Jeff's Tool Shed

Back in June, I posted a quick SolidWorks T & T post that seemed to be well received, so I figured I’d post another one.

• ‘Ctrl’+8 will change view to Normal to. Hitting it again will flip to the opposite side.
• F5 turns your filter toolbar on/off. F6 clears enabled filters.
• To created geometry without snapping, hold down ‘ctrl’ before or after dragging to disable inferencing.
• Repair broken sketch relationships by dragging, or manually repair by using relations.
• Name your features, it’ll make your life easier down the road.
• If working in a multi-user environment, enable multi-user environment to receive update notices (Tools->options->collaboration).
• If you use variations of the same part, you owe it to yourself to check out DriveWorksXpress.
• Always use fully defined sketches. Trust me.

Tips & Tricks sessions are always popular at SWUG meetings and at SolidWorks World. It looks like there’s a least 5 different T&T sessions at SWW’10. If you’re planning on attending, make sure you get there early, you’ll want to be able to take notes.

I’m the only SolidWorks user in the company and, up until now, haven’t been using PDMWorks. Part of the reason is I don’t trust our server. We’re a small company and the server’s stability worries me. Presently, I have everything on my computer, with a backup on an external hard drive. The only things I put on the server are pdf’s of completed drawings.
I’ve been contemplating creating a vault on my hard drive, with a backup on the external drive, for a while now. The thing is, I’m just not convinced it’s the way to go. I’ve used PDM plenty of times, and think I’m pretty well versed in the positives in a multi-user environment, but I just can’t quite wrap my head around using it solo. Yes, I’ve heard the “what if the company grows” argument, but it just isn’t enough to get me to make the switch.
Are you using PDMWorks in a solo environment? If so, why? How do you feel it enhances your work flow? If you’re not using it, why not? Curious minds want to know.

I’ve been slammed at work lately, but knew that I should come up with some sort of a post. How about a bunch of random SolidWorks tips & tricks.

• Holding ‘Ctrl’ and dragging a part in an assembly will copy the part. This is true if you click on the part in the tree or the graphics area. You can do the same with a sub-assembly out of the tree.
• Hold ‘Ctrl’ and dragging a plane will create a quick parallel copy of said plane.
• Dynamic Line/arc creation – Hover over the line endpoint to switch to the arc tool, or press ‘A’ to alternate between the two.
• F9 will hide the FeatureManager, F10 will hide the toolbars, F11 hides all.
• F5 turns your selection filter toolbar on and off. F6 clears enabled filters.
• Holding down ‘Shift’ while dimensioning arcs will auto dim to ‘Max’.
• If you use the ‘Shell’ command without selecting a face, you’ll create a hollow part.
• Use Multi-mate to speed up mate creation in assemblies.
• Did you know that you can rotate, in 3D, a view in a drawing?
• Use a surface cut to quickly remove half of a model.

Ok, that’s it for now. Just a quick post!

GO SOX!

This is it, the final installment of this critically acclaimed mini-series on SolidWorks Crashes & Slowdowns. Ok, ok, fine, so it received more criticism than anything, but I liked it and that’s what really counts.

What do you do when things have come to a grinding halt and you’ve tried all the tricks that you know, that you’ve read online and that your cubicle-mate told you about? You call your VAR. Before you do, there’s a couple of things you should do. First and foremost, make sure you’re calm. Calling up and yelling at an AE isn’t going to solve your problems. Believe it or not, AEs are actual people with feelings and everything. Also, they aren’t the ones who wrote the code so they’re about as at fault as you think you are.

If you’re experiencing repeatable crashes, document the problem. Thoroughly. Be specific, too. The more specific, the better. Don’t assume that someone else has had the issue, either. When you experience repeatable crashes, it’s important to be proactive so the issue can be fixed. Use SolidWorks Rx, or pack ‘n go, to send all pertinent files. Write up the issue using clear and concise language. “Thingie”, “doo-hicky” or “whatchamalcallit” may be a little too much for technical people.

It’s your computer, it’s your responsibility to know what’s up with it. Keep track of changes to it; new software or hardware, driver updates, IT screwing around with whatever. Keep an “issues” log to track things. Details of crashes, communications with your VAR, any SPRs that were opened.

Are you a ‘Techie’? Did you hack your graphics card? Overclock your CPU? Maybe you recently had it opened up to get rid of the dust bunnies? Make sure your cards and memory are seated properly.

