SOLIDWORKS Top Ten List - Curated List of Ideas for Busy Users

[Alin]

Many of you are too busy using SOLIDWORKS and 3DX to find the time to read all the 300 ideas submitted in this year's Top 10 List 3DEXPERIENCE contest.

This why EngineersRule.com took the time to compile a short list of 20 ideas split in two major groups:

Low-Hanging Fruit Ideas Shortlist (Easy to Implement)

• Fundamental or game-changing: Ideas that could bring major benefits but would require a lot of effort to implement.
  Feel free to share their article with your colleagues. The voting period starts officially tomorrow.

Currently, the #1 idea has only 30 votes. The Power Users from CAD Forum could make a difference!

https://www.engineersrule.com/vote-on-t ... orld-2024/

[AlexLachance]

Thanks Alin, I did look up a few of the ideas but I await a list like yours every year, I find that the platform just does not do a good job at putting up front the deserving ideas leaving the user having to go through them one by one which can be quite time consuming.

I will read up on this tomorrow, cheers mate.

[Alin]

Thanks Alin, I did look up a few of the ideas but I await a list like yours every year, I find that the platform just does not do a good job at putting up front the deserving ideas leaving the user having to go through them one by one which can be quite time consuming.

I will read up on this tomorrow, cheers mate.

Glad to hear that, Alex.
And, if you want to see all the ideas submitted by my clients, check this article:

https://www.javelin-tech.com/blog/2024/ ... orld-2024/

[Glenn Schroeder]

Thanks for posting that Alin. I'm flattered to see that one of mine made the list.

Alex, (and others), I know the list can be difficult to navigate through, but I wanted to mention that if there is a certain user (or users) who you think might have some good ideas, you can click on their name there and it will take you to a list of all discussions started by the user, which will will include ideas submitted.

[dave.laban]

Another low-hanging fruit idea if I might be so bold; https://r1132100503382-eu1-3dswym.3dexp ... k2GOSBg0Ng

[Alin]

Another low-hanging fruit idea if I might be so bold; https://r1132100503382-eu1-3dswym.3dexp ... k2GOSBg0Ng

Voted.

[RichGergely]

Nice list Alin and appreciate your effort, a few items would help me.

Trouble is I have totally lost interest in the future of SolidWorks, dassault have worn me down to this point.

[Alin]

Nice list Alin and appreciate your effort, a few items would help me.

Trouble is I have totally lost interest in the future of SolidWorks, dassault have worn me down to this point.

Sorry to hear that, Rich.

[bnemec]

Thank you Alin.

[AlexLachance]

I'm late to the party but something that just came to mind that I've wanted for a while was the ability to be able to move the connecting line of a detail view with it's detail profile to place it as desired. Currently the line is always lined up with the center of each. If I could place each end as desired I'd be able to avoid certain conflicts with annotations and balloons such as this.

So, if somebody can think of adding this to the list next year, that would be great

[Glenn Schroeder]

I'm late to the party but something that just came to mind that I've wanted for a while was the ability to be able to move the connecting line of a detail view with it's detail profile to place it as desired. Currently the line is always lined up with the center of each. If I could place each end as desired I'd be able to avoid certain conflicts with annotations and balloons such as this.

image.png


So, if somebody can think of adding this to the list next year, that would be great

I'll be happy to do that next year, if you will remind me when it gets to be that time. The chances of me remembering are pretty close to zero, in spite of my best efforts.

[AlexLachance]

I'll be happy to do that next year, if you will remind me when it gets to be that time. The chances of me remembering are pretty close to zero, in spite of my best efforts.

Yeah I'm kind of in the same boat I'll put a notice on my Outlook calendar and hope when it pops back up that I'm not loaded.

[Alin]

I'll be happy to do that next year, if you will remind me when it gets to be that time. The chances of me remembering are pretty close to zero, in spite of my best efforts.

