92530051 DriveWorks Solo Design Automation for SolidWorks Training

www.driveworkssolo.com SOL.V8.R2

DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Training

www.driveworkssolo.com

©DriveWorks Ltd 2011 | All Rights Reserved 2



DriveWorks Solo Training Overview

This training manual is intended to give a hands-on proficiency of DriveWorks Solo.

Upon successful completion you will be able to:

Drive SolidWorks part and assembly geometry with DriveWorks Solo.

Create DriveWorks Solo User Forms, and link them to the models.

Modify a Drawing appearance.

About this Manual

This manual is split up into a number of lessons.

Concepts

This covers the concepts of DriveWorks Administrator, including best practice advice and tips.

The Concepts section can also be used post training as a reference.

Concept:

Concepts are formatted like this.

Notes:

Notes are formatted like this.

Tips:

Tips are formatted like this.



Exercise

There is an exercise for each lesson. The exercises all work on the same models.

1. Exercise instructions are formatted like this.

Jumping between different exercises is not recommended as there is a flow of

implementation from one lesson to the next.

Image Update

This manual uses images taken from earlier versions of the rule builder, the latest version has

been updated as highlighted below:

Rule builder image used in this manual Latest version of the Rule builder



Contents DriveWorks Solo Training Overview ............................................................................................... 3

About this Manual ......................................................................................................................... 3

Imagine you design Wooden Doors ............................................................................................... 7

Lesson 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 9

Basic Setup .................................................................................................................................. 11

Opening DriveWorks Solo ........................................................................................................ 11

Creating a Project .................................................................................................................... 11

Capturing your Models ................................................................................................................ 14

Captured Assembly Structure .................................................................................................. 15

Capturing Individual Models .................................................................................................... 17

Lesson 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 29

Project Designer .......................................................................................................................... 31

User Interface .......................................................................................................................... 31

Form Design ............................................................................................................................ 33

Lesson 3 .......................................................................................................................................... 39

Building Rules .............................................................................................................................. 41

Variables.................................................................................................................................. 42

Variable Categories .................................................................................................................. 43

Model Rules ............................................................................................................................. 47

Lesson 4 .......................................................................................................................................... 55

Running your Project ................................................................................................................... 57

Lesson 5 .......................................................................................................................................... 59

Improving Your Project ................................................................................................................ 61

File Name and Relative Path Rules ........................................................................................... 61

Lesson 6 .......................................................................................................................................... 69

Static Replacement Files .............................................................................................................. 71

Lesson 7 .......................................................................................................................................... 75

Tables .......................................................................................................................................... 77

Lesson 8 .......................................................................................................................................... 83



Form Navigation .......................................................................................................................... 85

Lesson 9 .......................................................................................................................................... 87

Enhancing Your Forms ................................................................................................................. 89

Lesson 10 ........................................................................................................................................ 91

Dynamic Replacement Files ......................................................................................................... 93

Lesson 11 ........................................................................................................................................ 99

Driving Custom Properties ......................................................................................................... 101

Lesson 12 ...................................................................................................................................... 107

Documents ................................................................................................................................ 109

Lesson 13 ...................................................................................................................................... 117

Drawings ................................................................................................................................... 119

Capturing Drawing Detail ....................................................................................................... 119

Building Rules for the Drawing ............................................................................................... 130

Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 137

Preparing Your Models for Automation.................................................................................. 137



Imagine you design Wooden Doors

If you worked for a Company that designed wooden doors, where each one you designed was

different, then you could use DriveWorks Solo to automate each design.

This training will show you how.

First let’s look at the design.

As you can imagine, the hole that a builder leaves in a wall could be any size (within reason)

and because this is a wooden door, each piece of wood needs to be designed and a drawing

produced.

We will need to create a set of forms for someone to fill in, which will guide them through the

selections we make available to them.

That way we know that whatever they enter can actually be manufactured.

Also, it would be great to be able to produce a General Arrangement drawing automatically

that shows the exact requirements.

There will be rules that take the opening dimensions and calculate the sizes of each

component.

We also need the ability to have a round or rectangular window in the door, which could also

be a custom size.

The steps required to do this in DriveWorks Solo are as follows:

Basic Setup

Create a project to store all the data.

Capture Models and Drawings

Decide which Models and Drawings will be driven, and what is driven in each case.

Form Creation

Create forms for our users to enter data to specify a new door and frame.

Rules

Add rules to drive the models and drawings from the inputs on the form.



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 1



Basic Setup

Hopefully at this point you have DriveWorks Solo installed and licensed.

If not, please visit www.driveworks-solo.com.

Opening DriveWorks Solo

DriveWorks Solo resides on its own tab in the SolidWorks Task Pane. To open DriveWorks

Solo, enable and expand the Task Pane, and then click on the Solo Tab.

Alternatively, select DriveWorks Solo from the Tools Menu in SolidWorks, which will activate

the tab on the task pane for you.

Now we need to create a project to store our automation information.

Concept:-

DriveWorks Solo stores the information that you enter into a Project. Each Project can drive

any number of models, or combination of models from a set of forms. Each different product

that you wish to automate would normally have its own Project, unless the data entered to

design each one is similar or the same.

The project file has a .driveproj extension, and also uses similarly named accompanying files.

Creating a Project

DriveWorks Solo incorporates a wizard for creating and opening projects. At this point, we are

only dealing with creating Projects.

http://www.driveworks-solo.com/



Concept:-

DriveWorks Solo uses helper links to guide you through the set up of your automation

products. The links will either be a way to perform an action, or a link to the help file covering

the relevant topic. Either way, it’s a great idea to click on the links.

1. Click on the Link Please open a project before continuing at the top of DriveWorks Solo to

activate the wizard.

2. Select Create a new project from the options and click Next.

There are now three options for creating a new Project:

Empty Project

This will create an empty Project that you can add your own models to.

Import from DriveWorksXpress

If you already have models captured in DriveWorksXpress, you can import them into

DriveWorks Solo.

Using a Template

DriveWorks Solo ships with built in templates. These are great for getting to know

DriveWorks Solo and investigating a completed Project.



For now, we are going to create a Blank Project

3. Select Empty Project from the list.

4. Click Browse to select a location for your Project.

5. Browse to the location that you wish to store your Project.

It doesn’t matter where you store the Project, although for this training, browse for the same

location as the Door and Frame models that were shipped as part of this training. If you do

not have these files, you can download them from www.driveworks-solo.com

Concept:-

DriveWorks Solo applies validation in all important areas. If you see the warning icon next to a

text box, hover over it to see a validation and hint tooltip. You will also be prevented from

proceeding until the validation criteria are met.

6. Click Finish to create the DriveWorks Solo Project in the chosen location.

DriveWorks Solo will automatically use the folder name for the name of the Project. Type a

new name if required.

You will now have a Project open, and a Link at the top of DriveWorks Solo indicating the next

step.

http://www.driveworks-solo.com/



Capturing your Models

If you do not have any models open in SolidWorks, then the link will be asking you to:

Open a model to capture it

1. Click the link, and browse for the SolidWorks Part or Assembly that you wish to automate.

For this training, browse for the SolidWorks assembly Wooden Door and Frame.SLDASM

that was shipped with this training material.

With the Wooden Door and Frame model now open, the link at the top of DriveWorks Solo

will change to:

Click here to capture the active model

2. Click the link to capture the active model.



Once captured, the Task Pane will show all of the options for capturing model information in

the Capture Explorer.

Captured Assembly Structure

Concept:-

Capturing is split into different sections that appear at the bottom of the DriveWorks Solo task

pane. Click on each section header to activate the required section.

Click and drag the bar to resize the section headers as you become more familiar with their

use.



Another link will now appear at the top of DriveWorks Solo stating that No components have

been captured for this assembly. If clicked, the help file will open at the relevant page.

This step controls which of the models in the main assembly are controlled by DriveWorks

Solo. It is not always necessary to capture every component or sub assembly.

3. Check all of the models in the tree APART from any of the hinge models and the lock in

the Door Assembly. These files will not be driven or controlled as part of this training.

Note:-

If you check a part in a sub assembly, the sub assembly will automatically be checked as well.



Capturing Individual Models

This section involves selecting each captured model in turn, and then capturing each

parameter to be controlled on that model.

The parameters that can be captured for each Part or Assembly are:-

Dimensions and Features

Captured dimensions and features are given their own name in DriveWorks Solo, to make it

easier to build rules for them later on. Each feature can also have its advanced properties

captured, depending on the feature type.

For instance, if you choose to drive a sheet metal feature, you will be able to capture

properties such as its K factor, or Bend Table.

Custom Properties

Select an existing custom property in your model to be able to control its value dynamically, or

add a new custom property into your model, that will be driven.

DriveWorks Solo has 3 special custom properties that, if used, will allow you to drive the Color,

Material or Texture from a rule.

Drawings

Browse for each Drawing that you want to control. You can have more than one Drawing for

each part or assembly. Once captured, each Drawing can then be further controlled.

Replacement Models

Rather than overload your master models with every permutation of model that you would

ever need, DriveWorks Solo allows you to browse for replacement models that will be

swapped into the assembly based on your rules.

File Formats

When DriveWorks Solo creates new variations of your models, you can also choose to export

those files to other file formats (for instance eDrawings, Tiffs etc)



Concept:-

To open any captured model in order to further capture its parameters, click on the Captured

Models section header. This will display a tree view of all captured models in the current

Project. Double-click a model in the tree to open it in SolidWorks.

4. Activate the Captured Models section by clicking on its heading within the Capture

Explorer.

Capturing Component – Wall

1. Double Click on the Wall in the DriveWorks Task Pane to open it in SolidWorks

This will also automatically change the Task Pane to the Dimensions and Features Section

This section controls which of the dimensions and features are controlled by DriveWorks for

each component you selected in the previous section. You do not need to capture dimensions

and features for every component.

Concept:-

SolidWorks has its own name for each Feature or Dimension. This step ensures that each

captured item has a name that means something to you.

