an NX Study for Joinery Designers and others: Mastering Weight Management through Journals, Component Creation, Dimension Tool and more without any licences

Every journal can be easily customized to meet your preferences. For editing, I recommend using Notepad++ or Visual Studio Code. To design icons, Krita is an excellent choice.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/
https://krita.org/

To create custom buttons, follow these simplified steps:

1. Open Customize Dialog: Right-click in the menu or toolbar area and select "Customize."
2. Add New Button: In the "Customize" dialog, go to the "Commands" tab, find "New Item" near the bottom of the list, and drag the "New User Command" to where you want it in the toolbar. A visual indicator shows where it will be placed.
3. Customize Button: Right-click the new button to edit its name, icon, and action. To link the button to a journal, select "Edit Action," change the type to "Journal File," and browse to your journal file. Select Visual Basic Files (.vb) Confirm your settings.

Now your custom button is ready to use, directly executing your journal with a single click.

I created several versions of the Material Journal and placed them on the ribbon with a corresponding icon.

1. Material Journal

   • EW_Material_12mm Plywood.vb: Changes body color, layer and transparency, sets a density value, measures volume, calculates weight, and attributes it: EW_Material, EW_Material_Density and EW_Body_Weight.

   • NX_Material_12mm Plywood.vb: Changes body color, layer and transparency and sets an NX's built in material. You have to create your own Material Library - physicalmateriallibrary.xml - to use this. See below for further details.

2. Face Material Journal - EW_Material_FACE_Inside.vb:
   Alters the color of selected faces. Has priority over the main Material Journal. Used to distinguish the inside/outside of the body.

3. Raw Body Journal - EW_Material_RAW BODY.vb and NX_Material_RAW BODY.vb:
   By selecting the original body and the raw body, this calculates the weight difference and adds a new attribute: Raw_Body_Delta_Weight. It also moves the raw body to a predefined layer and makes it transparent. Useful to handle this on a custom level.

4. Delete Attributes Journal - EW_Material_DELETE ATTRIBUTES.vb and NX_Material_NULLMATERIAL.vb:
   Keeps the body unchanged but removes any weight-related attributes or sets a "NullMaterial" with zero weight respectively. Created, so these bodies won’t be included in the weight calculation on the drawing.

Using this tool, you can control the visibility of specific solid bodies on your screen using the attributes assigned before. When creating components, it simplifies the process of organizing them. This tool automatically adjusts visibility based on the chosen materials. If no attribute is found, it hides them among the others. "Without Weight" option at the bottom displays all bodies that lack weight information. This allows you to double-check your work.

This tool enables you to automatically create parts by requesting you a main component name. For example, "MyProject-01" creates: MyProject-01-101, MyProject-01-102, etc. Select solid bodies to create components for.

In the Modeling environment/Main Assembly, this journal transfers weight information (weight attribute - EW_Body_Weight) from solid bodies to components. Summarizes all component weights to assign a Total Assembly Weight attribute to the Main Assembly, excluding weights of underlying components. To be used exclusively with the original - EW_Material_12mm Plywood. When you assign one of NX's built-in materials, this function occurs natively.

In the Drafting environment, sums all solid body weights for a Total Built-in Weight and adds Raw body differences for a Total Environmental Weight in the title block. Does not require Component Weight Transfer Journal.

...And an additional journal to get you through the day, which are not related to 'weight':

Automates dimensions - Lenght, Width and Material thickness in components for aligned and non-aligned solid bodies.

• Which should you use - EW_Material_12mm Plywood.vb or NX_Material_12mm Plywood.vb?

It's important to understand that the Easyweight project originated from a straightforward concept: circumventing NX's limitations when using it without a material license, allowing for body modifications and the assignment of a material name. As the project evolved, I discovered that it was also possible to assign built-in materials, presenting you with two options. Ideally, I should deprecate the first one, but I've chosen to keep it because it represents the original concept — and I love its simple and elegant solution to such limitations. The choice is ultimately yours, but I encourage you to develop your own built-in material library and use the second - associative - option. Every subsequent journal is prepared to accept either one or has an alternative.

• EW_Material_12mm Plywood.vb

  How to use:

1. Create a Journal for Each Material
   Save as and start editing. At the beginning of the code, where the Configuration Settings appear, enter your desired material details:

Configuration Code Snippets:

materialName As String = "12mm Plywood"
density As Double = 440 ' Kg/m3 or Pound/Cubic Foot
unitSystem As String = "kg"
bodyColor As Double = 111 ' Set the solid body color to ID: 111
bodyLayer As Double = 1 ' Set the solid body to layer 1
bodyTranslucency As Double = 0 ' Set the solid body transparency to 0

2. Customize Your Ribbon with Buttons as described earlier
   Create custom icons using the colors you’ve chosen for better visual recognition.

• NX_Material_12mm Plywood.vb

  How to use:

1. Create a New Material Library
   Search the internet for "How to Create a New UG NX Material Library". Familiarize yourself with the following:

   • Copy, create and modify materials with the "Assign Materials" function.
   • Export materials to a library and save it as an *.xml file.

2. Establish Your Color System in NX
   Navigate to Menu → Preferences → Color Palette.
   Hover your mouse over any color to see its ID number, which you'll need later.

3. Create a Journal for Each Material
   Save as and start editing. At the beginning of the code, where the Configuration Settings appear, fill in the data you've previously gathered:

Configuration Code Snippets:

materialName As String = "12mm Plywood"
materialLibraryPath As String = "C:\Your Folder\To your material library\physicalmateriallibrary_custom.xml"
bodyColor As Double = 111
bodyLayer As Double = 1
bodyTranslucency As Double = 0

4. Customize Your Ribbon with Buttons as described earlier
   Create custom icons using the colors you’ve chosen for better visual recognition.