When you decide to contact your local AE, remember that they are there to help, and most of them actually want to help. To the best of my knowledge, there are no AEs named ‘dipwad’, ‘hey you’ or ‘chump’. Develop a professional relationship with the AEs at your VAR.  Believe me, it’ll go a long way towards expediting issues when you call in. Be sure to research the problem a little as well. Having an AE tell you “Uh…no, you can’t ’save-as’ as an older file” does little for your reputation.

Some hints for getting good support:

• Know your system

• CPU model and speed
• Installed RAM
• Operating system
• Video card and driver version
• SolidWorks version and service pack

Don’t over-extend yourself

• Technical support is NOT meant to replace training
• Use the on-line help files

There are plenty of resources out there for all SolidWorks users. The SolidWorks website has information regarding hardware requirements and video card recommendations, as well as FAQs, installation guides and best practices. On the right side of my blog are links to other bloggers, SWUGN (SolidWorks User Group Network) and various SolidWorks forums.  Don’t be afraid to get info from multiple sources, sometimes it’s the only way to get the answer to your particular question.

Thanks to Richard Doyle and Matt Lombard for providing the foundation for the info in this series/presentation.

In this week’s post, we’re going to talk a bit about how you go about creating, and working with, assemblies. Remember, these aren’t hard and fast rules, they’re more guidelines. As anyone who has used SolidWorks for any length of time knows, there are multiple ways to get from point A to point B.

When working in large assemblies (>5,000 parts) don’t get click happy. Give SolidWorks time to crunch numbers and catch up. The same holds true when switching windows. Let the graphics catch up.

Use configurations wisely. Deriving a derived configuration of a derived configuration may end up causing a SolidWorks conflaguration (yes, that is a word). This is not a pretty sight and may cause you, the user, unnecessary stress.

The next tip can be contentious. There are those who strongly favor in-context features and those that don’t. I happen to fall into the latter category. While I see the need for them, occasionally, I’ll generally break the relations so that the part can stand on its own. I’ve had enough bad experiences to not like them. There’s a good chance that I should have just left this topic out, but that just wouldn’t be my style.

When working in assemblies, fix your mate errors. Seriously, why wouldn’t you? By “leaving them ’til later”, you’re only causing SolidWorks to have to work harder. The same holds true for rebuild errors. I know I’ve been on the receiving end of an assembly that had more meatballs than an Italian restaurant. “Meatballs” being the red circles with exclamation points. Leaving an assembly in that state is a sure-fire way to start a cubicle war.

Ok, that’s it for today. Next, and last, installment will be out late this week or early next week.

This week, let’s talk about your PC. There are things you can do, and should do, to help keep your PC running smoothly. Hopefully, a lot of this will be old news for many of you.

Keep your hard drive clean. Clean out your temp directories and defrag monthly. I like to use ccleaner to take care of my temp directories. It’ll get rid of all those unneeded files as well as  clearing out unused registry files, cookies and other memory fluff. I know that there are other products out there, so feel free to add your favorite in the comments section.

Speaking of hard drives, don’t skimp on size; not that that is easy to do these days. As with so many things PC-related, bigger is better. Even with that super-mega-sized hard drive, be sure to not let it get too full. The more free space the better. The more crap that’s on there is the more crap that has to be gone through to find what you’re looking for. That equals slowdown.

I know that I’m as guilty as the next for repeating this but, don’t go cheap on RAM! SolidWorks still says that the bare minimum required is 512MB, unless you’re using ‘09. Not. RAM is cheap, people, so don’t go cheap! You can get 4GB of RAM for ~$60 on newegg. There’s no excuse for not doing it, unless your PC just can’t take that much which brings up a whole new set of questions. For those of you using 32-bit machines, you can still benefit from 4GB of RAM by enabling the /3GB switch. This involves editing your boot.ini file. Google “3GB switch”, you’ll find plenty of info out there. I’d rather not disseminate the instructions. The last thing I need is to mistype something and have someone email death threats because they can’t get their computer to boot up.

Be nice to your computer. Turn it off when you’re not using it; it saves energy and releases memory. Make sure you keep all your drivers up-to-date, both for hardware and software. Stay away from “semi-professional” software. They can overwrite or delete files you need as well as cause driver conflicts.

Just a short post this week. Have a great weekend and GO SOX!

I’m typing this up with, what may be, a broken thumb. As it turns out, it’s the thumb I use most on my spacebar, so it’s wreaking havoc not being able to use it. You never understand how much you depend on something until you can’t use it. I digress, again, though.

