All future blog posts from our fantastic team will be published on the GoEngineer blog. Be sure to check in often to see what crazy ideas we’ve come up with.

Thank you for reading the Computer Aided Technology blog. We’re excited about our future as GoEngineer!

3DEXPERIENCE 2023x Enhancements

The first question you’ll be asking me is “What’s New?” The most important thing to know is that this is the first release of 2023. With that, there aren’t a significant number of functional enhancements. Instead, the focus is mostly on updating the data model and preparing the Platform for future functional deliveries that Dassault will release throughout the year. That said, there are a few points I want to highlight. First, let me introduce you to the Connector for SOLIDWORKS Composer.

Connector for SOLIDWORKS Composer

My technical communication nerds are going to love this one. Now, the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform has a new role, creating an integration directly between SOLIDWORKS Composer and the Platform. The role, Technical Illustrator for Composer creates a 3DEXPERIENCE tab in your composer window. Now, you can open, save, and revise files while working in your native SOLIDWORKS Composer tool.

Routing Library Manager

Up to this point, the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform hasn’t really given you a great way to work with your routing library. Now, the SOLIDWORKS Routing Library Manager includes an option to Batch Save to 3DEXPERIENCE with your SOLIDWORKS connector. Now you can work in SOLIDWORKS Routing while ensuring your entire library is saved to the Platform.

SOLIDWORKS Design Library on 3DEXPERIENCE 2023x

Another enhancement that makes it easier to manage your data is the SOLIDWORKS Design Library in the Platform. Now, instead of just storing files loosely in 3DSpace, you can store your design library on the Platform and mark them as library items. This makes it easier to find later and ensures that everyone is working from the same set of files.

Is My SOLIDWORKS Still Compatible with 3DEXPERIENCE 2023x?

Maybe, but it depends. This is a major release (i.e. we’re bumping the year). Whenever we get a major release, the requirements for SOLIDWORKS change as well. What you need to remember is that SOLIDWORKS needs to be within 3 releases of the latest version. In this case, that means at least SOLIDWORKS 2021.

It is worth mentioning that this only applies to those SOLIDWORKS users with the Connector (UES). If your SOLIDWORKS is the Connected version and has the Platform built-in, you’ll see SOLIDWORKS update to 2023x as well.

Wrap Up

This being a major release means we don’t have as many functional upgrades as you might expect in a SOLIDWORKS major release. But you should think of this as setting the stage for future functional deliveries throughout 2023. Overall, this upgrade is primarily about data and making sure everything is compatible with 2023. There are still some features to get excited about, like Routing Library Manager, the connector for SOLIDWORKS Composer, and the design library integration.

Nick Sweeney
Applications Engineer
Computer Aided Technology

This message will appear because SOLIDWORKS License Service (Flexnet) cannot resolve the unique computer ID that is generated. It also may have just stopped running. This is a problem when you’re getting a license but it’s not the end of the world. In fact, it’s an easy fix. So, let’s get started.

How to Fix SOLIDWORKS Failing to Identify a Computer Identifier

The first thing you’ll need to do is to navigate to your Windows Services. Click the Microsoft Start button (lower lefthand corner), type “services” and click Services App.

Scroll down to FlexNet Licensing Service and FlexNet Licensing Service 64. You should notice under Status that neither is listed as running. FlexNet Licensing Service and FlexNet Licensing Service 64 are the tools SOLIDWORKS uses to handle all licensing tied to the product. If the services aren’t running, then we can see issues like “SOLIDWORKS failed to obtain a computer identifier”.

Right-click FlexNet Licensing Service and click start.

Do the same for FlexNet Licensing Service 64. Now, both should be running.

At this point, SOLIDWORKS should start without any issues. If you are still receiving errors, be sure to contact technical support so that we can get you sorted out.

I hope you find this helpful. Thanks for reading.

Have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving.

Roger Ruffin
Sr. Application Engineer
Computer Aided Technology

I bet we can! Let’s go ahead and give it a try!

For the first step, we create our nice 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper using the sheet metal Base Flange command. In this case, our sheet metal thickness is going to be 0.004” and our bend radius will be set at 0.005”.

Using Sketch Bends

The next step, just folding it in half, is easy. We do this by creating a Sketched Bend, using a line sketched on the top face. We will only bend it 90 degrees. This should let us focus on just one side of the airplane, for now.

