eDrawings Support for More Non-SOLIDWORKS Files

First, the most significant update is to eDrawings’s support for non-SOLIDWORKS file types, which has not changed since 2019. Users will take advantage of updates to supported versions of ACIS, Inventor, CATIA V4, CATIA V5, CATIA V6/3DEXPERIENCE, Creo, JT, NX, Parasolid, Solid Edge, and STEP files.

After all, what good is a file viewer if the only files it can open are from the pre-pandemic era?

Display Model Measurements as Fractions in eDrawings 2023

Second, there may be occasions where you need to display model measurements as fractions. That is now possible with eDrawings 2023.

Simply open the Measure pane and under Units, choose ‘Inches’ or ‘Feet and Inches’ and then select ‘Display in Fractions’. Finish it out by entering the desired denominator for the fraction.

You also have the option to Round to the next highest fraction if the measurement does not have an exact fractional value for the specified denominator. This option will save time and reduce errors in converting measurements to fractions.

Wireframe AND Hidden Lines Visible

The third update for 2023 brings an update to Display Styles. Wireframe is now truly an option, along with Hidden Lines Visible.

In 2022, Hidden Lines Removed was incorrectly labeled “Wireframe”, and that has now been corrected.

Enhanced Language Support for Web-Based eDrawing Files

The fourth and final enhancement to 2023, and specific to eDrawings Professional, is the update to Save As Web HTML. This functionality was introduced in 2019 and is a super-easy way to create an HTML-based version of your eDrawings file.

In 2023, after opening the HTML file, there are multiple options for displaying the user interface in a localized language.

This is great! Sharing our files with users that speak a different language just got easier!

Whether it’s updates to the file types that eDrawings can open, measuring in fractions, updated Display Styles or multiple language options in HTML, eDrawings 2023 provides several enhancements that will ensure accuracy and make you more productive.

I hope this part of the What’s New series gives you a better understanding of the new features and functions of SOLIDWORKS 2023. Please check back to the CATI Blog as the CATI Application Engineers will continue to break down many of the new items in SOLIDWORKS 2023. All these articles will be stored in the category of “SOLIDWORKS What’s New.”

Chris Snider
Sr. Director, Software Solutions
Computer Aided Technology

What is Design Innovation Month?

DESIGN INNOVATION MONTH 2022 – Live Events, Webinars, Virtual Showroom, Contests

Design Innovation Month is CATI’s “What’s New in 2023” event for SOLIDWORKS, 3DEXPERIENCE, and 3D Printing & 3D Scanning technology. This year we’re going back to the future to bring you in-person events, live and on-demand webinars, demonstrations, in-depth blog posts, and prizes! Best of all, it’s free of charge! Check the DI Month Hub for all the details and to sign up for your nearest live event.

If you’re unfamiliar with the GD&T tool in SOLIDWORKS Drawings, here is an image of the tool and the resulting annotation:

Here is what the icon for the tool looks like (it hasn’t changed)

Here is what the tool looks like in SOLIDWORKS 2021 and prior.

If you build the block using these symbols the annotation will look like this: . The process for building the block has been restrictive and not very intuitive until now.

Now for SOLIDWORKS 2022 the user interface has been completely redesigned to make it much easier to create the most accurate GD&T blocks for your communication to fabricators and quality control.  It starts with a simple block and some symbols that can be added by clicking. I will duplicate the previous block.

Once I add a symbol the next information appears and I can add another symbol, change the tolerance, or add a datum. Here I have added a diameter symbol and changed the tolerance to 0.02.

I will now add a Material Condition:

There are two ways to add a datum, use the plus sign on the right of the block. or use the “Add Datum” button.

Each plus sign will give a different option to add to the block.

The GD&T symbol will still attach to a dimension, or if the dimension is preselected the block will be automatically attached to it.

I hope this part of the What’s New series gives you a better understanding of the new features and functions of SOLIDWORKS 2022. Please check back to the CATI Blog as the CATI Application Engineers will continue to break down many of the new items in SOLIDWORKS 2022. All these articles will be stored in the category of “SOLIDWORKS What’s New.”

Dennis Barnes, CSWE
Application Engineer
Computer Aided Technology

DESIGN INNOVATION MONTH 2021 – Webinars, Virtual Showroom, Contests
Design Innovation Month is CATI’s massive “What’s New in 2022” event for SOLIDWORKS, 3DEXPERIENCE, and 3D printing & 3D scanning technology.  That’s six weeks of live and on-demand webinars, demonstrations, in-depth blog posts, and prizes!  Best of all, it’s free of charge!  Check the DI Month Hub for all the details and to sign up for your next event. 

