Part V: Creating Drawings 782 FIGURE 24.14 The Combine Same Tags option used with a Hole Table that includes a slot Using Revision Tables You can use Revision Tables in SolidWorks in conjunction with SolidWorks Workgroup PDM, but this integration goes beyond the scope of this book. The Revision Table uses a table anchor, which is used in exactly the same way as the BOM table. Revision Tables also use templates in the same way as the other table types, and it is recommended to move customized templates to a library location and specify the location in Tools ➪ Options ➪ File Locations. Figure 24.15 shows the Revision Table PropertyManager interface where you can create and con- trol the settings for the table. You can find the default settings for Revision Tables by choosing Tools ➪ Options ➪ Document Properties ➪ Drafting Standard ➪ Tables ➪ Revision. The settings are now contained in a single PropertyManager; a toolbar and a RMB menu were for- merly contained in five PropertyManager pages. The image in the upper left of Figure 24.15 is the PropertyManager interface that displays when you initially create the Revision Table. The upper-right image is the RMB menu for the Revision Table, and the bottom toolbar is the formatting toolbar that displays when you select the Revision Table. You can initiate the Revision Table function through the menus or the Tables toolbar. However, this function simply creates the table; it does not populate it. You must set the table anchor in the format in order for the Table Anchor to work. Additional columns may be added or formatted to accept other data. Once you have created the columns or formatting, you can save the changes to a template, which is also available through the RMB menu. You can add a revision to the table by right-clicking the table and choosing Revisions ➪ Add Revision. This includes control over whether the revision uses numerical or alphabetical revision levels, but does not provide for more complex revisioning schemes. Chapter 24: Working with Tables and Drawings 783 FIGURE 24.15 The Revision Table PropertyManager interface Immediately after you have created the revision, if the option is enabled, you are prompted to place a balloon that contains the revision level to identify what has been changed. To finish placing symbols, you can press Esc. When you are finished placing the balloons, you can fill in the description of the revision by double-clicking in the Description cell where you want to add text. Figure 24.16 shows a Revision Table with balloon symbols placed on the drawing. Revision Tables work by creating a Revision custom property in the drawing document, and by incrementing this revision each time a revision is added to the table. Additional columns linked to custom properties can be added to Revision Tables and Revision Table templates. Cross-Reference Gauge Tables and Bend Tables are specific to sheet metal parts and are covered in detail in Chapter 29. Weldment Cut Lists are a special type of table that closely resembles a BOM table in many ways. These are discussed in Chapter 31, which covers Weldments. n Part V: Creating Drawings 784 FIGURE 24.16 A Revision Table with balloon symbols Using General Tables General Tables can be used for any type of tabulated data. Column headers can be filled with either text labels or custom property links. Regular Excel OLE objects can also be used for the same pur- pose, and depending on the application, you may prefer this. The General Table uses the filename extension *.sldtbt. You can create it without a template, as a simple block of four empty cells, or you can use a template that has a set of pre-created headers. Using Tables in Models Proponents of solid modeling have been saying for years that 2D drawings are going to disappear. I’m not convinced. Paper drawings will continue to be useful until all old manufacturing methods are abandoned, and I don’t see that happening in my lifetime. People who use modern manufac- turing methods have already eliminated drawings, but it may never happen across the board. But because some companies rely on 2D and paper drawings less, the industry is developing new ways to create 2D-type documentation inside a 3D document. The ANSI Y14.41 standard is pri- marily about this transition. SolidWorks is responding to this type of requirement by adding features that enable you to docu- ment the 3D data. Placing BOMs in assembly files is one way of doing this. Placing 2D type data Chapter 24: Working with Tables and Drawings 785 into 3D model documents can reduce the need for paper or even electronic 2D documentation. Figure 24.17 shows a BOM inside an assembly model document. FIGURE 24.17 Displaying BOM data inside an assembly document It is a little tricky to get the relative scale correct between the table and the model. To do this, you have to adjust the zoom state of the model until it is fairly small within the screen, then place the table. After the table is placed, the assembly and the table zoom together. Most users get around this issue by viewing the table in a separate window. Another type of table that you can use within a 3D model document is the Title Block table. You can use Title Block tables inside parts and assemblies. You can use them in the drawing to fill in information about the part or assembly, while avoiding creating a full 2D drawing. Tutorial: Using BOMs Rather than having tutorials for every table type, this chapter has tutorials only for the BOM, Hole Table, and Revision Table. You can transfer the skills you use with these types to the other types. This tutorial guides you through the steps that are necessary to prepare an assembly for the draw- ing and BOM. Configurations and custom properties are used in this example. Remember that if a drawing view is cross-hatched and you cannot see the geometry, then you