Autodesk Industry Marketing Manager UK D&M
Opinions are my own and may not reflect those of my company.
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Message 3 of 22
rhasell
in reply to: malleswara.rao

Try and use "View Representations" instead of LOD in your assembly, switch off visibility of the components you wish to remove from the BOM.

 

You can then select a Parts List filter for that particular representation.

 

 

Reg
2024.2
Please Accept as a solution / Kudos
Message 4 of 22
cwhetten
in reply to: malleswara.rao

What version of Inventor are you using?

 

Using iLogic to control the component suppression will change the BOM so that suppressed components are removed, and the quantities reflect the LOD.

 

iLogic was available to subscription customers with Inventor 2010.  Since 2011 it has been available in basic Inventor "out of the box".

Message 5 of 22
mcgyvr
in reply to: cwhetten

Just for clarity..
Its a "BOM" in an assembly

Its a "Parts List" in a drawing.

 

 

LOD is a memory management tool used to unload certain parts from memory in an effort to speed up assembly modeling. It was not intended to remove certain items from a parts list. (Design view reps/part list filters do that)

 

One limitation of the design view rep parts list filter is that if you have 10 of the same screws in an assembly and you turn the visibility off on 5 of those screws the parts list is still going to show 10. That row will not be removed until all instances of the part are made invisible.

 



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Inventor 2023 - Dell Precision 5570

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Message 6 of 22
cwhetten
in reply to: mcgyvr


@mcgyvr wrote:

LOD is a memory management tool used to unload certain parts from memory in an effort to speed up assembly modeling. It was not intended to remove certain items from a parts list. (Design view reps/part list filters do that)



I would have agreed with that statement a few years ago.  But iLogic has blurred the lines a little more.  The problem you mentioned that turning off the visibility of 5 out of 10 parts still shows a quantity of 10 is also true for suppressing 5 out of 10 parts--UNLESS you use iLogic to do the suppressing...

 

So now there is a benefit other than system resource management to using suppression instead of visibility:  your parts lists accurately reflect the LOD, even the quantities.

Message 7 of 22
mcgyvr
in reply to: cwhetten

cwhetten,

Do you have any links or something where I can learn about this ilogic part suppression stuff and how it relates or can change the parts list?  I'd like to do a little learning on the subject.

 



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Inventor 2023 - Dell Precision 5570

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Message 8 of 22
cwhetten
in reply to: mcgyvr

I haven't been able to find anything that documents the phenomenon, but I have seen it with my own eyes.  I attached a simple assembly that I use to test various iLogic scenarios.  I set it up to demonstrate the subject.

 

The component suppression is controlled by a few parameters.  Setting the TestPartsListQTY parameter to True will suppress one each of the bar and angle components.  In this state, the drawing parts list shows quantities of 1 each, even though the master LOD has 2 each.

 

If the components are manually suppressed, you see the parts list behavior we have come to expect over the years (quantities are total for the master LOD unless all occurrences are suppressed).  If you use iLogic code to suppress (namely the Component.IsActive() snippet), then you get the behavior that I mentioned.

 

It appears that the Component.IsActive() code not only suppresses the components, but also sets the BOM state of those occurrences to Reference, which accounts for why the parts list behaves the way it does.

Message 9 of 22
Kris_Inv2013
in reply to: cwhetten

Hi Gents, I hope you all are well? The topic just I have been looking for!

I can confirm that iLogic driven component suppress works fine as explained by cwhetten.

However I am encountering with the following issue:

(background: I am working on a spreadsheet driven assy to change part parameters and am using iLogic to suppress components in the assy. I will drive the whole assy via the spreadsheet @ the end. Wanting to create new variants based on the spreadsheet driven generic assy)

 

I can’t run iLogic rules in Master LOD, the following error message comes up:

 

“Component.IsActive: Cannot change the suppression state of components.

The active Level of Detail in ASSY1.aim is not a custom Level of Detail.”

 

I came over this by creating another LOD (View1). Now this works fine, components are suppressed once I run the rule. And they come back fine if I change the spreadsheet.

But it does not let me generate a BOM in assy mode, if I press the “Bill of Materials” button on the ribbon bar:

“the assembly must be saved before performing the bill of Materialsoperation.” Error message comes up all the time, even after saving it several times.

 

If I change it back to Master LOD, it does generate a BOM which is correct to the iLogic Rule but of course the components are not suppressed though!!

 

Any ideas how can I come over this? Suppress parts by iLogic and generate BOMs based on that change?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Kris

Message 10 of 22
cwhetten
in reply to: Kris_Inv2013

I run into this problem too.  It is one of the "joys" of working with LOD's.

 

Do you have any drawings open at the same time as your assembly?  If so, don't.  Having them both open at the same time (when using LOD's) just causes problems.

 

When this happens, I usually just save my work, exit the assembly, then reload it.  This usually works.  Sometimes you have to close every file in Inventor and just reopen the assembly you wish to work on.

 

It's a HUGE pain.  It's almost enough to make me abandon LOD's and find another way to get things done.  I would do it in a heartbeat if we hadn't already put 2 years of work into our model based on the LOD philosophy.

 

I think on our next project we will try a different approach.

Message 11 of 22
mrattray
in reply to: cwhetten

Sometimes using the Rebuild All command followed by the Save All command will clear the "Your assembly must be saved..." message.

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

Message 12 of 22
Kris_Inv2013
in reply to: mrattray

Okay. So we all agree the following:

 

  1. we can’t visually suppress components via iLogic in Master LOD and can’t run iLogic Rules
  2. a custom LOD is only a visual/graphic/memory saving option only, and can’t generate BOM however CAN RUN iLOGIC RULES !

