Is there a associative custom property that....

Is there a associative custom property that lets me know the where a part is
used in what assemblies? This property needs to be in the specific part so
that on the sheet format that contains the part, it will show me the next
level up the part is contained in? something like $PRPSHEET:"Description"
except it will tell me what assemblies the part is in...

Hope that made sense.

Ben

 

It makes sense and probably could be done in conjunction with a PDM system.

The basic problem is that parts, as lower level documents, don't know or
carry knowledge about the entities that reference them. This is for good
reason. Consider a 1/4-20 x 1 inch hex cap screw. It would have to carry
all the where used information for every part that ever used it. (I am
exagerating a bit, but am not far from the truth.) Every time you used
that particular screw all your 1/4-20 x 1 HHCS prints would have to be
updated or they would be out of date.

We have PDM to keep track of things like this when and where needed.

The other problem is that custom properties don't lend themselves to lists.
I always thought this would be nice to have.

 

Thanks P

Ben

 

How does Solidworks Explorer do a "Where Used..." on a *.SLDPRT file to tell
you where it is used? Where does it get that info? Maybe something can be
made to use the same info to find where a part is used.

Richard

 

That information is only stored in the assembly not in the part, so you'd
have to know where on the hard drive or network are the files that might
reference the part. If you can't see the drawing or the assembly, then the
drawing or assembly can't be shown on the "where used" list. PDMWorks does
this by keeping a separate "where used" text file for each part. SW
Explorer is not the best method for this type of search.

matt

 

Explorer does not actually look at the part for the where used list...
it actually analyses assemblies and drawings to see if they contain that
part. That is why you need to give SWX Explorer a search path when
doing a where used.