Under the Hood

• Local: The tool creates the first sequential component labeled "-101". It then generates the next available number. These components aren't saved; they are created for you to save if you are satisfied with the outcome. The journal searches through your library, session, and memory for the component name you have set, checking for available or missing numbers to avoid duplication. The names for the components will be derived from the names of the solid bodies. If a solid body does not have an assigned name, the default name “Panel” will be used.

• Teamcenter: The tool employs a two-round approach to ensure each component is sequentially numbered and accurately tracked in Teamcenter. You can use both the first and second rounds or only the second, depending on your requirements. See the code for configuration examples.

  • Round One: The journal sets and saves an initial ID number for a component. This is crucial for establishing a base number that Teamcenter can recognize and refer to in subsequent operations. This step essentially anchors the starting point for a sequence of numbers and is necessary to follow a sequential order.
    Example: For a specific component labeled "X184-500-101-PanelOne", the first round would involve creating this part with an ID of "X184-500-101" and saving it in Teamcenter. This saved ID becomes the reference point for the next numbers to be generated.

  • Round Two: The journal uses a substitute number to automatically generate subsequent IDs based on the initial number set in the first round. This is where the wildcard substitution becomes a bit of a game. The exact wildcard format can vary; sometimes, just a "*" (star) might work, while other system has a more specific pattern like "-10*" might be necessary to correctly sequence the numbers.
    Example: Continuing from the previous example, after "X184-500-101" is saved, you might try "X184-500-10*" for the next part. Teamcenter recognizes the base ("X184-500-10") and automatically appends the next available sequential number, creating "X184-500-102" for the next component, and so on. It's important to experiment with different wildcard formats to find the one that Teamcenter responds to in your specific setup.

Features

• Smart Sorting: Leverages EasyWeight or NX's built-in material attributes to organize selected solid bodies by material name and weight in descending order, or retains the order of your initial selection.
• Unit Support: Offers support for both metric (millimeters) and imperial (inches) units in material names for smart sorting.
• EasyWeight Integration: For EasyWeight users, the tool updates all weight information before component creation with automatic unit system recognition.
• Configuration Settings with detailed descriptions at the beginning of the Journal: WaveLink options, flagging created components to avoid duplication, controlling numbering gaps for local environment and Teamcenter option:

Configuration Code Snippets:

defaultAssemblyid As String = "MyProject-01"
wavelinkFeature As Boolean = True
smartsortingFeatureQST As String = "Maybe"
ssUnitmm As String = "mm"
ssUnitin As String = "in"
EasyWeightsortinglogic As Boolean = True
defaultSolidbodyname As String = "PANEL"
setComponentflag As Boolean = False
teamcenterIntegrationQST As String = "False"
fillTheGap As Boolean = True

Under the Hood

• Component Analysis: The script iterates through all components in the main assembly, including subassemblies, calculating the dimensions of each component. It intelligently handles duplicated components by skipping them.
• Bounding Box Calculation: For the designated body, the script will attempt to determine its width, depth, and height. The body doesn't have to be aligned with the absolute coordinate system. The process involves generating a non-aligned minimum bounding box, selecting the first vertex on it, iterating through the edges that share a common point with this vertex, and then measuring these three edges. Initially tries to determine the material thickness using the pre-set values. If it fails to find a match, the smallest value will be assigned. The longest edge will then be designated as the 'Length' and the remaining edge in the group will be identified as the 'Width'.

Solid Body Requirements:

• If the body is on Layer 1, it will be processed.
• If on any layer other than Layer 1, it will be skipped.
• If multiple bodies are on Layer 1, the script will skip the component.

Features

• User Interaction: A form interface allows for manual adjustments to dimensions and to change grain direction.
• Part-Level Unit Recognition: Metric (Millimeters) and Imperial (Inches) units at the part level within assemblies, with automatic adaptation to the specified unit system for each part.
• Measurement Precision Configuration.
• Nearest Half Rounding for Millimeters.
• Trim Trailing Zeros: A configuration to trim trailing zeros from formatted measurements for a cleaner numerical data presentation.
• GUI-Based Modification Control: You can toggle the setting to on, off, or to prompt you with a question. When enabled, it allows for interactive input modifications. When disabled, the program runs automatically with the predefined settings.
• Material Thickness Adjustment: A customizable setting for applying predefined adjustments to material thickness measurements.
• Configuration Settings with detailed descriptions at the beginning of the Journal:

Configuration Code Snippets:

validThicknesses As Double() = {0.141, 0.203, 0.25, 0.453, 0.469, 0.709, 0.827, 6, 9, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19}
decimalFormat As String = "F1"
roundToNearestHalfBLN As Boolean = True
modificationsQST As String = "Maybe"
materialThicknessadjust As Boolean = True
trimZeros As Boolean = True
LengthAttribute As String = "DIM_LENGTH"
WidthAttribute As String = "DIM_WIDTH"
MaterialThicknessAttribute As String = "MAT_THICKNESS"

Component Creator	Dimensions Tool

Originally designed to act as a toggle switch, but it became an impossible mission after numerous failed attempts to make it work.
As a result, two journals were created: one for 'on' and one for 'off'. It can handle multiple layers though.

Configuration Code Snippets:

layerNumbers As Integer() = {1, 70, 90}  ' Add or remove layer numbers as needed, separate with coma
layerState As NXOpen.Layer.State = NXOpen.Layer.State.Hidden  ' Can be set to Visible or Hidden

Created, because it was a consistent struggle to locate the drawing border when I hovered my mouse.
You can find this function under Drafting preferences / View / Workflow / Border.

To NXJournaling.com and Eng-Tips.com for providing invaluable examples, insightful comments, and educational content.
And to ChatGPT, for advising and debugging the codes alongside me as my constant companion throughout this journey.