SolidWorks 2010- P18 ppsx

Make Assembly Components Virtual 479 6. In the FeatureManager, the component will show that the virtual component is a copy of the original part model. This is good since you do not want to affect the original parts in any way. NOte It is not possible to make the parts of a subassembly virtual while in the higher-level assembly. You have to open the subassembly sepa- rately in order to make its components virtual. 7. After repeating the same step for the second component in the assem- bly, click Save on the menu bar. 8. The Save Modified Documents window will display the assembly and two parts that make up the assembly, as shown in Figure 14.8. Since each component was modified, click Save All. FIGURE 14.8 Save Modified Documents window 9. A second Save As window will ask whether the unsaved virtual com- ponents are meant to be saved externally or internally, as shown in Figure 14.9. Select the Save Internally option, and click OK. The assembly with the internal virtual components is now ready to be sent. The virtual components can then be saved externally on the other end. 505434c14.indd 479 1/26/10 2:49:01 PM Chapter 14 • Sharing Your Documents with Others 480 FIGURE 14.9 Save As window with option to save internally NOte After making all the components internal to the assembly, the resulting file will be slightly larger than the sum of its individual files. Create a Part from an Assembly In the previous section, you made the components of the bulb subassembly virtual in order to send the assembly as a single file. The two drawbacks to that approach are the technique is not very useful for larger files, and the file size is slightly larger than the sum of the individual components. But the advantage is that the recipient of the file can make the components external once again and have a standard assembly with its referenced components. Another technique that is significantly easier and works just as well for large assemblies as it does for small assemblies is creating a single part file from the assembly. Saving an assembly as a part file creates a SolidWorks part file (*.sldprt) that either contains solid bodies for each component or contains just the external surfaces as surface bodies. The resulting file is much smaller in size compared to the assembly and the parts. When trying to decide whether this technique works for your needs, consider how the resulting part is meant to be used. If the components are meant to be used for manufacturing, then the solid bodies would need to be converted using a utility such as FeatureWorks to recognize the features, if the feature data is required. For large assemblies, this can be a painstaking process, and sending the assembly and supporting components as native SolidWorks files would probably be the best approach. However, if the feature data is not required, exporting the files as either an IGES, STEP, or Parasolid is often requested by the machinist. We have found that using this technique works best when the part is meant solely for reference purposes or for creating renderings. We have even used this technique when we had an assembly of a vendor-supplied part and we needed to use it only as a portion of a larger assembly. By converting the parts of the assembly into solid 505434c14.indd 480 1/26/10 2:49:02 PM Create a Part from an Assembly 481 bodies, the file size is smaller and requires less time for generation since there are no features to load into memory. The resulting part file will also not have any ref- erences to the original assembly or parts, and changes made will not update the original files. In this instance, assume that the resulting part will be used for quoting purposes. You’ll create a single part from the top-level assembly, and each component will be converted into a solid body, allowing the ability to hide and show individual compo- nents. To do this, perform the following steps: 1. Open the desk lamp assembly that was created in Chapters 11 and 12. 2. Click the downward-pointing arrow next to the Save button on the menu bar, and select Save As. 3. In the Save As Type field, select Part (*.prt, *.sldprt). Below the Save As Type field, you are presented with three options. Each option affects how the part will be created from the assembly. External Faces Selecting External Faces will create a part file with no solid bodies and only the outside visible faces as surface bodies. Exterior Components This option will create a part file with the visible components saved as solid bodies. Any internal components that are not visible will not be saved. All Components This option will convert each individual compo- nent in the assembly into a solid body. 4. Select the All Components option, and click Save to create the new part file. The assembly can now be closed, and just so you can see the result, you will open the new part file. 5. Click Open in the menu bar, select the part file you just created, and click Open. 6. If prompted to proceed with feature recognition, click No. 7. The FeatureManager, instead of displaying parts and assemblies, now has a list of solid bodies, as shown in Figure 14.10. Each solid body corresponds to a component in the assembly, giving the recipient the ability to view each component individually. 505434c14.indd 481 1/26/10 2:49:02 PM Chapter 14 • Sharing Your Documents with Others 482 FIGURE 14.10 Components in part file converted to solid bodies Open Files in eDrawings Earlier in this chapter we briefly covered how eDrawings can be used as a viewer to open native SolidWorks files as well as documents saved in the eDrawings format. Before moving on to the next chapter, we’ll talk about the eDrawings software. Instead of going into great detail, we will show you how to open a document in eDrawings: 1. Locate SolidWorks eDrawings 2010 in your program group, and launch the program, as shown in Figure 14.11. FIGURE 14.11 eDrawings program 505434c14.indd 482 1/26/10 2:49:06 PM Open Files in eDrawings 483 2. Select Open on the toolbar in the eDrawings window. 