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Custom property on drawing: "if empty"

Question asked by Samuel Leith on Nov 22, 2012
Latest reply on Nov 26, 2012 by Glenn Schroeder

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Hello,

I'm wondering, is there a way to use "if empty" on solidworks custom properties?

I ask because, for example, we have a custom property names "Treatment".

If I design a part that does not need any treatment, then on the drawing, the box in the title block simlpy shows:

Treatment:

Essentially, it's just blank, and I find this ambiguous. I would like it to display

Treatment: -

Treatment: n/a

Then of course if there is a treatment specified, it would display:

Treatment: 48-50 HRC

or whatever the treatment is.

I thought of 2 ways of doing this:

1) Use a "If empty" type equation on the drawing sheet format. I've never heard of such a functionality, so I don't know how feasible this is.

2) Set the default value for Treatment property to be "n/a", however I don't see any ways of setting a default value in the Custom Property Tab Builder.

Any insights on how to implement either of these solutions would be great.

Thanks.

Glenn Schroeder Nov 25, 2012 12:06 PM

Correct Answer

Samuel,

My experience with custom properties is fairly recent, but it occurs to me that you might open a new part with your template, fill in n/a for the treatment, save the part template, then use this template in the future. If a part requires treatment you would change the n/a to whatever is needed in the part file, and if not, then n/a would show up in the space in the drawing without any action on your part. I'm at home now and don't have SW here to test this, but I assume that values filled in for custom properties will carry over in a part template.

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Deepak Gupta Nov 22, 2012 1:03 PM

From where the value is pulled? Is it linked to file properties? If yes then you can put - or n/a in the field and save the templates.

And if you use custom property tab builder, depending on how you've set this property, you can set the value as required.

Please share more details to suggest you a better solution based on your current set up.

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Alin Vargatu Nov 22, 2012 1:15 PM

Add the "-" or "N/A" in the part and assembly templates.

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Samuel Leith Nov 23, 2012 8:34 AM

This is how I've set things up:

in the 'properties.txt' file, I have a custom property called 'treatment'.

In the custom property tab builder, I've added a dropdown list linked to the property 'treatment'.

The possible values for the property are in a seperate text file called 'treatment_values.txt'.

In this file, I have the possible treatment values. For example:

44-46 HRC

48-50 HRC

etc

Of course the easy solution would be to add 'n/a' as a value for this property, and select 'n/a' everytime a treatment is not required.

I was hoping for something slightly smarter than that.

I was hoping to have 'n/a' selected by default so that if there is no treament, I have nothing to do/select.

If there is a treatment, only there do I go and select the proper treatment value.

Thanks.

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Ian Worrall @ Samuel Leith on Nov 23, 2012 8:43 AM

Perhaps if you made 'n/a' the first entry in 'treatment_values.txt'?

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Glenn Schroeder @ Samuel Leith on Nov 25, 2012 12:06 PM

Samuel,

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Samuel Leith @ Glenn Schroeder on Nov 26, 2012 7:12 AM

Nice! Perfect solution.

Not only does this work, but it also allowed me to preset other custom properties which are repeatedly manually entered (drawn by, checked by, etc).

Thanks

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Glenn Schroeder @ Samuel Leith on Nov 26, 2012 7:35 PM

Glad I could help.

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7 Replies

Deepak Gupta Nov 22, 2012 1:03 PM
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Correct Answer
From where the value is pulled? Is it linked to file properties? If yes then you can put - or n/a in the field and save the templates.

And if you use custom property tab builder, depending on how you've set this property, you can set the value as required.

Please share more details to suggest you a better solution based on your current set up.
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Alin Vargatu Nov 22, 2012 1:15 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Add the "-" or "N/A" in the part and assembly templates.
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Samuel Leith Nov 23, 2012 8:34 AM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
This is how I've set things up:
in the 'properties.txt' file, I have a custom property called 'treatment'.
In the custom property tab builder, I've added a dropdown list linked to the property 'treatment'.
The possible values for the property are in a seperate text file called 'treatment_values.txt'.

In this file, I have the possible treatment values. For example:
44-46 HRC
48-50 HRC
etc

Of course the easy solution would be to add 'n/a' as a value for this property, and select 'n/a' everytime a treatment is not required.
I was hoping for something slightly smarter than that.
I was hoping to have 'n/a' selected by default so that if there is no treament, I have nothing to do/select.
If there is a treatment, only there do I go and select the proper treatment value.

Thanks.
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- Ian Worrall @ Samuel Leith on Nov 23, 2012 8:43 AM
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  Perhaps if you made 'n/a' the first entry in 'treatment_values.txt'?
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- Glenn Schroeder @ Samuel Leith on Nov 25, 2012 12:06 PM
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  Samuel,
  
  My experience with custom properties is fairly recent, but it occurs to me that you might open a new part with your template, fill in n/a for the treatment, save the part template, then use this template in the future. If a part requires treatment you would change the n/a to whatever is needed in the part file, and if not, then n/a would show up in the space in the drawing without any action on your part. I'm at home now and don't have SW here to test this, but I assume that values filled in for custom properties will carry over in a part template.
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  - Samuel Leith @ Glenn Schroeder on Nov 26, 2012 7:12 AM
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    Correct Answer
    Nice! Perfect solution.
    Not only does this work, but it also allowed me to preset other custom properties which are repeatedly manually entered (drawn by, checked by, etc).
    
    Thanks
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    - Glenn Schroeder @ Samuel Leith on Nov 26, 2012 7:35 PM
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      Glad I could help.
      Like • Show 0 Likes0
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Custom property on drawing: "if empty"

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