SolidWorks- 2D-3D, Characters & Rebuild

Solidworks and PDM have different characters that symbolize different scenarios of our models.
If the model has errors or error messages, this will be visibly indicated by one character.
So we can easily fix what's wrong.
All parts must be rebuild and okay before they can be further approved in the workflow of
EPDM.

Here are the different types of characters, there meaning and to how it can be corrected.

Icons from the tree:

Over defined

Under defined

The sketch could not be solved

Locked in place (fixed)

An error in the model

An error with the feature

A warning underneath the subassy

A warning with the feature

If a part or feature has an external reference, its name is followed by >. The name of
any feature with external references is also followed by >.

If an external reference is currently out of context, the feature name and the part name
are followed by ->?.

The suffix ->* means that the reference is locked.

The suffix ->x means that the reference is broken.

Component icons:

Part Sub assembly Flexible assembly Drawing

A yellow icon indicates that the component is fully loaded into memory and all of its
features and mates are editable. (Resolved)

A blue feather overlay appears on the icon of a lightweight part

A red feather overlay appears on the icon of an out-of-date lightweight part.

A gray icon indicates that the component is not in use in the active configuration.
(Suppred)

A white icon indicates that the component is active, but hidden.

A white icon with a blue feather indicates that the component is lightweight and hidden.

A white icon with a red feather indicates that the component is hidden, out-of-date, and
lightweight.

A lightening bolt overlay appears on the icon of Smart Components.

A transparent lightning bolt icon on a white icon indicates that the component is a Smart
Component and hidden.

An eye overlay appears on the icons of all components when the assembly is opened in
Large Design Review mode.

A white icon with an eye indicates that the assembly is in Large Design Review mode
and the component is hidden.

The component is an envelope.

The component is an envelope and is hidden.

The component is an envelope and is suppressed.

EPDM Icons:

Checked in by another user in this session.

The local file is same as the vault version.

The local file is older than the vault version.

The local file is edited but not saved.

The local is newer than the vault version.

The local file is not in the vault.

The file version that is referenced by the parent file is not the latest version.
Rebuilding Parts and Assemblies

Our company uses EPDM as vault for designs and drawings and it is synced with
Solidworks. Whenever working on a project, if a change is been made in any level of the
assembly, always update the following parts, assemblies and drawings.

Failing to do so will result in rebuild error, reference that are not up to date and error
infection of all other related parts and references.

Work from bottom of the assembly to the top. Always mention in the check in box what was
done with the file.

Workflow

1. All parts must be fully defined. (Sketches, features, etc.)

2. All parts and drawings must be rebuilt and saved before checking into EPDM.
There should never be any errors or rebuild messages when checking in.
3. Parts and drawings must be checked and approved before sub-assemblies.

4. All COTS parts must be moved to the correct folder and released.

5. All sub assemblies must be fully defined. (mates, folders, etc.)

6. All sub assemblies and drawings must be rebuilt and saved before checking into EPDM.
There should never be any errors or rebuild messages when checking in.

7. GA shall be the last assembly to be rebuilt and approved.

8. Quality check and approve PDF`s after the 3D & 2D is approved.

(If problems contact EPDM admin)
Rebuild in SW

- Model
Rebuild must be done before checking in, whenever a feature is changed or modified.

Click Rebuild (Standard top toolbar) or press Ctrl + B.

This will rebuild only the features that are changed since the last rebuild.

Press Ctrl + Q. To rebuild all features.

Can take significantly more time, depending on the complexity of your model.

When you rearrange the design tree, move features or relations.

The part does not rebuild - only the FeatureManager design tree rebuilds.

-Drawing
When the model is updated and rebuilt you must switch to the drawing. It needs to collect all
the information from the part. Remember the drawing is just a mirror of the model and are
always dependent on the model (the parent).

- Assembly
When you switch back to the assembly window after editing a component in a separate
window, a message will asks if you want to rebuild now. Select Yes

If not, it will appear like this in the standard top toolbar in Solidworks.
Example
- Rebuild error
In the EPDM add in window to the right in SW, you will see a indication if something's wrong.
It will also lead you to where the root of the problem is.

In this example there is an indication of subassemblies with errors in them.

If you swipe the cursor over the icon it will tell you what's wrong

You should beeing to check out all assemblies, subassemblies and associated drawings,
As you work your way down to the problem

970137207 (Ga)
- 970137205 (Sub-assy)
- 0345660 (Sub-assy)
- 0286840 (Sub-assy)
- 0027692 (Part)
- M3-DIN125-A4 (Part)

When you check out the files it will also give you a warning that something is wrong.
If you click on the warning it will show you what needs attention.

