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Solidworks no hyphen fractional dimensions in custom properties

Question asked by Zack Polovin on Aug 22, 2019
Latest reply on Oct 1, 2019 by Josh Brady

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As the screen capture shows, when populating custom property, the value looses the 'hyphen' or 'dash'.

Current: 1 1/16

Need: 1-1/16

Because eventually on shop drawings 1 1/16 can be read as 11/16 which is wrong.

Using SW 2019, this has been an issue in all previous versions.

************UPDATE*****************

I've been working with re-seller and SW. Please vote for this new SPR.

SOLIDWORKS has issued SPR # SPR 1150030 - "Ability to add or remove hyphen '-' between inches and fractional part of the number in custom properties.

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

Josh Brady Sep 27, 2019 4:49 PM

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Also a dumb idea... Embed some code in a custom property and execute it with an equation.

Change the property names below to suit...

Link your dimension to custom property "frac"

Create a custom property called "Code" (or whatever you want)

Give it a value of "1".

Create custom property called "Dash". Value is unimportant now, but it must exist.

Create a global variable called "Dummy" or whatever. For its value, choose the custom property "Code".

Now, go back to properties and paste the following text into the "Code" custom property:

1
dim resval as string
dim val as string
part.extension.custompropertymanager("Default").get2 "frac", val, resval
part.custominfo2("Default","Dash") = replace(resval," ","-")

If you want the "Custom" properties, replace "Default" above with an emtpy string - just two quotes ("")

If you want some config other than "Default", change "Default" to another name.

To use different properties, just change "frac" and "Dash" to whatever you want.

Note that the custom property and config names are case-sensitive.

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18 Replies

Dan Pihlaja Sep 27, 2019 4:03 PM
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Yeah, I am not sure that there is an answer:
Fraction callout in custom properties
Convert custom properties or BOM column to fractional inches

Kevin Chandler has a workaround fix here....but its complicated:
Dimension in Note question
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Josh Brady Sep 27, 2019 4:14 PM
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Probably a really dumb idea...

Edit your font using Edit or Create Fonts Easily with FontForge
Replace the space character with hyphen. Save as a new font.
Set your note font to use special font.

Told you it was dumb...
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Josh Brady Sep 27, 2019 4:49 PM
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Also a dumb idea... Embed some code in a custom property and execute it with an equation.

Change the property names below to suit...

Link your dimension to custom property "frac"

Create a custom property called "Code" (or whatever you want)
Give it a value of "1".

Create custom property called "Dash". Value is unimportant now, but it must exist.

Create a global variable called "Dummy" or whatever. For its value, choose the custom property "Code".

Now, go back to properties and paste the following text into the "Code" custom property:

1
dim resval as string
dim val as string
part.extension.custompropertymanager("Default").get2 "frac", val, resval
part.custominfo2("Default","Dash") = replace(resval," ","-")

If you want the "Custom" properties, replace "Default" above with an emtpy string - just two quotes ("")
If you want some config other than "Default", change "Default" to another name.
To use different properties, just change "frac" and "Dash" to whatever you want.

Note that the custom property and config names are case-sensitive.
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- Dan Pihlaja @ Josh Brady on Sep 27, 2019 4:55 PM
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  I didn't know you could put VBScript language (I assume that is what that is) into the custom property text/value expression field. Interesting. I also didn't know you could have it run through a multiline code like that.
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  - Josh Brady @ Dan Pihlaja on Sep 27, 2019 5:12 PM
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    Dan Pihlaja wrote:
    
    I didn't know you could put VBScript language (I assume that is what that is) into the custom property text/value expression field. Interesting. I also didn't know you could have it run through a multiline code like that.
    It's certainly unsupported. It's actually VBA. Theoretically, VBA is supported in equations. But the equations interface now blocks all but the most basic VBA, saying the syntax is no good.
    
    So, you bury the code in a custom property. But, you have to create the property first and give it a valid numerical value. Otherwise, the equation interface won't let you link to it. Once you've created the equation, you can paste multiline code into the custom property.
    
