Allow alternate MPNs to be searched for each part

[dbriscoe511]

Feature / Enhancement request

On production designs there are typically multiple MPN options available for each part. kicost currently can only search for one MPN for each part, which has the following disadvantages:

• May show the part as out of stock when an alternate is available
• May not show the cheapest price option with a list of alternates
• not easy to change what part is searched for

It would be nice if there was a few options on how alternate searches are performed. Having this functionality at all would be incredibly helpful, even without more options. These would be helpful because on larger designs it can already take a few minutes to generate a kicost spreadsheet, and searching for every single part and alternate could really extend that time. -On-out-of-stock Only search for alternates if there is not stock available on the main MPN of the part -Always search all alternates, display the cheapest one that is in stock -Cost threshold Search for alternates if a part costs more that (x) dollars

In excel, a dropdown menu could be used to select the alternate that is displayed.

[mik1234mc]

I ended up with a solution to put multiple MPN into manf# field separated with a comma. Then, you can easily see the availability of the listed parts.