Selecting a feature or dimension in the model or SolidWorks feature tree adds its name to the

SolidWorks Name text box in the DriveWorks portion of the feature tree.



Concept:-

At this point, you need to understand the design intent that we have applied to the models.

We have mostly used planes in the models and then attached the sketch geometry to the

planes. Changing the plane offsets therefore changes the size of the model.

At the end of this tutorial is a section on modeling for automation, so that you can apply it to

your models.

For now, we have listed below where each dimension or feature can be found in the model.

For the Wall, we are going to capture the opening size. This is driven by 2 planes called SOW

and SOH. (These stand for Structural Opening Width and Structural Opening Height)

To allow you to select the dimensions for these, you need to double-click each plane in turn.

Tip:-

If you double-click the TEXT of the plane, SolidWorks will prompt you to change its name.

Don’t do this. Instead, double-click on the icon for the plane. If you do this, you will see the

dimension of the plane appear in the model window.

2. Double click on the icon for the Plane SOW and click on the dimension that appears. The

SolidWorks name for this dimension will appear in the DriveWorks Solo Task Pane.



Tip:-

If you are having problems selecting the dimension, you may have Instant3D switched on.

This will prevent you from selecting dimensions for capture in the model window. If this is the

case, a link will appear in the DriveWorks Solo Task Pane. Turn Instant3D off to continue

.

3. In the Name text box, type a meaningful name, enter Structural Opening Width and then

click Add. Don’t forget to click Add.

4. Follow the same principal for the SOH plane, and for its dimension. Give it the name

Structural Opening Height.

5. Click Add again.

Both dimensions can then be seen in the tree view.



We have now finished capturing the parameters of the Wall.

Now let’s capture the Frame. This is made of 2 parts; both have a dimension that needs to be

captured.


Explorer.

7. Double Click the model Top Door Jamb in the Task Pane Tree.

Capturing Component – Top Door Jamb

This will open the model Top Door Jamb in SolidWorks and, because this is a part, it will select

the Dimensions and Features section.

The dimension that you need in order to drive the length of this component is in the plane

called Top.

1. Double Click on the Top plane in the SolidWorks Feature Tree to show the dimension in

the model window.



2. Select the dimension in the model window and enter the name Length.

3. Click Add to capture the dimension.

There are no features to control in this part however we do want to be able to control some

custom properties.

4. Select the Custom Properties Section Header.

To capture existing custom properties, check them in the list. You will then be able to create a

rule for each captured custom property.

5. Check the custom property Date.

6. Check the custom property Description.

To add a new custom property to the model, and capture it at the same time, enter the name

in the text box and click Create.



7. Enter DWColor in the text box and click Create.

Concept:-

DriveWorks Solo has special names for some custom properties. These allow you to control

color, material and texture of your models and are DWColor, DWMaterial and DWTexture

respectively. These are not case sensitive, and DWColour can be used instead of DWColor

based on your spelling preference.

The second frame part is called Door Jamb.


Explorer.

9. Double Click the model Door Jamb in the Task Pane Tree.

Capturing Component – Door Jamb

This will open the model Door Jamb in SolidWorks and, because this is a part, it will

automatically select the Dimensions and Features section.

1. Double click on the Plane called Top and highlight the dimension. Call this one Length.

Select Add.

Even though you have already used the name Length in a different component, you can use

the same name in as many different components as you wish.

2. Create a new custom property named DWColor for this model.

This component also has an associated drawing



Concept:- For each new part or assembly that you create from your masters in DriveWorks

Solo, you can have one or more Drawings associated with it. These will also then be created

based on master drawings. The Drawings section of DriveWorks Solo allows you to reference

which drawings will be generated for each part or assembly.

3. Click on the Drawings Section Header.

4. Browse for the drawing Door Jamb.SLDDRW in your training files folder.

We will capture more information for this drawing (such as view positions, and dimension

text) later on in the training

The next component is the wooden door itself. As well as dimensions, the Door also has

features that will need controlling.

Let's capture the dimensions first.


Explorer.



6. Double Click the model Wooden Door in the Task Pane Tree to open it in SolidWorks.

Capturing Component – Wooden Door

1. Capture the following dimensions. You will find some of the planes in a feature folder

called Reference Planes

The dimension in the Plane Bottom – Call the dimension Height.

The dimension in the Plane Right – call the dimension Width.

2. Double click on the feature called Square Cutout. Capture the two dimensions that define

the sketch as Window Height and Window Width.

The next step is to capture the window cut out, so that we can choose to have a window or

not.

3. Select the feature Square Cutout in the SolidWorks feature tree.



Notice that the name of the feature is automatically added to the Name text box. This

happens because DriveWorks Solo recognizes when the name of a feature has been changed

from the default name given by SolidWorks.

4. Click Add to capture the feature.

Note:-

This also happens with dimensions. If you have already named a dimension in SolidWorks,

DriveWorks Solo will pick up on that name and enter it into the Name field automatically

You should now have the parameters captured in line with the picture below.

The final item to capture on the door at this point is to add a driven custom property called

DWMaterial. This will allow us to drive the material of the door based on rules.

5. Select the Custom Properties Section Header.

6. Enter DWMaterial in the text box and click Create.

You may have noticed the filter box underneath the header on the Task Pane. This allows you

to filter the list, and is particularly helpful when you have a lot of custom properties, and the

list needs filtering for ease of selection.



The last model to capture at this stage of the training is the Rectangular Window.


Explorer

8. Double Click the model Rectangular Window in the Task Pane Tree to open it in

SolidWorks

9. Double Click on the feature Extrude1 in the SolidWorks feature manager. Capture the two

dimensions for the overall size of the window, calling them Width and Height.

The final task is to associate a Drawing with the top level assembly.

10. Click on the Captured Models Section Header to show all of the captured models within

this Project.

11. Double Click the model Wooden Door and Frame in the Task Pane Tree.

This will open the model Wooden Door and Frame in SolidWorks and automatically select

the Dimensions and Features section.

12. Click on the Drawings Section Header

13. Browse for the drawing Wooden Door and Frame.SLDDRW in your training files folder.



All of the models we need for now have been captured. The next step is to set up a form to fill

in.

To save your DriveWorks Solo data click on the save button on the DriveWorks Solo Command

Bar. This will save your Project data, but not the SolidWorks files. Click the SolidWorks save

button to save your models.



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 2



Project Designer

DriveWorks Solo has an inbuilt Project Designer that allows you to create your forms, create

tables of data, build rules for your models, and configure your quotation.

The Project Designer is split into 3 sections in the Task Explorer

Stage 1: User Interface

Set up the navigation through your forms, and design each form using the inbuilt

form controls

Stage 2: Data and Rules

Create tables, and build variable rules that will be re-used within your Project

Stage 3: Output Rules

Create and manage the rules for driving your models and drawings, as well as

the rules for creating dynamic documents

The Project Designer also has a command bar that will show in-context tools relevant to the

section you are working on.

User Interface

The user interface section is split into two elements:

1. Form Navigation

Here you will set up the dynamic navigation through the forms of your Project. Rules can be

used to set the navigation based on other inputs

2. Form Design

Use the inbuilt controls to create your form. Form controls have dynamic properties that

allow you to build rules that will dictate their behaviour.



Concept:-

DriveWorks Solo uses one or more forms to specify new variations of your products. These

forms are then linked together to form a navigation.

Form Navigation

Whenever you create a new Project, DriveWorks Solo creates the first form for you, and

creates the navigation from start to finish.

Concept:-

Navigation requires a Start and a Finish. This ensures that you always have a starting point

when you start using the forms to create your new models. It also requires a Finish point,

which lets DriveWorks Solo know when to show the finish button so that you can finalize your

design and documents.

The default navigation, with a single form, therefore looks like this:-

The command bar now has buttons specific to form navigation, including alignment tools to

help tidy up your navigation, and buttons for adding and deleting forms and decisions.

Concept:-

A Decision is a two way splitter that allows you to show one of two forms based on a single

rule.

At this point in the training, we are going to just use the default form with no decisions. These

will be covered later in the training.



1. Open the Project Designer by clicking on the toolbar at the top of DriveWorks Solo.

Form Design

2. Activate the Form Design by selecting the Forms Design task in the Task Explorer.

The form designer will default to showing the first form. In this case, there is only one.

Tip: - You can also right-click on the form icon in the Form Navigation stage and select:

Go To Form Designer

The form is empty. You can now start adding Form Controls

Form Controls

Concept:-

Adding inputs to each form is done by clicking on the appropriate button on the Command Bar

above the form designer. A text box then appears asking for a name. You cannot use the

same name twice, and try and use meaningful names. Names cannot have spaces in them.

Text Box

1. Click on the Text Box button on the Command Bar. A text box will appear asking for a

name for the Text Box. Call it OpeningHeight.



2. Click the OK button to create the control.

The caption for the text box will be as you typed it, with no spaces. This can be changed by

updating the value for Caption in the properties pane. However, if your name has capitalized

words, such as OpeningHeight, then DriveWorks Solo will recognize this and add in the space

in the caption.

Concept:-

If you select the control on the form, the properties pane on the right will show you all of the

properties that you can set for the type of control that you have selected. Some properties

are static, which means that you set them and they stay that way until you edit them again,

and some are dynamic, which means you can build a rule for its value.

Static properties are shown with a grey icon, while dynamic properties have a green icon

Spin Button

3. Create a spin button called OpeningWidth.



A spin button requires a minimum and maximum value, as well as an increment.

These are entered into the Property Pane on the right hand side of the Forms Designer. Make

sure you have the correct control selected in the Form Designer when you are changing these

values.

Set the following values:

Minimum = 900

Maximum = 1500

Increment = 50

Concept:-

You may have noticed that when you type in the values for Minimum, Maximum and

Increment, that a button appears to the right of the box. Clicking this button will open the

Rules Builder, which means that rather than being static, you could have dynamic values. For

instance, the minimum width may change if the door goes above a certain height.