Why not submit it now in the ER Community?
https://r1132100503382-eu1-3dswym.3dexp ... 2sLG5y9Kig

[AlexLachance]

Why not submit it now in the ER Community?
https://r1132100503382-eu1-3dswym.3dexp ... 2sLG5y9Kig

Because it will get lost in the swamp and noone will really vote on it next year if it's lost so might as well hold on to it.

[Alin]

Because it will get lost in the swamp and noone will really vote on it next year if it's lost so might as well hold on to it.

You can do both. And it will not get lost if you ask all your colleagues and all the forum users to vote on it.

[bnemec]

Because it will get lost in the swamp and noone will really vote on it next year if it's lost so might as well hold on to it.

I would agree with that most of the time but to be fair, Alin must have done some digging to put together the list in his blog. I know a couple were lost in the swamp but he dredged them out. One in his list was so appealing to me that I put forth the effort to log into the swamp to go vote for it, but it loaded an old request I had entered. I went back to Alin's blog to reload the link and realized he included one of mine. He's trying to overcome the painfully valid problem you point out.

[AlexLachance]

Tried to post but I'm not an author, so I requested to be one. Will post if I become one.

Wonder why I'm not an author by default lol


Edit: NVM forgot we had to fill up a form to send the idea.

https://r1132100503382-eu1-3dswym.3dexp ... mJ5Lo3PRwA

[Alin]

Today is the last day to vote on the TTL 2024.

[dave.laban]

Current top ten;

1 - ESCAPE Should Terminate Any Process and Return the Model/Drawing to its Previous State (92 votes)
2 - MBD: Ability to create ordinate dimensions in MBD (84)
3 - MBD: separate positional tolerance for length and width of a slot (83)
4 - MBD: Allow Creating width dimension between Edges/Points (Drafted Features) (82)
5 - MBD: Ability to cancel Instant Count for Gtol item (77)
6 - Convert Drawing View Dimensions and Annotations to MBD Model Annotations (3D Views) (75)
7 - Display States Managed by Tables (72)
8 - Mark dimension as MBD Dimension (62)
9 - Reduce Saving Time for Drawings with Detailing Mode Data (61)
10 - Filter Modified Components in Resolved and LightWeight Modes (57)

If we want to expand it beyond MBD (which seems to be this years hot topic like Electrical was a few years ago);

1 - ESCAPE Should Terminate Any Process and Return the Model/Drawing to its Previous State (92 votes)
2 - Display States Managed by Tables (72)
3 - Reduce Saving Time for Drawings with Detailing Mode Data (61)
4 - Filter Modified Components in Resolved and LightWeight Modes (57)
5 - Background Processing of Inactive Drawing Sheets (Optimal use of CPU Cores) (45)
6 - Instant Save As Dialog (40)
7 - Add the advanced mesh capabilities of Plastics Simulation to the SOLIDWORKS Simulation program. (35)
= - Add Selection Filters (F5) for Features and Part Components (35)
9 - Add "Rollup and Rolldown to Selected Component" Icons in Assembly Visualization (31)
10 - Exclude Specific Drawing Views from Standard Rebuild (30)
= - Optimize xShape for Tablet and Pen Users (30)

[JSculley]

Current top ten;

1 - ESCAPE Should Terminate Any Process and Return the Model/Drawing to its Previous State (92 votes)

This is most likely an impossible task. They don't own the modeling kernel, so they are at the mercy of the people who wrote it. If the modeling kernel doesn't have provisions for callbacks to the calling code to inform on progress of allow cancellation, all the calling code can do is wait for the call to finish. Now there are lots of places SW does have control over and could provide an escape hatch, but not for everything.

[jcapriotti]

If we want to expand it beyond MBD (which seems to be this years hot topic like Electrical was a few years ago);

Hot? Hard to believe that users are clamoring for MBD over other needed functionality. This feels much like the last year or so where a bunch of Turkish reseller employees were padding votes.

