Solidworks 2009 and mapping the Set centre point command

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support
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Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:13 am

Solidworks 2009 and mapping the Set centre point command

Post by support »

Hi all, im new to using my space explorer, ive figured out how to customise the buttons however I cant figure out how to map the "set centre point" command to a button on the device within SolidWorks 2009.

Any help is much appriciated.
Bryan
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SolidWorks 2009 - Button Mapping - Sets Center Point

Post by Bryan »

Dear support,

In the SolidWorks Button Mapping Editor under the "3Dcontrol" 'Hammer' Folder you will find the 'Sets Center Point' "Nail" command that you may drag and drop on the button you want to assign it to.

Sincerely,
Bryan
rich.kelley
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:00 am

Mapping "Sets center point" in SolidWorks 2008

Post by rich.kelley »

Hi. I use SolidWorks 2008. I also am having trouble mapping the "sets center point" function to the buttons on my SpaceNavigator.

When working on an Assembly in SolidWorks the buttons map just as you describe. However when working on a Part the menus for the button mapping are a bit different. Most of the commands seem like they're there, but in different places. The one command that I cannot find in any menu is the "sets center point" command.

How can I access that command since it is not available through any menu? Is there some way I can manually map this command to the mouse buttons?

*******************************************

As a note, the inability to set the center rotation point quickly and easily greatly reduces the functionality and utility of the 3D mouse. I see lots of 3D mice sitting on engineers' desks unused because of that one issue. Mapping the setting of the rotation center point to a button on the mouse is an OK alternative, but it really should just be automatic (any point on the model I click is the current rotation center).

*******************************************

Thanks,

Rich Kelley
Bryan
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Toggling Rotation Pt./Rotation Axis Off and On in Solidworks

Post by Bryan »

Dear rich.kelley

What release version of 3DxSoftware do you find listed in the About Item under the Help Menu in the 3Dconnexion Control Panel?

If you have the 3DControl ToolBar showing in SolidWorks, one of the icons should be a yellow question mark which will bring up '3D control Help' that you may find helpful. There is also an icon that represents the 'origin' that 'Sets Center Point'. If you have a point selected in your part and you toggle 'Sets Center Point' On, your part should now rotate about that point until you toggle it off again. Similiarly you may select a Part's Edge and select the icon that shows an arrow wrapped around a line, 'Sets Center Axis' to toggle rotation off and on about that selected line.

Sincerely,
Bryan
rich.kelley
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Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:00 am

Post by rich.kelley »

Hi Bryan,

Thanks for the response.

The version information is:

Release Version 3.7.18
Driver Version 6.7.13
FW Version 4.04

The 3DControl ToolBar does show. I can select the "Sets center point" icon in the tool bar so that I can select the rotation center. The key here is that I really want to map a button the SpaceNavigator so that I can avoid this extra hunt and click step just so that I can rotate my part.

And note, this problem of not being able to map the "Sets center point" button to the SpaceNavigator is only an issue when I'm in Parts mode in SolidWorks. In Assembly mode I have no problem finding and mapping "Sets center point" to a button on the SpaceNavigator.

Thanks for any help.

Rich Kelley
Bryan
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Mapping 'Sets Center Point' in 3DControl Folder to a Button

Post by Bryan »

Dear rich.kelley,

When you are in Assembly Mode, how do you go about mapping the 'Sets Center Point' command to a button?

By drag and dropping the command from the 3DControl Folder?

I find this command whether I have a Part Open or an Assembly Open in SolidWorks 2009, also using 3DxSoftware 3.7.18.

Sincerely,
Bryan G.
rich.kelley
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:00 am

Post by rich.kelley »

Hi Bryan,

In Assembly mode I can see "Sets center point" in the 3Dcontrol menu and drag it over to button. I do not see "Sets center point" in the 3Dcontrol menu when I'm in Part mode. In Part mode the only thing in the 3Dcontrol menu is "Toolbox." I can't find "Sets center point" in any other menu either.

OK, below is some mind numbing detail, but hopefully it helps you understand exactly what I'm seeing between Parts mode and Assembly mode. The menus are similar, but not the same.

************************************************
In Part mode the button mapping menu looks like this:

2D to 3D
Auxillary
Back
Bottom
Cut . . .
Extrude . . .
Front
Left
Right
Sketch Picture
Top
3D Printing
Exit
Local Driver
Online Service
Pack and Go . . .
Pack and Go . . . (yes, it’s duplicated)
Properties
3Dcontrol
Toolbar
3Dcontrol Views
Isometric 1
Isometric 2
Roll Clockwise
Roll Counterclockwise
3DSketch
All Annotations
Annotation Link Errors
Annotation Link Variables
Appearance Callouts
Cameras
Dimensions
Grid
Hide/Show Bodies . . .
Lights
Parting Lines
Points
Routing Points
Sketch Planes
Sketch Relations
3DxWare Functions

Save
Shift + Alt Key
Shift Key
Skype
Solidworks Panel
Solidworks Panel Fn
Space Key
Star

Align
Annotations
Appearance
Bend Table
Blocks
Boss/Base
Curve
Etc.


