[cncuser1]

I am looking at designing with Solidworks and creating toolpaths with Mastercam.

Lets say I have already created toolpaths in mastercam from the solidworks file....

If I modify the part a part in Solidworks , will I have to completly manually recreate the toolpaths in Mastercam?

Or is there some sort of automaticc update done by Mastercam?
Does it matter if i use *.sldprt or *.x_t files ( solidworks or parasolids formats)

[Matt Berube]

A large number of users work with both Solidworks and Mastercam. They work better together all the time.

Mastercam X2-MR1 will now read a .sldasm file.

To answer your question, YES. Mastercam X2 has FILE TRACKING and CHANGE RECOGNITION features which can be used to :

1. make you aware of whether the original model has changed

2. Help you merge the new geometry with your existing Mastercam file and easily update the toolpaths without having to re-think the whole thing.

I think this is exactly what you are looking for.

Merged geometry can be of any file / entity type.

[cncuser1]

Thanks for your concise reply.

My next step is to match up compatible versions of each software.

I'd be satisfied with being able to do FILE TRACKING and CHANGE RECOGNITION of parts at this point ( I assume *.sldasm is for assemblies)

[Matt Berube]

When I say .sldasm I am referring to SolidWorks Assembly Files.

You'll have to look into Mastercam version X2. Earlier versions did not have this feature.

The Change Recognition is not completely automatic but I am sure it could be helpful to you. Be sure to have your Mastercam Reseller demonstrate it for you.

If you are thinking of purchasing Solidworks AND Mastercam, you might consider Topsolid instead. This software while not perfect does some amazing things and is fully associative and parametric DESIGN and CAM (among other things) software. Topsolid is comparable in price to Mastercam but the benefit to it is that things automatically update.

Lets say for example You have a complicated solid assy of a machine along with detailed 2-D manufacturing blueprints and also CAM files with toolpaths. If you changed a part in the assy, updating your prints and CAM files happens pretty much automatically.

Associativity and parametrics of this nature can be extremely helpful and/or extremely frustrating depending entirely upon how far you educate yourself with it.