    You just have to make sure the first line is "1" (or some valid number). Somehow even though all lines of code are evaluated, that first line gets returned to the equation as the result.
    
    I actually presented on this at SWW a few years ago. So they promptly broke it using the stupid syntax checker on in the Equations dialog. NOTHING has changed about the way equations are actually evaluated. It all still works. Just the stupid syntax checker rejects a lot of stuff that actually works.
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- Zack Polovin @ Josh Brady on Sep 27, 2019 4:58 PM
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  Josh, this is an interesting idea that is worth a try.
  
  My 'SIZE' property is actually auto-filled by a macro. I wonder if there is a way to modify this macro to put the hyphen between inch and fraction?
  
  Macro attached.
  Attachments
  - SIZE_PLATE.swp.zip12.6 KB
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  - Josh Brady @ Zack Polovin on Sep 27, 2019 5:16 PM
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    Zack Polovin wrote:
    
    Josh, this is an interesting idea that is worth a try.
    
    My 'SIZE' property is actually auto-filled by a macro. I wonder if there is a way to modify this macro to put the hyphen between inch and fraction?
    
    Macro attached.
    No, sorry. I haven't looked at it, but I'm 99% sure your macro just creates the linked custom property that you have. It can't put the hyphen in there.
    
    That macro could automate all the steps I outlined above. The equation and extra "helper" custom properties are required.
    
    Or you could create a macro feature that would set your custom property based on the dimension.
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- Zack Polovin @ Josh Brady on Sep 27, 2019 6:54 PM
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  Josh,
  Since I got this to work on individual dimensions (HUGE THANKS!)
  -Instead of default, what can I put in the code so it grabs whatever is the active configuration?
  -Also, can this code be modified to do the same for my 'SIZE' property which has 3 sizes (screenshot below)?
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- Zack Polovin @ Josh Brady on Sep 30, 2019 3:04 PM
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  Hi again Josh,
  
  I thought of another idea. I realized we can input equations/code in drawing BOM columns. I can also combine columns etc.
  Would it be easier to implement a code in BOM column where it will simply replace periods with spaces and spaces with hyphens?
  
  If column had this:
  1/4".PL.x.2 7/16".x.5 1/4"
  
  Equation would change to this:
  1/4" PL x 2-7/16" x 5-1/4"
  
  This way I can still continue using my macro on new and existing parts when updating. Yet I will not need to add more custom properties to models and I can save BOM template with equation. This would be a very ideal situation for our workflow with new and existing parts.
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  - Josh Brady @ Zack Polovin on Sep 30, 2019 3:53 PM
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    BOM equations are severely limited versions of Excel type operations. Pretty sure Replace is not a supported function.
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    - Zack Polovin @ Josh Brady on Sep 30, 2019 4:07 PM
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      OK, thanks for letting me know.
      On the earlier code you provided, can I add more to the chain and replace more characters?
      
      Example, you are replacing space with hyphen, can it then replace all periods with spaces?
      
      part.custominfo2("Default","Dash") = replace(resval," ","-")
      
      Thanks
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      - Josh Brady @ Zack Polovin on Sep 30, 2019 4:27 PM
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        Zack Polovin wrote:
        
        OK, thanks for letting me know.
        On the earlier code you provided, can I add more to the chain and replace more characters?
        
        Example, you are replacing space with hyphen, can it then replace all periods with spaces?
        
        part.custominfo2("Default","Dash") = replace(resval," ","-")
        
        Thanks
        This is the VBA Replace function. You will need to call it either sequentially or nested.
        
        resval = replace(resval, " ", "-")
        resval = replace(resval, ".", " ")
        
        or
        
        resval = replace(replace(resval, " ", "-"), ".", " ")
        
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        Zack Polovin @ Josh Brady on Sep 30, 2019 10:36 PM
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        OK thanks for replying with code, I'm not sure what you mean by "call it sequential or nested". But I pasted this last part , ".", " ") to the code you provided earlier and it is not working for changing both characters.
        
