topic Re: Insert specific size fastener from Content Center using VB.NET in Inventor Programming Forum

Insert specific size fastener from Content Center using VB.NET

J_Dumont — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 12:44:58 GMT

Hello,

I am trying to insert a fastener from Content Center, and the conditions will determine the size that is needed.

I was able to use the code in the API help to place all members of a family but I need to narrow that down.

Public Sub InsertPEMNuts() 'Dim oAsmDoc As AssemblyDocument 'oAsmDoc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument Dim oContentCenter As ContentCenter oContentCenter = g_inventorApplication.ContentCenter Dim oContentNode As ContentTreeViewNode oContentNode = oContentCenter.TreeViewTopNode.ChildNodes.Item("Fasteners").ChildNodes.Item("Bolts").ChildNodes.Item("Hex Head") Dim oFamily As ContentFamily For Each oFamily In oContentNode.Families If oFamily.DisplayName = "ISO 4015" Then Exit For End If Next ' Create a NameValueMap to specify parameters (e.g., length, diameter) Dim oParams As NameValueMap oParams = g_inventorApplication.TransientObjects.CreateNameValueMap oParams.Add("NND", 5) ' Set length to 50 mm oParams.Add("NLG", 35) ' Create the member Dim failureReason As MemberManagerErrorsEnum Dim failureMessage As String Dim oMemberDoc As Document oMemberDoc = oFamily.CreateMember(oParams, failureReason, failureMessage, ContentMemberRefreshEnum.kRefreshOutOfDateParts) ' Insert the member into the assembly Dim oMatrix As Matrix oMatrix = g_inventorApplication.TransientGeometry.CreateMatrix Dim oOcc As ComponentOccurrence oOcc = oDoc.ComponentDefinition.Occurrences.Add(oMemberDoc.FullFileName, oMatrix) End Sub

It seems that I need to specify the row. I don't know how to determine the row from the information that I have.

Here's my error.

Re: Insert specific size fastener from Content Center using VB.NET

jjstr8 — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 22:28:20 GMT

You're correct that you need to specify a row (or ContentIdentifier string) when calling .CreateMember. I'm not seeing anything built in to narrow it down to your NND & NLG values through the ContentFamily type. It looks like you'll have to loop through oFamily.TableRows and look for a match. Fortunately, you don't have to loop through all columns. The indexer in TableRow does takes a column name string, i.e. oFamily.TableRows(1).Item("NND") will return the column with its InternalName = "NND".

Re: Insert specific size fastener from Content Center using VB.NET

J_Dumont — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:46:33 GMT

Hi @jjstr8

Thanks for the reply. I will only need two separate families and just a few sizes of each, so I can use the row method. In this example, I determined which row I needed, and it failed. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here is updated code.

Public Sub InsertPEMNuts() Dim oAsmDoc As AssemblyDocument oAsmDoc = g_inventorApplication.ActiveDocument Dim oContentCenter As ContentCenter oContentCenter = g_inventorApplication.ContentCenter Dim oContentNode As ContentTreeViewNode oContentNode = oContentCenter.TreeViewTopNode.ChildNodes.Item("Sheet Metal").ChildNodes.Item("Nuts") Dim oFamily As ContentFamily For Each oFamily In oContentNode.Families If oFamily.DisplayName = "PEM Self-Clinching Nuts S,SS,CLS,CLSS - Inch" Then Exit For Else MsgBox("Family not found") End If Next If Not oFamily Is Nothing Then Dim failureReason As MemberManagerErrorsEnum Dim failureMessage As String Dim memberFilename As String memberFilename = oFamily.CreateMember(14, failureReason, failureMessage, ContentMemberRefreshEnum.kDoNotRefreshOutOfDateParts) ' Place the part into the assembly. Dim transMatrix As Matrix transMatrix = g_inventorApplication.TransientGeometry.CreateMatrix 'transMatrix.Cell(2, 4) = 0 Dim Occ As ComponentOccurrence Occ = oAsmDoc.Occurrences.Add(memberFilename, transMatrix) End If

Here is the error

Re: Insert specific size fastener from Content Center using VB.NET

JBerns — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 14:06:00 GMT

@J_Dumont,

I too wanted to learn how to insert Content Center parts using VB.NET.

