Design Table only partially updates model (completely updates on second rebuild)

Mar 19, 2007 3 Replies

Let me quickly describe my design table: (Perhaps it's the source of my problem)



There's a lot of stuff in the top of the spreadsheet (above the design table). Parameters are keyed into the top/header section in a colorful table. It's a vertical list easy to understand kind of like this:



How many sides? | 4 | How long is each? | 6 | inches What angle--etc... | | degrees ...(there's about 70 of these)... ...



Then below is the standard horizontal design table line up. Parameter values across here reference the list above so the users never have to look down there. Many calculations, IF() statements, and functions are used throughout the sheet. Formatting is very colorful. Borders, bold, and italics are used pretty lavishly.



Subtle changes to the parameters (smaller hole, deeper cut, etc) will cause the model to update perfectly, but when I make massively different changes (like almost all of the parameter values are changed) the model seems to miss some of the new parameters on rebuild.



Here's what happens after one of these massive design changes: I exit the design table, and the model will partially update with many errors. Then if I go back into the design table and then simply exit back to the model again, the model updates perfectly. It's almost like there are some predecessors in the model that must be created before the new parameters can be built. But check this! For some reason, neither a standard rebuild nor a hard rebiuld (CTRL+Q) updates the model correctly. The errors only go away after that second design table rebuild.



Am I missing something? Is there a quick fix? I know a VB app would be the best thing but our CAD support is somewhat limited...so I've got this crazy spreadsheet thing.



What version of Excel are you using?

Do you maybe have some dimension in the spreadsheet evaluating something in the model that is being changed by the spreadsheet, as in sort of a circular reference? This would fit what you are seeing in that the spreadsheet would set a dim to make a change in the model, but another part of the spreadsheet is evaluating something based on the current model dimension driving some watched feature, and doesn't get that new parameter until you go back in and out.

WT

Yes! I fixed it! Complex as it was, I think that's exactly what was happening. I don't completely follow where the circular reference was occuring, but I changed a dimension and instead of dimensioning a segment length, I dimensioned an arc tangent to it. This kept the sketch fully constrained and apparently freed the circular reference. The clue that helped me locate the problem was finding where things stopped being updated at the end of the first rebuild. Everything up to that sketch was updated correctly. (Hope that helps if anyone has this problem in the future)

Very complicated, but works much better now. Thanks WT.

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