[DennisD]

Current top ten;

1 - ESCAPE Should Terminate Any Process and Return the Model/Drawing to its Previous State (92 votes)
2 - MBD: Ability to create ordinate dimensions in MBD (84)

When the TTL was on the old forum the #1 item had well over 200 votes. Those were the good ol' days!

[jcapriotti]

When the TTL was on the old forum the #1 item had well over 200 votes. Those were the good ol' days!

Navigating the Top ten is a nightmare. Figuring out how to sort and filter will make 95% of users give up.

They should create (or license) a dedicated voting site instead of trying to shoehorn this into their 3dx site. It's a jack of all trades site and doesn't do anything well. Even the old forum wasn't really suited for it but it was way better than this. Lack of participation is because its not easy.

[SPerman]

Hot? Hard to believe that users are clamoring for MBD over other needed functionality. This feels much like the last year or so where a bunch of Turkish reseller employees were padding votes.

How about just a little less of this?

image.png (13.52 KiB) Viewed 12990 times

[DennisD]

How about just a little less of this?

image.png (14.46 KiB) Viewed 12931 times

So, you are saying ONE and TWO!

==> WOW! It appears that post has been removed from the 3DSWAMP!!!

[doobes]

Here is one I "might" be willing to continuing paying for support for....

Instantiate tabs into the viewer window for different parts/assemblies/drawings that each are a separate process utilizing separate processor core. Most high end machines nowadays come with at least 4 processors so that would give the user at no less 3 other windows to keep working while one window was thinking.

I suspect this would be a MAJOR code refactorization, so I'm not even hopeful it would happen.

[Alin]

Here is one I "might" be willing to continuing paying for support for....

Instantiate tabs into the viewer window for different parts/assemblies/drawings that each are a separate process utilizing separate processor core. Most high end machines nowadays come with at least 4 processors so that would give the user at no less 3 other windows to keep working while one window was thinking.

I suspect this would be a MAJOR code refactorization, so I'm not even hopeful it would happen.

Great idea, we should push for it!
Currently, the workaround to achieve that is opening multiple SW sessions.

[AlexLachance]

How about just a little less of this?

image.png

Well duh Scott, we're on 2024, get on the train!

[SPerman]

I've mentioned it before, but I'm terrified of upgrading. How do I know what's broken in 2024 isn't going to be worse than what's broken in 2022? Hell, I don't even know if SP5 is going to be less problematic than SP4.

[AlexLachance]

I've mentioned it before, but I'm terrified of upgrading. How do I know what's broken in 2024 isn't going to be worse than what's broken in 2022? Hell, I don't even know if SP5 is going to be less problematic than SP4.

I know, I feel the same way. We upgraded from 2019 to 2023 or else we wouldn't have had much support from Dassault or CustomTools. Doing the upgrade also forced us to upgrade our SQL server, which brought it's lot of incidences as well.

Most of the bugs we had on 2019 are gone but we're back to learning how to deal with the bugs introduced in 2023, though so far they seem to be less impactful.

[SPerman]

The majority of my crashes come when interacting with file explorer. It is probably worth upgrading to the latest PDM even if I don't upgrade SW.

[doobes]

I've mentioned it before, but I'm terrified of upgrading. How do I know what's broken in 2024 isn't going to be worse than what's broken in 2022? Hell, I don't even know if SP5 is going to be less problematic than SP4.

LOL!

I just upgraded from 2023 SP3 to SP5. SP5 is noticeably slower on my admittedly low end box. I might just go back to SP3.

[doobes]

I've been using v2023 SP5.0 a couple of days, and I've found a number of things that are wonky. Predominantly with respect to graphics.

Dimension text that's backwards, mid-plane extrusions only displaying on one side, etc, etc, etc. I'm certain SWx would blame it on my graphics card, which is considered obsolete and no longer has a certified driver, but still.

I'm seriously thinking about regressing back to SP3.0

[AlexLachance]

I've been using v2023 SP5.0 a couple of days, and I've found a number of things that are wonky. Predominantly with respect to graphics.

