SolidWorks Hot Air Vent...

There was a Beta issue that I ran into whereby double-clicking in the top cell of a SW BOM would crash out SW. But only if I had my 3D controller active. Maybe a clue?

WT

OK, here comes my dumb question.

What is a "3D controller"?

Thanks - Bo

We don't use space balls if that's what you are referring to. No, this seems to be from the .sldbomtbt template we were always using. As soon as I made it from scratch in

2008 and then resaved to a new .sldbomtbt template, everything seemed to work fine. No more repeatable crashes.

But thanks for your input Don

Don, a DQH

Given the problems that can occur when a template or SWks internal file gets corrupted or the wrong version or goes missing, why can't there be an application that just goes and checks to see if every single damn one of those files is there, any "extras", the right version, and not "MALFORMED"?

We are 6 decades into the "computer" and there is tons of unused horsepower at the disposal of users who have the right utility program to query our applications and data files to see if they are "correct".

Why should users be forced to use manual techniques of elimination to attempt to debug our applications? We pay through the nose for a highly technical application with maybe thousands of files, but we do not have a user's version of a debugging tool (which I am dead certain SolidWorks uses internally).

We users deserve to have some elemental debugging tools to prevent us spending countless hours trying to find out what is wrong that a simple tool could tell after a few minutes of scanning files.

1. Am I totally flat ass wrong on this?

1. Am I stupidly naive in thinking error detection tools would save time?

2. Is it asking too much to have a tool that tells us if every SolidWorks file is there and where it should be (& where it is if it is wrongly placed)?

1. Given that corrupted or missing files can cause SolidWorks to crash, it would seem probable that a utility could read a set of files and tell whether any common errors exist that might or would cause a crash or failure to open, or again am I off in left field again?

It would seem like such a SWks Debug Utility could be in the update list with every SolidWorks Service Pack release. Gut feel tells me it would save users & VARs a bunch of time.

Bo

Don,

Thanks for taking the time to submit your bug. I'm sure that there is a problem there with the BOM, your VAR just wasn't able to re-produce. Don't feel bad, I'm in the same building with Development and I get the same response all the time or the big NR, but we eventually get it captured, so don't give up. If you want you can send it to me at snipped-for-privacy@solidworks.com can I'll submit it.

As for your plain white background, It's t there, it you're just not aware of where it is. There is a little transparent floating view/ display toolbar at the top of your sceen. If you click on the 2nd icon from the right that looks like a gold ball with a checker floor and pull down, you will see a choice "Plain White" as the second choice from the top of the list. This will give you want you want I believe.

Kind Regards

Mark Biasotti Product Management SolidWorks Corporation

Oh, and BTW, I hope when you're doing screen shots, you're not doing "Print screen" key on your keyboard but using View>Screen capture>image capture. Just mention it because a lot of users are not aware of it. Once you use it, you'll see the benefit of it over Print Screen.

Mark

Okay, after a re-read of your post, I see that you are aware of it, but its worth mentioning for others that might not be aware of it.

I'll give you guys a little inside on it. Ron Bates, our Manager of Graphics team wrote it out of personal frustration because he does so much of this kind of stuff with his involvement with PW, RealView and appearances in general, he was tired of post-processing the image in PhotoShop or Corral just to get rid of the SW interface. So, I guess it was a late night more than a year ago that he just implemented it. It wasn't a planned project, but we all like it so much that it was a no-brainer and went with it. I use it constantly in the work that I do and it is a real time saver.

Mark

Yeah, I discovered on my own and really like it. I am always getting parts that are not suitable for molding and I have to have an easy way to flag the problem areas. It's great for that sort of thing.

jk

Thanks Mark for that bit of insider info. That's the kind of stuff that makes some of this make a bit more sense. I always enjoy hearing the "why" of a feature.

