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Backwards compatible

I'm probably opening a can of worms, but here I go anyways.

This thing about not being 'Backwards compatible', I agree that it would be great but I have two questions:

a) What would your suggestion be for handling new functions(features) that are in the newer file and not the older file. example: Deform or Sketch driven patterns. How should the software handle either of these features in SolidWorks version 2001?

b) Do you know of any parametric solid modeler that has feature based backward compatibility?

Reply to
SBC
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I personally haven't used any parametric feature based modelers with backward compatibility. At least not that I know of. But to do a "Save As version XX" doesn't seem out of reach. Parts and Assy's can still be considered the same, behind how they were created. In other words, it's not like the basic mass has been redefined. Seems to me like you could lose "how a hole was created" but it would still be a hole. If you can save as different versions of a parasolid, why not different versions of a SLDPRT?

FWIW, Acad can save as an older version very far back. Same idea, the vectors didn't really change but how they got in the drawing did. And new stuff, like editable hatching, etc. gets dumbed down to a more primitive state.

To not have the functionality certainly must be more by choice. Just my 2c.

- Eddy

Reply to
Eddy Hicks

I would easily trade this capability for speed and improvement of numerous barely functional existing features. :) bill

Reply to
bill allemann

Heh. Yeah. SW could dispose with the whole question of backwards compatibility by making sure that it's always a no-brainer to upgrade whenever there's a new release.

Reply to
Dale Dunn

It wouldn't. This has never been the issue. The issue is parts that

*don't* contain new features.

Jim S.

Reply to
Jim Sculley

"SBC" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:94QUb.10117$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr29.news.prodigy.com...

I would suggest another "option" for saving in prior versions.

First, one of the major headaches is if you opened one of your precious models in a newer version (for beta testing or out of curiousity) and hit the save button WITHOUT editing any feature or adding new ones. There could be a flag in the document saying "only converted to newer version" and then it should be easy to save it in that prior version.

Second, if SolidWorks can add a "feature version" index to any feature in a model or drawing then it should be possible to determine the "lowest" possible version which the document could be saved without loss.

With this two enhancement I think most of the documents could be saved in a previous version; for me, it would be okay that I can't save deform feature as SW2001 format, it wouldn't be possible at all.

Just my 2 cent ;-)

Stefan

Reply to
Stefan Berlitz

My 2 cent's worth.

Can it just be saved as a type of file that can be read by any version? Just don't use the new features ;-{ Autocad has .dwg for example. An easy way round this problem is to have two hard disk caddys, with 2003 on one and 2004 on the other. Thats what I do :-)

Reply to
Pete Newbie

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