Solid Edge is a fully featured 2D/3D CAD system using direct and dimension driven design. This proprietary technology enables us to design faster, communicate effectively, and efficiently validate and document our products.

It helps us satisfy our customer’s desires for aesthetically pleasing, robust, and innovative products of the highest quality and value.

Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology is a core component of the Velocity Series portfolio from Siemens PLM Software. These tools help us accelerate product development and improve manufacturing efficiency within a fully managed environment whilst increasing productivity, reducing costs and maximising returns.

One hurdle often encountered is the need to find design information as quickly as possible. Also very important when making changes to an existing design – which parts, assemblies and drawings are affected by those changes. Of course, Solid Edge has some ‘out of the box’ tools that allow you to search for information and find where parts are used. The problem with these tools however is that they tend to be cumbersome and slow when running in an unmanaged environment.

When customers are faced with these data management issues, we always discuss the benefits of using an appropriate data management or PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) solution. This technology brings many high level benefits (beyond the scope of this article) as well as some excellent side benefits such as fast searching and where used. This is down to the fact that the information is stored in a database.

Solid Edge and Siemens have two data management solutions available, these are Insight and Teamcenter. Whilst these are great solutions in their own right, depending on the circumstances of the customer, they are not always the right fit. They are sometimes just ‘too heavy’ and over complicated. Like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut! In addition to this some companies just don’t have the budget or IT infrastructure available to invest in and support Teamcenter or Insight.

We recently surveyed the Solid Edge community in an attempt to find out what users really needed from a data management solution. What were the big ticket items that were slowing them down when working with Solid Edge? Looking at the results it was clear that users wanted a solution that provided some of the tools that Teamcenter or Insight deliver (such as instant search and where used) but without the overheads associated with those solutions. They need something that is quick and easy to install, configure and maintain, as well as being good value for money.

This valuable feedback has driven us to develop an elegant solution that fits these requirements.

Introducing File Control for Solid Edge

File Control is a Solid Edge application that provides simple, efficient and effective management of all your Solid Edge data. Most importantly it does this with virtually zero customisation. File control will automatically build a live database enabling almost instant search queries on any property, instant where used reports, instant where drawn reports and much more. File Control gives many of the benefits that are a result of implementing Solutions like Insight or Teamcenter but at a fraction of the cost.

Some File Control Benefits and Features are:

• Instant search on any Solid Edge file property
• Instant ‘where used’ results
• Instant ‘where drawn’ results
• Reporting of interpart links
• Batch editing of property data
• Reporting and BOM capabilities
• Built in viewer
• Installs in seconds with virtually zero configuration

File Control is available to buy from the IngeneaSoft website where you can also find more information about it.

In addition to being able to purchase File Control as a stand alone product, you may also be interested to know that it is available for free as part of a Solid Mastermind membership. Gold and Platinum members have free use of the application as part of their monthly subscription. This is a very cost effective way of using file control with the added benefit of all the other training material you have access to as a Solid Mastermind member.

Solid Mastermind not only provides the very best Solid Edge video tutorial resource available today, it now also provides some excellent utilities that deliver real world benefits. Together these resources will help you become more profitable, efficient and productive with Solid Edge.

The video below shows File Control in use.

Top Edging
Jon Sutcliffe

There is still some fantastic ST3 technology that we still cannot talk about until the official launch announcement from Siemens. But, over the next few weeks, we’ll cover some of the more high level enhancements. We’ll start today with some of the interface changes.

When the first version of ST was released back in August 2008 with its shiny new Office 2007 look and feel, it received both positive and negative responses from existing Solid Edge users. This can be expected following any major change to the GUI on any application. Some of the more long term Solid Edge power users felt it slowed them down and certain tasks just required more mouse clicks. In addition to this people felt that the Command Bar (which used to be the slick Smart Step Ribbon Bar in V20) took up too much space and interfered with the EdgeBar.

Solid Edge ST2 took some small steps in a positive direction with the introduction of a wide screen format which meant more commonly used commands were on the main ribbon This meant not having to switch to the other ribbons quite so often.

