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Custom Properties Drop down
5

Custom Properties Drop down

Custom Properties Drop down

(OP)
I am in the process of adding custom properties to our starter templates and wanted to know how to populate the drop down box on the value field to have a few selections for the users to pick from.
We are currently running SW 2008 sp3.0

-Joe
SolidWorks 2008 x64 SP 3.0 on Windows XP x64
Dell Percision 490
Intel Xeon 5160 @ 3.00Hz (Duel Core)
8 GB RAM  -  Nvidia Quadro FX1700 (6.14.11.6262)

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

Is the current drop-down not populated?

The drop-down selections are read from the properties.txt file which (for SW2008) is located at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SolidWorks\SolidWorks 2008\lang\english.

You can add whatever properties you need directly into that file.

cheers

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

... and don't forget to point the Tools > Options > System Options > File Locations --> Custom Property File to the same place, or preferably to a copy of the file located elsewhere. (Then any customization will not be lost if SW decides to overwrite it at the next update/upgrade.

cheers

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

2
CBL,

Do you have a blog or would you like to member of a current blog with multiple contributors?  You have a lot of good input on this board though could make good articles.  Let me know.  See SolidWorks Legion in my links of my signature.  We currently have three contributors.

Matt Lorono
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
and Mechnical.Engineering Yahoo! Group

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

Matt, Thank you for the invitation.

I do not have a blog. I am more a find-a-solution-to-the-problem guy than a publisher of information ... a fighter not a writer (Gilbert O-Sullivan).

If I ever find a topic I can expound upon I will fire you a copy for inclusion to the Legion.

Thanks for the kind words.

cheers

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

I agree. CBL's contribution will be good.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated 10-07-07)

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

That is for the "Property Name".  

tristram "wanted to know how to populate the drop down box on the value field to have a few selections for the users to pick from."

Example:

Property Name = Material
Value/Text Expression = Stainless Steel
                        Galvanized Steel
                        Aluminum

The user would be able to select a material from the list.  Please correct me if I'm wrong, tristram.

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

3
We use a custom property macro to give our users a drop down list of items such as standard finishes, materials, etc.

The one I used was from our Var's website here: http://www.goengineer.com/support/downloads/AutoProps.zip

The best thing is it is fully customizable which the text file describes how to do. I think this may be more of what your looking for. Let me know...
 

Best Regards,
Jon Knabenschuh

Gemini CAD Solutions
http://www.geminicadworks.com

Challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Solidworks 2007
 

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

msjames1,
Good catch ... I totally skimmed over that detail.

That has been asked before ... a long time ago. I don't think an answer was ever given.

 

cheers

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

(OP)
msjames1 you are correct, that is what I was looking for.

I will look into the macro that CADGemini provided when I get some free time later (most likely when everyone else has left)

-Joe
SolidWorks 2008 x64 SP 3.0 on Windows XP x64
Dell Percision 490
Intel Xeon 5160 @ 3.00Hz (Duel Core)
8 GB RAM  -  Nvidia Quadro FX1700 (6.14.11.6262)

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

CBL,

The one I posted is similar in nature except that it is built into the feature manager.

I guess it all depends on the look you want the end user to see and how much information you will be filling out for each type of SolidWorks document. I am sure either one will do the job and then some.

Best Regards,
Jon Knabenschuh

Gemini CAD Solutions
http://www.geminicadworks.com

Challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Solidworks 2007
 

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

I had forgotten that I had either of them. I have not tried them for a long time and do not remember how they work. I hope both still work in/with SW08. I will have to play with them tonight.

cheers

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

CADGemini,
Thanks for the site address. GoEngineer is our VAR also. I just never thought to look there. A star for you.
 

Bradley
SolidWorks Pro 2008 x64, SP3.0
PDMWorks Workgroup, SolidWorks BOM,
Dell XPS Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU
3.00 GHz, 5 GB RAM, Virtual memory 12577 MB,
nVidia Quadro FX 3400
Use SolidWorks BOM
e-mail is Lotus Notes

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

Bradley,

Thanks for the star....

where you located? I'm in Utah.
 

Best Regards,
Jon Knabenschuh

Gemini CAD Solutions
http://www.geminicadworks.com

Challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Solidworks 2007
 

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

Jon,
I am in California.

