From theSolidWorks Blog:
Here’s another new feature for 2013. In the Insert Components PropertyManager, you can select multiple components at a time and then insert each one in succession without returning to the PropertyManager. Also, if you double-click
If you are trying to color your models to make them look real, this is probably not for you. But – If you just want colors – any colors – fast – this is for you.
This SolidWorks macro automates assigning colors to Parts and Sub-Assemblies from within an Assembly.
Colors can be assigned at two levels:
1) Part Level
2) Assembly Level
There are two sources to generate various colors:
1) Random Color(s)
2) User Select Color(s)
There are three MAKE – modes:
1) All Selected Components the Same Color
2) All Selected Components have Various Colors
3) Various Colors – Except, Consecutive and Identical Components have the same color
Enjoy
Original article written by Nick Beattie, republished with permission of Symmetry Solutions. Image added by Matthew Lorono.
Having problems opening legacy assemblies that had parts saved internally? If you’re getting the “Unable to locate the file…” error referencing a temporary folder, your problem might be in the naming!
In SolidWorks 2009 and prior, you could rename the entire extension of the virtual component saved within the assembly. For example a virtual part named “[vpart1^assembly1]” could be renamed to “[Vpart^Assy]” or simply “[vpart].” It was also possible that while doing a Pack and Go, the assembly would be renamed, but not the virtual component. Starting in 2010, this was changed so that only the “part” portion of the name could be changed. A virtual component named “[vpart1^assembly1]” can only have the “vpart1” portion renamed, while the “^assembly1” will always be the same as the assembly it is stored in.
If the legacy file you’re trying to open in SolidWorks 2010 or newer has had the assembly portion of the component renamed, it will not recognize it as a virtual component and will try to find the file. To get the file to open properly in 2010 and later, you will have to go back and open the part in 2009 and find the virtual part. Any parts shown with brackets such as [vpart] will need to be renamed to have the full current assembly name after the carrot. If you assembly is named “assy123” the virtual component needs to be named “[vpart^assy123].” Save the assembly with the renamed component. Now your assembly should open properly and recognize the virtual component!
SolidWorks Help file is notoriously unhelpful at times. It has evolved over the years to improve its usefulness. However, there are still many under-documented functions within the Help file or commands that are completely undocumented. One day in January 2011, Scott Baugh asked a sincere and innocent question in the SolidWorks area on Eng-Tips.
Does anyone no (sic) where I can find a document with hidden SW commands. There are some key strokes and commands in SW that are not always listed in the help, or if they are they are overlooked very easy (sic).
From there, a long thread of comments grew. Someone mentioned that users can print out a list of keystroke assignments. This isn’t what Baugh was looking for.
Then, the list of “hidden SolidWorks commands” began as people submitted commands they felt were obscure or impossible to find in the SolidWorks Help file. It wasn’t long before Baugh offered to compile the list into a document. At first, the idea was to build the list in a discrete document. However, Deepak Gupta suggested GoogleDocs.
From there, Baugh built the list of “hidden SolidWorks commands”. There were three types of items added to the list: commands that are truly undocumented, commands that are under-documented (full functionality isn’t described), and commands that were too hard to find within the documentation.
Baugh then brought the topic over to the SolidWorks Forums, where the discussion further exploded. SolidWorks staff chimed in to address several points, but also to learn. Jim Wilkinson provided several detailed responses to help bring clarity to the conversation. Through his efforts, he also discovered several areas where improvement to the SolidWorks Help file is needed.
The Hidden SolidWorks Commands list is now a treasure of numerous golden nuggets. It’s not long, yet it can take awhile to fully explore. Check it out. If you have any further suggestions, feel free to leave a comment here, or in either the SolidWorks Forum thread or the Eng-Tips thread.
Some say the world will end in 2012. There are a lot of books being rushed to market right now that make some amazing claims about what’s going to happen just 22 months from now (Dec 21, 2012). SolidWorks Corp seems gleefully oblivious to all of this hoopla, as they have put a lot of effort to bring new capabilities to SolidWorks 2012. Here are some highlights.
There’s a few generic user interface capabilities to be added:
Sheet metal will see several improvements:
Big news about equations:
On drawings:
Assembly will have a new Design Review mode that allows users to open and explore large assemblies without all the overhead lag. This function will include the ability to conduct walk-throughs.
In an apparent extension of functionality added with SustainabilityXpress, SolidWorks 2012 will give users the ability to conduct manufacturer part costing.
New motion sensors will be added for actuator forces, baring loads and travel limits.
And now, the much hyped changes to be made in SolidWorks 2012:
3DVia Composer demonstrations have been all the rage at official SolidWorks and VAR events over the past year or so. I’m getting quite familiar with 3DVia Composer just from the demos (I’ve never used it). The more I see it, the more I realize just how much SolidWorks lacks in how it handles assemblies.
At one time, there was a function in SolidWorks that would allow the user to auto-explode their assembly. The problem with this function is that it never worked well enough to be of much use. As a result, the auto-explode function is not longer included in SolidWorks.
In demo after demo of 3DVia Composer, I see a milieu were assemblies are exploded and rearranged with superb ease. This same ease should be available in SolidWorks assemblies!
Examples of 3DVia functions that should be added to SolidWorks assembly mode.
One new function in 3DVia Composer that should be added to SolidWorks drawing mode is the Magnet Line. This allows the user to place one line (Magnet Line) on the drawing, then automatically attach to it a whole series of balloons so that they all are centered on that line. The Magnet Line can then be moved around at any angle. Regardless to the angle, all of the balloons remained aligned to each other by their common connection to the Magnet Line.
In fact, maybe Magnet Line shouldn’t be limited to just aligning balloons. Maybe it can be used to align any type of annotations. Maybe the Magnet Line can be made to affect annotations by their start, end or centers. If sophisticated enough, maybe the Magnet Line can completely replace the outdated MS-Office style alignment tools now available in SolidWorks drawing mode.