However, it looks like the interface changes in ST3 just about tick all the boxes for all users whether they be experienced or not. We have already covered in a previous post the fact that ST3 will now have the Office 2010 capability to completely customise the command ribbons so that users can put commands wherever they like.

One other thing that the above post alluded to was the possibility of a radial menu, although information on this was lacking at the time. We can now say that there WILL be a fully customisable Radial Menu that will be invoked with a simple right mouse button drag. It is completely customisable and will hold 16 of your most commonly used commands. The customisations can be easily distributed to other machines and be maintained during product upgrades in the future. An example is shown below.

Radial Menu

Something that will really please some of the more experienced users is the re-introduction of the ‘V20 like’ Smart Step Ribbon Bar which will be used by default instead of the ST2 Command Bar. However unlike V20 this new Ribbon Bar operates in a similar way to the QuickBar in the Synchronous environment in that it can be positioned anywhere in the graphics window or be magnetically stuck to the window boundary. More importantly it frees up valuable space for the PathFinder and takes up minimal space in the graphics area too. There is an optional vertical representation that can be switched on if necessary. This will probably be useful for new users as it provides additional feedback.

Smart Step Ribbon Bar

Another enhancement focused at freeing up precious graphics space is the introduction of a transparent mode for the pathfinder as shown in the image below. This too can float around the display or can be magnetically stuck to the window boundary like the Ribbon Bar. Importantly since it has the transparent background it enables geometry to display and be located through it, this allows for a much larger graphics area.

Transparent PathFinder

The Live Rules panel in the Synchronous environment also sees some similar attention and now boasts a ‘Heads-up Display’ which has improved visual feedback. When the Live rules are needed they pop up in the graphics window in a floating UI. Since this allows the EdgeBar to be collapsed this too frees up more graphics area.

Heads-up Live Rules

Some final interface enhancements worthy of note are the new on screen edit handles which are appear when features are selected, The switch windows command now shows thumbnails instead of just filenames and the close / save dialogue also displays thumbnails.

Edit Handles and Thumbnails

Until next time

Top Edging

Jon Sutcliffe

Why not visit Solid Mastermind THE Community for Solid Edge Professionals.

For more information please take a look at the about page.

I looked at my hard drive. The area where I store my data was 101GB in size containing 4,806 folders and 37,279 files.

It took me over 30 minutes to find the right file, using Windows search and opening and closing files in Solid Edge.

… and actually that’s extremely embarrassing.

You see we have been supporting and educating Solid Edge users since the product was first released in 1996 and I’ve lost count of the number of times we have emphasised the importance of structuring your data and avoiding duplicate files.

I need to practise what I preach but it’s difficult if you don’t have access to Insight or Teamcenter.

Anyway this got me thinking.

All the Solid Edge users out there must have some ideas for managing Solid Edge files.

So please help me with your best tip. I’d also be interested to know if there is anything that could help you with your management of Solid Edge data.

Here’s the details:

Click here to submit your tip

By way of a thank you we will provide you with a complimentary gift.

Not sure what this will be yet but it will be useful for everyone who uses Solid Edge.

There has been an awful lot of discussion on the Solid Edge Newsgroup (BBS) regarding this. It is generally recognised that things are looking very positive and moving in the right direction. If you are not a member of the newsgroup, then why not head over there, sign up and take part in the discussion. All you need to login are your Solid Edge WebKey details.

Solid Edge Newsgroup.

One of the first great things to come from this new drive is the launch of a global Solid Edge survey. Siemens are hoping to get a big picture overview on the way you use Solid Edge and more importantly how satisfied you are with the tools you have at your disposal today. This will help them to decide areas to focus on in development.

This is your chance to have your say on where you would like to see future enhancements in Solid Edge.

Take the Solid Edge Survey NOW.

Top Edging,

Jon Sutcliffe

Why not visit Solid Mastermind THE Community for Solid Edge Professionals.

For more information please take a look at the about page.

The first impressions of Solid Edge ST3 are that it promises to be bigger and better than ever.

During the presentation, Dan Staples stated that over 2000 customer enhancement requests were satisfied in ST3. These are in the areas of drafting, part modelling, sheet metal, assembly, frame design, user interface, data management and architecture. It really looks like there is something for everyone.