Leave them as static values for now.

I’m guessing that curiosity hat got the better of you, and you have opened the Rules Builder.

Click cancel, we will get to the rules builder shortly!!

Combo Box

4. Create a Combo Box called Window.



Concept:-

A Combo Box is a drop down list where any single value can be selected. The list in the drop

down can be static or dynamic

In order to populate the list in the Combo Box, we need to enter a value for Items in the

Property Grid

Concept:-

Lists in DriveWorks Solo are usually represented by a single string, with each item required in

the list separated with a pipe bar (|). So, for example, if you want a list with Monday, Tuesday

and Wednesday as static values, you would need to enter "Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday".

Even though we need static values in the Items property, we are still going to use the Rule

Builder.

5. Click in the Items property for the Combo Box. A button will appear to the right of the

property value

6. Click the button to launch the Rule Builder

Tip:-

You need to click in the Items property for the button to appear.

The Rule builder is split into numerous sections, with its own Command Bar, a Rule Editor,

Help and Diagnostics and a browser to find your Project Variables and Form Values.

Rule Builder



The rule is entered into the Rule Editor, using a combination of typing, and the helper

functions on the command bar, and by double clicking on Form and Variable entries.

In this case, because we want static values in the Combo Box, we are just going to type in the

text "None|Rectangular".

7. Click in the Rule Editor and Type "None|Rectangular".

Note:-

Since this is static text, make sure that you include the quote marks.

8. Click OK on the Rule Builder. The rule will appear in the Item property in the Property List.

Add More Controls

The last 2 controls for now are for the size of the rectangular window.

9. Create a Numeric Text Box control called WindowWidth.



10. Set the properties for Minimum and Maximum to be 200 and 600 respectively.

11. Create a Numeric Text Box control called WindowHeight.

12. Set the properties for Minimum and Maximum to be 200 and 600 respectively.

Your form is now ready, so we can move on to the Model Rules that will link your Form Values

to the information that you have captured in your models.

You should now have a form that looks a bit like this:

Have a go at changing some of the static properties for each control. Also experiment with

the align tools at the top of the Form Designer.

Clicking the Test Mode button at the top of the Form Designer also allows you to see what the

form will look like and test it.

Clicking again returns you to Design Mode.

Note: - Any Values you enter into your controls in Test Mode will become the default values

for those controls.



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 3



Building Rules

First of all, let’s look at the models. In the following picture, all sizes have been exaggerated.

From this picture, it is easy to see that to calculate the width of the door; you need to take

into account the Opening Width, Wall and Frame Gap, Frame Thickness and the gap between

the door and the frame.

So the rule would be of the form:-

DoorWidth = OpeningWidth – 2 * (WallandFrameGap + FrameThickness + DoorandFrameGap)

Our Form already has an input for the Opening Width, and in this case, the other values will be

static.

It would be very straight forward, knowing the static values, to just type them in, so that the

rule would be

DoorWidth = OpeningWidth – 2 * (5 + 40 + 5)

Or even

DoorWidth = OpeningWidth – 100

And there would be nothing wrong with that, except that if we ever wanted to change any of

the gaps, or even make them dynamic in the future, we would have more work to do, and our

project wouldn't be as flexible.



It also makes it easier to track and validate your rules, as they will have a name that can be

understood easily.

It's therefore better to enter all of these static values as variables, and then use them in a rule.

Variables

DriveWorks can store values for use in your rules.

Let’s add the gaps around the door and frame as Variables.

1. Select the Define Variables task in the Task explorer.

2. Click Add Variable to create a new Variable.

Note: - As with creating new forms, a text box will appear asking for a name for your new

variable. Again, validation is used to ensure your name is valid.

3. Enter the name WallandFrameGap for the name and hit Enter.

You will see the new Variable added to the list:

Note: - You can change the name of a Variable at any time by double clicking on the name in

the list. You will be asked to confirm the action, as when the name is changed, DriveWorks

solo will need to search for every rule in your project to see where that variable has been

used, and update those rules where it is found.

4. Enter a value for the variable by double clicking in the Rule column.

5. Type in a value for your variable of 5 and hit Enter.



Note:-

You can also enter the value in the Rule Builder by either double clicking in the Value column,

or using the Build button on the Command Bar.

6. Add another Variable: DoorGap – Value = 5

7. Add another Variable: FrameThickness – Value = 40

Variable Categories

Concept:-

Variables can have categories. Since projects may have a lot of Variables DriveWorks Solo

allows you to categorize them.

8. Click the Add Category button on the Command Bar

9. Enter the name Sizes and click OK

Tip:-

You call also hit the Enter Key to accept your name, as long as your name is valid

This adds your category to the tree.

To add new Variables to this Category, select the Category in the tree before clicking New

Variable

To add existing Variables to a Category, drag them onto the Category item in the tree

We can now set Variables for the Frame width and height, as well as the Door width and

height.

10. Click Add Variable to create a new Variable.

11. Give the Variable the name FrameWidth and hit Enter.



12. With the FrameWidth row selected, click Build on the Command Bar to launch the Rule

Builder.

Have a click around. You will see your Form controls, as well as your new Variables in the

Browser on the right. We will be adding the rule for the FrameWidth Variable:-

OpeningWidth – (2 * WallandFrameGap)

Although you do not need to type this in.

Concept:-

Double Clicking on an item in the Forms and Variables Browser will add its name to the Rule

Editor.

13. Using the tab Forms on the right, double-click on the name OpeningWidth. This will add

the text OpeningWidthReturn to the Rule Editor.

Note:-

DriveWorks Solo adds the word Return as a suffix for Form Controls

14. Then type a minus sign, followed by an open bracket (.

15. Then type 2 * and switch the Tab on the right to Variables and double-click on the

Variable WallandFrameGap followed by a closed bracket ).

Note:-

DriveWorks Solo adds the word DWVariable as a prefix to identify Variables

Double Click on the

Control Name



16. You should now have a rule that looks like this:

17. Click OK to accept the rule.

18. Create another Variable called DoorWidth using the rule:

DWVariableFrameWidth – (2 * (DWVariableFrameThickness + DWVariableDoorGap))

19. Click OK on the Rule Builder to accept the rule.

Tip:-

It is much easier to double click on the variable in the Variable Browser on the right, rather

than typing it in manually. If you find you have a lot of variables, use the filter box to limit the

variables displayed

20. Create another Variable called FrameHeight using the rule:

OpeningHeightReturn – DWVariableWallandFrameGap

Don't worry if you get the result #VALUE at this point, this is simply because you have not

entered a value for the OpeningHeight on your form yet.

Note: - You can change the appearance of the Rule Editor by clicking on Settings button on the

Command Bar.

21. Create another Variable called DoorHeight using the rule:

DWVariableFrameHeight - DWVariableFrameThickness – (2 * DWVariableDoorGap )



Concept:-

The Rule builder has diagnostic tools built into it, to help you create accurate rules quickly. At

the bottom of the Rule Builder you will see a Diagnostics area. On this there are 3 tabs:

Values

All of the individual elements that make up the rule are displayed here, to help you check your

rule. Also included here is the current result of the rule.

Steps

Here, each rule is broken down into sub rules, so that you can see quickly the cause, if you are

not getting the result that you expect.

Comment

You can enter a comment for each rule.

You should now see the following Variables in your list (note: - depending on the values you

entered when testing your form, you may have different results for your Variables).



Model Rules

We are now ready to build some model rules, and then create some new SolidWorks files

based on the information we enter in the form.

The first step though is to tell your DriveWorks Solo Project which models to control.

Concept:-

Captured Models are not automatically added to the Project Designer, as you can choose to

drive No Models, One Top Level Model or More than One Top Level Model.

Therefore you need to tell this project which models to use.

22. Select the Model Rules task in the Task explorer.

23. Click the Add button on the Command Bar.

24. Check the box for the assembly Wooden Door and Frame and click OK.

You will now see the Wooden Door and Frame added into the Component Tree.

Note:-

You only need to add the top level assembly. All of the captured sub-assemblies and parts will

be added to the tree automatically

25. Right-click on the Wooden Door and Frame in the tree and click Select Children.



This will show all of the rules for all of the components

You will notice that some rules have already been filled in, namely the File Name rule and the

Relative Path rule.

Concept:-

FileName is the rule for the file name that will be created when you run your project.

RelativePath is the rule for the location of the new file relative to a folder called Results which

will be created inside your Project folder

The default given for these is the name of the Project, followed by an incremental number

(shown as 9999 during the design or your Project).

For the file name, the result of this rule will be appended to the original file name of each

model.



We will be changing these rules later in the training, but for now we will leave them as they

are.

Each Model has a rule for Configuration. Only create a rule for these if you wish to change the

configuration you wish to use in your model. Again, we will do this later in the training.

Let's create rules for the dimensions first.

Rather than scroll up and down looking for the dimension rules, you can type a filter in the

filter box at the top of the Rules List.

26. Type dim in the filter box to only show rules with dim in any of its values

27. Select each one in turn, and click the Build button on the Command Bar

Since we have been to the effort of creating the Variables for most of these, or because we

are using a straight mapping from some Form Controls, the model rules are very straight

forward. We will add more complicated rules later in this training, but for now set the

following rules.

Name Component Rule

Width Rectangular Window WindowWidthReturn

Height Rectangular Window WindowHeightReturn

Window Width Wooden Door WindowWidthReturn

Window Height Wooden Door WindowHeightReturn

Height Wooden Door DWVariableDoorHeight

Width Wooden Door DWVariableDoorWidth

Length Door Jamb DWVariableFrameHeight

Length Top Door Jamb DWVariableFrameWidth – 2*DWVariableFrameThickness

Structural Opening Width Wall OpeningWidthReturn

Structural Opening Height Wall OpeningHeightReturn

Your dimension rules should now look like this:-



Again, don't worry if the Values differ from yours as these will depend on the values you

entered on your form in Test Mode

Tip:-

If you multi-select rules in the Model Rules List (by holding down Shift or Ctrl while selecting

with the mouse) and then click Build, you can build all of the selected rules at once. If one of

these rules already has a rule, that rule will be displayed in the Rule Editor.

