7 Replies Latest reply on Dec 1, 2017 3:27 PM by Paul Belliveau

Component Description in tree shows expression, not value

Jory S Oct 6, 2014 7:19 PM

I would like to display the component description in the tree (right click on tree>tree display>show component descriptions); however, the component description in the tree is showing up as the value/text expression in the custom property, not the actual evaluated value.

In my summary information dialog box, I have a custom property name as "Description" with the value/text expression is "$PRP:"SW-Comments"". This means it takes the value from the comments box in the summary tab and uses it as the description.

The problem is that in the tree it shows $PRP:"SW-Comments" rather than the evaluated value, which is something different. Any thoughts?

The reason we have it set up this way is so we can fill everything out on the summary tab without looking at the custom tab.

Re: Component Description in tree shows expression, not value

Paul Belliveau Jul 29, 2016 10:53 AM (in response to Jory S)

I have the same issue. I use $PRP:"Desc1" $PRP:"Desc2" to populate Descriptions on models downloaded from McMaster-Carr (I made a quick little macro to do this).

Question: have you filled out any SolidWorks Enhancement Requests for this problem? This might be a way for SW to look at the problem officially and for us to track when the fix will happen. Although technically this is a bug, I am less familiar with the SW bug reporting process. (Likely, "SW Enhancement Requests" is their non-derogatory name for "Report Our Software Bugs (And Maybe Some Genuine Improvements) Here".
Like Show 1 Likes(1)

Actions
- Re: Component Description in tree shows expression, not value
  
  David Sloop May 21, 2015 9:46 AM (in response to Paul Belliveau)
  
  An enhancement request is not the same as a bug report.
  Report the issue to your VAR, and if they don't have a solution, and agree that it is a bug, they will escalate it to Solidworks as a SPR (software performance report).
  
  Like Show 0 Likes(0)
  
  Actions
  - Re: Component Description in tree shows expression, not value
    
    David Sloop May 21, 2015 9:48 AM (in response to David Sloop)
    
    BTW. If you have any quotes in your descriptions, SW2015 interpretes them as formulas, similar to Excel. We've reported it as a bug, but have edited our descriptions to remove the quotes in most cases because we couldn't wait for SW to fix it.
    
    Like Show 0 Likes(0)
    
    Actions
  - Re: Component Description in tree shows expression, not value
    
    Paul Belliveau Aug 15, 2016 9:44 AM (in response to David Sloop)
    
    This is now a known SPR (#269774): 'Show component description' in 'Tree display' option, displays the text expression instead of evaluated value. It is marked as “High” on level of impact, which should hopefully help in getting this fixed sooner.
    
    Like Show 3 Likes(3)
    
    Actions
    - Re: Component Description in tree shows expression, not value
      
      Snalam Nalam Dec 1, 2017 12:30 PM (in response to Paul Belliveau)
      
      I am facing the same issue. I have seen that a SPR is raised against this. Does any of the Solidworks patch resolves this issue ?
      
      Like Show 0 Likes(0)
      
      Actions
      - Re: Component Description in tree shows expression, not value
        
        Paul Belliveau Dec 1, 2017 3:27 PM (in response to Snalam Nalam)
        
        There has been no resolution yet for this problem in Solidworks 2017 Service Pack 5.0. I don't know about 2018 SP 0.1. Status for this SPR as of today is still listed as Open.
        
        Like Show 0 Likes(0)
        
        Actions
Re: Component Description in tree shows expression, not value

Vladimir Urazhdin Jul 31, 2016 2:21 PM (in response to Jory S)

This issue has been discussed here:
Combined Properties - Evaluating as Expression Instead of The Evaluated Value
Like Show 1 Likes(1)

Actions

Go to original post