I have SW 2017.
I have a lot of custom materials in my material database. They were added "on-the-fly", so naturally, they are out of order.
Is there an easy way to alphabetize the materials? Can I open the database in some other program?
I see that you can move one material up or down one line at a time....but that would take forever.
Thank you,
Dan B.
you lost me at, "(RMB on Mat'l in tree.) It's a little easier and you can do a 'manual bubble sort'." That's what I did in the pic above and its painfully slow.
Or are you talking about something else?
Thank you,
Dan
You can edit the database file in Notepad and cut/paste the data chunks in to the right order. I found that easier than the one-at-a-time movement.
Hmmmm....I looked at that.... maybe if its the last resort ....
Thank you,
Dan
Is that a macro that you run in SW?
Hi,
Nop you can run it in visual studio
ok. I looked on my machine in the search and I have this:
Is that the program?
Thank you...
Dan
Hi, no it's not, you need to download it : https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/?rr=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
I have had this issue for many years. I finally got fed up, and dug into it. I intended to write API/VB macro to address it (similar to Jerome De San Nicolas). The .sldmat file is actually an .xml file, So I set off to sort with .xstl code. The first google search I did on sort functions turned up a fantastic piece of programming called Alphabetizer.
XML Alphabetizer - CodeProject
I HATE when one of these answers says "just download this program...", but I promise this is the real deal. Here is the procedure I used:
1. Download Alphabetizer
2. Find your <materials>.sldmat file - copy it, and paste a copy in a safe place
3. Rename it from .sldmat to .xml
4. Run Alphabetizer -
parameters as follows:
browse to the .xml file
in "Sort By Attribute Name", type "name" (no quotes, all lower-case)
in "Sort Attributes", choose Descending
in "Minimum Tree Depth...", set to 1 to sort your libraries or 2 to sort the materials in each library
click "Generate"
close the XML Alphabetizer
The program creates a new .xml file called result.xml. This is your sorted database. Rename it as your original materials file <materials>.sldmat, and save it where the original was saved. Restart SolidWorks, and VOILA, your materials are in order.
Hope this helps some folks...
Jim
In the library I have only moved them by the method you show. Similarly when I set up the 'favorite materials' for modeling I'll see something similar. (RMB on Mat'l in tree.) It's a little easier and you can do a 'manual bubble sort'.