Fairly new

Joseph, also check out Matt Lombard's site for tips:

http://www.dezignstuff.com/blog/

Bo

 

Thanks, I have it!

 

Thanks, I have it!

Your welcome, Joesph. The SolidWorks Bible is not an easy read but it
contains the information you need to solve this problem. It's well
worth the struggle. Making the time to really understand what is in
the SolidWorks Bible will separate you from most SolidWorks users who
have no clue what proper modeling is all about.

 

"that's why I don't post in the SolidWorks newsgroup any longer." -
Jon Banquer - Aug 2, 2001

"I'd hate to be using SolidWorks" -Jon Banquer - Jan 15, 2005

Is it any wonder SaladWorks is now such a POS... and it's only gonna
get worse. . - Jon Banquer - May 20, 2005

"my copy of SolidWorks 2007 Bible showed up today." - Jon Banquer -
May 31, 2007

"I definitely feel I'm getting my $600 bucks worth from the
SolidProfessor videos I just purchased." - Jon Banquer - June 28, 2007

"It takes a lot of effort to really understand SolidWorks." - Jon
Banquer - Aug 8, 2007

 

Joseph,

The good news is that I and a lot of folks have made a lot of models
with SW and it has generally worked very nicely. You just need to
find out what is causing you the problems. I have had a number of
projects with an average of 200 to 300 parts with very little
problems. I have had some issues as the assemblies start to get
bigger then this, but most issues have been easily fixed by moving
parts into sub-assemblies.

Ed

 

Thanks, it appears to be something to do with external references, and using
call-back parts. i.e. parts used on other assemblies or in other directories.

I have set it up now with "NO" external references and have broken all external references
in current project. This seems to have stabilized it considerably.

Is there a way that I can use call-backs without having to copy them into my working
folder?

Thanks, Joseph

 

Thanks Bo!

 

Probably the number one rule to follow in SolidWorks is not to have parts or
assemblies with the same name living in different folders. The way that SW
finds files when they aren't in the directory you open their parent from is
not at all straightforward and can very easily get you into trouble.

It isn't a problem to have your "call-back" parts, so long as they stay in
the directories where you originally found them. If you found them on a
network directory, you might want to put a copy in a directory on your local
machine, assuming that you aren't too worried about them getting out of
date. If you do that, you need to make sure that your assemblies are
pointing to the local copy. An easy way to be sure of that is to have the
assemblies open when you save the part or subassembly to the new location
from SW. If you can't do that, because there are too many large assemblies
to have open on your machine at once, then it gets trickier.

Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems
"take the garbage out, dear"

 

This is not a good idea. It is very easy to get into trouble when you have
this checked. SolidWorks seems to have trouble working out the references
when they can come from mutliple places.

Having "Search file locations for external references" checked and no
location listed under "Referenced documents" should be pointless, but other
people say that they have problems when they run that way.

Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems
"take the garbage out, dear"

 

You may want to search this group for "best practices" and read thru
many of the previous recommendations.

I normally design the first part in an assembly so that it references
the assembly planes. Then plan the other parts so they mate with
things which either don't change like planes and base features, or
things that reliably change, such as fully defined sketch geometry.

When using imported cad models or native SW models from other sources
think about redefining your mate options. You are not stuck with what
comes out of the can.

Just because you can do something doesn't mean that's the most stable
way to do it. With some experience and taking the time to learn those
best practices SW is very stable.

regards, Diego