3. At the bottom of the Open window, you can select the file format of the file that you intend on opening, as shown in Figure 14.12. Select eDrawings Files (*.edrw). FIGURE 14.12 Selecting the eDrawings file type 4. Browse to the folder that contains the Base,Lamp.edrw file created earlier, select the file, and click Open. 5. The graphics area of the eDrawings software will now display the draw- ing. You will notice that it looks exactly like the drawing in SolidWorks. In fact, it is the same. The only difference is that you cannot make any changes to the drawing. 6. The user interface for eDrawings also a lot simpler from that of SolidWorks. As you can see in Figure 14.13, the tools available can be used for rotating, zooming, and measuring. That is why the program is perfect for non-SolidWorks users; it is an easy program for anybody to use. FIGURE 14.13 eDrawings toolbars 7. After you are finished exploring eDrawings, close the program. 505434c14.indd 483 1/26/10 2:49:09 PM Chapter 14 • Sharing Your Documents with Others 484 If You Want More Practice… Throughout the chapter we introduced you to a couple of ways to save files to make it easier to send them via email. Now would be a good time to experiment with other SolidWorks files using some of the other export formats listed in the file type field of the Save As window. Many of the file formats have their own set of options. To learn more about the options, you can click the Help button in the lower-right corner of the Export Options window. Are You Experienced? Now You Can… Save a document as a PDF file Create a detached drawing Use the Pack and Go utility Save a document in the eDrawings format Save components of an assembly as virtual components Save an assembly as a part file 505434c14.indd 484 1/26/10 2:49:09 PM Chapter 15 Creating Your Own Templates: Part 1 Create Part and Assembly Templates  Create a Title Block for Parts and Assemblies  Create a Custom Property Tab  505434c15.indd 485 1/26/10 2:49:15 PM Chapter 15 • Creating Your Own Templates: Part 1 486 S olidWorks comes preinstalled with templates for drawings, parts, and assem- blies as well as sheet formats for the most common drawing sheet sizes. These templates are enough to get you started when using SolidWorks, but as you become more familiar with the software, you may find yourself making changes to these templates every time you create a new document. Many companies use these templates as the starting point when creating their own standard tem- plates, and that is exactly what you will be doing in this chapter and the next one. Starting with the out-of-box templates that ship with SolidWorks, you will be creating a whole slew of custom templates that can be used throughout this book. In this chapter, you will be concentrating on parts and assemblies as well as some additional items that can be used in the two environments. Usually it is the duty of the CAD manager or one of the power users in an organization to create the templates that will be used, but there may be a time when that power user is you. With the skills you will learn in these two chapters, you will be able to create the most commonly used templates in SolidWorks. Create Part and Assembly Templates In the previous chapters, when it came time to create a new part or assembly, you were instructed to download the appropriate templates from the companion website. In the next couple of sections, you will be re-creating those templates starting with the preinstalled templates. Creating custom templates of parts and assemblies allows you to set document properties, custom properties, and other modifications for each only once. Few organizations need to create more than one part and assembly template to be used for all modeling. But we have found that it is sometimes helpful to have multiple templates to match different part and assembly types. For instance, if your organization commonly creates models in both English and metric units, you can create separate templates for each unit type. Create a New Part Template The part template that comes installed with a fresh copy of SolidWorks will work for many users without any modifications. When creating the templates that ship with the software, SolidWorks did a great job of determining the combination of common document properties that works for most users. However, we have always found the need to make small changes, such as the number of decimal 505434c15.indd 486 1/26/10 2:49:15 PM Create Part and Assembly Templates 487 places on dimensions, the default display settings, and even what document prop- erties are included by default. Custom templates can then be shared throughout your entire organization. Making refinements to the SolidWorks templates is not only a huge time-saver in the grand scheme of things, but it is also extremely easy. Since you will be starting with the standard templates available, you will only need to make a cou- ple of small modifications. The following steps will take you through the process of making the small changes that are required for the examples in this book: 1. Click New in the menu bar. 2. If the New SolidWorks Document window is displayed in the simplified mode that displays the three basic templates for parts, drawing, and assemblies only, click the Advanced button in the lower-left corner of the window, as shown in Figure 15.1. FIGURE 15.1 New SolidWorks Document default novice view 3. In the New SolidWorks Documents window, select the Part template, and click OK. Access the Document Properties Document properties are properties that affect the active document only. Many times there a few properties that need to be adjusted to meet your needs, and instead of remembering to do so each time you create a new part model, you can do it once in the template. All future parts created from the template will contain the properties O SolidWorks will save your preference so that each time you create a new docu- ment, the Advanced view will be the default view. 505434c15.indd 487 1/26/10 2:49:17 PM Chapter 15 • Creating Your Own Templates: Part 1 488 specified in the template. In this section, you will make some minor changes that will affect how you create the parts in this book. NOte Modifications made to a template will affect only future parts. Existing part models will not be updated at the same time. 1. In the menu bar, click the Options button. 