BOM Generator -> Part Lister

Hi Team,

I've been working pretty hard on v2 of the 'Bill of Materials Generator'. Its not quite ready for prime time yet, but its close enough to being done that its ready for you to look at it and try to find bugs / suggest improvements. It was actually a pretty large re-write, so please be on the lookout for things that are broken or missing from the old version.

Check it out: [bom-dev.reprap.org]

Also, I'll be changing the name to Plister, short for 'Part Lister'. All the old urls will point there, for backwards compatibility. Partially because BOM sounds like bomb, and it was hard to tell people i'm working on a 'bom' generator. If you guys have a better name, let me know!

Here's a short list of things that have been changed:

* uses MySQL database instead of google docs directly. there is an import script that must be run when google docs are updated.
* supports supplied parts having quantities now!! i went through the google docs and tried to add quantities to all the parts that have them, but i may have missed some. you will really see how this works if you generate a list for the cartesian bot.
* nicer interface. the 'part list' generation is now ajax, and i'm working on more features to make things easy.
* lots more data exposed! you can now cruise through the various modules, see where they're used, see what suppliers they have, etc. this is all because of switching to the DB.
* MVC backend. its using a nice, lightweight framework i made. makes things much nicer and easier to maintain.
* lots of little minor fixes. better nav, part breakdown, etc.

I'm still working on it, and want to get a few more things into it before I link to it from all over the site, but for now... it seems to be working pretty well.

Very nice, and eminently usable! I'm still working my way through all the features but it looks good. I'll post back with bugs as I find them.

This generator is able to do on-the-fly a lot of things that the old one wasn't, eg. generate a list of all the RP parts, something I had to do manually before. That's really cool.

The one thing I miss from the old BOM generator (and you may have the equivalent of that here, I'm just not seeing it) was the "tool tip"-like AJAX interface. For example, you could click the question mark next to "grease" and it would pop up with "general lubricating grease. oil probably works too." I don't see that in the new one.

Another thing I just noticed - I'm not sure that the AJAX "breakdown" pop-down box is doing what it is supposed to do. When you click "breakdown" next to MXL (I'm looking at the "cartesian bot 1.0" choose-supplier list) it gives a breakdown of how much you need by subassembly, which is what I'd expect. But when I click "breakdown" next to, say, "M3 nut," it just lists a bunch of nut quantities not directly associated with a subassembly. I assume this isn't the desired behavior? Oh, and the fact that "breakdown" isn't formatted differently from plain text might keep people from noticing it is a link. Personally, I'd probably set it to something like .8em bold #C90 or whatever looks good to differentiate it.

Finally - this is completely personal preference, but when I see "Plister" in my mind it's pronounced like "Blister," which of course has negative connotations. I'm not sure how you intended to pronounce it but the obvious alternative would be "P-lister," which sounds much better to me. Again, that's just preference, and overall impressive job!

Kyle

I think you must live in an alternate universe where there are more hours in the day than mine, or a multiverse where there are more Zachs.

---

[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

close: i live in a universe where i'm obsessed with RepRap.

> The one thing I miss from the old BOM generator
> (and you may have the equivalent of that here, I'm
> just not seeing it) was the "tool tip"-like AJAX
> interface. For example, you could click the
> question mark next to "grease" and it would pop up
> with "general lubricating grease. oil probably
> works too." I don't see that in the new one.

ah, yeah... i'll add that back in.

> Another thing I just noticed - I'm not sure that
> the AJAX "breakdown" pop-down box is doing what it
> is supposed to do. When you click "breakdown"
> next to MXL (I'm looking at the "cartesian bot
> 1.0" choose-supplier list) it gives a breakdown of
> how much you need by subassembly, which is what
> I'd expect. But when I click "breakdown" next to,
> say, "M3 nut," it just lists a bunch of nut
> quantities not directly associated with a
> subassembly. I assume this isn't the desired
> behavior? Oh, and the fact that "breakdown" isn't
> formatted differently from plain text might keep
> people from noticing it is a link. Personally,
> I'd probably set it to something like .8em bold
> #C90 or whatever looks good to differentiate it.

i think i'll try to find a + sign icon on the net and use that as the image to click on. it might make more sense.

i'll also try and make the breakdown more informative.

