Inventor BOM import¶

Inventor drawing
  → iLogic rule (manually, or on save)
      → writes the drawing's iProperties to a metadata JSON file
      → exports the drawing to PDF
      → exports the parts list to Excel
      → MatStreamConnect.exe --publish-drawing  --profile "Inventor Main Item"       … --file <pdf>
      → MatStreamConnect.exe --publish-children --profile "Inventor Parts List" … --bom  <xlsx>
          → MatStream creates or updates the drawing entity, attaches the PDF,
            and upserts the BOM rows as its children

MatStreamConnect.exe --publish-drawing --profile "Inventor Main Item" --metadata "C:\Users\me\AppData\Local\Temp\D-1042_meta.json" --file "C:\Users\me\AppData\Local\Temp\D-1042.pdf"
MatStreamConnect.exe --publish-children --profile "Inventor Parts List" --metadata "C:\Users\me\AppData\Local\Temp\D-1042_meta.json" --bom "C:\Users\me\AppData\Local\Temp\D-1042_BOM.xlsx"

{
  "Part Number": "D-1042",
  "Description": "Skid frame, welded",
  "Revision": "B",
  "Author": "P. van der Meer",
  "Title": "Skid frame",
  "Designer": "",
  "Company": "PM Software",
  "Project": "WF-2023"
}

Sub Main()
    Dim path As String = WriteMetadata()
End Sub

Function WriteMetadata() As String
    Dim drawingName As String = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(ThisDoc.Document.FullFileName)
    Dim tempFolder  As String = System.IO.Path.GetTempPath()
    Return WriteMetadataFile(tempFolder, drawingName)
End Function

Function WriteMetadataFile(tempFolder As String, drawingName As String) As String
    Dim entries As New System.Text.StringBuilder()
    AppendEntry(entries, "Part Number", SafeProperty("Project", "Part Number"))
    AppendEntry(entries, "Description", SafeProperty("Project", "Description"))
    AppendEntry(entries, "Revision",    SafeProperty("Project", "Revision Number"))
    AppendEntry(entries, "Author",      SafeProperty("Summary", "Author"))
    AppendEntry(entries, "Title",       SafeProperty("Summary", "Title"))
    AppendEntry(entries, "Designer",    SafeProperty("Summary", "Manager"))
    AppendEntry(entries, "Company",     SafeProperty("Summary", "Company"))
    AppendEntry(entries, "Project",     SafeProperty("Project", "Project"))

    Dim json As String = "{" & vbCrLf & entries.ToString() & vbCrLf & "}"
    Dim metaPath As String = System.IO.Path.Combine(tempFolder, drawingName & "_meta.json")
    System.IO.File.WriteAllText(metaPath, json, New System.Text.UTF8Encoding(False))
    Return metaPath
End Function

Sub AppendEntry(sb As System.Text.StringBuilder, key As String, value As String)
    If sb.Length > 0 Then sb.Append(",").Append(vbCrLf)
    sb.Append("  """).Append(JsonEscape(key)).Append(""": """).Append(JsonEscape(value)).Append("""")
End Sub

Function SafeProperty(category As String, propName As String) As String
    Try
        Dim raw As Object = iProperties.Value(category, propName)
        Return If(raw Is Nothing, "", raw.ToString())
    Catch
        Return ""
    End Try
End Function

' Backslash, quote and control characters — a multi-line Description would otherwise break the JSON.
Function JsonEscape(s As String) As String
    Return s.Replace("\", "\\").Replace("""", "\""").Replace(vbCr, "").Replace(vbLf, "\n").Replace(vbTab, "\t")
End Function

Sub Main()
    Dim connectPath As String = FindMatStreamConnectExe()
    If String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(connectPath) Then Return

    iLogicVb.RunExternalRule("MatStream_WriteMetadata.iLogicVb")

