Placing drawing views with ilogic efficiently on sheet

[Anonymous]

In the company I work for we try to place all cutting parts on 1 big sheet so it is easy to process in the workshop. Usualy those drawings are made by hand, but I am trying to automate this process. I use ilogic to export the BOM list, from the bom list I take the part names, I try to find the part names and if the filetype is sheet metal I load the view in. I also figured out how to get the different thicknesses on piles together. However what I would like to do is to automaticaly place the views on the sheet in a way they are sorted on thickness and dont overlap eachother (see attachment picture for a hand-made example) Idealy I would like to start at 1:5 scale on A4 sheet size, if it doenst fit, go up to A3, then A1 (we currently cant print A2 sheets) and then to A0, if it still doesnt fit I would like the scale to change to 1:10. If it still doenst fit it should give an error message to ask to manualy place the views. Can anybody help me with an algorithm that devides the drawing sheet in squares which fit the drawing views? the spacing doenst have to be 100% perfectly efficient, but if it would be like in the attachment or close to that it would be perfect.

[Anonymous]

I use a rule that places 6 parts(flat pattern and iso views of each) on a sheet for all sheet metal parts. Not quite what you are looking for though. I'm interested to see what solutions others might have for this.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I believe it is indeed doable using iLogic. I have seen rules capable of creating drawing views and some annotations automatically.

Another option is to use Sheet Format. Start up a drawing and go to browser -> Sheet Format -> pick one fitting your need -> select a model file. It will help create drawing views quickly. You can also define your own sheet format by opening up an existing idw/dwg -> Sheet Format -> Create Sheet Format.

Many thanks!

[doug.johnston]

I created a drawing template for work that places the Parts Lists, updates the positions of the views and scales the views based on a scale factor number.

The code uses the VIEW TITLE  to position each view and the scale is based on the OVERALL LENGTH & OVERALL WIDTH custom parameters inside the model.  And I can adjust the scale factor in the code to adjust the views sizes.

I had to setup the template first because most of my drawings always have the same view titles / positions / etc  and I have to occasionally change the code slightly based on the view titles for other drawings.  It does not place the views on an empty sheet.

By creating the IDW template with some ilogic rules,  I have reduce the amount of time spent on the drawing from hours to minutes.  Basically, I've got it to a point that I can update and print with a couple clicks of the mouse.

Create a drawing template that can handle 80-90% of your drawing requirements.

Here is a picture of the the template and the ilogic I use.

DRAWING TEMPLATE

'''***********************
'''*** POSITIONS VIEWS ***
'''***********************

'''*** Declares and reads all sheets in idw file
oSheets = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument.Sheets


'''*** Sets view positions for X-XXXXX from bottom-left corner of border (X & Y)
'oSheets.Item(1).Activate ''-- uncomment code for multiple sheets amd change number to total number of sheets

	ActiveSheet.View("TOP VIEW").SetCenter(6.00, 11.00)  ''*** drawing view position from center of view (X & Y)
	ActiveSheet.View("FRONT VIEW").SetSpacingToCorner(2.25, 4.50, SheetCorner.BottomLeft)
	ActiveSheet.View("SIDE VIEW").SetSpacingToCorner(11.50, 8.00, SheetCorner.BottomLeft)
	ActiveSheet.View("3D VIEW").SetSpacingToCorner(11.75, 7.50, SheetCorner.BottomLeft)
	ActiveSheet.View("A").SetSpacingToCorner(20.50, 5.00, SheetCorner.BottomLeft)
	ActiveSheet.View("FRONT PLATE - HOLE DIMENSIONS").SetSpacingToCorner(2.25, 2.50, SheetCorner.BottomLeft)




'''********************
'''*** SCALES VIEWS ***
'''********************

'''*** Sets view scale for TOP VIEW based on overall dimensions (X&Y)
If Parameter("B_BOTTOM FRAME_STANDARD.iam.external_overall_WIDTH") >= Parameter("B_BOTTOM FRAME_STANDARD.iam.external_overall_DEPTH") Then
Max_Overall_Dim = Parameter("B_BOTTOM FRAME_STANDARD.iam.external_overall_WIDTH")
Else
Max_Overall_Dim = Parameter("B_BOTTOM FRAME_STANDARD.iam.external_overall_DEPTH")
End If

'''*** Generic scale factor for views (Change number to suit)
ScaleFactor_Proportion = 7.5 

'''*** Second number in the scale factor
X = Ceil(Max_Overall_Dim/ScaleFactor_Proportion)

'''*** Changes view scale 
ActiveSheet.View("TOP VIEW").ScaleString = "1:" & X

[Anonymous]

Off-topic for a bit, but did you automate the adding of balloons as well? If so I'm very curious on knowing on how you did that.

[Anonymous]

What I got so far is the following

1 Open interface to select an assembly file

2 BOM List gets auto exported

3 All sheet metal parts on the BOM will be checked for their thickness and counted.

4 Interface which shows each thickness with corresponding amounts with checkboxes to place or not place that thickness on the sheet.

5 All views get placed sorted on their thickness

6 All parts will be replaced with their flat patterns

7 The Folds get labeled with up and down with corresponding degrees

8 If there are more folds down than up, it will show the back view so its easier in the workshop

9 A label gets added to the view with thickness, partname and amount and such

10 An optional label gets added in which assemblies the sheet metal parts get used (for easy sorting in the workshop)

The only thing I am currently looking for is a good algorithm to automaticaly position all parts on the drawing

[doug.johnston]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Off-topic for a bit, but did you automate the adding of balloons as well? If so I'm very curious on knowing on how you did that.

---

No, not yet ... but it is something I want to do for the future.

When I created the template idw, I added the balloons and dimensions, so they will be there when the drawing is opened / updated.  I have to take 2-3mins per drawing to make sure all Balloons are attached, readable and the dimensions are "centered".  Something I hope to program in the near future.