NX to load up a part for a given cell in excel?

[DaveSkylark]

Hello all! I'm currently trying to make an assembly using expressions that incorporate cells from excel. Is it possible to have NX load up a part for a given cell in excel?

What I mean by this is, say i have a drop down list in excel and i were to select 4, have NX load up an engine block with 4 cylinders, or if 2 was selected, an engine block with 2 cylinders.

Maybe it wouldn't need to be done this way but im no NX master, i was thinking another way to do this would be to incorporate a mirror function as an expression but this isnt possible as far as im aware...?

 

[JohnRBaker]

I think you should be looking at the 'Product Template Studio' capabilities of NX if this is the sort of thing you're trying to do. Here's a link to a page with more information about the PTS (be sure to check out the link at the lower right corner of the page to see a short video showing how it works):

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.c...or-design/product-design/template-based.shtml

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Digital Factory
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[TaylorAnderson]

John is right... Outside of Product Template Studio (which has a set of capabilities called "Visual Rules" that can enable this) I can't really think of another way to do what you're asking for.

And in case you haven't watched it yet, the video on the page that John mentions shows the specific functionality you're asking about -- watch the teeth.

Feel free to contact me if you have more questions about PTS.

Or just ask them here.


Taylor Anderson
NX Product Manager, Knowledge Reuse and NX Design
Product Engineering Software
Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc.
(Phoenix, Arizona)

 

[DaveSkylark]

Ok, I can see how this could be achieved in NX, but my problem is that i need NX to work with excel, is there an expression that can be used to load up a given part? So the user only deals with excel?

I am trying to generate a crankshaft using expressions, where the user picks from a list in excel; number of cylinders, configuration(v or inline) and firing order. My problem is that the crank will be different for each scenario. For instance i could mirror a single cylinder assembly to make an inline 3, or an inline 4, but i havent found a way of using mirroring as an expression so the model automatically updates. Furthermore, even if i had managed this, the firing order will mean the con rod pins(or whole single assembly) will need to be rotated a given amount.

This is why i was thinking the best way would be to design a crank for each scenario and have NX look into excel and recognize which crank needed to be loaded up?

Maybe there is another way of doing this?

The help is much appreciated!!! Thank you

 

[TaylorAnderson]

Dave --

So, you can certainly use Suppression by Expression to either perform or not perform a given mirror command. Have you looked into that?

You could certainly still store the various data about rotation angles, available firing sequences, etc. in the spreadsheet and reference these directly from the model using DesignLogic functions.

If you wanted to avoid Excel entirely, you also have List expressions available (starting with NX 8) that can store a whole list or table of options for you.

And starting with NX 9, you can optionally populate these list expressions (associatively) from an Excel spreadsheet...

...and then dynamically populate the option menus in a Product Template interface dialog with the appropriate contents of the spreadsheet range, based on the results of other selections. (For example, present the user with one set of firing sequence options for an inline 3 and a different set of options for an inline 4.)

In other words, I'm pretty sure we could get you from here to there, and make it very easy for the user to switch between configurations.


Taylor Anderson
NX Product Manager, Knowledge Reuse and NX Design
Product Engineering Software
Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc.
(Phoenix, Arizona)