Adding custom parts to solidworks toolbox

ADDING CUSTOM PARTS TO SOLIDWORKS TOOLBOX UPDATE

If you read the other parts of this blog series, you would recognize this topic is a slight twist toВ Part II: linking model properties to the SOLIDWORKS drawing file data card. The example system property used for this lesson was SOLIDWORKS file name. The instructions written in the blog has given you the requisite knowledge to link system properties to SOLIDWORKS PDM file data card for any SOLIDWORKS file type (drawing, part, or assembly). Keep in mind the edit box properties for the data card control is set to вЂњUpdate all configurations.вЂќ вЂњUpdates all configurationsвЂќ works when the value is edited through the data card.

ADDING CUSTOM PARTS TO SOLIDWORKS TOOLBOX UPDATE

In other words, if the file is renamed, it has to be opened in SOLIDWORKS and saved for the update to happen.ДЈ.В Generate a new SOLIDWORKS file: part, assembly, or drawing.Д¤.В Ensure custom and/or configuration property(s) are linked to $PRP:вЂќSW-File NameвЂќ and associated value is shown.Дefault configuration has no property for file name therefore, the control on the data card is empty for this configuration. IMPORTANT: The key to making this work is saving the file. Again, if the вЂњUpdates all configurationsвЂќ edit box property is checked, this will not work as expected. The red box highlights the configuration and the blue box focuses on the property itself. See image below.Д©.В Optional: For each configuration, set the property in the file or SOLIDWORKS template. The last step is to configure the custom property in the file or SOLIDWORKS template. Notice the default value is вЂњ$PRP:вЂ™Sw-File Name.вЂ™вЂќ This was set with the notion that the SOLIDWORKS template file did not have a preconfigured custom property for вЂњFilename.вЂќ This too does not perform as expected for this purpose therefore, leave the value blank.ДЁ. This region of the edit box properties is for setting the default value for this control when the associated file is added to the vault. This setting is supposed to update all configurations within the file but does not perform as expected for this purpose.Д§. Updates all configurationsвЂќ checkbox is selected. See green box (2) shown in figure above.Д¦. The business rule for this exercise states the SOLIDWORKS file will drive the value into the edit box for вЂњFileName.вЂќ Hence the property for вЂњRead onlyвЂќ is checked. In this example, the вЂњFileNameвЂќ variable is assigned to an edit box control. Remember, the variable and attribute names are not required to match.Д¤.В Map variable to control on the file data card. In this example, the variable is mapped to вЂњFilenameвЂќ custom property. In this case, вЂњFileNameвЂќ is the chosen name for the variable.ДЈ.В Add attribute linked to the custom property for SOLIDWORKS files. Open SOLIDWORKS PDM administration utility.Дў.В Create variable through Variable Editor in SOLIDWORKS PDM administration utility.

The process is very similar to linking model properties to the drawing file data card written in previous blog.ДЎ. The solution to overcome these hurdles is to read the SOLIDWORKS system defined property (SW-File Name) using variable attributes. The default value only gets assigned to the data card when the file is added to the vault for the first time. The main considerations to keep in mind here are as follows:ДЎ.В The file gets renamed during its lifetime.Дў. A customer with many years of both SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS PDM experience asked вЂњHow do I get the file name into the associated file data card?вЂќ You might think, like I did, simply set the default value in the card editor tool for an edit box on the file data card to one of two special values: file name or file name without extension.

Adding custom parts to solidworks toolbox