The American Heritage dictionary defines a utility as:

(yū-tĭl’ĭ-tē)
n., pl., -ties.

1. The quality or condition of being useful; usefulness:
2. A useful article or device.
3. A public utility.
1. A commodity or service, such as electricity, water, or public transportation, that is provided by a public utility.

In SolidWorks, the utilities add-in available with seats of SolidWorks Professional or Premium can be very useful indeed!

SolidWorks defines Utilities as “a set of tools that lets you examine in detail the geometry of a solid model, and make comparisons to other models”.

With everything from automated tools to simplify your models to geometry comparison between separate files; these tools can give you valuable insight into your designs and give you the information you need to be successful.

Take some time to get familiar with SolidWorks Utilities by checking out this link:  http://help.solidworks.com/2012/English/SolidWorks/swutilities/SolidWorks_Utilities.htm

Do you ever find yourself using the same feature over and over again?  Or maybe your new designs share many similar features.  Hopefully you already know you can copy features from one part to another (Ctrl+Drag between tiled document windows), but a better solution for a feature that you want to re-use over and over again is to add it to your Design Library. Here’s a couple quick tips:

Pick the feature(s) you want to re-use from your Feature Manager Tree (you can pick multiple features with your Ctrl key).  Then from the Design Library Tab, pick the Add to Library command  .

In the Property manager you can give your library feature a file name and description which will appear in a tool tip if you were to hover over the file in your library.  Hit the green check.

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You can further customized the Library feature part to make it more customizable by opening it up from the library folder.  You may want to consider simplifying the original model to remove features you are not re-using.

And you can use the Folders at the top of the Feature Tree in your library part to control how the features behave when inserted into a new part.

The Reference folder shows the references that you’ll be prompted for when bringing in the features.  You can Rename them hereto be more descriptive.  And the Dimension folder allows you to rename the dimensions that will be copied into your new design and you can also move them into the Location Dimensions folder if you want them to be editable on inserting the feature, or in the Internal Dimensions folder if you do not want users to be able to access them.

Always remember to test!  You can drag and drop you library feature part into a new part to test it out and make sure you get the behavior you expect…

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For more information on this topic, our subscription service customers can check out my recorded webinar on our Events Page.  Here’s a link:  http://symsolutions.com/events-and-webinars.html

Click the link below to check out a step by step tutorial on creating a curved helix in SolidWorks:

Solidworks has many great shortcuts built into the program already, but you can customize it in a variety of ways to fit your specific needs as well.  If you’re not already familiar with the customize dialog where you can set up your own keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures, this is an easy way to modify your settings and make your modeling operations fly.  You can access the customize dialog by going to Tools>Customize, or right-clicking on any toolbar and choosing Customize from the toolbar list. 

But don’t forget about the Shortcut toolbar.  This is a custom toolbar that pops up right next to your mouse pointer when you hit the “s” key.  With all the fancy mice in use today, one tip is to program a mouse button to the “s” key so you can launch the shortcut bar right from your mouse.  You can customize the shortcut bar by right-clicking on it when it’s visible, selecting Customize…, and dragging and dropping commands from the customize dialog just like any other toolbar.

Also, how many times a day do you use the Ctrl key?  Try programming a mouse button to this key stroke and you simply hold down that button while picking entities that you want to add a relationship between or multi-select.  It will work in other Windows programs, too!

Once you get everything set up the way you like, save your settings with the Copy Settings Wizard.  That way you can automatically apply your settings to any other workstation or new installation.  The Copy Settings Wizard is a tool that is automatically installed with SolidWorks and can be accessed through the Windows Start menu, All Programs, SolidWorks 20XX, SolidWorks Tools.

For more tips on customizing you SolidWorks interface, check out the Customizing SolidWorks tutorial available by going to Help> SolidWorks Tutorials.

When you Restart your computer it’s considered a “warm boot”.  Performing a Shut Down is referred to as a “cold boot”.  During a “warm boot” power to the memory chips is not completely lost as it would be on a “cold boot”.  Therefore, if you want to ensure that memory on your system is completely flushed, Shut down your computer and wait approximately 30 seconds before rebooting.  On a system utilizing SolidWorks, it’s recommended that you perform a cold boot daily.

If you’re looking for a way to help you stand out to potential employers or would like to prove your valuable SolidWorks skills to solidify your current position, check out SolidWorks’ wide range of certification exams.  Here’s a link:  http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/mcad-certification-programs.htm

The CSWA (Certified SolidWorks Associate) and CSWP (Certified SolidWorks Professional) exams have been offered by SolidWorks for some time as a way for users to certify their expertise.  Increasingly, we are seeing employers listing these certifications as part of the requirements for available positions.  In more recent years, SolidWorks has added further certifications for working with some of the specialized tools in the program, such as Sheet Metal, Weldments, Surfacing, and Mold Tools.  In addition, the Certified SolidWorks Expert (CSWE) was introduced last year.

The cost for the exams varies from $149 for the CSWE, to $99 for the CSWA and CSWP (which can be purchased in three $33 segments), to just $19.95 for the specialized exams (Click here for more info:  https://store6.esellerate.net/store/checkout/CustomLayout.aspx?s=STR6391639620&pc=&page=OnePageCatalog.htm). 

If you’re a current subscription customer, however, you will be allowed to take a CSWA or CSWP certification as well as one of the specialty exams for free!  (check out this link:  http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/subscription/Certification_Offers.html). 

One note about the CSWE:  SolidWorks does require that you have achieved the CSWP and 3 other specialty certifications before you will be allowed to prove your “expert” skills. 

