I have a series of bore chartsin excell. Is there a way to use this info to add the holes to a solid model without having tp add them all individually?
I guess I'm on the right track, I have been looking into GRIP programming, but I can't figure out how to call up the info from the spreadsheet. Any suggestions?
Not from GRIP. Like I said you need UG/Open API (C++) programming.
Most feature based functionality added since V10 has only been added to Ug/Open API, not GRIP. This includes the ability to read spreadsheet data.
Alternative method using GRIP would be to put the spreadsheet file out as CSV and read it from GRIP and then put a point at all of your locations. You would have to go through the file and add holes. GRIP could create a cylinder and subtract it from your base, if that would be good enough.
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Thanks for the info Ben. I guess I have to look a little deeper into this. I have numerous 2D files that litteraly have thousands of holes in them, and I am trying to find a shortcut to move them from a wireframe setup to a 3d solid without creating the holes on a one by one basis.
Would it be possible to add the points to a sketch based on the spreadsheet data and keep it parametric? This would cut down some of the time.
A solution we have used for generating impeller blades by points using an Excel spreadsheet, is to create associative points. Associative points have X, Y, & Z values that are driven by expressions. These expressions are then populated into the MODELING spreadsheet in UG. From there a new link can be created to point to the Excel spreadsheet, but this link can only be made on a Windows platform (such as NT), since Unix does not support Excel, at least through V18. I don't know about NX, because we haven't implemented yet. The Unix spreadsheet (Xess) does not work well with others, so if you have no NT workstations, you are stuck with the UG/Open API method. One last hint is don't try to link to Excel through Hummingbird or the like, because those are simply Unix emulators. However, a terminal server set-up on a Unix Wrokstation, such as Citrix, that emulates an NT UG set-up should work.
Jay Hostetler
UG Specialist
Engine Systems Product Definition
Hamilton Sundstrand
I forgot to mention that if you use the associative point method, you should save a "Template" part for future use. The link to an Excel spreadsheet can always be changed to point to a different spreadsheet, thus the future modification of your bolt center data is merely the adjustment of the spreadsheet and the subsequent model update.
Another "point" I should touch on is that you WILL still have to create the holes, but grip or macro can handle that part. If I were you, I would investigate all options for the quickest, simplest, and easiest to modify.
Jay Hostetler
UG Specialist
Engine Systems Product Definition
Hamilton Sundstrand
They have an API based tool which does similar work to what you are describing. They will probably also be able to help you develop your application if necessary. Just a thought.