28. Change the filter box text to be feat to show the rule for the feature that we captured.

We want to Suppress or Unsuppress this feature based on the Combo Box we added earlier.

29. Click on the Name in the Model List for the Feature rule.

30. Click Build on the Command Bar to launch the Rule Builder.

31. You will see a new Help Tab on the Help and Diagnostic section at the bottom of the Rule

Builder.

Tip:-

Click on this tab to see Help specifically related to the type of rule that you are building. This

will show whenever you are building rules for models.

32. The rule will be using logic, known as an IF function. The Rule Builder has built in Function

Wizards to assist you when building functions.



33. Click on the arrow at the bottom of the Functions button on the Rule Builder Command

Bar.

34. Click on the IF entry to activate the Function Wizard at the bottom of the Rule Builder.

For an IF function, three text boxes allow you to enter the three arguments.

These arguments are:-

IF This is the condition that will be evaluated

Then If the condition is evaluated to be TRUE, use this value

Otherwise If the condition is evaluated to be FALSE, use this value

We are going to enter the following

IF WindowReturn = "Rectangular"

Then "Unsuppress"

Otherwise "Suppress"

This means that if the Combo Box value is set to Rectangular, then the feature will be

Unsuppressed (it may already be unsuppressed, in which case no action will be taken), and if it

isn't set to Rectangular, then it will be Suppressed.

Tip:-

If any of the three text boxes on the function wizard have focus, then double clicking on an

item in the Form and Variable Browser will add that item to the focussed text box.

35. Click in the First of the three boxes on the Function Wizard.

36. Browse to the Forms on the right, and double click the Window Control Name.

37. Then type ="Rectangular"

38. Click in the second text box on the function wizard and type "Unsuppress".



39. Click in the third text box on the function wizard and type "Suppress".

40. Click Finish to add the function to the Rule Editor.

41. Click OK to apply the rule.

Concept:-

If you have text that is likely to be entered into the Rule Editor numerous times, you can store

it as quick text. Click the Quick Text button on the Rule Builder Command Bar, and type in

your frequently used text, hitting return between each item.

Once you close the Quick text Dialog, clicking on the arrow will display your Quick Text. Click

on the text to add it to the Rule Editor.

The last rule we are going to build at this stage of the training is to suppress the Rectangular

Window model, if the Form value is set to be "None".

42. Click the Refresh button on the Command Bar to clear the currently selected Components,

and clear the Rules List.

43. In the Component tree, check the item Rectangular Window. The Rules List will now show

the Rules only for that component.



We are going to change the File Name rule to Suppress the rectangular window Component

when the form value in "None".

44. Select the Rectangular Window File Name row in the Model List

45. Click Build to launch the Rule Builder

46. Clear the current rule by clicking on the Clear button on the Command Bar

47. Use the IF Function wizard again by clicking on the arrow on the Functions button, and

selecting IF

48. Enter the following values in the three text boxes of the Function Wizard

IF WindowReturn = "Rectangular"

Then DWSpecification

Otherwise "Suppress"

Note:-

DWSpecification is a special variable used by DriveWorks Solo that is made up of the Project

Name followed by a sequential number that is incremented each time you fill out a new set of

forms.

It can either by typed in manually, or added automatically by clicking on the arrow on the

Quick Text button, and selecting:

Special Variables>Specification Name

Note also that DWSpecification is a variable and therefore does not need quotes around it

whereas "Suppress" is static text, and therefore does need the quotes.

49. Click Finish to add the result to the Rule Editor and Click OK to apply the Rule.



The meaning of this rule, when applied to this file name, is that if the form value for Window

is set to "Rectangular", then a new file will be created based on the master, with the

Specification Name as a suffix, otherwise the master model will simply be suppressed.

Note:-

Now you have your rules, you can sort and filter in a number of different ways.

Checking or Unchecking models in the Component Tree adds and removes them from the list.

Type in either the filter box above the Component Tree, or above the Model List to filter each

one in turn.

Click on any column header to sort by that column. Repeated clicks will toggle between

sorting ascending, descending and unsorted.

There are a few more rules we could build now for Captured Custom Properties, which we will

do later in this training.

You should now be ready to create some new models based on your Form and Rules.

Close the Project Designer, and click Save on the DriveWorks Solo Command Bar at the top of

the SolidWorks Task pane tab.



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 4



Running your Project

You now have everything set up to run your Project and create new models.

1. Close any open models in SolidWorks

2. Click the New Specification Button in DriveWorks Solo

Your form will appear on the Task Pane Tab, and the buttons on the Command Bar will change

to be appropriate for specification.

Concept:-

When filling out your forms in DriveWorks Solo, you can preview your models in SolidWorks at

any time.

If you have previewed your models at least once, then you will also be able to preview any

Drawings that you captured for the top level assembly.

You can also preview any documents you have captured. At this stage of the training, we have

not captured any documents.

3. Change the values on the form

4. Click the Preview button on the DriveWorks Solo Command Bar to see your models being

created based on the inputs and the rules that you created.

A copy of the top level assembly will now open in SolidWorks, and all of the files will have

been given temporary file names.



Change the values in your form, and click Preview again to see the updated model.

Note:-

Once the models have been opened initially, the preview will work on the opened file.

5. Click on the Drawings button to see a preview of the Drawing that you captured for the

Wooden Door and Frame

Don't worry at this point if the scale of the drawing doesn't look great, or if there are

misplaced views or dimensions.

Controlling these will be covered later in the training.

6. When you have finished previewing your models and drawing, click Finish at the bottom

of your form.

A Finish Dialog will appear.

Uncheck the boxes for the results that you do not wish to create.

Click Finish to update all of the files with the correct names, and to save them into the correct

folder. It will also at this point create all of the drawings captured, and not just the ones

associated with the top level assembly.

Note:-

The files that DriveWorks Solo creates during the previews have temporary file names and are

stored in a temporary folder. Even if you save them, they will be deleted after you click finish

on your Form, as they will already have been saved to the final location at that point.



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 5





Improving Your Project

Once you have a project set up in DriveWorks Solo, you can keep adding more options.

In this section, we are going to:-

Change the file naming and location Rules.

Use tabular data copied from Microsoft Excel.

Improve the Forms.

Add the option to have a Circular Window.

Drive model Colors, Materials and Textures.

Drive a SolidWorks Drawing including driving the scale and view position.

Create a quotation document based on a template.

File Name and Relative Path Rules

File Name: Where you build a rule for the name of the new model.

Concept:-

DriveWorks appends the result of the rule for File Name onto the existing file name with a

space in between. So if your original model is called Block and you have a rule that results in a

value of 123, then the new file will be called:

Block 123.

Relative Path: Where you build a rule for the location of the model.

Concept:-

The relative path is a file path that will be added onto the Results Folder, which is

automatically created inside your Project folder. So if your Project Folder is set to be

C:\DriveWorks\Projects and your relative Path rule results in a value of Acme\123 then the

new file will be placed in a folder called:

C:\DriveWorks\Projects\Results\Acme\123\

Alternatively, you can build a rule to an absolute path (Local, Mapped Drive or UNC) and the

new model will be placed in that folder.

Configuration: Where you build a rule for the configuration to use.



Concept:-

DriveWorks does not create new configurations in parts and assemblies. Instead it creates

new copies of those files. DriveWorks can however switch the used configuration based on

this rule, if the part or assembly has more than one configuration. If you do not want to select

a configuration to use based on a rule, then you can leave this rule blank.

First of all, we are going to add a text Box to our form so that an Order Number can be typed

in, we will then use that Order Number to name our files.

1. Open the Project Designer. If you are still running your forms, either click Cancel or Finish.

2. Go to the Form Design task in the Task Explorer.

3. Create a new Text Box on your form called OrderNumber.

Since we are going to use this order number to name files, we need to make sure that

whatever is entered is valid for a file name. The first validation is to make sure that something

is entered.

We do this by building a Form Warning using the Error Result dynamic property.

The Error Result rule will need to either calculate to be a text string, in which case that text

string is used as the form warning, or be calculated to be an empty text string which would

mean that the entry is valid.

4. Click in the Error Result property for the Text Box on the Property List.

5. Click on the button that appears which will launch the Rule Builder.

6. Use the IF function Wizard to build the following rule:-



We can further enhance this by adding the function ISVALIDFILENAME, which will make sure

that valid characters are entered suitable for a file name.

7. Update the rule to use a nested IF function as below.

Concept:-

Nested IF functions are created by placing a completed IF function, with its 3 arguments,

inside either or both of the last 2 arguments of an existing IF function.

8. Click the Function button on the Rule Builder Command Bar to find the ISVALIDFILENAME

function.

The above rule has had carriage returns and spaces added to make it clearer to read. While

this is not necessary, it does help if you need to re-visit the rule at a later date.


Now we can link the file name of our models to this OrderNumber.

10. Go to the model rules by clicking on Model Rules in the Task explorer

11. Right Click on the Wooden Door and Frame in the Component Tree and click Select

Children



12. Type file name in the filter box at the top of the Rules List

13. Multi-select all of the file name rules (except for the rule for the Rectangular Window, we

have already changed that so will need to modify it separately).

Tip:-

To multi select with exclusions, click the first rule, <shift>click (click with the mouse while

holding down the Control key) the last rule and then <control>click the one to exclude.

14. Click Build.

You will see the existing rule in the Rule Editor

For now, we are going to append the value typed in the OrderNumber field on our form, onto

the end of the original file name.

So if we type QT123 into the OrderNumber field, the new version of this assembly will be

called:

Wooden Door and Frame QT123

Note: - DriveWorks automatically adds the space between the original file name and the new

suffix.

15. Click the Clear button on the Rule Builder Command Bar to clear the Rule Editor.

16. In the Form Browser on the right, double-click on OrderNumber.

This creates the rule OrderNumberReturn.

