How to Use Assembly Design Commands and Tools in BricsCAD Mechanical

Quick answer: This is the full command reference for assembly design in BricsCAD Mechanical, resolving the “Assembly Design Commands and Tools” link referenced on this hub’s Mechanical Workspace page.

Creating and Converting Mechanical Blocks

• BMNEW: creates a new mechanical block as a new drawing file.
• BMMECH: converts the current drawing into a main mechanical block.
• BMUNMECH: converts the current mechanical block back into a plain drawing.
• BMXCONVERT: converts X-Hardware solids in the current drawing into a mechanical block.
• BMFORM: creates a new mechanical block and inserts it into the current drawing.

Inserting and Replacing Blocks

• BMINSERT: inserts an existing mechanical block into the current drawing. A second variant of this command auto-resizes the new part and automatically connects it to the parent part.
• BMHARDWARE: opens the Library panel.
• BMREPLACE: replaces a mechanical block insert.
• BMCONNECT: connects two Piping standard parts by creating 3D constraints between their connection entities.

Local vs External Blocks

• BMLOCALIZE: switches external mechanical blocks to local ones.
• BMEXTERNALIZE: switches local mechanical blocks to external ones.
• BMOPEN: opens the source drawing of an external mechanical block.
• BMOPENCOPY: opens a copy of a mechanical block insert as a new drawing.

Restructuring and Linking

• BMDISSOLVE: dissolves a mechanical block inserted into the current drawing.
• BMLINK: changes the target 3D solids of component-based features.
• BMUNLINK: breaks the connection between a component insert (a window, for example) and a 3D solid (a wall, for example), while retaining the opening.
• BMRECOVER: recovers a broken mechanical structure.
• BMDEPENDENCIES: lists every file, in the Command window, containing component definitions inserted in the assembly.

Visibility and Display

• BMHIDE: hides a mechanical block or sub-mechanical block.
• BMSHOW: shows a previously hidden mechanical block or sub-mechanical block.
• BMVSTYLE: applies a visual style to a mechanical block.

Documentation Tools

• BMBALLOON: creates associative balloon entities for assembly components in model space and their generated views in a paper space layout. A second variant automatically places associative balloons on every component in a particular drawing view within a paper space layout.
• BMBOM: inserts a Bill of Materials (BOM) table into the current drawing.
• BMMASSPROP: computes mass properties for the current model, based on densities assigned to its components.
• BMUPDATE: reloads every referenced mechanical block from external files and updates BOM tables. A second variant reloads only the currently selected referenced blocks.

Exploded Views

• BMEXPLODE: creates an exploded representation of an assembly, moving components to make them all visible, storing the result in a new block, and inserting that block into model space.
• BMEXPLODEMOVE: moves selected parts to form an exploded representation in a given direction, accounting for possible physical collisions between components (similar to BMEXPLODE‘s Linear option).
• BMTRAILINGLINES: creates the necessary trailing lines for selected parts.

Panels

• MECHANICALBROWSEROPEN: displays the Mechanical Browser panel.
• PARAMETERSPANELOPEN: displays the Parameters Manager panel.

Accessing These Tools

Use these commands via the Assembly toolbars, the Assembly menu (Mechanical Workspace only), or the Assembly tab of the Mechanical Workspace ribbon.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I break the link between a window and the wall it’s inserted into, without losing the opening? Use BMUNLINK, which disconnects the component insert from its host solid while retaining the opening it created.

What’s the difference between the two BMINSERT variants? The basic one inserts an existing mechanical block directly; the second automatically resizes the new part and connects it to the parent part.

Which command reloads only specific mechanical blocks, rather than every referenced block in the drawing? The selected variant of BMUPDATE, which reloads just the currently selected referenced blocks and updates BOM tables accordingly.

How do I recover an assembly if its mechanical structure has become broken? Run BMRECOVER.