The drawing text file (*.TXT), which contains information on the parts in the drawing, is required for outputting the BOM as an ASCII file, as is the template file (*.MSK), which determines the output format. These files are text files, and the data they contain is unencrypted and in ASCII format. You can view and edit these files in an editor.

• The output format for processing the text file further is determined in the template file (e.g. which data record fields are to be processed, the length of the data record fields, etc.).
• The type of BOM involved (i.e. itemized BOM or summarized BOM) is determined in the template file (/type).
• The fields that are output and where they are output in the BOM are also determined (/line and /filler).
• Furthermore, you can determine the type and scope of headers and footers (see /header and /footer).
• You can define mathematical operations for the fields of a data record (/math).
• You can also define variables (/definition), whereby a value that is entered at runtime can be called up under specific names. You can use other variables, to total up specific fields, and to output the results at specific positions.
• You can also specify in the template file whether you want to sort data records and, if so, what criteria you want to use for doing this (/sort).
• Regardless of whether you specify sorting criteria, you can specify that the data records should be grouped together into groups and summarized, if you wish to create a summarized BOM (/group).

All of the rows in the template file start in the first column, and end with a return character. You should bear this in mind, since the template file is processed row by row (although the final character of a line is removed in most cases). Any undesirable side effects that can result from incorrect syntax are dealt with in the individual topics of this documentation.

The template file is divided up into several processing groups. The beginning of a processing group is represented by a line beginning with the character "/" followed by a character string that designates the processing group in question. The lines that identify the start of the processing groups, and the command lines that follow them are sometimes obligatory, and sometimes you can leave them out (e.g. command lines).

The lines of the processing groups that are specified between ‘%’ (and the command lines that follow them) can be left out. Even if they are specified and are not followed by command lines, this will not result in an error.

You should not deviate from the following sequence of processing groups in the template file. If you do, this might lead to unexpected results in the BOM printout, or to errors.