Support for assemblies and other useful features

[webdevinition]

Hello everyone, like many others, I am convinced of the excellent work @jbtronics has done with Part-DB, and I have extended the software for my own project. In this thread, I would like to introduce some new features that have been developed to draw the attention of the community and the main project to these enhancements. I hope this will lead to the timely integration of a pull request so that the community can also benefit from these developed functions. I look forward to positive feedback on the implemented innovations and advancements.

Presentation of the Improvements and Their Advantages

1. Assemblies as a new data source

Functionality

• Enables direct configuration of Bills of Materials (BOMs) with referencing of other assemblies in the configuration.
• Logical and hierarchical representation of complex assemblies without requiring "Build-Parts" structures in part categories as a workaround.
• Projects remain independent as data source and retain their familiar features/building capabilities.
• Assemblies offer intuitive management for users who wish to work with nested assemblies.

Additional Functions

• Simplified JSON and CSV Import: Easy-to-use templates provide a quick entry point into the BOM import area. Saves time when transferring data and linking BOMs with parts.
• CSV export: Introduction of a readable representation of hierarchical structures for assemblies and other data sources. Useful for Excel analyses and further processing.
• PDF export: Introduction of a readable representation for assemblies as complete part list of an configured assembly.
• Synonyms for Data Sources: multilingual customization options for more understandable or application-specific names in the frontend, making it suitable for international teams.
• Automated IPN Placeholders in Name Configurations of a part: Simplifies automated naming with integrated IPN (Internal Part Number) based on part IDs. Users only need to fill in the IPN when adding a part, and it will automatically replace the placeholder in the name input of a part.

Call to action for discussion participants

• Would you also find it helpful to have the ability to configure assemblies efficiently and represent them hierarchically in a simple way?
• Would a exportable and human-readable part list as PDF or CSV for Excel also be a useful feature in your everyday life?

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2. IPN Suggestion list in the parts section

Functionality

• Suggestion list for IPN input in parts. Suggestion list for systematic naming based on IPN category prefixes. If an IPN prefix is assigned to a category, it is included in the suggestion list for parts of the respective category.
• When the same existing description is entered for a part: an automated search for a free IPN with the appropriate increment is conducted, and suggestions are provided in the list.
• Configuration is possible both at the category level (assigning IPN prefix) and at the part level (for selected part categories or manually modified part descriptions).

Benefits

• Supports and introduces uniform and systematically structured IPN input across part categories.
• Avoids duplicates and naming conflicts in the system.

Call to action for discussion participants

• Have you also faced difficulties in systematically assigning part IPN information?
• Would such a suggestion list for IPN input be helpful for your work?

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3. Custom part status

Functionality

• Flexible status configuration for parts.
• Define part statuses, such as "in development," "obsolete," "to be replaced," etc, depending on your use case.
• Facilitates better organization and overview in part management.

Benefits

• Allows tailoring workflows to individual needs.
• Status overviews optimize work and approval processes.

Call to action for discussion participants

• How do you currently organize the editing and approval of parts in your workflow?
• Would custom status options improve your internal processes as well?

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Summary of all feature benefits

To summarize the benefits of the presented features:

• Increased efficiency: Achieved through automated processes.
• Enhanced flexibility and clarity: Enables better data management.
• Improved export options: Supports external post-processing.
• International adaptability: Thanks to synonym functions for data sources.

I would be delighted if @jbtronics initially integrates this into the main branch. A pull request will be submitted shortly in the next few days.
I look forward to potentially contributing further enhancements to the project after the integration is complete. 😊

[jbtronics]

Sounds good. Im looking forward on how it will be implemented.
Some of the features were also requested/discusses in some issue, maybe that helps with some of your points.

It would be good if you could split up the different independent features/changes into separate Pull requests. Otherwise its really hard to review large PRs doing a lot of stuff.