SolidWorks Legion

News: Dimension Palette improves in SolidWorks 2010 SP3

The people (i.e., SolidWorks users) have spoken and SolidWorks Corp listened. The infamous Dimension Palette now functions differently. The controversy surrounding the Dimension Palette started almost immediately after SolidWorks 2010 SP0 was released. People started posting heated complaints in the SolidWorks forums. I addressed many of those complaints in a previous article.

How has Dimension Palette changed? It no longer comes up automatically when the user accesses a dimension on a drawing. Instead, when one or more dimensions are selected, a Dimension Palette button appears above and to the right of the mouse pointer’s location. This is similar to other pop up toolbars, such as the Shortcut Menu.

dim-palette01

To active the Dimension Palette, simply move the mouse cursor over the Dimension Palette button. This will pop up the Dimension Palette. From there, use of the Dimension Palette is the same as before.

dim-palette04 Some minor visual tweaks were also added to improve the look and control of the Dimension Palette. The corners are now rounded. There is also the addition of a Move tab that allows the Dimension Palette to be moved around the view pane by the user.

dim-palette05

New behavioral improvements allow the Dimension Palette to be more predictable. If the user interacts with the Dimension Palette, it will remain on screen for as long as the dimension selection is active and the mouse cursor remains in the view pane. If the Dimension Palette is brought up by the user but the user does not interact with it, the Dimension Palette will disappear when the mouse pointer moves away from it. If this happens, simply press the CTRL key to bring the Dimension Palette button back, if desired. Also, if the Dimension Palette pops up and it is not wanted, it may be banished by pressing the ESC key.

I’ve had a chance to use this new functionality already. The changes to Dimension Palette represent serious improvement! I’m not going to say the solution is complete. I believe development of the Dimension Palette needs to mature before it becomes a classic like the Shortcut Bar. These improvements do make it more user friendly. If there are no other reasons to upgrade to SolidWorks 2010 SP3, the improvements to the Dimension Palette are reason enough.

April Contest prize requested photos

There was a recent request to add photos of the prizes for the SolidWorks Legion April 2010 contest. I guess this will makes the prizes more tangible. (All it takes to enter this contest is to leave comments on SolidWorks Legion articles that are published during April 2010 and any SolidWorks Legion articles linked via twitter by my fcsuper account.)

Prize Photos

First prize: There is no photo available for a CSWP test voucher, since its just a code that allows you to take the test. However, if the winner passes the test, they will be able to use their CSWP badge.

cswp

Second prize: I don’t have a photo of Sir Richard Branson’s book, but a press release photo should be fine to represent this prize. This copy is a new and unread book that has some sort of official replicated Sir Richard Branson signature. (I have my own “signed” copy, which is not so new.)

bransonbook

Third prize: Due to the rarity of the SolidWorks labelled insulated hot/cold mug, I could’ve made it a first prize in a different contest. These mugs are tough. I love my own personal mug. It literally keeps cold drinks cold and hot drinks warm for hours. (All bets are off if you try to mix cold and hot drinks together). This prize is for the new/never-used mug in this photo.

supermug

(Remember, even articles about the contest qualify comments for the contest during the month of April 2010.)

3Dconnexion adds new functionality to existing toys

A few months ago at SolidWorks World 2010, 3DConnexion announced that they are adding 3D mouse capabilities for SolidWorks. Their 3D mice now have a function that automatically and continuously determines the optimal center of rotation for any current view. When a model is fully in view, the center of rotation is the center of the model. When zoomed on a particular area of the model, the center of rotation becomes the center of the view. This makes the exploration and navigation of the smallest details on the largest models much more intuitive. This new function is called Auto Rotation Center.

Auto Rotation Center is displayed on the view pane of SolidWorks models or assemblies in the form of a translucent blue bubble. This bubble has three display states which are chosen by the user under 3Dcontrol pulldown>Properties>Part/Assembly section>Show center drop down. It may be always displayed, displayed in motion only (when the 3D mice is in use), or never displayed.

I’ve been using this new functionality since Feb 2010 in real world scenarios. Early on, I did have some initial issues with this function working properly on my computer system and version of SolidWorks. 3Dconnexion did fix the bug I encountered. Since then, I’ve been impressed with this new function. So much so that I don’t even remember not using Auto Rotation Center with my SpacePilot PRO.

An additional capability 3Dconnexion has added to their 3D mice is the ability to pick a new center of rotation from a point on the 3D model. With the Auto View Rotation, I’ve actually not used this other function even once.

So, if you have a 3Dconnexion 3D mouse which is currently supported, I recommend checking out their website to download the latest driver. Then turn on Auto Rotation Center.

One word of warning, installation of this new driver will wipe out any custom button mappings, so be prepared to remap your device’s buttons. (This won’t be an issue for new installs, of course.)

3dconnexion

April Content for SolidWorks Legion

SolidWorks Legion has a contest going on for the month of April 2010. The basic idea is to simple. To enter the contest, leave comments for any new articles on SolidWorks Legion, and any SolidWorks Legion articles that I link via Twitter with my fcsuper account for the month of April 2010. For full rules, see the announcement article. Available to win is a CSWP test voucher, “signed” book by Sir Richard Branson, and a insulated SolidWorks mug. Have fun!

How to use sticks safely on PCs (USB Safety part 2)

Do not plug a stick in to a computer that does not have updated and active virus protection software.
Do not use a stick for both home and work. Keep these uses on separate sticks.
Do not plug your stick into unknown computers.
Do not plug unknown sticks into your computer.
When first plugging a stick into a computer, a prompt should come up with options of how to view the items on that device. Always choose the Cancel button. This should prevent malware from running automatically.
To access a file or start legitimate software, simply navigate to the stick using My Computer or Windows Explorer and LMB double-click on the item.
If you suspect that a stick is infected, you may be able to use virus protection software to clean it. However, I will err on the side of caution by simply destroying the stick. Of course, this option is not as practical in the case of large external hard drives.

Malware and your USB stick (USB Safety part 1)

For us old-timers, there is a memory of the old days when we passed around floppy disks (floppies) to share computer programs, data files or images. Floppies where great because users could easily read and write to them. It didn’t take long for viruses and other malware to begin spreading through the sharing of floppies. In fact, floppies from unknown sources where often handled with suspicion. People would frequently scan floppies using anti-virus software. These days, the floppy disk has almost completely disappeared, along with the issue spreading malware on them.

A whole generation of people has grown up without an easy-to-use read/write exchange media similar to the floppy disk. For a long time, sharing data was in the form of CD-ROM and DVD. These require special software to create and read. They also don’t allow new information to be added to them once they are created. It is very difficult for malware to spread via these formats for that reason.

With the advent of the USB memory stick or thumb drive (sticks), we now have a new easy-to-use read/write exchange media. Usage of sticks has increased drastically in the past couple of years. Us old-timers have looked upon these sticks with the same suspicion we use to reserve for floppies. I never allow sticks from unknown sources to be plugged into my computer. People who are new to the realities of the Information Age (particularly, younger people or others who have just started using computers within the past few years) don’t have this same prohibition. I’ve witnessed people gleefully passing around sticks to share files or run software on various systems. I’ve watched as people would use their sticks for both work and personal purposes (back in the old days with floppies, this was an absolute no-no). As a result, industry is now witnessing computers and networks get infected, just like the old days.

Such usage of sticks has rebirthed the spread of malware. According to Trend Micro, sticks and other types of external drives are highly common sources for the spread computer virus infection. The problem is getting worse very quickly. Companies and private users are now faced with this new onslaught of malware.