SolidWorks doesn’t just make CAD software. They also make Yahoo! Widgets. One cool widget from SolidWorks Labs is Watchit Widget. This widget tracks when changes to watched files. When Watchit detects a change, it populates its window with information about that file. This is useful in environments where two or three CAD users are sharing files in a single network folder. I think this is the intended use. As a bonus, this widget is also good for CAD Administrators who want to make sure network locations for support files are kept intact, as it not only tracks files, but also whole folders. The admin can track if additions are placed into the Materials Database folder (say from materials downloaded from Matweb.com). Such notification would allow the admin to then take that file and incorporate it into the company’s material database. It would also allow the admin to detect if some user has “accidentally” modified the SolidWorks template file.
Note, it might seem that this sort of application works best if placed in a corner in the “second” monitor of a dual monitor computer system.
Doesn’t make a dang bit of sense to me though…
SolidWorks only runs on Windows machines (as of now)…it is common knowledge that less processes running on a computer equates to higher performance. SolidWorks, being a resource intensive application will function better with more available system resources, hence less processes running on the machine.
Microsoft’s latest packages of Windows are coming pre-installed with gadget capability via Vista Sidebar or Win7 desktop gadgets.
Above is all pretty well known, so this is where I get confused…why would SolidWorks create a widget/gadget that runs on a platform which requires an additional application to be installed on the computer than what comes with the system? It seems like a logical path for SW to make a Windows gadget that runs on an pre-installed part of the OS.
I sent an email to SWLabs (11/08) asking this very question and the response I received is below:
Hi Jason,
Thank you for your feedback. Personally, I see your point, and you’re
not alone either. Certainly, we knew that building on the Yahoo widget
platform would not be received by some users for much the same reasons
as you enumerated.
So, let’s say that 20% of our users use Vista (I think that the actual
number is lower). Wouldn’t a Vista gadget be useless to 80% of our
customers? What about a MAC Dashboard gadget or an iPhone App?
The concept of Labs, I believe, is to explore technologies that normally
wouldn’t be given attention in core SolidWorks. In the case of the
Drawing Tube widget, the AJAX-like user interface creation and automatic
updating were interesting, along with the relative ease of development.
Also, the “installation” experience of a Yahoo Widget is, I think,
notable: One file that gets put into a My Widgets directory. So, you’re
not going to see SolidWorks 2010 as a Yahoo Widget, but perhaps the
developers on the project might take something they learned from the
Labs experiment into something in core SolidWorks to save you
time/processing somewhere else. You never know.
Take care and thanks again,
Charles
SW Labs QA
I still fail to see the logic in the thought process. Granted there can be something to learn from any development process and I don’t take anything away from that, but there is also something to be said for consistency in a product. What about now, a year later, as Vista adoption has increased and Win7 adoption is still accelerating already past the initial reports from Vista’s release? Is it time for an update to this widget?
I know I would love this widget on my Win7 desktop, but I’m not going to install Yahoo Widget engine to get it…
Careful Matt, most widgets are resource hogs, check the hit via the Task Manager.
Devon