SolidWorks Legion

Sort of a recent history SOLIDWORKS Symbols Library

Since SOLIDWORK 2012, new symbols were added to the SOLIDWORKS Symbol Library with each release. This is not intentional. This fact is an artifact of an increased focus on Drawing functionality in SOLIDWORKS since that time. So, just as a curiosity, I’m going back to see what was added, and roughly when. It’s not going to be precise in some cases because not every addition to the library showed up in the What’s New.

Note that this list does not include symbols created as part of new annotation tools, such as Location Label, Flag Notes or Movable Datum Targets.

2012-2014

There is an older article that covers symbols which were added from 2012 to 2014 called New stuff in SolidWorks 2014 (not mentioned in “What’s New”): Symbols. It covers the introduction of inspection symbols, functional symbols (such as Rho and center of mass) and introduction of drawing view symbols.

2014

Additionally, in 2014, several JIS weld symbols were added and supported in the Weld Symbol annotation for JIS drawing standard.

Edge
Keyhole
Scarf
Stud
Penetration
Backing
Chadding (following figure)

Finally, an updated version of the JIS Chadding symbol was added

2015

Spotface symbol for hole callouts was replaced. The previous version of the symbol relied in the current font of the document, so text within the symbol only lined up properly for one specific font. This new version simply followed ASME specifications and ignores the document font.

2016

Though not in the What’s New, several Inspection Symbols where added.

Left Filled Circle
Right Filled Circle
Top Filled Circle
Bottom Filled Circle
Full Filled Circle

2017

A lot of new symbols where added to support ISO drawing standards, plus one new ASME symbol.

ASME symbol called Conical Taper, which can be found in Modifying Symbols category:

2018

Draft symbols were introduced.

Plus Draft
Minus Draft
Parting Line Diamond
Parting Line
Tolerance Draft

Draft symbols, including one symbol that does not appear in the standards, but used by some customers

2019

More ISO Tolerencing symbols were added.

Your own customizations to the Symbol Library

SOLIDWORKS has a file called GTOL.SYM from which the Symbol Library is derived. This file is an editable text file. Here’s a couple of sources on how to edit this file to create your own symbols:

Do you need one or more symbols added to the SOLIDWORKS Symbol Library?

Although there is no guarantee of implementation, you are welcome to submit requests for new symbols via the Enhancement Request link within your Customer Portal. Make sure your submission includes any standards or other specifications to which your symbol must comply, the purpose of the symbol, and other information about the symbol to help us understand its use.

More information about submitting Enhancement Requests may be found at SOLIDWORKS corporate blog.

Austin trip to meet customers

Austin, TX has long been on my todo list for work travel. There are a lot of great SOLIDWORKS customers in the Austin region. Come last week, my long awaited plans came to fruition. This was a busy trip.

Visited several customers in both San Antonio and Austin.
Conducted a limited Alpha Test and received a lot of great feedback.
Presented at the local SOLIDWORKS User Group: CTSWUG

Central Texas SOLIDWORKS User Group meeting in Austin — Full house at the CTSWUG on April 17, 2019.

User Group Meeting and Support

My presentation at the user group meeting covered the topic of Model-based Definition in the context of SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS MBD. It’s a topic I’ve presented many times. (NASWUG, NSWG and SWW17)

Jeremy Browning also presented a lively demonstration that evening on how to model in a manner that utilizes SOLIDWORKS tools with maximum efficiency and resiliency.

Thank you to Nadia Shea and Jeremy Browning for their efforts of support during my visit. Also, thank you to Steve Calvert for his efforts, including the change of the date for their user group meeting to suit my travel.

Also, While in Town

While in town, I was able to indulge local flavor (literally); perhaps a bit too much.

Shrimp and a variety of bruschetta,
Brisket, Ribs, Cole Slaw and Sweet Potate Mash
Ribs, Brisket, Sausage and Corn Casserole
Pork Shoulder, Sausage, Beans and Cole Slaw

There was also a chance to take in a few of the regional sights and sounds from time to time, of course.

Great Trip!

However, the focus of these trips is to interact with SOLIDWORKS customers. This allows us to learn from our users about how we can improvement our products to better suit their needs in future releases. In this regard, this trip was a great success! Thank you to everyone who meet with me and participated in the local SOLIDWORKS events!

SOLIDWORKS World 2017 Highlights

Here’s some highlights from SOLIDWORKS World 2017:

And, yes, SOLIDWORKS World 2018 will be returning to the Los Angeles Convention Center for 2018. In case you missed some of the fun that LA has to offer this year, you’ll have a second chance to indulge in 2018!

Here’s some of my experiences at SOLIDWORKS World 2017:

And some more fun afterwards:

AngelSix releases many of their SOLIDWORKS API Macros and Books for free

An older resource for many things related to SOLIDWORKS API is AngelSix. Luke Malpass, founder of AngelSix, has written many SOLDWORKS macros. He has also written a couple of macros books.

As of last year, many of their macros and books are now available for free on fasetto. More info is available on AngelSix’s SOLIDWORKS page. The books apply to SOLIDWORKS 2008 and 2009, but much of the information is still relevant now.