may have to press Ctrl+Q to rebuild it. Follow these steps: 1. Begin this tutorial with SolidWorks closed and Windows Explorer open. 2. If you have not already done so, create a folder for a library that is not in your SolidWorks installation folder. Call it D:\Library\ or something similar. Make a folder inside this folder called Drawing Templates. Copy the files from the CD-ROM named inch B.drwdot and inch B (no views).drwdot to this new folder. Part V: Creating Drawings 786 3. Launch SolidWorks and choose Tools ➪ Options ➪ File Locations ➪ Document Template. Click the Add button and add the new library path to the list. Shut down SolidWorks and restart it. 4. Open the assembly Chapter 24 – BOM Assy.sldasm from the CD-ROM. 5. Click the Make Drawing From Part/Assembly button, make a new drawing of the assembly from the drawing template in the folder created in Steps 2 and 3. 6. Delete the isometric view, and in its place make a new drawing view using the named model view “exploded.” If prompted to use true dimensions in an isometric view, click Accept. 7. Edit the sheet format. Right-click the sketch point at the location indicated in Figure24.18. In the popup menu that appears, select Set as Anchor and then select Billof Materials. 8. Exit Edit Sheet Format mode by selecting Edit Sheet from the RMB menu. 9. Select the new view and show it in the exploded state (right-click, Properties, Show in Exploded State). Then choose Insert ➪ Table ➪ Bill of Materials or click the Bill of Materials button in the Tables toolbar. Use the default selections, except in the panels shown in Figure 24.19. FIGURE 24.18 Setting the Table Anchor RMB on this point Chapter 24: Working with Tables and Drawings 787 FIGURE 24.19 Creating the Bill of Materials 10. Click inside the exploded view, but not on any part geometry, and then select the Autoballoon tool from the Annotations toolbar. Toggle through the available options to see whether any of the possible autoballoon configurations meets your needs. If not, use the standard Balloon tool to select the part and place the balloon. This gives you more control over the attachment points and placement of the balloons. 11. Change the balloon for the short pin to be a circular split-line balloon (do this by clicking the balloon and then switching the style in the PropertyManager). Notice that the quantity appears in the bottom of the balloon. The drawing view and the BOM should now look like Figure 24.20. Add a second leader to the balloon for the short pin by Ctrl-dragging the attachment point for the first leader from one pin to the other. 12. Notice that several of the parts use a default description of “description.” Edit each of these parts by right-clicking the part’s row in the BOM table and selecting Open <file- name> from the menu. Change the Description custom property in each part. Keep in mind that this may be handled differently for configured parts. 13. The Bracket part is listed twice using the configuration name because of the way the configurations are set up for the parts. To list the bracket only once using the filename, open the bracket, RMB+click one of the configuration names in the ConfigurationManager, and select Properties. In the Bill of Materials Options panel, select Document Name from the drop-down list. Do this for the other configuration, as well. Notice also that the Description field holds the configuration-specific custom property for Description, which is used in the BOM. Part V: Creating Drawings 788 FIGURE 24.20 The drawing view and the BOM after Step 11 14. Toggle back to the drawing (pressing Ctrl+Tab), select anywhere on the BOM table, and then select Table Properties from the PropertyManager. Expand the Part Configuration Grouping panel, and select the Display all configurations of the same part as one item option. This changes how the bracket displays, as well as the pins. 15. Now add a column to the BOM that calls on an existing custom property that is already in all the parts. Place the cursor over the last column on the right and RMB+click it. Choose Insert ➪ Column Right. This places a new column to the right of the last one and displays a pop-up menu that enables you to set the column to be driven by a custom property , as shown in Figure 24.21. 16. In the first drop-down selection box, select the Weight custom property. Click the green check mark icon to accept the changes. If the popup menu disappears and you need to get it back, double-click the column header, and it will reappear. 17. You can save the BOM with the additional column as a BOM template by right-click- ing anywhere in the BOM and selecting Save As. You can then set the type to a BOM template and the directory to the library location for BOM templates. Chapter 24: Working with Tables and Drawings 789 FIGURE 24.21 Adding a column to the BOM If you would like to compare your results against mine, the finished drawing is called Chapter 24 – BOM Tutorial Finished.slddrw. Tutorial: Using Hole Tables This tutorial guides you through creating and using setting changes that are common in SolidWorks Hole Tables. Follow these steps: 1. Create a new drawing from the inch B (no views).drwdot template. If you have not done the BOM tutorial, then move the drawing template named inchB.drwdot from the Chapter 24 materials on the CD-ROM to your library location for drawing templates. Then create the drawing from the template. 2. Click the Model View button on the Drawings toolbar, and browse to the part named Chapter 24 - Hole Table Part.sldprt. 3. Place a Front view and project a Left view and an isometric view. Then press Esc to quit the command. Finally, delete the four pre-defined views. 4. There is not an anchor in this template for a Hole Table. If you would like to create one, this would be a good time to do so. Follow the steps in the BOM tutorial for specify- ing the anchor point. 