This Sketch Bend command is going to be our main tool for this project. When you have a fixed size of material, our paper, the sketched lines indicate where the center of the folds will be. As we continue to add additional bends, we need to be cautious about the bends overlapping any existing bend geometry. We cannot have bends run into other bends. This is prevented by adjusting the location of the sketched lines that are defining the bends. We can add a small 0.03” dimension to keep it above the existing bend.

Next, we need to fold this section back over onto itself, just like the right half of this real paper plane.

Unfortunately, here is where we run into our first major roadblock. SOLIDWORKS is unable to bend both paper layers using any of the bend tools.

This means that we will need to model our plan differently than the way we “manufacture” it. We will just have to work backwards by modeling the paper airplane starting at a corner of the sheet of paper and working towards the center. Using an unfolded paper plane as my reference, we’ll get started….again.

Making a Paper Airplane in SOLIDWORKS… Backwards?

Let’s keep attacking it with the Sketched Bend feature, using it for every fold in our paper airplane. Some bends will be 90 degrees, and others will be a full fold at 180 degrees. This will allow us to account for the sections where the paper is doubled over.

Our first Sketched Bend command is the tiny corner fold of our sheet of paper.

The second Sketched Bend feature bends the existing folded geometry upwards a full 180 degrees.

We are off to a good start! This is working better than the initial attempt, so far!

Then, we will add a third Sketched Bend feature, bending it upwards at 90 degrees.

For the fourth Sketched Bend, we are folding this corner over again, this time it is a complete 180 degrees bend.

Continuing to work our way towards the center of the sheet of paper, we’ll use another Sketch bend.

Next, let’s add Sketched Bend number 6, another 90-degree fold. So far, it’s still looking good!

Sketched Bend number 7 folds it 180-degrees.

That was a glorious step! We now have half of our plane complete and It is looking great!

After applying the exact same Sketch Bend commands to the other side of the plane, we ended up with a great result!

This completes the design challenge and our plane looks ready for a test flight.

Thanks for reading and please suggest any other design challenges for us to have some more fun with.

Greg Buter
Application Engineer Manager
Computer Aided Technology

Below is a list of language operators and examples you can find as helpful aids on the platform. As an added benefit, I’ve included more thorough explanations of the situational examples provided. Hopefully, this further emphasizes best use cases so that you can be more efficient in your day-to-day.

Expression Rules Criteria

Feature:
A feature without any option refers to all options associated with this feature.
Example: [Color]
Explanation: We’ve previously established the feature ‘color’ as a variant for a Model Version. This Variant is the beginning piece of a Rule Expression.

Feature/Option:
A feature with an option is a valid expression.
Example: [Color] [Blue]
Explanation: We’ve previously established the feature ‘color’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘blue’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘color’ by arranging the expression in this order.

Feature/Several Options:
A feature followed by a list of options is equivalent to an OR in between all listed options.
Example: [Color] [Blue] [Green]
Explanation: We’ve previously established the feature ‘color’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the features ‘blue’ and ‘green’’s definitions, both Variant Values, as ‘color’s by arranging the expression in this order.

Standard Operators for Expression Rules

NOT: [NOT] expression1
An expression preceded by a NOT is the logical complement of this expression.
Example: [NOT] [Color] [Blue]
Explanation: We’ve previously established the feature ‘color’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘blue’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘color’ by arranging the expression in this order. Beginning this expression with the ‘NOT’ operator, we define this arrangement to be ‘false/not allowed’, for the associated Model Version.

AND: expression [AND] expression2
AND between two expressions express the logical conjunction of the two expressions.
Example: [Color] [Green] [AND] [City] [Paris]
Explanation: We’ve previously established the feature ‘color’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘green’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘color’ by arranging the expression in this order. Additionally, we establish the feature ‘City’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘Paris’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘City’ by arranging the expression in this order. Placing the operator ‘AND’ between these two expression segments links them ‘both’ in the same rule expression for the associated Model Version.

OR: expression1 [OR] expression2
OR between two expressions express the logical disjunction of the two expressions.
Example: [City] [London] [OR] [Country] [France]
Explanation: We’ve previously established the feature ‘city’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘London’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘City’ by arranging the expression in this order. Additionally, we establish the feature ‘Country’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘France’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘Country’ by arranging the expression in this order. Placing the operator ‘OR’ between these two expression segments links them as ‘one or the other’ in the same rule expression for the associated Model Version.

