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Material Property Definitions in V22

JST

Alibre Super User
The real way to do this would be an included way to simply add a material. If you just need another material, maybe "4140 prehardened" (a steel), or something more esoteric, like one of the types of "Zamak" casting alloy, there should be a way to add it somewhere, with a minimum of trouble, filling in the properties that you need for what you are doing. If you do not need resistivity, then leave it blank.

The same issue exists for screw threads. It's a nuisance to add them, no way to "just add one". (or to "just edit" one, for that matter.)

It seems that there should be. It cannot be that hard, it is basically filling out a form and having that added to a file in the correct format. There are plenty of such "fill out the form" windows in Alibre already. And most of them have the ability to edit and view the list of available things as well.
 

DavidJ

Administrator
Staff member
You can simply add a material, just not in the bundled Alibre Library, which is write protected.

Open Material Library; If you haven't yet set up your own Library, right click the parent 'folder' - click New Library & give it a name. Right click the newly created library 'folder' -> New Material, give it a name, click OK, fill in as much of the form as you want to. Click OK to finish, and accept the save on exiting the Library.
 

DavidJ

Administrator
Staff member
Edit / Add screw threads - the old system defined in text files was a pain (very error prone).

The current system using an Excel file should be pretty easy to edit - there is a new section (Thread Data) right at the bottom of the Help file Contents that explains all the entries in the table. If you don't have Excel installed, there are free apps available that can read/edit excel files.

JST - what are you hoping for with regard to thread adding/editing? I don't understand your comment. Is it difficult to add a row to a spreadsheet, or to edit a row? I must be missing something.
 

JST

Alibre Super User
I know you do not "get it". Not a problem..... I understand.......

A sensible way to operate is not to require some other third party program. A "tools" portion where you can simply fill out the required information, click "add" and go back to what you were doing.... without "opening another third party program, opening a file, finding the right place, editing the file to add an entry, saving that file, exiting the third party program", that is the idea. For threads, materials, etc.

You already can edit a BOM easily. This is like... NOT a lot different.

AS a product designer, I had early on to learn to make it easy for the customer. Saying how easy it is if you just do this, and this other thing,and that, and then this again, and you are done, is not where it is at. I've never seen that "win friends", and that's not just my opinion. Companies that do make it easy are winning all over the tech biz..

It is not something that Alibre as a company is on-board with, I get that. But, when it comes to "user friendly", it is the difference between "very good" and all the rest.

If Alibre would do more (as a company) to "think like Apple", things would be a lot different. And it does not matter if you like the details of Apple products.... it's their attitude of "make it easy for the user". Apple is not perfect either, but they sure try to be.

Never mind, I'll go back in my hole now.
 

DavidJ

Administrator
Staff member
OK - and I can see that point of view.

The approach to use Excel was based on making it a lot better and easier than previously, without spending a ton of development resource on a UI element to manage the data through. Basically the decision was taken that most users don't need to tweak thread data very often (if ever), so there are higher priority things to devote the resource to, for stuff that is used every day by most users.
 

JST

Alibre Super User
You can simply add a material, just not in the bundled Alibre Library, which is write protected.

Open Material Library; If you haven't yet set up your own Library, right click the parent 'folder' - click New Library & give it a name. Right click the newly created library 'folder' -> New Material, give it a name, click OK, fill in as much of the form as you want to. Click OK to finish, and accept the save on exiting the Library.

Interesting... I see none of those things, and am not sure where I SHOULD see them

I looked at the Help, same issue. I do not see what they show.

The thing in the menus that says library, seems to refer to something else, IT does not look like the "Help" either.

When I click "material" in the design explorer with a part open, I see the material window, but there is nothing in it.

Yes the screen says V22.
 
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JST

Alibre Super User
I actually uninstalled Alibre, and then reinstalled it, thinking that the failed install probably did some bad thing.

After that, I was able to see most of what you show. It was NOT there before.
 

jfleming

Alibre Super User
DavidJ... is there a way to have my custom material library accessible by others within the company, a shared database of these materials that updates in realtime for each of us?
 

DavidJ

Administrator
Staff member
Watch the video for details of how to export / import. There isn't as yet the option for a company Material file, like there is for company Threads file.
 
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