SolidWorks Legion

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.

How to overline text on a SolidWorks drawing

Occasionally, a SolidWorks user may need to state a number or variable as approximate within an annotation note. The mathematical symbol for this is an overline. Overlining text is not readily supported by SolidWorks. One solution is to draw a line over the text. This is undesirable due to the messiness that comes about when trying to associate notes with sketch entities. Another solution is to create a new custom symbol within the Gtol.sym file. This takes time. Also, the symbol has to be manually shared if the drawing is opened on another computer.

Here is a quick and dirty trick for creating overlined text on SolidWorks drawing:

Start an annotation note.
With the note active and your typing cursor placed at the desired location within the note, click on the Stack button from the Annotations toolbar.

Choose the style with the division line across the center.
Choose the bottom alignment option.
Type your overlined text in the Lower text field.
Select OK.

stackwinww

The one drawback to this trick is that it will force spacing above your line of text. This may only be a concern if one tries to use this technique within the general notes.

Turn Toolbox parts into regular parts

Management of Toolbox parts can be a headache, especially if they are used in a PDM/PLM environment. There is a little known fact that may help some CAD administrators with their Toolbox file management issues. By default, any files from the Toolbox are flagged with a hidden property called “IsToolboxPart”. To make SolidWorks forget that a part is from the Toolbox, this property must be set to “No” for each individual file. SolidWorks has a small utility buried deep in its folder structure that does just that. It’s called “Set Document Property”.

setdocprop

To access it, run the file at this location “C:\Program Files\SolidWorks Corp\SolidWorks\Toolbox\data utilities\sldsetdocprop.exe” in most cases. Once the program is open, it’s fairly self-explanatory. Good luck!

Convert Entities workflow change in SW 2010

Convert Entities tool in SolidWorks is commonly used to pull modelled edges into sketches. Previous to SolidWorks 2010, the user had to select each edge or face and then execute the Convert Entities tool. If the user only had a few edges, this worked fine. However, if the user had a lot of edges or a chain of edges, this method was cumbersome. Even still, many SolidWorks users are familar with the old way. In many cases, the old way is actually best.

So, what changed?

Convert Entities now has a PropertyManager. The user is no longer required to preselect the correct entity types before starting the tool. They can now start the tool, and then make their selections. In addition to selecting faces and edges, the user now has the option to select a chain, which allows them to convert contiguous sketch entites more quickly.

What’s wrong with the new method?

There are several message threads on the SolidWorks Forums where users are complaining about the changes to the Convert Entities workflow. A particular point of contention comes from those users who have a shortcut keystroke convertentities assigned to Convert Entities. In such cases, the user only has to select their entities and then type one keystroke to convert them to the sketch. This is very easy and fast. The new dialog box in the PropertyManager drastically slows this process by requiring additional input from the user to dismiss the Convert Entities tool.

Is there a solution?

For us experienced users, there is a solution. The Convert Entities PropertyManager has a pushpin. With the Convert Entities PropertyManager open, simply click on the pushpin and then OK. This will allow Convert Entities to be in “expert mode”. In other words, the tool will work the same as it did in SolidWorks 2009 and previous. This task has to be repeated each time the user starts a new SolidWorks session.

To bring back the PropertyManager for Convert Entities within the same session, simply activate the tool without any pre-selected entities. The pushpin can be reactivated.

Long term solution?

The new workflow for Convert Entities is great, but it needs to be just a little smarter. There should be a system option in SolidWorks that allows the user to pull the pushpin on the PropertyManager by default, instead of requiring the user to do it once for each session. If you have an opinion about this, I welcome your comments here and on the SolidWorks Forum.