Conditional Requirement

IMPLY: expression1 [IMPLY] expression2
A conditional requirement – if (expression 1), then (expression 2) – uses the IMPLY operator.
Example: [City] [Paris] [IMPLY] [Country] [France]
Explanation: We’ve previously established the feature ‘city’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘Paris’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘City’ by arranging the expression in this order. Additionally, we establish the feature ‘Country’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘France’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘Country’ by arranging the expression in this order. Placing the operator ‘IMPY’ between these two expression segments links them as ‘one as well as the other/so long as’ in the same rule expression for the associated Model Version.

Co-dependency Statement

EQUIVALENT: expression1 [EQUIVALENT] expression2
Equivalent makes expression 1 and expression 2 have the same logical content.
Example: [Citizen] [French] [EQUIVALENT] [Country] [France]
Explanation: We’ve previously established the feature ‘citizen’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘French’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘Citizen’ by arranging the expression in this order. Additionally, we establish the feature ‘Country’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘France’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘Country’ by arranging the expression in this order. Placing the operator ‘EQUIVALENT’ between these two expression segments links them as ‘synonymous’ in the same rule expression for the associated Model Version.

Incompatible Statement

You may want to create two incompatible statements. You can do this with existing operators.
Example: [City] [London] [IMPLY] [NOT] [Country] [France]
Explanation: We’ve previously established the feature ‘city’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘London’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘City’ by arranging the expression in this order. Additionally, we establish the feature ‘Country’ as a variant for a Model Version. Here, we assign the feature ‘France’’s definition, a Variant Value, as a ‘Country’ by arranging the expression in this order. Placing the operators ‘IMPLY’ and ‘NOT’ between these two expression segments links them as ‘if so, then not allowed’ in the same rule expression for the associated Model Version.

Additional Examples
Example Scenario: Include a bottle holder whenever we release a bicycle in France.
Example Syntax: [Country] [France] [IMPLY] [Accessories] [Bottle Holder]

               Example Scenario: Exclude a GPS Unit for a bicycle whenever a customer selects 26-inch tires or a basket option.
Example Syntax: [Tire] [Wanda 26] [OR] [Accessories] [Basket] [IMPY] [NOT] [Accessories] [GPS]

Expressions that specify invalid scenarios will automatically prevent certain scenarios from being chosen when creating Configurations.

Wrap Up

By using logical expression rules in your Project Plan Portfolio, you can ensure consistent results across your team. This means everyone always follows the same rules every time. This also makes it easier to manage going forward, as you set these rules up front and become the standards going forward.

Gabriel Rodriguez
Application Engineer II
Computer Aided Technology

Design Binder Location

The Design Binder is located in the SOLIDWORKS Feature Tree. However, the default system settings actually hide it. To show the Design Binder go to System Options > Feature Manager > Design Binder > Show. And don’t forget to click OK to save the change!

Now that the Design Binder is set to show it will appear in the Feature Manager Design Tree.

Using the Design Binder

Notice the Design Binder has a dropdown option. By default, SOLIDWORKS automatically includes a Word document, the Design Journal. This is where you may document the progress of your model, assembly, or drawing. To use it  Right-Click > and go to Open.

A word document named Design Journal will open and you’re free to start taking notes or documenting your progress.

Now let’s add some simulation results to this model. To add other documents to the Design Binder you’ll right-click on the Design Binder >  Add Attachment. Of course, it doesn’t have to be simulation results. We could add any kind of report we want by following the same process.

This will bring up an Add Attachment dialogue box where you can now browse for the desired files. In the Add Attachment dialogue box, there is the option to Link your selected files. This means that if a change is made to that file outside of SOLIDWORKS, that change propagates to the embedded file. For example, if a design note gets edited or a page gets added to a report then those changes will be reflected in the embedded documents.

You can easily access the attached files by right-clicking on the document and selecting open. If you need to delete a document, simply follow the same workflow and select “delete”.

You don’t need to worry about where you’re saving the files. You can put them in any location and SOLIDWORKS can use nearly any file type.

The SOLIDWORKS Design Binder is a great way to group together notes, results, and tables, keep all gathered documents up to date and is great for a collaborative environment.

Sara Hollett
Application Engineer
Computer Aided Technology

Using Cosmetic Threads is a recommended best practice to represent threads in your models and minimize the impact on performance. They also let you easily annotate threads on a drawing. There are several ways to show them in SOLIDWORKS. They can be displayed on Toolbox fasteners; they can be shown on tapped holes created with the Hole Wizard feature; they can be manually applied using the Cosmetic Thread feature to any circular hole or boss; they can be generated when using the Stud Wizard feature.