File Properties

A major development in eDrawings 2021 is the addition of file properties. In earlier versions of the program, the only kind of properties you could see for a model were mass properties, and these were only accessible with eDrawings files. In this new release, you are also able to see any custom or configuration-specific file properties that were saved with the model. Unlike mass properties, these file properties can only be seen with SOLIDWORKS files; exporting a SOLIDWORKS model into an eDrawings format will not carry over the file properties.

You can find the File Properties button at the bottom of the eDrawings 2021 window or in the Tools dropdown menu. The popup lets you toggle between general custom properties and those specific to the current configuration. In the image below, you can see the two configuration-specific properties I created for my “1-4 hole” configuration: Description and Weight. (As a reminder, opening a SOLIDWORKS model in eDrawings does not bring all of the configurations by default. You need to add a Display Data Mark to any inactive configurations that you want to be available within eDrawings.)

Measurement Types

Another eDrawings 2021 update expands the capabilities of the Measure tool. Measurements can now be made between cylindrical faces or between a planar face and a cylindrical face. Measuring between cylindrical faces, you can obtain the center-to-center, minimum, or maximum distance—similar to your options with the SOLIDWORKS Measure tool—and its X-, Y-, and Z-components. The planar-cylindrical face measurement returns the minimum normal distance between the planar face and the axis of the cylinder. Since this is a normal distance, with the normal direction being defined by the planar face, it is just a projection of the distance between the entities. Additionally, depending on how the planar face is oriented relative to the axis, the minimum normal distance may not be to a point on the face itself but, rather, to a point out in space on the plane defined by the face.

The images below illustrate these two measurement types. In the first image, we can see that the cylindrical-cylindrical face measurement includes flags for the overall center-to-center distance and for the three components of the measurement. These values are also shown in the Measure pane on the lower-left side of the screen. In the second image, we can see that a planar-cylindrical face measurement does not include any flags. The normal distance is given in the Measure pane (highlighted here by the orange box).

Web HTML – Measure

The last enhancement I want to talk about applies to the Web HTML file type. In its 2019 release, eDrawings started to allow users to save files in a Web HTML format (.html). Users could launch these files in a browser and do things like rotate models, hide/show assembly components, and create section views. eDrawings 2020 introduced the ability to freely move the components of a Web HTML assembly around the graphics area. With the 2021 edition, we continue to gain new capabilities in the browser, as we can now use the Measure tool with .html files. This functionality exists for all three document types—part, assembly, and drawing.

To ensure your Web HTML file will allow measurements, you need to select “Enable measure” in the Save As dialog when you are exporting. If you are trying to save a file that does not allow measurements, then this “Enable measure” option will not be available. Also, note that the ability to export to Web HTML is only available with eDrawings Professional.

Overall, I think we get some really strong improvements this year that can help make eDrawings more useful as a standalone viewing tool. The file properties and expanded measurement capabilities make it much easier for SOLIDWORKS-less users to get valuable information from CAD files, and those who are interested in utilizing browser-based viewers can learn more about their models with the added Measure functionality for Web HTML files. If you’re interested in any of these developments and haven’t installed eDrawings 2021 yet, go ahead and give it a try! Let us know what you think so far.

I hope this part of the What’s New series gives you a better understanding of the new features and functions of SOLIDWORKS 2021. Please check back to the CATI Blog as the CATI Application Engineers will continue to break down many of the new items in SOLIDWORKS 2021. All these articles will be stored in the category of “SOLIDWORKS What’s New.”

Anthony Sandri
Application Engineer
www.cati.com

Design Innovation Month 2020

What is DI Month? We’re declaring October Design Innovation Month—again! It’s a month-long series of special events focused on what’s new in design and manufacturing technology. You’ll learn about enhancements in SOLIDWORKS 2021 that deliver new capabilities for improved performance, streamlined workflows, and a connected design ecosystem. Find out what’s new in 3D printing applications and 3D scanning to integrate into your design process.

In the CAD realm, SOLIDWORKS eDrawings is a (mostly free) CAD viewer that can open all kinds of file formats – no need to install multiple viewers. See the list below or click on this link for the complete list of details on what it can open.
(Some formats include opening parts, assemblies, and drawings. Others only parts and assemblies and others where only parts can be opened.)

