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Add part references to an existing drawing in order to populate the bill of materials.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
6 min.
Transcript
00:03
Part references are special blocks in AutoCAD Mechanical.
00:08
Part reference attributes contain the data that is used to populate the bill of material database.
00:14
You can easily add a part reference to an existing drawing.
00:18
On the ribbon, Annotate tab, Bill of Material panel, expand Part Reference.
00:24
There are three commands for part references: Create, Edit, and Block.
00:29
Select Create, and then in the drawing, pick a location for the part reference.
00:35
In the Part Reference dialog box, you can find the current properties in the bill of materials.
00:41
These properties can be removed or added.
00:44
Click Settings to edit the part reference settings.
00:47
In the top half of the BOM Settings for ANSI dialog is a table of all the Available component properties for the project.
00:56
To see only the properties for the component you are working with, below the table,
01:01
click the Component Properties tab if it is not already active.
01:05
To remove a property, such as VENDOR for example, from the Component Properties pane, click its row to select it, and then click Remove.
01:16
To add a property, select one from the Available component properties table, such as STANDARD, and then click Add to.
01:24
Now, the STANDARD property shows in the bottom of the Component Properties table.
01:29
Click STANDARD again, and then click Remove.
01:33
Remove NOTE as well.
01:36
Along with the Component Properties tab, you can also access the current BOM, Parts List, and Balloon component properties.
01:44
Click OK.
01:46
Back in the Part Reference dialog, you can fill in the data you want,
01:50
such as a specific name and material type.
01:53
Next to Name, type “6x8 Bracket”, and next to Material, type “Steel”.
02:00
Click OK, and the information is saved.
02:04
You can further edit the part reference at any time.
02:08
Click the Part Reference > Edit command, and then click the block reference point and click Accept or press ENTER.
02:15
Click OK.
02:18
Click the Part Reference Bracket drawing tab.
02:22
Then, from the ribbon, expand the Part Reference drop-down again, and this time, select Block.
02:30
Block allows you to click a block to create a part reference instead of just an ordinary object.
02:35
For example, if you try to select a line, with the Block Part Reference command active, it will not select the geometry.
02:42
However, if you select the bracket block, the Block Part Reference command activates, and the Properties open for that block.
02:51
Click Cancel.
02:54
Click the Part Reference Table drawing tab.
02:57
The 6x8 Bracket assembly needs to be added to this table assembly.
03:01
On the ribbon, Home tab, Block panel, click Insert.
03:06
In the Blocks palette, Current Drawing tab, select Insert DWG as Block.
03:12
In the Select File to Insert dialog, browse to and select the 6x8 Bracket, and then click Open.
03:21
In the drawing, locate it in the corner of the table and click to place it.
03:27
Now review the bill of material.
03:29
From the ribbon, Annotate tab, select BOM and press ENTER to open the main bill of materials.
03:36
Both the 6x8 Bracket and the Table are listed, each with a quantity of 1.
03:42
Click OK to close the BOM.
03:45
Keep in mind that the bracket as seen in this view needs to represent two brackets:
03:50
the one that you see, and the one that is immediately behind it in this view.
03:56
You can edit the part reference to show that.
03:59
On the ribbon, click Part Reference > Edit.
04:03
In the drawing, hover your cursor over the point where the bracket was inserted.
04:08
A red plus appears, and the tooltip prompts you to select a part reference or the assembly properties.
04:15
Click the point, and then click Accept to open the Part Reference dialog for the bracket.
04:21
Under Management, change its Quantity from 1 to 2.
04:25
Click OK.
04:29
Click Bill of Material again, press ENTER, and there you can see that the Quantity is now 2.
04:36
The next step is to mirror the bracket over to the other side of the table.
04:41
On the ribbon, Home tab, Modify panel, select Mirror.
04:46
Then select the bracket.
04:50
Ensure that the Midpoint OSNAP is ON, and then specify the midpoint of the table.
04:57
When you are prompted to erase the source object, click No.
05:01
The brackets are now mirrored, but again, in this view, you see only two.
05:07
From the Annotate panel, click BOM, and now you can see that there are four 6x8 Brackets listed.
