Overwriting one item number without changing the display in BOM

[Milan_Nosil]

Hello,

I have a question about Inventor's behaviour which is confusing when overwriting item numbers. I know there was a BOM upgrade in 2023, but now I am working in 2024 version. I just need to overwrite a part number in the assembly and still have the same view of that part number.

To do this I have to use the nonsensical Renumber Items command and I have to use this command on 2 cells because it doesn't work on one cell.

Can't I just overwrite 1 item number to get it displayed normally?

Thank you very much for any idea.

Milan Nosil

[blandb]

When you override item numbers in the parts list, it becomes blue because they are no longer synced with the Bill of materials of the Assembly. Remember a parts list on the drawing is different than the Bill of materials in the assembly. A parts list is just a predefined list of items and cells you are extracting from the assembly. Your parts list when initially placed will be in the same order as the structured Bill of material as the assembly. If you manually renumber in the parts list, then you need to choose the "Save Overrides to BOM" button in the parts list:

Now the item becomes black meaning the parts list and the Bill of materials are in sync. If you re-order in the parts list, the Bill of materials will be out of order.

If you would sort in the Bill of Materials first then place the parts list, there would be no altering needed after it was placed. You just need to determine where you want to make your edits, parts list or Bill of Materials. If you only focus on the parts list in the drawing, just do it there. We don't know your overall process so, you may/may not need the Bill of Materials to be in the same order as the parts list on the drawing.

You can play around with the Bill of materials, re-order renumber then place a parts list. Now, make edits to the parts list and choose the save overrides and then go back and look at the bill of materials to see what has changed. Remember if you renumber in the parts list, the bill of materials will stay in the same order it was, just the item numbers are different now. You could always sort in the BOM to make it reflect the parts list on the drawing.

[Milan_Nosil]

Thank you for your advice.

I wrote a BOM, but I also wrote that I need to change the item in the assembly and all the images are also from the Bill of Materials.

My problem is with Bill of Materials and overwriting items in assembly enviroments - sorry for the poorly written question.

In the drawing I understand that the numbers will change to blue and thanks for the tip on saving the item override.

Please, is it possible to overwrite 1 item number to get it displayed normally in Bill of Materials (without the blue)?

Thank you.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Milan,

You may override the item number in the PartsList only (not pushing back to the assembly BOM table). However, you will get a lightning bolt next to the PartsList in the drawing. Essentially, Inventor wants to keep them in sync when possible.

The only workflow allowing PartsList and BOM to have two different sets of item numbers is the so-called Legacy PartsList. The options have been removed from PartsList dialog. If you still want to use it, here is an article describing the steps to enable such options.

https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-can-the-Legacy...

Many thanks!

[jtylerbc]

Why does it matter if the text in the BOM is blue or not?

The blue text is an indicator that the item number has been manually entered.  That is its only meaning. You said you wanted it to display "normally", but blue text is the normal display for an overridden item number.

You want to manually enter an item number without the indication that it has been overridden.  Why do you need to hide the fact that you overrode it?

[Milan_Nosil]

Because it's confusing. Inventor has a different display of numbers when you manually edit an item number and when you manually use Item Override in Bill of materials. If you look at the item numbers of one of my assemblies, 10 out of 100 numbers will be blue and it will be confusing (we use numbers that are not sequential, but there are spaces to identify a different type of document (purchased, manufactured, etc).

I would understand the function if any manual intervention on the item numbers would result in the blue colour of the number and the black item numbers would be displayed by the Overwrite Item in Bill of Materials command - but I can't overwrite only one item number with this command...

My question - Is there a way to edit just one number so that it is still black? Because in the Override Item command I have to select two item numbers for it to work (and that's annoying).

Thank you.