In Assembly mode the button mapping menu looks like this:

2D to 3D
Auxillary
Back
Bottom
Cut . . .
Extrude . . .
Front
Left
Right
Sketch Picture
Top
3D Printing
Exit
Local Driver
Pack and Go . . .
Pack and Go . . . (yes, it’s duplicated)
Properties
(“Online Service” is missing)
3Dcontrol
3Dcontrol Help (not in Parts mode menu)
Decrease Sensitivity (not in Parts mode menu)
Increase Sensitivity (not in Parts mode menu)
Reset Sensitivity (not in Parts mode menu)
Sets Center Axis (not in Parts mode menu)
Sets Center Point (not in Parts mode menu) (the command I’m trying to map)
Show Mapping Panel (not in Parts mode menu)
Toggle Sub-Part Movement (not in Parts mode menu)
(Toolbar was the only choice in the Part mode menu, but it’s not here)
3Dcontrol Views
Isometric 1
Isometric 2
Roll Clockwise
Roll Counterclockwise
3DSketch
All Annotations
Annotation Link Errors
Annotation Link Variables
Appearance Callouts
Cameras
Dimensions
Grid
Hide/Show Bodies . . .
Lights
Points
Routing Points
Sketch Planes
Sketch Relations
(Parting Lines is in the Parts mode menu also)
3DxWare Functions

Save
Shift + Alt Key
Shift Key
Skype
Solidworks Panel
Solidworks Panel Fn
Space Key
Star

Align
Annotations
Appearance

(Bend Table is NOT in this menu but appears in the Part mode menu)
Blocks
(Boss/Base is NOT in this menu but appears in the Part mode menu)
Component (not in Parts mode menu)
Component Pattern (not in Parts mode menu)
Component Select (not in Parts mode menu)
Cut
(Curve is NOT in this menu but appears in the Part mode menu)
Etc.
**********************************

Thanks,

Rich Kelley
rstadie
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Post by rstadie »

Hi Rich Kelley,

Please try the following:

A) Stop the 3Dconnexion driver (3DxWare) and SolidWorks
B) Rename the following folder to "profiles.bak"

Code: Select all

C:\Documents and Settings\YourUsername\Application Data\3Dconnexion\3DxWare\profiles
C) Rename the following registry subkey to "3Dconnexion Add-In for SolidWorks.bak":

Code: Select all

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\3Dconnexion\3Dconnexion Add-In for SolidWorks
This will reset your 3D Mouse configuration for SolidWorks to the default.

Then start the 3Dconnexion driver and launch SolidWorks. Please let us know if "Sets Center Point" does now appear in Part Mode.

Do you have any other Add-in for SolidWorks installed and activated?
Robert Stadie
rich.kelley
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Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:00 am

Post by rich.kelley »

Hi rstadie,

I tried your procedure but no luck. A new profile folder was created in 3DxWare and a new registry subkey was created when I restarted the SpaceNavigator and SolidWorks, but the menu selections were still the same. My button configurations were reset.

I'm not running any other SolidWorks add-ins that I'm aware of.

Is there some way I can force the part mode menus to give me the "Sets center point" selection?

Thanks for your help on this.

Rich
rich.kelley
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:00 am

Everything Works w an old 3dConnexion Travel Mouse

Post by rich.kelley »

Just to further confuse things, I have a laptop at home set-up with SolidWorks 2008. Last night I loaded the drivers for an older 3dConnexion travel mouse (8 buttons around the base) on my machine. I can see "Sets center point" in both part mode and assembly mode. In fact the buttons were already set-up with "Sets center point" as one of the default selections.

Same question as before, is there some way I can force my current set-up to give me the choice of "Sets center point?"

Thanks,

Rich Kelley
rstadie
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Post by rstadie »

It seems for me the issue is connected to your SolidWorks settings - maybe something is mixed up.
Can you use another user account on your machine and try it with this other account?

If this works you may want to rename the following registry key while SolidWorks is not running:

Code: Select all

HKCU\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks
to

Code: Select all

HKCU\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks.bak
This will reset your SolidWorks settings to the default.
Robert Stadie
rich.kelley
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:00 am

Still not working . . .

Post by rich.kelley »

Hi rstadie,

I got busy last week so I just had a chance to try the fix you mentioned last week just yesterday. Unfortunately it didn't work. A new SolidWorks file was created in regedit that (of course) didn't have many customizations in it, but the menus for the 3D mouse looked the same as the old file.

It's really annoying that I have the command available in the tool bar but that I can't map a key to it. It's a pretty serious PITA to have to click the point on the body and then go up and click a menu every time. Of course even better than mapping the button would be not having to to set the rotation center at all (as mentioned in another thread) and having SW just figure out that a selected point or axis is the desired rotation center.

If you have any other ideas I'm open to try.

Thanks,

Rich
YBW
Posts: 61
Joined: Thu May 07, 2009 12:59 pm
Location: Madison, WI

3.8.1

Post by YBW »

I've loaded 3.8.1. The button mapping issues seem to be fixed. I assigned Set Center Point to the Pan Zoom button. It works correctly in Part and Assembly.
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