You will also get a notification when opening a part that is not rebuild or up to date.
1. Change subdivisions and subunits after the parent unit is approved.
(This will lead to a version mismatch referred to the parent unit).

2. Make changes to only parts / assembly or drawing.

(Always one model and corresponding drawing at the same time)
Large assembly mode

Large Assembly Mode is a collection of system settings that improves the performance of
assemblies. We have standard setting on our computers and have set a threshold for the
number of components, and have Large Assembly Mode turn on automatically when that
threshold is reached.

But you can turn on Large Assembly Mode at any time

In system options you can specify the following Large Assembly Mode options
Do not save autorecover info
Hide all planes, axes, sketches, curves, annotations, etc.
Do not display edges in shaded mode
Do not rebuild when switching to assembly window
While using the Open dialog box to open an assembly whose number of components
exceeds the specified threshold

Mode is automatically set to Large Assembly Mode

Tips:
To quickly navigate in the folder for top level assemblies use the quick filter

To turn Large Assembly Mode on or off click on the Large Assembly Mode button, located
under the assembly toolbar.

When Large Assembly Mode is on, Large Assembly Mode appears on the status bar.
When it's turned on, the following options become unavailable (grayed out) on their
respective system options page or toolbar. When turned off, the options return to their
previous settings.

Option Status when Large Assembly Mode is on

Dynamic highlight from Off. Model faces, edges, and vertices are not highlighted when you move
graphics view the pointer over a sketch, model, or drawing.

Anti-alias edges Off. Jagged edges in Shaded With Edges, Wireframe, Hidden Lines
Removed, and Hidden Lines Visible modes are not smoothed out.

Assembly transparency Maintain assembly transparency. Components not being edited retain
for in context edit their individual transparency settings.

Dynamic highlight Off. The geometry in the graphics area (edges, faces, planes, axes, and
so on) is not highlighted when the cursor passes over the item in the
FeatureManager design tree.

Transparency High quality for normal view mode. While the part or assembly is not
moving or rotating, the transparency is high quality. When moved or
rotated with the pan or rotate tools, the application switches to low-quality
transparency, enabling you to rotate the model faster.

Curvature generation Only on demand. Initial curvature display is slower, but uses less
memory.

Level of detail Minimum. The level of detail is minimal during dynamic view operations
(zoom, pan, and rotate) in assemblies, multi-body parts, and draft views
in drawings.

Check out-of-date Don't Check. Loads assemblies without checking for out-of-date
lightweight components lightweight components.

Update mass properties Off. Does not recalculate the mass properties on save. The next time you
while saving document access the mass properties, the system will need to recalculate them.

Shadows in Shaded Off.

Mode

RealView Graphics Off.

Show contents while Off. Only the view boundary is shown while dragging a drawing view
dragging drawing view

Smooth dynamic motion Off. Dynamic operations to drawings, such as panning and zooming, do
of drawing views not display smoothly.

Display style for new Hidden lines removed is set as the default display style for new views.
views

Display quality for new Draft quality. Only minimum model information is loaded into memory.
views Some edges may appear to be missing, and print quality may be slightly
degraded.
Lightweight

We can improve performance of large assemblies significantly by using lightweight

components.
Loading an assembly with lightweight components is faster than loading the same assembly
with fully resolved components because only a subset of its model data is loaded in memory.
The remaining model data is loaded on an as-needed basis.

The following assembly operations can be performed on lightweight components without

resolving them:

Add/remove mates Interference detection

Edge/face/component selection Collision detection

Assembly features Physical simulation

Measure & Dimensions Annotations

Section properties Assembly reference geometry

Mass properties Section views

Exploded views Advanced component selection

While using the Open dialog box to open an assembly whose number of components
exceeds the specified threshold.

At any time you can turn Lightweight on or off by right click on the top assembly
Speedpack

SpeedPak creates a simplified configuration of an assembly without losing references. If you

work with very large and complex assemblies, using a SpeedPak configuration can
significantly improve performance while working in the assembly and its drawing.

A SpeedPak configuration is essentially a subset of the parts and faces of an assembly.

Unlike regular configurations, where you can simplify an assembly only by suppressing
components, SpeedPak simplifies without suppressing.
Therefore, you can substitute a SpeedPak configuration for the full assembly in higher level
assemblies without losing references. Because only a subset of the parts and faces is used,
memory usage is reduced, which can increase performance of many operations.
Example
-SpeedPak for a Assembly

On the ConfigurationManager tab, under Configurations, right-click an existing

configuration and select Add SpeedPak

Select the faces and bodies that you want to be selectable in the SpeedPak
configuration.
Or use Quick Include to include only exterior bodies, select by view, or select by
dragging the ???????.

