Electrical Design Software | Elecdes Design Suite by Scada Systems Ltd

How to Generate a Bill of Materials

General

Paneldes can extract complete component data, for any single model, to a DBASE 3 compatible database file.

  • The file is named: <Your Model Filename>.DBF

  • It is known as the BILL OF MATERIALS file or BOM file.

  • It is placed in the current Elecdes project directory.

Viewing and Printing the BOM

This database file contains all of the information required in a Bill of Materials. Due to the DBASE 3 format of the file, you can use any one of a number of cheap, robust database and spreadsheet packages to format and print a materials report from the contents of the file. (Microsoft Excel and Access are two examples). For reporting purposes, with most modern word processors, spreadsheets and database packages, it is a simple exercise to exclude fields from reporting. i.e. you can print the Bill of Materials file directly and exclude any fields you do not wish to report [e.g. sizing fields].

Global Editing

The bill of materials file also contains information used by the Global Editor. This is to allow you to edit information in your BOM file and have the changes reflected in your model.

The data in the BOM file pertaining to the Global Editor includes parameters, class and spatial location.

Component queries

Component Queries in a drawing session refer to data from the BOM file for the latest information on your model.

Procedure

  1. Select the Generate Model BOM entry from the Utilities and BOM menu.

  2. Paneldes will generate a new Bill of Materials for the current drawing. The file will have the same name as your current drawing but will have a .dbf extension. The BOM file will be saved in the current Elecdes project directory. If you do not have a current Elecdes project you will be prompted to select or create one.

BOM File Structure

Do not modify the file structure of the BOM file:

For a complete description of each of these fields, see the Paneldes Component Attributes and Paneldes Component Dimensions reference items.

FieldWidthDescription
DRAWING255Drawing name with path but no .dwg extension
HANDLE20AutoCAD handle of the component
3DHANDLE20AutoCAD handle of the 3D block for a component or 3D envelope for a raceway segment
REFERENCE25Elecdes reference
TAGNAME25The name of the component
LOCATION25The name of the panel or plant the component is located in
DETAILS50User details
BLOCK3D25The name of the 3D block representing the component
CLASS10Class name
SUBCLASS25Subclass name
MFG5Manufacturers code
CATNO50Catalog number
CATDESC59Catalog description
PRICE10Price per unit
HEIGHT10Overall Height
HEIGHT110Height Value
HEIGHT210Height Value
HEIGHT310Height Value
HEIGHT410Height Value
HEIGHT510Height Value
WIDTH10Overall Width
WIDTH110Width Value
WIDTH210Width Value
WIDTH310Width Value
WIDTH410Width Value
WIDTH510Width Value
LENGTH10Overall Length
LENGTH110Length Value
LENGTH210Length Value
LENGTH310Length Value
LENGTH410Length Value
LENGTH510Length Value
RADIUS10Radius
BNDRADIUS10Bend Radius
SECHEIGHT10Secondary Height
SECWIDTH10Secondary Width
CNRANGLE10Corner Angle
PROTRUDE10Protrusion
CABLEFACTR10The cable filling factor for the component. This is only used for route segments.
WEIGHTFCTR10The weight filling factor for the component. This is only used for route segments.
POWER10The power index for the component. This is only used for route segments
ZONECLASS10Area classification
AUX110Auxiliary One
AUX210Auxiliary Two
AUX310Auxiliary Three
AUX410Auxiliary Four
AUX510Auxiliary Five
AUX610Auxiliary Six
NORTH10Y value of the position of the component in WCS
EAST10X value of the position of the component in WCS
ELEVATION10Z value of the position of the component in WCS
ERRORS15Errors
BHANDLE20Handle of the 3D block representing this component
HINGESIDE10The side of the door that has the hinge.