SOLIDWORKS Templates 101 :

1. SOLIDWORKS Templates 101: Parts, Assemblies, and Drawings Eric Bright PDM Technical Services Manager Eric.Bright@TriMech.com

2. Agenda Introduction Presentations ( SolidWorks World) PSA : Button Clickers Beware !!!! Pre-Template set up Default with SolidWorks Tools Options SolidWorks Templates & Settings : • Part • Assembly • Drawing

3. Eric Bright Technical Manager : Services Eric.Bright@TriMech.com Certified SolidWorks Elite Application Engineer CSWP - Certified SolidWorks Professional CSWE - Certified SolidWorks Expert CSWST - Certified SolidWorks Support Technician CSWI - Certified SolidWorks Instructor CWPDM - Certified Workgroup PDM Support Technician CEPDM - Certified Enterprise PDM Support Technician CPDMP - Certified Enterprise PDM Professional CSPST - Certified Simulation Pro Support Technician CSAST - Certified Simulation Advanced Pro Support CSWSI - Certified SolidWorks Simulation Instructor CSWP - Advanced Sheet Metal CSWP - Advanced Weldments CSWP - FEA Specialists CSWS-EOP - Certified Specialist - EXALEAD OnePart CSWS-DSI - Certified Specialist - DraftSight 1995+ SolidWorks / PDM 1998

4. Presentations http://www.solidworks.com/sww/proceedings/proceedings-presentations.htm SolidWorks World 2013 SolidWorks World 2014 SolidWorks World 2015

5. PSA:Button Clickers Beware !!!! Missing Files ( Drawing and or Assembly) The Assembly opened fine 6 months ago….. On Todd’s machine it opens with no problem and on my machine there are errors. The Drawing is Blank, but I know I did a save. The BOM is not complete

6. PSA:Button Clickers Beware !!!!

7. PSA:Button Clickers Beware !!!! When files can’t be found by SolidWorks This session vs Don’t ask me again Where does the error msg go when flagged How to reset

8. Pre-Template set up work • Metadata - Sometimes referred to as custom properties or attributes, these are typically the attributes used to identify information in documents. • ANY INFORMATION THAT WILL BE USED IN BOM, DRAWINGS ETC… • PART NUMBER, PARTNO, P/N, PART NO - CAGE CODE • DESCRIPTION, DESCRIP - WEIGHT • MATERIAL, MATL - COST • FINISH - STATUS • CREATED DATE - PROCESS • MODEL BY / DATE - STAGE • DRAWN BY / DATE -VENDOR INFORMATION • Define location for all templates to be stored and accessed • PDM System? Who is the Admin? Do I have Access? • Network Shared Location ( To be copied to the local machine or not)

9. Default with SolidWorks By default when SW opens • NOVICE is set The template that opens is what the default is set to, if no default is set, then it defaults to the “Templates” that were created upon install.

10. Default with SolidWorks TEMPLATES: This is set when you open SolidWorks the first time, there is a selection box for units. • We will cover tab set up at the later, Tools Options • In order to see the “Program Data folder you must “Show Hidden Folders” C:\ProgramData\SolidWorks\SolidWorks 201X\templates TUTORIAL: It uses the appropriate units, view orientations, and so on, for the tutorial lesson. C:\Program Files\SolidWorks Corp\SolidWorks\lang\english\Tutorial

11. TOOLS OPTIONS Options or Tools > Options and select File Locations Create the location and reference ( Watch for the Path) Create Tabs / Folders Part Templates (*.prtdot) Assembly Templates (*.asmdot) Custom Property File (properties.txt) Drawing Templates (*.drwdot) Drawing Sheet Format (*.slddrt) • Revision Block (*. sldrevtbt) • Bill Of Materials (*. Sldbomtbt)

12. PART TEMPLATE • Open SW Part System Defined Part Number = File Name $PRP:"SW-File Name"

13. PART TEMPLATE Custom Property File (properties.txt) Don’t work on the original !!!!! MAKE A COPY If you delete by mistake – Create another text file called “properties.txt” Location – SW Options, file locations, custom property files C:\ProgramData\SolidWorks\SolidWorks 201X\lang\english • Why – To present ( NOT LOCK) metadata to choose from • TIP- Excel copy and paste • Not comfortable – Use the SW Interface…

