Getting Started with Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS
If you’re just getting started with Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS and you’re looking for a guide to get up and running, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog, we’ll look at installing, opening, and navigating Design with SOLIDWORKS, as well as opening from and saving to 3DEXPERIENCE in SOLIDWORKS.
If you need help getting your 3DEXPERIENCE Platform activated first, you can check out our guide here.
NOTE: This blog is specifically related to the Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS role. Before proceeding, you will need to install SOLIDWORKS standalone. If you have access to 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS, you’ll need to install SOLIDWORKS Connected instead.
Topics covered in this post:
Installing Design with SOLIDWORKS
With your platform activated, you’ll need to have a Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS Role assigned to you. You can confirm this by going into the 3DCompass app list and searching for Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS under the My Roles section.
If you aren’t already assigned a Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS role, please contact your platform administrator and have them assign Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS to your account.
Now that you’ve confirmed you have Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS assigned to you, locate Design with SOLIDWORKS app under the My Apps section.
NOTE: If your interface is different, and you are not seeing any apps in the 3DCompass app list, please ensure you are on your own private commercial platform.
Pro Tip:
You can add the Design with SOLIDWORKS app to your favorites to provide easy access in the future by clicking and dragging it to the My Favorite Apps section.
Click on the Design with SOLIDWORKS app to start the installation. If this is the first time carrying out a 3DEXPERIENCE installation on a given device, a wizard for the 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher will appear and have you download a Microsoft installer application.
Open the .MSI file to carry out that installation (this will require administrator rights). Once complete, you can select Continue on the “Welcome to the 3DEXPERIENCE Launcher” pop-up in your browser.
Next, select “Install All Roles Containing Design with SOLIDWORKS”. If you are assigned more than one role that has apps that require local installation, you may see an additional option to “Install All Granted Roles” and this will allow you to install everything at once for all of your assigned roles.
Either of these selections will open an installation wizard that will carry you through the respective installation.
Once complete, Design with SOLIDWORKS has been installed and is ready to use. This process can be carried out on all compatible devices you would like to use Design with SOLIDWORKS on.
What is Design with SOLIDWORKS?
Design with SOLIDWORKS is the 3DEXPERIENCE app that is provided with the Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS role. This app provides a 3DEXPERIENCE add-in inside of SOLIDWORKS to provide out-of-the-box cloud-based data management capabilities.
Opening Design with SOLIDWORKS
Once Design with SOLIDWORKS has been installed, there are two main methods to open the software. The first option is from the platform and the second option is launching SOLIDWORKS from your desktop and activating the 3DEXPERIENCE add-in.
Opening Design with SOLIDWORKS from the 3DCompass
Once you are logged in to your platform in your web browser, open the 3DCompass and locate the Design with SOLIDWORKS application. Click on this and the latest version year of SOLIDWORKS installed will launch and automatically recognize your credentials. If it does not appear to be launching, refresh your browser window and attempt to launch again.
Activating 3DEXPERIENCE Add-In from SOLIDWORKS
Upon installing Design with SOLIDWORKS, a 3DEXPERIENCE add-in should be available in SOLIDWORKS automatically. To activate this, open SOLIDWORKS and go to Tools > Add-ins. From this window, you can choose whether to activate it just for this session or upon every startup of SOLIDWORKS.
This add-in can now be accessed from the SOLIDWORKS task pane. If you launch SOLIDWORKS from your desktop, you will have to sign in with your 3DEXPERIENCE credentials.
An internet connection is required to maintain the connection to 3DEXPERIENCE. If your connection is lost, you can use the SOLIDWORKS save command to save any changes to your local cache and then save these changes to 3DEXPERIENCE once your connection has been re-established.
Navigating Design with SOLIDWORKS
Now that the 3DEXPERIENCE is installed and activated, you can access it via the SOLIDWORKS task pane, which can be located on the right side of your screen.
When you open parts or assemblies in your SOLIDWORKS session, you will see the structure appear in this pane. You will also see some symbols in the various columns. If you have not yet saved the component(s) to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, you will only see information under Component Name and Status.
Once saved to the platform, the main two columns you will be looking at are the status and lock status columns. The status column will give you symbols to signify the save status of your data to the cloud storage. The lock status column will give you context on who has edit ownership of a part/assembly/drawing or if it is available to edit yourself. You can hover over each symbol to gain additional context.
