Solidwork BOM Excel Macro 1

[timbochung]

Although it is easy to export the BOM of a drawing to excel - is there a way where I can upload that data back into Solidworks?

Say you have a BOM where only the 'item', 'qty' and 'part number' have data. The other columns such as 'description', 'material', 'hardness' are empty.

I would like to export that BOM to excel (easy) where I can add the rest of the data (easy + fast). Now comes the hard part...is there a way were I can read the data from the modified excel BOM and write it back into the appropriate Solidworks part?

Thanx,
Tim

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Which version of SW are you using?
The SW08 BOM is bi-directional and is almost as quick and easy to add data as Excel.

 

[timbochung]

I'm at 2008 and yes, I've the bi-directional is good but I'm experiencing a lag of about 5-8sec for each part. Also, the multline editor is limited to how much text one can input

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

How much text do you need? I just placed the following;
]i]"This is a test to see how much text can be placed
into a BOM cell; specifically the Description
column. So far it looks like I'm up to four lines of
approximately 8 or 9 words per line."[/i]

I'm experiencing no noticeable lag in switching from cell to cell.

 

[timbochung]

Hmmm - odd. It could be that my computer is slow (P4, 3Ghz, 4Gb mem). Are you able to copy that entire text to multiple cells?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I'm using a P4, 2.8Ghz, 2GB RAM.

I cannot copy text into multiple cells. It has to be copied one cell at a time.

The amount of text in the Summary information is limited to one line apparently. The standard SW BOM I used placed the Description in the Configuration Specific section of the properties.

 

[timbochung]

I've spoken to some of my more nerdy buddies and they've mentioned that it doesn't look to complicated to do. Maybe my wishes will be fulfilled for 2009. Thanks for the input!

 

[timbochung]

As an update - if one wants to do a multiple edit but there isn't enough room in the text input box - edit one cell manually and then do the multiple edit. What was entered manually is now available as selection in the drop down.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Ahah!

Select cells to be edited > RMB > Edit multiple property values

Very good, I hadn't noticed that option.