Could you provide an example of the NND and NLG you want to place?

I found this source code, which originally inserted all the parts of a family.

Place Content Center Parts API Sample

I converted the code to a subroutine that receives arguments similar to the iLogic command. Currently, it supports a single column filter. In my case, I know StockNumber is unique.

Private Sub Main() Break Call PlaceFromContentCenter("Fasteners", "Washers", "Plain", "NMC Flat Washer - Inch", "Stock Number", "030-0254") End Sub ''' <summary> ''' Place a component from Content Center using VB.NET ''' </summary> ''' <param name="oNode1">Category</param> ''' <param name="oNode2">Subcategory</param> ''' <param name="oNode3">SubSubCategory</param> ''' <param name="oFamilyName">Family name</param> ''' <param name="oColName">Column name</param> ''' <param name="oValue">Value to find</param> Public Sub PlaceFromContentCenter(oNode1 As String, oNode2 As String, oNode3 As String, oFamilyName As String, oColName As String, oValue As String) Break logger.Trace("Entering PFCC") Dim asmDoc As AssemblyDocument = ThisApplication.Documents.Add(kAssemblyDocumentObject) Dim asmDef As AssemblyComponentDefinition = asmDoc.ComponentDefinition ' Get the node in the content browser based on the names of the nodes in the hierarchy. ' Dim hexHeadNode As ContentTreeViewNode = ThisApplication.ContentCenter.TreeViewTopNode.ChildNodes.Item("Fasteners").ChildNodes.Item("Washers").ChildNodes.Item("Plain") Dim hexHeadNode As ContentTreeViewNode = ThisApplication.ContentCenter.TreeViewTopNode.ChildNodes.Item(oNode1).ChildNodes.Item(oNode2).ChildNodes.Item(oNode3) ' Find a specific family. In this case it's using the display name, but any family ' characteristic could be searched for. Dim family As ContentFamily Dim checkFamily As ContentFamily For Each checkFamily In hexHeadNode.Families ' If checkFamily.DisplayName = "NMC Flat Washer - Inch" Then If checkFamily.DisplayName = oFamilyName Then family = checkFamily Exit For End If Next Dim i As Integer = 0 If Not family Is Nothing Then ' Place one instance of each member. Dim offset As Double offset = 0 Dim row As ContentTableRow ' Get column Dim oSNcol As Integer = 0 For i = 1 To family.TableColumns.Count ' If family.TableColumns.Item(i).DisplayHeading = "Stock Number" Then If family.TableColumns.Item(i).DisplayHeading = oColName Then oSNcol = i Exit For End If Next i ' create member if value is found For Each row In family.TableRows ' Create the member (part file) from the table. Dim failureReason As MemberManagerErrorsEnum Dim failureMessage As String Dim memberFilename As String If oSNcol <> 0 Then ' If row.Item(oSNcol).Value = "030-0254" Then If row.Item(oSNcol).Value = oValue Then memberFilename = family.CreateMember(row, failureReason, failureMessage, kRefreshOutOfDateParts) Else memberFilename = Nothing End If End If Break ' Place the part into the assembly. If Not IsNothing(memberFilename) AndAlso memberFilename.Length <> 0 Then Dim transMatrix As Matrix = ThisApplication.TransientGeometry.CreateMatrix transMatrix.Cell(2, 4) = offset Dim Occ As ComponentOccurrence = asmDef.Occurrences.Add(memberFilename, transMatrix) ' Compute the position for the next placement based on the size of the part just placed. Dim minY As Double Dim maxY As Double minY = Occ.RangeBox.MinPoint.Y maxY = Occ.RangeBox.MaxPoint.Y offset = offset + ((maxY - minY) * 1.1) End If Next End If End Sub

In the example above, I am searching for a plain flat washer having a specific stock number. Since the code originally placed multiple parts, you could remove a large portion of the code in lines 75-86 that increments the insertion point. For a single part, your would just need line 78.

