I have always found that the routing tools to be an interesting part of SolidWorks but was never able to really learn all the ins and outs of it. So a while back I started looking a little closer at it. I am right now working from the Piping & Tubing portion of the training manuals.

I always thought the rules for creating the routes were very consistent and that you needed to have connector points (CPoints) and route points (RPoints) to be able create any route. Well I found a tool to be able to start a route without a connector.

This is very helpful if the component you are using is an imported model from a vendor and they supply the connector but you are not sure what it will be. They did let you know the size of pipe/tube/wire and a location for where it will be on the component. So know if it is not all ready on the model you will need to create a cylindrical cut to represent the start point.

The tool to use in this instance is Start at Point and is available on the all three routing tool bars Electrical, Piping, and Tubing. Once you select the appropriate tool you then select the cylindrical face from the hole for the starting point and it gives you a nub start so you can then continue the route in whatever manner you need to complete this.

So as I continue to dive into the routing tools I will add any interesting features that may be hidden or not really well known.

Occasionally you will see SVG output that appears to highlight the entire screen as you mouse over the image. This can be quickly solved by selecting the option: HardwareAdvance.SilhouetteShader. Restart Composer and you should be on your way with improved SVG output.

DID YOU KNOW

You can now tie your Facebook account to the updated and improved  3DVIA Composer forum so that you can easily see the latest activity on the forum through your Facebook feed?

(This is turning into the color series of EPDM blogs!  The last one was about the little green flag.)

If you are an Enterprise user then you’ve heard (or seen) the term local cache. It’s pronounced like ‘cash’ and it refers to the files from your vault that physically reside on your local hard drive.  What can be deceiving about Enterprise is that you see all of these files listed in Windows Explorer in a folder structure  on your root C: drive and so it seems like all of those files are actually there. But they may not be … but that’s OK!

The folder structure you see is just a representation – a way to look at the vault contents in a way that is familiar to you. You don’t need to have the files on your local computer to get a lot of information about them. You can see the information on the data card, determine the latest version, see where it is in the approval process, and see if anyone has it checked out. You will need to have a copy in your local cache if you are going to preview the file or if you are going to open it.

That’s interesting, but what does that have to do with the yellow triangle?

Where you can run into trouble is when you have an OLD version of the file.  This can happen when someone else has made new versions and you haven’t updated your vault view with the latest version.

If you open a file without checking it out, you will open the one that is in your cache.  This can include the components in an assembly.  Your local copy of the assembly may be the latest version but some of the components may not be.  So when you open the assembly, you may not see all the changes that have been made to the components.

 That could be confusing.  How can I prevent that?

Before previewing or opening a file, get in the habit of always doing a  If opening or previewing an assembly, Get Latest Version of the assembly file, and Enterprise will also check and get all of the referenced files.

Another option is to clear your local cache.  That will remove all local copies of files.  Enterprise will retrieve the latest version of everything needed when opening or doing a preview.

 I’m afraid I’ll lose something important if I clear the local cache.

Let me say this – no harm should come if you clear your cache on a regular basis. Enterprise will NOT remove files that you have checked out or are references in a file that is checked out so you don’t have to worry about losing your work. Probably the worst that can happen is that there may be a bit of a delay if you need to preview or checkout a file since Enterprise will have to download the file from the archive server.

 Are there any files in the cache that I shouldn’t clear?

You should not clear Toolbox files (by default you won’t.)  You also do not want to clear the cache of Design Library files that are in the vault.   If cleared, they won’t be visible in the Design Library Task Pane.

 Can anything happen if I don’t clear my cache?
Well, for one thing, you only have so much room on your hard drive.   You could also preview or open out of date files as was discussed earlier.

There may also be times that you will see a file that is grayed out and shown as <Local File>. This means that someone else has deleted or moved that file from the vault and if you did not clear your cache, you will still have a local copy on your hard drive.  All you need to do is delete it.

Stay tuned and we’ll see if I can come up with another color in Enterprise to write about!

The wind was heavy that day my friends, as I remember it, the date was April 12^th, 2012.   It seemed like just another day until over 100 customers and prospects attended Symmetry Solutions: Hook, Line, and SolidWorks Spring Conference event.

Many were baited to come see the likes of Dave Genz, Ice Fishing enthusiast, and Walleye Dan, professional fishing guide.   There weren’t many bobbers in the audience during Mark Pallansch’s discussion of Clam Corporations manual documentation process, as he shared how they utilized 3DVIA Composer to provide parametric-based set up and tear down animations of Ice Houses.  Dave Schluter from St. Croix Rods had his hooks into the audience during his discussion on their implementation of Enterprise Product Data Management.   St. Croix Rods was able to string up their workflows and provide a much more efficient product release process.

