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VBA to rename sheets? DXF just flat pattern?

I'm considering SolidWorks as a replacement for my tired old Mechanical Desktop, and I have a question about two things I'd like to be able to do. Namely:

I anticipate my drawings having multiple sheets, possibly up to 60 sheets. Finding a part on a specific sheet would be difficult without some sort of reference. Could a VBA program be written that would rename each sheet to the name of the part that's on it (or something along those lines)? That would be a huge benefit to me.

I'll frequently need to send out DXF files of flat patterns. The flat pattern is always on the same sheet with the folded model. Is there a way to DXF out JUST the flat pattern? I don't need any other views, borders, notes, etc.--I want the pattern only so it can go right to the machine.

Any help with the above questions would be appreciated. Also, if any of you have dealt with situations like I describe, I'd like to know how you handle them. Thanks!

Brian

Reply to
Brian Mears
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Yes, SolidWorks VBA is rich in capabilities. Renaming sheets shouldn't be too difficult especially if you are already familiar with VBA. (In SolidWorks you can record a macro and use it as a basis for your VBA project) I know that someone here has already written an application to DXF flat patterns. They may be willing to share or you could work out some agreement. I don't think that SW handles multiple sheet drawings all that well though I think it bogs down especially if you get up to 60 sheets. We rarely use more that 2 or 3. I don't know if 2004 handles sheets better though.

Corey Scheich

Reply to
Corey Scheich

yes you can make a vba program to do this. but if your drawings are not changing often. id would say that making pdfs of your sheets would be faster.

i have a question for you. what kind of api does mechanical desktop provide. or better yet inventor.

Reply to
Sean Phillips

If I understand the second part of your question, we do this often, though we specifically put the flat pattern on a second sheet called FLAT (and sometimes title blocked like sheet 1b or 2 of 2, depending on the client's requirements). This allows us to do just what you suggest - dxf/dwg just the flat pattern for cnc.

- Eddy

Reply to
Eddy Hicks

Renaming a drawing sheet to have the same name as the model contained in its views would be easily accomplished through the API.

I have done several variations of programs to automate creation of DXF files for flat patterns with varying degrees of interaction from the user. In short, there is no problem in creating a DXF file from a single flat pattern view even if there are other views on the sheet. This could be as simple as a clipboard-type copy/paste of a selected view to a new blank 1:1 scale drawing. This could be done manually or automated (removing the annotations in any case might be worth making a macro for).

Regards, Brenda

----------------------------------------------- Brenda D. Bosley CustomSolids

Reply to
Brenda D. Bosley

If you parse the geometry out of the drawing view yourself, you dont have to worry out annotations or scale. The lines/arcs parse out to true size, there are no datum points/dims to worry about, and you have the option of including/excluding bend lines.

Reply to
rocheey

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