How to Use the Bill of Materials Manager in BricsCAD Mechanical

Quick answer: The BOM Manager panel (BMBOMPANELOPEN / BMBOMPANELCLOSE, with BMBOM and BMBOMEDIT for individual tables) lets you browse, create, and edit Bills of Materials in the current drawing, configure them interactively, save configurations as reusable template files, and place BOM tables not linked to any drawing table. A Mechanical or Ultimate license is required to modify or create BOMs, though the manager itself is available with a Pro license.

Opening the Manager

Right-click a toolbar, choose Panels, then BOM Manager, or run BMBOMPANELOPEN.

The Main Menu

Click Menu in the panel’s upper right corner for:

• New BOM: opens a submenu with Top level, Bottom level, Hierarchical, Create from template, and Copy the current table. BOMTEMPLATE defines a default template file used with priority when creating new tables, if it’s empty or invalid, a built-in default configuration is used instead.
• BOM tables in the document: jump to the first, previous, next, or last table, or any named table directly.
• Place BOM table: interactively places the current table (multiple instances allowed).
• Export to CSV / Export to Excel: saves the current table’s content (adjust the CSV separator via table properties).
• Replace from template: swaps the current table’s configuration for a selected template.
• Save as template / Save as default template: saves the current configuration as a reusable file (the default template’s path stores in BOMTEMPLATE).
• Delete current BOM / Delete all BOMs.
• Set filter: opens the main filter configurator.
• Selection set: choose Entire model, Subassembly, Drawing view, Layout viewport, Custom selection, Exclude current document, Show selection, Additional documents (Add drawing or sheet set, Add folder), or Edit.
• Refresh / Update all.
• Insert column after / Insert column before.
• Insert formula column / Insert template column / Insert user fillable column / Edit evaluated column.
• Insert thumbnails column / Clear unused thumbnails / Clear unused thumbnails with files.
• Delete column / Move column left / Move column right.
• Make column visible / Make column invisible (invisible columns still show in the manager with a diagonal hatch).
• Associated table: Fixed corner, Zoom to, Select, Delete, Detach, Fit row height.
• Footer: No footer, Sum, Average value, Minimal value, Maximal value (per selected column).
• Sorting: Automatic order, Natural order, Fixed order, Ascending order, Descending order.
• Aggregate function: No function, Sum, Average value, Minimal value, Maximal value, Concatenation, Concatenation with count, this resolves the Aggregate function referenced on this hub’s piping in assembly design page.
• Add thumbnails to new tables / Display warnings / Set default template.

Toolbars

Main menu; BOM Selector (switches the active table, remembered when the drawing reopens); Refresh; Place table; Category selector; Column selector (also accepts formula expressions starting with =, referencing other columns by their display name in <>, for example =<Mass>*<Quantity>); Insert column after; Find (or Ctrl+F); Search field; Find previous (Ctrl+F3) / Find next (F3); Select all found.

Column Context Menu

Right-click a column label for: Add template column from selected; Delete column; Footer (per column); Sorting; Aggregate function; Column role (Number, Name, Quantity, or Regular, used by BMBALLOON as its source for numbers, names, or quantities); Format; Set column filter; Make column visible / invisible; Fit column(s) / Fit all columns.

Row Context Menu

Right-click any cell for: Zoom to; Select; Add to Selection; Remove from Selection; Remove highlighting; Clear selection; Collapse / Expand (a subassembly group); Expand this level / Collapse this level; Expand all / Collapse all; Limit by this level / Show all levels (hierarchical BOM depth limit).

The Properties Grid

At the bottom of the panel, showing the current table’s Title, Type, Filter, Sorting mode, and Footer title, plus common properties for any selected columns (Title, Visibility, Width). For numerical columns: Footer type, Footer units mode, Unit placement (column title, same cell, or its own column), Units mode (best for all values, best per cell, or user-defined), and Footer unit.

Filter Settings

Main filter: apply via the Filter expression property, or Set filter in the main menu; both open the Filter Configurator. Each row is an elementary condition (choose a category, a property, a condition type like Not equal to/Less than/Greater than/Not less than/Not greater than, and a target value, converted automatically to the document unit for numeric values). Group conditions into “All of” or “Any of” groups for complex logic, remove conditions with the Delete tool, and click OK to apply. Additional toggles: Mechanical objects, Other local objects, Other external objects, Solid plies, and Ignore BOM status.

Column filters: set per-column conditions (right-click a column title, Set column filter); a column can have at most one filter, but every column can have its own simultaneously. Filtered columns show a filter icon. Numeric filters convert target values to the document unit; text filters offer ignore case/match case, and In/Not in options listing every possible value to check, uncheck, or invert.

Selection set: link a table to a filtering selection (Entire model, Subassembly, Drawing view, Layout viewport, Custom selection, Exclude current document, Additional documents via Add drawing/sheet set or Add folder, or Edit); view it anytime with Show selection.

