Using the SolidWorks CAD Admin Dashboard to track, review and troubleshoot machines– Part 1

Welcome back to our second deep dive blog series. If you missed the first series, be sure to go back and check out "How to configure SolidWorks Toolbox and Hole Wizard". Today we are going to take a closer look at the CAD ADMIN DASHBOARD and how this can be used to track, review, and troubleshoot machines in your organization that have SolidWorks installed.

This series will breakdown:

• What is the CAD ADMIN DASHBOARD


• How do you organize this data and what is available from the system options


• How to use the Dashboard to view crash data


• How to run the SolidWorks benchmark and what does this tell us

What is the CAD ADMIN DASHBOARD?

The dashboard is a web based portal that allows a user that is currently on subscription services to monitor the performance, hardware status, and changes to SolidWorks System Options for each machine in their organization.

To access the CAD ADMIN DASHBOARD, log into the SolidWorks Customer Portal:

https://customerportal.solidworks.com

Once you are inside of the SolidWorks Customer Portal, you will find a link to the CAD ADMIN DASHBOARD in 2 locations. One is under the Quick Links on the left hand side of the page, and the other link is under References.

Here is what the Dashboard will look like:

How does the CAD ADMIN DASHBOARD get its data?

The dashboard gets its information from 2 sources. First, Hardware and System Options get loaded each time SolidWorks is launched. The data collecting and sending is a separate process from the startup process so there is NO impact on the startup time for SolidWorks. Second, information is pulled from the performance logs to provide per session data. There are 3 ways the performance logs are collected. These are uploaded once a week, sent once the file reaches 100kb, or when you crash.

***Note: Performance logging does not impact SolidWorks performance. The program is recording this data regardless if you send the data or not!

What can I do if the DASHBOARD is not showing my data?

The first thing you need to do is verify that you have enabled the Customer Experience Improvement option. This option is available at the end of every installation, in the SolidWorks Admin Options Editor, or inside the SolidWorks System Option.

If you are still not seeing the data:

The session data may take up to 48 hours to post.

Contact your VAR tech support to start an SR with customer center.

Please check back to the CATI Blog as the Dedicated Support Team will continue posting our series of articles that goes further into the details of each section of Using the SolidWorks CAD Admin Dashboard to track, review and troubleshoot machines. All of these articles will be stored in the category of Daily Dose.....of SolidWorks Support and links to each article with their release date are listed below:

• Using the SolidWorks CAD Admin Dashboard to track, review and troubleshoot machines - Part1 (Bryan Pawlak 1/21/14)


• Using the SolidWorks CAD Admin Dashboard to track, review and troubleshoot machines – Part2 (John Van Engen 1/22/14)


• Using the SolidWorks CAD Admin Dashboard to track, review and troubleshoot machines – Part3 (Blake Cokinis 1/23/14)


• Using the SolidWorks CAD Admin Dashboard to track, review and troubleshoot machines – Part4 (Neil Bucalo 1/27/14)

-Bryan Pawlak, CSWE
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

Where did that command go?

Have you taken time to discover the hidden gem call “search commands”?  This has been a very helpful
tool for anyone just learning SolidWorks, or for the veteran that just wants to know where they moved my tool.   The “Search Command” allows you to find and run commands in the user interface.

• Results are filtered as you type each keystroke.

• Run the command from the search window.  SolidWorks will remember the commands you use
  and place them at the top of the search list the next time you search.

• Shortcuts allow you to assign keystroke sequences to the regularly use commands.

Start typing a search query in the SolidWorks Search box. 

Do one or more of the following:

• To locate a command in the SolidWorks user interface, hover over the command in the results list and click Show Me .

•  To run a command, click the command, or highlight the command and press Enter.

•  If a command cannot run, it is unavailable in the results list and appears lower in the list. For
  example, many commands cannot run unless a document is open.

•  To add a command to a toolbar, drag the command from the results list and drop it on the toolbar.

 

Hope this helps you find your way around the interface!

Bryan Pawlak
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

 

DriveWorks World 2013

DriveWorks World 2013 will be held at the Marriott Chicago O’Hare hotel. It will introduce you to the latest DriveWorks software release - DriveWorks 10 and include instructor-led training sessions on DriveWorks Solo and DriveWorks Pro.

Date and Registration:
March 4-8, 2013
>>Registration and Agenda Link

All attendees will have the opportunity to attain their DriveWorks Certifications.

