{"id":4970,"date":"2017-02-15T15:09:46","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T15:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/?p=4970"},"modified":"2017-02-15T15:09:46","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T15:09:46","slug":"solidworks-support-monthly-news-february-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/02\/solidworks-support-monthly-news-february-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"SOLIDWORKS support Monthly News \u2013 February 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to this new edition of the SOLIDWORKS Support Monthly News, coauthored by members of the SOLIDWORKS Technical Support teams worldwide.<\/p>\n

Live from SOLIDWORKS World 2017 in Los Angeles<\/h1>\n

At the time I am writing this, the conference is still rocking in Los Angeles, California. We are 6000 passionate participants eager to learn, network, and have fun.<\/p>\n

As usual, the SOLIDWORKS Technical Support team make their presence felt: we share knowledge, best practices, tips, and tricks with users during numerous breakout sessions. These are where we tickle your brain, challenge you and present new ways to solve problems and make the best possible use of SOLIDWORKS. In the picture below, I am just starting my breakout session.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As usual, we also maintain a continuous presence at the Technical Support booth in the DASSAULT SYSTEMES section of the Partner Pavilion, with specialists in each and every area (CAD, Simulation, PDM, Electrical, etc.) to engage with customers who stop by to ask a question or just to say hello..<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although SOLIDWORKS World is not really the place to actually solve technical issues (that is what some of our teammates stayed in the office for), we do everything we can to answer questions on the fly.<\/p>\n

Critical Hotfix for DraftSight<\/h1>\n

It has come to the attention of the DraftSight team that, due to an expired certificate, Windows* 32 & 64-bit versions of DraftSight released from 2012 to 2017 will not launch and\/or will stop running as of March 1, 2017.
\nTo avoid usage interruption, please make sure to immediately download and install this critical hotfix, which can be found on the main product download page (https:\/\/www.3ds.com\/products-services\/draftsight-cad-software\/free-download<\/a>) <\/strong><\/p>\n

The affected releases are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Version (Windows 32 & 64 bit)<\/strong><\/td>\nRelease Date<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight 2017 SP0<\/td>\nNovember 2016<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight 2016 SP2<\/td>\nJuly 2016<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight 2016 SP1<\/td>\nApril 2016<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight 2016 SP0<\/td>\nFebruary 2016<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight 2015 SP3<\/td>\nJune 2015<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight 2015 SP2<\/td>\nApril 2015<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight 2015 SP1<\/td>\nFebruary 2015<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight 2015 SP0<\/td>\nOctober 2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight V1R5.2<\/td>\nJuly 2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight V1R5.1<\/td>\nApril 2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight V1R5.0<\/td>\nJanuary 2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight V1R4.0<\/td>\nOctober 2013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight V1R3.2<\/td>\nJuly 2013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight V1R3.1<\/td>\nJanuary 2013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DraftSight V1R3.0<\/td>\nNovember 2012<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

*Note:<\/span><\/em><\/strong> Mac and Linux versions of DraftSight (Free and Beta only) do not require this hotfix as they are not affected by the expired certificate. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

For questions or concerns, please contact your SOLIDWORKS Value Added Reseller (VAR)<\/a> for assistance.<\/p>\n

Save your Design time, Use Excel Automation<\/h1>\n

By Joydeep P ROY<\/em><\/p>\n

The productivity challenges while designing are always critical. At SOLIDWORKS, it is our constant effort to help Designers reduce their Developmental costs and increase their quality.<\/p>\n

Therefore, Excel Automation<\/strong> was introduced in SP3 release of 2016\u00a0SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic<\/a>.\u00a0 This new functionality works very well and summary of the steps are listed below. The high level description would be that this command is used to generate drawings automatically, inserting macros in the schemes in an unattended way, reading the instructions from an Excel file.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The basic steps for this process are<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Create the macros you would like to use.<\/li>\n
  2. Create the XLS file (instructions) from the file template.<\/li>\n
  3. Import the XLS file using the XLS Automation feature to generate the drawings.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Only the following types of macros are compatible with XLS Automation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Scheme macro<\/li>\n
    • Line diagram macro<\/li>\n
    • Mixed scheme macro<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Note that the Excel file can be from version 97\/2003 (.xls) or up to 2013 format (.xlsx\u2026).<\/p>\n

      Here is a video of how to use this function. It is based on the Online Help, which consists of a demo Excel Automation files and steps.<\/p>\n

      \n

      Video Player<\/span><\/p>\n

      http:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/XLS-Demo.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

      Simulation Step-Up Series<\/h1>\n

      Last month<\/a>, Ramesh discussed the topic of Contact modeling, with the first part of this topic. This month, Ramesh comes back with the second part.<\/p>\n