14 Replies Latest reply on Jun 23, 2015 12:15 PM by Noah Thomlison

    Need help with toolbox

    Noah Thomlison
    Noah Thomlison Jun 19, 2015 12:44 PM

      Hello everyone,

       

      I am having an issue with setting up the toolbox on my computer. It is a computer that used to be used by a different person and I am missing many of our company's toolbox parts. To resolve this I copied the folder from another computer as well as various other parts from this computers toolbox. The problem is when I place these in the folder which SolidWorks is directed to for toolbox parts the folder does not show up. All the other toolbox folders are located there ( CISC, BSI, ISO...) but the folder that I have placed does not show up in the tool box configuration. I have been able to go into the toolbox configuration and make a new folder with the proper name and then add files to it however SolidWorks only allows me to add the parts one at a time and this is more than impractical. Any idea how I can get SolidWorks to recognize the folder itself?

       

      thanks for the help in advance

       

      Noah

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        • Re: Need help with toolbox
          Jeff Mirisola
          Jeff Mirisola Jun 19, 2015 1:32 PM (in response to Noah Thomlison)

          Your toolbox should be located on a server so that everyone accesses the same files. That would be the most logical, and correct, way to go about it, IMO.

            • Re: Need help with toolbox
              Noah Thomlison
              Noah Thomlison Jun 19, 2015 1:40 PM (in response to Jeff Mirisola)

              I whole totally agree and it is for other computer however this computer has not been used for many years and is not able to be hooked up to the server. I have tried talking to the IT company that services my company and they tried but were not able to hook it up. Also since I am only an intern here for the summer it is not worth the time to figure out how to get around this issue so now I need a workaround for this problem.

               

              To summarize I have placed a folder with the other toolbox parts folders (ISO, ANSI, ...) but it is not being recognized as being present when I go into the configuration for the toolbox. How would I resolve this issue?

                • Re: Need help with toolbox
                  Jeff Mirisola
                  Jeff Mirisola Jun 19, 2015 3:29 PM (in response to Noah Thomlison)

                  Where did you put it and what does it contain? I stopped using toolbox a while ago because I was always having issues with it, so I need to jog my memory or hope that someone else chimes in.

                    • Re: Need help with toolbox
                      Noah Thomlison
                      Noah Thomlison Jun 19, 2015 3:37 PM (in response to Jeff Mirisola)

                      I put it in the same folder as the other folders that contains the standard toolbox folder. For my computer the path is C:\SolidWorks Data\Browser and within that folder there as separate folders for the standards. for example I have an ansi inch folder, an ansi metric folder and so on. I have tried both placing the folder for my company's toolbox parts along those as well as adding it into a standard folder so within ansi metric place the folder along side the washers and what not folders for hardware. In both cases it simply does not show up as selectable folder when I go to tool box configuration within solidworks. The only thing that has worked so far is adding a folder within the solidworks toolbox configuration menu but this is a empty folder which I have to manually add the parts into. This wouldn't be a problem but the "add a part" button only allows one part to be added at a time.

                • Re: Need help with toolbox
                  Bob Van Dick
                  Bob Van Dick Jun 19, 2015 5:34 PM (in response to Noah Thomlison)

                  Sounds like a lack of foresight by SolidWorks.  Why not just add a file location in the design library and stick your folders/files in there?

                  • Re: Need help with toolbox
                    Nick Patel
                    Nick Patel Jun 23, 2015 8:22 AM (in response to Noah Thomlison)

                    Noah,

                     

                    I had a situation where one of our custom parts was not showing up in the toolbox after an upgrade and I think our solution will work for you. 

                    1. Close Solidworks.

                    2. Go to the Toolbox/Browser folder.  Rename the 'ToolboxFiles.index' file

                    3.  Open Solidworks and click on the Toolbox icon in the task pane

                     

                    Solidworks will recreate the index file and should pick up the files in the Browser folder.  It took a few minutes for the .index file to be recreated.

                     

                    Good luck,
                    Nick

                    • Re: Need help with toolbox
                      Noah Thomlison
                      Noah Thomlison Jun 23, 2015 12:15 PM (in response to Noah Thomlison)

                      I dont know how it happened but when I came back into the office after the weekend all the files had been added into my toolbox. Thanks for the help everyone guess solidworks decided to finally cooperate with me.