Reasons to attend

• Find out What's New in DriveWorks 10


• Influence future releases


• Network with other DriveWorks Users


• Gain Tips and Tricks from the DriveWorks Team 
  (Developers, Technical Experts and Owners)


• Become a DriveWorks Solo and/or DriveWorks Pro Certified Professional

DriveWorks World is for all DriveWorks Value Added Resellers and Customers with a valid Subscription Support contract. For more information, just log into:

The DriveWorks Reseller Community

The DriveWorks User Community

Check out these posts to see the great feedback from our last training and certification event held in June: DriveWorks World 2012

Round your corners for a better render

PhotoView 360 uses simple drag and drop methods to create very realistic renderings with very little work.  There are many settings that can be tweaked to create just the right image.   A new setting that I found in 2013 is setting an appearance to round corners.

One trick to making your rendering more realistic is to round all sharp corners.  This only needs to be a thousandth or two.  Traditionally this had to be done using fillet, but the downside of this was the performance.  Having many small fillets will really slow down your performance.

This example shows how this setting is applied to a cube.  You can see that the large fillets do not produce a real high quality round, but I wanted to exaggerate the fillet so you could tell how effective when you are only trying to round off a thousandth or two.

The appearance will not eliminate your need for fillets.  To get a cleaner render, use fillet for larger radii.  Below is the same model rendered with true filets.

Hope this little setting helps you create better renderings.

Bryan Pawlak,

CATI

Get 3DVia Composer 2013X just in time for the Holidays!!!!

Well if all things go right, Solidworks is telling us that 3DVia composer 2013X will be released on December 10, and it looks like there will be some great enhancements for us.

Here are just a couple of the enhancements that top the list:

1.  Multiple web browser support.  This means that we will no longer be limited when publishing our data to the web.   Supported broswers are Internet Explorer and FireFox, and limited support of Chrome and Safari.

2.  3DVia now has a standard library of tools with flexible configurations that can be added into our assemblies.  No more digging thru the garage or basement to find the missing wrench.  This library will contain screw drivers, wrenches, and a flexible hand so we do not have to spend time modeling or searching for these models.

3.  3DVia will now have predefined import options for each CAD package to ensure consistant accurate data translation.  There will still be an option for customers to customize these settings.  This will be a great option to eliminate the guess work.

I look forward to this new release.  It looks like this should give us some great tools to make our documentation process even easier!

 

 

How to Use the New Orientation Dialog Box in SolidWorks 2013

Do you find yourself constantly changing views until you finally find the correct view that you wanted? Well, the Orientation dialog box received a nice new face lift for SolidWorks 2013 that you will find very useful. Simply press the spacebar or to bring up the Orientation dialog box, (or click the View Orientation button in the Heads-up View toolbar and click More Options, or pull down the View menu and pick Modify - Orientation.)

    

The new Orientation dialog box for SolidWorks 2013 now shares the same buttons for standard views as the Heads-up View toolbar. Another cool new feature in the Orientation dialog box is the View Selector.

The View Selector gives a very nice visual way to see the model views. If you have trouble visualizing what the right, left, front, back, top, or isometric views of your model will look like, this tool is a great enhancement for you. Click the View Selector button or press Ctrl + Spacebar to bring it up.

It is very simple to use. Simply highlight what view you want, either from the View Selector 3D box or even from the Orientation dialog box. If you hover over the button in the dialog box, a preview of that view appears and the corresponding faces dynamically highlight in the View Selector. When you select o view, the Orientation dialog box closes (unless it is pinned) and the model rotates to that view.

Another enhancement to the Orientation dialog box has to do with saving custom views. You can now create custom views and save them to SolidWorks, which allows you to reuse these saved views in different documents. after rotating you model to the desired view, click New View. Give the view a name and click OK.

    

The new named view now appears in the Orientation dialog box. This allows you to toggle between any of the standard views and this new custom view. This is not new to SolidWorks 2013. What is new is that next to this new named view is a Save View to SolidWorks button.

When you click Save View to SolidWorks, a globe icon appears in front of your named view. This indicates that it is now a global view that is now available in other SolidWorks documents. Simply open a different document. Click Saved Views in the Orientation dialog box and click the saved view(s) of your choice. One thing to note is that if you only click the check box, and not the view name itself, the named view is added to to the list of saved views, but the model does not actually rotate to the selected view.

