Drawings Properties explained

When linking properties in drawing notes, it can be overwhelming to determine where exactly a specific property comes from. Below is a descrption of each property callout and where that property is read from.

$PRP Evaluated from: Current document

$PRPSHEET Evaluated from: Model in vew specified in sheet properties(by default, the first view inserted into the drawing.

$PRPVIEW Evaluated from: Model in the drawing view to which the note belongs

$PRPMODEL Evaluated from: Component to which the annotation is attached

(information gathered from SolidWorks Essentials 2010 Manual)

My Top 5 SolidWorks Shortcuts

So you have been using SoidWorks for a while and you think you have an efficient system to get things done quickly, but you wonder if you really are using all the shortcuts that are available out there. Here is a quick list of my top 5 Time saving shortcuts for everyday use.

5. "F"- Zoom to fit. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen cases where a user, maybe even myself, has added a mate in an assembly or rotated a part and seemingly lost the entire thing. Sometimes we get a little overzealous with the scroll wheel... by using the "F" key your model will magically appear in the center of your screen.

4. Automatic tangent arc- this is something that is commonly used in many types of models. first, while active in the line command, click to place the first point of your first line. Then, click and release to place the second endpoint and automatically start the next line. At this point you may either hover over the previous endpoint, or type "a" for arc to activate the tangent arc command. Once the second point of the arc is placed, the line command automatically comes back.

3. Space bar- the spacebar will bring up all standard and named views such as Front, Top, Right, etc. The great thing is that this menu pops up on you screen wherever your mouse pointer is at the time the space bar is pressed. From here, you simply need to double click on the desired view.

2. The shortcut toolbar- This fully customizable toolbar is FANTASTIC! It is environment specific. So, when in a drawing you are presented with drawing related commands, when in a sketch you are presented with sketch related commands and so on... To activate this toolbar, simply type "S" for shortcut and an on-screen popup will appear next to you mouse pointer. To customize what appears here, right click within the toolbar and the only option will be to "customize".

1. This contest for number 1 and number 2 was a very close call, but Mouse Gestures prevailed. The main reason being that you can add the shortcut toolbar into the mouse gestures menu if you so desire. Mouse gestures are activated by holding down and moving your right mouse button (versions 2010 and later). A wheel will appear and you simply have to mouse over the command you desire to activate it. This is also environment specific, and may be customized through the customize dialog to include 4 or 8 divisions in the circle as well as the contents per environment.

The biggest reason to start using these shortcuts, is to eliminate the time your mouse pointer spends away from the model. You will be surprised the productivity increase you will see once you start training yourself to leverage these shortcuts.

Until next time...

Drawing View Scale

There is a new enhancement to SW2011 that people have requested from time to time. You can now display the scale of a view if the view scale is different than the default drawing scale. In the past, you could only do this for detail, section or auxiliary views.

You can go to Tools/ Options/ Document Properties/ View Labels/Orthographic and check the box for "Show label if view scale differs from sheet scale." Some of you have been asking for that for a while, and now it is hear.

One more drawing view tool that is nice is the ability to use the 3D Drawing View tool. Previously that was just there to temporarily rotate the view to select a difficult edge or something, but now you can actually change the view orientation without having to go back to the part or assembly model and create a new named view. Nice time savings!

Just remember....don't be afraid to read the SW2011 What's New file (HTML or PDF) that is found in the Help pulldown. There are lots of "SW gems" hidden in there that are quite handy.

Until next time..... Let's Go Design!

Tony

What is REALLY New in SW2011?

So, SW2011 SP0 has been available since October 18th, but the Beta and Pre-Release versions have been around for a while. I am not sure how many people read the ~200 page What's New PDF that is available with every release, but that is kinda my job to know. It is a nice tool to read thru when doing Beta testing (not sure how many of you do that either), but also to prepare for the What's New Roll-Outs that we put on in the different cities around our territory. I have done a few here recently and it is always interesting to see what people get excited about and the items that they don't need.

When 2008 came out and the user-interface changed, the people that I thought would love the enhancements...didn't really care for them and vise-versa. We had a 2010 What's New about a month ago for a company that was just upgrading to 2010 because of SAP restrictions, but I ended up showing things that they had missed from the previous two releases too!

For 2011, there are some nice enhancements for Simulation and 2D simplification that will be very nice if you have that need. The Defeature tool will be nice for those that were using the approach to save an assembly as a part and remove detail so models can be put on the web and all the interior detail removed so that people can't "borrow" the designs. The new Walk-thru tool is nice (if you need that), but we could do that with different methods in the past. A new way to calculate un-folding of sheet metal parts is nice. You could just have used different bend allowances for each bend, but how many people do that? I just talked to a company that doesn't want to give flat patterns to their vendor and they are making them calculate them.

The tools to auto-arrange dimensions at the drawing level is huge, but in the events that I have been at, I showed the dimension widget that will place the dimension above and below the drawing view and move the other dimensions out of the way caught the attention of several people. That was there in 2010, but it still got a lot of interest. I had several people want me to explain Mouse Gestures again because they didn't understand it. I also try to show "Show-Hidden Components" while in the assembly. I think that is huge, but it has been around for a while and people still don't know that it is there. The Isolate command is great around the assembly level too.

So, what is REALLY new? I guess if you missed it, something from 2007 could be new to you. Don't be afraid to ask what something is if you see it in the menus and don't know what it does. We always say that people tend to find one favorite way to do something even if a new and better way is available.


Let's Go Design!

Tony

No, My equation syntax is not invalid!

Ever seen the message that says your syntax is invalid for that really brilliant equation you just came up with? Well, assuming that you have checked it closely to be sure that is is indeed input correctly, you may be dealing with a corrupted file. The file that deals with your equations is called "swvba.tlb". You may not have ever known it was corrupt if you hadn't tried to add an equation, but worry not! There is a painless solution.

In order to remedy this bugger, follow the simple steps below.

1. Stop the SolidWorks process
2. Search the local hard drive, where SolidWorks is installed, for the file called "swvba.tlb"
3. Delete all that are found
4. Turn off any anti-virus/firewall that may be active (you may need to log in under a different user if you are not a system administrator)
5. Restart SolidWorks

The SolidWorks installer will automatically regenerate this file -from KB solution S-028801

See...relatively painless...

Be sure to check back often for other tips, tricks, FAQ's, and other generally cool information about the SolidWorks product line.