Things that drive me nuts ... 5

[jacek0841]

.
SW2005 SP4.0

- Open dwg, just for printing, PRINT , after that you want to close the file, without ANY changes - window pops up asking for saving changes ...... WHAT CHANGES ??? I haven't done ANYthing !!!

- Saving dwg with ONE sheet - window pops up saying Views on inactive sheets need updating ... bla ... bla ...

There in NO inactive sheets - there is only ONE sheet dammit !!!!

 

[wgchere]

force quit? How do you do that?

 

[ongybill]

force quit? How do you do that?

Open the windows task manager, select the applications tab, select Solidworks, then pick end task.

<Cntrl>, <Alt>, <Delete> keys opens the windows task manager window. At least in Windows XP 2002.

Optional, but not recommended, pull the computers plug out.<G>

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

You could also hit the Reset button, or hold the Power button in for 4 seconds, or flick the I/O switch at the back of the computer.

None of these are recommended as a corrupt file could result.


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[wgchere]

Ohh, yeah... I never thought of using that function that way. I have only used it to get out if a non-responsive and hungup programs.

I love this forum. I pickup the big stuff and the little stuff.

A star.

 

[debodine]

We have occasional cases where a drawing that is revised will lose data from other untouched sheets. And I have verified that there is no link between the touched page data and the untouched page that loses something. This is a serious issue because such things are rarely caught, since no checker is going to check 50-100 entities per sheet on a 25 sheet drawing that had one entity on one sheet revised, just to see if any one random entity has disappeared.

Any others having this experience? We run SW 2005 SP02.

debodine

 

[rfus]

 

[afb66t9]

I would like to have the ability to change multiple dimension values in a sketch by a given amount in one operation. I usually like to use splines in profiles. If I need to change the profile in one direction by a given amount I have to change each individual dimension independently. I do this by highlighting the mm in the change dimension dialog box (see attachment) and replacing the mm with + xmm (with x being the increment i want to modify the dimension by, the example in the attached image is 2mm) . It would be good if I could select multiple dimensions and change all there values at once.

 

[afb66t9]

How do I attach images or embed an image.

 

[daanh]

I hate the undo function. It seems there are not a lot of things you can undo.

Also, the way changes are saved: I have an assembly open. I open a part of it, edit it, decide it's not good and close it without saving. Then when I return to the assembly, all my changes are still there!! Is this still the case in SW2006?

 

[handleman]

daanh,
The reason your changes are still there is that when you have an assembly open, all parts that are not lightweight or suppressed are fully open, just not visible. That's why there's a "reload" function. You can reload the part from the file on disk. You will have to do this prior to saving the assembly. Otherwise the part and its new changes will be saved along with the assembly.

afb66t9,
This type of function should be relatively easy to program with a macro.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

afb66t9 ... faq559-1100 & faq559-1177


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[felix7502]

Things that drive me nuts...
Why haven't they fixed the dual dimensions with bilateral tolerances with an Inspection box? I've been trying to have this fixed since 2004 both by my VAR and through enhancement requests, with no luck. It sure clutters up a drawing the way it is.
Sylvia

 

[wgchere]

I posted this as a reply in another thread, bnut it works here too.

For some parallel-universe reason SWx chose to make the z-axis perpendicular to the front plane instead of perpendicular to the top plane. As a result, the top surface has to be modeled as the front surface, because when it goes to CAD/CAM machining the cutter program is oriented with z-axis vertical--the way it is supposed to be. I can't count how many of my models crashed in the machine shop when they tried to translate the axes to make it work with their software. They finally let me know, and now all my models are on their side.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

wgchere ... I believe you'll find that most CAD programs use the X=horiz, Y=vert & Z=into/out of the screen notation.

Also 2D came before CAM. Drawings were made on a near vertical board & X & Y were taken to be the horiz & vert. Graphs were displayed using the same notation.
Most 2D CAD uses X as the horizontal & Y as the vertical as seen on the screen. When 3D came along, I guess it made sense to add the 3rd dimension into & out of the screen.

It's the same argument with the spaceball movement ... should a forward horiz movement of the controller make the cursor go vertical or into the screen?

So maybe its the CAM people who got it wrong.


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[ewh]

CBL,

Which view do you start with? Front or top? Why? Is it just because the software says so? Not all systems start with a front view.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

ewh ... "Not all systems start with a front view." ... who said that they did?

I start with whichever plane suits the part I am designing & which helps me visualise how I would physically make it.

If it's a simple turned part, I'll most times choose the "Right" plane, so that the standard views place correctly on the drawing sheet. It's also how I picture it being created in a lathe.
If it's a complex turned part I'll usually choose the Front plane to do a revolve, again for the drawing views & production method.
If it's a simple milled rectangular block, it doesn't really matter which one I choose.
If it's a formed sheet metal part, it depends whether it's an "extrusion" type or multi-flanged. So usually either Right or Top. Whichever way allows me to best visualise the manufacturing process.
If it's a profiled milled block I generally draw it as if it was placed on the desk in front of me.

To sum up I generally don't give a damn about the literal X,Y,Z because the CAM people I use can read native SW models & interpret them correctly.

The point of my post was to question which discipline was actually correct. It is just a matter of perspective. Are the CAM people right just because it suits the way you think? IMO, neither are right nor wrong ... just different.


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091

 

[ewh]

Didn't mean to seem so aggressive, CBL. I often run into situations in UG where someone will model hardware (screws, etc) with X along the axis. I've modeled for years with Z along the axis, and we still don't know who's right.

 

[smcadman]

wgchere, coming from MDT and AutoCAD, the Z axis in SW threw me off for a minute or 2. All 3 of them have the X axis horizontal, and the Y axis Vertical. The books I have studied have the Z axis going vertical toward the ceiling.

I was wondering if how Catia and Pro E handled the Z axis. I couldn't find any screenshots of Pro E with the X,Y,Z showing, but Catia looks like the Z axis is the same as AutoCAD.

http://www.3ds.com/typo3temp/pics/35b206b510.jpg

Flores
SW06 SP4.0

 

[debodine]

At our company (aviation) we renamed the front, top and right planes as the Station, Waterline and Buttline. Station is the position along the X axis (nose to tail), Waterline is the position along the Y axis (keel to crown), and Buttline is the position along the Z axis (left to right).

When we draw entities, we try to start out in the most reasonable orientation to allow the part to be assembled with other parts without having to use unique coordinate systems or jockeying with orientation. It's not perfect, but it does make it easier most of the time.

debodine

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

ewh ... no problem. Most of my hardware was created with SolidMech which uses the Z (into/out-of the screen) as the main axis ... so the Front view is looking onto the head of the screw. Not my personal preference but nothing actually wrong with that.


Helpful SW websites FAQ559-520
How to get answers to your SW questions FAQ559-1091