Hi,
In this blog post: Automatically Run Macro On Model Open I explain two ways and provide source code to automatically run VBA code when model is opened
In both cases it is not requried to create add-in or install any additional software.
Thanks,
Artem
Hi Vladimir,
I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand your request. If you follow the link there is source code available for both macros.
Thanks,
Artem
Hi Artem,
I still believe that for those who don't have an expert knowledge in API it would be very useful to see how it works on particular SW file(s) attached.
Hi Vladimir,
Thank you for the clarification. I will record a demo video which explains this and shows few examples.
Thanks,
Artem
I was looking at your blog and had a question. Is there a way to trigger a macro run on only initial model creation and only on that which is made from a certain model template? I would like to run a macro that added some custom properties but only to parts that were made from a Weldment model template.
Thanks
Hi Matt,
Yes, this is definitely possible (I will include this into tutorial). Just curious, why not just add those properties into the template itself (you already have a different template and you can add properties in there)?
Thanks,
Artem
Adding them to the template themselves would be preferable and considerably less complex, but for some reason SW does not carry over weldment properties in the weldment feature. You put them in the template, create a part and they are not there in the new part.
This is one of the many issues I've been having with weldments. A slew of them have been fixed with SP5, but not that one.
Thanks
Hi Matt,
I was trying to reproduce your issue. I'm on SW 2018 SP2. Please see video attached. It seems to be working OK for me without any additional macros. Could you please clarify the steps you are doing to reproduce this issue?
Thanks,
Artem
I have published first video tutorial which explains how to use event handle approach to automatically assign file name based on a shared counter to the newly generated file: Automatically assign next part number to SOLIDWORKS file using macro - YouTube
Another video for the second approach with macro feature is on its way.
Wow, that's weird. Same exact thing for me does not work. I verified that it was pulling the template from the same file that I saved the properties to.
Weldment Properties in template.
Part Started with template
Hmmm, that's interesting. Could you please clarify what is your Service Pack version?
SP5. We just installed SP5 last week and this was the first thing I tried. SP5 seemed to fix a whole lot of issues with Weldments and custom properties but nothing changed with this issue. I assumed at that point that it was something that wasn't supposed to happen so I moved on to other ways to try and accomplish it.
I sent in a support ticket to my VAR on this issue yesterday. I will see how they respond. I'm pretty sure I've seen that others here have had the same issue as I have. In fact I think you're the first person that I have seen that it actually works for.
Thanks
Thank you for the clarification. For this you can use the macro I have provided. Just follow steps in the video/article and paste the following code into the HandlerModule module. In your template just add properties into file custom properties and those will be copied to the weldment in the template (you do not need to add any properties to the weldment - just file custom proeprties)
Dim swApp As SldWorks.SldWorks
Sub main(model As SldWorks.ModelDoc2)
Set swApp = Application.SldWorks
Set model = swApp.ActiveDoc
Dim swWldFeat As SldWorks.Feature
Set swWldFeat = GetWeldmentFeature(model)
If Not swWldFeat Is Nothing Then
Dim vPropNames As Variant
Dim vPropTypes As Variant
Dim vPropValues As Variant
model.Extension.CustomPropertyManager("").GetAll vPropNames, vPropTypes, vPropValues
Dim i As Integer
Dim swFeatPrpMgr As SldWorks.CustomPropertyManager
Set swFeatPrpMgr = swWldFeat.CustomPropertyManager
For i = 0 To UBound(vPropNames)
swFeatPrpMgr.Add3 CStr(vPropNames(i)), CInt(vPropTypes(i)), CStr(vPropValues(i)), swCustomPropertyAddOption_e.swCustomPropertyReplaceValue
Next
Else
Err.Raise vbError, "", "No weldment feature found"
End IfEnd Sub
Function GetWeldmentFeature(model As SldWorks.ModelDoc2) As SldWorks.Feature
Dim swFeat As SldWorks.Feature
Dim pos As Integer
pos = 0
Set swFeat = model.FeatureByPositionReverse(pos)
While Not swFeat Is Nothing
If swFeat.GetTypeName2 = "WeldmentFeature" Then
Set GetWeldmentFeature = swFeat
Exit Function
End If
pos = pos + 1
Set swFeat = model.FeatureByPositionReverse(pos)
Wend
End Function
Wow, Thanks.
I will work thru your online tutorial and this code and see if I can get it to work.
Thanks again.
I have published another video which is using the macro feature to run macro on model load: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTM5NZNdON8
In the video I demonstrate how to automatically log the entry into a text file when the document opens.
Hi Artem,
Thanks for your work on this. However, I have not been able to get the code to work I want to run on loading. I am wanting to always set all components to resolved and do a force rebuild on every open.
Sub main()
Dim swApp As SldWorks.SldWorks
Dim swModel As SldWorks.ModelDoc2
Dim swDraw As SldWorks.DrawingDoc
Dim vSheetName As Variant
Dim Errors As Long
Dim Warnings As Long
Dim bRet As Boolean
Set swApp = Application.SldWorks
Set swModel = swApp.ActiveDoc
' Is document active?
If swModel Is Nothing Then
swApp.SendMsgToUser2 "A SOLIDWORKS document must be active.", swMbWarning, swMbOk
Exit Sub
End If
' Is it a Drawing document?
