Adding Virtual Parts from an Excel File Using iLogic

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Synergis Applications Consultant, Dave Breiner and Manufacturing Product Support Specialist, Mark Lancaster
Mark Lancaster mentioned that a few customers were asking if there was an easy way to add virtual parts to an assembly. We said of course!
Many companies have any number of items that are typically added to an assembly for inclusion in manufacturing and in the drawing such as, glue, paint, grease or customer manual that are not modeled but are required for BOM. We would like to outline a way to include standard virtual parts in an assembly using Excel and iLogic. There is a way to add simplified parts using a text file, but I like the Excel file because you can utilize much more information such as part numbers, stock numbers or any iProperty.
Begin by setting up a detailed list of parts in an Excel file. Add any information that you want added to the iProperties. Add the iProperty name to the column header exactly how it appears in the iProperties window. Fill out the Excel file with all pertinent information.
When complete, save the file in a known or shared location.
If you want these virtual parts available at all times, add the next steps to your assembly template.
Create a new iLogic rule called Virtual Parts Rule and copy and paste the following text which was created by Curtis Waguespack with a little tweaking by me.
 
For ease of use, create a Form and add the rule to the Form. Simply drag the rule over to the Design tree. For more help on Forms, see my article.

A few tweaks to the rule you just created.

• The location of the Excel file must be added/changed in the second line of the code to match the location where you placed your Excel file.

• If you are going to use more or less than the 6 columns in your Excel file, add or delete the lines in the code at the location shown below.

• A little further down in the code are the lines that insert the information from Excel into the corresponding iProperty. Each iProperties Value will call out the Tab (Project), the iProperty (Description) and the oProp value from above.

Each iProperties Value must correspond with Excel header used for the value. It may look a bit confusing but you will see how it works as soon as you start to configure a file.
The other cool thing that this code does is that if you have a quantity of virtual parts such as (2) and you need to increase it to (4), just add the same part with the new quantity (4) and the total quantity is updated. If you enter a value of zero, the virtual part is removed. Pretty cool!
If you think it takes too long to enter virtual parts in an assembly, this may be the answer you are look for.
Till later,
Dave & Mark