adding custom structural member

[PeterJelliffe]

I work for a lighting fixture design company, and I'm trying to add a track lighting extrusion to my toolbox. It would work just like the steel beams that come in the standard toolbox. The problem is i cant link a custom property called length to the dimension associated with the extrusion. Tech support said there's no way to do it inside solidworks, so I'm trying to do it through the API. Has anyone encountered this problem before? We really need this to work, to avoid creating 1000 different configurations for each 1/8 inch increment possible.

Thanks,
Peter Jelliffe

 

[TheTick]

You can have the custom property reflect the dimension, but you can't have the dimension be controlled by the custom property.

 

[PeterJelliffe]

RIght, but how does SOlidWorks do it? It must be possible somehow if they managed. Do you think it could be done through the API?

 

[rockguy]

Model your part. Add a dimension with the dimension tool so it is visible in the model. Go to file/properties/custom and create a "length" custom property. Click on the visible dimension in the graphics window and it should show in the value box in custom properties. Now RMB the annotations folder and pick hide dimensions. The custom property will update with the model change.

I'm not sure if this is what you are trying to achieve but thought I would throw it out there.