The biggest catch of the day was during the technical breakout sessions, as the new SolidWorks Plastics Product offering reeled in the largest audience of the technical breakout.   Other technical varieties included Application Programming Interface (program customization), Simulation (FEA, CFD analysis), Enterprise Product Data Management, and 3DVIA Composer for technical communications.

To close out the day, two lucky winners, Jesse Hahn from SportTech and Mark Bossart from Apnex Medical, bagged themselves a big fishing tale by each taking home a brand new ice fishing house from Clam Corporations. Congratulations!

Scenario 1 without 3DVIA Composer

Your engineering staff has spent considerable time designing your product using your CAD software and creating all of the drawings.  One of the engineers is finishing up the final details.  The rest are starting to work on a new project.  You can sit back and take a break and let manufacturing start making the product.

While you’re drinking your coffee the phone rings and Joe, the Sales Manager, wants to get some pictures of the new product to use for sales literature.  He needs some illustrations with dimensions, cutaway images showing internal features, and an animation showing how the product works now that the design is finalized.  He needs the pictures in the next couple of days so he can get the literature to the printer in time.  You tell him you’ll see what you can do and will get back to him later.  The engineers are the only ones who can make those images and an animation from their models but they’re already busy on the new project.  I guess you’ll have to pull someone off and get these done.  But it’s going to put the new project behind.

As soon as you hang up the phone, Sally, your Production Manager, comes in your office and tells you they need more information on how the product is assembled.  Because of the anticipated demand, the company has hired new employees and they have to get up to speed quickly.  She wants to know if there is a way to create some kind of assembly video so the new employees would be able to be productive immediately.  You know the engineers could create an animation using the CAD models but that would mean pulling another one off the new project.  And creating an animation that way is time consuming.

After she leaves and you’re trying to figure out how to get all of this done, the phone rings again.  It’s Pete, one of the major account managers.  He has been talking to one of your biggest customers and they would like to see better documentation showing how to install the product and how to do maintenance.  They will be sending your products overseas and they really need documentation for non-English speakers that doesn’t require much translation.  He wants to know if your engineers can create some installation and maintenance documents.

Just think, a few minutes ago, life was good.  Now what are you going to do?  This phone rings – it’s Pete again.  One more thing, the customer would like to be able to order spare parts online.  Is it possible to create exploded views so the customer could click on the part they need and add to their cart?  Thanks!

ARRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scenario 2 with 3DVIA Composer

Your engineers are using their CAD software to design and create the parts and assemblies for your new product.  They are still in the design phase and the final product is still a few weeks away but things are going well.

Joe, the Sales Manager, stops in to go over some ideas for literature to help sell the product.  He would like dimensioned views and images showing internal features.  You tell him about this great software called 3DVIA Composer that can take the current CAD data from your engineers and create 2D technical illustrations with dimensions and call-outs, and the high resolution images of the internal features.  What’s great is that the images can be created now by non-engineers so Joe can lay out the literature while the engineers are still working on the design.  When the design is complete the images can be updated with the latest CAD data.  Joe doesn’t have to wait until after final design.

At the weekly design review meeting, Sally, the Production Manager, brings up that they will need to hire new employees for the anticipated demand.  She is concerned about how long it will take them to understand the assembly process.  You let everyone know how 3DVIA Composer can create assembly instructions using the CAD models your engineers are developing.  The video can show the steps to assembly the product and can be interactive.  The animation can be created to stop at certain points in the process and when the employee is ready to move on to the next step they just need to click on button on the screen.  The animations can show the tools required, names and part numbers of the components, written instructions, arrows, and parts fading in and out to make the instructions easy to follow.  Anyone who has learned how to use the 3DVIA Composer software can use the CAD data created by the engineers to create any number of assembly videos or instructions.  These can be worked on now and updated as the CAD data is modified.  That way they will be ready to go when the designs are finalized.

When Pete, one of the major account managers, calls, he tells you about some concerns from one of his biggest accounts.  They send the products overseas and they spend a lot of money translating installation and maintenance information into other languages.  Do you have any ideas?  You tell Pete how 3DVIA Composer can be used to create animations that the user can step through that don’t require much text.  You tell him about the animations that will be created for manufacturing.   These assembly and maintenance videos can be an outgrowth of those.  The whole idea of “A picture is worth a thousand words.” can be captured in these videos.

Pete also mentions how customers would like to be able to have an interactive way to order spare parts online.  You show Pete something you’ve been working on using 3DVIA Composer.  You created an exploded view with balloons for each part along with a Bill of Material.  When you click on the part in the assembly or the BOM, it is linked to a page saved as HTML which shows the part, a description, and a price.  A link on the page could then be tied to some e-commerce software to allow the user to purchase that part.  Pete tells you that’s perfect!

You sit down with a cup of coffee knowing that things are under control.  While your engineers continue working on the final design, you’re satisfied that sales, production, and the customers will get the documentation they need when your engineers are done.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!