duplicate component IDs - D-Tools Forum

grichards · 04-09-2009, 06:14 PM

-Set project component ID to be Text character with length 1
-Duplicated a product
-Expected component IDs to be unique for the duplicated products
-Component IDs for some of the duplicated products matched the component ID of existing products

Travis R · 04-09-2009, 06:38 PM

I just duplicated a product this morning (SI5.5) and it worked fine. My length is set to three. So, I'm wondering is the product that you duplicated IDSomething-9. My theory is, if it is 9 and your length is set to 1 then it will not sequence past 9. Maybe, I'm missing the boat here. I've never had this problem with my projects.

grichards · 04-10-2009, 04:49 PM

I'm still on 5.2 so this issue may have been fixed in 5.5...we'll see when im able to upgrade. Here's the steps to recreate this bug.

From a brand new project (or an existing one, doesn't really matter) using SI5 text:
1 - go to D-Tools > Project Information.
2 - Select the Component ID Tab
3 - Set the Component Id Format to type:Text, Value:A (or some arbitrary character string), Length:1 (again, arbitrary)
4 - click Save
5 - Make sure the ComponentId Column is displayed in SI Text
6 - Add a product (If its a new project it will give it Component ID A-001)
7 - click the ComponentId Field of the product and Edit the ID to be A-002
8 - right click the product and duplicate one copy of the product.
9 - Behold the duplicate component ID.

see If you could duplicate this in 5.5 as well.

Travis R · 04-10-2009, 05:33 PM

Originally Posted by grichards

I'm still on 5.2 so this issue may have been fixed in 5.5...we'll see when im able to upgrade. Here's the steps to recreate this bug.

From a brand new project (or an existing one, doesn't really matter) using SI5 text:
1 - go to D-Tools > Project Information.
2 - Select the Component ID Tab
3 - Set the Component Id Format to type:Text, Value:A (or some arbitrary character string), Length:1 (again, arbitrary)
4 - click Save
5 - Make sure the ComponentId Column is displayed in SI Text
6 - Add a product (If its a new project it will give it Component ID A-001)
7 - click the ComponentId Field of the product and Edit the ID to be A-002
8 - right click the product and duplicate one copy of the product.
9 - Behold the duplicate component ID.

see If you could duplicate this in 5.5 as well.

I used this with 5.2 as well and it worked. But, I just tried it with your method and it did not. The way that I do it is skip steps 1 - 7, simply find the part that you want to duplicate, right click and select duplicate>quantity>OK this way will generate a new comp ID. Give this a shot and let me know how it works. I'm trying to refine my own processes and I'm always looking for other ways to do things more efficently.

grichards · 04-10-2009, 07:06 PM

Steps 1-7 are simply a way to isolate and recreate the bug, are you saying its not duplicating the ID when you follow the steps?

I frequently use the method you mentioned (find product, right click, duplicate), but the problem is if you manually edit a component ID at any point in the project then you run the risk of creating a duplicate component ID when duplicating products.

Component IDs should be unique no matter how they are modified or created.

I just discovered that you can create this with any type of component Id, whether its generated from a field or Text. Add a product, manually increment the ID number by 1, add the same product, they'll have the same ID.

RandyB · 04-10-2009, 07:34 PM

This is definitely a bug, and has been logged as bug #5814.

If you want to check for duplicate component ID's, the best way at the moment is to follow the instructions from this posting:

http://www.d-tools.us/general-section/2704-search-component-id.html#post8875

a. go to the Columns/Grouping menu in the PDM
b. in Columns, choose to show the Component ID field
c. in Groupings, uncheck 'Show packages and accessories'. Also, uncheck all groupings.
d. click on the Component ID column header to sort by component ID

At this point, you'll be able to see the component ID's for all products in your project, organized alphabetically. This will enable you to quickly scan for duplicates or other problems.

Travis R · 04-10-2009, 08:35 PM

Gotcha grichards.

This is one of those processes that I am trying to improve. I actuallt don't change the comp. IDs in fear of duplication. I just figured that a label is a label as long as no two are the same.

That being said, I do however want to reorganize IDs, especially for cables. It is a pain for my techs to lable cables in radom order. I would like to go through and put all cables in alpha-numeric order, just to make their lives easier. When I was a tech, before moving into design and programming I wished the IDs were different.

So, do you change IDs in the data matrix just for this reason or is there a bigger picture that I still don't see?

grichards · 04-10-2009, 09:11 PM

Yes, Manually setting Wire IDs is the main reason i've found for changing the component ID... although i'm sure there are other instances where one would want to do so.

I've found that its a best practice to let Dtools create your component IDs, but if you forget to set the Component ID Format as desired you may need to change after adding them to the project...and then run into a bug

Hemanth · 10-09-2009, 07:21 AM

This bug has been fixed in 5.5 SP1.

mbarnick · 12-17-2009, 01:22 AM

My Visio app will crash every time if I change a compnent ID to an existng one. I'm editing the field in the Project Datamatrix. Does anyone else have this problem? One typo on my part and I lose all my changes. GHappens without fail.