Each group displayed in the list is assigned many different material pointers, and by changing the material for the group, all the material pointers assigned to that group will also be assigned the same new material. To see which material pointers are assigned to which groups select the Groups > Edit Group menu item.

Edit Groups Interface

The edit groups interface allows you to create new groups and assign material pointers to the groups. The list on the left shows the groups currently available. Expanding the group node will show the material pointers currently assigned to that group. The list on the right shows all the material pointers that are not currently assigned to any group. A material pointer can be assigned to only one group.

Modifying Groups & Pointers

Right-click in the list on the left and select the "Add Group" menu item to create a new group. With a group selected, select a material pointer from the list on the right and then use the assign button in the middle to assign the selected material pointer to the selected group.

If you select a material pointer on the right that is currently assigned to a group, you can right-click and select the "Remove Material Pointer" to remove the material pointer from the group.

If a group no longer has any material pointers assigned to it, you can use the "Remove Group" menu item to delete the group altogether.

Material Pointer Collections

In the material pointer list, you will notice a set of pointers that start with "COL_." When a pointer starts with the "COL_," it is recognized in the software as a material collection and used differently than the standard material pointers. When a material collection pointer is assigned to part, multiple parts are created from a single pointer. The other parts that are created are based on the naming of the used in the other material collection pointers.

For example, if we have a material collection pointer that starts with "COL_Door" other parts will get created that also start with a material collection name of "COL_Door." In the image below, we see the "COL_Door" pointer followed by two other pointers named "COL_DoorAppliedFront" and "COL_DoorCore." The main material pointer is the "COL_Door" and is the pointer that will be referenced by a part in a product. The other pointers, since they start with "DOOR," will create two additional parts when processed. The part sizes for these additional parts are based on the collection values and the material assigned to those pointers.

Material Collection Values

With a collection material pointer selected, you can right-click and select the "Collection Values" menu item to set up the properties of the additional part created. Each material pointer that is part of the collection can have its own collection values assigned to it.

Part Description – This is the name of the new part that is created. This must be populated for each collection value for the collection to work correctly.

Part Quantity – This property sets the quantity of the newly created part.

Part Width – This specifies the width of the newly created part. Use the keyword "Panel_Width" in the formula box to reference the original part size within the product that is assigned the main material collection pointer.  

Part Length – This specifies the length of the newly created part. You can use the keyword "Panel_Length" in the formula box to reference the original part size within the product that is assigned the main material collection pointer.

Inherit Edge  (checkboxes) – The newly created part will be assigned the same edgeband material from the main part that is assigned the material collection pointer within the product.

Inherit Machining – The newly created part will inherit the same machining operations from the main part that is assigned the material collection pointer within the product.

How to work with a material collection

Let's look at an example of how to use a material collection. Fig. 7 above shows the main material collection pointer called "COL_Door." There are also two associated material collection pointers "COL_DoorAppliedFront" and "COL_DoorCore."

The collection values for the "DoorAppliedFront" pointer contains the values that will be used to create the additional part. The name of the part will be HPDL. The size of the part will look to the part in the product parts list, and use its panel width and panel length, but then add an additional amount from the global file. The material assigned to that pointer is the Laminate VG PL1 Solid.

The collection values for the "DoorCore" part will create a part named "Door Core," and the size of that part will match the size of the part in the product parts list. The material used for this part will be the ".75 White Melamine 1S".

So, if we assigned a part to the "COL_Door" material pointer and processed this part into a work order, the final result would be the creation of two parts with the sizes, name, and material based on that material collection values. 

The reason we don't get three parts in this example is that the main material collection pointer is assigned a material that starts with a minus symbol, thus making it a part that won't get processed into a work order. This is done so that you can safely assign this material pointer to a part in the product and then use the pointer collection to create all of the parts. If this main material collection pointer were assigned a normal material, we would end up with four parts. The main part in the product spreadsheet, the part created from the main material collection pointer, along with the two additional parts in the material collection.

Using material collections can provide a user with the ability to list one part of the product spreadsheet but have several different parts created from that single line. This can become beneficial when a complex grouping of parts needs to be created in multiple products or subassemblies, and you don't want to add all the parts in the parts list across all the products.

There are also some drawbacks to using material collections. The first is that the additional parts created from the material collection will not draw when the product is drawn. The parts will only show up when the work order is created. If a user is unfamiliar with material collections, it may confuse as to why the additional parts are showing up in the work order but not when the product is drawn.