How to Sort a BOM Table in BricsCAD Mechanical

Quick answer: BOM tables support three sorting modes. Worth flagging: this differs from the five-item Sorting submenu (Automatic order, Natural order, Fixed order, Ascending order, Descending order) covered on this hub’s BOM Manager page; the “Custom order” mode described here, sorted by selected columns, doesn’t cleanly match that page’s definition of “Fixed order” (remembered positions that stay the same after updates), a genuine terminology inconsistency between the two source pages worth being aware of rather than assuming they describe identical behaviour.

Automatic Order

Sorts by component name, then physical material name, then thickness (where applicable), then parameters in alphabetical order, and finally quantity.

Natural Order

Doesn’t sort at all, components list in the order they appear in the document, so parts added earlier typically precede parts added later.

Custom Order

Sorts by whichever columns you select; without any columns specified, it falls back to natural order.

Natural Sorting of Text

BOM tables use natural sorting for text: when a value mixes letters and numbers, the numeric portion determines the order. For example, the strings “N1”, “M2”, “N11”, “N2”, and “AA1” sort as “M2”, “N1”, “N2”, “N11”, “AA1”, numerically by the digits within each string, not purely alphabetically. This makes it practical to assign components custom numbers with different prefixes via custom parameters, then sort the BOM table by those numbers and get the correct numeric order rather than a purely alphabetical one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does “N11” sort after “N2” instead of right after “N1” alphabetically? BOM tables use natural sorting for text, ordering by the numeric portion of a mixed letter-and-number string, so “N2” (2) comes before “N11” (11) numerically, even though “1” would come before “2” in pure alphabetical order.

What happens if I choose Custom order but don’t select any columns? It falls back to natural order, listing components in their order of appearance in the document.

Which sorting mode lists parts in the order they were added to the document? Natural order.

Can I sort a BOM table by a custom numbering scheme with different prefixes? Yes, assign the numbers via custom parameters, then sort by that column, natural sorting handles the numeric portion correctly regardless of prefix.