Family Table Sorting

[tgiauque]

All,

I have a user here who has a family table with 12 instances. Each instance is given a number between 1 and 12, which comes after the part number, i.e. (p/n)-1, (p/n)-2, and so on, through 12. He wants to be able to sort the family table from 1 to 12. However, choosing the "sort ascending" option in the family table dialog puts them in the order 1, 10, 11, 12, 2, 3, etc. through 9.

The only way I can see to make Pro/E sort them in the order he wants them is to delete the instances and recreate them, which isn't really a good option. Is there a better way to organize them in the order he wants?

We're on WF4.

Thanks,
Tim

Tim Giauque
Project Engineer II
FN Manufacturing, LLC
Phone (803) 736-0522 x383
Fax (803) 865-3543


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[tgiauque]

Follow-up - I cannot rename the instances. We have them named this way because it's our company's naming convention and renaming is not an option. Is there a way I can manually sort the instances in whatever order I want them? That would be fine for this situation.

Why is the family table tool so inflexible? The family table is used to drive a repeat region on the drawing, which can't be easily manipulated because it's being driven by the family table in the model. So why can't I reconfigure that family table the way I want? Why can't I select a row and do a "cut & paste" to move it down somewhere else, like you can do in Excel? Is there a config option that allows me to manipulate the order of the rows? There's a "swap two columns" option, so why not "swap two rows?" (PTC employees: SUGGESTION FOR IMPROVEMENT. HINT HINT.)

I'm not just trying to complain, I just don't understand why the tool has to be so user-unfriendly. Unless I'm missing something (a config.pro option, perhaps?).

[merrill.rosenow]

I have had to deal with a similar situation in the past. The easy solution is to make a new column in the family table. I typically call this column "fam_tab_org" or something to that effect and use this to organize the family table. You then put numerical values in this column in the order you would like the table to appear (put 1 for the first instance you want in the table, 2 for two, etc.). Using this method, you will have no problem sorting the instances in any order you like. Don't forget to filter this column out of your drawings.

[magnus.salomons]

I'm not sure if the family table was in the correct order in the generic part. If it was you might want to try Table - Repeat regions - Sort Region - <select table="> - No default which will sort the table as it is in the generic part.