> Finally - this is completely personal preference,
> but when I see "Plister" in my mind it's
> pronounced like "Blister," which of course has
> negative connotations. I'm not sure how you
> intended to pronounce it but the obvious
> alternative would be "P-lister," which sounds much
> better to me. Again, that's just preference, and
> overall impressive job!

thanks. hopefully we can get a rockin name for it.

check it... added the fixes you asked for kyle.

Heya, nice1 making a new bom! btw, i dont know if this is a bug or if its just becouse its a WIP but when you click the "Buy the above products from amazon" you are sent to a white page with the text "Under Construction" im guessing thats becouse its not finished yet, but just thought id bring it up incase you had accidently overlooked it (btw, love the idea, and i hope you do the same for the others =) )

yeah, i'm still working on the amazon one. once i get it done, it will be very handy and awesome.

for other stores it gets harder. we basically have to do it on a per-store basis and Amazon is pretty much the only one with an API. they may be the only one for a while. Although with the electronic suppliers like mouser, they do offer a copy and paste method for adding a whole order... but nothing i could really do in one click.

I just found another thing I miss from the old BOM generator: the ability to pick and choose a subset of modules and generate a BOM specifically for those. In the new one, you can only generate a BOM for one module at a time.

Example: I'm trying to order all of the components for the RepRap electronics boards. I want to generate a BOM for 1 PowerComms board, 3 Stepper Controller boards, 2 Extruder Controller boards, 6 Opto Endstop boards and 2 Stepper Tester boards. In the old generator I simply check those particular packages, hit "Generate BOM" and it gives me a list of everything I need. In the new one, as far as I can tell I'd have to look up each of those modules individually and try to manually compile the results. Not my favorite Friday afternoon activity... =D

Kyle

From this link you can do just what you described not sure if it is a link to the old BOM or what but you can specify exactly which components you want to make. [bom.reprap.org]

Joe

mandalorian2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From this link you can do just what you described
> not sure if it is a link to the old BOM or what
> but you can specify exactly which components you
> want to make. [bom.reprap.org]
>
> Joe


That's what I was referring to as the "old BOM." Old, of course, being relative to the "new" one in Beta testing at [bom-dev.reprap.org].

okay, i'll try to re-add that feature in. i didnt know if it was important to anyone... guess i know now =)

okay, ability to create custom part lists has now been added. i'm starting to get really happy with how the list generation is shaping up.

theres only a few things to go on the TODO list, but its definitely usable right now. i definitely think it will be ready for prime-time come monday.

i may have found a bug, if i only check "RepRap Darwin v1.0" and press next step i get to a page saying showing all the larger parts needed for building a darwin (cartisan robot etc etc) i really love that function, the problem now is that there are no parts added, cool im guessing your still working on that part

the same thing happens with the drop down menu (i was really going to write about a different bug where there came a load of warning messeges up instead of anything usefull, but it seams that it wasnt repeatable)

but still, i love the idea, and cant wait to se it in action. =)

there are two modes of search: deep and shallow. deep is where when it looks up a module, it looks up all the children modules as well. this is important, because eventually when we get people supplying pre-made boards, etc, we'll want to have that information in the generator, as well as still allowing people to show the components as well

it seems that is confusing, so i'll default it to a deep search. make sure the 'deep lookup' checkbox is checked.

i'm definitely going to have to come up with a way to handle this that is more intuitive. for now, since there are no modules for sale, its no problem to default it to deep.

ah i found the bug again

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/hosts/reprap/bom-dev/www/controllers/main.php on line 24

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/hosts/reprap/bom-dev/www/views/main.uniqueparts.php on line 28

these came up when trying to search for a darwin using the dropdown menu both with and without "deep lookup" checked.

just tried again a few times, it comes up whatever i try to search for using the dropdown menu, the part below works though.j

ah yes, you're right. i found and fixed the bug. thanks!

okay, i've moved the software to the live site. everyone that is interested, please look over it again and let me know if there is anything else you'd like me to get. here is my list so far (they're notes to myself, so they may not make sense):

* add actual support for countries, and suppliers to countries
* Add country based supplier selection algorithm
* Add 'get real name' stuff to raw parts
* get someone to help with styling.
* get Amazon add to cart working.

also, anyone come up with a decent name? i'm thinking about calling it [partlister.reprap.org]. i'll set it up so that everything still points to the same place, but the new name is the one we should use.

