Custom made title block 3

[lakewood]

hi there,
big problem here...if you can help...
Does anyone knows how to convert Auto CAD made company's title blocks so that can be ussed in SolidWorks.
I was able to save Auto CAD title block as a drawing tamplate and thats all. When I start new drawing my custome made tamplates are visible.
Hard part is what to do, and how, so that my title block puls info from part or ass'y to fill up some fields automaticaly like Title, Drawn by, Designed by and drawing number...

thanks a lot,
lakewood

 

[SBaugh]

You have to add new notes to the Sheet format.

e.g. - $PRPSHEET:"SW-Title"

There are some that are already given.

The best way I have found to do this is to build a test part with all your Custom properties you think your going to use in a drawing. Then place that file into your Template/Sheet format.

Edit the sheet format, add some new notes (Annotations). Click Link to property (middle icon in the property manager under Text Format). Pick "Model in view specified in sheet properties". Click the Down arrow. There it should list all Custom Properties you made at the part level.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

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[aamoroso]

Scott is right (suprise!) we take it a step further here. With every part we create we insert a design table. In the Excel design table I run a macro asking me for the custom information, we use $PRP@CustomerPrtNo, $PRP@OurPrtNo, $PRP@OurDescription ... This macro pops up a form and forces us to enter all of the drawing info while creating the model. Then when we put the part on our template all the information is filled in already.

 

[MadMango]

We place custom properties in two places, both the solid model and drawing level.

Model- Designer, Design Date, Nomenclature, Material Finish

Drawing- Rev, Rev Date, everything else.

We did this to ensure users were forced to open and look at the model if there were design changes to the material, as most of our components are sheet metal, and thickness ranges can vary greatly based on gage and material type.

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[ctopher]

aamoroso,
Is it possible to get a copy of your template? I would like to set mine the same way. If you can't, no problem.
thanks

 

[Standing]

Lakewood,
When you created your AutoCAD template way back when, did you put the title and part number in the AutoCAD title block using notes and text only? The other method AutoCAD has is to put the title and part number title block information in as attributes. If you did not use attributes then the information will not be automatically filled into the SolidWorks title block. That was our problem when we built our AutoCAD title block many years ago.


Bradley

 

[aamoroso]

ctopher,

I am sorry that I cannot send the template (company property) to you but I can tell you this. If you look at the new drawing you see nothing in the description or part number feilds. When you right click to edit the sheet you will see in blue lettering $PRPSHEET:{OurPrtNo} in the part number block, when a part is placed on the drawing template it gets this information from the design table column $PRP@OurPrtNo. If there is no $PRP@OurPrtNo in the design table of the model the text appears blank on the drawing. The $PRPSHEET represents the model specified in the sheet properties. You can specify which view the model is chosen from in the sheet properties dialog. This also works great for attaching notes to parts in assy drawings, you simply attach the note to the component and link it to the model to which the annotation is attached to show the property you desire (we use this for part numbers, our part numbers change often based on customer revision). The single biggest flaw I see in the whole system is an annotation cannot be linked to the properties of a sub assy.

 

[Standing]

ctopher,
Are you saying that you do not use properties in the SolidWorks template?


Bradley

 

[ctopher]

I do use properties from the model (title, p/n etc), but not with design tables.

 

[lakewood]

thanks to all of you, sounds complicated while it is new to me but I will try .........
Lakewood

 

[lakewood]

aamaroso, how hard is to make macro to do same for me and do I have to insert design table with every part I create for macro to work (to fill in info in titleblock).

Any chance for you to explanin it simpler - step by step so I could understand it better.
thanks,
lakewood

 

[Standing]

Lakewood,
When you created your AutoCAD template, did you put the title and part number in the AutoCAD title block using notes and text only?

Bradley

 

[SBaugh]

If you are just wanting to auto fill notes via custom properties I explained that above.


The best way I have found to do this:

1) Build a test part with all your Custom properties you think your going to use in a drawing. lakewood - (test this with a single Custom Property)
2) Then place that file into your Drawing Template/Sheet format.
3) Edit the sheet format
4) Add some new notes (Annotations).
5) Click Link to property (middle icon in the property manager under Text Format).
6) Pick "Model in view specified in sheet properties".
7) Click the Down arrow. There it should list all Custom Properties you made at the part level.

Regards,


Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

If you are in the SW Forum Check out the FAQ section

To make the Best of Eng-Tips Forums FAQ731-376

 

[lakewood]

we did our titleblocks using attributes in the past.

 

[SBaugh]

Forgot to add If you use a DT to put CP into your part. if you look in File\Properties under that part file. You will find that the DT put the CP into that menu. So it's the same as if you added it manually.

The above method works either way.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

If you are in the SW Forum Check out the FAQ section

To make the Best of Eng-Tips Forums FAQ731-376

 

[lakewood]

Is it posible to put my custom made tamplate to specific layer of Solidworks and change line thickness of complete titleblock.

Thanks,
lakewood

 

[SBaugh]

You can make multiple layers and add your title block lines to those layers (Check out hte property manager when you select a line)

You can change line weight using the Line Thickness icon under the Line Format toolbar.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dvisiontech.com

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

If you are in the SW Forum Check out the FAQ section

To make the Best of Eng-Tips Forums FAQ731-376