Part Properties 2

[Bester2]

I have just moved to a new company and am trying to upgrade the standard parts and drawings. I believe that I have part and drawing templates that I like. What I now need to do is go back and change the drawing format and part format. The problem is that I am not allowed to change all of the history parts that have already been released to our partners. So I cannot just modify the old part template and drawing template. Once a part is made how do I go in and change the part template? Same question for the drawing template. Are there some macro's/add ins that do this? One problem with the add-ins is that I do not have admin privileges on my computer so I cannot download any software.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[SBaugh]

YOu can't change the part template... All a template is a foundation to start a new file on. The template is just the saving of your Doc properties. If you want to change it for your other files you will have to manually change that per each document. That's with a part. If its a drawing the template is a matter of saving the Doc props and the Sheet format and Sheet size together as a single template file. Again its a matter of changing what you need per document.

I do think that someone wrote a macro for doing some of this automatically with that macro that they written. However I don't have that and until some posts this you will have to manually change your released parts and drawings.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[Standing]

I am going to be in the same boat with you, with not having administrator privileges. I am fighting that all the way, and know I will win. So many engineers here know the advantages of allowing me administrator privileges that they will also fight with me. Our manager and vice president are also on my side. The IT department has way to much power over our computers, which really are there computers.

My advice is: show your management what you could do if you could install software.

Right mouse on white space on your template and reload drawing template.


Bradley
SolidWorks Professional x64 2007 SP2.2
Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU
3.00 GHz, 3.93 GB of RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3400

 

[EEnd]

Templates are only used when the part / assembly / drawing is initially created so changing the old ones will not affect the old parts. It may affect other users who are expecting the old template though. You can have multiple templates for the same document type, but you will get more consistent results if everyone is using the same template.

I remember discussion of a macro that would apply the settings from one file to another, but I could not find the thread where it was mentioned the last time that I searched.

Eric

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

That macro is from Stefan Berlitz at

http://swtools.cad.de/cgi-bin/topdl/download.pl?file=mac_copydoc.zip

 

[Bester2]

Thanks everyone.
EEnd I also remember reading about a macro that could help me but I am having a little trouble finding it. You also cleared up the real question that I had. I was under the impression that the part/model/assembly would look for the template before opening the part each time the part was opened. That way if you needed to change the template for every part that you have ever made you can just change one template file and all of the other files will automatically update. I believe this is how Pro-E works.

Bradley
I am thinking the same way that you are. I am trying to do some improvements the long way hoping that I can show my management how powerful Solidworks can be. Most engineers that I work with still think that AutoCAD is the way to go and Solidworks just slows them down. Even if they model a part in Solidworks (Only three young engineers and designers even use Solidworks; and they are only allowed to model for FEA tests) they will create a separate drawing in AutoCAD without using any model reference. As you can see this can dramatically slow down the process and allow for mistakes and data confusion. Also, I have been here for a little over 2 months now and cannot see any type of PLM system in place. Not the best thing for a design shop. But first I have to convince them that Solidworks is worthy, and then I can go onto PLM.

 

[Standing]

brian575,
Our reason for dropping AutoCAD was that we were making to many design mistakes that a parametric tool could prevent. Our error rate has dropped a lot. Do not have any numbers but our designs do get done faster.


Bradley
SolidWorks Professional x64 2007 SP2.2
Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU
3.00 GHz, 3.93 GB of RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3400

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Propa-Gator from

http://www.customsolids.com/Propa-Gator.htm

and SWCP3 from

http://www.swcp3.com/

are both very useful for swapping drawing sheet formats and modifying custom and config properties en masse.

 

[Bester2]

Thanks CBL I have seen the Propa-Gator before but swcp3 is new to me. It looks promising if I can get IT to put it on my machine for me.

I will keep plugging away.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

For the document properties, the Excel macro in my first post should do the trick.

 

[fcsuper]

Rant alert: There's a general problem in the industry where IT departments (the new kid in town) thinks everything that has anything to do with a computer is under their control. But really, having to go through IT to conduct functions that only have meaning to Engineering is a bit like having to get approval from the Janitor change the angel of your drafting table (old school reference). IT has the mistaken belief that because everyone is using computers that are alike, all users are therefore alike. I think it is annoying and crazy that the computer sitting on an Engineer's desk (which makes it an Engineering tool with some of the most sophisticated software around) is treated the same as a computer sitting on the receptionist's desk (an idle toy mostly used for internet surfing when no one is calling or dropping in). We got to work hard to push back on this. Engineering is one of the oldest professions in civilization (no jokes about THE "oldest profession" please lol). Let's see, when was the term "IT" coined? Besides that, I would be bold enough to suggest that most of us have more experience working on computers/networks than the average IT Director. :Rant Over

Matt
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA

http://sw.fcsuper.com/index.php

 

[Bester2]

Matt

I like your style but I do not think that I can go into my boss’s office and quote what you just said. (Although I would love to). Unfortunately I am playing the little corporate game for the time being.

CBL

I downloaded the swcp3. I like it. It is not exactly what I was looking for but it will help with my argument.

So the problem that I am running into now is that I want my drawing template to be able to calculate the mass and material directly from the part that I created. I can do this once the part is in the drawing but have yet to figure out how to do this in the template. This is probably easy but for the time being I am missing it.

This is the argument that I want to bring to my boss. “Look you create the part, enter all of the information into this property function (it will be swcp3) you can even have automatic part numbering. Each time you sketch you ensure that the sketch is fully defined and the program tells you if it is down in the bottom of the screen. You add all of your annotations here on the model. After all this is done you click this button, which opens up a drawing that already has all of the information that you need on it (the meta data). You then use the model items and have all of the dimensions automatically show up on the part. (I know that it is not quite that easy but I am trying to win an argument here).” Anybody have some other point that I should stress? Do you think I should stress the interference features in assemblies?

 

[fcsuper]

Well, I'm not suggesting an open revolt, but ya'no, maybe that's what we need though? LOL

Matt
CAD Engineer/ECN Analyst
Silicon Valley, CA

http://sw.fcsuper.com/index.php

 

[Standing]

Matt,
I agree with everything you are saying. A star for saying what I would have like too. I am going into my bosses, boss and talking to his boss about IT and he is listening. That is how I get websites unblocked, like Scott’s site. I cannot let up on these guys. I’ve been here for 12 years and can revolt and do.


Bradley
SolidWorks Professional x64 2007 SP2.2
Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU
3.00 GHz, 3.93 GB of RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3400

 

[Bester2]

Well at least I am not having problems getting to web sites. I am yet to find a site that I cannot access that I would like to. Any tips about the material and weight on the drawings?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Do a search here for custom properties. This has been discussed many times.

link custom props to drawings thread559-138421

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Help > Index > custom, property values

Help > SolidWorks Tutorial > Customizing SoliWorks