 

Why is a custom LOD prerequisite for running an iLogic rule?

 

 

Thanks,

Kris

Message 13 of 22
Kris_Inv2013
in reply to: Kris_Inv2013

More importantly why is it not able to generate BOM in custom LOD?  Because according to the Autodes Inventor Help File this is exactly what it is inteded to achieve:

 

file:///C:/Program%20Files/Autodesk/Inventor%202012/Help_Lite/index.html?query=BOM%20view

Message 14 of 22
mrattray
in reply to: Kris_Inv2013


@Kris_Inv2013 wrote:

Okay. So we all agree the following:

 

  1. we can’t visually suppress components via iLogic in Master LOD and can’t run iLogic Rules
  2. a custom LOD is only a visual/graphic/memory saving option only, and can’t generate BOM however CAN RUN iLOGIC RULES !

 

Why is a custom LOD prerequisite for running an iLogic rule?

 

 

Thanks,

Kris


You can run iLogic rules in any LOD, including Master. However, you can't do anything in a rule that you can't do via the UI. You can't suppress components via RMB in the Master LOD, therefore you can't run a rule that involves component suppression in the Master, either.

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

Message 15 of 22
Kris_Inv2013
in reply to: mrattray


You can run iLogic rules in any LOD, including Master. However, you can't do anything in a rule that you can't do via the UI. You can't suppress components via RMB in the Master LOD, therefore you can't run a rule that involves component suppression in the Master, either.


 

Thank you Mike!

What this means then is that when I attempt to suppress (via RBM) a component then it performs a LOD shift/change operation automatically?

So that we can not suppress components by definition in the Master LOD?

 

Also this method (iLogic/ Component.IsActive ) is not suitable to suppress components and by this to create new assembly variants of a Master Assembly?

 

 

Could you please give some clue of a more suitable method then if there is one?

Should the suppression not be suitable, is there an "exlusion" type methode include/exclude compnents at multi assy level?

 

many thanks.

Message 16 of 22
mrattray
in reply to: Kris_Inv2013


@Kris_Inv2013 wrote:

What this means then is that when I attempt to suppress (via RBM) a component then it performs a LOD shift/change operation automatically?



Yes, if you suppress a component via RMB IV creates LevelOfDetail1.

 


@Kris_Inv2013 wrote:

So that we can not suppress components by definition in the Master LOD?



Exactly.


@Kris_Inv2013 wrote:

Also this method (iLogic/ Component.IsActive ) is not suitable to suppress components and by this to create new assembly variants of a Master Assembly?

 Could you please give some clue of a more suitable method then if there is one?

Should the suppression not be suitable, is there an "exlusion" type methode include/exclude compnents at multi assy level?


 

I fully and completely agree that this a MAJOR design oversight on AutoDesk's part. However, it is workable and there really isn't any better method available.

 

What I can do fo you is supply you with the attached code. I wrote this myself for dealing with this problem. It looks at your current assemblie's LOD as well as the LOD of all sub assemblies and checks the LOD type, changing it to Custom if need be. I recommend placing the text file in your wokspace's root and calling it as an external rule.

 

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

Message 17 of 22
Kris_Inv2013
in reply to: mrattray

Hi Mike, many thanks for investing your time to write a code for me. It works fine when I run it from the Master LOD. Called it as an external rule in my Top Level assy.

 

I have message comming up tho in a Level1 assy:

 

"Error in rule: Rule1, in document: ASSY1.iam (Custom)

ThisBOM: Could not find a BOM view named "ASSY.iam".

If the name is correct, then please enable this BOM view, and save the assembly."

 

I have got all BOM views enabled, and this error essage comes up ether I run the rules from Top Level or Level1 assemblies... any idea what ithis means?

 

thanks,

K

Message 18 of 22
mrattray
in reply to: Kris_Inv2013

No, I don't have any idea why you're getting that message. I've never gotten it with any of my models.

 

Does it only occur with certain assemblies, or everything you call the rule from? If it's only certain assemblies can you post an example for me to look at?

 

Did you modify the rule? If you did could you post your modified version so I can check it for mistakes?

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

Message 19 of 22
Kris_Inv2013
in reply to: mrattray


@mrattray wrote:

No, I don't have any idea why you're getting that message. I've never gotten it with any of my models.

 

Does it only occur with certain assemblies, or everything you call the rule from? If it's only certain assemblies can you post an example for me to look at?

 

Did you modify the rule? If you did could you post your modified version so I can check it for mistakes?


sorry, fals alarm. the error message come frome the coe liine that I have created in my original rule.

 

I am envisaging designing the following procedure and I am wondering if you could comment on it in terms of if it makes sense and if it is feasible before I actually invest time and effort into it.

 

The highlighted bit will be an iLogic driven operation and the rest is carried out manually.  

The reason why I would like to use the Custom LOD for start and finish is the visual representation it provides of course.

 

Change parameters on excel spreadsheet --> Open Master Assy (in Custom LOD) this is the Trigger to...--> Generate new variant of parametrc Master Assy --> when click on BOM, iLogic to change to Master LOD --> Generate BOM --> Revert back to Custom LOD --> Save As New Project 

 

I have got the blue bit covered already, do you think that the red bit is feasible? Can the Bill of Materials on the ribbon trigger the rule?

 

thanks a lot!

 

Message 20 of 22
mrattray
in reply to: Kris_Inv2013

I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish.  I need to know what your end goal is here.

Why are you changing the LOD to master?

What do you mean by "generate BOM"?

 

Do you realize that the BOM is fully accessible and always the same regardless of what LOD is active?

Mike (not Matt) Rattray

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