But have you ever used one of these methods to create Cosmetic Threads and expected to see something like this?

Figure 1

And instead, you end up with this?

Figure 2

Or maybe even this?!

Figure 3

Display Them as Annotations

Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything wrong. Figure 2 shows, by definition, a Cosmetic Thread. Basically, it is an annotation that represents the minor diameter of a thread on a boss feature or the major diameter of a thread on a hole.

Showing the minor or major diameter of the thread is useful when annotating threads using a hole callout on a 2D drawing.

Figure 4

So what’s the secret to displaying the major and minor diameters of the threads or a graphical representation of the threads in the model? All you need to do is change their visibility. Since Cosmetic Threads are an annotation, you control their visibility through the Annotations folder in the FeatureManager Design Tree.

Right-click on the Annotations folder and select Details.

Figure 5

In the “Annotation Properties” turn on the two options shown below and click Apply, then OK. You can also control the visibility of other annotation types from here.

Figure 6

You will also need to make sure that you enable Display Annotations. Right-click the Annotations folder again and turn on Display Annotations.

Figure 7

You should now be able to see all of your Cosmetic Threads in your model! If not, you may need to perform a forced rebuild (CTRL+Q) to regenerate the graphics.

Figure 8

If you would like to have the Cosmetic Threads and Shaded Cosmetic Threads visible for all new parts, the Annotation settings discussed above can be set and saved in your part templates.

Brian Morris
SOLIDWORKS Elite Application Engineer
Computer Aided Technology

This will allow a user to continue their work in 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS when there is no internet connection available.

The OFFLINE MODE does need to be a “planned event” for a user, not an afterthought, meaning that you need to prepare for it ahead of time. If you suddenly find yourself without internet it is too late to switch to offline mode. This is the same as if you use a SolidNetwork (floating) License of SOLIDWORKS and want to check out a license because you are going to be away from the local license server.

The workflow for “going offline” would be to FIRST open any assemblies/files that you will need access to in SOLIDWORKS.  This will download copies of those files to your local cache directory on your machine so that you have the files when you are no longer connected to the cloud vault.

You would most likely also want to LOCK the files so that no one else can make changes to them while you are “gone”. Otherwise there would be a conflict of which file is the new(er) one when you come back if two different (unconnected) people were allowed to make changes. If you are not planning on physically changing any of the files in SOLIDWORKS while you are offline, then this step could be skipped.

THEN you would activate OFFLINE MODE from the top right of the SOLIDWORKS window by clicking on your log in picture.

There is a dialog box that reminds you about getting any files you may need into your local cache and locking them.

When OFFLINE MODE is active you will be reminded with a message that the maximum time you can go offline is 30 days, and there will be a “working offline” status indicator in the upper right corner.

Another difference in the interface is that instead of having a tab on your taskpane with the 3DEXPERIENCE compass icon you have a tab for “3DX Files On This PC” which is looking into your local cache folder.

You can now be offline for up to 30 days and continue working on and modifying any files that you have locally.  When you eventually reconnect to your cloud vault you will of course have the opportunity to save (or save with options) your changes back up to the cloud and take any necessary steps to overwrite files or make new revisions.

To reconnect to your 3DEXPERIENCE platform, you simply click on the “working offline” status indicator.  Which will give you the following dialog.

The “3DX Files On This PC” tab will change back over to the 3DEXPERIENCE compass icon and you will get access to the MY SESSION area of your cloud vault.

Super easy way to overcome a past obstacle of working with a cloud vault and cloud licensing model when you know you are going to be without an internet connection for a while!

This OFFLINE MODE functionality is also available for 3DEXPERIENCE DRAFTSIGHT.

Randy Simmons
Sr. Application Engineer, Strategic Solutions
Computer Aided Technology

With a sheet metal part open, let’s go thru the steps to creating a DXF or DWG file.

Right click any face of the sheet metal part and click Export to DXF/DWG. (Second from the bottom)

Click the Options button.

Select your version using the drop down and click Ok.

Save the DXF file in desired location. A property Manager will appear.

Click Sheet Metal radial button. Under Entities To Export, Geometry should be checked by default, select any other entities to bring over (Bend Lines, forming Tools…)

You can click on a vertex as the origin or establish your own x or y axis.

If you have one-part, Single file radial button is good. If you had a multi body part, you could separate them out by using Separate files.

Hit the green check mark.

