Cannot see 3D geometry when open step file...

[Donnis]

Hello everybody,

I have the following problem: I have received a step file from a supplier; this .stp file should contain a big assembly. When I open it in SolidWorks, I see the structure in the structure-tree (left side) but no 3D geometry at all!!!
I've tried to reframe many times, I checked if SW opens the file in "easy mode", I selected in the View menu to see all elements, but I cannot see anything in the 3D space!

Please give me an advice on what should I do / check!

Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[josephv]

Hello,

you may have tried this but just in case...

1) zoom to fit (do you see anything?)

2) CTRL-Q (does anything appear)?

3) Tools > Mass Properties (does the part have a weight?)

4) Change from shaded to wireframe (does anything appear?)

5) What happens if you open one of the parts from the feature manager?

cheers,

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Do the individual parts have a size (kb) listed when viewed in a Windows folder?

Does this happen with other STEP files?

What are your system specs?

Can you post the file for review?

 

[macduff]

LOL!

CBL. How can Donnis post a file when he can't see the file?

)

Colin Fitzpatrick (aka Macduff)
Mechanical Designer
Solidworks 2007 SP 5.0
Dell 490 XP Pro SP 2
Xeon CPU 3.00 GHz 3.00 GB of RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB
I'm just a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic. Pink Floyd, was neither Pink nor Floyd. Discuss!--“Coffee Talk” Mike Myers SNL

 

[rollupswx]

>CBL. How can Donnis post a file when he can't see the file?

Windows Explorer.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

macduff,
Both a STEP and a SW file exists;
he imported the STEP and can see the FM ... "I see the structure in the structure-tree")

Posting either file would be useful, but both would be better.

 

[Donnis]

Unfortunatelly I cannot post the file... (I'm not allowed to...). But I was able to open other step files from different suppliers without problems! And, like I said, I see some elements listed in the structure-tree (feature manager), but nothing in the 3D area. I've used zoom all, but no difference. I don't know where could be the problem, because I don't have any error messages during opening the file (conversion).

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

If you can open and view other STEP assy files without problem, then the problem lies in the output of the suppliers STEP file.

Ask them to resubmit, along with alternative formats.

 

[dgowans]

Donnis,

Did you ever try to open one of the assembly components by RMBing on a part in the feature tree? If so, what happened? Did the component contain any surface / solid bodies?

When you imported the STEP file, a SWX assembly document was created, but were the component part files created as well? I remember having a similar problem a while back. The SWX assembly file got created in the directory where the STEP file was but the components got created elsewhere. Took me a while to figure that one out. You can check this by doing:

File, Find References

with the assembly open.