No Drawings

[ddlangley]

I have SW2001 Plus. I have installed the program and open some of models that I created in SW2000. But when I try to open a drawing file it does recongize the file. I can create a new drawing because it doesn't give me the option when I try file new.

 

[ddlangley]

I mean I can't create a new drawing. Typo sorry

 

[SBaugh]

Do you have the option of picking a Drawing template when creating a new drawing?

We need more info.
Regards, Scott Baugh, CSWP
credence69@REMOVEhotmail.com

http://www.3dmca.com

http://home.insightbb.com/~scott.baugh/

 

[ddlangley]

I have a parts template and a assembly template the drawing template doesn't exist.

 

[SBaugh]

OK here is what you need to do:

Have you checked template locations?

Go to Tools/Options/Default Templates/Drawings there should be a path to your Drawing.drwdot template. If there isn't a path setup, then try browsing for it (maybe different) D:\ProgramFiles\SolidWorks\data\templates\Drawing.drwdot. If you cannot find the ".drwdot" file then try running a windows search for it. If is not on your system, then your last resort is to reinstall SW....or I can email you my template and you can modify it.

I hope that helps,
Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.3dmca.com

812-401-3703


Scott Baugh, CSWP
credence69@REMOVEhotmail.com

http://www.3dmca.com

http://home.insightbb.com/~scott.baugh/

 

[SnowCrash]

One of those nasty bugs, errmmm, features, is if you leave your default template and format directory locations the same as set by SWorks you can get messed up. The defaults were to have those as subfolders of the /program_files/solidworks install directory. When you do a new install these get erased or written over. At least it used to be that way. I now keep these out on the network to share with other users and to prevent overwriting them.
After each new upgrade or install you have to check and ensure that the directories still point in the right places. This is all under /tools/options.

Crashj 'have you seen my files lately?' Johnson

 

[mountaininventor]

I am also having this problem and on every forum that I have visited, it seems that quite a few other people are having this problem.

Even more frustrating is that answers to the posts for this problem (present site excepted) conveys the usual contempt proffered when it is perceived that "this is a lazy neophyte who didn't even bother to read the program documentation, help files, faq's, or search the vendor knowledge base."

The stock answer to these posts is something like "Look to see if the drawing template file is in the correct directory." Sometimes an additional advice is given of "check the options to make sure that the correct directory path is entered for drawing templates." Or even more insulting is "Why don't you ask your VAR?"

Wrong!

This is a legitimate problem that is not being appreciated. Not everyone who asks for help is lazy or non-observant.

The upshot is that Solid Works 2001 plus isn't allowing drawings to be accessed or created in any form.

1. The drawing template is there.
2. The drawing template is in the appropriate directory.
3. The open new command does not bring up a dialog box that allows the option of selecting a drawing as the type of document to open. Only Part and Assembly documents are offered.
4. The options menu does not offer a place for listing the path for the drawing template location. Only boxes for entering paths to Part and Assembly templates are offered.
5. The templates directory is appropriately listed and is correct.
6. Trying to open the drawing template gives an error box.
7. Trying to open the drawing template in the SW Tutorial is the same.
8. Trying to open a finished drawing also gives the same error message.
9. Reinstalling, uninstalling and re-installing does not solve the problem.

I believe that a post that directly addresses this problem is being sought by numerous frustrated users. Please, no more is-it-plugged-in? answers.
Thanks
MountainInventor
mrgl@verizon.net

 

[StarrRider]

Let me give it a try.

'Tools\Options\File Locations\Document Templates'
contains the location (directory) of the Template files. This directory is used in the 'New File' command and does not necessarilly have any relationship to the files indicated by the 'Tools\Options\Default Templates'. Those files are only used by SW when creating a New File without a Dialog box.

The 3 file extensions used by the 'NEW File' command are *.PrtDot, *.AsmDot, & *.DrwDot and they are located in that directory.

My system uses a network drive so the location is
'X:\Cad\Formats'
I also have a subdirectory (Parts) which contains additional files, so a 'NEW File' command creates a Tabbed Dialog box with 'Formats' as one Tab and 'Parts' as the other.

If there are no *.DrwDot files in that directory then obviously you can not create a New Drawing. If you have an existing drawing anywhere, then Open it and do a SaveAs while changing the file type to 'Drawing Template (*.DrwDot)'
NOTE: Doing this automatically changes the directory path to your Template Directory so you might want to look at it just to confirm where it is going.

The SaveAs command is the only way of creating DOT files.
I believe that part of the confusion is based on the
'File\Save Sheet Format' command which creates a *.DrwDrt file which is saved in the same directory but is not listed in the 'NEW File' command. The difference between the two is that the *.DrwDot (Drawing) file can contain many *.DrwDrt (Sheets).

On my system, I have *.DrwDot files for each size of drawing (A, B, C, & D) in a Single Sheet and a Multiple Sheet verison as well as some specials. When a change is made to the templates, each of these has to be changed as well as all of the Sheet Format files (*.DrwDrt)

I hope this helps.

Lee

 

[earlpatrick]

i believe the problem that some of you are referring to isn't actually solved by the tools/options/default templates settings. instead go to tools/options/file locations and set the drop down menu to document templates. then browse to set this file path to a directory you've created that has 3 subdirectories or folders. mine looks like this as it is a network drive.

P:INC 300/templates

inside this folder named "templates" there are 3 more folders and they are named "parts", "assemblies", and "drawings". parts has my .prtdot files, drawings has .drwdot files, and assemblies has the .asmdot files. each of these folders can have as many different templates as you want. my parts folder has about 15 different templates all with different custom properties and my drawings folder has about 6 templates each with a different border.

when i start a new file i then have a 3 tabbed menu labeled assemblies, drawings, parts and those names are controlled by the folder names in the "templates" directory.

one final note - tools/options/default templates controls the template files used when you create a part via the mirror part command or from an import command (e.g. opening an autocad .dwg file.) i set the toggle switch in this to say "prompt user to select document template". then when i create a mirror part i see the same dialogue box that i see when i create a new part and this allows me to carry the custom properties (eg. mass, material, etc.) from the base file into the mirrored file.

hope this is helpful.

earl patrick
epillsbury@bensonglobal.com

http://www.bensonglobal.com

 

[TateJ]

We used 2000, then 2001+ and now 2003. All of my files that were created in 2000 & 2001+ have sucessfully migrated to 2003. I also created new files (models, assemblies & drawings) with every version and each service pack along the way.

I have not seen this problem - so the only logical explination I can look to at this point is that the software is not at fault. That being eliminated, there must be a short between the keyboard and the chair.

Please don't mistake a "stock" answer as a "contempt"ful answer. {Is contemptful a real word?} We can only work with what we're given and often the "stock" answer is the best one until there's some clarification to the problem.

I don't mind answering the "stock" questions at all. Part of my reason for being here is to test my knowlege of the software, so I welcome any and all questions. I'd bet the majority of us feel the same.

So if you - who shall remain unnamed - have been mistreated in other forums, perhaps it is mostly your own perception that has betrayed you.

Having said that, I shall now pull my tongue from my cheek and get back to work...

Consume mass quantities...
tatej@usfilter.com​

 

[josephv]

Hello MountainInventor,

With all respect, if you believe that you have encountered a bug, you should report it to your VAR (even if you are not on support). Your VAR will then report the bug to SolidWorks development and they will solve it.

Best wishes, I hope this problem is fixed for you soon.

cheers,

Joseph