bomtables command

[Jessica28]

im running mep 2013 and trying to create a table for electrical conduit using the bomtable command.....When i create a table everything looks fine except im getting a "?" where it says part number....How do i fix that? It would be nice to get a part number and for that number to appear in the drawing where the part lives..Can this be done?

 

Thanks

[tzframpton]

The BomTables command doesn't use the AEC Schedules. It's a one-time generating Table, which cannot dynamically "keep track" and regenerate from any changes made (that I know of anyway). Building your own AEC Schedule table would prove to be much more useful. This way you can achieve what you are wanting, albeit a manual process. It would have to make use of some custom PSD's (Property Set Data's) I would assume. At least a little tinkering anyways. Then you could use LabelCurve's to show each Conduit's "part number" that coincides with the part number on the scheduled table.

[Jessica28]

Thanks for the info. Do you know of any good tutorials that could help me learn how to build aec schedule tables? I haven't had a lot of experience working with them.

[hoss]

This is a good book that StykFacE recommend to everyone, I have a copy and can confirm its very good

You can view and read on google books here

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=piu5eS2ILMkC&lpg=PP1&dq=autocad%20mep&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

you need chapter 15

[tzframpton]

Good find Hoss, didn't realize Google Books had it available! I have bookmarked that link. Jessica, that book will get you very far if you put in the time to go through the chapters that interest you the most. Also, I've done a few step-by-steps in the past regarding AEC Schedules. Doing a quick search might yield the results you're after.

 

But, just to get you started, you can bring in a pre-defined schedule off the Electrical Tool Palettes, under "Tag & Schedule". There's a Conduit & Fitting schedule that already is in place for you. Once you insert it, it'll ask you to select the components you want, then you place it anywhere in the drawing. It won't show anything yet, so you'll need to select the Table, right-click, and select "Add All Property Sets" and then it'll populate the data. Any changes that are made, you'll see a diagonal line running across the table, which you will then simply right-click and select "Update". You can then edit how the schedule displays the information by right-clicking and selecting "Edit Table Style". Usually the "Columns" tab is the only option you'll alter. When select a column and click Modify, it's usually best practice to select the "Total" checkbox so you don't have repeating items that will unnecessarily populate.

 

Hope this at least gets you started.

[Jessica28]

thanks for the info hoss and StykFacE. I'll definitely give the book a try and see if I can get a schedule built for our needs. We've been drawing in 3d quite a bit lately for coordination projects and recently have gotten more into prefab. Being able to schedule everything would be huge.

 

Thanks