change default Bill of Materials editor views

[dsl145]

Does anyone know how to change the default Bill of Materials Editor views? I don't want to have to import every single time; I just want it to look correct from the beginning.

[bradeneuropeArthur]

You can export a specific layout as xml file .
Then import this as xml file in other assemblies.

[marcin_otręba]

Set it up in template file.

For old ones you must import it every time.

[dsl145]

Yes... I'm aware of that, but how about changing it to show up a certain
way for brand new assemblies by default.

[philip1009]

You can open the template that Inventor uses as a default and change it there.  It can be achieved automatically by code, but the code used differs on Inventor versions.  Which version are you using, year and service packs?

[dsl145]

We're currently using v2016 because of client limitations but will
eventually be moving to newer versions.

I hadn't thought about changing the template files though, that might just
be good enough, but if you can highlight what would be required for the
code change I would also be interested.

[philip1009 · Accepted solution]

In Inventor 2018.3 or later you have the ability to set an External rule to run every time an Assembly document is open or similar Event Trigger.  The easiest way is to set the settings you want then hit the Export button on the bottom of the Assembly BOM window to export the settings, then save that .xml file in a network location so it can be accessed by others if needed.

Here's a sample code:

SyntaxEditor Code Snippet

ThisDoc.Document.ComponentDefinition.BOM.ImportBOMCustomization("C:\temp\BOM Settings.xml")

Have this code saved as an external rule on your network if you need to share it with co-workers, then go into your Event Triggers and set to run on Assembly Document open.  If it's an earlier version of Inventor, you can't set the trigger based on file type and will have to run the rule manually.

Let us know if you have anymore questions.