auto insert 3 standard views? 5

[arcticcatmatt]

We all know of the standard 3 views button, but is there a way for solidworks to automatically generate them? I would like to put it in the template so this happens. Thanks

SW x64 2007 SP 5.0

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Check for drawing views, predefined in the SW Help index.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ Your the man! I didn't know you could do that.

Now to figure out the drawing templates. Management said we needed rev table on all prints starting with A (initial release) due to audit.

I couldn't find a way to do it without creating all new .drwdot files and get rid of our .slddrt files. Everytime I switched to different sheet formats the rev table lost its ancor hah.. even when I set the ancor and saved it.

Now we have
A-Metric.drwdot
A.drwdot
B-Metric.drwdot
B.drwdot

and so on.. sucky part is after you selected what size paper your using, you can't change it.

 

[JMirisola]

Matt,
Check out the help files. You can do more than you think, including changing paper sizes.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP, Certified DriveWorks AE

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog

 

[ctopher]

Search through the Help menu. It explains how to change the paper size and how to work with templates.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Jul 13, 2008)
ctopher's blog

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ I read it for an hour. I must be missing something.

Nowhere in the help file have I seen how to have a revision table on the drawings automatically.

I will keep searching.

 

[JMirisola]

Search in the help files for tables...

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP, Certified DriveWorks AE

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog

 

[fcsuper]

It's all very easy. SolidWorks has a standard ASME based revision table that you can simply insert into your drawing.

It sounds like your company is trying to insert some controls. I recommend doing some serious reading up on this or you may fall into several documentational traps from not knowing the full capability of SW and maybe misapplying what it can do in the wrong way.

First, do not release your sheet format/drawing template through your product release processes (ECO/EC/CC's or whatever your company calls it). The drawing is released on a case by case basis, and the title block should not be viewed as its own discrete released document.

Also, do not expect to have all revisions listed in the revision block. This is not an ASME requirement anyway. List the most recent and how ever many back that space allows. A record of previous revisions should exist regardless to what appears in the revision block.

There's a lot of other things too. It will take time to figure it all out, so don't sweat the small stuff right away.

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

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I couldn't find a way to do it without creating all new .drwdot files

Open the .drwdot file, insert the revision table (and attach it to the anchor), then save the .drwdot file.

.... and get rid of our .slddrt files.

Why would you get rid of them? That's where the anchors are set. It sounds like you're not saving the sheet formats (.slddrt) correctly after setting the anchor. Are you using the File > Save Sheet Format option?

sucky part is after you selected what size paper your using, you can't change it.

If you RMB on a drawing sheet you should be presented with a list of all your sheet format (.slddrt) sizes ... but not if you have deleted them.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

Found bad news in the help file...

"Multiple sheet style. Controls revision tables in drawings with multiple sheets:

See Sheet 1. The revision table on the first sheet is the active table. On all other drawing sheets, the revision table is labeled See Sheet 1.

Linked. A copy of the revision table from sheet 1 is created on all sheets, and all revision tables update as one. For example, if you add a revision on one sheet, the revision tables on all other sheets include the revision.

Independent. The revision table on each sheet is independent of any other revision table in the drawing. Updates to a revision table are not reflected in tables on other sheets. This option is unavailable if Revision driven from PDMWorks Workgroup is selected."

We are not using a PDM. I place the revision table in my .drwdot file. When I change the sheet size, the revision table goes off into space. Looks like I can't have it automatic.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

Yes I am using the File > Save Sheet Format for the .slddrt files.

No matter where I put the ancor in the .slddrt file, the revision table is still connected to the anchor in the .drwdot file.

frustrating.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

You need to ensure that all sheet formats have the anchor set and saved correctly.

 

[handleman]

You need to read up on the differences between Templates (drwdot) and Sheet Formats (slddrt). This topic is very poorly understood by a large majority of SW users.

Templates contain:

Dimension standards
Lineweights
Layers
Default fonts/colors
Etc, etc, etc. Basically, all of the options under Tools->Options, Document Properties tab are stored in the Template.

Each Template will contain a Sheet Format (which can be changed in the Sheet Properties, by the way). It could contain more than one sheet format if you save a multi-sheet template. Sheet formats should contain the title block/border along with any standard notes. In addition, the sheet format contains all the table anchors and paper space size information. This is the displayed drawing area size, not the printer's paper size setting.

When a sheet format (slddrt) is loaded into a drawing document a link is not maintained between the document's sheet format and the slddrt file it was loaded from. Therefore, when you "set the ancor and saved it", you only saved the anchor location in the Sheet Format of the template (drwdot) file. This is why when you change the sheet formats you lose your anchor position. You are "reloading" the old anchor position from the slddrt file. If you want to save the anchor position into the sheet format, you have to save it into the sheet format (slddrt) and not the drawing template (drwdot).

-handleman, CSWP (The new, easy test)

 

[smcadman]

CBL, JMirisola, Ctopher thanks, I didn't know there was a help file.

Flores

 

[ctopher]

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Jul 13, 2008)
ctopher's blog

 

[arcticcatmatt]

1. I have read the help file.

2. I have saved the ancor location in the .slddrt files individually.

3. It still doesn't work.

I am contacting my VAR. The sarcasm wasn't needed in this thread.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Do you see a list of Sheet Formats similar to the attached when you RMB a drawing sheet and select Properties?

Is your File Locations pointing to the correct location of the updated and newly saved sheet formats and document templates?

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ Yes I do.
I just did pictures to show the issue.

I make a drawing from my part.
We have three templates
Japanese
Metric
English

For this I want english

It comes up like this. As you can see revision table is in the correct spot.

Now I want to change the sheet size to a C. I do that

and now my revision table is not anchored in the right spot

I have went into every sheet format and made sure the anchor point was set to the top right hand corner.

 

[handleman]

I think what CBL is asking is are you sure that you are loading the sheet format that you saved? Instead of picking from the list, use the "Browse" button and force it to use the location where you know you saved the correct .slddrt file.

-handleman, CSWP (The new, easy test)

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ I know what he was asking. Yes, it is using the correct location and .slddrt file.