17. Click OK to save the rules. The Rules and Values will be updated automatically in the Rules

List. Unless you entered a value for OrderNumber when you created it, the value will

currently be blank.



18. Next, select the Rectangular Window File Name rule and click Build.

19. Double click on the word DWSpecification in the Rule Editor.

20. In the Form Browser on the right, double-click on OrderNumber.

This will replace the selected text in the Rule Editor with the OrderNumberReturn

21. Click OK to apply the Rule

With the Order Number being used this way, and assuming an OrderNumber of QT543 is filled

out in the form, the following assembly structure would be produced.

There are however, a couple more things we could do at this stage with File Naming. We

could decide not to use the original file name in our new file name, or we could use a different

rule so that the new file name includes the parameters that drive it.

Let’s create a file name that does not use the original name.

22. Select the Wooden Door and Frame file name rule in the list of rules, with nothing else

selected.

23. Click Build to launch the Rule Builder.



24. Before the text OrderNumberReturn, type in "*" &.

Concept:-

You can string different bits of text together as well as variables, constants, form values etc,

using double speech marks around text, and linking text and variables together using the

ampersand character (&).

The rule should now look like this:

"*" & OrderNumberReturn

Concept:-

Having the asterisk (*) at the start of a file name rule tells DriveWorks Solo to exclude the

original name when it calculates the new file name.

Going back to the original example, we would now get the following results based on entering

the order number QT543:

Note the new name for the Wooden Door and Frame.

We can now take this one stage further by building up a text string for the new name for the

component Top Door Jamb.

25. Select the Top Door Jamb file name rule in the list of rules, with nothing else selected.

26. Click Build to launch the Rule Builder.

27. Click on Clear Rule and then build up a new rule using the Variable for FrameWidth and

adding the word long on the end.

Since DWVariableFrameWidth is a named value, and the word long is plain text, the rule

should look like this:-

DWVariableFrameWidth & " long"

Notice the space after the first speech mark and before the word long.



Now based on an OrderNumber of QT543 and an OpeningWidth of 1350 (which would

calculate the variable DWVariableFrameWidth to be 1330), the new assembly structure

created by DriveWorks Solo would look as follows:-

Note the driven name for the component Top Door Jamb 1330 long.

As DriveWorks Solo will use existing files if they exist, and create them if they don't, by using

the length in the file name, if DriveWorks Solo calculates that it has a requirement for the

same file, it will not be re-created, provided that its folder rules are also the same.

We can therefore change the Relative Path rule for the Top Door Jamb to place its files in a

folder called C:\MyModels\Standards

28. Select only the rule for the Relative Path of the Top Door Jamb. Filtering the Rule List or

only checking the Top Door Jamb item in the Component Tree may help you find this.

29. Click Build to open the Rule Builder.

30. Enter the new rule:

"C:\MyModels\Standards"

31. Click OK to save the rule.

Note:-

The folder structure inside a Relative Path rule is created using the \ separator. However you

should not have a \ at the start or end of the Relative Path rule.

32. Close the Project Designer, click on the save button on the DriveWorks Solo Command Bar

and Specify more models by filling out the forms. When you click finish, note the names

and locations of the files created.



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 6



Static Replacement Files

DriveWorks Solo has the ability to swap in replacement files for the files in your master

assembly.

In order to do this, we need to tell DriveWorks Solo that replacement files exist.

1. With the Project Designer closed, make sure the lever handle part is open and is the active

document, either by opening it in SolidWorks using the File Open browser, or by double

clicking on it in the DriveWorks Solo Captured Models section.

2. Once open, activate the Replacement Model section by clicking on its header in the

Capture Explorer.

In the Training files folder, there is a file called Ball handle.SLDPRT.

3. On the Replacement Models section, click the Browse button and browse for the Ball

Handle.SLDPRT part.

This tells DriveWorks Solo that we may want to swap in the Ball Handle to replace the Lever

Handle.

Now we need to tell DriveWorks Solo when to swap it in. For this we will need to add another

form control.

4. Open the Project Designer, and go to the Form Design section by clicking on the Form

Design task in the Task Explorer.

Option Groups



1. Add an Option Group to your form, giving it the name Handle.

Option groups behave in a similar way to Combo Boxes, in that they have a dynamic or static

list of options where you choose one from many when you fill out the form.

2. Build a rule for the Items property of your new Option Group

3. Type "Lever|Ball" in the Rule editor and click OK.

Picture Box

1. Add a Picture Box to your form. Call it HandlePicture. Picture Boxes have a File Name

property. This uses the Rule Builder to help create a file name.

Note:-

The Picture file name rule can either be a full path, or relative to your Project Folder.

2. Select the File Name property in the Property List, and click the button to launch the Rule

Builder.

3. Click on the File button on the Rule Builder Command Bar.

4. Browse for the Ball Handle JPEG picture in the content folder of the training files. If this

folder is relative to the Project Folder, then the path of the Project Folder will be removed.

This will help when you either move your project, or distribute it to others.



This will now display the Ball Handle Picture at all times, unless we make it dynamic. We can

do that by editing the rule to use the value selection in the handle option group.

5. Change the rule to

"Content\" & HandleReturn & " Handle.jpg"

Notice that the word Ball has been replaced with a dynamic value, and since this is a

combination of static text and dynamic values, the ampersand (&) character is used along with

quote marks.

6. Click OK on the Rule Builder.

Your Form should now look something like this.

If you don't see the picture change based on your selection for handle, there are two possible

reasons.

Either the files are not where you have referenced them (have a look in the folder, and make

sure your rule points to that folder bearing in mind the Project Folder) or the pictures are



bigger that the picture box and therefore you are only seeing the top left corner of the

picture. If this is the case, try changing the Size Mode property for the picture box to

StretchImage or Zoom.

We now need to update the rule for the Lever Handle file name to swap in the Ball Handle if

that option is selected.

Model Rules – Replacement Files

1. In the Model Rules, build the rule for the File Name of the Lever handle.

The Rule will be as follows

2. Use the IF Function Wizard as before to help you build the rule.

3. Now, if the Lever Option is selected in the Option Group, then a new Lever will be created

with the Order Number as a suffix to the original file name. If Ball is selected, then the

Lever Handle will be replaced with the Ball Handle.

4. Close the Project Designer and test the swapping of the file by filling out your form and

previewing.

Concept:-

You will notice that the Ball Handle swaps in successfully for the Lever Handle without errors

in the mates. This is because the internal ID of the mates is the same in both models. To

achieve this, the Lever Handle had been copied to be the Ball Handle, and the geometry then

changed.



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 7



Tables

We can take the replacing of files even further with the ability to drive the replaced file once

swapped in. We will do this by swapping in a Circular Window to replace the Rectangular

Window

There are a few tasks that we can do now:

Use an existing Table in Microsoft Excel to update the Window Combo Box to include the

Circular window, and reference a picture.

Add a dynamic picture to the form, which will update whenever the Window Combo Box

is changed.

Capture the circular Windows dimensions.

Capture the Round Cut Out in the Door.

Update the rules for the Rectangular Window file name, and add a rule to

Suppress/Unsuppress the cut out.

1. Open up the Project Designer and select the Define Tables task in the Task Explorer.

2. Click the Add button on the Command Bar to add a new Table to your Project.

3. Assign a name for the Table. Call it Windows.

4. Click Finish on the New Table Dialog.

5. Open up the Excel File ExternalData.xls located in your training folder.

6. Highlight the table on the Sheet Windows and Copy the data onto your Clipboard. Make

sure you include the headers.

7. Select in the Cell A1 in the DriveWorks Table and Paste the data.



Concept:-

DriveWorks Solo tables can either be manually typed in, or have their data copied and pasted

from excel. It is important to have your data structured as a table, with appropriate headings

that mean something. This will become more obvious when we start to reference this table in

our rules.

8. Go back to the Form Design in the Project Designer, and select the Combo Box for the

window.

9. Click in the value for the Items Property in the Property List, and click the button to launch

the Rule Builder.

10. Clear the current rule.

We are now going to build a rule that will result in a list of every value in the first column of

our table, except for the header.

Click on the arrow below the Functions Button. Select LISTALL.

The Function Wizard will show at the bottom of the Rule Builder with two drop downs. The

first is a list of all the tables you have in your Project, at this stage only one, and once you have

selected in the first drop down, the second will have the column headers of that table.

Tip:-

This is the reason why we mentioned earlier that having meaningful header names is

important.

11. Select the name of your table in the first drop down (Windows).

12. Select the first header in the table in the second drop down (Window).

13. Click Finish. DriveWorks Solo will build the rule for you as shown below.



Note:-

The actual arguments passed into the function are the name of the Table, with a DWLookup

prefix to help DriveWorks Solo identify it as a table, and a number which is the column

number in the table.

14. In the Help and Diagnostics section at the bottom of the Rule Builder, select the Values

Tab.

The result is the same format as the static value that we had before with the Pipe bar as a

separator.

i.e. <Value1>|<Value2>|<Value3>| etc

15. Click OK to apply the rule and close the Rule Builder.

Since we now have a table of values, we can lookup other values in that table based on our

selection

16. Add another Picture to your form and call it WindowPicture, and click in its File Name

property and Launch the Rule Builder.

Rather than using the File button on the Command Bar, we are going to perform a lookup into

our table and find the corresponding picture for the Window selected in the Combo Box.

VLookup Function

The function we are going to use is VLookup. Since this is a common function, you will find it

by clicking on the arrow below the Functions button



There are four arguments of a VLookup:

Lookup This will be the value from the form (Window) and is used for the search

In The table that the data is in

Column The column where the resultant value is located

Match Type True if a nearest match is required, False if an exact search is required

Setting this to True is useful if you have numbers in your first column

Clicking VLookup will activate the Function Wizard for the VLookup function.

1. Click in the Lookup text box to give it the focus. Use the form browser on the right and

double click on the Control Name Window. As usual, this will add the control name with

the Return suffix.