It can open native files from:
SOLIDWORKS
AutoCAD®
Autodesk® Inventor®
CATIA V5 and V6
Creo/ProEngineer
NX
Solid Edge

It can open neutral format files from:
ACIS
DXF/DWG
IGES
JT
OBJ
Parasolid
STL

It even has its own format that you can save to and open from – the eDrawings format (.eprt, .easm and .edrw).
This format is particularly swell because of the small file size. (Think of saving to .PDF vs. saving in Microsoft^® Word^®.)

But the newest capability – introduced in eDrawings Professional 2019 – is the ability to save to Web HTML. This option does NOT require the installation of eDrawings at all – just simply use a modern web browser! How great is that?
(This option DOES require you to export from eDrawings Professional, however… that explains the ‘mostly free’ comment above.)

Click on the link or image below to try it out on your browser right now.
See the post by Bob McGaughey for a rundown on what happens in different modern web browsers. (Safari users beware…)

Toy Arrow Launcher

Be sure to subscribe to the CATI blog to get a weekly digest of all our blog posts.

Chris Snider
Sr. Mgr. Field Technical Services – East
Computer Aided Technology, LLC

1. Use eDrawings Mobile
As we investigated the issue, we confirmed with the R&D team that the fix is now available in eDrawings Mobile for Android version 7.3.6 (Also, eDrawings Mobile for iOS version 7.2.7). This is the first version that supports SOLIDWORKS 2019 files.

eDrawings is the only CAD viewer on Android phones and tablets, iPad, iPad mini, iPhone and iPod Touch that allows you to view native eDrawings files as well as native SOLIDWORKS parts, assemblies and drawings files. You can open the following file formats: Open 3D (EASM, EPRT, SLDASM, SLDPRT), 2D (EDRW, SLDDRW). A nice feature is that you have access to cloud storage services like Dropbox and Google Drive.

Note: There are some limitations of the $1.99 version. You have to upgrade to eDrawings Pro ($7.99) to get access to the Measure tool, cross sections, and markup capabilities. (For iOS users, eDrawings Mobile is $1.99 and eDrawings Pro is $9.99. So, just buy eDrawings Pro if you need the extra features.)

eDrawings Mobile works great and is very intuitive with easy to use touch control. To see eDrawings Mobile in action, click here to see a video goes through a quick show of eDrawings Mobile for Android.

2. Save As eDrawings Web HTML Files (*.html) file format.
eDrawings Mobile is a great tool and can be very helpful to your company and your customers. But we have also received the following request:

“We are looking for a way to show our 3D models in SOLIDWORKS to our customers. Requiring our customers to download software is not an option. Is there a way to send our customers a link to a webpage where they could view the 3D model in an applet of some kind?”

CATI Technical Support recommends that you use the eDrawings Web HTML Files (*.html) file format. (Go to File-Save As in eDrawings 2019. Pull down the Save as type menu. Select the eDrawings Web HTML Files (*.html file format.) The eDrawings Web HTML Files (*.html) file format option works well with the majority of current Internet browsers because it does not require the Microsoft® ActiveX® technology. ActiveX is a legacy Component Object Model (COM) and Object Link and Embedding (OLE) technology that new browser versions no longer support. We tested this out in multiple Internet browsers on PC’s, Apple Safari for Windows, Galaxy S5, and an iPad 4. Here are our results!

Neil Bucalo
CATI Support Engineer
Computer Aided Technology, LLC

At its core, what SOLIDWORKS MBD really does is allows designers to create unique combinations of view orientations, annotations, and display properties to make understanding their requirements easier for the end consumer. To do that, SOLIDWORKS MBD can leverage the DimXpert tool-set (among others) and can create outputs that take eDrawings (among others) to the next level.

So, what is DimXpert? DimXpert is a free tool-set inside SOLIDWORKS Standard that allows users to create geometrically intelligent dimension schemes. What do I mean by that? Well, it’s very similar to how you might create a model. Certain dimensions may drive the building of your model, but the dimension scheme you want for the fit, form and function of your model could be entirely different.

I just glazed over perhaps one of the most important aspects of a model based definition methodology. With MBD, designers focus on FIT, FORM, AND FUNCTION and it’s not uncommon to leave specific faces under defined or even without dimensions at all.….