Sorting

Double-click a column label to cycle ascending, descending, or unordered (▲/▼ marks the active sort column); sort by multiple columns at once, with a subscript number showing priority order. Change modes via the Sorting mode property or the main menu.

Evaluated Columns

Three types: formula, template, and thumbnail columns.

Formula columns: select Evaluated column in the Category selector, Formula column in the Column selector, then Insert column after/before (or use Insert formula column from the main menu). The Expression configurator lets you set the title, unit, and expression, with autocompletion and a live preview; add column or property references, or functions, via their respective toolbar buttons.

Template columns: select Evaluated column, then Template column, and insert the same way (or use Insert template column). The Template configurator supports multiple subexpressions, evaluated in order until one yields a non-empty result, add, delete, reorder, and switch between them via the toolbar. Each subexpression builds from items: Column reference (a BOM column or property), Delimiter (a separator shown only when both surrounding items are non-empty), Text (custom static text), and Evaluated text (raw expression content, including functions). Drag items to reorder them; the expression field and the visual template area stay in sync.

Thumbnails columns: select Evaluated column, then Thumbnails column, and insert the same way (or use Insert thumbnails column). Adjust size, background colour, view type, and visual style afterward via column properties.

Footer Rows

Add a footer by setting a footer type (No footer, Sum, Average value, Minimal value, Maximal value) on one or more columns, via the main menu’s Footer submenu, the column context menu, or the Footer type property. The default footer title is “TOTAL:”, changeable via the Footer title property. Formula and template columns support footers too.

Aggregated Columns

In top-level, bottom-level, and hierarchical BOM tables, almost any column accepts an aggregate function, grouping rows that differ only in that column into a single combined value (computing total pipe length by size and thickness, or concatenating every bolt size used, for example). Confirming the Aggregate function referenced on this hub’s piping in assembly design page, set it via the column context menu’s Aggregate function submenu, or the corresponding column property; aggregated columns display a ∑ symbol in their title.

Templates

Save any BOM configuration as a template, create a new table from one, or replace the current table’s configuration with one, all through the main menu. Loaded templates remain fully editable and re-savable under a new name.

Searching

Toggle the search field with Find (Ctrl+F); by default it searches the entire table, or limit it to selected columns. Wildcards are supported:

Use Find previous (Ctrl+F3) / Find next (F3) to step through matches, or Select all found to grab every match at once.

Associated Tables and Updating

A BOM table can have one associated table in the document, updating whenever its configuration changes; create one with Place/Update table (automatic if the table was created via BMBOM). Locate it with Associated table > Zoom to or Select, remove it with Delete, or unlink it permanently with Detach (after which it stops updating entirely).

Since V20.2, the manager auto-updates its panel content whenever the assembly changes, while active, close the panel to avoid this on very large assemblies, and use Refresh to update manually otherwise. The associated table itself, however, does not auto-update on assembly changes, use Place/Update table for that.

Common Configuration Workflows

Most editing tasks in the manager follow the same basic pattern: select the relevant column(s) or rows, then either use the main menu, a context menu, or the corresponding property in the Properties grid to make the change, several examples below.

• Adding a new BOM: New BOM in the main menu, then choose a type or a template.
• Adding a column: pick a category and property in the selectors, optionally select an existing column to position it next to, then Insert column after/before.
• Editing an evaluated column: right-click its title and choose Edit column expression.
• Removing a column: select it and press Delete, or use the Remove the column tool.
• Changing the BOM or footer title: edit the BOM Title control directly, or the Title/Footer title properties (the <NAME> placeholder inserts the assembly name).
• Adjusting column width: drag manually, or right-click and choose Fit column(s) (or double-click the header separator) to auto-fit to content.
• Changing units or unit placement: select the column(s) and adjust Unit placement and Units mode in the Properties grid, optionally customizing the title format with <Title>, <Unit>, and \n placeholders.
• Numbering options in hierarchical BOMs: select the Number column to access Number prefix, Number suffix, Delimiter, and Number type properties.
• Formatting a column: select it, right-click, choose Format, and configure the dialog.
• Saving as a template: Save as template in the main menu, then choose a name and location.
• Exporting to CSV: optionally adjust the table’s CSV delimiter property first, then Export to CSV from the main menu.

Frequently Asked Questions

What license do I need to create or modify a Bill of Materials? Mechanical or Ultimate; a Pro license only grants access to view the manager itself.

How do I combine multiple similar rows (like pipes of the same size but different lengths) into one row? Set an aggregate function (Sum, for total length, for example) on the relevant column via the column context menu or its property.

Can a single column have more than one filter applied? No, a column supports at most one filter at a time, though every column can have its own filter simultaneously.

Does the associated table in the drawing update automatically when the assembly changes? No, only the manager panel’s content updates automatically; use Place/Update table to refresh the associated table itself.