BOM WIDTHS

[Yogibear]

Is there a way to lock the widths of a BOM and if it exceeds that width then wrap the text to a second line.
I can specify the width when I setup the BOM template but but if I have a part number that is longer than my width it makes the column wider based on the text size.

I've seen some old posts similiar to this but was wondering if anyone has found a better fix.
Hope this all makes sense.

 

[lilwil]

I have the same problem. Two days ago, I inserted a BOM and
the text was too long. Today, I inserted a BOM and it came out fine. Needing help also.

Lilwil

 

[macduff]

Yogibear,
I've spent countless hours trying to to lock in my BOM templates in 2004 and hand no luck what so ever. I heard that there were Service Packs that fixes these problems, but still had the BOM's moving on me. All I needed was to control the width on QTY and ITEM to make then narrower, but when I saved, they went right back to the default. So......I pretty much gave up and back to the Excel version, but that also has issues too...

I like the BOM capibilities, but the code still could use some work as far as column/height widths and word wrap.

Best,

macduff

 

[SBaugh]

That's why there are Enhancement requests. You need to go to the SW website and put these in, because SW doesn't know what you need. Also this is new functionality. With new functionality comes problems. I think once the new BOM's get some age to them they will be better then most of us ever thought.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[macduff]

Scott,
I put about 5 enhancement requests in about a years time and only receive one response by email saying that they received it.

 

[SBaugh]

If you turned in 5 Requests of the same thing or nearly the same thing, then only one will count.

If you turned in 5 separate items, then I'm sure they have been counted.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[Yogibear]

I understand the enhancement request procedure. I don't like bothering SW for a simple question that there may be an option for, but I just haven't found. I try to use the other people's knowledge on this site for that.

Also how would I know if I need an enhancement request if I don't know if there is already a command for that.

 

[EdDanzer]

I’ve been having problems with SolidWorks changing column widths, sometimes it makes old BOM’s wide for no reason and they will not size as seen on the screen.
I think SolidWorks screwed the Excel BOM to make people migrate to their system.
I am sending this in file as a bug, maybe something will happen.

 

[Standing]

Our SolidWorks Excel bomtemp.xls BOM’s were coming in half the size they should have about three weeks ago. What we found out was that the drawing template was saved with a setting in the Bill of Material had changed. The setting is (for us) unchecked, “Use the document’s note font when creating the table ” in the Bill of Materials Properties – Configuration. Once unchecked our BOM’s came in the right size.

Bradley

 

[CajunCAD]

I have found that by renaming the column (deleting the ".") that I have better control over the column widths.
I change "ITEM NO." to "ITEM" and "QTY." to "QTY" - If the names aren't changed Solidworks does you a favor and restores the column width.
Another trick I have found to "shrink" the column width is to change the font size, drag the column to resize, and then restore to the desired font. This is a bit of a pain but I can reduce the column widths and save drawing space.
Louis

 

[Standing]

The following is an Excel macro that I wrote when our Bill Of Material column widths were not coming in the correct size. I assigned the macro to Ctrl D, once in the SolidWorks BOM we pressed Ctrl D and the columns would change to the correct width.

Option Explicit

Sub Macro2()
'
' Macro2 Macro
' Macro recorded 2/23/2004 by Brad Johnson
'
' Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+d
'
Columns("F:F").Select
Selection.ColumnWidth = 37
ActiveWindow.SmallScroll ToRight:=-3
Columns("E:E").Select
Selection.ColumnWidth = 57
Columns("D").Select
Selection.ColumnWidth = 19.29
ActiveWindow.SmallScroll ToRight:=-1
Columns("C:C").Select
Selection.ColumnWidth = 13.14
Columns("A:A").Select
Selection.ColumnWidth = 9.57
Range("A2").Select
End Sub


Bradley

 

[Yogibear]

Bradly
Hopefully I can modify that code to work with the nonExcel BOM's.
Thanks.

 

[odmullen]

I'm having a similar problem with 2004 SP3.0: THe SW BOM is not word wrapping correctly - the wrap occurs at the first space character AFTER the cell margin, so verbose entries spill over into the column to the right. I tried the Excel BOM and the preview wraps fine but when I exit the OLE editing window the cells don't word wrap at all. THe row heights are adjusted for wrapped contents, but the text is all on one line.