Ok…. Are you done panicking now? Leave dimensions off, are you kidding me? The last thing I want is to send a part to a vendor only to wait 3 weeks for them to come back and say I can’t quote this until you put “X” dimension on the print. Or release this to the shop for manufacture without giving them a couple of reference dimensions they might need. But what if I gave my supplier or shop an eDrawing, WITH the ability to measure the model however THEY wanted, AND a STEP 242 file that has intelligent manufacturing information built in….

Now my vendor can pull the dimensions THEY need, how THEY need them, so I don’t back them into an expensive or unrealistic corner for tooling, order of operations, etc.…

OK, Mr. Organization, outside of creating a STEP242 file I can still do all those functions with just DimXpert and eDrawings for FREE. Well if you want your vendor to comb through all your annotations and views on their own feel free. But wouldn’t it be easier if you could organize what combinations of annotations, view orientations, and section cuts are available for your vendors. That’s what 3D Views are in MBD.

NOW THAT is a clear easy to use document! A single click away and they can easily navigate my documentation without needing to know what combinations of view orientations or annotations go together.

Brandon Nelms
Application Engineer
Computer Aided Technology, Inc

First, you need to manually balloon the necessary dimensions on the drawing and then manually start an Excel sheet containing the list of those dimensions. From there you still need to manually type in the nominal values in their cells and then calculate the upper and lower tolerance limits for each of the values. Depending on the complexity of the part, this is a time-consuming process that can take up to an hour or more.

That is a process that is not just time-consuming, but also error-prone. You can manually enter the wrong value into their cells, which in turn cascades down to the tolerance limits and creates a misleading document. It’s not very convenient to have any of those in the Engineering department as those result in loss of time and adds additional cost to the project.

SOLIDWORKS Inspection Add-in

The SOLIDWORKS Inspection add-in automates the process and therefore reduces the time spent on this task. It populates the metadata already embedded into the SOLIDWORKS models and sorts it into the Inspection feature tree on the left. The process also populates the necessary balloons near each of the dimensions flagged for inspection. Once all that is done, you can export the data to an Excel spreadsheet.

SOLIDWORKS MBD can also take this traditional process and eliminate the middle step – the additional document for the drawing. It combines the 3D model with 2D annotation capabilities and presents it as Product Manufacturing Information (PMI).

You can create 3D views within the model itself and assign dimensions, annotations, geometric tolerances, etc. to each view as required. That PMI is what Inspection would use as another method of generating an inspection report for the design – thus improving the time it takes by eliminating the need to create a drawing document.

PMI within eDrawings

Once you generate your Inspection report, you have the option of publishing it to eDrawings in case you need to share the data. It generates all the 3D views and annotations along with the inspection PMI. The user viewing the data can select a dimension and then the features it references highlights in the graphics area.

Inspection Standalone

The standalone application for Inspection allows you to take 3^rd party file formats and extract their PMI data from them directly and generate reports that way. Here are the formats that are supported:

With tools such as Smart Extract, third-party PMI data is able to be leveraged even on the SOLIDWORKS side.

Inspection and MBD are both great tools to help streamline the creation of your inspection documentation.

George Brañes
Support Engineer
Computer Aided Technology, LLC

Well, first of all, the new direct VR mode in eDrawings 2019 is available beginning with eDrawings 2019 SP1.0. Let’s take a closer look at the eDrawings 2019 SP1.0 Release Notes. (Help pull down menu, eDrawings Release Notes).

Virtual Reality (VR) is supported in eDrawings Professional as beta functionality on computers with Microsoft Windows 10 and later. With HTC Vive devices, you can walk around the model and pick up components for closer investigation. You can also place the model in sky and floor environments.

So, as of right now, this new technology is still in beta, which means you have to jump through a few hoops to get it to work. Please refer to the release notes for the one-time setup instructions, as the Open in VR option is not turned on by default.

The release notes for eDrawings 2019 SP2.0 gives us the list of prerequisite software as well as recommended and supported hardware. The biggest one being that this only works with Windows 10, HTC Vive, and SOLIDWORKS files only. Support for other hardware is going to come later.

eDrawings 2019 Open in VR Option

So, all you have to do is say File > Open in VR and are able to see your SOLIDWORKS file in virtual reality using a VR headset.

eDrawings Extended Reality lets you see your files in 1:1 scale. You can see them up close. You can go around your assembly and even move parts around using your VR Controller.

