How to Report SOLIDWORKS Issues with SOLIDWORKS Rx

If you notice an issue with SOLIDWORKS that is unexpected, your SOLIDWORKS value added reseller (VAR) is a great resource to help you troubleshoot these issues. Many times, it is essential to troubleshoot these issues as soon as possible to prevent affecting your project timelines as much as possible. SOLIDWORKS Rx is a great tool to help prevent some of the back and forth when collecting information. Read on to learn how to use the Problem Capture capabilities in SOLIDWORKS Rx to gather relevant information to submit to your support representative.

---

Topics covered in this post:

1. Opening SOLIDWORKS Rx

2. SOLIDWORKS Rx Problem Capture

   1. Capture

   2. Package

   3. Describe

---

Opening SOLIDWORKS Rx

If you are using SOLIDWORKS Desktop, you can use the Windows search capabilities on the device that SOLIDWORKS is installed on to search “SOLIDWORKS Rx” and open the app. If you have multiple years installed, you can add the year of SOLIDWORKS that the problem has been discovered with to the search to narrow the results further.

If you are using SOLIDWORKS Connected (3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS), you will have to open SOLIDWORKS to access SOLIDWORKS Rx. This method also works with SOLIDWORKS Desktop. To access SOLIDWORKS Rx from an open instance of SOLIDWORKS, click on the question mark icon in the top right of your window and select SOLIDWORKS Rx from the dropdown.

If you can’t find it as described, you can also access it with the command search.

It will open on the Home tab. You can then navigate through the various tabs for different information. This blog entry will be focused on the Problem Capture tab.

NOTE: If you are using SOLIDWORKS Connected and running into issues launching/connecting, you will need to launch the sldrx.exe file from C:\Program Files\Common Files\SOLIDWORKS Shared\<XXXX>\sldrx where <XXXX> is the version year currently installed (i.e. 2023).

---

SOLIDWORKS Rx Problem Capture

Upon opening the Problem Capture tab, the tool will automatically gather system information and package it for you.

After this information has been gathered, you will notice three sections within the Problem Capture Tab; Capture, Package, and Describe.

Capture

The capture tool will allow you to take a screen recording of the problem occurring. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then just imagine how valuable a video can be. When support is analyzing the issue, by having a video, they can gather information about the steps you’re taking, the SOLIDWORKS environment, and other contextual clues that you may have not even considered.

With the source dropdown, you can select whether you want to record only your SOLIDWORKS window or one of your entire monitors. If you would like to record the disk and CPU information as you are recording the video, be sure to turn on the ‘Include extended logging data’ option. This will increase the overall file size but can potentially help troubleshoot issues more effectively. Once you are ready, press the ‘Record Video…’ button.

You will then have the option to use your current session or restart SOLIDWORKS. Generally, you can use your current session, but if the startup of SOLIDWORKS is a factor with your issue then you should use the option to restart SOLIDWORKS.

You will then be presented with the recording tool popup.

Press the ‘Record:’ button to start your recording, then carry out the actions that result in the issue that you are experiencing. If needed, you can pause the recording and resume or restart. Once the issue has been observed in the recording, you can select the ‘Finish’ button to return to SOLIDWORKS Rx. The recording will automatically be added to the package of information.

Package

In the package section, you can see a summary of all the information that will be included in the resulting ZIP file and add any additional files that you would like to be included.

 If you included a screen capture, any parts, assemblies, or drawings that you opened during that session will automatically be added

 To review which files were included, select the ‘Add Files…’ button.

In this window, you can also browse for additional files that were not opened during your screen capture, or if you did not complete a screen capture, with the ‘Add Files’ section. You can choose to remove a file by highlighting it and selecting the ‘Remove’ button in the ‘Selected Files’ section. You can also add any referenced children or parent parts, drawings, or assemblies by highlighting a part/assembly/drawing and selecting the ‘Add References’ button in the ‘Selected Files’ section.

Once you have all of the SOLIDWORKS data that you would like to include for support to analyze, select the ‘Add Files to Package’ button.

*NOTE: By selecting Cancel, you will remove all attached files and will have to go back through and attach any desired files manually.*

Once you have any files you would like attached, select the ‘Package Files…’ button in SOLIDWORKS Rx.

This will allow you to select a location on your local disk to save a ZIP file.

*IMPORTANT: Do not remove any of the provided name for the ZIP file as this contains pertinent information for support. If needed, you can add a prefix or suffix to the provided name.* 

Describe

To give additional details you can use the describe section. Once you have packaged your files, you will be given the option to continue to step 3, in which you can select the ‘Describe…’ button.

This will open a window where you can add additional details.

• Summary: Enter in a summary of your issue. This should include relevant keywords such as relevant text (i.e. error message) exactly as it is seen in the SOLIDWORKS interface. This should be written so that someone without an understanding of your processes can understand the general issue and should be no more than 1-2 sentences.

• Description: This section is where you will provide more detail. This can include things such as a more in-depth summary of the issue, recent changes to your process or system, steps that are taken to reproduce the issue, steps that have been attempted to troubleshoot the issue, and whether or not there is an existing workaround.

• Impact Level: The impact level helps determine the urgency of the issue. It is important to not select a higher impact level just to try and resolve the issue faster. This can result in a longer resolution time as further justification may be requested.

  • Critical: The software is not operational, no workaround exists and/or business is severely impacted.

  • High: A major software function is inoperable or not working as designed, work can continue with moderate impact to business.

  • Medium: A software function is inoperable or not working as designed, work can continue with low impact to business

  • Low: No loss of functionality, this can be a documentation error, poor error message, etc. This has no business impact.

  • Question: Ask a question or how-to related issue.

• Reason for Business Impact: Enter in a reason why the selected impact level was chosen. This is especially important for critical and high rated business impacts. It is still helpful for any level, as it may result in the impact level being escalated higher, resulting in quicker resolution.

Once you have all this information filled in, you can select the ‘OK’ button and you will have the option to open the ZIP file to view its contents or to browse to its location. You can now exit SOLIDWORKS Rx or start a new problem capture if you have another issue you would like to report.

The last step is to send this ZIP file to a support representative at your VAR. They will then be able to use this information to analyze your issue further and provide you with a solution or open a service request (SR) with the SOLIDWORKS support team if needed.

---

Conclusion

The SOLIDWORKS Rx tool is automatically installed with any installation of SOLIDWORKS, Desktop or Connected. It has a few different tabs that gives you access to information like diagnostics, system maintenance, and more. The Problem Capture tab has a step-by-step process for gathering relevant information and documentation needed for support to quickly and efficiently address any issues you have with your SOLIDWORKS installation. To reduce the amount of back-and-forth communication between yourself and support, it can be helpful to provide a SOLIDWORKS Rx ZIP file with the initial submission of an issue with your VAR’s support team.