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dave spencer
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dave spencer
I had a note in a drawing that I wanted copied through several sheets. I just used the copy / paste function any windows user is familiar with. My question is: does anyone know why it seems to paste in seemingly random spots? It sometimes pastes right off the sheet and I have to zoom out to find it. Is there a way to have it paste in the same location on the sheet it was copied from?
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dave spencer
I was working on a multiple sheet drawing. I started by doing all of the model views first because I was waiting on some of the information for the sheet format. I figured no problem, Ill just find the menu item called “add sheet format” or something like that and it will propagate through the sheets. I banged my head against the wall for 20 minutes before giving up and manually inserting it into each sheet. For next time does anyone have a better way to do it?
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Ben
Custom Property Propagator at CustomSolids is the best for this in my eyes
http://www.customsolids.com/Propa-Gator.htm wicked deal at 49 dollars. It paid for it self the first time I used it. -
CBL
Here’s a whole bunch of document properties and templates ‘manipulators’ at http://www.eng-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=1429. Some free, some paid for. I can also recommend the Propagator app.
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dave spencer
Im new to analyzing forces on parts. I am trying to do this but it is a small assembly. Is there a way to easily merge an assembly into a single part.
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Ben
Dave
Choose ‘Save As’ in the file menu and then in the ‘Save As Type’ drop down choose part (this is just below the filename). Then make sure to choose the ‘All Components’ radio button under the ‘Geometry to save’ heading.
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Ben
Another thing to keep in mind is that I am sure you are using the Cosmos express module. If you or your company have SW premium there is a full blown version that you can install and then doing an analysis on an assembly is possible. However in a few cases it is more expedient to do it the way you are currently.
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dave spencer
thanks Ben, new question now. The simulation shows how the part bends under load. When I ran it I thought “whoa, that bent more than I thought!” I ended up rerunning the simulation with less and less force and at 10000 lbf and 1 lbf it still bends the same. What I am looking for is will my part deform at a 10,000 lb load. How do I find this?
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Ben
What you ‘see’ is an exageration of the bending not the actual bending. You need to look at a deformation plot (the numbers not the graphic) to see the deflections. I cannot remember how but you can right click on the results and then set the deformation scale to zero and then see real world representations of what is predicted to happen. Still put your faith in the numbers not what the display is showing you.
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dave spencer
I am making an assembly with a hydraulic cylinder. I would like the shaft of the cylinder to freely move in and out but be constrained by the start and stop of the stroke length. How do I do this mate?
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CBL
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dave spencer
Thanks so much! I was staring right at it but did not realize it.
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dave spencer
Does anyone know if there is a source for a solidworks model of a Dodge truck frame. Specifically a 2008 4×4 Quadcab 5500 with a 164.5 inch wheelbase? Goggle turned up nothing for me. I have a drawing from dodge but it sure would be easier to just drag in a model.
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Ben
It would be nice but those models are hard to come by. If you find it let me know because I could use one too.
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Chris Serran
Maybe check out http://www.dodge.com/en/commercial/
The body guide pdf isn’t working for me, you may have better luck.
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dave spencer
I am trying to combine two 2d splines to form one 3d spline. I can not for the life of me remember how to do this and composite curve does not seem to work.
Attachment – 2009_7_22_13_55-
CBL
Just going from memory here;
Merge the end points of the two splines, and then delete that point.I believe the two spline then become one.
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Ben
You can select both of the splines and choose insert-curve-projected and use sketch on sketch. So long as they are seperate sketches
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Ben
Here is a sample
Attachment – 2009_7_22_12_58 -
dave spencer
Perfect Ben, thanks
CBL, that would work for joining 2 splines together inside one sketch. ( I guess I wasn’t clear) I have needed that trick before too though so thanks.
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dave spencer
I used to have windows vista home basic. realizing that solidworks just did not function properly on this os I jumped on windows 7 beta and was pleased. Now I am on windows 7 rc and everything is still working fine but microsoft is offering its home and pro versions for half price. Does anyone know if these will run solidworks ok or do I have to fork over top dollar for the ultimate version? (which is the rc version I am running right now)
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Ben
Is there any way to download and try home to see? I would imagine that Pro would be sufficent. But I am not sure.
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dave spencer
Holy crap Ben! The zipped package in the new beta is amazing!!!!
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Ben
Great to hear…. I need some more beta tests done but if all goes well the rest of you will get your grubby hands on it in a few days …..
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dave spencer
Hey all, I hope that there is a simple answer that I have missed in help. I want to change default settings used in drawings. I want third angle projection, reduced fonts and arrows sizes. Right now I have to do it for every drawing I make. There must be some simple way to make the changes become the new default. Right?
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admin
You need to create a new sheet format and template.
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/3732741/solidworks-templates
http://www.fcsuper.com/swblog/?p=98
http://www.fcsuper.com/swblog/?p=99 -
dave spencer
Thanks Ben. I think an under appreciated value this site has is speed. Check the time stamps people. 4 minutes to get an answer. I spent 20 minutes looking through help before coming here.
