Maintaining SOLIDWORKS Feature References During Geometry Updates

To ensure that referenced features are successfully rebuilt each time xApp model geometry modifications are propagated to SOLIDWORKS, the derived format conversion rule for Exact Geometry creation must be configured accordingly. 

To configure the rule:

• Open the Platform Management dashboard, navigate to the content tab, and maximize the Collaborative Spaces Configuration Center widget.
• From the menu on the left, select Derived Format Management. 
• Double click on the conversion rule for 3DEXPERIENCE converter with Unified Format “catiaV5”. 
• In the Conversion Rule Details dialogue,  from the Parameters section, select “Additional Features” and “Generic Features and Associativity”. 
• Next, click the + button followed by OK. 
• Finally, on the Derived Format Management widget, select “Apply”. 
• This will apply the setting change to the tenant for all users.

Applying this setting will ensure the face IDs of geometry going back and forth through the derived format converter are preserved.

Next, the tenant configuration must be updated. 

To do this, navigate to Configuration Deployment from the menu on the left side and select the Reload Cache option.

Model Orientation

The default modelling orientation of a 3DEXPERIENCE component created within a native 3DEXPERIENCE platform application is Z axis up. The default for SOLIDWORKS parts and assemblies prior to SOLIDWORKS 2025 is Y axis up. Therefore, the model orientation must be considered when creating designs that will be utilized in both design tools. It’s recommended that any new SOLIDWORKS parts or assemblies that are intended to be utilized in the browser-based design apps, are modelled with the Z axis up. To avoid having to re-orientate the model and rename the default reference planes each time, the alternative orientation can be captured in a SOLIDWORKS part and assembly template.

Starting in SOLIDWORKS 2025, you can specify the default orientation of your part and assembly template after a new installation of SOLIDWORKS.

You can also specify either a Y-up or Z-up orientation when creating new file part or assembly file when using default templates in the New SOLIDWORKS Document dialog window.

This option replaces the need to manually create a set of Z-up templates (SOLIDWORKS 2024 and earlier) 

SOLIDWORKS MySession Settings

The SOLIDWORKS MySession task pane displays the modification status of each component loaded in session compared to the version stored on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. When working concurrently on a design with your colleagues, it’s important that the status of each component is understood and kept up to date to avoid the risk of working on out-of-date design information. It’s recommended that the MySession setting “Refresh MySession after opening files” is enabled. This will ensure that the status column is updated automatically when files are loaded.

SOLIDWORKS System Options

The workflow for adding features in SOLIDWORKS to a component created in a browser-based design app, covered in use case 3, uses a derived part methodology. To ensure that geometry modifications are propagated from the browser-based design app to the derived part in SOLIDWORKS it is recommended that external references are always loaded in session. To do this, set the SOLIDWORKS system option "Load Reference Documents" to "All", which is located under the External References category. Check the option to “Load Documents in Memory Only” (recommended) to avoid having the referenced component opened into a separate window.