At risk of sounding a little single-minded, I really wish SW would fix all the bugs before they introduce a single new feature. The program has more bells and whistles than I'll ever learn to use if I have to waste so much of my time trying to deal with bugs in the fundamental production features. The product has been around long enough that this kind of BS should never occur. I can tolerate a few glitches in whiz-bang new modeling features, but BOM's should have been right from day one for a professional tool.

 

[SBaugh]

This is new functionality. All new functionality is like a fine wine. it does take a little time to be great. I don't see the functinality to wrap text in SW04 BOM's. Maybe I'm missingg something here...?

As for the Excel BOM not wrapping. That's not a SW issue that's a OLE issue, Compliments of Microsoft.

At risk of sounding a little single-minded, I really wish SW would fix all the bugs before they introduce a single new feature.

Then sign up for the beta testing! That's one of the ways to help SW work out it's issues. So when the final product hits the streets you will have a decent BOM working.

Not to sound like a BLANK, but if you don't participate in the beta, then IMO you can't complain. Because that's what the Beta program is there for. It's there to get you involved with the development of SW Beta and the way it is designed for that release. FYI - you will work directly with SW concerning the issues you bring to them, concerning the beta version.

See thread559-93267 for details.

The program has more bells and whistles than I'll ever learn to use if I have to waste so much of my time trying to deal with bugs in the fundamental production features.

Some of those bells and whistles are there not for just you, but because other customers need them to do their job. Just because it doesn't work for your needs doesn't mean that it shouldn't be in there. I would have to say 90% of the enhancements put into Sw in the last few years are from the customers ER (Enhancement Requests).

As for the fundamental production features, like wrapping text. - When I was making drawings (by hand) I NEVER Wrapped the text in a BOM. It was wrong to do in the ANSI standards. I have never seen an ACAD drawing with Wrapped text in a BOM. Not to say you can't do it, but I can see why this ability has yet to be implemented.

The product has been around long enough that this kind of BS should never occur

This BS is called new functionality and on top of that, see above on this statment in further detail.

I can tolerate a few glitches in whiz-bang new modeling features, but BOM's should have been right from day one for a professional tool.

What kind of whiz-bang glitches? Like crashing, stablity of some new features? The new type of installation. There are all kinds of different things that can occur, no matter if it's in the BOM's or in boss feature.

In conclusion, I hope SW05 will work up to your expectations. But there will be somebody here that will find something that they don't like about the new BOM's in SW05. I might be you, heck it might be me.

I'm honestly not happy about the new BOM's. However I do like them, and they do show that they are taking a step in the right direction. Excel has been soooo limited over the years. (SW has incorporated Excel BOM's for close to 7 years now, and the functionality is still like you see it today... limited) It's a matter of time and I think these new SW BOM's will be great. So just lay back, find a good workaround and hopefully SW05 will fix this issue you are having. If not, place in an ER and always participate in the Beta. At least you get to take a look to see what's new while doing the beta.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[dogarila]

Scott, talking about the great functionality of the new BOM: We have a macro that connects to the Excel BOM in an assembly drawing and transfers that information into an Excel spread sheet asigning each piece of info to its specific column. I know you don't know much about API and VB, maybe there is someone else who has an answer to my question: Is there a way to do something similar to assembly drawings using the new BOM?

 

[SBaugh]

You should post this as a new question in a new post netshop21.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[solidmail]

SW 2004 has been out for a year, and Dassault have not ONCE acknowledged the BOM issues raised in their own forum.

Fundamental issues like basic formatting should NEVER EVER get to production releases. If they do then they should be fixed without delay once discovered.

I certainly hope the next major release (drawing mode) resembles a proper windows program.

 

[Cryo1]

The new SW BOM functions are sexy and looked great ... then we started using it and found that SW left a lot of bugs in the software. We need stable software not a manual on how to deal with SW bugs. Yes, I expressed my humble opinion to SW but that does not help me meet deadlines when I have a peice of software that is buggy.

I hope SW stops parading a string of useless features before the users and sticks with reliability, usability, and stability.