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ECAD BOMs

ptc-3679148
1-Newbie

ECAD BOMs

Hi All,

I am struggling to manage ECAD BOMs using the Workgroup Manager. We are using Mentor Graphics PADs, which does not provide the option to export .edf files. Since that is the case, I would like to figure out how to import from a .csv file. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Joe


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7 REPLIES 7

Joe,

I'm kinda in the same boat. We got a Demo EDIF license to give this a try. I have create a EDIF file, eds. I have created a Schematic design, BOM attribute mapping file. Have selected to derive but find I get an attribute not found message and it goes past generating BOM. I have a ticket into PTC and a phone call to our Mentor VAR. We are totally new to DxDesigner so I'm trying to work with a schematic of two parts.

I think attempting from a spreadsheet might be a stretch. I would have guessed they PTC could have done with the ascii schematic file that is passed to the board. Problably wouldn't work for all PCB layout companies and wouldn't suppor t variant design nor hiearchy design.

If you find someone that really knows perhaps a direct email jlamber@daktronics.com

Thanks.

I have made a little progress on this that may be helpful. In order to use the edif for importing BOMs, you have to determine what the BOM attribute headings are in the generated .csv file. To find this navigate to the location on the local machine where the .csv file is stored. The following is the path on my computer:

C:\PTC\wgm\wldroot\ecad_ws\cad-testing08_46licor_46local81\Printed_32Circuit_32Boards\31-12598_design\ECAD_UWGM\31-12598\21401\GenericBOM\BuiltInResult\Design.csv

Capture.JPG

The path gets pretty deep (and will be different in your system), but if you search long enough you should be able to find the Design.csv file. Open that file in Excel. Now the headings of the columns are the attributes from your native ECAD application. to bring those into Windchill, create(or edit) a BOM attribute mapping. Then click on the folder icon to load design attributes. Select that design.csv file that you just located and hit ok. Now you should see all of your attributes in the drop-downs:

New Picture (1).bmp

Map the appropriate Design Attributes the the corresponding Windchill Attribute and hit OK. Now if you use this map for your schematic, the BOM should be generated properly. Hope this helps.

BTW: This process should work the same if you generate your own .csv file.

I'm am still trying to figure out how to add additional Windchill Attributes, so if anyone has insight how to do that it would be greatly appreciated.

Joe,

I'm so gratefull that someone replies.. I haven't gotten any reply from PTC ticket 11091637. Not sure how the design.csv gets generated but it didn't exist on my computer. Best I could do is use the Reporting tool in DXDesigner to list what I believe are the Attributes in question. The EDIF file is ASCii so I have looked in it to try confirm. That is a guessing game too. I get a this message when generating BOM. I have submitted the EDIF file of the Schematic and the Windchill log files. There is a video for 10.0, "Down Load a Product Structure from and ECAD Design", which is great but if it doesn't work there isn't any help. I have the design checkout so it should be in my workspace to fine the right file. Message is clear it can'f find attributes. Do I have wrong names? How do I find the correct names? There are a lot of attributes in the design. The missing Design.csv? Just incase this is hidden from Windows search I go back and look again. Thanks gain. JimError.png

Joe,

OMG...38 minutes ago said I would go look again for the file. I found it!..... I had looked on a machine that didn't run the process. I found on another computer. It took Windows almost five minutes to find. I had one of the three attributes correct. Only 33.33% The Reference Designator was the key and one I missed. Thank you.....

Now the next step is to try use the BOM. I still have to fix the part number value coming out of DXD. I'm thinking I will also go back and make our own .csv file to see that it works too. I will keep my eyes open for info about how to load a Windchill Attribute in the BOM process if I understood. Could this be just an attribute that is attached to the Part itself rather then in the BOM?

Thnak so much for helping get the juices runnning so that I found the answer.

Jim

Good to hear! I am having the same trouble with Windchill support, it seems that they don't have many people that know how ECAD data management works. I found a document (https://www.ptc.com/appserver/cs/view/solution.jsp?n=CS79569) on ptc.com that supposedly explains how to add additional attributes to a BOM Map, but it is not fully working. In addition to what this document details, I also added the attribute to the Electrical Part type. The new attribute shows up in the BOM Map and the Part Information page of each component, but the value does not get imported along with the other component attributes. I have been waiting for a week for help from ptc, but nothing yet. I guess I will continue to struggle through and hope I can figure it out.......

Thanks for chiming in, it's nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of.

Joe

David,

I have already seen this video and I found it somewhat helpful. The problem with this video is that it glosses over important steps required to define the design attributes. There is nothing more frustrating than finding a video that shows how to do what I want, only to find out that crucial information is missing. When I try to get clarification from Windchill Tech support, I get no response. I appreciate the effort of making these tutorial videos, but more detailed instructions and explanation is necessary for them to be of much value.

Joe

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