Bom sorting using multiple keys (further explanation)

hello,

I posted this message last year and just recieved a message indicating some interest, but I realize there was confusion about how to implement this simple yet slightly tricky technique. The old thread can be found by searching "bom sorting".

The tip was a method for sorting a BOM using muliple keys (like one can in EXCEL but not the EXCEL Solidworks BOM).

The tip is to create an extra custom property, "Sortkey" that concatenates the various strings together (of your choosing) to create one new custom property. This property is entered into all parts and assemblies and is used only for sorting the BOM. It is not shown in the BOM.

This would best be done by using a customized custom property entry program.

In one example, say you want to sort by description, and you also want to sort the BOM so that assemblies are listed first, then weldments, and then hardware. Your Sortkey property would have a prefix of "1" for the description of Assembly parts, "2" for the description of weldment parts and "3" for the description of hardware parts.

NOTE: There is no macro in the EXCEL BOM template. To prepare the template you add a column with the Header "Sortkey" and 'name' that Cell "Sortkey" and then hide the column in EXCEL before saving the template.

After inserting the BOM into the drawing, from within the "Contents" tab of the BOM "Properties" dialog one would drag the mouse cursor across the header row by the word "DESCRIPTION" to uncover the hidden column, then execute a sort of the BOM as you normally would by clicking on the column named "SORTKEY" while holding the CNTRL key down. The column will remain hidden in the EXCEL BOM even though you 'exposed' it in the dialog box

For example, if the Sortkey column were shown the BOM, it would look like this:

ITEM QTY SORTKEY DESCRIPTION

1 1 1DEF, ASSY 1 DEF, ASSY 1 2 1 1EFG, ASSY 2 EFG, ASSY 2 3 1 1FGH, ASSY 3 FGH, ASSY 3 4 1 2ABC, WELDED BRACKET 1 ABC, WELDED BRACKET 1 5 1 2BCD, WELDED BRACKET 2 BCD, WELDED BRACKET 2 6 1 2XYZ, WELDED BRACKET 3 XYz, WELDED BRACKET 3 7 1 3ABC, HARDWARE 1 ABC, HARDWARE 1 ETC..

The BOM _actually_ will look like this in Solidworks, notice that the assemblies are grouped together and then the Weldments are grouped together, etc.

ITEM QTY DESCRIPTION

1 1 DEF, ASSY 1 2 1 EFG, ASSY 2 3 1 FGH, ASSY 3 4 1 ABC, WELDED BRACKET 1 5 1 BCD, WELDED BRACKET 2 6 1 XYz, WELDED BRACKET 3 7 1 ABC, HARDWARE 1

without this special "Sortkey" column, the BOM could be sorted by description and it would look like this.

ITEM QTY DESCRIPTION

1 1 ABC, HARDWARE 1 2 1 ABC, WELDED BRACKET 1 3 1 BCD, WELDED BRACKET 2 4 1 DEF, ASSY 1 5 1 EFG, ASSY 2 6 1 FGH, ASSY 3 7 1 XYz, WELDED BRACKET 3

where the different types of parts are not grouped together

Hope this helps.