Bill of Materials - Custom Properties
Applies to Excel-based Bills of Materials.
You can add more information such as Material, Vendor_Number, Cost, and so on to the open part or sub-assembly document by clicking File, Properties, and selecting the Custom tab or the Configurations specific tab. (See
Summary Info - Custom and Configuration Specific
for information about specifying properties.)
SolidWorks provides several
for bills of materials in the directory <install_dir>\solidworks\lang\<language>. Columns in the templates are populated automatically as follows:
|
Property
|
Automatically populates
|
|
ITEM NO.
QTY.
PART No.
DESCRIPTION
|
In all templates supplied
|
|
MATERIAL
STOCK SIZE
VENDOR
WEIGHT
|
1) When the column appears in the selected template, and
2) you add the property to the Custom or Configuration Specific information in the part or assembly document
|
|
custom properties
|
1) When you add a custom column to a BOM or template, and
2) you add the property to the Custom or Configuration Specific information in the part or assembly document
|
Custom properties can include model dimensions and mass properties, which update automatically in the BOM if they are changed in the model.
To add custom columns to the bill of materials:
-
Open the BOM template file. To add the columns to the default BOM template, open <install_dir>\solidworks\lang\<language>\Bomtemp.xls.
To create a new BOM template, it is a good idea to make a copy of the default template, then open the copy.
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Insert a new column where you want the information to appear. The new column must be to the left of the column marked $$END.
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Enter the column heading for the property you want to display in that column, and press Enter. The name appears in the Formula Bar in the Microsoft Excel toolbar. This column heading does not need to match the custom property name.
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Click the cell to select it.
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In the Name Box, type the name of the property that you want to appear in this column. This cell name replaces the default alphanumeric cell name that appears in the Name Box in the Microsoft Excel toolbar whenever you click a cell. This name must match the name of the property from the part or sub-assembly document, and must not contain any spaces.
When you add a bill of materials to a drawing, it now includes the added column. The cells are populated with the values of the custom properties of the document, or the values of the configuration specific properties for the item.
NOTE
: Do not change the cell names in the Name Box for the default columns in the BOM template. You can change the text in the column heading, but not the cell name.
-
Save the Microsoft Excel file.