Group data in a table

You can use the Groups tab to group table data into categories based on a model property or a user-defined property. This is useful for keeping like items together on a single table page, which otherwise may be scattered among many table sheets.

Refer to the examples, below.

On the drawing sheet, right-click a parts list or table and choose Properties.
In the Properties dialog box, click the Groups tab.
Select the Enable table groups check box.

Note:

When you define groups, the grouping and sorting defined on the Groups tab takes precedence over the sorting selections on the Sorting tab.
From the Group by list, choose the property that you want to use to define the groups.

The properties in the list correspond to the columns in the table. Even columns that are hidden in the table are available for selection from the Group by list.
In the Table groups section, define one or more groups by doing all of the following:
1. In the Name column, type an alphanumeric string to categorize the group, and then press Tab or Enter. Do this for each group that you want to define.
  
  The Name is not displayed in the table when it is placed on the sheet.
2. In the Value column, enter an alphanumeric string that matches the data that you want to include in the group. Valid values match the data table values of the column selected in the Group by list. Do this for each group that you want to define.
  
  To define a default group to contain unassigned data, you can leave the Value blank.
  
  Tip:
  
  To enter accurate values in the Value column, copy and paste from the Data tab to the Groups tab.
3. (Optional) From the Sort group by list, for each table group, choose the property to sort the data within the group.
Define a heading or subheading for each table group by doing all of the following:
1. In the Table groups section, click the Name row for which you want to define a heading to appear within the table.
2. In the Group header section, click Insert Row .
3. In the Insert Row dialog box, type the number of rows you want to add, and specify if the rows are inserted before or after the currently selected row.
  
  The blank rows are displayed in the table grid.
4. The column headings displayed above the table grid represent the column order in the table. Click in an empty cell where you want the heading to appear in the table, and then type the group heading content.
  
  You can create multiple headings within the same set of rows.
5. Use the buttons above the table grid to apply text formatting, so that the heading or subheading appears the way you want it to look when the table is placed on the sheet.
  
  The heading is now defined for the first table group.
6. Repeat step 6 to define a heading for the next group in the Table groups list.
Click Apply to apply the table group definitions to the table.

Example:

This example shows how you can use custom properties and user-defined properties to define groups in a parts list.

Parts list table groups

Step 1.	First, define custom properties in the model document. You can use the Custom tab in the File Properties dialog box to define special properties that you want to display as columns to group by. For example, you can define a custom property named Part Type, and then assign a value to each part, such as Manufactured, Purchased, Assembly, or any other value that you want to use to assign items to a group.
Step 2.	In the draft document, add the custom property to the parts list. You can add the Part Type column to the parts list by selecting it from the Properties list on the Columns tab in the Parts List Properties dialog box. This makes the Part Type column selectable on the Groups tab; you can select this column heading to Group by. Adding the custom column on the Columns tab also inserts an editable Part Type column on the Data tab.
Step 3.	Add user-defined rows to reference non-model information. You can use the Part Type column on the Data tab to reference external documents within the parts list. You can do this by inserting user defined rows on the Data tab to contain document names and other information. As long as you enter the same Value on each row in the Part Type column, you can collect all external documents into one group in the parts list. For example, you can insert a row for Document A, enter Document A in the File Name (no extension) column, and then enter the group by value—Docs—in the Part Type column on the Data tab.

Group by	Name	Value	Sort group by	Group header name on table
Part Type^{1, 3, 4}	Documents	Docs⁶	(blank)	Documentation
	Assemblies	Assembly^2,5	Item Number	Assemblies
	Manufactured Parts	Manufactured^{2, 5}	Item Number	Manufactured
	Purchased Parts	Purchased^{2, 5}	Item Number	Manufactured
	Default	(blank)	Quantity	Default

¹ _{This custom property Name is defined on the Custom tab in the File Properties dialog box in each model document.}

₂ _{Also, on the Custom tab in the File Properties dialog box, a value is assigned to the custom property using the Value box.}

³ _{The same custom property is selected and added to the parts list on the Columns tab in the Parts List Properties dialog box.}

⁴ _{This same custom property is selected on the Groups tab from the Group by list.}

⁵ _{These values are typed (or copied and pasted) on the Groups tab in the Value column to fetch the matching model data.}

⁶ _{External documents can be included in a part list group on an ad hoc basis; you do not have to define a custom property name and value in the model document. For each external document that you want to reference in a Documentation group, you can insert a user-defined row on the Data tab, and then enter the document name, revision, and other information. To include the external document in the group, Docs must be entered in the Part Type column on the Data tab.}

Example:

Bend table groups

Group by	Name	Value	Sort group by	Group header name on table
Direction	Included Angle Direction	Up	Included Angle	Bend Up
	External Angle Direction	Down	Angle	Bend Down
	Default	(blank)	Quantity	Default

Example:

Family of parts table groups

Group by	Name	Value	Sort group by	Group header name on table
Material	3-Hole	Brass	Size	3-Hole
	4-Hole	Steel	Size	4-Hole
	5-Hole	Nickel	Size	5-Hole
	Default	(blank)	Quantity	Default

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