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Automating Updating and Adding to Design Tables

Automating Updating and Adding to Design Tables

Automating Updating and Adding to Design Tables

(OP)
(I am actually mechanical not computer.  I just don't know how to fix that.)

I have been working on a project where a group I am working with has created a tradespace viewer that will in a way allow users to shop for a product design.  My current task is providing models for each design in SolidWorks and then exporting these to VRML files.  This way the user can click on a design point and have the model available to them to view.  I have been able to do this just fine with the data I was given.  The problem enters when new points are created by the user.  There will not be models available to those points.  Now I am trying to automate the process so that new VRML files can be created on the fly with little to no interaction with the user.  It won't be the most elegant solution since SolidWorks has to be dragged into things (as far as I know), but I will settle for one that works at the moment.

What I have so far:
SolidWorks 2008 and Excel 2007
I have an assembly with about 25 parts (not all unique).  Each part and assembly has a design table.  The values in these design tables are referenced from a master Excel worksheet and to/from each other.  The design tables in SolidWorks are NOT linked to the file as it seemed to greatly slow down the export to VRML.  Also, this process needs to be able to work on any computer.  The changing locations have made it trickier to handle.  There are currently 300 configurations/design points.  

So far I have successfully written a macro in Excel that would open all the design tables and grab/delete the new configurations from the master.  However, I could not figure out how to get SolidWorks to replace the updated table using the from file option.  My attempt to modify a recorded macro failed.  My second idea was to use the method described by neilc78 in another thread thread559-152067: Design Table Help!.  This would do everything in SW instead of Excel.  Unfortunately, I need more than to just update the dimensions; I have to be able to add or remove rows as well.  I could not get the fill commands from my Excel macro to work the same way in Solidworks. (I did make sure to check Microsoft Excel 12.0 under references)

Is there a way to do these things, or is there a better way to be approaching this?

I do not know Visual Basic, but these forums have been a great help as I learn.  Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

RE: Automating Updating and Adding to Design Tables

You might look at the DriveWorks add-in.

RE: Automating Updating and Adding to Design Tables

At least in 2007 if you go to the index of the API help and type in configuration, there is an add entry with options for adding configurations and adding rows to the design table.  Those may be a good place to start.

Eric
 

RE: Automating Updating and Adding to Design Tables

(OP)
I took a look at the DriveWorksXpress add-in, which I did not know about previously.  I don't think it will work for this particular application because the new dimensions will not be chosen by the user.  The program creates a bunch of new design points similar to a chosen one, so the values need to be read directly from the Excel sheet.

I considered adding configurations, but I still do not know how to pull in the information I want from another worksheet or continuing the formulas from the above configurations (i.e. using filldown and fillup).  Is it possible to access the cells in the embedded design table just as you would in Excel? For example, can you set say cell E5 in the design table equal to cell B4 in a master Excel sheet external from SolidWorks?

 

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