"Where used" info on drawings
I focus on Assembly documents only because they are the main source of referencing other documents as their components. Drawings also reference other documents, but we are starting from the main drawing that references this part, and I don't expect that there would be any other drawings in the same directory that reference this part directly. If you expect there to be, that can be changed. The only way another Part document in the same directory would be referencing this part is if it were derived into it, which in my opinion would be rare. But that too can be changed, if you expect that scenario. I was mostly trying to avoid processing tons of extra files that did not need to be processed, because this type of routine can be pretty taxing on system resources, or possibly even freeze up your computer, if not handled properly.
Also, the code I posted only searches within the one directory (same directory as drawing's model), and does not step down into sub-directories. That can easily be changed though, by changing the option at the end of the 'GetFiles() method, within the 'GetWhereUsed' function, from 'TopDirectoryOnly' to 'AllDirectories'. Again my choice there was to limit the process, so it would not overwhelm my system while performing the tests.
My code also assumes there is just one 'model' being represented by the 'active' drawing. That's how we always do our drawings, but I realize that's not how everyone does it. I have other Functions or getting drawing model(s), depending on the need/situation. Other variations assume multiple models, and may return an ObjectCollection (or similar) of all the 'model' documents found (or filtered to one type of 'model').
Of course it can all be modified in any ways needed to suit your individual needs. I was just offering one idea and possible process that seemed logical to me, in my situation, and that works just fine for me. In my example tests, I have a drawing of a part in a folder where I have lots of files for testing. That part was also used within 4 other assemblies in that folder. When I run this rule, the mouse pointer swirls for a few seconds, then it inserts a text note at the lower left corner of my drawing sheet that starts with "USED IN:" on the first line, then lists the 4 part numbers in the following lines below that, for the other 4 assemblies that are referencing that part, within that directory. Since it seemed to work OK for me, I thought it would at least be a good starting point for others to start from there and modify the code as need to suit their individual needs. If you or anyone else needs to modify any part of the functionality of that code, but are not sure how to modify it, you can always request different functionality, and if I have time, I will attempt to modify it that way for you, if it is possible, and if I know how.
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
I am not starting this rule from a 'template' drawing file, I'm starting it from an IDW type drawing document that already has views & dimensions, and has been saved with its new file name (which matches the model's file name, except for file extension). There is nothing special about the template that the drawing was based on, other than it is A-size, landscape oriented, has our company's border & title block, and has a few of its settings set the way we like them.
There are certainly several lines of comments (and you may prefer more or less of them), and lines that are simply checking for potential error prone situations, that may not always be necessary, which make the code seem longer or more complicated than it really is. I was trying to make the code be fairly robust (plenty of checks to avoid errors), but I'm apparently not accounting for every possible potential issue that anyone may have. Breaking portions of the code out into sub routines can sometimes make it appear a bit more complicated too, when you're not familiar with how that all works. Sub routines are usually most advantageous when that block of code needs to be ran multiple times, so you don't have to have that same code appear in a longer code multiple times, but in this case they are only being called to run once, so their code could technically be merged back into the main routine (with a few modifications). Sometimes it's just nice to separate a routine or task out into that separate area to keep the main code cleaner looking and easier to follow.
To recreate a test scenario similar to mine, I would probably:
- Create a new folder
- Create several new simple part files, just for testing, and save them into that folder.
- Make sure to put something into its Part Number iProperty field, before saving/closing it.
- Create a few new simple assembly files, using those new simple parts, just for testing, and save them into that folder.
- Make sure to put something into its Part Number iProperty field, before saving/closing it.
- Make sure the one part is present as a component in each of these assemblies.
- Create a new simple drawing file for one of the parts in that folder, and save that drawing into that same folder.
- It can just contain a single model view, with no dimensions or annotations.
- With that drawing document open and active, either copy the rule code into a new local rule within that drawing document, or have it ready within an external rule, then run the rule.
- It should find the part document being represented within the drawing, get what folder it is saved within, open (invisibly) each assembly found in that folder, check its references for that part, if found, get the assembly's Part Number, so we can record it for the report, then close the assembly. When finished processing all assemblies in that folder, it should then assemble the report, then create the note to place at the corner of the sheet that contains the text of the report.
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
Hi @maxim.teleguz. I honestly do not know. Like I said, I currently do not have Vault installed and am not currently using Vault, and I have not used Vault in the past, so I'm not sure how having Vault installed or using Vault might change things. I have no way of knowing or testing how the code I posted would work in that situation. If you currently have Vault, and are using it, I would suggest that you pursue making use of that resource as best you can, because it will most likely be a much more efficient solution for you. If the code that @pball posted is not working for you, I would not be able to help develop that further right now, because I am not familiar with most of the code he is using yet, and I can not test in on my computer. I'm sure there are others here on this forum who do have Vault, and can help further develop a working solution for those who also have Vault.
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
Hi @maxim.teleguz. I have actually used that before, but it has very limited functionality for me, since I don't have Vault. For me, it will only return some other documents, if those other documents are also open at that time (or at least loaded into memory). Hopefully it will work better for you, since you do have Vault. Here is some code you can use to try it out.
Dim oActiveDoc As Document = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument
oFullFileName = oActiveDoc.FullFileName
Dim oFoundDocuments As DocumentsEnumerator = oActiveDoc.FindWhereUsed(oFullFileName)
MsgBox("Found " & oFoundDocuments.Count & " documents where the specified file is used in.", vbInformation, "Where Used")
Dim oList As New List(Of String)
If oFoundDocuments.Count > 0 Then
For Each oDoc As Document In oFoundDocuments
oList.Add(oDoc.FullFileName)
Next
a = InputListBox("", oList, "", "Documents Where Used", "List Of Documents Used In")
End IfWesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
