PHOTO FRAME TUTORIAL

An Introduction to DriveWorksXpress
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An Introduction to DriveWorksXpress
This Introductory Tutorial to DriveWorksXpress is intended to give you hands-on proficiency of
DriveWorksXpress. Upon successful completion of this tutorial, you will be able to:

 Drive SolidWorks part and assembly geometry with DriveWorksXpress

 Create a DriveWorksXpress input form and link the input fields to the SolidWorks model
 Generate rules to automate and run your project

In this tutorial, we will be automating a basic Photo Frame.

Why Automate?

If you worked for a company that designed photo frames, where each frame you designed was
different, then, using DriveWorksXpress could automate the process.

Let’s take a look at this photo frame design.

As you can see, this frame could be of any height, width (within
reason). Therefore, each time a new job comes in with a
different width for the frame, each piece of wood within the
frame needs to be re-designed and new drawings produced.

This would require a custom design to be produced for each sales enquiry, which would be very
repetitive for the engineer, which would in turn effect the response time to a sales enquiry.

By automating the photo frame design using DriveWorks:

 The cost of custom designs is reduced

 The sales enquiry response time can be shortened
 The product quality is enhanced
 Repetitive tasks are reduced

What does Automate mean?

By automating the design process of this photo frame using DriveWorksXpress, you will not need to
change the dimensions and properties of each model within the assembly for each new variation.

Instead, you will enter basic information, such as height and width into a pre-designed form already
created by you. As DriveWorksXpress allows you to capture your design know-how and incorporate
it into your project, your project and form will be based on your design rules.

Rules allow the opening dimensions to be taken and used to calculate the size of each component
that makes up the frame. DriveWorksXpress has an inbuilt Rules Builder which makes this process
easy.

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You can set up your DriveWorksXpress project to automatically produce a General Arrangement
Drawing that shows the exact requirements for each job.

By following the step -by-step guide set out in the following tutorial, you will be automating your
own designs in SolidWorks in no time, thanks to DriveWorksXpress!

To begin this tutorial, you will need to download the SolidWorks project files for the Frame Assembly
from the DriveWorksXpress website:

http://www.driveworksxpress.com/index.php/training

The SolidWorks files are contained within a zipped file. Ensure you extract the files from this folder
before beginning the training.

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Lesson 1: Basic Setup

DriveWorksXpress is installed within EVERY seat of SolidWorks, so you don’t need to worry about
installing software or inputting license codes.

All you need to do is open up SolidWorks 2011,

click on the ‘Tools’ menu in the SolidWorks menu
at the top left of the screen, and select
DriveWorksXpress from the drop down list.

This activates DriveWorksXpress, which will then

open in the SolidWorks Task Pane on the right
hand side of the screen.

The DriveWorksXpress Welcome Page will appear in the SolidWorks Task Pane and offers three
options:

 Create / Change Database

This allows you to create a new project or load

and change an existing project

 Add / Edit Models

Add more models to the existing project

 Run Models

Jump directly to Run to specify a new variation

using a completed project

For this tutorial, highlight the ‘Create / Change Database’ check box, then click the ‘Next’ button
at the top of the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane.

You will automatically be asked to open a new database.

Browse to a specific location where you would like your database saved to, then name your new
project “Photo Frame”.

Click ‘Open’ to continue.

A database has been created and saved in your specified location.

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Lesson 2: Capturing your Models and Dimensions

Models
You now need to add your models.

Following the creation of a new database, click ‘Next’ to forward you to a new window within
the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane, which will allow you to capture your model and the parameters
that will be controlled on that model.

There are three ways to select which models are to be driven by DriveWorksXpress:

 Browse for new model

If no models are open in SolidWorks, you can

browse to the location of the files you would
like to be driven and automated by
DriveWorksXpress

 Use current open model

If you currently have a part or assembly open

in SolidWorks, DriveWorksXpress can capture
these models to be driven and automated

 Models already in DriveWorksXpress

If you have previously captured Models

within DriveWorksXpress, these will be
displayed in the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane

In this tutorial, we are going to automate a Photo Frame Assembly.