Alex Worsfold, a Computer Aided Technology (CATI) Application Engineer, has released an awesome hands-on look at this exciting new technology in eDrawings 2019. It is a must watch: Experience virtual prototypes in Virtual Reality with SOLIDWORKS eDrawings 2019

Neil Bucalo
CATI Support Engineer
Computer Aided Technology, LLC

Before I explain how to utilize MBD in eDrawings, I am going to define MBD. MBD stands for Model based definition and is an integrated drawingless manufacturing solution. Basically, it lets you communicate your designs without the need to create 2D Drawings. You can define, organize, and publish 3D Product manufacturing information using industry standard formats such as eDrawings, 3D PDF and STP 242. SOLIDWORKS MBD also supports industry standards like Military-Standard-31000A, ASME Y14.41, ISO 16792, and DIN ISO 16792.

You may be asking yourself why would you define this type of information in a 3d format? You can present 3D data in a clean and structured fashion, output and distribute 3D data to an existing process, collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, share/archive and reuse intelligent 3D data. Additionally, MBD can work hand-in-hand with 2D drawings and printouts.

After applying MBD to the 3D model, you can publish to eDrawings within the SOLIDWORKS MBD command manager tab. When exporting MBD information to eDrawings, you can now choose whether to export STEP 214, 203, or 242 files for each of the configurations. The STEP files appear as attachments within eDrawings and can be viewed, extracted or deleted from the new attachments dialogue.

When opened in eDrawings, the model is displayed along with all related dimensions and 3D views.

There is a “Show All” button at the bottom left that allows you to view all the other Configurations, if applicable.

Also, at the bottom right of the screen is an area where you can click attachments. Each attached STEP file can be viewed, extracted to disk or deleted.

eDrawings 2018 now fully supports the viewing of STEP 242 files. This includes the cross highlighting of dimensions to the corresponding geometry.

Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope this blog helped you understand how to use eDrawings with SOLIDWORKS MBD.
Greg Tutor, CSWE
Application Engineer
Computer Aided Technology

In many cases it can replace traditional drawings! Which are limited to two dimensional views of the model or assembly.

Today I want to show you how to add balloon annotations to an exploded configuration and capture it with SOLIDWORKS MBD.

First you will need to create an exploded view of your assembly. NOTE: It will look nicer if you include the explode lines.

Before you can add the balloons, you will need to create a BOM. From the Assembly tab of the command manager select “Bill of Materials”.

Use the bom-standard template and “Parts Only”. When you click OK you will be prompted to select an annotation view, select “Existing Annotation View” and “Notes area” then click OK.

Place the BOM table in the graphics area. Open the Tables folder in the Feature Manager Tree and RMB on the Bil of Materials and select hide.

Next you will need to create an annotation view, so the balloons will be facing correctly.
With the exploded view in the isometric orientation, RMB on the Annotations folder and select
“Insert Annotation View”, then select *Isometric from the list and click “OK”

Next go to the Insert menu and select Annotations – Balloon. Then begin to select each of the items and add the balloons.

Hold down ctrl (Command ⌘) and select each balloon. Then use the “More Properties” button to show the leader style to make changes.

Since there are no Magnetic lines in the assembly it might be helpful to create a 3D sketch and construction lines to use for the alignment of the balloons.

The balloons won’t snap to the lines but using them as guides will help make the view neater.

After manually aligning the balloons you can hide the sketch.

Next select the 3D Views tab at the bottom of the screen. Go back to the default configuration and hide the assembly annotations.

Orient the view to the Front, Top, Right, and Isometric views and use the Capture 3D view button to create and name each view.

Activate and explode the exploded view and show assembly annotations. Then use the Capture 3D view to create and rename the view to ISO-Explode. The 3D views will look like this.

The final step is to click on the “Publish to 3D PDF” button on Command Manager, MBD tab.

Select an assembly template to use, and all the views to be included in the PDF and click OK. Next save the PDF to disk and open or select “View PDF” when in the Save As dialog.

This is what your PDF will look like.

If you need to learn more about SOLIDWORKS MBD please read our other blog articles:

• Capturing 3D Views in SOLIDWORKS MBD
• Using eDrawings with SOLIDWORKS Model Based Definition (MBD)</li
• SOLIDWORKS MBD: The next step in the evolution of part definition
• SOLIDWORKS: MBD Template Editor – Adding Custom Properties

Thank you,
Dennis Barnes
Applications Engineer
Computer Aided Technology, Inc