File Management Tips •Renaming files •Don’t rename files from Windows Explorer unless it is a document with no references (part not used in an assembly, assembly not used in another assembly or a drawing), or you know in advance how you’re going to solve the problem you’re about to create •Use menu File, Save As when the assembly is open to attach renamed file to existing assembly •Use SolidWorks Explorer to copy or rename files and maintain references
•Multiple copies of files with the same name •In the SolidWorks Help, look up “Search file locations for external references”, and notice that there are 13 places where SolidWorks looks for parts when you open an assembly •If you have multiple copies of files with the same names, be aware that you may not get the ones you are looking for •Use File, Find References to see which versions you got
•Filenaming conventions •Avoid names like “bracket”, “cover”, “base”, etc. •SolidWorks can only have one part with a given name open at a time •The second part with the same name as another open part will use the first opened part •It is best practice to use sequential part numbers in such a way that you can guarantee that there will not be any duplicate file names
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Performance Tips •Software OpenGL •Tools, Options, Performance •Turn this on to debug video problems, or if you use a non-OpenGL graphics card •Turn it off if you have a good graphics card for better video performance •It can only be changed when no documents are open
•Lightweight assemblies •If you work on large assemblies and don’t need to make changes to all of the parts, Lightweight Assemblies may improve your performance
•Large Assembly Mode •LAM functions are set up in Tools, Options, Large Assembly Mode •Causes View functions to be unselectable •Can be turned on/off manually or automatically using a part count threshold
•Edge display and wireframe •For fastest display, use shaded mode without edges
•Simplified Configurations •Make simplified configurations for parts and assemblies with detail information turned off such as cosmetic features, fillets, fasteners, etc.
•System Maintenance •Don’t put junk software on the machine you use to make a living •Keep video and spaceball drivers up to date •Defrag and clear temp directories •Be careful of antivirus settings www.solidworksguru.com •Reformat once a year
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