(Optionally, select Remove ghost to hide all other faces, which improves performance even
more).
No components appear in the FeatureManager design tree.

In the graphics area, when you move the pointer over the assembly, only the faces and
bodies you selected for the SpeedPak are visible and selectable in the region surrounding
the cursor.

Look normal until you move the cursor over it

Note that many internal components are no longer visible, as they were not included in the
SpeedPak configuration.

Example
-SpeedPak from a Parent Assembly

You can create SpeedPak configurations for subassemblies from within a parent assembly.
You can choose to include only graphics, or include mated faces, edges, and points as
resolved geometry.

To create a SpeedPak:

1. In an assembly, select one or more subassemblies.

2. Right-click and click SpeedPak Options.
3. Click one of the following:

Create Mated Includes mated faces, edges, and points as resolved geometry, which
SpeedPak allows you to create other mates to those entities. Entities included as
resolved geometry include entities of the subassembly that mate to other
components in the open parent assembly or to the open parent assembly
itself.

Create Lets you see graphics for the subassembly but does not include any
Graphics resolved geometry, which yields more performance improvement.
SpeedPak

A SpeedPak configuration is created for the active configuration of the subassembly. If the
subassembly is a top-level subassembly, then the SpeedPak configuration becomes the
active configuration used by the parent assembly.
SpeedPak in Drawings

When you dimension SpeedPak configurations in drawings, you can only dimension to
edges included in the SpeedPak, which are shown in black. Edges not included in the
SpeedPak are shown in gray. When you print the drawing, all the lines print in black.

When you make changes to an assembly, such as adding, deleting, or moving

components, the changes are not automatically incorporated into the SpeedPak
configuration, even when you rebuild the assembly. You must manually update the
SpeedPak configuration to incorporate the changes. See Updating SpeedPaks.
 Use SpeedPak when you want to insert a complex large assembly into a higher level
assembly, especially if you want to see the entire SpeedPak assembly, but need to
mate and dimension only to relatively few locations

Large Design Review

Large Design Review (LDR) mode enables you to quickly open, navigate, walk-through,
measure, section, and create snapshot views with comments of massive assemblies
containing huge numbers of parts, helping to clearly communicate your design.

Key features includes the ability to:

Quickly open, markup, and investigate extremely large assemblies in SOLIDWORKS

Select items to open for editing

Section through your design to what is inside

Measure to assess dimensions and clearances

Search/Navigate/Select to locate features in your design and explain it to others

Create a design walk-through to highlight key areas and even record a video as you move
along

Record still views with Snapshots from different perspectives and add comments to show
needed changes for later review

Selectively open and edit a part or assembly while reviewing the design in LDR
How to open an assembly in LDR.
1. Open SolidWorks. Go to Open file and select an assembly. Select the Large Design
Review in the Mode selection box and Click Open.

2. When the file opens, you will see the following dialog box. The dialog box below first
appears. It explains the capabilities the model has in Large Assembly Review Mode.
When the model opens, you will notice that assemblies and parts in the Feature Tree have
new icons sporting an eyeball. The feature tree does not include many details other than a
structure of the assembly. You cannot edit components or mates while in this mode.

The Command Manager Assembly tab is replaced with a Command Manager Large
Design Review tab.

Here is a comprehensive guide from the SolidWorks Help section explaining all Command
Manager functionality:

Lets you explore the assembly and create and save videos of what
you see as you maneuver through it.

Displays the model as if cut by planes that you specify. You can
select one or more of the three standard planes to section the
model.
Measures distance between vertices, edges, and faces in the
assembly.

Captures the state of the graphics area, similar to a custom named

view, and saves it in a Snap feature on the DisplayManager tab
of the Manager Pane. Unlike a custom named view, if some parts
are hidden when you take a snapshot, those parts are always
hidden when you return to that snapshot.

Lets you select components to fully load. Other components are not
loaded and become hidden. The software exits Large Design
Review.

Lets you select components to load lightweight. Other components

are not loaded and become hidden. The software exits Large
Design Review.

Fully loads all components and exits Large Design Review.

Loads all components lightweight and exits Large Design Review.

Lets you adjust the transparency of unchanged components. When

Filter Modified Components is enabled and you edit and save a
component in a separate window, the changed component remains
opaque in the assembly window, while unchanged components
become transparent.

Reports assembly statistics such as number and type of

components, depth of the assembly hierarchy, etc. (Performance
Evaluation diagnostic tests are not available in Large Design
Review.)

Provides access to the System Options tab of the the Options dialog
box. (The Document Properties tab is not available in Large Design
Review.)