Parts lists
The parts list (BOM, bill of materials) is derived from the block instances of the drawing: every block definition carries BOM data, the program counts the instances and lists them with their quantity. You maintain the data once per block; the parts list is always up to date — when displayed, as a table in the drawing, as CSV and at the item balloons.
Step by step: Create a parts list, Place balloons. Commands: Show parts list, Block BOM, Item balloon. Dialogs: Parts list, BOM data.
BOM data per block
Every definition has the fields Designation, Article number, Standard, Material, Unit (default Stk), Weight, Supplier, Price and Remark. When a block is created, the designation is preset with the block name; when a standard part is inserted as block, the values come from the part file (Standard parts). You change the fields in the dialog BOM data — via the row button ✎ in the panel, BOM data in the Block manager, right-click on an instance → BOM data… or the command Block BOM. The block name can be changed there as well.
Blocks without designation and without article number appear grey with the note (no BOM data) and their block name — so they are not missing but flagged as incomplete.
Quantity and structured BOM
The quantity BOM merges identical parts and sorts them by designation; the item number is the row number. The structured BOM shows the assemblies as a tree with item numbers 1, 1.1, 1.2 … and total quantities across the levels (3 assemblies with 2 washers each = 6 washers). Both views are switched at the top of the dialog. The parts list always refers to the model — even when you open it from the paper space.
As a single part and dissolved assemblies
The check box List as a single part in the BOM in the BOM data (default: on) decides how an assembly counts. On: the assembly is one item, its sub-blocks are not counted — right for a purchased part drawn from several blocks. Off: the assembly is dissolved, the contained blocks count; the quantity multiplies across the levels. The Block manager shows the mark 1 part or dissolved accordingly. If the structured BOM has no sub-levels, a note under the table explains that every block counts as one part.
The note text in the dialog mentions a check box Dissolve assembly. What is meant is the check box List as a single part in the BOM in the BOM data — clearing it dissolves the assembly.
Article number as key
Blocks with the same article number are merged into one item of the quantity BOM, even if they are different definitions (for example a side view and a top view of the same purchased part). Without an article number every definition is its own item. A variant automatically receives the article number suffix -2, so that it counts separately.
Hidden blocks
If definitions are hidden via the eye, the program asks once per operation: The drawing contains n hidden block(s). Should they be COUNTED in the parts list? OK = count · Cancel = omit. The answer applies to the display, the switch of the view, inserting and CSV export of the same operation; the next time the dialog is opened, the question is asked again.
Parts list as a table in the drawing
Insert into drawing creates a block Parts list from the current view with the columns No., Qty, Unit, Designation, Article number, Standard and Material (text height 3.5 mm) and attaches it to the mouse. This table block is excluded from the parts list (mark Parts list in the Block manager) and is not updated — after changes, insert it again. With the insertion the program switches the balloon numbering to the same view: quantity items or structure items.
CSV export
Export CSV writes the file stueckliste.csv (semicolon-separated, UTF-8 with byte-order mark for Excel) with the columns Pos, Menge, Einheit, Bezeichnung, Artikelnummer, Norm, Material, Gewicht, Lieferant, Preis and Bemerkung — for blocks without data the remark says no BOM data. The structured view exports with the levelled item numbers.
Item balloons
An item balloon Balloon is a circle with a leader that is pinned to a block instance and shows its item number from the parts list. The number is live: it follows the parts list with every change and cannot be overwritten manually. Whether quantity or structure items are shown depends on the last inserted table (default: quantity items). If the balloon shows ?, the block is not an item of its own — for example a dissolved assembly; the balloon then reaches through the assembly to the single part, or it is pinned to an excluded block.
A balloon on any other element or in empty space is a free balloon: it first shows ?; a double-click opens Balloon text for your own text. Balloons belong to the dimension family: they lie on the system layer Dimensions, take text height and arrow size from the Dimension settings, move with the bound element and can be placed in viewports of the paper space.
Print, DXF
The table block and the balloons are printed like geometry. In DXF, balloons go dissolved (circle, leader, text), the table block like every block (Blocks in DXF). The parts list itself reaches other programs via the CSV file.