1. It would be nice to have some graphical help, like a tree.

2. Should the help icon default expanded (having description for each module). and the help icon is a link to the appropriate wiki page.

3. Having a link of each part to the wiki page would be nice

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2007 10:05AM by khiraly.

khiraly Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1. It would be nice to have some graphical help,
> like a tree.

i agree. i'd definitely like to do something like this. i put it on the TODO.

> 2. Should the help icon default expanded (having
> description for each module). and the help icon is
> a link to the appropriate wiki page.

i'm a little less inclined to do this... the main purpose of this is to help people get the parts they need. the info about what each part is sort of an extra feature. a good compromise would be to add an 'expand all' link that opens all those areas. i'll post when i get it done, and hopefully that will be a good solution

> 3. Having a link of each part to the wiki page
> would be nice

definitely. i have that information in the parts db somewhere, so it shouldnt be too hard to add in. i put it on the TODO

ZachHoeken Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> khiraly Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > 1. It would be nice to have some graphical
> help,
> > like a tree.
>
> i agree. i'd definitely like to do something like
> this. i put it on the TODO.

done!

> > 3. Having a link of each part to the wiki page
> > would be nice
>
> definitely. i have that information in the parts
> db somewhere, so it shouldnt be too hard to add
> in. i put it on the TODO

done!!!

Wow... seriously, where are you keeping those alternative dimensions nophead referred to earlier... that's fantastic!

ZachHoeken wrote:

> also, anyone come up with a decent name? i'm
> thinking about calling it
> [partlister.reprap.org].

I suggest we keep it short and simple, easy to type and easy to remember. Maybe parts.reprap.org ? BOM was nice and short, but if you fear being labelled a terrorist for creating and discussing a "BOM generator" (!), then parts is fine :-)

I'd suggest keeping bom.reprap.org as a cname for parts.reprap.org, for those of us
who remember the old name :-)

Jonathan

One slight problem... parts.reprap.org already exists! It's supposed to eventually be a parts repository for 3D printable objects I think, although development has been postponed for a while to focus on getting 1.0 out the door (even Zach has some limits!)

jmarsden Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ZachHoeken wrote:
>
> > also, anyone come up with a decent name? i'm
> > thinking about calling it
> > [partlister.reprap.org].
>
> I suggest we keep it short and simple, easy to
> type and easy to remember. Maybe parts.reprap.org
> ? BOM was nice and short, but if you fear being
> labelled a terrorist for creating and discussing a
> "BOM generator" (!), then parts is fine :-)
>
> I'd suggest keeping bom.reprap.org as a cname for
> parts.reprap.org, for those of us
> who remember the old name :-)

yeah. all the old names will, and always do direct to the same place. try it yourself.

i like parts.reprap.org. the only problem is that it might be confusing with parts.rrrf.org, which is our online store. parts.reprap.org does actually take you to the correct place too.

i'll change it to the parts.reprap.org domain later today.

Kyle Corbitt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One slight problem... parts.reprap.org already
> exists! It's supposed to eventually be a parts
> repository for 3D printable objects I think,
> although development has been postponed for a
> while to focus on getting 1.0 out the door (even
> Zach has some limits!)

nope, thats at [objects.reprap.org]

its up and going, but it doesnt seem like any people are using it, since we dont have a printer to make these things yet. damn chicken/egg again =)

new updates:

* made various areas and lists in the project a bit prettier
* Amazon automatic checkout now works! yay! although please test it and let me know how it goes, or if you have any problems.