Open .api?

[hexfly]

Hi. I looked for something on this in the search box and did not see what I was looking for. Does anyone know how to point me to someone who can write / sell me some custom apps for NX6?

Mainly related to adding fasteners on the fly while doing the subtracts and getting BOM attributes filled out automatically and then renaming the actual file to Job#_detailnumber. These would then be sent out to a .csv file for importing into a spreadsheet for the Bill of Materials. For the finished BOM i need columns kind of like this...
Detail# Qty Description (block size) Vendor Type

That is a rough outline. Automatically assigning attributes and a drop down dialogue for adding / changing attributes would also be involved....

Thanks in advance.
Adam

 

[cowski]

You might get some free help from the forum if you can post a detailed spec of your needs/desires. From your post I understand you want to export a BOM, but I don't have the full picture.

This line confuses me:

adding fasteners on the fly while doing the subtracts

 

[JohnRBaker]

NX 7.5 has been enhanced to allow you to select a fastener from the Reuse Library and place it in an Assembly and based on the size and type of fastener, the necessary clearance and mounting holes (which can include counterbored and countersunk conditions) will be created automatically in the parts which are being fastened together in the assembly. The hole features are added to the relevant detail part as local Hole features but which are associatively linked to each other and the assembly as well as the fasteners themselves.

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.

 

[hexfly]

I will try and explain the most important functions.

First is one that creates a block that can grow or shrink dynamically. This block also is created with a set of attributes that later get sent to BOM:
1- Description (Size ex: 1.00 x 2.00 x 3.75) this changes when the block size is changed.
2- MAT'L Upon creation of the block, a drop down menu lets me pick material type.
3- Label....lets me type in or pick a vendor.
It also extracts a body of the block on a certain layer and gives it a reference set of "toolbody" for subtracting from other blocks. The main block is given a reference set of "body"

The Dies are designed using both purchased components and details made using the Block command.

Now, the second part comes in to play after the die is finished and approved.
There is a command called THE BOM. I hit this and pick a block and a attribute dialogue box comes up. In it are all the attributes mentioned above. I go through every detail and fill out these attributes....to eventually be sent to the Bill of Materials. There is also a "Copy Attribute" command where I can make a component the work part, hit copy attribute and then pick all the details that are the same steel types or whatever else is similar and the attributes get copied to all the picked details.

There is also a "Save As" Command that saves a file to whatever steel type I select and it saves the file as a new detail and automatically fills out the Attributes.

When all the attributes are filled out for all the details I go to the next part....actually ballooning the job.
There is a "Balloon" Command. It asks what the next detail # is and I fill that out. Say 001 for example. I then go through and pick every detail and it resaves it as whatever detail number is next. When I am done....all the filenames are now the actual job # and detail numbers. Example.....1526_ 001, 1526_002, 1526_003....etc. and the attributes are intact. When finished, I hit an "Export BOM" command that sends the job to a .cvs file that I can import in to a spreadsheet for the finished BOM. Somehow it gives a "quantity" attribute to everything in the bom as well. So in the end My BOM has the columns:
Detail# Qty Description Label (Vendor) Type. (purchased, stock, Burnout)

Finally there are a couple other commands.
Wave Subtract, Wave intersect. These let me do a "wave link in" and subtract all at once. (or intersect)

Export Parasolids lets me export the whole job to a specified folder as individual parasolids named by the Job# and detail#. Example: 1526_001, 1526_002 and so on

Another key one is the "Fastener" Command. This lets me add screws and dowels from my fastener library dynamically and does the wave subtracts on the fly. You select the fastener type from a drop down menu, and then add them dynamically. 1st screws, then dowels, then jacks. You are then able to add or subtract s,d or j's till you get it how you want. When you are happy, it does all the wave / subtracts for you using toolbodies built in to the fasteners. Ideally, it would be nice to have different fastener libraries and be able to switch libraries for different customers. My fasteners are all made up of a part family....so that should be do-able.

There are a few other ones (mirror component, circle from spline and a few others) that are not that critical.

It is the renaming files and attributes to get out to the BOM that are the most important for me. Auto balloon does not rename the files and that is why I don't use it.

There is a guy I know that works for a large company, who has written all the commands for NX6 for his company, but they are not sure if and when they would sell these.

I am starting to look at my options because I want to go to 6 soon. I also know a couple other people who are very interested in this if it is cost effective.

So that's it in a nutshell.

 

[hexfly]

John, that sounds really cool and I would like to learn more. The problem for me though is that if I went to 7.5 I would be "leapfrogging" all of my customers, most of whom are on either 4 or 6.

I would like more than anything to find / learn a way of using NX out of the box efficiently, but I can't find any kind of in depth training on what "best practices" to use for die-design. How is everyone else doing it? The UG User group I went to here in GR was very much geared to unveiling 7.5, but offered little help or support for existing products and more than one person voiced that concern there. There are a lot of new bells and whistles, but we don't fully understand the ones we already have yet. The commands I currently have cut my time down to about 1/4 of what it would take me without them.

UG is such a huge program, and I understand that they can't make everyone happy....but they could improve upon training the customers. If you get a chance....check out Lynda.com. It would be awesome if UG could have the same type of instruction, laid out in such an organized manner.

I am always open to learning better ways of doing things, and would be willing to meet with / speak with anyone else out there in Die Design who just wants to improve their process.

Thanks.
Adam