[canadamaxxer]

Here is a little something that has been bothering me for several revisions of SW and until today I was unable to overcome it.....good old Google helped me out big time!!

Whenever I boot SW and open a new part, assembly, or drawing, I have had to go into the option menu and change the units and zeros behind the decimal point. I deal almost exclusively in inches and work to .001, so the default of metric and 2 decimal places was a pain. In addition, if I chose to change the background colour, each new part, etc would have the oem colours. basically any preference set in the document properties is fair game.

I finally found a way to change this, and I thought I'd post it so that I can search it here next time I forget

Navigate to solidworks\data\templates.....inside this folder is three template documents with their file extension ending in ".XXXdot". Open each of these files (you will have to use the "file-type" pulldown menu and either select "types" or look for the .XXXdot extension and select it).

Make any changes you wish, and then save the file.

Alternately, you can open a new part file, make all of the changes you want and then save the file as XXXXXX.prtdot. You then need to point the template to the file you saved.

It seems so simple now, and I'm sure I haven't just invented fire or the wheel, but this is something that has been nagging me since SW 2003.

[bennett71]

Canadamaxxer,

Thanks for the tip, that has been driving me crazy.

[Cammotion]

Thanks for the info.

Have any of you figured out a way to change the views? What I mean is, how do you set the Z axis triad to have Z pointing up from the top view as opposed to up from the the front view. When you export a model to your CAM software, the part will be in front view. Yes, I kow you can make work views anywhere you want, but I'd like the two to agree.

[phatfred8]

Hello,

Thank for posting that inforamtion on changing the default units. I like to use the mass properties on my drawing to get an idea of the total weight. I mainly work with steel and I always had to change the default value.

Nice Tip,

Brian :cheers:

P.S. "Jerry the fly guy" I owe you a beer or two also. You have also helped me in the past.

[tuoitrevotri]

I still strungling to change my primary unit from inches to metric
can anyone please help with details
thanks

[tnik]

tuoitrevotri, you need to follow what the OP said..

close all open parts/assemblies. open a new part, goto options, set what you want, save the file as a .prtdot file in your data folder, then close it. when you create a new part, use that template and everything will be setup as you wanted it.


( search for Document Templates in the help file.. )

[tukes23]

What if i don't want to use templates? is there a way to have solidworks default to ANSI units instead of ISO? my computer at home (VISTA) seems to default to ANSI but my computer at work (XP) seems to default to ISO. Was it something that i did during the install or is that just a difference between vista and XP? i seem to remember a checkbox during the install that asked about inches or metric. please tell me if there is a way to change it after the install without reinstalling, it is driving me crazy.

[tnik]

Solidworks is driven by templates.. there is no way to get around that.. the reason both of your computers is different is because they have 2 different templates. Open up a part, change your settings, save it as a template.. and do the same with assemblies and drawings.. Then you can take your saved templates and put them on any computer you want.

[madscien]

Does anybody ever have a question that's NOT urgent?

Hey gang, I know this is an old thread but I have a related issue to tukes23...

I installed SW 2010 and seem to be stuck in ISO as my default standard. I live in an ANSI world, and its a real pain to have to set this, and the units (thanks to canadamaxxer for the units resolution!), every time I create a new part.

So how do I permanently change my startup to ANSI?

It would seem there is an init or settings file someplace I could tweak, but as a newbie, I don't want to break something.

Thanks in-advance..

New info re canadamaxxer fix: The current SW2010 would not let me save the edited dot file with the same name OR in the templates directory even with a new file name (Vista...Grrrr). Maybe because the file was being used at the time. I saved it elsewhere and wonder if I can go back with explorer and move/rename that file to the proper dot filename and use it. I think I'll try, while saving all the defaults just in case.
M

[tnik]

Does anybody ever have a question that's NOT urgent?

Hey gang, I know this is an old thread but I have a related issue to tukes23...

I installed SW 2010 and seem to be stuck in ISO as my default standard. I live in an ANSI world, and its a real pain to have to set this, and the units (thanks to canadamaxxer for the units resolution!), every time I create a new part.

So how do I permanently change my startup to ANSI?

It would seem there is an init or settings file someplace I could tweak, but as a newbie, I don't want to break something.

Thanks in-advance..

New info re canadamaxxer fix: The current SW2010 would not let me save the edited dot file with the same name OR in the templates directory even with a new file name (Vista...Grrrr). Maybe because the file was being used at the time. I saved it elsewhere and wonder if I can go back with explorer and move/rename that file to the proper dot filename and use it. I think I'll try, while saving all the defaults just in case.
M

Its simple.. Open a new part/assy/drw file.. change the settings to your liking. Then click save, and save as a template.

[madscien]

Thanks, tnik!

And you're right, incredibly simple.

I'm using the Commands Guide Tutorial for SolidWorks 2010 to try and learn this and just like every other teaching tool, there seems to be a "you should know that" attitude. And the newbies don't...

I contacted the author about an odd instruction in the book, and he sternly told me to read the instructions on a page that didn't exist! So I sent him a copy of the page that DID exist and instead of correcting himself, he told me he didn't have time for me. I'm sure he doesn't, but really...

I'm very proficient at a very old cad, and cleverly thought "how hard can this be?"

Thanks for the answer to a fairly lame question, but searching the book and the net first, got me nothing.

Much appreciated.
M

[tnik]

Thanks, tnik!

Thanks for the answer to a fairly lame question, but searching the book and the net first, got me nothing.

Much appreciated.
M

No problem, and the only bad question is the one that isn't asked.. I would suggest going through the tutorials that come bundled with SolidWorks first ( help -> SolidWorks Tutorials )

Then you can start reading books about it. Matt Lombard's Bible is always a good read. There's countless blogs out there about SolidWorks, and they even have their own online community.