SWX file structure 1

[goodtruant]

What is the best way to setup SWX so I can reuse models , resize them, change materials, while keeping the original model intact?

I'm building a library of 'standard' cabinets. These will be the cabinets we use to build models of rooms. Each room will belong to a 'job', each job will belong to a 'customer'.

A standard cabinet with just 2 doors might be used in 50 jobs, in different configurations. Some 30" wide, some 25" deep, some 37.5" wide, and some 24" deep...some that are wood veneer (multiple species and stains), some plastic laminate (thousands of clors)...and so on.

I'd like to be able to pull in cabinet assemblies from our library, resize them to fit a room, and customize the materials to fit a customer....without effecting all the other configurations of the 'same' cabinet that are in other models for other customers.

Can you please give me some advise on how to accomplish this?

Thanks!

 

[Simon205]

Read up on 'configurations' and 'design tables' in the help menu, this might be what you're after.

Cheers,


Simon

 

[SnowCrash]

I keep a gallery of standard parts in a directory on the server. My projects are in directories on my computer, backed up to the server nightly.
When I include a standard part in an assembly I do a "Save as..." to a file name unique to the project. I then make the mods needed. Information in the part file properties tells me what it was derived from and the modifications for material, finish, etc.,

--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2011 SP 4.0
HP Pavillion Elite HPE
W7 Pro, Nvidia Quaddro FX580

 

[ShaggyPE]

Sounds to me like you want to have a completed donor project that you will "save as copy" or "pack-n-go" and modify for each new project. You can simply store the donor project on a network drive in a secure folder (read only).

I wouldn't attempt to configure the donor project in an attempt to make it all inclusive for all of your projects. I think "saving as" for each project will be the most trouble free method. Once you have several projects done... it really won't be necessary to go back to the original donor, you could go back to a more recent project that more closely matches the current project and do a "save as" from there.

-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Pretty good with SolidWorks

 

[goodtruant]

When I do a 'saveas', and edit the new project, will it make those same changes to the new 'donor'?

I'd like to keep all the projects intact. Or does 'saveas' break the link?
Thanks for all the replies!

 

[ShaggyPE]

There is no "new donor." You make a copy of the donor and change the copy. The donor stays as it was. All of your new parts and drawings will look at the new data.

-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Pretty good with SolidWorks

 

[JMirisola]

You should look at knowledge based engineering software like DriveWorks or TactonWorks. Either will work with SolidWorks and make your life a whole lot easier in the end. If you guys do a ton of different jobs every year, I suspect your ROI will be quite quick.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
Design Manager/Senior Designer
M9 Defense
My Blog

 

[SnowCrash]

Remember, when you do a 'Save as...' on an assembly, any part references stay with the old assembly file name. To migrate properly you need to 'Pack and Go'

--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2011 SP 4.0
HP Pavillion Elite HPE
W7 Pro, Nvidia Quaddro FX580

 

[Enginerd9]

Galleries are neat. But you end up with a whole bunch of files to keep track of, and that takes up space on the hard drive too.

The really nice thing about SW is that it handles configurations beautifully, compared to ProE with the "family table" or "simplified rep" thing. Configurations are easy to manage, and you can have a single file with many possible variations by assigning each dynamic dimension to "this configuration." Like Simon205 said, read about configurations and design library stuff. It really is easy, I've used them extensively (ie a 1/4-20 bolt of varying lengths. One file, configurations to handle all standard lengths).

 

[sldwkmin]

Check out DriveWorksXpress to get yourself started. You already own it and it is right in your tools pulldown! If you go to DriveWorksXpress.com there are tutorials there to help you get started. You definitely want to be using a design automation tool. This scenario is exactly why the tools were developed.

Cole M
CSWP, CSWST, CSWI, CPDM
Certified DriveWorks AE