topic Parts list for Frame Generator in Inventor Forum

Parts list for Frame Generator

loukasJEVFZ — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 13:37:22 GMT

Hello,

I am using Inventor 2026.

I am struggling creating my parts list, after designing my frame with Frame Generator.

The problem: I cannot list the frame members that are identical (same profile, length and End Treatments) in the same row as one "part" with qty number the sum of the individual identical members. Lets say I have a frame of 10 members with 4 of them being identical. This 4 members i cannot list them as one member with "items qty"=4. I can only get 10 different rows and cannot group them accordingly.

I get that Inventor saves each frame member as a different part, with different file name. Also, if I have understood correctly, in order to combine the identical members as I explained, they need to have the same part number. I also found about "Group Settings" that allows you to group members according to their properties, but this doesn't work if the part numbers are not the same. But I don't understand how they can have the same part number, without needing to manually overwrite it for all the identical members. There must be an easier way to do that, rather than finding each identical component and manually inserting the same part number for all of them.

In many tutorials I noticed that Inventor automatically groups these members, without the instructors needing to apply any change to the part numbers, etc. I cannot find what I am missing.

As far as I've searched, I couldn't find any clear answer to that so forgive me if it has already been discussed.

Re: Parts list for Frame Generator

kacper.suchomski — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 13:50:04 GMT

This can be done at the modeling stage using the Reuse command instead of Insert Frame.

Re: Parts list for Frame Generator

loukasJEVFZ — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 14:01:37 GMT

Hey Kacper,

Thank you for your answer. I found also this way but is this the only way? Sometimes you don't know from the beginning which members will be identical (e.g. you don't know what End Treatments you'll apply later). In that case, you cannot use the Reuse option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQS2B9XocVY

In this video for example, as far as I understand, he follows the ordinary way of Inserting Frame and the parts list later is grouped accordingly. But I cannot find where the key point is.

Re: Parts list for Frame Generator

A.Acheson — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 16:07:02 GMT

If the part numbers are not the same then grouping in the partlist will not work but there are other ways.

You can manually change this part number to make them the same.
Go back to the model when your done and use the reuse tool. It takes a few minutes but it easier than manipulating the partlsist.

I'm not aware of other ways but these two will be the easiest ways. Maybe other users can chime in. With 2 being the correct method with 1 file to document members.

Re: Parts list for Frame Generator

aurel_e — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 16:31:17 GMT

In the standard way, the Frame generator should work like this:

- Each part has got unique File Name
- the Part Number should be dependant of the length or other variable dimensions, so if the skeleton changes, its PN changes to reflect that.

Re: Parts list for Frame Generator

kacper.suchomski — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 17:41:45 GMT

As previous speakers have noted, the key is the part number. If the part number is different, they won't be able to be grouped.

You can define the part number settings for profiles in the program settings in the File tab.

Re: Parts list for Frame Generator

loukasJEVFZ — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 07:19:21 GMT

Thank you for you replies, they were really helpful. For anyone having a similar problem with the part numbers of the members, I found this:

In order to automatically apply only the profile type and length as part number, you need to select the option "Use Part Number from Content Center" while using Insert Frame command.