Try it out yourself and see if the new Orientation dialog box, the View Selector, and Save View to SolidWorks will help improve your workflow. SolidWorks 2013 has many great enhancements that will continue to help improve the productivity of SolidWorks users around the world.

Neil Bucalo
Technical Analyst

Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

How to Open SolidWorks 2013 Files in SolidWorks 2012 SP5

Throughout the years, almost all of our customers have asked at one time or another, "Can I open files from the newest version of SolidWorks into a previous version?" The answer has always been, "No. The latest version of SolidWorks uses newer technology that is not compatible with the older technology of previous versions of SolidWorks." As a result, customers have had to be careful when they upgrade to make sure that they stay compatible with their customers, suppliers, and internal teams. Well, the most asked for enhancement is finally here!

Starting with SolidWorks 2013, SolidWorks files are backwards compatible! With previous release interoperability, you can collaborate using a mix of SolidWorks 2013 and SolidWorks 2012 (SP5). Files can be opened directly and associativity is maintained. That's right. You do not have to export and import files!

HOWEVER... You Always Have to Read the Fine Print

Future version files appear in read-only mode when opened in the previous release. However, once you upgrade to the next version of SolidWorks, all the FeatureManager design tree data is available. SolidWorks 2013 files have reduced functionality in SolidWorks 2012 Service Pack 5. SolidWorks 2013 files will not have most FeatureManager design tree data when opened in SolidWorks 2012 Service Pack 5. Any actions that require FeatureManager design tree data cannot be performed with a SolidWorks 2013 document open in SolidWorks 2012 Service Pack 5.

You can open SolidWorks 2013 parts and assemblies using SolidWorks 2012 Service Pack 5. Although this is a great step forward, there are some limitations to be aware of. Starting with SolidWorks 2012 SP5, you will be able to open a future version file. This will be the same for future releases as well. For example, you will be able to open SolidWorks 2014 files in SolidWorks 2013 Service Pack 5. But... Backwards compatibility is only supported between consecutive releases. So, you will not be able to a SolidWorks 2014 file in SolidWorks 2012 SP5.

Further, here are some things that YOU CAN and CANNOT do in SolidWorks 2012 SP5:

1. Once a SolidWorks 2013 part or assembly file is open in SolidWorks 2012 SP5, YOU CAN view configurations, use the Measure tool, view Mass Properties and Custom Properties, and view Materials. YOU CANNOT edit the SolidWorks 2013 part or assembly in SolidWorks 2012.

2. YOU CAN work with SolidWorks 2013 parts and subassemblies in a SolidWorks 2012 assembly. YOU CANNOT edit mates or components in the SolidWorks 2013 subassembly.

But, in a SolidWorks 2012 assembly, YOU CAN:

• Mate the SolidWorks 2013 component or subassembly to SolidWorks 2012 or SolidWorks 2013 components.

• Add a Bill of Materials that includes SolidWorks 2012 and SolidWorks 2013 components.

• Suppress and unsuppress SolidWorks 2013 components.

• Create a drawing of the SolidWorks 2012 assembly that includes both SolidWorks 2012 and SolidWorks 2013 components.

• Use interference detection when mating SolidWorks 2013 and SolidWorks 2012 parts.

• Mirror and pattern components from SolidWorks 2013.

• See and reference default planes and origins of the SolidWorks 2013 part or subassembly.

There are new options in SolidWorks 2013 for part and assembly models that contain configurations. Because of these new options, you must rebuild and save data for each configuration that you want to be available in SolidWorks 2012 SP5.

3. YOU CANNOT open SolidWorks 2013 drawings in SolidWorks 2012 SP5.

YOU CAN create drawings of SolidWorks 2013 parts and assemblies in SolidWorks 2012 with some limitations. YOU CANNOT insert model items or access FeatureManager design tree data such as weldment cut lists and weld beads.

In conclusion, SolidWorks has tried very hard to provide the functionality that its customers request. SolidWorks 2013 does allow backwards compatibility with SolidWorks 2012. Because this new feature certainly has its limitations, it is still going to be up to the individual user and company to decide when the best time to upgrade is. Hopefully, though, this will help everyone decide to upgrade much sooner and take advantage of the latest and greatest version of SolidWorks.

Neil Bucalo

Technical Analyst

Computer Aided Technology, Inc.