2. On the top of the Options window, there are two tabs. The first tab, System Options, is where you can specify settings that will affect the entire SolidWorks environment regardless of which file is cur- rently open. The second tab, Document Properties, is used to specify options in the currently active document only. Select the Document Properties tab to view the categories for the settings available for the current document type. 3. Since the current document is a part, the section on the left of the Document Properties window displays the option categories that apply to part documents, as shown in Figure 15.2. To view the options for each category, select the category, and the options will be displayed to the right of the section. FIGURE 15.2 Document properties category list Explore the Option Categories for Parts Although the sections on the Document Properties tab are available in parts, assem- blies, and drawings, the options available in each section relate directly to the active 505434c15.indd 488 1/26/10 2:49:19 PM [...]... previous sections, click Save in the menu bar 3 In the Save As window, browse to the location where your SolidWorks templates are located In most cases, the location for templates in SolidWorks 2010 is C:\ProgramData \SolidWorks\ SolidWorks2010\ templates N O TE   ​ f you are not sure which folder SolidWorks is using for its templates, I you can find out in System Options ➢ File Locations ➢ Document Templates... properties is quickly becoming more and more critical SolidWorks 2010 introduced a new way to interface with the document custom properties that will make it easier for other users Many organizations have some custom properties that are used in different areas such as BOMs, title blocks, Windows Explorer, and PDM programs such as SolidWorks Workgroup PDM and SolidWorks Enterprise PDM Instead of relying on... all document properties are available in all three SolidWorks Not file formats There may still be additional adjustments that cannot be shared among the different formats If you’re not sure what has been imported, it is always a good idea to check how the options were applied 1 Click New in the menu bar, and select the Assembly template in the New SolidWorks Document window Click OK to open the new... that contains the templates that SolidWorks uses 8 Change the file type in the Save As window to Assembly Templates (*.asmdot), and change the filename to NER Assembly Click Save to save the new template After saving the template, it is safe to close the file since there are no other options you need to set at this time Create a Title Block for Parts and Assemblies In SolidWorks 2007, the ability to... introduced The addition of the DimXpert command gave the ability to add notes, dimensions, and even geometric tolerancing to the actual 3D model Then in SolidWorks 2009, a bill of materials table was introduced to the 3D environment Over the years, SolidWorks has made these enhancements to satisfy the requirements of ASME Y14.41-2003, Digital Product Definition Data Practices The Digital Product Definition... h a p t e r 1 5 • C r e a t i n g Yo u r O w n T e m p l a t e s : P a r t 1 4 Browse to the folder that contains your title block templates By default the location should be C:\Program Files \SolidWorks Corp\ SolidWorks\ lang\english Select the file named Title Block.sldtbt, and click Open T I P  ​ You can determine the folder path for your title block templates by referring to the Title Block Table... you can use a new template for creating parts, you must save it in the appropriate templates folder As soon as it is saved, it will become available in the New SolidWorks Documents window If the template is saved in a shared network location, all SolidWorks installations that point to the template folder will also be able to use the template Save the template as described: 1 Click OK in the lower-right... Property Tab Builder will launch This program is used to create the custom property tabs for part, assemblies, and drawings N O TE  ​ You can also find the Property Tab Builder program in the SolidWorks Tools folder in the SolidWorks 2010 program group of the Windows Start menu Edit Group Boxes in the Property Tab Builder Group boxes are used in the custom property tab to group similar properties together... is saved in a folder that the SolidWorks system options recognize for the storage of custom property tab files, it will instantly be available in the tab The following steps describe the process for saving the file as a custom property tab for part files 1 Click Save at the top of the Property Tab Builder 2 The appropriate folder should already be displayed in the Save SolidWorks Properties Template... standards 1 In the option tree at the very top of the list, select Drafting Standard 2 Click Save To External File 3 In the Save As window, browse to a folder that you want to be used for storing data from SolidWorks 4 Specify the name that you want to save the modified standard as in the File Name field, or accept the default name ANSI-MODIFIED.sldstd Click Save to save the standard and to close the Save . browse to the location where your SolidWorks templates are located. In most cases, the location for templates in SolidWorks 2010 is C:ProgramData SolidWorks SolidWorks2010 templates . NOte . comes installed with a fresh copy of SolidWorks will work for many users without any modifications. When creating the templates that ship with the software, SolidWorks did a great job of determining. lower-left corner of the window, as shown in Figure 15.1. FIGURE 15.1 New SolidWorks Document default novice view 3. In the New SolidWorks Documents window, select the Part template, and click OK. Access