Here are a few additional high level items courtesy of Mark Burhop’s post on the Siemens Blog.

• ST3 will make it easier for users to adopt Synchronous Technology in bite-size pieces.
• Solid Edge Simulation gets more load and constraint options.
• Insight will support Microsoft Office SharePoint 2010.
• The ST Command bar will return as a horizontal Smart Step Ribbon Bar (sounds like V20 Smart Step).
• As we know already the Command Ribbon interface will be fully customisable like Office 2010.
• New customisable Radial Menus will be available which also support mouse gestures.
• New transparent pathfinder which allows the assembly structure or feature tree to be visualised without obscuring the graphics behind it.
• Sheet Metal gets more options for defining corner conditions.
• New algorithms for weld bead creation.
• A new Configuration Manager to control Display Configurations which promises to be “phenomenal”.

More detailed information on Solid Edge ST3 coming soon.

Top Edging,

Jon Sutcliffe

Why not visit Solid Mastermind THE Community for Solid Edge Professionals.

For more information please take a look at the about page.

Even though there is no information publicly available just yet, we were lucky enough to be given a sneak preview of one enhancement courtesy of Dan Staples VP of Product Development for Solid Edge. Dan was kind enough to post a video on the Solid Edge Newsgroup. This specific enhancement will no doubt please many Solid Edge users out there who have recently migrated from Version 20 to ST or ST2. This concerns the ability to customise the new Ribbon interface that was introduced at these versions. Previously the only customisation available was that of the Quick Access Toolbar. The ribbons themselves were completely fixed.

Well it appears that the Solid Edge development team are taking advantage of some new tools available in Office 2010 that now allow the Command Ribbons to be customised to suit your specific needs.

The process of customisation looks very simple indeed and is initiated by right clicking on the Ribbon and choosing ‘Customise the Ribbon’

This will reveal the Customise dialogue where the specific Solid Edge environment to be changed can be selected from the drop down menu at the top. Then the pane on the right hand side will display the existing structure of the Ribbons along with the different tab names, the groups they contain and the commands within them. As you can see from the image below it is possible to either add or remove Groups, Commands and Separators and even add new Command Ribbon Tabs allowing full customisation of this area of the interface.

In addition to adding and removing commands it is possible to control the command button size as well as whether text is displayed for it. This is being shown with repesct to the Smart Dimension below.

Once the customisations are complete they can be saved as a specific Theme Name

Swapping between themes is as simple as right clicking on the Ribbon again and changing the one that is selected under the Ribbon Themes section as shown below. The one thing that remains to be seen is whether or not the themes are portable so that they can be shared amongst multiple users. Now that would be cool but I guess we will have to wait until the official product launch before we find out. One thing we do know right now though, is that any customisation WILL now survive from version to version so nothing will be lost during an upgrade. Great news.

One interesting thing that may have been spotted by some of the more keen eyed readers concerns an additional tab on the Customise dialogue that is titled ‘Radial Menu’. Now this is purely speculation but could this be similar to some of the heads up context sensitive menus that we have started to see in other competitive products? Only time will tell but we promise to keep you posted.

To finish this post I’ll leave you with a short video that shows all this new customisation in action. Enjoy.

ST3 Interface Customisation Video

Top Edging

Jon Sutcliffe

Why not visit Solid Mastermind THE Community for Solid Edge Professionals.

For more information please take a look at the about page.

We all probably use Google far more heavily than we realise. It’s become second nature….want to find something… we’ll Google it.

Usually we’ll do a search by just typing in a few keywords relative to the information we are trying to find.

However, did you know that there are some more advanced search techniques that can be used to hone down the search and arrive at a much more useful set of results.

Before we get into that here’s a short video from Google themselves showing someone using Google Search to find information related to Paris. It’s amazing what you can find so easily:

That video was showcasing Google and what’s called Basic Search. But using Advanced Search we can take searching to a new level. Most importantly Advanced Search saves us time!

Advanced Searching

Using Advanced Search is very simple we just place what’s called in Google speak an alternate query type or modifier before our search text in the Google Search window.

