Greg Mote
	A handy online reference for using SolidWorks at ArtCenter.
	Here lies the basic stuff you need to do to use SolidWorks 98. These notes are specifically design to be used in the ArtCenter NT computer lab (138) or rapid prototyping computer lab (???) between the fishbowl and the rapid prototyping room. The classes that this applies to are Solid Modeling and Advanced Product Design I.

Contents

Really Basic Stuff Important Notes Logging On Getting Setup Moving In Starting SolidWorks Opening Existing Work Starting New Work Working Moving Out Logging Off

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Really Basic Stuff

This stuff so obvious once you've done it that even the experts will fail to notice these details when something does goes wrong. 1 Open the door, walk in the lab, close the door. 2 Pick a computer, walk up to it. 3 Complete the following checklist: CPU exists power cable plugged in network cable plugged in Monitor exists power cable plugged in monitor cable plugged in Zip Drive exists power cable plugged in SCSI cable plugged in Mouse exists plugged into computer Keyboard exists plugged into computer If anything is missing go back to step 2; pick another computer. If there are no available computers that work: Try the other lab. Complain the proper authorities and take a break. 4 Make sure the CPU and the Monitor are turned on. You can now get comfy in the chair that should be somewhere nearby. After a few times, you won't need this checklist, it will be obvious when something is missing. Although it never hurts to check that everything is where it should be; it can be really annoying to find our that the Zip drive is not plugged in after you spent a bunch of time waiting for the computer to start up...

Important Notes

These notes relate to EVERYTHING that you do in the Windows NT. READ THEM CAREFULLY! IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THESE NOTES COMPLETELY, DO NOT CONTINUE ON WITHOUT ASKING FOR HELP. 1 When you are asked to click on something, it is ALWAYS with the left mouse button. When you are asked to right click on something, it is ALWAYS with the right mouse button. The left mouse button is used for selecting and opening stuff. The right mouse button is used to bring up a menu of options for whatever you have right clicked on. Please keep this in mind AT ALL TIMES. 2 When you need to select several items in ANY program or at ANY time; click on the first thing and then hold down the key while selecting the rest of the things. is only used for a special type of selecting that will be mentioned later; don't use it until you know what it does. 3 When you are asked to drag something, it is ALWAYS done with the left mouse button. Click on the thing you want to drag and keep the left mouse button down. Move the mouse to wherever you need the thing to be dragged to. The thing should follow the mouse. Release the left mouse button. 4 When you are asked to click or drag something you should do so on the icon, not on the text that is next to it. If you click on the text, you may accidentally rename the thing that you were actually attempting to drag or click. 5 ALWAYS AND AT ALL TIMES BE AWARE OF: Where you are saving your data. Should always be somewhere in C:\User\Product\Your Name Here\Solid Modeling Class\. How many copies you have made (the more the better, but don't try to save too many different versions, that will get way too confusing). Several identical backups is the easiest to maintain. When you last saved.

Logging on

Making sure that you are using the correct account will help keep you from getting confused later. 1 If the computer has been left logged in: (You can see the in the lower left corner when you are logged in) Click on the button Click on the menu item Click on the dot Click on the 2 When you see the Begin Logon box: Hold down the and the keys and then press and release the key. Then release the and the keys to begin the logging on process. 3 When you see the Logon Information box: Type 'product' in lowercase for the User name field and '________' in lowercase for the Password. Make sure the Domain is set to 'GRAPHICS-LAB'. Press or when you are done to log in. 4 You should see something similar to the following when Windows NT is done with the logon process. If the is missing you will need to use another computer until someone can recopy the icon to this computer.

Getting Setup

Put your disk in and start NT Explorer (NOT Internet Explorer!). 1 Press the key to turn on the light on the upper right of the keyboard. This makes the number pad on the right type numbers rather than make the cursor move around. 2 If you have stuff on you zip disk, place it in the zip drive now, otherwise make sure there is no zip disk in the drive. 3 Move the cursor to the and click. 4 Click on Windows NT Explorer in the menu that pops up. 5 You should see something similar to the following when Windows NT Explorer is loaded.

Moving In

Prepare the C:\User\Product\Your Name Here\ folder on the hard drive and move your files on to it. 1 If you don't already have a folder on this computer you will need to create one: In the left pane of Windows NT Explorer: Find the icon and click on the little to expand the outline of the C drive. Find the icon and click on the little to expand the outline of the User folder. Find the icon and click on the little to expand the outline of the Product folder. Click on the icon. In the left pane of Windows NT Explorer: Right click in the empty space. Click on . Click on . A new folder will appear and the name will be highlighted. Simply type your name on the keyboard. Use the shift key to capitalize your name as you wish. Press . 2 If you have previously created stuff to work on, drag it from your zip disk to the C:\User\Product\Your Name Here\ folder. In the left pane of Windows NT Explorer: Find the icon and click on the little to expand the outline of the zip disk. Find your folder under the icon. Drag that folder up to icon under the . Find the icon and click on the little to expand the outline of the Your Name Here folder. You should see your folder under the icon. 3 If you DO NOT have previously created stuff to work on the you will need to setup the appropriate folders for your work to be stored in. In the left pane of Windows NT Explorer: Find the icon you just created and click on it. In the right pane of Windows NT Explorer: Right click in the empty space. Click on . Click on . A new folder will appear and the name will be highlighted. Type 'Solid Modeling Class'. Press . In the left pane of Windows NT Explorer: Find the folder you just created and click on the little to expand the outline of the Your Name Here folder. Find the folder you just created and click on it. In the right pane of Windows NT Explorer: Right click in the empty space. Click on . Click on . A new folder will appear and the name will be highlighted. Type 'Tutorials'. Press . Right click in the empty space. Click on . Click on . A new folder will appear and the name will be highlighted. Type 'Exercise1'. Press . In the left pane of Windows NT Explorer: Find the folder you recently created and click on the little to expand the outline of the Solid Modeling Class folder. You should see the [Tutorials] and the [Exercise1] folders you just created. As you work on projects, create folders for each thing you do. Always save all the files for one project in the same folder and always keep each project in a separate folder. Tutorials and exercises can be grouped together by assignment if you don't like having lots of folders. Keeping your files organized is EXTREMELY important. There is no excuse for lost or missing files. It is completely your own fault. Perhaps someday computer software will make this even easier but for now it is already simple enough that even you can do the things that are necessary to prevent the loss of your data. Reminder: You should always have at least two Zip disk copies of your work and a copy on the computer you are working on. 4 File moving is now done. Minimize Windows NT Explorer and we will go on to opening up SolidWorks 98. Click on the minimization icon in the upper right corner of the Windows NT Explorer Window to shrink it to the task bar at the bottom of the screen for later use. 5 Press the eject button on the front of the zip drive to eject your disk to prevent your files from accidentally being erased of messed up. NEVER OPEN FILES DIRECTLY FROM THE ZIP DRIVE.