Make sure ‘Browse for new model’ is selected and click ‘Next’ .

Browse to the location where you saved your files, open the “DriveWorksXpress Photo Frame
Tutorial” folder and select the SolidWorks Assembly Document called Frame Assembly.SLDASM
and click ‘Open’.

The Unit assembly will now open in SolidWorks.

Once DriveWorksXpress knows the location of the files, we’ll need to tell it which components we
want to capture dimensions and features from.

The DriveWorksXpress Task Pane will now show all of the options for capturing model information,
as well as a tree showing the structure of the Photo Frame Assembly.

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At the bottom of the DriveWorksXpress

Task Pane you will see several tabs. They
are as follows:

 Captured Models

This shows the model being captured within

DriveWorksXpress

 Captured Assembly Structure

This allows you to see all the models making

up the structure of the assembly within a
‘tree’ formation. This option allows you to
select which models within the assembly
that you would like to capture

 Dimensions and Features

Dimensions and features can be controlled

by double clicking a model from the model
list within the model tree above the Capture
options and then clicking ‘Dimensions and
Features’

 Custom Properties

Any custom property that has been assigned

in SolidWorks can be captured and driven by
DriveWorksXpress

 Drawings and Configurations

If there are manufacturing drawings, they

can be located and added to
DriveWorksXpress by selecting this tab and
hitting ‘Browse’ under the ‘Drawings’
heading.

If rules are required to drive which configuration of a part or assembly gets used, this can also be indicated
in the ‘Drawing and Configurations’ option

Click ‘Captured Assembly Structure’.

In this example we will not drive all of the parts in the assembly so make sure that ONLY the check
boxes shown check in the image are selected.

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Dimensions
The Dimensions and Features Tab is where you decide which parameters from the model you want
to capture and drive.

Click on ‘Captured Models’ tab and double click ‘Back’ in the

model tree.

Double click the “Back” model in the model tree.

The model will open.

Click on the ‘Dimensions and Features’ tab in the ‘Capture

Explorer’ at the bottom of the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane.

On the “Back” model part, two dimensions need to be

captured.

Using the SolidWorks feature tree that is displayed on the left

hand side of the screen, double click on the feature named
“Boss-Extrude 1”. Select the feature and three dimensions
should appear.

Select the dimension ‘7.000’ that appears

on the model.

The dimension changes from black to blue

once selected.

In the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane, the SolidWorks Name for

the dimension appears in the text box labelled ‘Address’.

NOTE: A yellow warning triangle also appears . This

disappears once something has been typed in.

In this example it is called:

‘width@[email protected]’

The name of this dimension has been changed in

SolidWorks. DriveWorks has picked up on this, so has given
the name the same name as the SolidWorks Dimension.

Click ‘Add’.

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Using the SolidWorks feature tree that is displayed on the left hand side of the screen, Double click
on the feature named “Boss-Extrude 1”. Select the dimension ‘5.000’ that appears on the model.

The name of this dimension has been changed in SolidWorks. DriveWorks has picked up on this, so
has given the name the same name as the SolidWorks Dimension.

Click ‘Add’.

The captured dimension can now be seen in the

DriveWorksXpress Task Bar.

The next step is to capture the rest of the features

and dimensions from each individual part of the
Photo Frame Assembly.

Click on ‘Captured Models’ tab and double click ‘Mat’ in the model tree.

Select the ‘Dimensions and Features’ tab at the bottom of the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane.

The dimensions required on this particular model are the same as the model above, width and
height.

Using the SolidWorks feature tree that is displayed on the left hand side of the screen, double click
on the feature named “Boss-Extrude 1”. Select the feature and three dimensions should appear.

Select the dimension “7.000”.

In the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane, click ‘Add’.

Next, select the dimension “5.000”, click ‘Add’.

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Select the ‘Captured Models’ tab in the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane.

Double click the ‘Glass’ model from the model tree.

Capture the dimensions within the model (shown in the table below) using the same method as
previously demonstrated.

