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How do others edit the toolbox?

csmac2004

New member
I am a new user to Solidworks (our company just switched from Inventor, so far I'm lovin' it!). Anyways, I'm trying to set up the fasteners with the appropriate part numbers and descriptions that pertain to our company.


In doing so, I have opened the "Edit Standards" dialogue box, and exported all configurations of each fastener. Under the already exisiting "Part Number" and "Description" columns, I filled in the necessary information, then imported that spreadsheet back into SW. However, now when I try to edit or insert that fastener, it takes up to 30 seconds as compared to the original 5 seconds!


Is there a better way to edit these fields (without doing it cell by cell in SW) that doesn't take this hit? How does anyone else input your companies information into the fasteners? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Hi csmac -


I don't have a solution for you, but I have a couple of thoughts on this topic -
<UL>
<LI>Solidworks 2006 is an upgrade that is supposed to be mostly about speed and performance. That may take care of the time hit.</LI>
<LI>I am also looking at altering the toolbox to put in company p/ns, etc. Currently I am using the design library for many items, and itis very easy to use and manipulate. Marking files "read-only" keeps people from making inadvertent changes, and we also keep backup copies of everything in PDMWorks.</LI>[/list]


Good luck!


Nick Edgar
 
My fingers are crossed for 2006! Hopefully that really does take care of some performance issues.


By using the design library, do you mean you've created your own fasteners, etc, that you then set up in the design library for easy access? Just curious...


Thanks for the reply!
 
Hi Scott,


Yes, we have fasteners, electrical connectors & components, off-the-shelf enclosures, fans, etc. in our design library. The organization is simple - it'll use whatever folder system you want to set up.


What I would really love is to be able to access those files by both company p/n and by common designator (i.e. 1/2" 8-32 PHP SST). Currenty, we have them filed in the SW design library by company p/n.I use a cross reference table that I have both in excel and printed out on my wall. Works well enough.


Nick
 
Thanks for the info, Nick. This seems to be the best way to go, as the speed is an issue when I try to edit the toolbox. We had started a similar system while we were using Inventor, but never really got into it detailed enough before we switched, so maybe we should try and stay on that track.


I might also try and wait to see what 2006 brings before I spend any more time than I need to!


Thanks again!
 
I,ve also had sluggish performance on my home system however it wasn't as bad as you mentioned above my friend claimed their is a much better system in solidworks 2006 however he didnt go into detail. I design parts and add them to the design library in the same way you both do I presume?
 

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