Structured Parts

[tgjang]

Hi

I am trying to sell IronCAD as an alternative to AutoCAD to tier 1 and 2 vendors for ship building companies and plant builders.
So I tried to do a very simple sample using the IronCAD Structured Parts module, and it was very difficult compared to Solid Works or Inventor, but it's not a problem that I can't get them to design in Innovate Mode, because there are a lot of cases where the whole structure needs to be driven by a skeleton.

Also, I am developing PLM, and I have programmed the part designed in Innovate Mode to automatically create quotation, purchase request, purchase order, etc. by aggregating part number, part name, description, quantity, and material, but I cannot apply it because description, material, quantity, etc. are not displayed in Structured Parts.

I would be very grateful if some one could tell me how to design in Structured Parts Mode and how to display Description, Material, Quantity, etc.

Also, I've mentioned this a few times before, but dual monitor support is very important for ship builders and plant companies to display 3D and 2D on different monitors.

Thanks.

STEEL_STRUCTURE.zip

Edited April 22 by tgjang

[Malcolm Crowe]

Hi TaeGyu,

In the attached video I demonstrate how to apply the requested properties (Description and Material) to the individual Frame Members (Bodies) of the 3D model, so that they then appear in the BOM of your CAXA drawing. I also show how to get the Qty to display and total correctly within the BOM. I hope this points you in the right direction.

Malcolm

STEEL_TEST - MC.exb STEEL_TEST - MC.ics

[tgjang]

Thank you very much. Malcolm
You have solved my this problem again.  

Now all I need to do is ask the IronCAD R&D Team for a C Program API to access the Attribute (Matrical, Qty, Size, Colour, etc) for the Body.
I need to create Purchase Orders, Purchase Requisitions, and Quotations in PLM with a batch aggregation of parts.

Thanks.

[Malcolm Crowe]

Hi TaeGyu,

I'm pleased that it helped.

Regarding any Application being written for extracting Part Properties from multi-bodied Structured Parts, it's important to reference the "Switch" between Part and Body Properties. This "Switch" was introduced in IC2024. It you're not familiar with this, see the attached video.

Malcolm

Edited April 23 by Malcolm Crowe

[tgjang]

Malcolm. Your sample video is very helpful for me.
I personally find the Steel Structure feature in IronCAD very difficult and frustrating, so I have never tried to apply it to structures and have only modelled IronCAD stapler samples.

But when I see what you have designed with the Steel Structure feature of IronCAD, it is even phenomenal.

Questions.
1. when designing and modelling the structures in your video, did you use 3D Curve to design the layout and then design the structures?

2. when designing a steel structure, do you create a Datum Plan and create a 2D curve there and create a Steel Structure?

3. When calculating the BOM, do you export the BOM Table in CAXA 2D Drawing to Excel File and use the file to create documents such as quotation, order, purchase requisition, etc.

I am developing a C++, C# programme to extract BOM information from 3D Scene files and automatically issue quotations, purchase orders, purchase requisitions, etc. by company and item.(Only Innovate Mode Model)

[Malcolm Crowe]

Hi TaeGyu,

There have been positive improvements regarding Structured Frames within recent releases, and there are many potential applications for it; but in my opinion additional enhancements are needed before I'd start showcasing it to users. Perhaps some of those enhancements will arrive in IC2024 PU1 or IC2025 or ....... (I don't know what R&D are working on). In answer to your questions.

1. Sometimes I like to toggle between displaying and exporting Solids and 3D Curves (as part centerlines). This is a huge benefit offered by Structured Frames (and Structured Parts). In these applications I will include 3D Curves, but these are normally "Extracted 3D Curves" from a 2D Sketch. 2D Sketches provide better control and can be driven using parameters. While the 3D Curve tools have been greatly improved recently, they also require additional enhancements to provide the level of control needed. As a result, these aren't my preferred tools.

2. It is very rare that I need to create a Datum Plane (but I'm pleased to have the capability for when I do). You don't need Datum Planes to create 2D Sketches. For example, in your model the Datum Plane wasn't necessary, as the "Sketch Position" tools provide that positioning functionality relative to the XY, XY, and YZ Planes of the Part.

3. For some projects we export the CAXA BOM to Excel Spreadsheets for the reasons that you have listed. All of our BOM Styles contain all of the properties that we might want to display or export. But we control what is displayed in the drawing by controlling the width of the BOM item within the BOM Style. A width of zero (0) means that it doesn't display. Regardless of what is displayed in the BOM on the drawing, when the BOM is exported from CAXA, all of the columns are exported to the Excel Spreadsheet.

Malcolm

Edited April 23 by Malcolm Crowe

[tgjang]

 

Malcolm. Thank you very much for the answer to my question.

I'm glad to see that IronCAD is finally making some changes.
However, it is still lagging a lot while other low-cost CAD systems (SolidWorks, Inventor, Gstar CAD, ZW CAD, Brics CAD, UniCAD, NanoCAD, Smart CAD...) are growing rapidly.
If IronCAD wants to grow while AutoCAD is so prevalent in the world, it will either have to abandon ICD and use that money to improve IC and CAXA intensively, or join the ODA and focus its efforts on developing AutoCAD-compatible 2D tools.

Here are the IronCAD features that users need most.

1. Dual Monitor support
2. Active Sub Assembley
   When creating a part, the part will only be created under the active Sub Assembly.
3. Improved convenience of Multi Body Modeling and ease of designing steel structures, etc.

Thanks.

Edited April 24 by tgjang