• Specify the directory and the name of the bill of materials export file. If you do not change the name, it will be automatically incremented (e.g., SmartBom, SmartBom1, SmartBom2, etc.). This folder can be located on a local drive or on the network so that it can be shared among multiple workstations.


 


There are two possible solutions for choosing the location of Excel export files :

Either select a folder, or specify that the Excel file should be exported to the assembly folder.


The name of the export file can be customized:


 

   



  • The file can have the same name as the assembly.
  • The name can be specified.


  • The name can retrieve the name of a property from the assembly.
  • The name can be the name of the assembly's active configuration.
  • The name can retrieve the increment of a counter defined using the SmartProperties tool.


The " File Name " can be constructed using the " & " character to concatenate values.

Example:

 

If necessary, specify the file extension (for example, "txt" for a text file).

We can request that this dialog box be opened when the file is saved, in order to modify its name or directory, or simply to update a BOM that has already been extracted. .

In this section, we configure the settings for exporting the bill of materials (or bills of materials) to a text file (with a .txt extension). Various options can be specified.


You can specify an extension for text files, such as "txt," "csv," or any other extension of your choice; however, in that case, the files can be opened with an application such as "Notepad++."


  • " CSV " format:

This is the most commonly used format and creates a file for each bill of materials defined in the project. You can specify a character or string to separate the values. Once the file(s) are open, you can save them with any name you choose.

Example using the " / " separator.


 


Example using the " space " separator.


 

Exporting the list of files generated by SmartBom in CSV format allows you to import that list into the "SelectFilesAndFolders" feature of batch tools such as BatchProperties, BatchConverter, etc.


  • " Linear " format:

This (rarely used) format lists all the values in the bill of materials columns, starting with the first column (usually part numbers) and continuing with the subsequent columns. The export creates a file for each bill of materials defined in the project. For this export format, it is helpful to check at least the " Show column names " option for greater clarity. The " Separator " checkbox is not needed in this case and is therefore grayed out.


 


Finally, enter the character that will serve as the column separator.