The DXF/DWG Cleanup dialog box appears. At the top, you can zoom to fit, zoom to window zoom in/out, pan or previous view.

You can also remove entities by left mouse clicking it and deleting from your keyboard.

Click save and you’re good to go.

I hope you find this helpful. Thanks for reading.

Roger Ruffin
Sr. Application Engineer
Computer Aided Technology

If you already have SOLIDWORKS installed:

1. Open Control Panel (you can search “Control Panel” from your Start menu).
2. Go to “Programs and Features”.

3. Scroll down to “SOLIDWORKS 20XX SP0X” and select “change”.

4. The SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager will pop up. If you receive a warning about a pending Windows reboot, you can hit “ok” and continue through. Reboot when done installing.
5. Select “Modify your installation” and hit Next.

6. Your Serial Number should already be pre-filled on this page. You can leave everything as-is and hit Next.

7. On the Product Selection page, check “PDM Client” and hit Next.

8. On the Summary page, hit “Change” next to “SOLIDWORKS PDM Options”.

9. Make the following selections
   • PDM Professional or Standard (if unsure, you can safely select Professional, since this will work for clients with both Professional and Standard licenses)
   • Select the appropriate license level: Editor, Contributor, or Viewer.
     • If Editor is selected, be sure to select Add-ins for the software you have installed.
     • If you’re unsure, reach out to your administrator or select “CAD Editor” and confirm after, since license type can be changed easily later.

10. From the Summary page, accept the terms and select “Modify Now”.

11. After installing, a reboot is recommended to ensure the installation is allowed to complete fully. You should now have the PDM client installed on your workstation while retaining your original SOLIDWORKS client and any menu customization you may have made.

If you need SOLIDWORKS & PDM:

1. Navigate to http://customerportal.solidworks.com and log in with your account.

2. If you do not have an account, select Create a SOLIDWORKS ID and register using your serial number. Once logged in, select Downloads and Updates.

3. Select the year and service pack you wish to install, accept the agreement, and download the setup.

Note: This download is the setup file only so there will be additional downloading when installing the client.

4. Run “SolidWorksSetup.exe” & choose to Unzip.

5. When that finishes, the Installation Manager should start automatically. Select “Install on this computer” & hit Next. If you get a pop up stating a reboot is pending, feel free to ignore it and hit “ok” to continue.

6. If you previously installed SOLIDWORKS, your serial number should be pre-filled. If not, be sure to enter it in the box next to SOLIDWORKS. Expand and select any other design software you’d like to install on your machine here (like Visualize or Simulation – PDM comes later). Hit Next.

7. You will either be taken to a Product Selection page, or to the Summary page. If you get to the Summary page, select “Change” next to “Products”.

8. On the Product Selection page, check the “SOLIDWORKS PDM Client” box. When done, select “Back to Summary”

9. Select Change next to SOLIDWORKS PDM Options (you may need to scroll down).

10. Make the following selections:
    • PDM Professional or Standard (if unsure, you can safely select Professional, since this will work for clients with both Professional and Standard licenses)
    • Select the appropriate license level: Editor, Contributor, or Viewer.
      • If Editor is selected, be sure to select Add-ins for the software you have installed.
      • If you’re unsure, reach out to your administrator or select “CAD Editor” and confirm after, since license type can be changed easily later.

11. Finally, return to the Summary page and select Install Now. You may be prompted for a license server that should be entered in the format 25734@<server name>.
    1. If you’re unsure of your license server, reach out to your administrator.

Creating a Vault View:

1. Open your Windows Start menu, find the SOLIDWORKS PDM folder, and select View Setup.
2. Select Next > to bypass the Welcome screen.
3. In the next screen, your server name may show in the white window.
   • If it does, select it.
   • If it does not, select the Add button at the bottom of the menu to manually add it.
4. Once the server is added, check the box to the left of the server name and select Next >.

5. Check the box next to the vault you would like to add a vault view for and select Next >.
   1. If it is grayed out, try following the troubleshooting steps according to the error messages listed in this related article.
6. Set the file location. It is strongly recommended that all users put it in the root of the C or data drive.
7. Finally, select the option to create the view “For all users on this computer”, if available. Select Next > and then Finish.

Note: Only for me should only be selected if the user does not have administrative rights on their machine. It will become apparent if the vault view fails to complete. In this case, users must place the vault view in their Documents folder or a folder created on the C: drive and select the Only for me option.

Rowan Gray
PLM Support Team Lead
Computer Aided Technology