SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [145]
Controlling the appearance of the table-based BOM
If you are already familiar with formatting an Excel-based BOM, then you will quickly get used to formatting the SolidWorks table-based BOM. Figure 17.6 shows the table unselected on the left and selected on the right. While it's selected, you have access to a full range of appearance and organization options through the RMB menu.
FIGURE 17.6
Selecting a column, row, cell, and table
To move the table, click outside the upper-left corner and drag the table to a new location. When you select the table, a border appears around it that is not normally visible and is not printed with the drawing. You can change the properties of a row or a column by selecting just outside of the row or column to the top or the left.
You can establish spacing and width of rows or columns by dragging the border on the left side of the column with the split cursor or by accessing the column width setting through the Formatting option in the RMB menu.
While the selection is activated, you can also expand a panel to the left and another to the top by clicking the three small arrows in the selected BOM border. Figure 17.7 shows the left panel, called the Assembly Structure panel, expanded with the cursor pointing to the three small arrows. In addition to showing the assembly structure, this panel can also show which parts are ballooned on the drawing.
Notice item 7 on the BOM, which has a different symbol and no name. This is a virtual component (a component created in context but not saved to its own document file); it exists only within the assembly.
Dissolving, combining, numbering, and restructuring for indented BOMS
You can dissolve an assembly in the BOM. To do this, the BOM has to show an indented list. You can then access the Dissolve option from the RMB menu on the assembly icon. You can delete any restructuring you have done to the BOM by right-clicking the assembly icon with red arrows and selecting Restore restructured components.
If the BOM shows several parts that are identical, and you would like to combine them, again, you can access the option from the RMB menu.
FIGURE 17.7
An expanded BOM border
Item numbers in indented BOMs can be flat (such as 1, 2, 3), or they can be detailed (such as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2, 2.1, 2.2) to reflect parts as members of subassemblies. This formatting option is available in the BOM Type panel in the BOM PropertyManager, under the Indented option.
Adding columns or rows
To add a column, right-click near where you want to add the column, and choose Insert⇒Column Right or Column Left. Inserting rows is exactly the same. The next thing you want to do with a column is to assign what kind of data goes into it. You can use a custom property such as Part Weight or Vendor, as shown in Figure 17.8. Access this interface by double-clicking a column header and selecting Custom Property from the drop-down list.
FIGURE 17.8
Establishing the property driving the column content
One of the really beautiful aspects of custom property management in the BOM is that if you just type text in a column set up to be driven by a part property, SolidWorks automatically updates the part with the property. If the property didn't exist in the part previously, SolidWorks also creates the property. This is another very nice addition to the software.
Note
If you create a BOM with the columns and properties that you like, then you can save it to a template, as described earlier in this chapter.
Editing BOMs
When you need to manually enter text in a BOM, for example