Starting SolidWorks 98

Reset SolidWorks preferences and launch SolidWorks. 1 Find the icon on the left side of the desktop and double click on it to load the standardized preferences for the Solid Modeling Class. This box will appear when the preferences are done loading. Click on the or press to close the box. 2 Find the icon on the left side of the desktop and double click on it to load SolidWorks 98. 3 Enjoy the nifty logo that appears. Read the Tip of the Day. Click on the or press to enter the world of SolidWorks.

Opening Existing Work

Open an existing file. Here is the basic SolidWorks screen before anything has been opened: (If your screen doesn't look like this then you probably forgot to double click on the icon before opening SolidWorks. If a few of the toolbars are missing then they will have to be turned on. Someday I might write instructions on how to do this, but for now you will need to use SolidWorks' built-in help or the SolidWorks manuals to do this yourself.) 1 Click the open file toolbar icon. This box will appear: Usually it shows the contents of the SolidWorks folder on the . This not where your file will be found. We must look elsewhere. SolidWorks remembers where you last saved or opened any file, so you do not always have to look far for your folder, sometimes the box comes up with the correct folder showing, but don't count on it. Check that it is the right folder. 2 Click on the little down arrow at the top of the open box to display where you are. Choose the icon. From here you need to open the folders by double clicking on them until you get to the folder that contains the file that you are looking for. Near the bottom of the open box is a small box labeled "Files of type:" this limits the files displayed to the kind that is listed in this little box. So if you want to open a part file, you need to make sure this box shows "Part Files (*.prt,*.sldprt)" and if you want to open an assembly file make sure it shows "Assembly Files (*.asm,*.sldasm)". If you want to open some other file, choose that type of file or choose "All Files (*.*)" to display all the files in the folder.

Starting New Work

Create a new file to start working in. 1 Click the open file toolbar icon. 2 This box will appear: 3 Choose the kind of new thing you want to create by clicking on the appropriate line of text. Part: Create a single three dimensional piece of stuff. Assembly: Create a collection of parts. Drawing: Create a two dimensional representation of an existing file. Press to accept your choice and begin working.

Working

Do the SolidWorks thing. 1 Work 2 Save Click on the icon. (If you haven't previously saved your part, then you will have to give your work a name and tell the computer where to save it.) This box will appear: Usually it shows the contents of the SolidWorks folder on the . This not where your file will be saved. They MUST be saved in your folder on the . First you need to give your part a name. This is very important: Give it a name that means something; be specific (you have up to 1023 characters for the name, use as many as you need.) Names like Part1 or Joe2 are not appropriate. Names such as Big Rubber Foot or Exercise 4 or Spumco 2000 Dynacron Launch Button are much more descriptive and make it much easier to find your stuff later. Click on the little down arrow at the top of the save box to display where you are. Choose the icon. From here you need to open the folders by double clicking on them until you get to the folder that your file should be saved in. ... Once you have the correct location and a good name. Press the [save] button. 3 Repeat. Saving your work every .001 seconds to 5 minutes. The more often the better. Save before you do something complex and save after you finish doing anything complex.

Moving Out

Close SolidWorks and copy your files to your zip disks. 1 Save: Click on the icon. (This had better not be the first time have you saved! If it is then jump back to the Working section at look at step 2 to see how it done.) 2 Quit: Click on the icon in the far upper right corner of the SolidWorks screen. 3 Click on the icon in the taskbar at the bottom left of the screen to bring back the Windows NT Explorer that you minimized after you finished copying you files onto the computer. 4 Put one of your two zip disks into the zip drive. 5 All you really have to do is drag the folder over to the icon and let go on the mouse button. But if you have a lot of files and only changed a few, you can copy just the files that you changed or added by dragging them to the matching folders on each zip disk. I will fill in the details later. 6 Put your other zip disk into the zip drive and repeat step 5.

Logging Off

Log off. 1 Click on the icon in the lower left corner of the screen. 2 Click on . 3 This box will appear: Make sure the is selected. 4 Click on the . All done! Leave the lab through the door. I'll leave the operation of the door upon leaving to you.

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© Greg Mote Chaos:Control