14. ASSEMBLY TEMPLATE System Defined Part Number = File Name $PRP:"SW-File Name"

15. DRAWING TEMPLATES Drawings have MORE options and settings then Part and Assembly templates.

16. DRAWING TEMPLATES Drawings have MORE options and settings then Part and Assembly templates. Components of a drawing: Main: • Drawing Templates (*.drwdot) • Drawing Sheet Format (*.slddrt) Reference: • Revision Block (*. sldrevtbt) • Bill Of Materials (*. Sldbomtbt)

17. DRAWING TEMPLATES Drawing Template (*.drwdot) • This contains “ Document Properties ” Tab • Location “Tools, Options, Document Properties” • Fonts • Dimension standards and styles • Line fonts • Predefined views, etc… Include: • Revision Block

18. DRAWING TEMPLATES Drawing Sheet Format (*.slddrt) • The geometry and notes that make up the drawing's title block. • This also contains the anchors for the BOM, Revision Table etc. • SLDDRT file is setup for a particular paper size, unlike a template which can be for any size. • When a format is used in a drawing, all the fonts and other settings get updated with the current document settings.

19. DRAWING TEMPLATE • FILE, SAVE AS • FILE, SAVE AS

20. DRAWING TEMPLATE

21. DRAWING TEMPLATE • There are two levels to a SolidWorks Drawing • Edit sheet Format – You are here only to set up, you should not be in this on every drawing. • Edit Sheet – This is where all of you work is to be done… Note you can not select the items on the Sheet format like “Description”

22. DRAWING TEMPLATES

23. DRAWING TEMPLATES Drawing Properties of Drawing Linking Metadata to the drawing: $PRP:”Property Name” Ex - $PRP:”SW-File Name” Metadata from current document (Drawing) $PRPSHEET:”Property Name” $PRPSHEET:”Description” Metadata from the Model (Part or Assembly on the drawing) Part / Assembly Properties of Top level SW part or Assembly

24. DRAWING TEMPLATES • Metadata coming from the assembly to the drawing and feeding the TEXT. • $PRPSHEET:"Description“ • $PRPSHEET:”Property Name” • Metadata from the Model (Part or Assembly on the drawing)

25. DRAWING TEMPLATES • Metadata coming from the Drawings properties. • $PRP:“DrawnBy" • $PRP:“Property Name“ • There are properties that are Drawing and Model Specific.

26. System Defined Properties Additionally, drawings have the following system-defined properties: Property NameValue SW-Current Sheet sheet number of the active sheet SW-Sheet Format Size sheet size of the active sheet format SW-Sheet Name name of the active sheet SW-Sheet Scale scale of the active sheet SW-Template Size template size of the drawing template SW-Total Sheets total number of sheets in the active drawing document

27. System Defined Properties MAKE SURE THIS IS SET RIGHT!!! If the property value cannot be found, the note displays ERROR!<variable name>. • To show or hide the error message, click View, Annotation Link Errors. A linked note can include additional text, and it can include links to more than one property. For example, to display the current sheet number and the total number of sheets, you can add this note: SHEET $PRP:"SW-Current Sheet" OF $PRP:"SW-Total Sheets" On the sheet, the property values are displayed: SHEET 1 OF 2 (on the first sheet of a two-sheet drawing)

28. DRAWING TEMPLATE Bill Of Material

29. DRAWING TEMPLATE • Bill Of Materials (*. Sldbomtbt) • There must be a SW Document ( Part or Assembly) on the drawing • A drawing can contain a table-based Bill of Materials or an Excel-based Bill of Materials, but not both. • SolidWorks BOM Preferred • SW Help - Drawings and Detailing > Tables

30. DRAWING TEMPLATE • Metadata coming from the assembly to the drawing and feeding the BOM.

31. DRAWING TEMPLATE Revision Block

32. DRAWING TEMPLATE • Revision Block (*. sldrevtbt) • Can be saved to the Drawing Templates (*.drwdot) • RMB on drag handle for save option

33. Eric Bright PDM Technical Services Manager Eric.Bright@TriMech.com Thank You….