Query & Make Special for CIL Symbols

The Query dialog shows you product information about a selected product in your drawing. You can see part numbers, pricing, and options quickly without needing to navigate through the Calculation for the details. You will also be able to add special information to a product, changing its part number, description, pricing, and more. 

CIL symbols use the same Query dialog as Catalogue Browser and FIKA symbols, while retaining existing capabilities such as locating parts, Make Special, option changes, highlighting, and importing. 

A dedicated CIL Tools tab provides tools for:

Re-optioning parts.

Modifying CIL material layers.

Scaling symbols uniformly using percentages or fractions, or adjusting width, depth, and height independently.

4. In the Make/Change Special dialog, edit the part number, description, pricing, or other information as needed.

5. Once you have edited the information, click OK. The Special line will now show highlighted in blue.

6. Open the Calculation to see that the information has been updated based on the special information added.

Add Option

When you need to add an option to a part, you can use the Add Option button from the Query Parts dialog. This can be done independently of a Special modification.

To add an option, follow these steps:

1. Query the product as described in the steps above.
2. Select the line you need to add an option to. This can be any line within the Query dialog, and the new options will be added on the line below the selected line.
3. Click Add Option.

4. Enter the new Option, Option Description, and price Amount if needed. A currency symbol next to "Amount" will indicate the current selected currency units. 

5. Once you have edited the information, click OK. The new option line will now show highlighted in pink. 

6. Open the Calculation to see that the information has been updated based on the new option information.

Change or Remove Special or Option

To change the Special or Option information: 

1. Open the Query Parts dialog and left click to select the part line that contains the Special or the line that contains the Option. 
2. Click Change Special. This will open the Make/Change Special dialog where you can make adjustments to those fields.

3. Click OK to apply the changes. 

To remove a Special or Option, open the Query Parts dialog and left click to select the part line that contains the Special or the line that contains the Option be removed. Click Remove Special. 

Click OK on the confirmation dialog to remove the Special or Option.

Export

To export the contents of the Query Parts dialog, click the Export button.

Select the file format to use from the Export format drop down. Click the ellipsis to browse for a location to save the file and specify the file name. Click Export. 

A dialog will as if you would like to open the exported file or the folder location. 

Import Parts and Options

You can also import lines from an existing Configura SIF, PMX, or OFDA XML file into a Query Parts dialog by clicking and dragging lines from the imported file into the specifications to add parts and options in a variety of ways. First, click the Import Parts button. Then navigate and select the file to import.

The imported file lines will show on the right side of the dialog. 

To select and browse a different file, click the ellipsis. 

You also have the ability to import a single option line from a SIF, PMX, or OFDA XML file to a part. To import a single option line, left-click and drag the option line. Placement will be indicated by a black line. Once the line is placed it will show in pink.

Replace

To replace a part, click and drag the item over the part to be replaced. A green boarder will indicate the part to be replaced. If there is a conflict in pricing for the replaced part, you will need to select Calculate List or Import List from the Import Price Conflict dialog. Once placed, the new part with the selected pricing will show in green.

To replace an option, press and hold the Shift key while dragging the option line. Again, the placement will be indicated by a green boarder. Once placed, the replaced option will show in turquoise. 

To remove the replaced part or option, select the part line and click Remove Special.

Import Model

If your special product has a model (symbol), you can import the model (symbol) to replace the current symbol in the drawing. The symbol must be a 3ds, cm3d, cmsym, dwg, fbx, glb, gltf, obj, skp, or stl file type. 

To import a model:

1. Click the Import Model button. 

2. Click the ellipsis to search for the model file.

3. Select the model and click Open. If you don't see the model file, select 'All supported' in the dropdown menu.

4. A preview of the symbol will show in the Model Preview window. If it appears correct, click Apply. If it does not appear to be the correct symbol, click Revert to go back to the original symbol.

5. When you Apply the model, the Replace Symbol dialog opens to align, position, and/or rotate the new symbol. It operates the same as the Edit Graphics Replace Symbol tool. Once the new symbol is positioned correctly, click Apply.

CIL Tools

The CIL Tools button contains the tools to apply materials by 2D or 3D layer and the Part Specifier to select or re-select options for the symbol. 

To use the CIL Tools:

1. Query the symbol as normal.
2. Click the CIL Tools button.
3. Click Reoption to open the Part Specifier window and select or re-select options for the symbol.

To change the materials per 3D layer, Click Materials to select, scale and apply materials to either the 2D or 3D layers of the symbol. The Abstract CIL | Materials dialog opens. Click Edit to open the Abstract CIL | Layers dialog and edit materials. It operates the same as it does when using the Layers button on the main CIL Extension menu. To learn more about adding materials to 3D layers, please refer to the 3D Layers Adding Materials article.