solidedge discussion group

if there was would we tell you...traitor !

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Without getting into the differences, the smiley face kind of indicates that they are a good thing. Last time I played with it, it was very proceedural. It required a rote memorized series of rigid steps to do even the simplest thing. Many more clicks than SW.

Regards

Mark

Might I ask why your company switched to Solid Edge? I know it wasn't because of price.

I just viewed a Solid Edge demo yesterday. This was strictly information only, we are not planning on switching from SolidWorks. It had some pretty nice features, Dynamic Editing, Sensors, Dimension Tracking, Create DXF from model, some nice BOM features SW doesnt have, and drawing are actually 2D lines instead of a projection of the model (big performance gain on large assy, SW do this!!! ).

Overall, it looked like a good program. I haven't had any hands-on experience with it yet, so I cant say how easy it is to use. The guy running the demo was pretty knowledgeable. His answer to why SolidWorks had sold more licenses is because they are a marketing machine. Another nice thing with Solid Edge is customer service support. You can call them directly, instead of dealing with a VAR.

I would be interested in the same question Ken asked above, why did your company switch?

Can you elaborate on their explanation? Just curious. I don't know a thing about it but would guess that any drawing view creation routine would involve creating silhouette projections of the model(s) and z testing to determine visibility. The speed with which that's done (efficient algorithms) defines performance.

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Yeah, well..... Interest on the vendor's part in a given market segment might be more like it. Those lines seem to get fuzzier as mid range cad matures (closer to high end functionality), more start-ups enter the competition, different market segments saturate, yadadada. (My gaseous emissions on the subject.)

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Did they demo, or even mention, NX interop capabilities? Associative communication (geometry entity ID based vs feature based, I think) seems to be getting a couple of developers' attention. Curious what might come of it.

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Regarding 2D lines instead of projection of the model. Think of a SolidWorks drawing as a piece of glass. The when creating a model view on the drawing, the model is actually behind the "glass". With Solid Edge, he said it actually converts all of the models edges to lines, therefore you dont have to have the model open (behind the glass) when editing the drawing. SolidWorks has something like this called "Detach Drawings", but I find it VERY slow to convert back and fourth (from std dwg to detached and vice versa). Once the drawing is in detach mode, its faster to work with. This is mainly used for large assy drawings.

I didnt actually get to see them make a large assy drawing, so I dont know first hand how fast/slow it is.

Next topic, they did talk about how well Solid Edge handles UG files. Im not sure what NX interop is, another file format? They did show us the way their feature tree is, and it does look alot different than SolidWorks. It seems like it doesnt matter what order you do things in, whereas SolidWorks is picky about this sometimes.

Interesting. Thanks.

The interop(erability) is supposed to be a degree of associative bi-directional communication between the two systems; geometry and attributes (not feature for feature). Supposedly allows modification on one end or the other without loss of dependancies when the models are refreshed. I've seen a little lit on it, but would be interesting to hear more about the actual workings.

Hmmm, Maybe the decision makers in your company that chose SE over SW would know the answer to this question. If not, try contacting your SE representative and ask them.

Kman

Supported SE Users can access any of 11 newsgroups specifically for Solid Edge, using their Webkey account. Your VAR should have given your CAD administrator these details - if not, ask him.

You will find a wealth of information from SE users around the world (many of whom have switched from other systems) and I can guarantee that the transition to Solid Edge will be eased by sharing their knowledge!

if you have any difficulty accessing these newsgroups, you are welcome to contact me directly (look _AT_ my address ...)

Rick Mason Sydney, Australia

The following opinions are my own and in no way reflect my company...

Actually I *far* prefer SolidWorks over SolidEdge. I won't go into the numerous reasons why because I don't want to cause any waves but that's my opinon.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll get hooked up with the SE groups. I still "sneak" in SW whenever I really want to get something done fast though so I'll be lurking here for as long as I can :)

Joa

Joa,

It's pretty natural to have a preference for the software with which you are familiar & on which you have been trained & spent (probably) several thousand hours. Our emphasis has always been on robust modeling (ie tolerant of change) and our approach to using SE is a little different to the 'textbook' examples - best advice I can offer is to hook up with ex- perienced users who have been trained well, and see how they go about structuring their models & creating their documentation.

Don't be shy to offer constructive criticism - there are always things that can be done better, and input from experienced users of other systems is beneficial in the development process. Pro/E (up to 2000i) was the only CAD s/w I've used with which I haven't had a love/hate relationship.

Rick.

First there is awkwardness... You are learning a new applications and the commands have different names and workflows, and the buttons are in different locations. Second there is awakening... You realize that this new application isn't bad at all, and you notice that some things that are better than what you had used before. Third there is denial... You forget the stuff you didn't like in your old application and only remember the good stuff. Lastly there is calmness... You have now forgotten that old application and now only focus on the new application.

You still haven't said why your company has discarded Solid Works and replaced it with Solid Edge.

Yeah, ProE was the only CAD s/w I've used with which I haven't had a love/hate relationship too. I had only a HATE relationship with it! (Referring to Wildfire). ; )

- got it in one!

Rick.