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admin
I aim to please
Thanks for the compliment
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dave spencer
I just installed windows 7 beta and put solidworks 2008 on it. So far so good. It does stuff right off the bat that didn’t work on my old vista home premium. Ill continue playing with it and post if there are any problems I find.
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dave spencer
Ok, before anyone else wants to try this, I am having some trouble saving without crashing. I hope I can get it figured out because I really like windows 7 and don’t want to go back.
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admin
Have you been following this thread Dave?
http://solidjott.com/2009/01/27/will-windows-7-work-on-2009-solidworks-s/comment-page-1/
Just a FYI comment
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guido
Dave,
When you installed Windows 7, was it an upgrade, or a complete install?
I see where MS is saying that the build that they offer for download is the final build and yet within the past two days I see where they are now offering an upgrade to Windows 7.
Anyone in the know here? -
dave spencer
I finally went to SP5.0 for SW2008. No dice. I’m going to try one more thing before I give up
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dave spencer
Yay! I tried the “sldfileopen.dll” fix also posted here on solidjott. Just change sldfileopen.dll to sldfileopen.old and you are off to the races.
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admin
Outstanding! Great to hear…
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dave spencer
sorry to not answer Guido’s question before but it was a fresh install.
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gore
Solidworks won’t start without the file however if you make a new dummy file with notepad you can avoid renaming or moving the file every time you need to start solidworks…
To do this:
1. Go the the solidworks 2009 folder an rename the sldfileopen.dll to sldfileopen.old or move it to a different directory as mentioned above.
2. Open notepad.
3. Go to file->Save As.
4. Change the ‘Save as type from *.txt to All Files.
5. Write sldfileopen.dll into the “File Name” field and save the file to the desktop (It wont save directly to the solidworks directory for me due to UAC)
6. Drag or copy the file from the desktop to the solidworks 2009 directory. Click “Continue” if UAC nags you.
7. Solidworks should start as normal!!! Hope it works for you guys too
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dave spencer
I have a weird problem. I have a very simple part I want to put an overall length on. As you can see by the picture, it has rounded ends and holes on the same centers. I click on each end and by default of course gives me the dimension between centers. In the leaders tab I click both to MAX but they jump to the max dimension of the holes, not the max dimension of the part. I had to redo it about 6 times just to make sure I wasn’t clicking on the wrong spots.
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JeffM
Hold down the shift key and select each outer arc while in the dimension command. This will dim to the outsides.
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dave spencer
Sweet! Worked perfect, thanks for the fix.
I’m really impressed with how fast the answer came too. This site rocks!
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CBL
Also, when drawing the obround, you could use the Straight Slot sketch function and select the Overall Length dimension option.
The Insert > Model Items would then automatically place the dimensions as needed.
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dave spencer
Is there any word from Solidworks about eventually having it run on a os other than windows? I would love to go to linux.
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admin
Having chatted with some of the SolidWorks brass on this, until there is a much larger market share in the other OS’s there really is no reason for them to do it.
I disagree but that is what I have been told by many ‘o SolidWorks employees and executive. I think this is incredibly short sighted.
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dave spencer
Its too bad. SW is the only thing holding me back right now.
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rickyjordan
I agree with Ben on this. Just looking at my site stats, 93% of my traffic was from Windows machines. Much of that is probably because folks checking it out are logging from a machine with SolidWorks on it.
My personal opinion is that there are probably many hooks into the Microsoft OS. It would probably take quite a bit of re-writing to make it possible.
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JeffM
It’s a matter of return on investment. How much $$ would it cost (not only to develop, but support) and how long would it take to recoup said $$?
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mattl
Mac now has a market share of almost 10%. That’s double what it was a couple years ago. I really doubt that SW would do multiple flavors of Linux, but OSX at least has a shot years down the road. They have several small apps for Mac now, so they aren’t completely ignoring it.
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dave spencer
I’m running sw 2008 sp4 on vista with 4 gig ram. every time I try to save as a dwg (autocad) I get the following message:
Solidworks is unable to obtain the required memory. Please attempt to free some memory and then press retry, or press cancel to terminate your solidworks session.
This is very frustrating. Any ideas what is wrong?
I also get some problems when saving as a pdf. If it is a large assembly, it craps out and I only get the bottom half of the image.
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Chris Serran
How large are your assemblies?
I'd suggest when working in SW to have any unnecessary programs and all the bells and whistles of Vista turned off.
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dave spencer
Not very large in the grand scheme of things. over 6 parts and it is a crapshoot whether or not a pdf will come out or not. I have a workaround for that- I have always had success saving as a tiff and turning it into a pdf in photoshop. It is a PITA but it works.
I have no workaround for the DWG short of emailing all files to a very generous friend who converts the files for me.
