Javelin / TriMech Author
Chris Briand, CSWE
SOLIDWORKS 2017 Streamlines Surface Trimming Workflow with Offset On Surface
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 5, 2016
Among the many new features in SOLIDWORKS 2017 are features that “Clean Up” or simplify the entire process of creating some types of models — the SOLIDWORKS Offset on Surface tool is one of these. Let’s see how this tool can be put to use. Take…
SOLIDWORKS 2017 Convert an existing Chamfer to a Fillet & back again!
By Chris Briand, CSWE on October 3, 2016
Using the “Offset Face” or “Face-Face” chamfer options within SOLIDWORKS 2017, grants us an additional ability! We can now swap back and forth between a fillet and a chamfer if needed! To do this right-click on either the “Offset Face” or “Face-Face” Chamfer. And select Convert…
How to prevent users from changing their SOLIDWORKS System Options
By Chris Briand, CSWE on September 25, 2016
In my previous article I mentioned that while creating an Administrative Image with SOLIDWORKS 2017, you now have the ability to manage and lock SOLIDWORKS System Options. Below are the detailed steps that will allow you to exert control over which SOLIDWORKS system options can be modified by users…
A bit of “Nitty-Gritty” on SOLIDWORKS 2017 3D Interconnect
By Chris Briand, CSWE on September 24, 2016
One of the key enhancements within SOLIDWORKS 2017 is how it handles CAD files from other Vendors. The 3D Interconnect module will allow you do more with CAD data from other systems like CATIA V5, Autodesk Inventor, Pro/Engineer and a host of other formats. Having…
CAD Administrators Rejoice! With SOLIDWORKS 2017 you now have ultimate power in your SOLIDWORKS Universe!
By Chris Briand, CSWE on September 23, 2016
The new SOLIDWORKS Setting Administration tool will give SOLIDWORKS 2017 CAD Administrators the ability to prevent users from changing their system options. FAIR WARNING: this is going to be the most inflammatory article that I will write this year… UPON READING THIS ARTICLE: YOU MAY…
SOLIDWORKS 2017 Controlling Decals by Display States
By Chris Briand, CSWE on September 15, 2016
SOLIDWORKS Decal Display State is new for SOLIDWORKS 2017. When placing a decal, there is now an additional section to the Decal PropertyManager that will allow you to choose the display state[s] the decal should be applied to. The results of this addition are better control…
SOLIDWORKS 2017 allows you to customize the order of your configurations
By Chris Briand, CSWE on September 13, 2016
I am certain that everyone who uses SOLIDWORKS configurations wishes they had the ability to control exactly how the configurations are sorted in the configuration manager. Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corporation has fulfilled our wish with new functionality in SOLIDWORKS 2017 giving us control over how the configurations are ordered/sorted. Setting the SOLIDWORKS Configuration…
How to bring back SOLIDWORKS Classic Icons & Colours
By Chris Briand, CSWE on May 12, 2016
For those that have been forced to undertake a change to your SOLIDWORKS User Interface in 2016, there is good news – The COLOURS ARE BACK! in SOLIDWORKS 2016 SP3. In order to return the Icons to their “Classic” colored styling, do the following: Navigate to…
Rename SOLIDWORKS Files directly from the FeatureManager Design Tree
By Chris Briand, CSWE on April 27, 2016
A favorite feature of ours that has come along in the 2016 release is an option that will allow us to rename SOLIDWORKS files directly from the FeatureManager design tree while SOLIDWORKS has the file open and loaded. Enable the ability to rename Before we are able to…
Get a list of all the parametric dimensions and variables in a SOLIDWORKS Part
By Chris Briand, CSWE on April 26, 2016
With users migration to SOLIDWORKS from so many other CAD systems, one of the…(Ahem..) “deficiencies” we hear about is the lack of a singular location to see a list of all of your SOLIDWORKS parametric dimensions and variables within a part. Sometimes a list like…
Use Equations to enhance your SOLIDWORKS Bill of Materials
By Chris Briand, CSWE on April 25, 2016
Columns in your SOLIDWORKS Bill of Materials (BOM) can be used for more than reporting model values, quantity counts and custom properties. One of the options is to add a SOLIDWORKS BOM Equation column to calculate and show a result based upon custom properties or other columns…
Setting the SOLIDWORKS history folder length
By Chris Briand, CSWE on April 22, 2016
For those users who are making regular use of the History folder, from the FeatureManager Design Tree, to access the features that you have most recently created or edited — did you know you could set the length of the list of features displayed? You can…
This particular snippet of information has slipped by me in the past few years, so I am certain that most folks are unaware that COSMOSM (GEOSTAR) is no longer available in the 2016 release of SOLIDWORKS. The retirement year for this dated product was 2015 with…
Unhide SOLIDWORKS components with a click
By Chris Briand, CSWE on April 20, 2016
If you thought that hiding components from your graphics area using the TAB key was a slick trick – SOLIDWORKS has once again improved on prior functionality in SOLIDWORKS 2016. All our keyboard Ninjas can rejoice! As we now have the ability to use key…
How to customize SOLIDWORKS Feature Manager Context Sensitive Popup Menus [VIDEO]
By Chris Briand, CSWE on April 19, 2016
With every release of SOLIDWORKS, we gain new methods of customizing the user interface to our specific needs. As a follow up to my earlier article on Customizing Context Sensitive Popup Menus within the Graphics Area. The following video will demonstrate how this customization works for…