The help documentation provides further context for each of the potential symbols.
Another important aspect of the MySession pane is the action bar at the bottom. If you don’t see it, look for a small upward pointing arrow to open it up.
This has multiple tabs for you to navigate relevant tools. By right clicking anywhere on the action bar, you will have the option to show labels which can be helpful to learn what the symbols mean as a new user.
Lastly, if the information in the MySession pane ever seems out of date or you want to just want to refresh the session, you can do so by selecting the drop down at the top of the MySession pane and select the refresh icon.
Saving and Opening Data in SOLIDWORKS from 3DEXPERIENCE
Saving and opening data are the two primary functions anyone will need to master to stay productive. Many of the concepts that we have become used to with traditional file storage are applicable in the 3DEXPERIENCE add-in making it easy to transition.
Saving Data
When you are ready to import a new component to the 3DEXPERIENCE data management system, you will first need to save this locally. Once this is saved locally, you can open the 3DEXPERIENCE add-in and right click on the component you would like to save to 3DEXPERIENCE. This will give you the option to Save or Save with Options.
By selecting Save with Options, you will have the option to place the component in a Bookmark (like a folder) for easily locating it in the future. This is the suggested practice for your initial save to the system. This Bookmark is remembered for future saves, so once a component is placed in a Bookmark, you can utilize the Save command moving forward to directly save to the system.
To add a component to a Bookmark, you can select the Bookmarks button from the Save to 3DEXPERIENCE dialogue window, which appears after selecting Save with Options.
This will open the Select a Bookmark window. You can then navigate to the Bookmark you would like to open the parts from and apply to all components, single click to select it, and select Apply to All. If you preselected components prior to opening the Bookmark selection, you may also see the option to Apply to Selected.
Once the data is assigned to a Bookmark, you can proceed to a save, and it can be located in this Bookmark moving forward. This step is only needed when initially assigning the data to a Bookmark and this will be remembered for future saves. You can think of this like choosing a file location.
Opening Data
Now that you have some data saved to the platform, you’ll have to know how to open it to make changes! There are a few main ways to open data into your current session of SOLIDWORKS.
From the Platform Search
In the 3DEXPERIENCE add-in pane, you can use the search functionality to search the entire database for any of your components
You can right-click on any of the search results and select open to open it in your current session.
From Bookmarks
You can also access your Bookmarks from the MySession pane. To do this, select the compass in the top left and scroll through your apps and select the Bookmark Editor.
Once Bookmark Editor opens, you can filter and scroll through your Bookmarks (folders) until you find the component/assembly you would like to open, right-click, and select open.
To return to the MySession window, which is where you can save your changes to 3DEXPERIENCE, you can select the dropdown at the top of your 3DEXPERIENCE pane and select MySession.
Pro Tip:
Once Bookmark Editor has been opened initially, you can switch back and forth between MySession and Bookmark Editor with this dropdown.
From 3DEXPERIENCE Files on this PC
When a component is opened from 3DEXPERIENCE, a copy will be downloaded and cached on your local hard drive. 3DEXPERIENCE Files on this PC is a task pane available that lists anything that is from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform that is locally cached on your current device.
From this pane, you can right-click a file or multiple selected files to either directly open the component or delete the locally cached copy.
NOTE: If you choose to delete the locally cached version, be sure that all desired local changes have been saved to the platform. This can be confirmed by checking the status symbol for all components shows a green check mark. It is recommended to use the refresh button next to the search bar to make sure all of the statuses are up to date. Any components that do not have a green check mark should be opened and saved to 3DEXPERIENCE if desired.
Conclusion
This guide just scratches the surface of what you can do with SOLIDWORKS and the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. You should now have a working knowledge of how to get Design with SOLIDWORKS installed on your device, how to open and navigate the 3DEXPERIENCE add-in, and how to save, search for, and open data from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Stay tuned for additional guides as you dive into more complex functionality!
Matt is a Customer Success Manager at SWYFT Solutions and started using SOLIDWORKS while earning his Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering at Grand Valley State University and has been hooked ever since! He now specializes in 3DEXPERIENCE Works solutions, including 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS. Outside of work, Matt loves to travel, hike, and discover new music.
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