SW suitable for large machines?

The problem is that it creates temp files in the location of the files,
particularly not good if it's a network folder. At at least one
customer site where there were problems with crashing, we were able to
demonstrate that 100% of the "random" crashes created while I was there
were attributed to opening files by double click in Windows Explorer.

 

Ok, now I'm confused. At first I presumed you were talking about the ~
files, and I thought maybe what I thought about them wasn't true. So I
tried a test, and the ~ files showed up in the SW model folder regardless of
the method used to open the SW file, so that couldn't be it. So I then
looked for other temp files, and found none.

So, the only thing I can think of that you may be referring to is that prior
to SW2005, the journal file used to be put wherever the model was if you
opened with Windows Explorer, but if you opened through SW, it would put it
in the prescribed location. Or am I missing something else here? What temp
files are there besides the ~ files or the backup files?

WT

 

I'm pretty sure that particular "best practice" was developed in 2004,
and became part of the canon. Old habits die hard. Still, I'm not sure
that the fact that you can't think of a reason to follow it necessarily
means you shouldn't follow it. I'm personally a bit superstitious about
things like that, knowing that the only thing I know for sure is that I
surely don't know everything that's going on.

There are a lot of other reasons to use the open dialog instead of
Windows Explorer, such as the preview, availability of the Description
info, config access, references access for assemblies, etc. Of course
there are reasons not to use open such as its insistance on using List
view instead of whatever you used last time you used the Open dialog
(thumbnails, details), or remember the window size.

Try the test with a part on a floppy disk and see how much time it
spends accessing the disk.

Matt

 

Matt,

I personally don't see a difference. I have been opening files from Windows
Explorer for years. My files are on a network server. I can't tell a
difference in speed or reliability if I use the open dialog or W.E. I can't
even tell a difference if the files are local or not [ ok, unless its on a
floppy ]. It has just never been an issue except for the problem that I
previously described, which I have a simple workaround for.

I understand the advantages that you describe for using the open dialog.
And I do use the open dialog when I need to use one of these features (i.e.
reference access). I just simply find it easier to understand my file
structure by looking at the 'ol Explorer window. Another advantage of
opening from Explorer that you didn't mention is that you can open multiple
documents at one time, which I do often.

 

As I mentioned, that was my suspicion and the fact that Matt couldn't come
up with any other real example for SW2005 tells me that we have probably
properly recognized the issue. The change in the journal file location was
made in SW2005, and was certainly a valid factor before then, and as Matt
said, old habits die hard - especially when you don't see a compelling
reason to change from the current practices.

WT

 

I thought 2003 started the journal file control.

 

Well, now you had me questioning my memory, which admittedly isn't what it
used to be, so I went back to my writup from SWW2005. Item 11 from the CAD
Manager's Boot Camp:

SW2005 has fixed the issue of SW putting its journal file wherever you first
double-click. It now always puts it at the location specified in the file
locations setting, regardless of how you start SW.

So, if I wrote it, it must be true????

WT

 

Oh, gee, and I was thinking that just because I told 2003 to put the
journal file somewhere that it would always go there.

 

Ahhh, the heartbreak of the truth. Sorry, bud.

WT

 

Activault is a PDM which adds overhead to files coming out the server.
But, a client has 2000 parts, 400 files in a 1.2 GB assy and it takes 5
mins. to pull through the net.

 

Yeah, that's a tragic likeness. I wrote a white paper on
troubleshooting crash prone systems back in 2001 or 2002 and it wound
up on the Trimech site, the SW site, a couple eZine sites, and several
others as well as my own.

A lot of the stuff on my site is starting to get a bit dated. I should
do some pruning when I get some time for it.

 

Thanks all for your response so far.
Thought you might like an update of our findings.
We now have exported our large machine assemblies as parasolid files and
imported them into SolidEdge v17 and Pro/E WildfireII tryout versions. Then
we have doubled and tripled the machine numbers within the assemblies.
It's really a revelation to see the difference in performance between the
two, when it comes to loading files, save, copy a machine within the
assembly and such. Also drawing generation is several times faster with
Pro/E. And then the 3D graphic environment is vastly more quick and
distinct too. I can zoom and turn the massive machine layout like it was
just one little part with Pro/E, while SolidEdge lags and show long delays
in zoom performance from the scroll wheel and generally feels more like
struggling in syrup. I don't have a Quadro card, but the Nvidia gForce
7800GTX, and with Pro/E I can see no need whatsoever for a more expensive
video card. The 2D drawing environment in SolidEdge is to die for though.
How do all you guys who don't have that, draw hydraulic schemes and such?
With AutoCad?
Another thing we have realised during these tests is a critical need for an
update from 100 Mbit to Gigabit speed in the server network. Local kept
files are treated several times faster than files kept on the server. This
spells many minutes every time for loading and saving large assemblies.
All the best,
/per

 

Did you try importing the parasolids back into SolidWorks? I'm sure you
would notice speed improvements after importing back into SolidWorks as
the solids would now be dumb without a feature tree.

I might be wrong but I don't think this a fair comparison.

John Layne
www.solidengineering.co.nz