SolidWorks Legion is currently experiencing some issues that are being tracked down. This has caused the lag of new articles recently. Once the matter is sorted, a bunch of new articles will appear. Particularly, there are one product review and 3 book reviews planned.
DraftSight; How can Dassault Systemes offer 2D CAD for free?
As mentioned in an article earlier this week, Dassault Systemes announced the release of a new “professional-grade” 2D CAD application called DraftSight. DraftSight is touted as an easy DWG file editor. The big bonus is that DraftSight is free!
2D CAD at Dassault Systemes
Within the Dassault Systemes family of products, DraftSight now takes its place as the 2D CAD offering. For non-SolidWorks users, it will effectively replace the old DWGEditor. However, according to Matthew West of SolidWorks Corp in a recent tweet,
The SolidWorks 2D Editor isn’t going anywhere for the time being. But [SolidWorks] customers are welcome to use DraftSight if they prefer.
It’s free?
Though it is free, DraftSight is not offered as open source. Nor is it offered under a true freemium marketing model. Dassault Systemes is taking a different path. When I talked to Arron Kelly, Sr. Director, DraftSight, I expressed my concern that DraftSight may be yet another application that starts off strong as free but then eventual fizzles out and is forgotten. What is Dassault’s plan to kept this product vital? His answer was complex.
Dassault Systemes made a dual product release announcement that involves DraftSight. The DraftSight application is being closely tied to the DraftSight.com community. This new community is based on a new technology called SwYm (“See what you mean”). The community is also free. It will have community support, question and answers, voting on answers, blog, videos, knowledge base, etc. According to Aaron Kelly, Dassault Systemes plans to “leverage the community to build a better product.” They are going to rely on the community to determine how to develop DraftSight. Users will make suggestions and prioritize enhancements, similar to SolidWorks Brainstorm.
Funding for the development of DraftSight will come in the form of paid add-ons and services. For a yearly maintenance fee, users will be able to have direct telephone or online technical support. Larger customers will have a network license. DraftSight also plans to charge for the API extension.
I asked, does a user need to purchase the API package to use LISP, or do they just need it to develop LISP or C++ routines?
Kelly stated, users need to have the API extension to use LISP file too.
SolidWorks concern
One concern I have is for SolidWorks users who use SolidWorks 2D Editor (formerly DWGEditor). We get support for 2D Editor via our VAR. We are unlimited in our use of its API (limited that it may be). If DraftSight eventually replaces 2D Editor, SolidWorks customers do not seem to have a path to use their SolidWorks subscription to gain support and the API extension for DraftSight. Though 2D Editor is not often a selling point, it is part of what we pay for in the form of subscription and original purchase. Does Dassault Systemes really intend to leave SolidWorks users out on a limb if 2D Editor is ever cancelled?
Review of DraftSight
I will review DraftSight and DraftSight.com in future articles.
Dassault Systemes Launches new 2D CAD free!
Dassault Systemes has announced that they are going to shake up the industry by public beta releasing a free community driven 2D CAD application called DraftSight. Those of us who use AutoCAD or DWGEditor will find the interface familiar enough to use it without much trouble. Future development will be driven by the community via the new DraftSight community at draftsight.com. Dassualt Systemes plans to “leverage the community to build a better product”, according to Aaron Kelly.
As I used a private beta version last week, I did discover a number of bugs, so I will reserve my full review until I have a chance to try out the latest officially released version of DraftSight. I will also talk about DraftSight’s place in the Dassault Systemes’ family of products and how this affects SolidWorks users. Additionally, I will talk about how Dassualt Systemes plans to fund future development of DraftSight offered as free product.
Agile Quick Tip: Where-used all revisions
Agile PLM has some very powerful search functions. One function that may go overlooked is its ability to do a where-used search of an item across all revisions. This means that if item 123 was removed from the BOM of released item 345, Agile will still allow the user to search for the past where-used relationship between the two items.
To do this search in Agile, use the Advanced Search tool and change Object Type to “Where-used One Level All Released Revisions”. Then fill in all the other information and search as normal. The search results will include all where-used across all revisions of released BOMs.
Rapid Dimension Manipulator (Part 1: …of Mice and Pies)
SolidWorks 2010 saw several cool interface improvements that may have been prematurely included. One of these was the Rapid Dimension Manipulator (or as I like to call it, the Dimension Pie; it’s just easier to say). The Dimension Pie appears at the mouse cursor location when the user inserts a dimension in a drawing view. It allows the user to quickly place dimensions along a chosen side at evenly spaced intervals.
The Problem
Although the Dimension Pie does speed up certain dimensioning activities, it also burdens the user by being in the way a lot. This prevents the user from quickly making additional selections by requiring a mouse dance. In case you’ve not upgraded to SolidWorks 2010 yet, a mouse dance is when the user is forced to move the mouse cursor away from one location and to bring it back again just to dismiss some pop-up.
As I see it, the shape and size of the pie take up too much real estate on the view pane. The pie shape is just the right sort of shape to be equally annoying in almost every situation. In my opinion, a rectangular bar shape would’ve much less intrusive. Another problem is that there is no way to quickly banish the Dimension Pie or to turn it off completely.
Temporary Solution
As of right now, SolidWorks 2010 SP3 (and SP3.1, I presume) allows for the use of a registry key to turn off the Dimension Pie. If someone is interested, this key is posted somewhere in the SolidWorks Forums (search for “Rapid Dimension Manipulator”). I’m not providing that solution here because I just don’t like it. It requires the use to upgrade to SP3 and then to apply the registry key. A permanent solution is planned for SP4 anyway, so if you haven’t already upgraded, you may wish to wait a week or two.