        I have successfully got the first part to work where it changes from space to hyphen. But it would be very helpful for it to change two character sets.
        
        This is what it looks like so far:
        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
        
        1
        dim resval as string
        dim val as string
        part.extension.custompropertymanager("Default").get2 "frac", val, resval
        part.custominfo2("Default","Dash") = replace(resval," ","-"), ".", " ")
        
        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
        
        Also, how can this be set to active configuration automatically? I found below code but not sure how to implement it
        cfg = SWmoddoc.GetActiveConfiguration.Name
        
        Of course the other question still remains, this would be a very manual process unless most or all of this was built in to the 'size' macro I'm using. Then I can actually start using because it will save time.
        
        Solidworks part attached just in case
        
        Thank you.
        Attachments
        Part1.SLDPRT.zip45.9 KB
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        Josh Brady @ Zack Polovin on Oct 1, 2019 8:25 AM
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        Zack Polovin wrote:
        
        OK thanks for replying with code, I'm not sure what you mean by "call it sequential or nested". But I pasted this last part , ".", " ") to the code you provided earlier and it is not working for changing both characters.
        
        I have successfully got the first part to work where it changes from space to hyphen. But it would be very helpful for it to change two character sets.
        
        This is what it looks like so far:
        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
        
        1
        dim resval as string
        dim val as string
        part.extension.custompropertymanager("Default").get2 "frac", val, resval
        part.custominfo2("Default","Dash") = replace(resval," ","-"), ".", " ")
        
        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
        
        Also, how can this be set to active configuration automatically? I found below code but not sure how to implement it
        cfg = SWmoddoc.GetActiveConfiguration.Name
        
        Of course the other question still remains, this would be a very manual process unless most or all of this was built in to the 'size' macro I'm using. Then I can actually start using because it will save time.
        
        Solidworks part attached just in case
        
        Thank you.
        Sequentially means "one after another"
        Nested means "one inside the other"
        I gave the code for both.
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Jim Sculley Sep 27, 2019 5:02 PM
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1-9SG758B wrote:

As the screen capture shows, when populating custom property, the value looses the 'hyphen' or 'dash'.

It doesn't actually lose it. It isn't there to begin with. The dimension value, which is what you are linking to does not include the dash. It is added by SW for display purposes only.
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- Zack Polovin @ Jim Sculley on Sep 27, 2019 5:39 PM
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  Jim,
  True, but what is bizarre, there is a hyphen between feet and inch and it does transfer over to custom property. Why were they not consistent and do the same with inch to fraction? Almost like they stopped half way.
  
  I added the following to original post at the top:
  
  I've been working with re-seller and SW. Please vote for this new SPR.
  SOLIDWORKS has issued SPR # SPR 1150030 - "Ability to add or remove hyphen '-' between inches and fractional part of the number in custom properties.
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  - David Matula @ Zack Polovin on Sep 27, 2019 5:42 PM
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    I made it work within the drawing.
    Using the property tab manager i pin it open and the click where i want the dim and then pick on the dim. it shows up in the property tab manager, and in the cell on the general table just like the dim is formatted for.
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    - Zack Polovin @ David Matula on Sep 27, 2019 6:04 PM
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      David,
      
      It doesn't look like it worked because there is no hyphen between inch and fraction.
      
      I am aware I can grab dimensions from drawing views to drawing custom properties and they will have both hyphens. However, that is a not part of the issue.
      
      The goal here is to add custom properties in models so these properties can be propagated to multiple drawings etc. ... Using model we can use other functions like bounding box etc to drive custom properties.
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      - David Matula @ Zack Polovin on Sep 27, 2019 6:11 PM
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        darn it. that is where the space goes. good luck. I am still trying to get some of the parts around here with notes and other important things that are needed on the drawing. so yep I feel your pain when things don't show up as expected.
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Solidworks no hyphen fractional dimensions in custom properties

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