Today, we’re going to discuss installing SolidWorks. I was tempted to skip over it as it’s been discussed innumerable times in the forums, but what the hell. Nothing like a refresher course, right? There aren’t too many things to remember when it comes to installing SolidWorks, especially if it’s a  brand new, stand alone install. For those, it’s pretty much throw in the DVD and follow the prompts. You may want to change a default location here or there or, perhaps, not install something that’s included, but that’s about it. Ok, that may be over-simplifying it. There are still occurrences of Anti-virus software screwing things up, as well as other glitches, but those are all few and far between.

If it’s a networked seat, you’ll want to be sure that you know the name of the license server. You should also know the network location of Toolbox, because, if you’re using Toolbox in a multi-user environment, you have put it on the network, right? Right? Ideally, your CAD Administrator or IT department has set up an admin image and you won’t have to worry about any of this. If they haven’t, get them to do it. It’ll make life easier for everyone.

The fun stuff, now. You’ve got the newest version in your sweaty palms and you want to install it. Now. Do you need to keep the old version? If the answer is yes, you’ll want to set up a separate destination folder on your hard drive (C:\SolidWorks 20xx). You don’t want to be installing the newer version of Toolbox over the old one. It’ll cause you pain and agony, the likes of which you’ve never seen. (Could I be any more melodramatic today?) Many people run 2, 3 or even 4 versions of SolidWorks on their machines. More often than not, it’s to accomodate customer’s needs. Don’t let anyone tell you that it can’t be done. There will be the occasional hiccup running multiple versions, but you’ll be fine most of the time.

If you’re going to just be working with the newest version, there’s some recommended steps you’ll want to take. First, go to Start->All Programs->SolidWorks->SolidWorks 20xx->SolidWorks Tools->Copy Settings Wizard and run it. This will create a reg file of your settings so you don’t have to recreate the environment you’re used to. Do the usual add/remove program thing and get rid of SolidWorks. Open up Windows Explorer and do a search for SolidWorks. Be sure to include hidden files and folders. When SolidWorks installs, it dumps some stuff into C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data, which is, generally, a hidden folder. You’ll want to delete any SolidWorks folders on your hard drive, except for ones you created to hold models/assemblies/drawings. Still with me? Good. Now, this next step is not for the faint of heart. If you’re uncomfortable messing around in your registry files, skip down to the next paragraph. Go to Start->Run and type in regedit then hit  ‘ok’. This will open up the registry editor. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software and delete the any SolidWorks related folders. This may include eDrawings, Dassault Systemes, COSMOS, etc. Do the same in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE. You can also download a cleaning utility, such as ccleaner, to further check the registry and remove dangling .dlls. At this point, you can follow one of two paths. You can reboot or not reboot. I’ve heard various theories on both. Personally, I don’t reboot. More to the point, I tend to forget to reboot. Nonetheless, I haven’t had any issues by not rebooting. Go ahead and install SolidWorks.

If you created a registry file, run the copy settings wizard and select ‘Restore settings’. You should be all set now with a perfect, no issue install of SolidWorks. I’ll pause while you laugh…

The above info is, to the best of my knowledge, the best way to do a clean install of SolidWorks. Individual results may vary. Side effects may include swearing, keyboard hammering, pulsating forehead viens, burst blood vessels or heavy drinking.

Last week, when I started this “mini-series”, I talked mostly about your network. (Awesome post, btw. You can check it out here.) Today, let’s talk a little about crashes and what can cause them, shall we?

You have SolidWorks open and you go to insert a drawing view. You can hear your computer crunching all the 0’s and 1’s, but what you don’t know is that some bad juju is happening. A bad address, faulty driver, unavailable memory, or some other glitch and, BAM!, you get: There are some common denominators that can contribute to a crash. One is your operating system. Obviously, if you’re running SolidWorks on an unsupported OS, you’re bound to have problems. However, even the supported ones can create issues. Ever have some Microsoft patch hose your system? ‘Nuff said.