2. In the First Combo Box, select the table we want to find the value in. At this point, you

will only have one in there. Select Windows.

3. In the second Combo Box, select the Column header that the result will come from. Select

Picture.

4. In the Match Type combo box, select Exact Match.

Note:-

Nearest match would be used if you had a sequence of numbers, say 1,2,3 and 4, and the

value you had to search on was for instance 2.8 in which case the nearest match is 2

You should have the results below

5. Click Finish to apply the results from the wizard.



6. Switch the form into Test mode in the form designer, and change the Window value to

see the picture update dynamically.

Tip:-

Remember, if you can't see the picture, either the paths are wrong, in which case manually

edit the Windows table, or change the mode of your Picture Box to either zoom or stretch

We are also going to enhance the form in a number of ways.

We will add a new form to enter the Window dimensions, but only if we have chosen a

window at all.

We will only show the dimensions specific to the type of window we are capturing.



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 8



Form Navigation

1. Click on the Form Navigation task on the task explorer

2. Click on the New Form button to add a new form to your project. Call the form Window

3. Click on the New Decision button to add a decision to your project. Call the decision

WindowReqd

Concept:-

Form navigation is achieved by dragging the Connection Points from one form or decision to

another. The Connection Points are the colored circles that appear either on a Form or

Decision, or near the entry point to the next Form or Decision for an already connected item

The decisions have a Green and Red Connection point. Forms have a grey Connection Point.

4. Drag the Connection Point on the end of the exit link of the Details form, and Drop it onto

the Window Required Decision.

5. Drag the Green Connection Point on the decision and drop it on the Windows From.

6. Drag the Red Connection Point on the decision and drop it on the Finish Node.

7. Drag the Grey Connection Point on the Windows form and drop it on the Finish Node.

8. Your Form Navigation should now look something like this:



Tip:-

Click on a form or decision to drag it around the screen. Use the alignment buttons on the

Command Bar to organize your navigation.

The final thing to do on the Navigation is to build a rule for the decision so that DriveWorks

Solo knows which form to show

9. Click on the Window Required decision.

10. Click the Build button on the Command Bar.

The result of this Rule needs to be either True or False.

If the rule calculates to be true, then the form with the green link will be shown, if the rule

calculates to be false, then the form with the red link will show.

If the next form happens to be Finish, then the specification will be finalized.

We want our rule to be true if either the Rectangular or Circular Window are selected.

11. Type the following in the Rule Editor:

WindowReturn <> "None"

Then if we pick anything other than None, the result will be True, and the Window form will

be shown:



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 9





Enhancing Your Forms

Now that our Form Navigation is complete, we need to add more controls to our forms.

1. Click on the Form design task on the task explorer.

2. Activate the Details Form in the form list on the right.

3. We are going to move the window size controls to the Window form.

4. Highlight the Window Height and Window Width boxes by either <Control> selecting

them both, or by drawing a rectangle around them with your curser.

5. Click the Cut button on the Command Bar (or use the keyboard shortcut <Control>X.

6. Switch to the Window form by selecting it in the Rule List at the top right of the Form

Designer.

7. Click the Paste button on the command bar (or use the keyboard shortcut <Control>V.

8. Add a new Numeric Text Box to the Windows Form called Diameter.

9. Set a Minimum and Maximum to be 200 and 600 respectively in the Property List.

The final task with the forms on this section is to hide the Window Width and Window Height

controls when a Circular Window is selected, and hide the Diameter control when a

Rectangular window is selected.

Concept:-

Controls can be hidden or disabled based on rules. Every form control has a Enabled and

Visible property that can be set dynamically

10. With the Diameter control still selected, click in its Visible property on the Property List.

11. Click the button in the Visible property to launch the Rule Builder.



12. Use the IF function wizard to create the following rule.

Using this rule, the Diameter will only be visible on the form at run time if the Circular window

is selected.

13. Click OK to apply the rule

14. Multi select the other 2 controls on the form Window Width and Window Height.

Note:-

Providing controls have the same properties, you can multi-select them and build rules for a

property that will then be applied to all selected controls.

15. Build a rule for the Visible property as below

The work for the Form in this section is complete.



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 10



Dynamic Replacement Files

Now that the form has been updated, we need to make sure that the model updates as well.

To do this, we need to capture the Circular Window model, and also capture the round cut out

in the door.

1. Close the Project Designer

2. Use the Captured Models Section to open the Wooden Door Part.

3. Select the Round Cutout feature in the SolidWorks feature tree.

4. Accept the default name that DriveWorks Solo has used and click Add.

Tip:-

Remember that if you have changed the name of a feature or dimension from the original

name that SolidWorks assigns, then DriveWorks Solo will recognize that, and use the changed

name.

5. Double click on the same feature in the SolidWorks Feature Manager, and capture the

diameter dimension. Call it Diameter.

Tip:-

Even though the feature is suppressed, you can still capture its sketch dimensions. That said,

you might find it easier to unsuppress it first if the sketch has many dimensions.

6. Open the model Circular Window.SLDPRT which can be found in the same folder as the

other training files using the SolidWorks File Open Menu or Command.

7. Click to capture the active model.

8. Capture the diameter dimension (double-click on the feature Extrude1 to display the

dimension). Use the name Diameter.

9. Open the Project Designer and activate the Model Rules task.

10. Click the Add button on the Project Designer Command Bar, check the Circular Window

and click OK.



Concept:-

You have now added another Component Set to your Project. DriveWorks Solo allows you to

have as many Component Sets as you want within an Project. You can then choose, based on

rules, whether to create None, One, Many or All of your component sets whenever you fill out

your forms.

You can also use any component set as a replacement for any model within your main

assembly

In this case, we will build a rule to replace the rectangular Window with the Circular Window

when we choose Circular from the Window Combo Box

You will see your new Component Set in the Model Rules Tree.

Note:-

If our rules dictate that the Circular Window will be required, then it must have its values

calculated before the main assembly itself. It is therefore important to move the Circular

Window to be above the Wooden Window and Frame in the tree.

11. Select Circular Window in the tree. Click the Move Up button on the Project Designer

Command Bar.



The next task for the Circular Window is to update the rules.

12. On the Model Rules task, check the Circular Window in the Model Tree.

Notice that the rules have already been filled in for the File Name and Relative Path.

We need to update the File Name rule to make sure that if we don't select the Circular

Window, then it won't get created at all.

13. Select the File Name rule for the Circular Window and click the Build button.

14. Use the IF function wizard to create the following rule.

15. Click Finish of the Function Wizard to add the rule to the Rule Editor.

16. Click OK on the Rule Builder to apply the rule.

17. Select the Diameter Dimension in the Rule List and click Build on the Command Bar.

18. Build a rule for the Diameter using a straight mapping from the Diameter input on the

Window form.

Next we need to build a rule for the Round Cutout and Diameter in the Wooden Door

Component.



19. Check the Wooden Door in the Model Tree to show its rules in the Model List.

20. Build a rule for the feature using the following:

Concept:-

Features will be removed from the model if the rule is calculated to be "Delete"

21. Build a rule for the Diameter using a straight mapping from the Diameter input on the

Window form

The final task is to tell DriveWorks Solo when to swap the rectangular window for the Circular

window, bearing in mind that we have already built a rule for the Rectangular window to

decide whether to suppress it if no window is selected

22. Check the Rectangular Window in the Model Tree and selecting its File Name rule in the

Rule List, click Build.

Concept:-

We are going to use a second IF function, nested inside the existing IF function.

23. In the Rule Editor, delete the word Suppress along with the quotes that surrounded it.

Make sure the curser is still in the position where this word used to be.



24. Click on the arrow below the Functions button on the Rule Builder Command Bar, and

select IF to show the IF Statement Wizard.

In the first argument, use:

WindowReturn = "Circular"

In the second argument we want to use the name of the component set to use, if Circular is

selected.

Concept:-

You may have noticed that there is a new tab on the Form and Variable Browser called

Components.

This gives you an easy way of building a rule to replace one component with another.

25. Once you have clicked in the second argument on the Function Wizard, using the

Components Tab, double click on the Circular Window Component.

This adds the text "<Replace>Circular Window" including the quotes.

26. In the third argument, type the word "Delete" using the quotes.

Concept:-

If a File Name rule equates to the text "Delete" then the model will be removed from the new

copy of the assembly it is in.

27. Click Finish on the Function Wizard to add its text to the Rule Editor at the place where

the curser is.

The resultant rule will be a nested IF function, and with spaces and line breaks added for

clarity, will look like this:



Test your models by running your forms. Preview each option to ensure that you get the

results that you expect.

Tip:-

If you do not get the results you expect, make sure you look in the Release Reports and Model

Generation reports.

Now add some of the other controls to your form, such as Dynamic Labels. These are handy

when giving onscreen instructions. Building the dynamic Caption Property based on a rule

allows you to give the instruction required dynamically.



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 11



Driving Custom Properties

In the first Capture section of this training, we captured some custom properties in our

models. We will now drive these custom properties, including driving Color and Material.

1. In the Project Designer, activate the Model Rules task.

2. Right Click on the Wooden Door and Frame and click Select Children.

3. Filter the Rules list by typing custom in the filter box.

Custom Property - Text

1. Select the Description custom property for the Top Door Jamb.


We are going to make this text dynamic based on the length of the top door jamb, which is

linked to the Frame Width.

3. Create a rule that builds up a text string.


Custom Property - Date

1. Select the Date custom property for the Top Door Jamb.




We are going to make this text dynamic based on today's date, which will then be Formatted.

To do this, we will use the TEXT (<<Value>>, <<Format>>) function

We will also use the function TODAY() which will use today's date.

3. Create a rule that builds up a text string based on today's date.


Custom Property – Color

DriveWorks Solo recognises the custom property DWColor (and DWColour) and uses its value

to drive the color of the model. The calculated value of the rule needs to be in the format

"255|126|126" where the numbers represent the RGB color.

