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the tedium that is the BOM table
3

the tedium that is the BOM table

the tedium that is the BOM table

(OP)
arrrrggg, so many complaints - these are just from this morning...

1. Stretching column and row sizes.  Sometimes stretching affects every cell, sometimes just one- and never works the way i want it to.  Is there a certain way you have to drag/select the cell borders?

2. Can't move BOMs from sheet to sheet

3. Can't reorder hidden items without first unhiding them (the hidden items are using an item number so i want to move them to the end of the list to eliminate skipping numbers)

also, where do you go to submit a change request?

RE: the tedium that is the BOM table

What version of SW?
Is it a SW BOM or excel based.

As far as moving it can you not just insert a new bom on the new sheet, delete it from the old?

When reordering if you dont want the items to appear in the bom you can select that in the assembly, RMB properties in the feature tree - in the bottom right side of the popup box select the check box that says "exclude form bill of materials"

SW 2008 SP3.1
Dell Inc. Precision WorkStation 670
4096 Meg Installed Memory
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
Windows XP PRO SP3

 

RE: the tedium that is the BOM table

SolidWorks BOM is fine. The problem is with the users. Like the ones who think they are advanced after one month of use.

RE: the tedium that is the BOM table

(OP)
i'm using SW 2008 SP3.0

pdelnet, thanks for the info on "exclude from BOM", i didn't know about that option.  It's much better than hiding items.

As far as moving BOM's from sheet to sheet, once you make any changes to the bom, they are lost if you delete it and then insert a bom on another sheet.

finally,
I never said i was an "advanced" user
I've been using SW for 2 years, self taught.
I don't see how snarky comments benefit this profession forum.

 

RE: the tedium that is the BOM table

You can move a BOM from one sheet to another by selecting the BOM and CTRL-X (cut) then switch to the desired page and CTRL-V (paste)

Cole M
CSWP, CSWST, CSWI, CPDM
HP XW4300, 3.4g proc, 2.5g RAM, ATI Fire GL 3100
Dell M90, Core 2 Duo, 2g RAM, Nvidia Quadra FX2500M
Equus (custom), P4, 3.4g proc, 3g RAM, Nvidia Quadro FX3400

RE: the tedium that is the BOM table

I agree with adampunch on this--the BOM interface really is a kludge.  Yes, once you see the hidden (and inconvenient) ways of doing things, it's not so bad--but for attempting to figure it out the first time, it's quite frustrating.  Hell, I could probably create a simpler table in HTML than as a first-time BOM user (well, almost).  I could certainly do it in Excel itself.

The fact is that many of those original questions remain valid, in that doing what ought to be simple is really a pain in the ass.  Sometimes I have to drill down through four sub-assemblies to tell a part not to appear on the BOM--why can't I right-click it while staring at it in the BOM?  Lots of these simple interface issues simply haven't been improved.  It's not difficult imagining this much better than it is--it could certainly be better.

To submit an ER, log in to your SW Customer Portal and click on the Enhancement Request link.

 

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
What did you dream?  It's all right--we told you what to dream.
    --Pink Floyd, Welcome to the Machine

RE: the tedium that is the BOM table

Jeff, if you have wishes and/or desires from SW just submit ERs and be patient. I don't think they could have a department trying to guess what Jeff Mowry would like to see implemented in the program. And remember, just because you think something is logical to be there it doesn't mean it is.

adampunch, sorry. The "snarky comment" wasn't addressed to you.

RE: the tedium that is the BOM table

Another possible solution is to rely on your PLM (if you have one) for BOM control and to not put BOM's on the drawings at all.  In such an environment, it's bad practice to maintain "identical" unlinked databases in seperate places because of the potential for the introduction of errors doubles.

Matt Lorono
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
and Mechnical.Engineering Yahoo! Group

RE: the tedium that is the BOM table

Dogarila, yes, I'm working on that with SolidWorks.  It's quite true they cannot read my mind on interface enhancements (yet), so I still pass along my opinionated opinions to them directly in text format.

However, generally if I think something is logical, it is--remember, I'm the industrial designer clad in the black tee shirt.  wink

 

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
What did you dream?  It's all right--we told you what to dream.
    --Pink Floyd, Welcome to the Machine

RE: the tedium that is the BOM table

An opinionated opinion?  That's as redundant as going to the ATM machine and entering your PIN number...

RE: the tedium that is the BOM table

wink

 

Jeff Mowry
www.industrialdesignhaus.com
What did you dream?  It's all right--we told you what to dream.
    --Pink Floyd, Welcome to the Machine

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