SOLIDWORKS Electrical has the capabilities to utilize information from your existing processes to be integrated into your future electrical projects. One of the ways it can do that is by importing manufacturer parts from Excel workbooks. Using this function, we can easily import bulk design data from old eBOM’s, catalogs, or result exports from manufacturers. Let’s walk through the steps to accomplish what would otherwise be a time-consuming task by importing manufacturer parts from Excel.
Begin by going to Manufacturer Part Management under the Library tool and select the “Import” option.
This will then open the import dialogue box, where you will begin the process by selecting your file for import. Available file types are excel workbooks and text files. Once the file is selected, a preview will appear on the screen to help confirm your selection.
Hitting next will move you into defining the data range and type. The range is the sheet in the workbook, and then type in this scenario will be the first option “Manufacturer part/Electrical assembly”. Once both of these are selected, hitting next will make us select the title rows. These are the rows at the top of the spreadsheet that are to be excluded from import, and the drop box on the right side of the dialogue identifies which row has the callouts for column titles.
Hitting next will prompt you to associate which component properties correspond to which columns. This is accomplished by dragging the property over to the appropriate column. Make an incorrect association? Simply select a cell within the column and click remove association. Any columns that are unassociated will be left out when imported. If there aren’t fields available for a property on the spreadsheet, you can drag a “user data” property field over to that column to still attach that information to the part.
Hitting next will then move you on to the final page, which presents 3 options. Adding a data range will allow you to repeat the previous selection process for a new sheet within the workbook. Save settings to an import configuration allows the mapping of characteristics and various steps to be used in the future if you’re expecting similarly formatted files for import. These configurations can even be used if they are close but not exact to reduce the amount of work required to import. Along the same lines, saving your settings allows for the editing of an existing configurations format, or creating a new saved configuration. Hitting Compare will check your imported parts to the existing database to determine whether this is information that should edit existing parts or create new parts. Once the comparison is complete and the results are viewed, the button will change and will import once clicked.
After Importing, verify that item information is correct and use as needed in your designs! By default, items are put under unclassed elements, but if they need to be moved to a specific class, that can be accomplished by simply dragging and dropping the part into the appropriate class.
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