The spreadsheet that we used earlier (ExternalData.xls located in your training folder) has a

second sheet with a table of Standard Colors.

1. Create a new Table in DriveWorks Solo and call it Colors.

2. Open the Spreadsheet ExternalData.xls.

3. Highlight the table on the Sheet Color and Copy the data onto your Clipboard. Make sure

you include the headers.

4. Paste the data into your new table, remembering to paste into Cell A1.



5. Create a new Combo Box on your Details form called FrameColor.

6. Build a rule for the Dynamic Items Property by click on the button that appears in the

Items Property value box.

7. Use the LISTALL function wizard to create a list based on the first column in the table.

8. Click Finish to add the resultant function to the Rule Editor.

9. Finally, switch back to the Model Rules task in the Task Explorer.

10. Multi-Select the DWColor custom property for the Top Door Jamb and Door Jamb.


12. Build a VLOOKUP function rule using its Function Wizard (Found by clicking on the arrow

below the Functions button).



13. Click Finish to add the result to the Rule Editor.


Custom Property – Material

DriveWorks Solo recognises the custom property DWMaterial and uses its value to drive the

material of the model.

1. Add a List Box to your Details Form using the name DoorMaterial.

2. Build a rule for the Items property of the List Box.

3. Use the LIST Wizard to build up a list of Materials (found by clicking on the arrow below

the Functions button).

4. Type the values Oak, Pine, Beech, Maple, Mahogany, with each on a new line.

5. Click Finish to add the text to the Rule Editor.



6. Click OK to apply the rule and add the values to the list box.

7. Finally, switch back to the Model Rules task in the Task Explorer.

8. Select the DWMaterial custom property for the Wooden Door.


10. Build a rule using the new list box value.




DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 12



Documents

DriveWorks Solo is shipped with some template documents. One example of this is a

Quotation. The quotation is based on XML and creates an HTML document.

1. Open the Project Designer and click on the Documents task.

2. Click the Add button to on the Command Bar to add a document to your Project.

3. Select the Quotation template and give the document a name. Use Quote.

4. Click Finish to add the document to your Project.

The Document View will switch automatically to edit the details of the document. Here you

can build rules to drive the document.

Concept:-

As with models, documents require a File Name rule and a Relative Path rule. Again, as with

models, these have been created for you, although you can change them if required to your

desired location.

Documents then have Values that can be driven based on rules.

All of these values are automatically mapped through to Variables that are also added when

you created the document.

5. Click the Preview button on the Command Bar. This will open the document in a Browser.

Notice that there are default values in the document that are all driven from Variables. The

easiest way of updating these values is to update the Variables that drive them.



6. Activate Variables by clicking on the Define Variables task on the Task Explorer.

You will see two new Variable Categories added to your Project, one called Common and one

with the same name as your document.

7. Click on the Common Category in the Category Tree.

The Variable List will show the Variables in this Category.

In the Common Category you will see Variables for things like Company Name, Company

Address (3 lines), Quote Number as well as some dates, and a Customer Contact and Address

8. Click on the Quote Category in the Category Tree.

In the Category with the same name as your document (Quote) there is some general

information such as some terms, and if you drill down into this category in the category tree,

there is a sub category called Line Items, which itself contains a Category for 10 line items.

Each of these sub categories has 4 Variables for Quantity, Description, Discount and Unit Price.



If you build any of the rules for these variables, they will automatically be updated in the

document.

9. Click on the Company Name Variable either in the Category Tree (in the Common

category) or click the Common category to show its Variables in the list.

10. With the Variable selected, click Build.

11. Change the default text to be your Company Name and since it is static text, use quotes.

12. Change the Default Strap line Variable.

13. Drill down into the Category Tree and build a rule for the Description of Quote Item 1

using Variable QuoteItem1Desc.

This name could be different based on the name you gave the document.

The rule will build up text using static text and dynamic text based on your form selections.

Use the Values and Steps helpers at the bottom of the Rule Builder to assist you in getting the

syntax correct.



14. Next build a rule for the Item 1 Unit Price using the Variable QuoteItem1UnitPrice.

This name could be different based on the name you gave the document.

At this point, it doesn't matter that our price is in any way accurate.

The rule we build will take into account the overall size of the Door, with a factor for the type

of window used.

Don't use a currency symbol in this rule, just use numbers. The currency symbol is also a

Variable, allowing you to change it based on rules.

We are also going to format the result to always show 2 decimal places using the TEXT

function

Start off by multiplying the OpeningHeight and the OpeningWidth, and then divide it by 4000

(arbitrary number)

15. Next, multiple this by a factor based on the type of window selected. There is data in the

table we created for this.

16. Use the Vlookup Function Wizard to assist with this.

17. Click Finish to add the resultant text to the Rule Editor.

Make sure the Cursor is in the correct place in the Rule editor before using the wizard.



18. Finally, make sure we format the text to show 2 decimal places. To do this, we need to

use the text we have so far as the first argument of the TEXT function.

TEXT( <<Text to format>>, <<Format>> )

19. Click on the Function button on the Rule Builder Command Bar. In the dialog that pops

up, select the TEXT function from the list (use the Filter at the top to reduce the list).

20. Cut and Paste the text from the Rule Editor into the first text box on the TEXT wizard.

21. Type "0.00" in the second argument, which will format the text to always show 2 decimal

places.

For more information on the formatting options of the TEXT function, look in the DriveWorks

Solo Help file



22. Click Finish to add the text from the wizard into the Rule Editor.


24. Change the Item 1 Qty to be a static value of 1. (For the adventurous among you, create a

spin button on your form, and link this quantity variable to the value of the spin button).

25. Change the Description for Line Item 2 to show text based on the Handle selection on the

form by building a rule for the Variable QuoteItem2Desc

26. Change the Item 2 Unit Price so that it changes dynamically based on your Handle

selection

27. Change the Item 2 Quantity to be a static value of 2.



28. Select the Documents task on the Task Explorer and Preview your document.



DriveWorks Solo

Design Automation

for SolidWorks

Lesson 13



Drawings

We can improve the Drawings that we have already captured, by controlling sheet scale, view

positions, Annotation text and much more.

This section covers the capturing and driving of Drawing parameters.

Capturing Drawing Detail

1. With the Project Designer closed, activate the Captured Models section by clicking on its

section header in the capture explorer. If you have no models open in SolidWorks, this

will be the only section.

2. Expand the Captured Models Tree and double click on the Wooden Door and Frame

drawing.

The drawing is identified by a different icon to the assembly and is a child of the assembly or

part that it is attached to.

Once the drawing has opened, the Capture explorer will change to be specific to capturing

drawings with different sections to parts and assemblies



Capture Sheets and Views

The first section is Sheets and Views, which is used to capture the sheets and views that you

wish to control.

Concept:-

If you capture a Sheet, you will be able to control its scale based on rules, as well as its state.

Sheet state allows you to Delete a sheet, or rename it based on rules.

If you capture a View, you will be able to control its position on the sheet, its state (which

Configuration to show, and gives the ability to delete it) and its scale, providing its scale is not

linked to the sheet or its parent view,

1. Check all of the Sheets and Views. We are going to control them all.

Notice that an image appears at the top of the Capture Explorer showing the layout of each

sheet. If you select a View in the tree, it will be highlighted in green in the layout picture.

You can also resize any of the panes in the Capture Explorer by dragging, as shown in the

picture above.

Information is also displayed about the current size and position of views and sheets, as well

as the Captured information that will be driven based on your rules.



Notice in the picture that the Scale of Drawing View4 will not be controlled as it is linked to

the sheet scale.

Capture Annotation text

1. Activate the Annotation Text section by clicking on its section header.

Capturing annotation text allows you to drive text on your Drawing based on rules. As with

model dimensions, we capture annotation text by selecting it in the Drawing, and assigning a

meaningful name to it in DriveWorks Solo.

2. Switch the Drawing to view Sheet 2 in SolidWorks.

3. Select the text on Sheet 2 which currently reads Door-DoorSize.

4. In DriveWorks Solo, enter a meaningful name. Use Door Text.

5. Click Add to capture the Annotation text.

6. Select the text on Sheet 2 which currently reads Frame-FrameSize.

7. In DriveWorks Solo, enter a meaningful name. Use Frame Text.


9. Select the text on Sheet 2 which currently reads ContainsWindowReqd.

10. In DriveWorks Solo, enter a meaningful name. Use Window Text.




You can also capture View Dimensions in the section, to enable you to control the text to the

left, top, right and bottom. Information on the rules required to do this can be found in the

help file.

Capture Annotation Positions

1. Activate the Annotation Positions section by clicking on its section header.

When you capture annotation positions around a view, they are placed back in the same

relative position to their location during capture.

You can link the positions to the top or bottom and then either the left or the right.

2. In the Capture Explorer, on the Annotation Positions section, select Drawing View4 in the

tree.

The selected view will be highlighted in Green in the preview, and the view will be selected in

SolidWorks. If the Drawing is not showing the correct sheet, then this will be activated

automatically.



3. In SolidWorks, draw a fence around the dimensions and balloons on the left of the view.

This will highlight the dimensions and balloons in SolidWorks to the left of the view.

4. Check the Left Checkbox.

5. Click Apply.



The selected dimensions will be added to the tree. Without the need for Rules, these

dimensions will be placed back in these relative positions when a new drawing is created,

regardless of the size of the new model and view.

We will now do the same for the Top, Right and Bottom.

6. In SolidWorks, draw a fence around the balloons on the top of the view.

Tip:-

SolidWorks does not always update the selected items collection when selecting balloons. If

you <Control>Select a dimension to select it, and then <Control>DeSelect the same dimension

to deselect it, then SolidWorks will update its selected items collection allowing you to

capture Balloons only.

This will highlight the balloons in SolidWorks to the top of the view.

7. Check the Top Checkbox.

Notice that the Left Checkbox has changed to be a partially selected state. This is because

some of the currently selected annotations are already captured to the left, and some of the

currently selected annotations are not.



