Working Within the Subassemblies Tab

Working Within the Subassemblies Tab

Working Within the Subassemblies Tab

The Subassemblies tab is where the subassemblies for the product are located. The majority of library products contain subassemblies. Subassemblies are products within products.

Subassemblies can be added manually to the Subassemblies tab. The following fields are required to use subassemblies: Part Name, Quantity, Width, Height, Depth, X Origin, Y Origin, and Z Origin. Some subassemblies may require a Z rotation or bay position.

Bay positions are used within a product and subassembly to make certain subassemblies behave a certain way. Bay positions are contained within lookup tables within the Global variables.

The Perfect Grain Index column is no longer used and only exists for backward compatibility.

The Prompt Value column is used to override prompts (defined names) within the subassembly. Values in this cell must be entered using the following format:

<Subassembly Prompt Name>;<New Value>
Multiple prompt values can be entered. The pipe symbol “|” must be used between the new prompt values:
Left_Fin_End;1|Right_Fin_End;1

Right-clicking with a cell selected in the Subassemblies tab will display the following menu:


  1. Save Cut List to Disk – Allows you to save the product as a CUTX file.
  2. Show Subassembly File – Allows you to open the workbook for the selected subassembly.
  3. Cut – Allows you to cut a cell, or range of cells, from the spreadsheet.
  4. Copy – Allows you to copy a cell, or range of cells, from the spreadsheet.
  5. Paste – Allows you to paste a cut or copied cell, or range of cells, to another location.
  6. Paste Special – Allows you to select special formatting when pasting cut or copied cells.
  7. Microvellum Clipboard – Allows you to add, or paste, a subassembly to/from the clipboard.
  8. Show Subassembly List – Allows you to select a subassembly from the library.
  9. Insert Function – Allows you to access the Formula Editor for the selected cell.
  10. Insert Row(s) – Inserts a row, or rows, above the selected row(s).
  11. Delete Row(s) – Deletes the selected rows.
  12. Insert – Inserts cells, columns, or rows.
  13. Delete – Deletes cells, columns, or rows.
  14. Clear Contents – Clears the contents of a cell.
  15. Workbook Designer – Allows you to access the Workbook Designer interface.
  16. Close Product Editor – Closes Edit Design Data.

Because subassemblies are essentially products within a product, the spreadsheet layout is the same and contains the same tabs.

When working within subassembly files, the following save options are available.

Save to Project Options

  1. Save to Current Row – Saves the subassembly as its own unique subassembly within the product.
  2. Save to Product – Saves the changes made to the subassembly to all subassemblies with the same name within the product.
  3. Save to Project Overwrite Existing – Saves the changes to all subassemblies with the same name within the project.
  4. Save to Project as New Subassembly – Saves the changes as a new subassembly – requires a new name. Checking the box “Assign to Current Row” will switch the old subassembly with the new one.

Save to Library Options

  1. Overwrite Existing – Saves the subassembly back to the library overwriting the existing subassembly.
  2. Save as New Subassembly – Saves the subassembly to the library as a new subassembly.

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