Attributes on drawings

[dtharrett]

Currently our company has a standard drawing format which does not allow us to add part attributes (and the company does NOT want to change it). So, for every drawing, we add notes for things like material, finish & heat treatment. I would like to semi-automate this and am looking for suggestions. My initial thought was to assign the material at the model level through the "assign materials" icon and then somehow import that into the drawing (perhaps in a table). Any thoughts? How are others getting this information on the drawing?

 

[looslib]

Using attributes is a greatway to automate the use of NX. Your company is missing one benefit of having NX as your design tool.
I suppose you could create your own attributes at the model level and then use them in your drawings.

Using a tool like NX without customization, makes your company a mid-pack runner. Like an Indy 500 racecar, they all come from the same factory, yet the customization that some teams do enhaces their performance to the point that they are always looking for the win rather than just looking to finish. Customizing NX with the tools provided does the same to your company's product design team.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[JohnRBaker]

If you are assigning material to the bodies in your piece parts then these are automatically being created as Part attributes which when you create an assembly, which when you're working in Master Model mode is also automatic, these Part Attributes are assigned as Objects Attibutes on the Assembly Components which can then be inherited into a Parts List note where you can assign columns to show the values of the various Attributes, including the material designation. Note that any attribute can also be included an Drafting note by selecting, while you're creating your note in the text editor, in the section of the dialog titled 'Symbols' with the Category set to 'Relationships', any Attributes assigned to the Part file or any Object in the Part file including Components of an Assembly.

To learn more about including attribute values in drafting notes, with the Text Editor dialog open, press the 'F1' key and the NX Help page for the text editor will be displayed and if you go about 3/4 of the way down the page you will find the 'Relationships' options described including links to pages on the various items which can be referenced by a drafting note, including attributes.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[dtharrett]

John,
Thanks for the information. I think I misued the term attribute. The place that I am assigning materials when modeling is: "Assign Meterials" via the NX material library. I am assigning materials in the model so I can check mass properties etc. So, with that said, can this information be automatically brought into the drawing via a note or table?

 

[JohnRBaker]

If you've set-up Customer Defaults properly at...

Customer Defaults -> Gateway -> General -> Attributes

...then when you assign a material using the...

Tools -> Material Properties...

...function, the Part and Object 'attributes' will be assigned automatically. Note however, that these Attributes will only contain the name of the material. The actual material data is not assigned as attributes but rather just as a material ID which is referenced when a Structural Simulation is performed (although Mass Density is set properly).

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[dtharrett]

OK, I think my customer defualts were set up OK but when I insert a note, under symbols, catagory relationships and try to insert a part attribute I get the attached dialog. I am thinking the dialog should have a filter titled "MATERIAL" but it does not..

 

[JohnRBaker]

If you're creating a 'Master Model' drawing, then the 'MATERIAL' Attribute (or whatever you defined as the Attribute name in Customer Defaults) will be an 'Object' attribute on the Component in the single-level Assembly.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[dtharrett]

Hmm, I must be missing something obvious here. My object attribute dialog looks like the attached. I do not have a selection for "meterial" here either?

 

[JohnRBaker]

Your images are all being clipped so I can't see exactly which dialog you have open, but it appears tobe the one that is asking you to select the 'Target Object', which in the case of a 'Master Model Drawing' would be a Component. So either select it from the Assembly Navigator, or if you're picking from the face of the Drawing, make sure that you're actually selecting the 'Component' (use QuickPick and it should be the last item on the list). Once the component is selected you will be given a list of Object Attributes available, one of which should be 'MATERIAL'.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[dtharrett]

That did the trick, thanks for your patience. One last question..I assign the material to the model via the "assign materials" tool and get a selection linked to the NX library. Is there a similar way to assign material finish and hardness?

 

[JohnRBaker]

Not in a manner which would create an attribute unless you create a custom application to do so. Now there may be some aspects of the various tool design wizards, such as the Mold Design or Progressive Die design, where these packages may assign material specs in the form of attributes, but I don't know that for sure.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

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

 

[dtharrett]

OK, maybe a table template is what I am looking for. If I create a simple table with the text "MATERIAL" in one cell and I have a second cell with an expression that links to the object attribute, what would that expression look like?