    Dim profileName As String = "Inventor Main Item"
    Dim drawingName As String = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(ThisDoc.Document.FullFileName)
    Dim tempFolder  As String = System.IO.Path.GetTempPath()
    Dim metaPath    As String = System.IO.Path.Combine(tempFolder, drawingName & "_meta.json")
    Dim pdfPath     As String = ExportDrawingToPdf(tempFolder, drawingName)

    Dim args As String = "--publish-drawing" &
                         " --profile """ & profileName & """" &
                         " --metadata """ & metaPath & """" &
                         " --file """ & pdfPath & """"

    Shell("""" & connectPath & """ " & args)
End Sub

Function ExportDrawingToPdf(tempFolder As String, drawingName As String) As String
    Dim pdfPath As String = System.IO.Path.Combine(tempFolder, drawingName & ".pdf")
    ThisDoc.Document.SaveAs(pdfPath, True)
    Return pdfPath
End Function

' + FindMatStreamConnectExe — see the MatStreamConnect page

Sub Main()
    Dim profileName As String = "Inventor Parts List"
    Dim updateLatestVersion As Boolean = False   ' True = update the parent in place, no version bump

    Dim connectPath As String = FindMatStreamConnectExe()
    If String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(connectPath) Then Return
    If Not DrawingHasPartsList() Then Return

    iLogicVb.RunExternalRule("MatStream_WriteMetadata.iLogicVb")

    Dim drawingName As String = System.IO.Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(ThisDoc.Document.FullFileName)
    Dim tempFolder  As String = System.IO.Path.GetTempPath()
    Dim metaPath    As String = System.IO.Path.Combine(tempFolder, drawingName & "_meta.json")
    Dim bomPath     As String = ExportBomToExcel(tempFolder, drawingName)
    If String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(bomPath) Then Return

    Dim args As String = "--publish-children" &
                         " --profile """ & profileName & """" &
                         " --metadata """ & metaPath & """" &
                         " --bom """ & bomPath & """"
    If updateLatestVersion Then args = args & " --update-latest-version"

    Shell("""" & connectPath & """ " & args)
End Sub

Function DrawingHasPartsList() As Boolean
    For Each sheet As Sheet In ThisDoc.Document.Sheets
        If sheet.PartsLists.Count > 0 Then Return True
    Next
    MsgBox("No parts list found in this drawing. Add a parts list first.", vbExclamation, "MatStream")
    Return False
End Function

Function ExportBomToExcel(tempFolder As String, drawingName As String) As String
    Dim bomPath As String = System.IO.Path.Combine(tempFolder, drawingName & "_BOM.xlsx")
    Dim partsList As PartsList = Nothing
    For Each sheet As Sheet In ThisDoc.Document.Sheets
        If sheet.PartsLists.Count > 0 Then
            partsList = sheet.PartsLists(1)
            Exit For
        End If
    Next
    If partsList Is Nothing Then Return ""

    If System.IO.File.Exists(bomPath) Then System.IO.File.Delete(bomPath)
    partsList.Export(bomPath, PartsListFileFormatEnum.kMicrosoftExcel)
    Return bomPath
End Function

' + FindMatStreamConnectExe — see the MatStreamConnect page

Sub Main()
    If ThisDoc.Document.DocumentType <> DocumentTypeEnum.kDrawingDocumentObject Then
        MsgBox("Open a drawing first.", vbExclamation, "MatStream")
        Return
    End If

    iLogicVb.RunExternalRule("MatStream_PublishDrawingAsPdf.iLogicVb")
    iLogicVb.RunExternalRule("MatStream_PublishDrawingPartsList.iLogicVb")
End Sub

[publish-drawing] Profile: Inventor Main Item
[publish-drawing] Profile resolved (id: 12)
[publish-drawing] Update: Drawing D-1042 updated
[publish-drawing] Attaching PDF: D-1042.pdf
[publish-drawing] ✔ PDF attached
[publish-children] Profile: Inventor Parts List
[publish-children] BOM: D-1042_BOM.xlsx
[publish-children] ✔ 3 inserted, 9 updated, 0 errors