mitchb
Beta Testers
Jr. Member
Posts: 65
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« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2010, 02:32:48 PM » |
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The user manual on BOM is not very clear to say it nicely. To explain this lets do a little demo. Start with a new drawing page and draw four objects, say two boxes and two circles. The boxes should be smart polygons for this demo. Open up the "Attributes/BOM" window. Select "Standard" in the drop down window, then select an object. The first line is Item No, this is assigned by TurboCAD. The second line is Qty, again assigned by TurboCAD. Part No is entered by you so make something up, like AB-23. Note: in a real world application if you don't know the part number and want to fill it in later you can edit the text using the "edit object" drop down box, but you cannot select an empty box so put some text in there like a question mark or a note to be selected and edited later. Description is also entered by you, so something like box or circle will do just fine. Click "Apply to Selected" box. The "Qty" box should also fill in but not the Item No. Select the next object, repeat the above and remember to click the "Apply to selected" box. If you do any adding or editing changes click that box or the changes will be lost. Select the third object and repeat the above. Don't select the fourth object yet, we will get to it later.
Click on the "Create BOM" now look in the upper left corner of your screen, you are being ask to select a starting point for the BOM box. Select a spot on your drawing for the BOM box and click the point. Now another box has opened asking you which corner of box this anchor point is. Lets go with the default upper left corner. we also have a check box to change the order the items will appear. Text size will control the size of the BOM box and will need some thought. The height of the box the text is in will be twice the text height. If we are using the inch unit (preferences -> unit) then the default of 0.20 for text will give us a box that the text is in 0.40 inches high. We have three objects plus a header line, so 0.40" X 4 = 1.60". The total height for this BOM box will be 1.6" tall to scale. On a drawing of parts just a few inches long this size will work just fine but if we are doing a floor plan that is 60' x 40' the text size will need to be 6" or more or the BOM box will be to small. The length of the box is controlled by the amount of text entered in the fields, that is the box will lengthen to accommodate the text as needed. Click OK. You should now have a BOM box with the three objects in it.
Select the fourth object, enter the data as above but put in a longer description. Click the "Apply to selected" then click "Update BOM". The fourth object will be added to your BOM box and the box is now longer to accommodate the text. Next click "Create Balloons". All four objects will have a balloon attached to the upper right corner with a number inside which matches with the items in the BOM box. Drop down the "Edit Object" box and select a balloon. Change this balloon to any way you want. There is one thing that you can't do and that is move the arrow point. You are stuck with the upper right corner. If that just won't work then delete the balloon and on your dimension tool fly out select the balloon icon, second one from the end, the balloon with 1 inside. Place it and edit as needed. If the text is not centered in the balloon then put a space or two after text to move it over.
Should none of the BOM templates work for you then you can make a user defined template - but thats for another day.
I hope I have been clear enough for you to get this to work.
Mitch
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