Help with aggravating issue

[pdelnet]

I have had issues with this happening to me and it is truly aggravating, so here is an example of what I am talking about. If I open an assembly or part, then open another assembly or part that does not reside in the same directory as the first part then go back to the first part I opened and create a drawing of it, the drawing be stored in the last directory opened and not with the part it belongs to.(if I am detailing a lot of drawings in a row I may not notice - if at all - for an hour or so what happened) Similarly if the part already had a drawing SW will look in the last used directory. I have had both of these scenarios happen, when I have a part open that has an associated drawing and press the drawing icon either of these may happen, SW will ask if I want to use the existing drawing and then say it cant find it or just try to create a new drawing, and if I save it, it will save to the last accessed directory - not with the part being detailed. Maybe it’s just me but wow is this aggravating. Does any know of a way to prevent this or have input other than the obvious of just being more diligent?

SW 2007 SP 5.0
Dell Inc. Precision WorkStation 670
2048 Megabytes Installed Memory
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
Windows XP PRO SP 2

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

This has long been a thorn in many peoples sides. Submit an ER for SW to add a "Working Directory" option.

 

[pdelnet]

You would think that this would be addressed if it is such a common issue, I have submitted this to SW and just did again.

SW 2007 SP 5.0
Dell Inc. Precision WorkStation 670
2048 Megabytes Installed Memory
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
Windows XP PRO SP 2

 

[drawoh]

pdelnet,

My understanding of SolidWorks' logic is that you have a current working directory. This is the directory you loaded your file out of, and it is superseded by the directory where you last did a save-as. If you load components out of multiple directories in one session, you are going to have to keep track of where you are.

How do you propose SolidWorks determine the current working directory?

Suggestion:

When I create a new part or assembly, I systematically create and attach the drawing immediately. When I want to work on the model of a part or assembly, I load the drawing. I never load the model by itself. Also, since my part number is based on the drawing number, I can create the BOM early in the design process. I get a lot of time to catch mistakes. The assembly drawings, however preliminary, are a resource for explaining to co-workers what I am doing.

If your documentation is based on drawings, then clear, complete drawings are your final objective. Clear, complete drawings often show you that your part or assembly cannot be fabricated or assembled. The earlier you find out about this, the better.

When you create your drawings at the last minute, you make a mess. The drawings can be in the wrong directory. The part numbers attached to the models can be wrong. The problems listed above may be revealed.

JHG

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

"How do you propose SolidWorks determine the current working directory?"
Simply have an option where you can set the working directory (WD) when starting a session. It could be very similar to setting the Backup directory, but on a per project basis.

If a new part is created and saved, the location would default to the WD.
If an existing part is opened but a "Save As" is executed, the default would be to the WD.
If an existing part is opened, modified and a regular 'Save' is used, it would be saved back to its originating folder.

Perhaps it was just a dream, but I'm sure I've used at least one CAD program which had something similar to this.

 

[pdelnet]

I would be happy if SW saved a drawing of the part in the same place the part came from, and if a part is opened it looked for the drawing where the part came from.

SW 2007 SP 5.0
Dell Inc. Precision WorkStation 670
2048 Megabytes Installed Memory
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
Windows XP PRO SP 2

 

[tbeck11]

Pro/E uses the Working Directory logic.

 

[SBaugh]

If you submit an ER once a second one will do you no good. You can only put in one ER for one item. The more you put in for the same item yourself they will not be added to the issue. Each person that finds it needs to put in an ER. The more people put in an ER for the same thing the higher up the list it goes to get a fix for it.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"

faq731-376

 

[StefanHamminga]

I think no specific approach works wonders in every situation, so perhaps it could be workable for SW to implement (instead of, for instance, the places bar) a 'Most Recently Used Folders' bar, say about the last 10 entries would do fine for most projects. That would mean just one click instead of looking up your previous folder.


Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer
Searching Eng-Tips forums

 

[Finethread]

PDMWorks Workgroup manages it nicely.
The local setting can be
"Use most recently used SolidWorks or PDMWorks Workgroup folder" or "Use folder [browse]".

SolidWorks should insert this as a standard system option.