Cadalyst - November/December 2008 - (Page 34)

cadalystlabsreview By Bill Fane SolidWorks 2009 New release has hundreds of changes; most offer speed. M bs • La any SolidWorks users were less than thrilled when SolidWorks 2008 introduced a new ribbon-style interface that mimicked Microsoft Ofﬁce 2007. At that time, it made sense to incorporate an interface that was consistent with other new products from many companies. But Microsoft’s ribbon implementation was a disaster, because it locked to the top of the screen and consumed a lot of screen real estate. SolidWorks 2009 corrects the ribbon menu blunder in a big way. You can undock the Command Manager and the Property Manager and park them anywhere. And anywhere really means anywhere — docked at any of the four sides of the screen or floated in the location of your choice. Anywhere also includes outside the application window if you are running SolidWorks 2009 in less than full-screen mode or even on another monitor in a dual-monitor configuration. If you opt to turn on the traditional toolbars, they also have this capability. Eye Spy The new magnifying glass feature is another significant improvement to the SolidWorks interface (figure 1). It literally works just like a magnifying glass. You can zoom and pan to a small region of your model, yet still see the rest of the model in context. This function is particularly useful when you are trying to select a small object in a large, cluttered model. Often the small things don’t grab the headlines, yet they can be significant. An example in SolidWorks 2009 is improved command response consistency. Now your options 34 adalyst •C Figure 1. The SolidWorks 2009 Command Manager can be docked anywhere, and the magnifying glass function simplifies selecting and viewing fine details. are the same whether you are responding to prompts from the Property Manager or any command, error message, or dialog box that displays both OK and Cancel: Press Enter to accept or Esc to cancel the operation. If the only option is Cancel, pressing Enter or Esc will do the job. As with previous releases, SolidWorks 2009 ships with a copy of DWGeditor, the AutoCAD-compatible 2D drafting software. Faster! Faster! When the parametric modeler first came to PCs in the form of SolidWorks 95, many people labeled it an entry-level system, compared with the high-end mainframe or engineering workstation products of the day. Hardware and software advanced, however, and most of today’s parametric modelers are more powerful than the high-end products of just a few years ago. A common issue that persists with just about any parametric modeling product at any version level is that users are always pushing ever-larger assemblies into them. In the early days, an assembly of just a few hundred components could easily slow system response to a geological time frame, but developers have responded with ever-more-innovative solutions so that assemblies with tens of thousands of components are viable. Let’s assume that you have created a large subassembly, such as the engine of a car. It contains hundreds of components, even thousands, if you count every nut, bolt, washer, and so on. You now want to pass the design to the team members working on the final assembly of the car, but they don’t need to see all those minor internal components that slow things down. Traditional workarounds include manually www.cadalyst.com cadalyst November/December 2008 SolidWorks 2009 3D MCAD Software A+ This version . . . . . . . A+ Pros: Handles very large Ease of use . . . . . . . A assemblies well; includes AutoCAD-compatible 2D Features . . . . . . . . . A+ software. Installation . . . . . . . A Cons: High price. Customization . . . . . A Price: $3,995, Standard; Interoperability . . . . A+ $4,495, Professional; $7,995, Third-party add-ons . . A Premium Dassault Systemes SolidWorks 800.693.9000 Innovation . . . . . . . A+ www.solidworks.com Value . . . . . . . . . . A+ Help . . . . . . . . . . . A http://www.solidworks.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - November 2008

Cadalyst - November 2008 Contents Editor's Window CAD Central Tech Trends: Designed after Our Own Image Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 Cadalyst All-Star Awards 2008 SolidWorks 2009 — 3D MCAD Software IES Virtual Environment 5.9 — Building Performance Analysis Software View Point: A Design with Teeth CAD Manager: CAD Manager’s Survey 2008 MCAD Modeling: Ask for What You Want AEC Insight: AEC Software by the Clock CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes Hot Tip Harry: Hot Tips for Cold Days

Cadalyst - November 2008

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