Hardware and software combinations can also cause issues. You’ll see people posting about graphics issues fairly regularly in the various forums. More often than not, it comes down to two things. Either they’re using an unsupported card or they have the wrong driver installed. The fix for the first one is pretty obvious. The second one, however, isn’t quite as obvious. Many don’t realize that the driver for an nVidia Quadro xxxxxx that is in a computer they bought from HP or Dell may be different from the driver for a home built computer. When you go to SolidWorks’ testing site, pay attention to the first drop-down menu. If you’re using a branded system, that’s who you should choose for the manufacturer. If it’s home built, then you’d choose your card’s manufacturer. Now that you’ve downloaded the correct driver, you need to uninstall the existing driver, then reboot, stare in awe of how huge your icons are, then install the new driver.

Hardware issues aren’t always just video card related. There have been issues where mice, printers or other periphery have caused problems. Granted, most of the issues could be traced back to the products drivers, but you get my gist here, right?

As far as software goes, every once in a while you’ll hear how SolidWorks doesn’t play nice with AutoCAD or some other software. This is why there are people out there who have machines dedicated solely to SolidWorks. There isn’t too much you can do about it. Sometimes things happen when it comes to software compatibility.

Next up, installation.

You like that title? I did when Richard told it to me. It’s also the title of a new presentation I’m working on. Richard had done a similar presentation back in ‘04 and, realizing it was right up my alley, bequeathed it unto me. After much updating, it’s almost done. I’m hoping to be presenting it at the next SASPUG meeting. I thought though, that I’d give you, my loyal reader (the check is in the mail), a peek into this incredible presentation by sharing some of the info in it over a couple of posts.

CAD Hurts!

Seriously, it can. It can cause headaches, bruising (from banging your fist on your keyboard) and serious amounts of stress. All CAD systems experience SSC (slowdowns, stalls and crashes). A lot of what you experience can depend on what you know or don’t know.

Many of the common denominators for SSC are your OS, the maintenance on your hardware and software, how you go about creating your models/assemblies/drawings and by simply not getting any help.

Like any other software package, SolidWorks will only work on certain operating systems. Yes, I know that’s somewhat short-sighted, but that’s the way it is. The current version of SolidWorks runs on WindowsXP (32- or 64-bit) or one of the Vista Business versions (32- or 64-bit). If you work some geek magic to get SW to work on a Mac, or any other platform, you’ll be SOL when it comes to tech support.

Is your network up to the task at hand? While everyone knows that you shouldn’t work across your network, most pull from, and save to, a network drive. If your network is maxed out, SSC, and data loss, are bound to show up. An easy test: Get in early and download/upload a good sized file, tracking the time. Do the same during the middle of the day and at the end of the day. If there’s a noticeable difference in the times, you might want to look at upgrading. If it’s at all possible, you should have a dedicated engineering server. You don’t need another department’s issues corrupting your data.

When was the last time you meandered over to 3D ContentCentral^®? Have you ever been there? Whenever people jump onto one of the forums looking for a model, 3D ContentCentral is where they’re inevitably sent. Why? Because there’s over 500,000 CAD users registered. If each of them has contributed just 2 models, that’s a million models to choose from. Granted, not everyone contributes. But there are prolific posters, as well. Per Nielson has contributed a total of 306 parts since he joined. It goes beyond individual users though. The list of supplier created content is quite impressive as well. Did I mention that there are 2D blocks and macros available as well?

One of the best things about 3DContentCentral is that it’s not just for us SolidWorks users. The models are available in all major 2D and 3D CAD formats, including  Autodesk Inventor^™ and AutoCAD^®. This allows for sharing across industries and, in some cases, companies. Dassault Systèmes has also added self-publishing to the site making it easier for suppliers to upload their parts and assemblies without the use of third-party applications. This means even more content for you!

With the popularity of social networks (Facebook, Twitter), Dassault has added social networking to 3D ContentCentral as well. You can build communities to share experiences and knowledge. Some of the key features, as described by Dassault, are:

• “My Updates”: Automatically keeps users up to date on everyone in their community of contacts. For example, it notifies a user when a contact uploads a new 3D model, or contributes a comment to an online discussion.
• Favorites: Lets users track specified users and parts catalogs without inviting them to become a contact.
• Rate and Comment: Enables users to collaboratively evaluate model quality and share their experiences with one another.
• Requesting: Gives users a direct channel to suppliers so they can ask for modifications and new designs.
• Maps to Suppliers: Google Maps integration in the search options helps users find the nearest component suppliers and OEMs.
• Advanced Search Tools: Helps users find content more efficiently using guided navigation.

Even with all the new features that Dassault has implemented, the best part about it is you don’t have to rebuild the wheel, as it were. If it’s an off-the-shelf item, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to find it at 3D ContentCentral.