8. Click Apply.

9. In SolidWorks, draw a fence around the balloons on the right of the view. Again, you may

need to <Control>Select and <Control>Deselect a dimension to get SolidWorks to update

its selected items collection.

10. Check the Right Checkbox.



11. Click Apply.

12. In SolidWorks, draw a fence around the dimensions and balloons on the bottom of the

view.

Tip:-

When drawing the fence in SolidWorks, if you draw from Top Left to Bottom Right, it selects

everything that is inside the fence. If you select from Bottom Right to Top Left, if selects

everything that is inside the fence AND everything that crosses the fence.

13. Check the Bottom Checkbox.



Notice again that the Left and Right Checkboxes have changed to be a partially selected state.

This is because some of the currently selected annotations are already captured to the left

and right, and some of the currently selected annotations are not.

14. Click Apply.

You can use any selection method you choose to select annotations, including single click

select, and multi click select using the <Control> key.

If you move any dimensions around on the sheet after capture, simply click the Update

Positions button.

You can also deselect Captured annotations, by selecting them in SolidWorks, and checking

the appropriate position check box until it is the state you require.

Capturing Layers

DriveWorks Solo allows you to control the visibility of Layers on your Drawing.



1. Activate the Layers section by clicking on its header in the Capture Explorer.

The list will then show the current Layers in your Drawing.

To Capture a Layer, check it in the list. For the purposes of this training we are going to

capture the Layer Description Text. The annotations you captured earlier for the Door, Frame

and Window Text are the only items on this layer. Using a rule to hide the layer will therefore

hide these annotations.

2. Check the layer Description Text in the list.

Capturing Custom Properties

DriveWorks Solo allows you to control Drawing Custom Properties so that you can drive their

text based on rules.

1. Activate the Custom Properties section by clicking on its section header.

The custom Properties Section will show you all of the Custom Properties that are currently in

your Drawing.



In this particular Drawing, the Custom Property PARTNO. is linked to the Drawing Number

field in the Drawings border.

2. Use the filter box at the top to filter the custom properties by typing in the word Part.

3. Check the PART NO. custom property to capture it.

Note:-

As with Model Custom Properties, you can add new Custom Properties to your Drawing by

typing in a new Custom Property Name and clicking Create.

Capturing File Formats

DriveWorks Solo allows you to export you driven drawing to different file formats.

1. Activate the File Formats section by clicking on its header.



2. Check the PDF item.

Each time you create a new version of this drawing, you will now get a PDF version

automatically.

Building Rules for the Drawing

The captured information in the drawing can now have rules built to control their values.

1. Open the Project Designer by clicking on the button on the DriveWorks Solo Command

Bar.

2. Click on the Drawing Rules task in the Task explorer.

3. The Tree shows the captured models. Drill down to the appropriate model to see its

drawing.

4. Select the drawing Wooden Door and Frame in the tree. The drawings again have a

different icon to the parts and assemblies.

The rules for this drawing now appear in the rules list, and the preview and information will

show at the bottom, depending on which sheet/view you select.

The bottom section is for information only, and will allow you to see which view you are

working on using the preview, and to see the current information about each sheet and view.

The Drawing rules also have a filter box to assist you when looking for rules.

Notice that rules have automatically been created for the File Name and Relative Path just as

they were for Parts and Assemblies

Layer Rules

We will start by building a rule for the captured Layer. We may want a Check Box on our form,

to let the user decide whether or not to show that layer.



1. Add a Check Box control to the Details Form called ShowDrawingNotes.

2. Back on the Drawing Rules, select the rule for the Description Text layer and click Build.

3. Build an IF statement rule such that if the ShowDrawingNotes Check Box is checked, then

the Layer will be visible, and if not, it will be hidden.

Annotation Text Rules

Annotation text is controlled by building a rule that will be calculated to be a text string.

1. Select the Door Text rule in the Drawing Rules List.

2. Click Build.

3. Build a rule that will describe the door.

4. Select the Frame Text rule in the Drawing Rules List

5. Click Build

6. Build a rule that will describe the frame



7. Select the Window Text rule in the Drawing Rules List.

8. Click Build.

9. Build a rule that will describe the window.

If there is no window, then we should delete the note. The rule also needs to take into

account of the type of window. We will use a nested IF function.

Custom Property Rules

Custom Properties are controlled by building a rule that will be calculated to be a text string.

1. Select the PARTNO. rule in the Drawing Rules List.

2. Click Build to build a rule for the PARTNO. custom Property.

Build a rule for the part number. In this case we are going to build up a text string based on

some of the items that will change.



Notice the use of the LEFT function to return the first character from the Window and Lever

selections.

Sheet Rules

3. Select the Sheet1-Sheet State rule in the Drawing Rules List.

4. Click Build to build a rule for the sheet state of sheet1.

For sheet state, you can build a rule that will evaluate to the result "Delete" if you want to

delete the sheet, or to some other text value if you wish to rename the sheet.

Renaming sheets can be useful as DriveWorks Solo will automatically export a DWG or DXF file

based on that sheet if the name is changed to either of those.

We will build a static rule that will automatically export a DWG fine of sheet1 each time a new

drawing is created.

5. Create a static text rule that will change the name of the sheet.

The only other items we are going to build for the sheets at this point are the scale values.

Concept:-

DriveWorks Solo allows you to build a rule for both the Scale Numerator and the Scale

Denominator. If the Numerator is greater than the Denominator, then the scale will be

greater than 1:1 and visa versa.

It is normal practice to set one of these values to a static value of 1.

6. Build a rule for the Scale Numerator of both Sheet1 and Sheet2 to be a static value of 1.

We now need to calculate the scale Denominator. In this case, because of the orientation and

types of views that we have on our sheets, the only dimension that will significantly influence

the required scale of the sheet is the Opening Height.

Your Sheet scale rules may need to take into account multiple dimensions

We will use a simple rule, calculated from the basis that:-



NewScale = NewHeight

ExistingScale ExistingHeight

Transposed for the New Scale, we get:

NewScale = ( NewHeight / ExistingHeight ) * ExistingScale

And then to make sure that we only get a whole number, we can add the roundup function

with an argument of Zero decimal places

NewScale = ROUNDUP( ( NewHeight / ExistingHeight ) * ExistingScale , 0 )

7. Using this, build a rule for the Scale Denominator of both sheets.

Where 2245 is the current size in the model for the opening height, 20 is the current scale.

Tip:-

This will possibly result in a non-standard sheet scale. If you want to use standard sheet

scales, create a table of allowable sheet denominators, and then use the VLOOKUP function to

find the nearest value, both looking up in, and returning from, the first column.

View Rules

Since the View scales are linked to either the sheet, or the parent view scale, we don't need to

build rules for these for this drawing. If we did, we would build them in exactly the same way

as the Sheet scale.

Concept:-

The View state rules can be built to delete a view, if the result of the rule is evaluated to be

"Delete".

We now need to build rules to position the views on our drawing. When a drawing gets

rescaled, the views can be moved to new locations. Building these rules ensures that the

views are positioned exactly where we want them.

These rules will control the Top Left position of each view.



You can drive your view positions to be exactly where you want them, although in this case,

we are going to build rules to position them back to their original locations on the sheet.

The original locations can be found by clicking on each view in turn in the bottom panel of the

Drawing Rules List and noting the Top and Left positions in the Information Panel.

1. Build the rules for all of the View Positions to locate them back to their original locations.

Notice that position has been typed into the filer box to limit the rules to the view positions,

and also that approximate values have been entered compared with the exact current

locations of the views.

Tip:-

If a view is aligned to another View in SolidWorks, then DriveWorks Solo will ignore driving the

position in the alignment direction.

The work on Drawings for this training is complete.

Run your Project a few times to ensure that all of the rules are correct and that you are

receiving the desired results. If you are not receiving the results that you expected, re-visit

and amend your rules accordingly.



Appendix Preparing Your Models for Automation

The models that were provided for you during this evaluation were created with automation

through DriveWorks in mind. They therefore have no design tables, or in-context design, and

have been mated together on pre-defined planes.

When DriveWorks creates new model sets based on the masters, it is copying files and then

re-referencing any associated files.

It is therefore wise to construct the models and create mates knowing what is to be driven.

For instance, if you mate parts in an assembly based on one of its features, and then delete

that feature based on a rule, the mate will error in the new clone.

It is therefore important to understand just how models will be driven. It is also important to

be able to understand the design logic, especially when building and testing the rules. If in-

context design is used, along with design tables and/or equations, and then DriveWorks is also

used to drive dimensions, features and custom properties, correcting any unexpected model

results can be hard work, as it’s difficult to know where to look first to resolve the issue.

In-context Design

Be careful with in-context design when drilling down more than one level. DriveWorks is fine

with one level of in-context design, but because DriveWorks is creating new files based on the

masters, you need to be careful to ensure that the correct model is referenced at all times.

Therefore do not have a Part in an assembly that is modelled up to a face on a different part in

the same assembly, as the references will not update correctly when new clones are created.

DriveWorks will also not update references if a Part is in a sub assembly, which is in an

assembly, and the part is modelled in-context of the top level assembly. Stick to one level

only.

If multi level in-context design is insisted upon, then have sketches or planes in the sub

assembly that are in-context with the assembly, and then drive the Part from the sub

assembly.

Part Equations

Using part equations is fine, although DriveWorks will only perform the rebuild operation once

and after it has driven dimensions, features and custom properties. If the equations are in the

wrong order, subsequent manual rebuilds may be required.



That said there is an argument to say that if you are controlling dimensions from DriveWorks

based on rules, there is little need to use equations.

Assembly Equations

Avoid using assembly equations. They can cause unexpected results in the resulting files.

Configurations

DriveWorks can use rules to select an existing configuration to use, but it does not create new

configurations. Also when it is driving a dimension or feature, it will do this for all

configurations, unless the feature or dimension is configuration specific, then it will only be

driven in that configuration.