Bradley
SolidWorks Pro 2008 x64, SP3.0
PDMWorks Workgroup, SolidWorks BOM,
Dell XPS Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU
3.00 GHz, 5 GB RAM, Virtual memory 12577 MB,
nVidia Quadro FX 3400
Use SolidWorks BOM
e-mail is Lotus Notes

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

Go Engineer covers most of the west coast if not all of it. I figured you were in a nearby state.
 

Best Regards,
Jon Knabenschuh

Gemini CAD Solutions
http://www.geminicadworks.com

Challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Solidworks 2007
 

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

The best free one (that we have used for a few years now) is PropertyEditorSpec 2.0 by Lenny Kikstra.

I like the one from GoEngineer, but that one does not have the properties configuration specific.  All of our models from the get go have the properties configuration specific.  So far that is the only free property macro that is easy to modify and has the properties config specific.

http://www.lennyworks.com/solidworks/default.asp?ID=20

There is one other one, but it is modified by XML and that is foreign to me.

Flores

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

swcadman,

You can make the properties configuration specific with the Go Engineer one by the parameter CONFIGURATION SPECIFIC=YES or No which is under the Header.

I haven't had any trouble setting this up but maybe it wasn't coded into the macro when it first came out.  

Best Regards,
Jon Knabenschuh

Gemini CAD Solutions
http://www.geminicadworks.com

Challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Solidworks 2007
 

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

I am using my own home made macro. I like the way the Go Engineer one goes in the feature manager. How do they do that? Their macro is password protected so I couldn't look there.

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

dogarila,

Being added to the FeatureManager pane is something you can add to your macro.  You can look it up under the API help if no one else responses here.  I personally don't like using the FeatureManager pane for this type of macros.  I've used a custom macro similar to the one uploaded here:

http://sw.fcsuper.com/index.php?name=UpDownload&req=viewdownloaddetails&lid=7

 

Matt Lorono
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
and Mechnical.Engineering Yahoo! Group

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

(OP)
Thanks everyone, The Macros worked perfectly.

-Joe
SolidWorks 2008 x64 SP 3.0 on Windows XP x64
Dell Percision 490
Intel Xeon 5160 @ 3.00Hz (Duel Core)
8 GB RAM  -  Nvidia Quadro FX1700 (6.14.11.6262)

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

Which one did you end up using? Just curious.....

Best Regards,
Jon Knabenschuh

Gemini CAD Solutions
http://www.geminicadworks.com

Challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Solidworks 2007
 

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

CADGemini, a star for you.  I have recommended the macro from Lenny for around 3 years on here because it is free and easy to use.   

I like the interface from GoEngineer's macro better.

It is similar to the one from this site: http://www.swcp3.com/   but we didn't use it because you cannot have a space between the property names.  For example we use "Modeled Date" and others choke on that blank space between the words.
 

Flores

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

(OP)
CADGemini I used the one you suggested from Go Engineer.
 

-Joe
SolidWorks 2008 x64 SP 3.0 on Windows XP x64
Dell Percision 490
Intel Xeon 5160 @ 3.00Hz (Duel Core)
8 GB RAM  -  Nvidia Quadro FX1700 (6.14.11.6262)

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

The null value issue is the same problem with the SW built-in custom properties manager.  It doesn't let you keep a custom property that has no value at all.  Custom property managers do a much better job of dealing with this.  SW allows custom properties with null values, so I don't know why the built-in such a limitation to their custom property mananger.

Matt Lorono
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA
Lorono's SolidWorks Resources
Co-moderator of Solidworks Yahoo! Group
and Mechnical.Engineering Yahoo! Group

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

Matt,

You could just enter a space for the properties that have no value. I guess this is a workaround but your right they should be able to accept no value at all.

Your users will also have to remember to backspace before typing in values otherwise when they are imported into the drawing things could be off by a space.

Best Regards,
Jon Knabenschuh

Gemini CAD Solutions
http://www.geminicadworks.com

Challenges are what makes life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Solidworks 2007
 

RE: Custom Properties Drop down

Thanks Matt, I found that info in the SW API help.  

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