Is there anyway to open and edit 2007 files using 2006

Bad news dude...

restore your 2006 files from those eternal backups that you might have!

Once you take the leap of faith, there is no return.....

Man I wish I could charge $1.00 for every one that asks this question. I wouldn't have to work the rest of my life. Not only is it not possible it probably never will be. SW needs to put a big red banner when it installs a new version that any file saved in this version will not be able to be opened in any older version. People have to remember that SW is not or ever will be Autocad. If you look at any other parametric modeler, this is not possible in those either. Once you've saved in new version, old version wont open them.

If you are really desperate you could try saving the file in STEP, IGES=AE, SAT (ACIS=AE), VDA-FS, or Parasolid=AE format - then use featureworks to restore "some" intelligence to the dumb solid

Kev

j wrote:

The only way this will ever be possible with any parametric cad package is if they only make improvements to the gui interface, code optimaizations for speed, bug fixes, and just general interface improvements. Any time they add a new feature or geometry creation functionality the file will automatically not be backwards compatible. This is because the old version will not reconize this new math/data for this underlying feature process.

To some, this may not be a bad idea for a a version or two. I however, welcome improvements to feature creation and new functionality in general.

Don

Sorry, no cigar. And yet this should be possible.

Any new innovation (like electricity !) was 'Not possible' before it was done !!

The CUSTOMER / USER benefits of solidworks doing a 'save as' to an earlier are many...

1. Being able to work with all the clients/colleauges - who are on different versions of solidworks
2. If an new version is buggy (when is it not ?) then mission critial jobs can still get done on earlier versions.
3. Avoids the massive, one way, upheaval of moving up to next release.... and having to co-ordinate this with other companies who might share data.

Even if just the new features were dumb it would be Ok (new features are a very small % of new files). OK it would give solidwork coders some work, but NOT impossible. - There are also commercial forces in action here - of course solidworks would like us to comply with THEIR utopia of everybody upgrading to sp0 when it comes out, and as well as paying maintenance - and all being their beta testers.... just like THEIR utopia of everyone using solidworks !. Back in the real world, where real users work, there many cad systems (pro-e tho inventor etc.), many versions of solidworks, (I have colleauges who for various commercial reasons, work on swks 2004, 2005,

2006 & 2007)... .........AND is 2007 sp0 sp1 bug free ?? - good enough to use on mission critial jobs ... ??? (This question seems to be behind many discussions posted here).

Yep, I've currently working for clients who are using SWX '04, '05, '06 & 07 It would be great if I could just have the latest version loaded and "save As" the older versions instead of hving all 4 versions loaded on my PC.

Kev

Life > Any new innovation (like electricity !) was 'Not possible' before it > was done !!

Prior to Pro/E v18 or v19 (somewhere in there) it was possible to do backward compatibility with Pro/E by simply editing the part file (it was man readable). It can be done. Ever wonder why SW installable keeps getting bigger? Because SW will use the "old" way of generating geometry until a feature is recreated in the new version. So it would seem that one could pick an option in SW like "Work in 2006 or 2004" during a modeling session and SW would then generate a part in that version when saved. My guess is that this would be hardest to do in drawings, not parts.

wrote Any time they add a new

I don't think it's quite as clear cut as that. UG has been merging the I-DEAS and NX CAD programs for the last few years, and the migration process has been steadily improving so that there will (eventually) be no loss of associativity at all when migrating the data.

The relevance here is that at earlier releases, many of the part features would seamlessly migrate over, but some would not, for the reasons you have given above. What happens with those features is that they get converted to what SWX would call "imported" features. There's no reason why this couldn't be the way SWX saved files as an earlier version, but they choose not to in order to maximise revenue from maintenance contracts.

It's swiings and roundabouts - if they allowed saving as an earlier version, then unit maintenance costs would rise to compensate for that the fact that fewer people would be forced to upgrade.

John H

SolidWorks figured out how to make AutoCAD backwards compatible. Very useful. SolidWorks could make it happen if they wanted too! Like someone else mentioned, it is all about revenue.

Kman

I'll never understand how anyone can compare 2-dimensional "dumb" lines and arcs along with notes and text to the 3d parametric cad system.

And I suppose even if it could be done people really think this could be done at no extra develepment cost???? They have a hard enough time making a 2006 file work correctly with a 2006 version of SolidWorks. And now your asking a 2007 file to work correctly in 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003.... I see development time and manpower ballooing and we would probably expect this for free as well.

I just want my 07 file to work correctly with 07 Solidworks please. Thanks! Don

Is there was a module to do that, the price of it would probably be several times the cost of Solidworks itself.

Personally, I would gladly trade the last few years worth of new features for a bug free version.

Bill

So why do you think 2007 will be any different from all the past releases! Compatibility would be a huge savings in manpower and just think of the collaboration possible. Isn't that one of SW themes "collaboration" what a great word for sales and marketing types. I too would like 2007 to be relatively squeaky clean before jumping into the next release. Been waiting for event since 1999

Ever wonder how automotive and plane manufacturers manage to build high quality vehicles year after year, hundreds of thousands of parts and almost unimaginable collaboration and logistics. And no doubt using flawed software to boot. They must be gods.

Kman

There was a time when AutoCAD users clamored for backwards compatibility. Can you guess what some of the excuses were for why it couldn't be done.

Kman

There was also once upon a time when computers and software were much more simple in terms of program logic and system complexity. Remember the GREAT old days of DOS!!!! I seem to remember a famous quote from Bill Gates himself about "who would ever need more 640 kb of ram?????"

This seems laughable now when we begin to think about the complexity of systems and programming depth. It's actuall hard to believe how far it's come since the DOS days.

The same holds true with CAD software. The programming and complexity for the tools we have today I would believe compare even with any of todays operating systems. I truley believe we have entered an era where "backwards compatabilty" is an idea that has to be left behind in order to move forward with the advancing complexity we demand in future releases.

However, I don't mean to sound overly pessamistic.... ; ) Maybe one day they will prove me wrong and somehow develope a more robust and modularized coding/information structure that will provide for this type of backwards compatabilty. But unitl then... I can't name one 3D CAD package (even Autodesk's Inventor) that can save to a previous release..... dare to dream though!

nuff said. Don

This revenue excuse seems kinds of contradictive don't you think???? It would seem to me that there IS a big demand for this type of thing. This would be something that would draw in customers I would think... this would be the biggest thing a 3D CAD marketer has ever had in there selling engine. If this were simple and could be done, don't you think someone would have developed it by now?

I think it has been seriously looked in too. I just don't think it makes buisness sense economically for them. And I mean this in terms of the complexity and cost in order to make this become a reality.

Don

Good point - but it depends on how the question to customers is phrased ! (or they would just get the answers they want to hear - ie easy route/status quo).

It is a question of how many users will upgrade if they can remain on same release with backwards capability. Coaxing users to upgrade is how they make their profits. Selling a seat one time isn't how they generate the lion share of profits each year. So to answer your question, I don't think the "revenue excuse" is contradictive.

Kman

AutoCAD 2007 can save as previous versions 2007, 2004, 2000, and Release

14.