Let’s take a look at some of these:

related:

The related: query type will list pages that are similar to a specified page. For instance we could search for:

related:www.synchronoustechnology.net/blog/

This would return all the pages that contained similar information to this blog’s home page. Note that there can be no spaces between the word related: and the page URL

site:

If we use the site: modifier, Google will restrict the search to only the websites that are in the specified domain.

For example we could search for:

surfacing site:www.solidmastermind.com

This will only display relevant pages that contain the word surfacing that it finds within the site www.solidmastermind.com.

The title of a webpage is usually a good indication of its content since the author of the page will have used a short description of the content of the page for the title. As such, restricting the search to just the title can really narrow down the results and hone in on the information we need.

allintitle:

If we use the allinititle: modifier, Google will restrict the search results to those with all of the query words in the title only. For example if we search for:

allintitle: solid edge st2 video training

This will only display pages whose titles contain: solid edge, st2, video, and training. This really narrows down our search results.

intitle:

If we want to widen the above search out a little we can use the intitle: modifier, Google will then restrict the results to only those pages that have a title that contains the word following the modifier. For instance if we searched for:

intitle:st2 update training videos

This would return all pages that have st2 in the title and then update, training and videos somewhere in the document or page itself. Notice there is no space between intitle: and the word we want to search for in the title. If we preceeded every word with the intitle: modifier, this would give the same results as the allintitle: modifier.

allinurl:

If we use the allinurl: modifier in the search, Google will only return pages that contain all of the search words in the actual URL of the page. For instance we could search for:

allinurl: solid edge st2 update videos

inurl:

Once again, in order to widen the search we can use the inurl: modifier in the same way we did for the intitle: modifier. For instance we could search for:

inurl:st2 inurl:update solid edge videos

This would return all pages that have st2 and update in the title and then solid edge and videos somewhere in the document or page itself. Notice there is no space between inurl: and the word we want to search for in the title. If we preceeded every word with the inurl: modifier, this would give the same results as the allinurl: modifier.

As we can see the Advanced Search tools can really help target our searches.

Here are a few clickable examples for you to try should you be looking for Solid Edge training:

related:www.synchronoustechnology.net/blog

surfacing site:www.solidmastermind.com

allintitle: solid edge st2 video training

intitle:st2 update training videos

allinurl: solid edge st2 update videos

inurl:st2 inurl:update solid edge videos

Top Searching,

Jon Sutcliffe.

So what is Solid Mastermind all about?

Solid Mastermind is THE community for Solid Edge professionals. Think of it as The International Association, Alliance, Federation, Guild, League, Order, Society or Syndicate of Solid Edge Professionals.

Solid Mastermind is about you. In fact Solid Mastermind is all about the COMMUNITY

Solid Mastermind includes the very best self paced training and support solution for Solid Edge whilst also providing a community framework for Solid Edge professionals to interact, share experiences and ideas.

Solid Mastermind is invaluable for everyone who is either:

• Using the free Solid Edge 2D Drafting product.
• Evaluating Solid Edge.
• Already a Solid Edge professional owning and using the product.

and this applies whether you are a corporation, an individual, or anywhere in between.

Why not visit Solid Mastermind and explore the site.

For more information please take a look at the about page.

Top Edging,

Jon Sutcliffe

There can be occasions when drawing sheets or background graphics in existing draft files need to be modified in some way. Maybe our original templates were generated way back when Solid Edge was first implemented. Now fast forward a few years and hundreds if not thousands of drawings have since been created using those templates. If we now need to make a change to the drawing borders, perhaps to accommodate a company name change or some other modification, we would update the template files accordingly.

However, these changes will only affect new drawings created using the updated templates. What if we wanted to update some, or all, of our existing drawings too? The only solution using vanilla Solid Edge is to individually open the drawing files so that we can copy and paste the changes from the new template into them. This is an arduous task to say the least.

Ingenea Border Control is a free utility that automates the task of replacing background sheets in your database of drawing files. It is very easy to use but we have prepared a short instructional video so you can see Border Control in action.

Border Control is completely free. In order to receive the download link please make sure you fill in your details in the registration fields to the right of the video. Even if you don’t need to use Border Control right now we would still recommend downloading it as we don’t know how long it will be available for free.

Click on the image below to view the video.