QUANTITY ATTRIBUTE DRIVEN BY PARENT ASSEMBLY?

[jkcone]

In NX6 is there a way to have the quantity Attribute of a main assembly’s sub-component automatically filled out, at the part level, to match what’s shown in the main assembly’s Parts List?
The end result I’m looking for is to have this quantity in the sub-component’s drawing title block. I’m not using Master-model technique. The drawing is in the same file as the sub-component.

Thanks in advance for any help!
James

 

[JohnRBaker]

Not that I can think of, at least not without writing some sort of custom application in KF or something.

BTW, why are you NOT working in Master Model Mode?

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.

 

[jkcone]

I don't have a good answer as to why I'm not using Master Model Mode.
I guess it's because when I started here I was new to UG & most of what I did was engineering changes to existing designs which were already setup without Master Model Mode. Since then I've started doing some new designs with the old designs as templates. I'm working on updating this procedure but still have a ways to go.
Right now my biggest headaches are the shop(s) wanting the quantity in the individual detail drawings & the hidden lines to show up correctly when they open the drawings in Autocad.

Would using Master Model Mode help with the hidden line issue with DWG files from 2D exchange? This is something that's really causing problems.

Thanks for your response,
James

 

[JohnRBaker]

I doubt Master Model would have any effect on hidden line removal. Now when you say hidden line removal, do the NX drawings look correct before the translation? If so, why are you even translating them to AutoCAD in the first place? If it's just so that the shop floor can see them, why not output your drawings as PDF's and then anyone could see them using the free Acrobat reader.

As for the quantity used in the assembly showing up on the Piece part drawings, unless your parts are all unique and only used once, how do you handle situations where the parts are reused and there's a different quantity in one assembly versus another?

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.

 

[ewh]

John is correct regarding putting the final qty on the detail drawings; it is generally considered poor practice to let manufacturing drive engineering drawings in this manner, and there should be other documentation providing this information. If you must include this qty, do it as reference info only.

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]

 

[jkcone]

The NX drawings do look correct before their translated. Visible edges solid, hidden edges dashed.

The reason they have to be translated is most of the machine shops & die shops their sent to only have 2D Autocad. Many of the components/details will be machined on CNC equipment so they needed accurate CAD data to program to. Even if they use some other software to program with they still want either DWG or DXF. This is a customer requirement. Some pieces can be made from a PDF drawing but not many.
Do you have any advice on how I can achieve this? That is to export a DWG/DXF file from a drawing using 2D exchange & produce good hidden lines. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!

I'm not sure I totally understand your last question but I'll try to answer. The majority of the components in a design are unique to the design. There may be one or many of them in a design. Since their unique in design & quantity they need a detail drawing which includes how many are required for the specific job. There are also components in a design which are standard shelf & or catalog items. These don't need a detail drawing & their quantity can be taken from the Parts List (BOM) for ordering & the assembly process of the job. When the unique pieces are sent to the shop(s) to be manufactured they don't have the BOM & don't want it. They just need a quantity on the detail print.

Sorry for the long drawn out answer.
james

 

[ewh]

So what happens if one of six widgets doesn't pass inspection? Does the machinist make six more or does he violate the drawing and only make one?

"Good to know you got shoes to wear when you find the floor." - [small]Robert Hunter[/small]

 

[cowski]

Seems like the quantity should be covered by the purchase order. The administration of the machine shop should communicate to the machinist how many to make.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Try this first...

Export one of the 'problem' drawings out to PDF and take a look at it. If it still looks correct, try exporting the drawing to CGM, then import the CGM back into an empty part file and then translate directly (no need to use 2D Exchange) to DWG/DXF. See if that gives you better results. If the NX side still looks good at each one of these steps, yet the translated files are still incorrect, the problem is either in the translator or AutoCAD itself.

Second question, have you tried round-tripping (exporting then importing) a DWG/DXF file to see if it still looks correct when it arrives back in NX? If it does, then the problem is on AutoCAD's side of the fence. If it does not look correct, then you need to contact GTAC and have them look at the translator problem (if of course you purchased the DWG/DXF conversion software from Siemens PLM).

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.

 

[jkcone]

I exported a drawing to PDF it look good.
I exported a drawing to CGM, then back in. It look okay but the hidden lines were broke into individual segments with each dash being a separate line. Also it exploded the text to individual lines & arcs.

Next I tried the "round-tripping" it looked fine when it was imported back in. Like it did before it was exported.

I did hit upon a new result though. I exported a metric NX drawing file with similar hidden lines & it's hidden lines showed up decent when opened in Acad. They were much coarser that the NX hidden lines but could still be made out as hidden & weren't broke into segments. Before I've always used inch files because that's what all my template files are in & have to stay that way. The fact that the metric files export differently, does this tell you something that might help with the inch files?
Also John, are there settings in the "ugto2d.def" which might affect the line style properties during translation?

Thanks,
James