5. Click the Hole Table button in the Tables toolbar. Figure 24.22 shows a section of theHole Table PropertyManager with the selections that you need to make for this Hole Table. 6. Once you have completed the selections, click the Next View button at the bottom of the PropertyManager, and make similar selections in the Left view. The holes for both views are added to a single Hole Table. Part V: Creating Drawings 790 FIGURE 24.22 The Hole Table PropertyManager and selections Select this vertex to go into the Origin box Select these two faces to go into the Edges/Faces box 7. The table is created using the default settings established in Tools ➪ Options ➪ Document Properties ➪ Tables, but you can change them here for this specific table. Click anywhere in the table, and then select Table Properties at the bottom of the PropertyManager. Changing from numerical to alphabetical assigns a letter to each hole type and a number to each instance of the type. Make this change and update the table. Figure 24.23 shows the table before and after the changes. FIGURE 24.23 Using numerical and alphabetical hole tag identification [...]... of the SolidWorks software It is never productive to try to use SolidWorks as if it were AutoCAD If you are making the transition, you will be much further ahead if you just embrace SolidWorks for what it is, and accept that it does not work like AutoCAD You will be even further ahead if you do not assume that AutoCAD functionality is universal Controlling Layers Layers are only available in SolidWorks. .. SolidWorks and enables you to do almost anything you can do with basic AutoCAD It also has the advantage of having a familiar interface for the AutoCAD user DWG editor is available from the Start menu, by choosing Programs ➪ SolidWorks ➪ DWGeditor If you need to integrate data from the imported document into a native SolidWorks drawing, you can open the DWG file from the normal Open dialog box in SolidWorks. .. views 8 Repeat Step 7 for all the components, assigning each component to its own layer Notice how this makes the parts easier to identify Note Alternatively, you could simply change the line style and thickness for each component This saves you creating the layers, but you lose the color settings The way SolidWorks handles line thickness and thickness values has changed significantly in SolidWorks 2010. .. assignments in the Print dialog are still the old format n 80 1 Part V: Creating Drawings FIGURE 25.7 The Component Line Font dialog box 9 Open the Component Line Font dialog box for the Bracket part again This time, set the Line thickness to 0.0 787 , and click OK You may have to rebuild the drawing to show the change (Ctrl+B or Ctrl+Q) Figure 25 .8 shows a detail of the corners that are created by the thick... edges and right-click when you are done Summary While SolidWorks is not primarily built around the strength of its 2D drawing functionality, it offers more capabilities than most users take advantage of Layers in SolidWorks offer adequate functionality, but could be improved by some automation to put parts on layers automatically; this would enable SolidWorks to show the parts in wireframe with the same... potential of SolidWorks and is as much for reference geometry as it is for complex shape creation Master Model techniques enable you to drive several parts from a single part without using in-context assemblies IN THIS PART Chapter 26 Modeling Multi-bodies Chapter 27 Working with Surfaces Chapter 28 Employing Master Model Techniques CHAPTER Modeling Multi-bodies Y ou get multiple bodies in SolidWorks. .. fasteners and purchased inseparable subassemblies l When SolidWorks weldments result in a single multi-body part 80 9 Part VI: Using Advanced Techniques l When features require tool bodies, such as the Indent feature l When the Mold Tools result in a single multi-body part representing the plastic part and the major mold components If you are administering a SolidWorks installation of multiple users, then you... printing should be really difficult When former AutoCAD users make the switch to SolidWorks, the questions start: Where is the Command Line? How do I put parts on layers? How do I change the background color to black? And my personal favorite, Where is the zero-radius trim? This chapter addresses AutoCAD-like functions in the SolidWorks drawing environment The goal is not to make the functions look or... panel If it is already set to High Quality, then there will be no other view option; if it is not, then there will be an option that is set to Draft Quality.) 80 2 Chapter 25: Using Layers, Line Fonts, and Colors The image to the left in Figure 25 .8 is the old setting with the draft quality view, and the image to the right is the new setting with the high quality view 11 In the Component Line Font dialog... only the color and visibility settings Components on layers Assembly drawings probably suffer the most from the monochromatic nature of most SolidWorks drawings because individual components can be difficult to identify when everything is the same color This is why SolidWorks users typically color parts in the shaded model assembly window It only makes sense that they would want to do the same thing on . Drawings 782 FIGURE 24.14 The Combine Same Tags option used with a Hole Table that includes a slot Using Revision Tables You can use Revision Tables in SolidWorks in conjunction with SolidWorks. Creating Drawings 786 3. Launch SolidWorks and choose Tools ➪ Options ➪ File Locations ➪ Document Template. Click the Add button and add the new library path to the list. Shut down SolidWorks and. Programs ➪ SolidWorks ➪ DWGeditor. If you need to integrate data from the imported document into a native SolidWorks drawing, you can open the DWG file from the normal Open dialog box in SolidWorks. Tip If