AngelSix is also known for BatchProcess. BatchProcess is available for a 50-day trail.

Another API resource now on AngelSix is SolidDNA, which is a level of API that claims to make SOLIDWORKS API easier to use. Here’s a video tutorial that describes about to use SolidDNA:

Presentations at SOLIDWORKS World 2017

Normally, members of the Product Definition team at DS SolidWorks Corp give two presentations at each SOLIDWORKS World. Presentations can be either Hands-on or Breakout. Hands-on sessions involve attendee participation at desktop computers provided for the conference. Attendees typically follow and repeat steps shown by the presenter. Breakout sessions are essentially talks with demonstrations of functionality in SOLIDWORKS products.

Sometimes our team gives extra presentations. There are cases where our hands-on sessions are very popular, so we add an extra hands-on session of the same material for the overflow. Other times, we give the multiple breakout sessions on various topics.

My Presentations

At SOLIDWORKS World 2017, I gave three presentations and a panel discussion. It almost never fails that I give a presentation right after the General Session on Monday of the conference. This year, my Monday presentation was a hands-on session about new functionality that’s been added to SOLIDWORKS over the past 5 years. The session was Streamline Drawing Creation with Newer SOLIDWORKS Drawing Tools. In this session, attendees got to try out newer drawing tools that they may have missed before, such as

User Interface improvements
Drawing Zones, Location Label and Automatic Border tool
All uppercase setting for notes
Angle Dimension enhancements
Model Break View
Balloon improvements and more

If you’d like to check out this session’s materials, please feel free to download:

Streamline Drawing Creation with Newer SOLIDWORKS Drawing Tools (6MB+)

On Tuesday, I gave two breakout sessions. The first one was planned and well-prepared about MBD called Model-Based Definition using SOLIDWORKS MBD. This session covered very general overview of MBD, ways to implement settings in SOLIDWORKS for the best MBD experience, SOLIDWORKS MBD tools (3D Views, 3D PDF Publisher, etc), and DimXpert. A lot of people attended this session. Though, I didn’t pack the house to the wall.

The Powerpoint for this session is downloadable here (SOLIDWORKS files not included):

Model Base Definition using SolidWorks-2017 (4MB)

The second Tuesday breakout session, I presented on BOM’s, called Building SOLIDWORKS BOMs. Due to a cancellation by the original speaker, I had to step to not only cover the empty slot in the schedule, but also talk about BOMs without a prepared Powerpoint slide deck or file set. Since there were no materials for me to work from, I had to skip the Tuesday General Session to give myself time to pull together a session plan and file set. Given the circumstances, I believe I did well. I was able to cover many basics about BOMs, and also more advanced capabilities.

BOM table display options
BOM Type (Top Level, Parts Only and Indented)
Options for displaying configurations of the same part
Keep Missing Item settings
BOM Anchor
BOM Template
Virtual Parts
Document Properties
Sorting
etc.

Unfortunately, because the session was off-the-cuff, there is no Powerpoint outline to provide. The session was recorded, so it should be available as a video while the SOLIDWORKS Proceedings are available (soon).

On Wednesday, I was part of the panel discussion about MBD. Five speakers participated in an engagement with attendees who are interested in MBD. This session was called SOLIDWORKS World 2017 MBD Learning Path Panel Discussion. Attendees asked about many MBD related topics, including STEP, real world implications, specific use cases, vendor adoption, etc.

Return of Ctopher’s Custom Material Database

Custom materials in SOLIDWORKS are important if you are using materials not included in the default set. Around a decade ago, Chris Saller compiled a bunch of such custom materials from varies sources based on requests and submissions from many different people. This list is informally known as Ctopher’s Custom Material Database, “ctopher” being Chris’ handle.

Various versions of this file have been available on now long-gone websites over the years. Well, the material database is finally back and bigger (better) than ever! Chris has complied a new version in SOLIDWORKS 2016. This new version has many new materials. The new database is now available directly on SolidWorks Legion in the File Downloads tab as Ctopher’s Custom Material Database.

There are two methods to point SOLIDWORKS to use a custom material database. The easiest method is described on Ctopher’s Custom Material Database download page. Below is a slightly more advanced method which should also work on networks.

To point SOLIDWORKS to make the materials in this database available:

1.To use, place custom_matls_091516_sw2016.sldmat file into an easily accessible folder, such as S:\SOLIDWORKS Shared File\Custom Materials. The folder is your choice, based on your network and operational set up.

2.Start SOLIDWORKS.

3.Goto Tools>Options…>System Options>File Locations. In the Show folders for dropdown, select Material Databases.

4.Select Add button. Navigate to your chosen folder, such as S:\SOLIDWORKS Shared File\Custom Materials.

5.Select OK button.

6.Repeat for all instances of SOLIDWORKS within the network that need to access this database.

To use the custom materials:

1.Open any part file.

2.In the Feature Tree, right click on Materials and then select Edit Materials. “Custom_matls_091516” folder will be on your material list.

4.Click on desired subfolder, such as Copper Alloys.

5.Click on desired material to view properties.

6.Click on Apply to apply that material to your part.

7.Click on Close to return to your part.

Ctopher’s Custom Material Database