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How to Log your SolidWorks Installation after Getting an Error

Now that more and more companies are installing SolidWorks 2012, I'd like to take a moment and show you how to log an installation when you have install errors. If you do run into an install problem that you can't resolve, typically you would call tech support for help. Let me show you how to get a very detailed install log for technical support so they can resolve your issues as quickly as possible.

After you get an error that stops or crashes your install, before you try again, you will need to set an option in the install manager. Right mouse click on the title bar of the SolidWorks install manager and select "Installation Logging Levels" then pick "Create Windows Installer Logs (Slow)". See the image below.

Now continue to install SolidWorks and after you get the error and the install crashes again you can retrieve the log from:

XP
"Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\SolidWorks\Installation Logs\<version>"

Vista/Windows 7
"Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\SolidWorks\Installation Logs\<version>"

The log files will have the following naming convention:

<USERNAME>_<product>.log

After you have the log then call your reseller for help.

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Copying and Deriving Sketches

Sol and Sal are swapping some of their favorite SolidWorks tips and tricks:

Sol: “Of course…I know that! If I need to reuse sketch geometry, I can just copy geometry while I’m editing a sketch (Ctrl-C or Edit->Copy), and paste it into another sketch that I’m editing (Ctrl-V or Edit->Paste). Duh! I mean it’s a Windows program…right?”

Sal: “Hey, Sol, I can save you some time! If you wanted to reuse an entire sketch, you don’t even need to be in an editing environment. You can simply select your sketch in the Feature Manager, invoke the Copy function, select the face or plane on which you want the copy, and then select Paste. Viola! I just saved you at least four steps!”

It was about this time that Sam walked in.

“Hey, guys, you’re doing that the hard way!” Sol and Sal watched as Sam held down the Ctrl key and then just dragged sketches from the Feature Manager to any face or plane in the model. “How many more steps did that just save?”

Sol: Blink.

Sal: Gulp.

“But,” Sam continued, “have you ever needed these copied sketches to update whenever the original changes?”

“Yes,” Sol offered, “that would be especially useful for some of the Loft and Sweep features I use,” and Sal added “wouldn’t you just methodically link all the dimension values together as you created them?”

“Watch me,” Sam said, as he held down the Ctrl key and selected both his sketch and a new sketch plane, then slid up to the Insert menu pull-down and chose “Derived Sketch.” Right below “Sketch1” in the Feature Manager Sol and Sal saw that there was now a “Sketch2 derived” object…that updated with every change that Sam made to the original!

“Nice!” exclaimed Sol, but Sal had a good question: “Okay, but what if I ever need to break that relationship at some point?”

“See Figure 1,” Sam said, looking down the screen just a bit.

 

Fig. 1 – Right-click on a Derived Sketch to “Underive” it.

“Wow, thanks again for another great tip!” Sol said. Sal chimed in: “Where do you learn all these cool things about SolidWorks?”

“SolidNotes, my friend. SolidNotes.”

 

Command Search: What's Old Is New

Remember in ancient times, when you used a DOS prompt? Perhaps your command environment of choice was -sh on a Unix system, or maybe you rocked the $ prompt in VAX/VMS. In any case, you probably made good use of command search paths and aliases. In those days, you had command-line interaction and nothing else -- some people even liked it.

Fast-forward to the 21st century, where icon-driven interfaces are clicked with a mouse or touched with a finger. Even in this environment, the ability to type in a command is desirable: the more icons you have, the more desirable it is.

Thus, we find command search (or actually, pervasive search that includes commands) implemented in Mac OS, Windows, iOS, and Android. It's very convenient to go to the Start Menu in Windows and type "Printers" to get directly to that area of the Control Panel.  For example, I find the reason most people don't use it is because they don't know about it. The only more convenient thing would be for my device to carry out commands by voice (which is already there on some platforms, in varying modes of reliability).

So it comes to pass that SolidWorks has command search in the latest incarnation -- SolidWorks 2012. You can click on it in the regular search window (it's the one with the >_ icon) or, more conveniently, it's automatically activated and given keyboard focus every time you hit the S key (you DO use the S key for your custom shortcut menu, don't you?)

You can type in part of a command (try "hole" if you're in a part) and you'll get a number of matches. Hit "Enter" and the top match will execute, or click on another item in the list to do that command instead (arrow keys work in the list too). If you want to drag it into the Command Manager, you just rip it right out of the list. Or use the eyeglasses icon to the right of the command in the list to see where it is in your existing interface.

If you want, you can make your own "shortcuts" to commands you use often. Think of these as nicknames. I've nicknamed "Hole Alignment" as "ha" so if I type in "ha" it comes to the top of the list; an Enter key later and I'm using the command I want. You can make these in the Customize interface (there is a new column called "Search Shortcut").

Once you try Command Search, I think you'll really like it. And if you haven't tried it in Windows or on your Mac or your smartphone, give that a shot too. Before too long, I believe you'll be speaking commands to your computer but in the meantime, What's Old Is New.

Use the Indent Command for That!

One of my go-to SolidWorks modeling features is Indent. When it was first introduced, it was touted as a way to "impress" one model into another -- like putting your thumb into a hunk of wet clay.

More often, however, I use the Indent command to take one part and cut out material from an overlapping part. This is accomplished by the small "Cut" option in the Indent command. That option, "Indent as Cut," makes the command much more versatile. This is also more useful to the average SolidWorks user.

It's easier to show examples than to explain; so, I'll end the up-font commentary by saying Indent is one of the few commands I've actually added to my Features Command Manager. It's very useful as it works with multi-body parts and parts in assemblies as well.

This is the way people normally think of using the Indent command. Notice you can determine the side of the extra material by what you click on in the graphics window and the corresponding "keep/remove selection" setting in the command.

Here's an example of a "normal" Indent:

This is the result of the Indent command with the settings and model shown:

Now, if you modify the Indent command by turning on the "Cut" option, the behavior changes. Remember, this is just calculating geometry so it doesn't matter if the parts are shelled or not:

So you can see the results of the Indent command with the Cut option turned on. Think of the time savings for all kinds of models -- I see a lot of people copying sketches or making their own offset sketch geometry to achive associative holes and cutouts for other bodies or parts. Indent with Cut does it for you much faster, easier, and more robustly!

If you have an open part (think tube or hollow shaft) the regular Indent command works to build material around the end:

But if you use the Indent with the Cut option turned on, you get a hole! Note that the center core will also be there as an extra body, which is sometimes useful but more often than not you'll just suppress or delete it.

The Indent command is one of the most useful features in my SolidWorks toolkit, yet I almost never see it used. It's not just for consumer product designers -- it's for packaging design, case goods and furniture, tool design, and machine design. It can do lots of jobs better than older 3D tools and sketch-based methods, yet is seems people just don't know about it. So please share this article and spread the word: "You should use the Indent command for that!"