Show Referenced parts in browser

[wolfgang_nickl]

Show a special Symbol in the browser for Parts with BOM Structure set to Reference.

So I can see with no click which parts are set to Reference.

[racinlm]

Identify a component in the assembly browser as a reference. This could be done as an icon, highlight, or letter next to component. This would make a reference component more identifiable at a glance rather than right clicking to menu down, or opening up the BOM.

[stuartmp]

We really need a feature like this, Please give us the ability to change the Icon of Reference Parts.

In house Standard Library parts & other Standard Library parts from supplies etc, etc.

This would save a lot of headaches and frustration when scrolling through the browser.

We would of course then need a filter so we could filter the browser to show only the parts we want to see.

[Christian031014]

Hi,

Good Day!

It would be nice if we could distinguish the reference parts (BOM Structure) in an assembly in the 3d environment. The reference parts could be in a different color / shade and  an icon (beside the part no.) in the browser. 

Thanks.

Christian

[alessandro.tornincasa]

Great idea!

Also it would be great if user had ability to identify it also in the graphic area by changing its appearance.

In other CAD systems I've used in the past that component was automatically given transparent aspect.

Alex

[sergio.missori]

It would be helpful to have a specific icon (or just an over-icon to add to the part/assembly one) not only for reference but also for the phantom.

These three BOM structure property: Normal, Phantom and Reference, are able to affect the behavior of the part in BOM.

- Normal will put in BOM the part and even its sub parts if the BOM is multi level;

- Phantom means the part will not be listed in BOM but all its sub part will be rised at the upper level and will be included in BOM;

- Reference is for parts that are to be ignored completely from BOM.

The other two properties (Purchased and Inseparable) do not affect Inventor BOM behavior but may be treated differently in a PDM BOM. So why not differentiate the Browser icon like it happens for not active or not visible items?

[Expert8881]

Different color for icons of the parts tree for assembly with hidden list and for reference instances.

[l.torri]

Very good idea

[l.dolfini]

 Brilliant idea, it would be really wonderful to do something like that

[gusi_cl]

100% agree!

[Pate.MacKenna]

Having the BOM Structure for all components visible right in the browser would be a HUGE improvement!

The status icons in the Vault browser work great.  The BOM Structure icons already exist -- use those!  Or come up with something cleaner.

The point is that it should be available at-a-glance -- not tucked away in the BOM editor or doc settings. The risk that some anomaly in the BOM Structure goes unnoticed is too great.  Hours get wasted as users try to diagnose issues; quality suffers when others fudge their parts list or simply never notice a problem.

[Pate.MacKenna]

Thinking more on this... seems like a lot of users would like text formatting to accomplish this, as well as for emphasizing individual browser items, BOM Structure aside.  While, personally, I'd like to have rules-based formatting like with category assignment in Vault, there's surely a simpler solution.

How's this?

1) Add a single setting in Application Options that allows us to turn BOM Structure icons on/off in the browser.

2) Enable the use of Text Styles for browser items and add support via the API.  This way, users can make individual edits to suit their needs and more-advanced solutions for rules-based formatting, etc. can be developed separately.

This would make good use of the existing Styles and Standards workspace, which is already under-utilized in the modeling environment, compared to drawings.  There'd also be no impact to real estate in the UI, outside of one checkbox in Application Options. 

[pate_mackenna]

I got to chat with Steve Dennis at AU 2023 about this idea.  Here's the concept that shook out of that discussion:

BOM Structure would be indicated via icons in a grid, of sorts, to the right of the Model browser.

• The icons must be relatively simple due to existing size limitations on graphics that can be displayed there.  Something like a Vault category glyph would be ideal.
• The icon would always indicate the overriding BOM Structure for each component, if there is one.  Otherwise, it would indicate the default BOM Structure.
• Each icon would give a tooltip showing the effective BOM Structure type.

Overrides would still be performed using RMB > BOM Structure, selecting the override type.  This prompted a separate discussion about expanding the override options.  There's an idea for that here: BOM Structure Overrides - Autodesk Community

[Expert8881]

I like the idea, it would be extremely useful for us to be able to see
at a glance the parts that are set as references

[Yijiang.Cai]

Many thanks for posting the idea, and tracked as [INVGEN-75810]