BatchProcess 2 Product Review
For people that frequent the SolidWorks Forums and the SolidWorks area on eng-tips.com, the name Luke Malpass is likely familiar. Malpass is the founder of Angelsix.com and the author of several SolidWorks API books. He developed a powerful, yet simple SolidWorks add-in called BatchProcess. This add-in was recently updated as BatchProcess 2. The new version is fully integrated within the SolidWorks task pane.
What does BatchProcess 2 do? It allows the user to quickly perform and repeat complex tasks on any number of SolidWorks documents with very little set up.
Full disclosure
Before I get into more specific details and opinions, let it be known that Luke Malpass has provided me with licenses for BatchProcess 2. The licenses give me full access to the functionality of the software in real world usage. This allows me to write this review as accurately as I am able. No request for content within this review (favorable nor otherwise) was expressed or implied by Luke Malpass. The content of this review is solely my own.
User Interface
The user interface for BatchProcess 2 is unique in the SolidWorks realm. It seems to be vaguely reminiscent of colorful flowcharts. The interface is attractive and flows well with the workflow of the add-in.
Installation
BatchProcess 2 requires that Microsoft’s .Net FrameWork 4.0 and SQL Compact 3.5 are installed. The BatchProcess 2 installer will notify the user if these applications are missing. I have found that tracking down the correct versions of .Net FrameWork and SQL Compact on Microsoft’s website can be a cumbersome task, even when URL’s are provided. I realize that Microsoft controls the distribution of these files. Even still, it would be nice to have the installer be a bit more proactive in acquiring and installing all software required for BatchProcess 2. However, once the pre-installations are complete, [T]he BatchProcess 2 installation is a breeze [and it no longer requires the user to perform any pre-installations as of 6/18/2010]. The installer even activates BatchProcess 2 within the SolidWorks Add-ins list.
Projects
As with any batch application, before any batch activity can be started, the user is required to select the documents that are to be affected. In BatchProcess 2, this is done by building a project (a list of documents). Single files, whole folders, open and recently open documents may all be quickly added to the project. This may be accomplished by clicking on the appropriate button in the Import Document into Project List row.
Projects may be saved and loaded for repeated use across multiple sessions.
Project Toolbar Strip
Once a project is built, there are functions in the Project Toolbar Strip that allow the user to add associated documents (assembly components, drawing references) and remove specific documents in the project. Other toolbar tools are also available.
So far, my favorite toolbar tool is the powerful Print button which will automatically print all highlighted documents from the project. Other tools allow the user to open, preview, and check-in/out files in Enterprise PDM.
Jobs
For more complex tasks, BatchProcess 2 has a multi-layered job building tool. What’s a job? A job is a list of tasks that execute on every document within the open project. Jobs may include tasks for:
- Complex printing options
- Custom properties (add, delete, or modify)
- Exporting models and drawings into dozens of file formats (such as DXF, IGES, STEP, PDF, etc)
- Drawings templates (reload, set, or replace)
- and the execution of API macros
Once a job is created, it may be run. While a job is running, other activities in SolidWorks are generally not possible. This is because a running job makes changes directly to documents within a project. For example, if a job task says “Open”, then each document is visibly opened within SolidWorks.
Once a job is complete, BatchProcess 2 provides a detailed report of the completed tasks for each document in the project.
Functionality improvements
I’ve noticed that BatchProcess is constantly being improved. New functionality is added regularly. For example, BatchProcess 2 has a new minor release pack that allows the user to send all jobs to any other instance of BatchProcess 2 that is running on the network. With this new feature, a CAD administrator can install one extra copy of BatchProcess 2 on a server and have all other seats send their jobs to that one to do their work.
There is one apparent drawback with BatchProcess 2. There is no access to BatchProcess Help within SolidWorks. Users have to go to the BatchProcess website to view a written tutorial. Malpass has stated there are plans to integrate Help at a later date.
Purchase options
Currently, the only purchase outlet for BatchProcess 2 is on the BatchProcess website. Purchases are made in British Pounds. There are two product options available. Option 1 is a one-time purchase of BatchProcess 2 for 235.00 Pounds (about $345 as of 6/1/2010). Option 2 is 525.50 Pounds (about $775.00 as of 6/1/2010) and includes BatchProcess 2 with one year maintenance. Maintenance includes minor and major updates to BatchProcess for one year, and preferential handling of technical support requests.
With the US Dollar being so strong against the Pound right now, this is a great time for American companies to buy this product. However, I would like to see a North American purchasing outlet for the BatchProcess line.
Findings
I found time and labor is saved when using BatchProcess 2 in real world scenarios. The time it takes to set up and run a job on many documents is almost incomparable to the time spent manually completing those same tasks. Particularly, I’ve found the Project Toolbar Strip printing function to be very useful.
One function that I didn’t get to test yet is BatchProcess 2’s execution of API macros. Hopefully I’ll provide a supplemental report on that at a later date.
With BatchProcess 2, a ROI report should very easy to create (even with a currency exchange rate to consider). Simply compare how long a user takes to complete a series of tasks on a batch of documents with how long those same tasks can be completed in BatchProcess 2.
Overall, BatchProcess 2 is a good SolidWorks add-in that has accessible functionality and may provide significant cost savings for many SolidWorks users.