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DriveWorks Solo 22
Model Rules

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Model Rules

After capturing the models that you want to drive, you can use the rules screen to add one or more instances of those models to your project and setup rules for them.

The model rules screen is divided into two areas:

  • The component tree
  • The rule list
If no models have been captured you will see this info tip at the top of the component tree and rule list:

To learn how to capture a model please see Captured Models

If a captured model (component set) has not been added to the project:

When the Model Rules task is selected, the Add Component window will automatically activate.

Select the component set to add to the project and click OK.

To learn how to add further models to the project please see To Add a Model to Drive below.

When you capture a model it will not appear in the component tree straight away.

Each top level model should be added to the component tree first.

See To Add a Model to Drive below.

The reason for this will become clear if you start using driven replacement models to give you complete control over an assembly structure.

A top-level model and its children in the component tree are collectively referred to as a "Component Set".

Filtering

The Component Tree and Rule List can be filtered by using the filter bar at the top of each list.

The Filter Bar above the Rule List contains presets that will enable quick filtering of common terms.

These include:

  • Dimension - will display all captured dimensions for the selected components
  • Configuration - will display all configurations for the selected components
  • Feature - will display all captured features for the selected components
  • Relative Path - will display all relative paths for the selected components
  • Custom Property - will display all captured custom properties for the selected components
  • File Name - will display all file names for the selected components
  • Instance - will display all captured instances for the selected components

To use a preset filter term:

  1. From the Model Rules task, select the components to display the captured parameters for.
  2. From the Filter Bar immediately above the Rule List, select the filter drop down.
  3. Select Project Filers.
  4. Select the required term from the list.

Please see the topic How To Use Filters for more filtering information.

Component Preview

Model Rules will display a preview of anything highlighted in the Component Tree.

Once a component is highlighted the preview, along with additional information, is displayed in the section Component Details, directly under the component tree and rule list.

Component TypeAdditional InformationPreview
Assembly
  • File Path

    This gives the full path to the component as a link.

    Clicking the link will open Windows Explorer at the given location.

  • Version

    The SOLIDWORKS version the file was last saved as.

  • Date Created
  • Last Modified Date
  • Component Count

    The total number of components within the assembly.

  • Custom Property Count

    The total number of custom properties (captured and not captured) in the component.

  • Custom Properties

    Each custom property is listed along with its current value.

Part
  • File Path

    This gives the full path to the component as a link.

    Clicking the link will open Windows Explorer at the given location.

  • Version

    The SOLIDWORKS version the file was last saved as.

  • Date Created
  • Last Modified Date
  • Custom Property Count

    The total number of custom properties (captured and not captured) in the component.

  • Custom Properties

    Each custom property is listed along with its current value.

Drawing
  • File Path

    This gives the full path to the component as a link.

    Clicking the link will open Windows Explorer at the given location.

  • Version

    The SOLIDWORKS version the file was last saved as.

  • Date Created
  • Last Modified Date
  • Sheet Count

    The number of sheets in the drawing.

    On multi-sheet drawings the preview displays the sheet the drawing was last saved on.

To Add a SOLIDWORKS Assembly as a Component Set.

Checking an assembly in the Add Component dialog will check all sub-assemblies and parts automatically.

The assembly will be added to the Model List as a Component Set.

Checking sub-assemblies or parts (without checking a higher level assembly) will add those items as separate component sets.

Behavior in earlier versions of DriveWorks
  • When checking an assembly to add, any sub-assemblies or parts were not automatically checked.
  • Checking an assembly and its sub-assemblies or parts added these as separate component sets in the Model List.

This will prevent the unintentional adding of sub assemblies and parts to the captured components tree.

Once a component set has been added, any subsequent additions will appear at the top of the model list.

To Remove a Top Level Model and its Children (Component Set)

  • Select the Component Set in the component tree by clicking on it.
  • Click the "Delete" button on the command bar.

The model and all of its children will be removed.

This action cannot be undone. If you remove a model and save the project, then the rules for the model and its children will be lost. Before removing a model, you may wish to make a copy of your project.

To Rename a Top Level Model and its Children (Component Set)

  • Select the Component Set in the component tree by clicking on it.
  • Click the "Renaming" button on the command bar to start editing the Component Set name.
  • Type a new name, and press Return when you are done.

To Reorder Top Level Models (Component Sets)

Component sets can be reordered to make sure that one gets calculated before another. This is useful when working with driven replacement models.

  • Select the Component Set to move in the component tree by clicking on it.
  • Use the Move Up/Move Down buttons on the command bar to move it up or down.
  • Alternatively use the Move To Top/Move To Bottom buttons on the command bar to move the component set directly to the top or bottom.

To Select Models to Edit

To display the rules for a model in the rules list, check the box next to it on the left hand side.

Right click on a model to see options to select/deselect it and all of its children quickly.
Right click on an empty area of the component tree to see options to select/deselect all of the models in the tree quickly.

To Select Rules to Build

You can select an individual rule in the list and build it by clicking on the "Build" button on the command bar.

Multiple rules can be selected and built at once by using the "Control" and "Shift" keys.
For more information about different types of rules shown in the model rules screen and how to build them, see Writing Rules.

To Recalculate Rules

The values shown in the rule list can become out-of-date if changes are made in other tasks in the task explorer. To refresh them all, click the "Calculate" button.

To Refresh Captured Information

If you start working in the model rules screen, and then capture some more models, features, dimensions, and so on, you may need to click the "Refresh" button for them to be shown in the model rules screen.

Drawing Rules

Drawing rules are built in the model rules screen which shows detailed information about the drawing, sheet, views, and so on that were captured.

Drawing Rules

The rules screen is divided into five areas, the two top sections which are used to build rules are:

  1. The drawing tree - this shows the drawings that are captured and what models they belong to.
  2. The rules list.

The three bottom areas show various information about the captured drawing such as the views that were captured, their sizes and scales and more:

  1. The sheets and views tree which shows will sheets, views, and view breaklines were captured. Sheets which aren't captured but are shown becomes views on them are, are shown in a dark gray color.
  2. The captured drawing preview which graphically shows the currently selected sheet and its views.
  3. The sheet/view information list which shows information that was captured about the currently selected sheet or view.

To Add a Drawing

Drawings are automatically added to the drawing rules screen when their parent models are added to the model rules screen. You may need to click the "Refresh" button for them to become visible.

To Remove a Drawing

Drawings are automatically removed from the drawing rules screen when their parent models are removed from the model rules screen.

To Select a Drawing to Edit

Click on a drawing in the drawing tree to show its rules and captured information.

To Select Rules to Build

You can select an individual rule in the list and build it by clicking on the "Build" button on the command bar.

Multiple rules can be selected and built at once by using the "Control" and "Shift" keys.
For more information about different types of rules shown in the drawing rules screen and how to build them, see Writing Rules.

To Recalculate Rules

The values shown in the rule list can become out-of-date if changes are made in other tasks in the task explorer. To refresh them all, click the "Calculate" button.

To Refresh Captured Information

If you start working in the drawing rules screen, and then capture some more drawings, sheets, views, and so on, you may need to click the "Refresh" button for them to be shown in the drawing rules screen.

A part or assembly which has been added to the Model Rules screen and is not contained in a parent assembly.
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