Remember to click ‘Add’ for each dimension!

Feature Name Dimension Value DriveWorks Name Explanation

Boss-Extrude 1 7.000 Width This will control the width of the glass
Boss-Extrude 1 5.000 Height This will control the height of the glass

Select the ‘Captured Models’ tab in the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane.

Double click the ‘Frame’ model from the model tree.

Capture the dimensions within the model (shown in the table below) using the same method as
previously demonstrated.

NOTE: You will need to change the DriveWorks Name of the dimension to incorporate Frame.

Feature Name Dimension Value DriveWorks Name Explanation

Boss-Extrude 1 8.740 Frame Width This will control the width of the frame
This will control the height of the
Boss-Extrude 1 6.740 Frame Height
frame

Select the Drawing and Configurations tab at the bottom on

the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane.

Select the Option, “Yes, allow me to create a rule to switch

configurations”.

DriveWorksXpress allows the input of SolidWorks engineering

drawings. This feature means that when a new version of the
model is made using DriveWorksXpress, the engineering
drawing of that component is also updated to match it.

Select the ‘Captured Models’ tab in the DriveWorksXpress

Task Pane.

Double click the ‘Frame Assembly’ model from the model

tree.

Select the Drawing and Configurations tab at the bottom on

the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane.

Click on the ‘Browse’ button to search your files for the corresponding SolidWorks drawing and
input it into your program.

The file name of the Frame Assembly SolidWorks drawing will appear in the Drawing File Name Box.

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As well as creating a drawing we are also going to

drive some text on to the drawing border.

Select the Custom Properties tab on the

DriveWorksXpress Task Pane.

Select the Properties as shown in the image.

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Lesson 3: Form Creation

In DriveWorksXpress you can create an input form for entering the values for your new parts and
drawings. This form can be used again and again to specify and generate all the new parts and
drawings, based on the rules you set, and values you enter.

Adding Controls

To access the forms designer, click the ‘Next’ arrow at the top of the DriveWorksXpress Task
Pane.

Each control placed on the form requires three things:

 Name - You must provide a descriptive name for the form control. This name will be the description
the user sees as they fill in your form i.e. Customer Name

NOTE: The yellow warning triangle will remain by the ‘Name’ box until a Name has been entered.

 Type - Choose from five types of controls (inputs)

Text Box: Input text directly by typing

Numeric Text Box: Input numeric values and specify a minimum and maximum value

Drop Down: Provides a list of options to choose from

Spin Button: Users can select from a range of numeric values. A maximum and a
minimum value, as well as the incremented value

Check Box: Places a checkbox on the form

 Required - Enforces a value to be entered

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In this example, let’s create a Customer Name and an Order Number using a Text Box. Later we will
build a rule to append the Customer Name and Order Number to each file so that each set of new
files in a specification can be easily identified.

Type the Name of the Text Box into the ‘Name’

Box. In this case call it “Customer Name”.

Select “Text Box” from the drop down list.

Tick the check box next to ‘Required’ to ensure a

Customer Name is entered for each new
specification.

Click ‘Next’ at the top of the

DriveWorksXpress Task Pane to add another form control.

Notice that the form control appears in the form designer within the DriveWorksXpress Task Pane.
As you can create your form you can edit and delete controls, as well as change the order by using
the Up and Down arrows.

You can also test your form by clicking ‘Test’.

Click ‘Add’ on the right hand side of the

DriveWorksXpress Task Pane and create the following
form control:

Control Name: “Order Number”

Type: Text Box
Required: Yes

Add a control to specify the overall height of the finished model using Spin Button, which allows a

maximum and a minimum value to be enforced as well as an increment. Remember to click

after adding each control.
Control
Type of Control Required? Minimum Value Maximum Value Increment
Name

Height Spin Button Yes 4 9 1

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Add a control to specify the overall width of the finished model using Drop Down. This allows you to
type in list data with the user can select from.
Control
Type of Control Required? Options
Name
4
5
Width Drop Down Yes 7
9
10
Click
Finally add a control to specify the material of the finished model using Drop Down
Control
Type of Control Required? Options
Name
Oak
Maple
Material Drop Down Yes
Pine
Mahogany
Click
Click ‘Test’ within the Form Designer to preview the form you have created and test it out for
yourself.