If swModel.GetType = swDocDRAWING Then
Set swDraw = swModel
vSheetName = swDraw.GetSheetNames
For i = 0 To UBound(vSheetName)
bRet = swDraw.ActivateSheet(vSheetName(i))
swDraw.ViewZoomtofit2
Next i
bRet = swDraw.ActivateSheet(vSheetName(0))
bRet = swModel.ForceRebuild3(True)
If swDraw.GetPathName = "" Then
MsgBox "Please Save the SOLIDWORKS file first!"
swDraw.Save
Else
swDraw.Save3 swSaveAsOptions_Silent, Errors, Warnings
End If
' Is it a Part/Assembly document?
Else
If swModel.GetType = 2 Then
swModel.ResolveAllLightWeightComponents True
End If
bRet = swModel.ForceRebuild3(True)
swModel.ShowNamedView2 "*Isometric", 7
swModel.ViewZoomtofit2
If swModel.GetPathName = "" Then
MsgBox "Please Save the SOLIDWORKS file first!"
swModel.Save
Else
swModel.Save3 swSaveAsOptions_Silent, Errors, Warnings
End If
End If
End Sub
Hello Artem,
This is really cool. Is it possible to have a macro run automatically when a certain part is dragged into an assembly? Would that be a security event or edit definition event?
Hi Jared,
Do you want to run the macro on the assembly the part dragged to or on the component? I would probably recommend doing this with add-in rather than with macro.
Thanks,
Artem
Hi Jason,
Do you use the macro feature or event listener way to run the macro? Use the later one as macro features 'do not like' any rebuild operations or popup windows to be used within their methods.
Thanks,
Artem
I am using an embeded macro for the force rebuild / save function. A work around would be to not open the file in large assembly mode or with lightweight components. I am not sure how to achieve this with multiple users though.
Hello Artem,
The macro runs on the assembly. A userform pops up and after the user selects some options and clicks "enter", it will replace the component (that was dragged into the assembly) with a new component.
I am trying to build something similar to the toolbox but with more customization. The component being dragged in can be easily recognizable by the full path, so it'll know whether or not to run the macro. Do you think it can still be done with a macro with an event listener?
Great macro, thanks for sharing! I am using the OnLoadModel version. The macro is embedded and does run on load, but I run into problems when I want to read custom properties. The variables return empty.
My goal is to read a custom property called 'Status' and if Status = "Released" then make the file read only.
(we share assemblies with several partners and I want to add a level of awareness that some parts should not be changed unless there is a very good reason to do so)
I use a MsgBox to display the status and at first run (embedding the macro) the status is displayed correct. After saving, closing and ropening the file the MsgBox is diplayed, but status is empty.
The MsgBox is diplayed before the model is displayed on screen. Maybe the model is not fully loaded when I try to read the custom property?
Here is my HandlerModule code
'**********************
'Copyright(C) 2020 Xarial Pty Limited
'Reference: https://www.codestack.net/solidworks-api/document/macro-feature/model-load-watcher/
'License: https://www.codestack.net/license/
'**********************
Dim ReadOnlyState As Boolean
Dim sPathName As String
Dim sFileName As String
Dim Status As String
Sub main(model As SldWorks.ModelDoc2)
'Set configuration manager
Dim swConfigMgr As SldWorks.ConfigurationManager
Dim swConfig As SldWorks.Configuration
Set swConfigMgr = model.ConfigurationManager
Set swConfig = swConfigMgr.ActiveConfiguration
'set custom properties manager
Dim swCustPropMgr As SldWorks.CustomPropertyManager
Set swCustPropMgr = model.Extension.CustomPropertyManager(swConfig.Name)
'get status
Status = swCustPropMgr.Get("Status")
MsgBox "File status: " & Status
If Status = "Released" Then
sPathName = model.GetPathName
sFileName = model.GetTitle
ReadOnlyState = model.IsOpenedReadOnly()
If ReadOnlyState = False Then
ReadOnlyState = True
SetAttr sPathName, vbReadOnly
Boolstatus = model.SetReadOnlyState(ReadOnlyState)
End If
MsgBox sFileName & " is RELEASED" & vbNewLine & "File is Read Only"
End If
End Sub
I think you are right. The sequence would not be correct and properties are not yet loaded. But the swmSecurity method which is used to handle the loading will be called multiple times, so you just need to run the macro when properties cannot be read instead of the first time (as it is right now).
Pseudo code:
If PropertiesLoaded(swModel) And Not CollectionContains(HandledModels, swModel) Then
Can you use an add-in? I have just released a free version of CAD+ Toolset which has a feature to run macros on load via triggers.
Thanx for the reply.
I will check which of the two approaches is most workable in our setup.
I installed CAD+ Toolset and set up the trigger function.
Initially i got the exact same problem; custom properties returns empty. After experimenting a bit with different delay/sleep code i found that adding a DoEvents at the start of my sub solved the problem.
I also tested delay/sleep and DoEvents in the 'LoadOnModelOpen' embeded macro, but that didn't work.
Thanks for suggesting the add-in, i will check if we can use it in our project.
Thank you Artem, very interesting.
Would you, please, upload a simplified samples of both cases?