As far as bells and whistles in vista are concerned; I have most shut down. I can do a full boot up, only start SW and it still fails every time.I truly don't believe this has anything to do with a lack of memory.
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Jeff Mirisola
Actually, it probably does have to do with memory, but let's back up. Which version of Vista are you running and is it 32-bit or 64-bit?
Also, which graphics card are you using? If you're running a low(er) end card, it may be pulling memory from your RAM to refresh your screen.
I'm not 100% sure it applies to Vista, but do a google search for the 3 GB switch. On 32-bit XP, RAM allocation is increased with the switch and it does improve SW performance. -
Chris Serran
Monitor the performance on the Task Manager to see if it's running out of memory.
Are you on a laptop or desktop computer? My laptop has a tendancy to over heat and will cut out, same specifications as you. A cooling pad helped that.
Other possible issues that come to mind is faulty RAM chip or insufficient power supply. -
behnt
Trust me on this one guys, I know Dave well. I have also taken the assembly and saved it out no problem on my machine. Even on a virtual machine with 512gb and a simulated video card with other apps running. There is more going on than his resources. I am 100% sure his machine should do this.
That being said, Dave do a memory check ( google for a open source memory tester) and see if there is faulty memory.
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dave spencer
I'm running 32 bit vista home premium.
My computer runs very cool but I have shut it down for a while and tried to no avail.
It is a laptop so it does not have the best of graphic cards, this may be the problem here. I have just tried adjusting the settings for low quality / optimal perfomance but no dice.
It probably is not bad memory because I had the problem with 1 gig of ram so I went and replaced it with 4 gigs.
I have a system resource monitor on my side bar and it does not peak out the memory while saving.Thanks to all who are trying to help and thanks to Ben for putting up such a cool site.
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CBL
“I'm running 32 bit vista home premium.”
That could be part of the problem. SW is not supported on any of the Home versions of Windows.
Note (11) at http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/SystemRequ... states;
“(11) Windows Vista Ultimate, Business and Enterprise editions only. SP0 or higher.” -
dave spencer
Well I guess that must be the problem CBL. Thanks.
I guess I’ll have to wait until windows 7 because I’m sure not going to put any money into upgrading Vista.
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CBL
Then you should at least try the /3GB switch as Jeff Mirisola suggested. If it is memory related it should help.
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dave spencer
in an assembly can I space multiple objects on a rack by # of objects and edges of rack; or do I always have to measure and calc distance. (looking for a solution like the width mate)
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Ben
So are you looking to have a set number of parts equally spaced along a line?
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cserran
If you’re using a linear pattern you can drive the distance with an equation.
or
If there are features on the rack (ie. holes) you can drive those in the rack and then position your objects using a feature based pattern. -
admin
Another work around I have used (This one is kinda kludgy) create a part within a part and use a ‘Cruve Driven Pattern’. Here is how it is done. You can put a part within a part, when in a part choose insert-part, the dialog will take you through the insert and you can mate it like it was an assembly. Next choose insert-pattern-curve driven pattern. Choose a line that has the direction on it you want and the distance between the end points you want (i.e. the distance between the first and last components to be patterned, you will likely need to make a sketch for this and use the sketch line) last in the curve driven pattern choose ‘equally space’. Here is the caveat for this long winded solution, if you update the patterned component and then open the part with the component in it, the part will not update properly unless BOTH parts are open at the same time….
So all this brings me to ask, SolidWorks why can you not have a curve driven pattern in a assembly?
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dave spencer
Good ways to do this. I was just hoping there was some really simple way to do it. Like “pattern object” 15 times to “offset from face”. Is there a wish list for SW functionality.
thanks
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admin
There are enhancement requests at the SolidWorks website. Although many of us feel it is throwing suggestions down a hole. I and another guy will have http://DearSolidWorks.com up and going in the next couple of weeks for just this sort of thing
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RodUding
I concur with your comment Ben from 10:45 2008/11/23. Why can’t I drive a pattern with a curve in an assembly. It would save me a lot of time when I do not have a pattern on a part in the assembly.
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admin
Just found this at SW Geeks
http://www.swgeeks.com/forum/topics/2064154:Topic:936Might do what you need it to
Quote
“sometimes it’s needed to divide sketch curves(lines,arcs,splines,etc) or edges into equal portions. this can be accomplished using reference point command (insert->reference geometry->point) and specifying number of points to be inserted (evenly distribute option)”
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CBL 4:56 pm on April 3, 2010 Permalink
What version of SW are you using?
I’m using SW2010-SP2.1, and when I copy a note to another sheet, it either inserts where I click, or if I don’t click it will insert at the 0,0 point (bottom LH corner) of the drawing sheet.
If that’s not what you’re seeing, try turning the note into a Block and assign an insertion point.
dave spencer 6:17 am on April 4, 2010 Permalink
sw 2010 sp1. I guess I’m just used to my graphics programs where a pasted object lands in the same spot it was copied from between layers.