You will notice that as you fill out the forms, the
background of the text boxes will change from pink
to white, and the yellow warning triangles will
disappear.

You will notice that if you hover over a control it

will give to some information on that control.

At this point it is all ways worth entering values and

clicking ‘Set Defaults’ as this will make it easier
when it comes to rule creation as the controls will
have values.

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Rules Building
Building rules within DriveWorksXpress allows
your designs to be automated.

To navigate to the Rules tab, click or

buttons at the top of the DriveWorksXpress
Task Pane.

The Rules tab shows a summary of your rules

and how many of each rule type there are,
including how many are still missing and
therefore required to be inputted before the
automation can be run.

Begin by constructing rules for the File Names. This uses the Customer Name and Order Number
that were filled out in the form created earlier to generate file names so that each set of new files in
a specification can be easily identified.

Tick the ‘Edit’ checkbox next to the ‘File Names’ Rule

Type and then click

Select the Frame Assembly Rule and then click

‘Build’.

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Rules Builder
There are four drop-down menus within the DriveWorksXpress Rule Builder:

 Inputs

Lists the available controls that can be used in rules

 Recent

This can be populated with commonly used text

strings or equations

 Math

Mathematical operators (e.g. add, subtract, divide)

 Logic

Logical operators (e.g. IF, <, >, =)

To create unique file names for each new specification, file names should be populated with
information that will allow you to recognise what they are.

For the Frame Assembly, you are going to use the “Customer Name” and “Order Number” to create
file names that have the format, “Component OrderNumber – CustomerName”.

Start by selecting the “OrderNumber” control from the Inputs tab.

This will now place the value from the control into the rule.

To incorporate the hyphen between OrderNumber and CustomerName, ampersands (&) need to be
used. This is because OrderNumber is one string and the hyphen is another string. Therefore, you
need to type & “-“.

The rule should now read OrderNumber & “-“.

To finish off the File Name rule, type &

CustomerName (or select ‘CustomerName from
the Input menu). The rule should now read:

OrderNumber & “-“ & CustomerName

An example of this rule when put into practice

will read:

‘Frame Assembly DW004 – John Smith’

Click ‘OK’ to exit the Rules Builder.

NOTE: The rules builder will appear in red until the full rule is valid.

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There will now be four remaining File Name Rules.

DriveWorksXpress allows you to build rules for all the selected models at the same time by holding
down CTRL or shift to multiple select:

Multi-select all of the Rules except Frame and then click ‘Build’.

These rules are going to be different from the main assembly. We are going to incorporate the
Height and the Width of the frame in to the rule. This will mean that DriveWorks will create and
build up a standard set of components as their file name will be based on their actual size. This will
speed up generation as DriveWorks will not create the part if it already exists.

Select the “Height” control from the Inputs tab.

Type & “-“&.

Select the “Width” control from the Inputs tab.

The Rule should now read Height & “-“ & Width.

An example of this rule when put into practice will read:

‘Frame 5-10’

Click ‘OK’ to exit the Rules Builder.

There will now be one remaining File Name Rule.

Select the Frame Rule and click ‘Build’.

This is going to incorporate the inputs from the Height and the Width but will it will also use the
Material.

Select the “Height” control from the Inputs tab.

Type & “-“&.

Select the “Width” control from the Inputs tab.

Type & “-“&.

Select the “Material” control from the Inputs tab.

The Rule should now read Height & “-“ & Width & “-“ & Material.

An example of this rule when put into practice will read:

‘Frame 5-10-Oak’

This could create a long File Name if Mahogany was chosen, so we are going to shorten the Material
to the first two letters.

We are going to do this using the LEFT function.

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Note: An explanation of this function can be found in The Little Book of Rules on page 130.

