Set MaterialCategory of Material in Library

[d_eckel]

Hello Everyone,

i have a code, adding a material to a (for now) temporary Material Library. It all works fine, but I need to set the Material Category to the new material.

I tried to add a material category but it didn't work with something like this:

AssetLib.MaterialAssetCategories.Add("","")

Has someone a clue or an idea?

'option explicit on
' PROGRAMMABLAUF
Sub Main()
	AddMaterialToLibrary
End Sub


Sub AddMaterialToLibrary()
	
	' Konfiguration -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Dim stNameMaterialdatenbank As String = "XXX"
	' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	
	' Vorbedingungen prüfen
	If ThisDoc.Document.DocumentType = Inventor.DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject Then ' prüfen, ob Bauteil
		Dim oDoc As PartDocument
		oDoc = ThisDoc.Document

		Dim oApp As Inventor.Application
		oApp = ThisApplication

		Dim AssetLib As AssetLibrary
		AssetLib = oApp.AssetLibraries.Open("C:\temp_Material\Asset_Lib_abc.adsklib")
		
		oDoc.ActiveMaterial = oApp.AssetLibraries.Item(stNameMaterialdatenbank).MaterialAssets.Item("---")
		
		' Lösche alle lokalen, unbenutzte Materialien
		Dim i As Integer
		i = 1
		While i <= oDoc.MaterialAssets.Count
		  	If oDoc.MaterialAssets.Item(i).IsUsed = False Then
		    	oDoc.MaterialAssets.Item(i).Delete
		  	Else
		    	i = i + 1
		 	 End If
	  	End While

		' Create new asset
		Dim oNewMatAsset As Asset
		oNewMatAsset = oDoc.Assets.Add( _ 	' Material anlegen
			kAssetTypeMaterial, _ 			' AssetTypeEnum: kAssetTypeAppearance, kAssetTypeMaterial, kAssetTypePhysicalProperties, kAssetTypeUnknown
			"Metall_abc", _ 				' Gruppe
			"Optional_abc", _ 			' Optional
			"NeuesMaterial_abc" _			' Angezeigter Name
		)

		oNewMatAsset.PhysicalPropertiesAsset.Item("structural_Density").value = 9000
		oNewMatAsset.PhysicalPropertiesAsset.Item("structural_Thermal_conductivity").value = 0.15
		oNewMatAsset.PhysicalPropertiesAsset.Item("structural_Specific_heat").value = 1.5
		oNewMatAsset.PhysicalPropertiesAsset.Item("structural_Thermal_expansion_coefficient").value = 150
		oNewMatAsset.PhysicalPropertiesAsset.Item("structural_Young_modulus").value = 2900000
		oNewMatAsset.PhysicalPropertiesAsset.Item("structural_Poisson_ratio").value = 0.4
		oNewMatAsset.PhysicalPropertiesAsset.Item("structural_Shear_modulus").value = 6400
		oNewMatAsset.PhysicalPropertiesAsset.Item("structural_Minimum_yield_stress").value = 6500
		oNewMatAsset.PhysicalPropertiesAsset.Item("structural_Minimum_tensile_strength").value = 19000


		' Get reference to part material object
		Dim oLocalMat As Material
		oLocalMat = oDoc.ComponentDefinition.Material


		'This is a workaround to refresh materials info in the UI
		Call oDoc.BrowserPanes.ActivePane.TopNode.DoSelect
		oNewMatAsset.CopyTo(AssetLib, True)
				
	End If

End Sub

[Andrii_Humeniuk]

Hi @d_eckel . Make sure you choose the correct .Add(DisplayName As Strsng, Asset As Asset) variables when adding a category.

Also your code doesn't define local material correctly (line 60), you need to do it like this:

Dim oLocalMat As Asset
oLocalMat = oDoc.ActiveMaterial

[d_eckel]

Hi @Andrii_Humeniuk, thanks for your help.

I know that the line with .Add("","") wasn't correct. But what am I supposed to write as an Asset? I've tried things like this:

AssetLib.MaterialAssetCategories.Add("ABC", oNewMatAsset)

The first value is the Name of the Category I want to add. But whats the second value?

[Andrii_Humeniuk · Accepted solution]

That's right, in order to create a new category, you must add one asset to it. Next, you need to use this rule for the ready-made category:

AssetLib.MaterialAssetCategories("ABC").AddAsset(oOfherMatAsset)

[d_eckel]

so even with this code and an empty Library (just to make sure the Material isn't already in the Library) this code does't work:

	' Vorbedingungen prüfen
	If ThisDoc.Document.DocumentType = Inventor.DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject Then ' prüfen, ob Bauteil
		Dim oDoc As Inventor.PartDocument
		oDoc = ThisDoc.Document

		Dim oApp As Inventor.Application
		oApp = ThisApplication

		Dim AssetLib As AssetLibrary
		AssetLib = oApp.AssetLibraries.Open("C:\temp_Material\Asset_Lib_XXX.adsklib")
		
		' Get reference to part material object
		Dim oLocalMat As Asset
		oLocalMat = oDoc.ActiveMaterial

		'This is a workaround to refresh materials info in the UI
		Call oDoc.BrowserPanes.ActivePane.TopNode.DoSelect
		'oLocalMat.CopyTo(AssetLib, True)
		AssetLib.MaterialAssetCategories.Add("ABC", oLocalMat)
		'AssetLib.MaterialAssetCategories("ABC").AddAsset(oNewMatAsset)	
	End If

 it is probably a simple error or a wrong assumption, but something isn't working.

[d_eckel · Accepted solution]

I found a solution. The Material needs to be the one out of the Library!

	' Vorbedingungen prüfen
	If ThisDoc.Document.DocumentType = Inventor.DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject Then ' prüfen, ob Bauteil
		Dim oDoc As Inventor.PartDocument
		oDoc = ThisDoc.Document

		Dim oApp As Inventor.Application
		oApp = ThisApplication

		Dim oAssetLib As AssetLibrary
		oAssetLib = oApp.AssetLibraries.Open("C:\temp_Material\Asset_Lib_Eckel.adsklib")
		
		' Get reference to part material object
		Dim oLocalMat As Asset
		oLocalMat = oDoc.ActiveMaterial

		'This is a workaround to refresh materials info in the UI
		Call oDoc.BrowserPanes.ActivePane.TopNode.DoSelect
		oLocalMat.CopyTo(oAssetLib, True)
		Try
			oAssetLib.MaterialAssetCategories("ABC").AddAsset(oAssetLib.MaterialAssets.Item(oLocalMat.DisplayName))
		Catch
			oAssetLib.MaterialAssetCategories.Add("ABC", oAssetLib.MaterialAssets.Item(oLocalMat.DisplayName))
		End Try
		
	End If

 Maybe I missunderstood you, @Andrii_Humeniuk but thanks for your help and "discussion".

[WCrihfield]

Is it possible that your material library set to ReadOnly?  Can you do what you are trying to do manually?

[d_eckel]

Hi @WCrihfield, it's working fine now. The problem was the wrongly linked Asset in

AssetLib.MaterialAssetCategories.Add("ABC", oNewMatAsset)

 It needs to be an Asset out of the library, not the oDoc.ActiveMaterial - Asset.