I left commented lines in the code that represent the hard-coded search for that specific washer.

All that code above can make one appreciate how much work is going on inside the iLogic 'Components.AddContentCenterPart'

Dim Washer1 = Components.AddContentCenterPart( "Washer1", "Fasteners:Washers:Plain", "NMC Flat Washer - Inch", { "StockNumber", "030-0254" }, position := Nothing, grounded := False, visible := True, appearance := Nothing)

Let us know if this is helpful. Please mark as 'Accepted' if this answers your question.

Regards,

Jerry

Re: Insert specific size fastener from Content Center using VB.NET

jjstr8 — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 14:36:09 GMT

Sorry, I should have specified that CreateMember is looking for a ContentIdentifier or the TableRow object, not just the index. Instead of 14, try oFamily.TableRows(14) or oFamily.TableRows(14).ContentIdentifier

Re: Insert specific size fastener from Content Center using VB.NET

J_Dumont — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:12:29 GMT

Thanks for input.

This is what happens.

oFamily.TableRows(14) fails here.

oFamily.TableRows(14).ContentIdentifier fails here

Re: Insert specific size fastener from Content Center using VB.NET

J_Dumont — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:14:42 GMT

Hi @JBerns

This looks great, thank you.

I'm working on getting the rows to work because I think that might be the simplest approach.

For PEM nuts, I would need to search for "Thread_Code" and "Shank_Code."

Re: Insert specific size fastener from Content Center using VB.NET

jjstr8 — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:30:30 GMT

Sorry, I was mistaken about using .ContentIdentifier and your earlier row number. It should take a TableRow(14), 14, or TableRow(14).InternalName. Regardless, where you add an occurrence, it needs to be to the ComponentDefinition, not the Document object.

Re: Insert specific size fastener from Content Center using VB.NET

J_Dumont — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 16:50:26 GMT

It was an issue with the component definition.

Below is the code that is working.

Thank you both so much for replying and helping me with this issue.

Public Sub InsertPEMNuts() Dim asmDef As AssemblyComponentDefinition asmDef = oDoc.ComponentDefinition ' Get the node in the content browser based on the names of the nodes in the hierarchy. Dim hexHeadNode As ContentTreeViewNode hexHeadNode = g_inventorApplication.ContentCenter.TreeViewTopNode.ChildNodes.Item("Sheet Metal").ChildNodes.Item("Nuts") ' Find a specific family. Dim family As ContentFamily Dim checkFamily As ContentFamily For Each checkFamily In hexHeadNode.Families If checkFamily.DisplayName = "PEM Self-Clinching Nuts S,SS,CLS,CLSS - Inch" Then family = checkFamily Exit For End If Next If Not family Is Nothing Then ' Place one instance of each member. Dim offset As Double offset = 0 'Dim row As ContentTableRow ' Create the member (part file) from the table. Dim failureReason As MemberManagerErrorsEnum Dim failureMessage As String Dim memberFilename As String memberFilename = family.CreateMember(14, failureReason, failureMessage, ContentMemberRefreshEnum.kDoNotRefreshOutOfDateParts) ' Place the part into the assembly. Dim transMatrix As Matrix transMatrix = g_inventorApplication.TransientGeometry.CreateMatrix transMatrix.Cell(2, 4) = offset Dim Occ As ComponentOccurrence Occ = asmDef.Occurrences.Add(memberFilename, transMatrix) Else MsgBox("Content Center Family not Found for PEM Nuts.") End If End Sub

Re: Insert specific size fastener from Content Center using VB.NET

JBerns — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:45:28 GMT

@J_Dumont,

You're welcome.