All certification exams are given online and on your time, so you can download the test and take it on your system whenever you feel ready.  When you pass, you’ll receive a printable certificate as well as logos to use on business cards or emails and you also have the option to have your name added to SolidWorks’ directory of certified users (https://www.virtualtester.com/solidworks/branding/user-portal/user-portal.html#).

So what do you need to know before taking on one of these exams?  SolidWorks’ website does a pretty good job of highlighting what is included in each exam, but I can also give you a couple pointers: 

• Take the sample test
  • Most exams offer a sample test to help you prepare and recognize if there might be some areas you want to brush up on…

• Review your training course manuals
  • All of the skills that you will be tested on are included in the training course manuals that SolidWorks provides us to train you to be proficient users of the program.  I’ve even noticed questions on some of the exams could have practically been taken right from the book!  If you have any questions about what courses would be recommended for any of the certification exams, contact our tech support team and we’ll help guide you. (support@symsolutions.com or (763)560-8600 option 4)

• When taking the test, plan ahead
  •  Look over all the questions in a segment of the test before you start your model.   Generally, the same model is used for several questions.  If you build your design intent appropriately into the model from the start so it can be easily changed, it will make your life a lot easier

Good Luck!

Rebekah Haag 

In Windows 7 you can pin programs to your taskbar for easier access.  One tip is to make sure you are pinning the program to the taskbar and not a shortcut.  That way, when the program is launched you won’t end up with duplicate icons on the task bar.  The easiest way to do this is to launch the program, right-click on its icon in the task bar, and choose “Pin this program to taskbar”.  Then when you close the program, the icon will remain and you can use it to open the application at any time.

Now’s your chance to make your mark on the next release of SolidWorks.  The SolidWorks 2011 Beta program is available to any of our subscription service customers.  Not only can you download and preview the upcoming release while participating in the program, you get rewarded for identifying any problems and requesting additional functionality.

Check out these links for more information:

SolidWorks Beta and Pre-Release Programs

SolidWorks Beta Contests

SolidWorks Beta Prizes

One frequent request that comes across my desk, is how to perform a clean uninstallation of SolidWorks.  SolidWorks installs too many locations on a user’s local disk drive.  When a user uninstalls SolidWorks, a lot of these folders are retained on the system and you can end up with unnecessary or duplicate folders.  Also, at times a SolidWorks installation can become corrupt and it may be necessary to completely wipe SolidWorks from the systems registry and start fresh.

We all know and love SolidWorks for its modeling capabilities, but I’m often surprised by how many users are not aware of all the other functionality that comes along with the SolidWorks package.   Not only do you have the suite of SolidWorks, eDrawings, DWGeditor, and PhotoWorks, there’s also a variety of additional tools that can help make life a lot easier.   If you go into your Windows Start menu in the lower left corner of your desktop, go into All Programs, SolidWorks 20XX, (SolidWorks 20XX SPXX), SolidWorks Tools, you’ll find a few of these valuable resources.

Here’s a summary of how they can help you work more effectivly with SolidWorks…

Copy Settings Wizard:  Allows you to save out all your custom settings in SolidWorks including System Options, Toolbars, Keyboard shortcuts, and Menu customizations.  That way if you create a new installation, get a new machine, or need to work on a different system, you can easily apply all the settings that you’ve grown accustomed to.  This wizard will save out a *.sldreg file that you simply double-click to restore your settings to any installation.  This also comes in handy to standardize several SolidWorks installations to all have the same settings, such as file locations.

Property Tab Builder:  If you add custom properties to your SolidWorks files and feel like this process gets a little redundant, this tool is for you.  The Property Tab builder allows you to build a custom designed user interface to help automate creating that property information.  You build a template that can consist of text boxes, pulldown lists, number fields, checkboxes , and radio buttons.  Then users can access this template in the task pane at the right side of the SolidWorks interface.  You can predefine values or have fields dependent on user input. After filling out the form, SolidWorks writes to values to the custom or configuration-specific properties of the file. Here’s an example…

SolidNetwork License Manager:  This tool comes into play if you have network licensing at your location.  It can tell you what licenses are available and who currently has licenses in use.  This is also where you define the server location where the licenses are deployed from.

SolidWorks Network Monitor:  You can use this tool to share the task of converting all of your SolidWorks files to the latest version.  You schedule the task to convert files on a coordinator computer and allow several node computers on the network to perform the task as well so you can complete it in a fraction of the time.

SolidWorks Rx:  A very valuable resource for troubleshooting.  We use this tool in tech support quite often to have users complete one of the Rx functions: Problem Capture.  This allows you to “capture” an issue you may be experiencing in SolidWorks and even record a video if appropriate, and then send us a zip file package that will include information about your settings, system configuration, and event logs.  But this tool is also an important resource for users to take advantage of.  Some other functions of the Rx include a System Maintenance tool that will clean out all your temporary directories that Windows and SolidWorks might write to.  These directories can build in size over time and significantly slow your system.  You can use the Rx to schedule this maintenance to run on a regular basis to keep everything running smoothly, or periodically you can manually go in and run the maintenance yourself.  There’s also a Diagnostics page where you can take a look and make sure your system is configured correctly for using SolidWorks.   The most valuable information you’ll find here concerns the video card and driver information.  Using a graphics card driver that is certified for your system configuration is vital to get optimal performance in SolidWorks.

SolidWorks Task Scheduler:  This tool can be used to schedule tasks to be automatically run on your system.  Some of the things that are available include converting files to the latest version, printing multiple files, exporting or importing multiple files, tasks associated with Workgroup PDM, if in use, and much more!  Check it out!

Toolbox Settings:  This is the same configuration tool that you can access through SolidWorks to make any changes to your toolbox settings.

If you’d like any more information on using these tools, feel free to contact Symmetry Solutions Technical Support Team at 763.560.8600 option 4 or email us at support@symsolutions.com.