WT

Hey Mark,

Always good to see you read and respond to some of the posts here. And yes, I am aware of the new screen shot tool but there's a catch with it (unless I just can't figure it out). If I open a very large assembly in "view only" or newly called "quick view" mode in 2008, the file uses the last saved background and the icon is greyed out in the floating toolbar to change it back to plain white. This was the annoying thing. I needed to fully open the large assembly just to take screen shots....? Was I missing something or is this still the case? Oh well. But thanks again for your response nontheless.

I hope what I wrote initially wasn't taken too off base, I was just venting some frustrations at the time. In general, I am very happy with SW and am glad to see every release is getting better and ridding daily annoyances.

oh, and I was serious about the dual units (english and Metric specifically) in the measuring tool.... can you push that through in the 2009 release! just kindding! no, seriously...... see what you can do.

thanks again, Don Van Zile Norgren Automotive (CSWP) just fyi

Fascinating imagery. But I think you're right: we could use this. Unfortunately, such a tool might be perceived as an admission that files are getting correpted. Even though such correption could be due to files system errors as much as mishandling by the application in question. But then, AutoCAD has had such a tool for as far back as I can remembere.

As much as I would like to have the tool to fix these problems, I think I would prefer that the real problem be fixed. Files should not be getting corrupted. But I just told meyself that it may not all be SW's fault.

I think I'd liek to take your idea one step further. This tool, if it exists in an automated form, should always run when things like templates are used. We don't always notice when a template is defective, and hours of work can be lost before the problem is detected.

I'll second that. Actually, I've submitted enhancement requests for this at least once. This would be a huge help for those of us who work in a mixed units environment. While you're at it, go ahead and make dual units pervasive. Put 'em in the mass properties, on the other side of the scales that we got in 2008, etc.

And thanks for stopping by. It's always good to get the straight dope (what a twisted idiom).

I needed to fully open the large assembly just to

Don, Change the background color using quick view mode does work, the problem with your senario is that you're opening a 2007 assembly in

2008 and in order for quick view to work, it needs to be a 2008 file - reason being is that the 2008 display state needs to be saved in order to take advantage of this situation. If the large assembly that you're trying to view only, is opened up in 2008 and saved (or perhaps using the conversion wizard on it first) then opening up the 2008 version and using the quick view works.

I don't believe that 2007 allowed you to change the background color when "view only" is used. How would you do this in 2007? - or are you saying that 2008 inserted a new background when the 2007 version was saved with a white background?

regards

Mark

I've had problems in 2008 because existing templates had blocks in the sheet format that were not exploded. I would not be able to save files that had these sheet formats until I figured I needed to eliminate the blocks by exploding them.

ok here's the run down.... I can see there is a bit of miscommunication on my part.

I've always had the part loaded in the past for screen shots and always changed the background manually to plain white so it was never an issue.

Now, just the other day, I figured I'd save a lot time with this large assembly by not actually opening it fully resolved but in "view only" or now "quick view" mode. Again, I've never actually done this before but I figured I could change the background color to plain white if it wasn't already, even if it was in view only mode. And as it turns out, once the quick view mode opened up, I couldn't select the scene flyout in the floating toolbar becasue it was greyed out.

But you are right with the large assembly not being fully saved to

2008 format. However, I just tried a part file, and an assembly file that everything was created in 2008 version. And once again, once opened in quick view mode, the scene flyout manager from the floating toolbar is greyed out and I can't change the background color in this mode.

Tried it on sp0 and sp0.1 and still can't. what is going on here?

Now correct me if I'm wrong but as I understand it, "quick-view" will still work for just view only for 2007 files but you won't have the capability of "selective" component loading functionaltiy unitl you save it to 2008. Am I understanding this correctly?

Thanks, Don

Yes, that is correct, but not fully. In order to use the full function of quick view, it needs to be 2008, bu if it's 2008, you'll be able to selectively open some or all in "lightweight". Added benefit is that you can have selectively opened quick view with mates (i.e. if you have crank shown but a shaft not loaded, it will still be concentrically mated.) I understand it's a pain for you because it's

2007 data, but when you have 2008 data the benefits are clear.

Mark

wrote

Mark,

Where exactly is that button? - which tool bar? Is it only in 2008?

John H