Introduction

Solid Edge is a 3-D CAD/CAM software package for mechanical design. Besides being a fantastic design package, Solid Edge allows a fair amount of customization using Visual Basic. That's where this web page comes in.

I've written a few Visual Basic "macros" that I am offering here as freeware and shareware. Check back from time to time as I will add new programs as time permits.

BTW - While it should be obvious, the programs listed here are pretty much worthless if you don't already own Solid Edge.

PropertyRemapper

(Updated Dec 2006)
This freeware program allows you to copy, delete, or create file properties for a whole directory tree of files at one time. You can set a specific file property to be equal to a constant or another file property in the same file. If you tell PropertyRemapper to set a file property equal to "", it will be removed (only custom properties can be deleted). You can even effectively rename existing custom properties by copying the old value to a new property and then deleting the old property.

TreadTools

TreadTools is a freeware addin for SolidEdge that takes care of several mundane tasks. Based on the skeleton of the older DraftProp macro, this new addin does the following:

• Fills draft file properties based on the displayed part/assy (i.e. like DraftProp)
  In other words, the draft file essentially inherits the file properties of the primary view.
• A user-prompt allows an Inserted Part Copy to inherit the properties of its parent.
• Updates part mass prior to saving.
• Before saving in draft mode, the addin switches to page one and does a fit-to-screen first.
• In other modes, the addin forces a presetable 3D view upon saving.
• Hides construction geometry, sketches, etc. upon saving.
• Holding the [Ctrl] key allows the user to do a one-time override of any function(s).
• A toolbar icon allows quick access to settings that allow you to "permanently" disable any fuctions you don't want.
  

TubingWizard

This freeware program is one of those things I've been meaning to write for some time. If you're an infrequent user of the XpresRoute environment like me, you find yourself spending too much time on the boring details. And you get tired of entering the same data over and over. TubingWizard allows you to create a tubing 'database' that helps alleviates some of tedium. FWIW, I intended the program to have an auto-naming feature that would work with most company's naming schemes. Unfortunately, I found very little commonality among the various naming schemes people use, so you're on your own for the file name.

InSuite

A collection of utility programs for helping in the transition to Insight. If you are about ready to move your files to the Insight file system, you should check out InSuite.

StatusChanger

This freeware program allows you to change file status of multiple Solid Edge files.

Solid Edge will let you set the status of multiple files too, but this program does something Solid Edge doesn't... Now you can change baselined or released files back to the available status. Obviously this tool could easily be misused, but there are times when it can be legitimately handy.

DraftProp

A freeware add-in that allows Solid Edge draft files to "inherit" the file properties of the part / assembly they are showing. Download here.

PropSummary

A simple freeware program that was written to create index tables for Solid Edge file folders. PropSummary creates a Microsoft Excel-compatible file that lists all of the Solid Edge files in the application directory. The resulting tables created by PropSummary can be easily manipulated in Excel to reorder data for viewing, printing, export to a database, etc. Download it here.

BatchLinkFix

Before upgrading your Solid Edge files to use Insight, you'll need to make sure that none of your files contain broken links.

Version 12 of Solid Edge includes features for finding files that contain broken links. There's also a feature that allows you to fix broken links. Unfortunately, the features aren't linked and you can only fix one link at at time! Worse still, you must manually type the name of broken links and their replacement paths. If you have more than just a handful of files with broken links, fixing them with only the tools provided with Solid Edge can turn into a major chore.

BatchLinkFix automates the functionality provided by Solid Edge. After running a search for broken links, the program will prompt you with a list of all broken links where alternate links were found. With no more than a few mouse clicks, you'll be able to accomplish what would have otherwise taken several hours. Download the demo here.

PropSheet v1.0

If you like PropSheet-lite, then check out this program. Redesigned to be faster, PropSheet also adds several very handy features and a much-improved user-interface. Now it's possible to add/edit custom file properties as well as part density. No longer will you be forced to search through several dozen files for that one part keeping the assembly mass from calculating properly! It's easy to show only the property columns you want, and in whatever order you desire. This shareware version will run for 30 days -- after the demo period you must register the program if you wish to continue using it.

PropSheet-lite

This little program is a modified version of the "Part Prop" demo provided by Solid Edge. I've simply fixed a bug that existed in the original, and written a more user-friendly user interface.