Hi all,

For over a year now I’ve been trying to get an explanation from my VAR and/or SW of why the rebuild times of parts with multiple configurations in SW have changed from linear to exponential. This will require a little explanation:

Prior to SW2010, before display states were introduced, the rebuild time of parts with multiple configurations was linear. That is, if you double the number of configurations, the rebuild time doubles – logical and expected behaviour. However from SW2010, when display states were introduced, something bad happened to rebuild times. With the introduction of display states you can now have three kinds of parts:

1. Parts with linked display states, that is, one display state linked to one configuration – this is what is created by default when you converted a 2009 (and below) part to a 2010 (and above) part.
2. Parts with multiple unlinked display states, that is, multiple display states and multiple configurations – you create this part by simply unchecking the “Link Display States to Configurations” check box in the Display States panel in the Configuration Manager.
3. Parts with a single unlinked display state, that is, one display state shared by multiple configurations – you create this part by simply right-clicking the Display States panel and selecting “Remove all display states”.

What I have found is that type 1 parts above have the same linear rebuild performance as parts prior to SW2010. However what I have also found is that type 2 and 3 parts now have exponential rebuild times. I have included a chart showing this behaviour in SW2013 (I actually tested every SW version from 2007 to 2013 – see the “SolidWorks Rebuild Performance.xlsx” spreadsheet I’ve attached to this post.

Now, I have tried to highlight these exponential rebuild times as an issue to SW. I have had two responses:

The first response was an explanation of why type 2 parts have an exponential rebuild time: The rebuild time is a product of the number of configurations times the number of unlinked display states. So having 100 configurations with 100 unlinked display states will cause 10,000 rebuilds! OK, while this is undesirable it is a valid explanation of the behaviour. Unfortunately, it does not explain why type 3 parts have the same exponential behaviour: 100 configurations by 1 unlinked display state should only be 100 rebuilds.

The second response was why can’t I just use type 1 parts – parts with linked display states. Well I could, but SW actually recommend using type 3 parts, and type 3 parts are the default when creating new parts. Here is the excerpt from the SW help:

“By default:

New parts have a single default display state, which is not linked to any configuration.

Legacy parts have a display state for each configuration, which is linked to the configuration.

It is recommended to work with display states unlinked.”

http://help.solidworks.com/2012/English/SolidWorks/sldworks/t_display_states_parts_ConfigManager.htm?id=3c12be5efc8145c8a6410c6096a4f870#Pg0

So, the purpose of this post is to get one of two things: Either a valid explanation of why type 3 parts have the same exponential rebuild times as that of type 2 parts, or an acknowledgment that it is an issue/bug that needs to be addressed.

Thank you.