Create the following Rule:

Height & “-“ & Width & “-“ & LEFT( Material , 3)

This will take the first three letters from the Left of the Material input.

Click ‘OK’ to exit the Rules Builder.

Click to re-navigate to the Rules Summary page.

Deselect the check box next to ‘File Names’ and select

‘Configuration’.

Earlier we selected the option to change the

configuration of the Frame Part. In the Frame there are
four configurations. Each of the four configurations has
a different material.

The Name of each of the configurations is the material

which it has been assigned.

In order for DriveWorks to switch the configuration the exact name of the configuration must be
entered in to the configuration rule.

Click

Select the Configuration Rule and click ‘Build’

Select the “Material” control from the Inputs tab.

Type &”<As Machined>”

This will create the following rule.

Material & ”<As Machined>”

Click ‘OK’ to exit the Rules Builder.

Click to re-navigate to the Rules Summary page.

Deselect the check box next to ‘Configurations’ and

select ‘Custom Properties’.

Click

Select the Date Rule and click ‘Build’.

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To create this rule we want to use todays date. We could do this be adding a control on to the user
form which requires the user to enter todays date, or better, we can use one of the built in functions
to enter the date.

To do this we are going to use the TODAY function.

Type TODAY() in to the rules builder.

Note: An explanation of this function can be found in The Little Book of Rules on page 94.

You will see the result at the bottom of the window showing todays date.

You can also make use of the TEXT function to format the date differently

Note: An explanation of this function can be found in The Little Book of Rules on page 136.

Type the following rule in to the rules builder and note the change in the Result.

Text(Today(),"dd-mm-yyy")

Click ‘OK’ to exit the Rules Builder.

Create the following rules:

Name Rule

Drawn By “{YourName}”

Material Material

Part Number Height &"-"&Width&"-"&LEFT(Material ,3)

Click to re-navigate to the Rules Summary page.

Creating rules for the dimensions of the Frame Assembly will allow these dimensions to be
automated using DriveWorksXpress, creating new SolidWorks files based on the information entered
into the form created earlier.

Deselect the check box next to ‘Custom Properties’ and

select ‘Dimensions’.

Click

This will take you to a list of all the dimensions captured

earlier on.

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Click on a dimension and then ‘Build’ to create a rule for the dimension.

Click ‘OK’ once you have typed in your rule.

The table below shows the name of each rule and the formula that should be input into the Rules
Builder:

Rule Name Formula

Width =Width
Height =Height
Frame Width =Width + 1.74
Frame Height =Height + 1.74

Click to return to the original rules screen.

There are now 0 rules missing for the captured dimensions.

Now click or click , which will take you to the ‘Run’ Task Pane of DriveWorksXpress.

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Lesson 4: Running the Project

Now that all of the rules are written for the project, new
specifications can be created.

Within the Run Task Pane, you will be able to see the eight
controls that you created earlier in the project. Hovering
over any of the controls will cause a message to appear
that tells you the range of values you can enter. This is a
useful reminder to help you to enter the correct values.

All of the controls which require a value will appear with a

pink background which will turn white once a suitable
value is entered.

To run your project, enter suitable values and click or

‘Create’. DriveWorksXpress will run the project and generate the
files.

A generation report is produced which shows activity on all of

the driven values. Any errors will appear with a red cross, and all
successful values will appear with a green tick.

Your model will appear in SolidWorks with the specified height,

width and material.

To view the modified SolidWorks Drawing File for this new

model, open the folder where all the files have been saved to.
The SolidWorks Drawing of the modified model will be saved
under the Order Number – Customer Name you inputted into
the form. You will also be able to see all the part assembly files
that have been generated and saved.

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Congratulations, you have now completed this Introductory

Tutorial in DriveWorksXpress!

If you want more practice with DriveWorksXpress, there is a DriveWorksXpress Mobile Gantry
tutorial available online at:

www.driveworksxpress.com

There is a lot more downloadable content available at:

www.driveworksxpress.com

Now you’ve tried DriveWorksXpress, GO AUTOMATE your own SolidWorks

projects!

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