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Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Renaming Configurations
Hey, they have been sneaking a lot of cool things into the SolidWorks service packs during this 2009 release. One of them is the ability to rename configurations. You can rename a configuration in a part or subassembly even when another open document is referencing the configuration. Previously, you had to close the parent document before renaming the configuration.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Hey, You, Get Off Of My Cloud...
A couple of SolidWorks releases ago, the company implemented a new way of licensing software called "Activation". This will require SolidWorks and Simulation software to be activated each time the software is installed. You can think of an activated license of SolidWorks as a water molecule that is pulled from a central "cloud" in the sky of SolidWorks.When you install SolidWorks for the first time, it will ask you to activate the software. This will send encryped computer information to the SolidWorks cloud and the SolidWorks will send you back an activation.
If you change your hard drive out or install SolidWorks on a new computer, you should transfer your license. This will send your currently activation out to the SolidWorks cloud. Then when you install the software on another computer, and activate it again, it will pull an available activation back from the cloud. This is pretty simple to do. Just go to the help menu and choose transfer license and follow the instructions.
If you do no do this, you cannot activate SolidWorks again, EVER! Just kidding... You just need to get ahold of us at the hotline and we can change which computer is granted activation rights.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
My newest custom hotkeys... for Drawings!
I'm a bit of a nonconformist. I like to do things my way. So I guess it's good that SolidWorks has a lot of customization options. I'm not a big keyboard guy, having grown up in the Mouse Age in terms of CAD, but I'm a big fan of Alt-Tab and Ctrl-Tab to switch applications or open documents, and I've got a handful of custom hotkeys that I like. Well, I just found 2 more.
I was looking purposelessly at the pull-down menus in SolidWorks the other day and found View - Next Sheet, and View - Previous Sheet. I tried them out in a multi-sheet Drawing and sure enough, they allowed a nice switch between Drawing Sheets! (Double-clicking the FeatureManager is SO MUCH WORK!) But who would want to pull these commands out of a menu? That's so 20 years ago.
So I went on over to Tools - Customize - Keyboard, I did a little search for "sheet" and found the two View commands I had just discovered. "I wonder if you can assign a hotkey to PgUp and PgDn?" I thought.
Yes, you can. It shows up as "Prior" and "Next" within the Customize Keyboard dialog.
So now I've got the PgUp key and the PgDn key to walk up and down through the Sheets in a Drawing. Slick.
I was looking purposelessly at the pull-down menus in SolidWorks the other day and found View - Next Sheet, and View - Previous Sheet. I tried them out in a multi-sheet Drawing and sure enough, they allowed a nice switch between Drawing Sheets! (Double-clicking the FeatureManager is SO MUCH WORK!) But who would want to pull these commands out of a menu? That's so 20 years ago.
So I went on over to Tools - Customize - Keyboard, I did a little search for "sheet" and found the two View commands I had just discovered. "I wonder if you can assign a hotkey to PgUp and PgDn?" I thought.Yes, you can. It shows up as "Prior" and "Next" within the Customize Keyboard dialog.
So now I've got the PgUp key and the PgDn key to walk up and down through the Sheets in a Drawing. Slick.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
SolidWorks 2010 Beta
We are pleased to announce the SolidWorks 2010 Beta Program. You're invited to participate in the testing of SolidWorks 2010 CAD software, SolidWorks Simulation, and SolidWorks Enterprise PDM. The program is open to customers with current subscription service. Only current SolidWorks Enterprise PDM customers with subscription can participate in SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Beta.
https://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/subscription/betaprograms.htmThursday, July 2, 2009
Printing to scale, revisited...
If you remember, long ago in a far away place in the land of SolidWorks, one was able to print a drawing selection to scale. The SolidWorks user was whisked to the drawing allowed to move a picture frame on screen to print whatever they wanted to. For some reason this disappeared, for about 6 months. The prodigal print to selection is back! This was added back in SP3 of SolidWorks. Simply go to the "Print" command and you will notice that the "Print Selection" options are back.In the purgatory between 2008 and 2009 SP3 however, in my dream of printing to scale I asked myself, could this be done in the SolidWorks eDrawings Viewer? And the and answer is a resounding yes. Most of the cool print to scale options are available in the eDrawings viewer as well. It's almost easier to naviagte the print application in eDrawings than it is in SolidWorks itself. Take a look at these options and have fun with them...
Friday, June 15, 2007
SolidWorks Tech Tip: Deleting "Things"
SolidWorks Tech Tip: Deleting Things
Most people know that you can delete lines from a sketch, or features from the Solidworks feature Manager, by pre-electing the object(s) and then simply hitting the DELETE key. But did you know, that over the last 4 years, the programmers have enhanced the intelligence behind the DELETE key, allowing it to react differently in the following situations:
BODIES: If what you have pre-selected are Solid or Surface Bodies, the DELETE key will instead launch the function INSERT - FEATURES - DELETE BODY.
PATTERNS: If what you pre-selected were members of a feature Pattern, the DELETE key will pop-up a dialog asking you if you really wanted to delete the entire pattern, or if instead you wanted to add the selected pattern members to the "SKIP LIST".
SURFACE EDGES: If what you pre-selected was an edge curve from an interior 'hole' in a surface face, the DELETE key will automatically run the function INSERT - SURFACE - UNTRIM, which will 'heal' the surface to eliminate the hole.
Most people know that you can delete lines from a sketch, or features from the Solidworks feature Manager, by pre-electing the object(s) and then simply hitting the DELETE key. But did you know, that over the last 4 years, the programmers have enhanced the intelligence behind the DELETE key, allowing it to react differently in the following situations:
BODIES: If what you have pre-selected are Solid or Surface Bodies, the DELETE key will instead launch the function INSERT - FEATURES - DELETE BODY.
PATTERNS: If what you pre-selected were members of a feature Pattern, the DELETE key will pop-up a dialog asking you if you really wanted to delete the entire pattern, or if instead you wanted to add the selected pattern members to the "SKIP LIST".
SURFACE EDGES: If what you pre-selected was an edge curve from an interior 'hole' in a surface face, the DELETE key will automatically run the function INSERT - SURFACE - UNTRIM, which will 'heal' the surface to eliminate the hole.
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