05:14
Click OK.
Video transcript
00:03
Part references are special blocks in AutoCAD Mechanical.
00:08
Part reference attributes contain the data that is used to populate the bill of material database.
00:14
You can easily add a part reference to an existing drawing.
00:18
On the ribbon, Annotate tab, Bill of Material panel, expand Part Reference.
00:24
There are three commands for part references: Create, Edit, and Block.
00:29
Select Create, and then in the drawing, pick a location for the part reference.
00:35
In the Part Reference dialog box, you can find the current properties in the bill of materials.
00:41
These properties can be removed or added.
00:44
Click Settings to edit the part reference settings.
00:47
In the top half of the BOM Settings for ANSI dialog is a table of all the Available component properties for the project.
00:56
To see only the properties for the component you are working with, below the table,
01:01
click the Component Properties tab if it is not already active.
01:05
To remove a property, such as VENDOR for example, from the Component Properties pane, click its row to select it, and then click Remove.
01:16
To add a property, select one from the Available component properties table, such as STANDARD, and then click Add to.
01:24
Now, the STANDARD property shows in the bottom of the Component Properties table.
01:29
Click STANDARD again, and then click Remove.
01:33
Remove NOTE as well.
01:36
Along with the Component Properties tab, you can also access the current BOM, Parts List, and Balloon component properties.
01:44
Click OK.
01:46
Back in the Part Reference dialog, you can fill in the data you want,
01:50
such as a specific name and material type.
01:53
Next to Name, type “6x8 Bracket”, and next to Material, type “Steel”.
02:00
Click OK, and the information is saved.
02:04
You can further edit the part reference at any time.
02:08
Click the Part Reference > Edit command, and then click the block reference point and click Accept or press ENTER.
02:15
Click OK.
02:18
Click the Part Reference Bracket drawing tab.
02:22
Then, from the ribbon, expand the Part Reference drop-down again, and this time, select Block.
02:30
Block allows you to click a block to create a part reference instead of just an ordinary object.
02:35
For example, if you try to select a line, with the Block Part Reference command active, it will not select the geometry.
02:42
However, if you select the bracket block, the Block Part Reference command activates, and the Properties open for that block.
02:51
Click Cancel.
02:54
Click the Part Reference Table drawing tab.
02:57
The 6x8 Bracket assembly needs to be added to this table assembly.
03:01
On the ribbon, Home tab, Block panel, click Insert.
03:06
In the Blocks palette, Current Drawing tab, select Insert DWG as Block.
03:12
In the Select File to Insert dialog, browse to and select the 6x8 Bracket, and then click Open.
03:21
In the drawing, locate it in the corner of the table and click to place it.
03:27
Now review the bill of material.
03:29
From the ribbon, Annotate tab, select BOM and press ENTER to open the main bill of materials.
03:36
Both the 6x8 Bracket and the Table are listed, each with a quantity of 1.
03:42
Click OK to close the BOM.
03:45
Keep in mind that the bracket as seen in this view needs to represent two brackets:
03:50
the one that you see, and the one that is immediately behind it in this view.
03:56
You can edit the part reference to show that.
03:59
On the ribbon, click Part Reference > Edit.
04:03
In the drawing, hover your cursor over the point where the bracket was inserted.
04:08
A red plus appears, and the tooltip prompts you to select a part reference or the assembly properties.
04:15
Click the point, and then click Accept to open the Part Reference dialog for the bracket.
04:21
Under Management, change its Quantity from 1 to 2.
04:25
Click OK.
04:29
Click Bill of Material again, press ENTER, and there you can see that the Quantity is now 2.
04:36
The next step is to mirror the bracket over to the other side of the table.
04:41
On the ribbon, Home tab, Modify panel, select Mirror.
04:46
Then select the bracket.
04:50
Ensure that the Midpoint OSNAP is ON, and then specify the midpoint of the table.
04:57
When you are prompted to erase the source object, click No.
05:01
The brackets are now mirrored, but again, in this view, you see only two.
05:07
From the Annotate panel, click BOM, and now you can see that there are four 6x8 Brackets listed.
05:14
Click OK.
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