Dimension text that's backwards, mid-plane extrusions only displaying on one side, etc, etc, etc. I'm certain SWx would blame it on my graphics card, which is considered obsolete and no longer has a certified driver, but still.

I'm seriously thinking about regressing back to SP3.0

Most wonky things on 2023 are graphics related as far as I've noticed. Some can be quite a P.I.T.A.

For instance, add a part in a sub-assembly ans return to the top level assembly. The part is shown but it is not selectable unless you either supress the sub assembly and unsupress it or restart SolidWorks entirely.

[dave.laban]

Got curious and thought I'd take a look at what the TTL would be if it was generated just from the regular enhancement ideas community. Another example of one person being very good at garnering support for their ideas.

1. PDM: Cancel stuck tasks from Administration tool (44)
2. PDM: Configurability of workflow conditions (42)
3. PDM: Conditional actions for workflow transitions (41)
4. PDM: Dispatch copy all references (40)
5. Ability to insert Surface finish Symbols in concordance with Standard ISO 21920 (34)
6. DXF Export from 3D Experience platform or solidworks (27)
=. Dark Mode for PDM in windows explorer (27)
8. Assign ALL Drawing views to single BOM/Cutlist. (17)
9. Capture username, date and transition comment of different users during parallel transitions in SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional. (16)
10. Fillet cut-out (15)
=. New file properties drop down boxes optional (15)
=. Ability to set "Exclude from BoM" on Design Tree folders (15)
=. Always work with latest version of files (15)

[AlexLachance]

Got curious and thought I'd take a look at what the TTL would be if it was generated just from the regular enhancement ideas community. Another example of one person being very good at garnering support for their ideas.

1. PDM: Cancel stuck tasks from Administration tool (44)
2. PDM: Configurability of workflow conditions (42)
3. PDM: Conditional actions for workflow transitions (41)
4. PDM: Dispatch copy all references (40)
5. Ability to insert Surface finish Symbols in concordance with Standard ISO 21920 (34)
6. DXF Export from 3D Experience platform or solidworks (27)
=. Dark Mode for PDM in windows explorer (27)
8. Assign ALL Drawing views to single BOM/Cutlist. (17)
9. Capture username, date and transition comment of different users during parallel transitions in SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional. (16)
10. Fillet cut-out (15)
=. New file properties drop down boxes optional (15)
=. Ability to set "Exclude from BoM" on Design Tree folders (15)
=. Always work with latest version of files (15)

That list is quite telling of a few things;

-How intuitive the platform is
-How intuitive the search is
-How much activity the platform is getting


I mean, concidering a part of these votes are actual Dassault employees or VAR's, it's kind of embarassing to say the least. The platform feels like One and Two all over again

[dave.laban]

Just realised it's not a totally useful comparison because that community also includes some of the more popular ideas from previous TTLs...but doesn't easily expose the number of votes they got because that would be too Swymple.

[dave.laban]

The Alin effect; the same idea present in three different TTLs, ranked #1 when Alin submitted it, ranked 69th when someone else did so.

ESCAPE Key should always stop the current process and revert to the state before it

3DXW2021 - Rank #1 - 130 votes
3DXW2023 - Rank #69 - 13 votes
3DXW2024 - Rank #1 - 92 votes (ish).

[AlexLachance]

The Alin effect; the same idea present in three different TTLs, ranked #1 when Alin submitted it, ranked 69th when someone else did so.

ESCAPE Key should always stop the current process and revert to the state before it

3DXW2021 - Rank #1 - 130 votes
3DXW2023 - Rank #69 - 13 votes
3DXW2024 - Rank #1 - 92 votes (ish).

They should start by defining their whole idea process lol. There isn't even anything that defines what "gathering support" means and when it switches from "gathering support" to a different state and what makes it switch. They should also purge their listing by closing ideas that have been existing forever but never got hits and explain why they were closed.

There are ideas from 2022 that are still gathering support and have less then five votes. Some even have 0 votes. Surely there are also duplicates.

There's so many things that could be done to improve the process, I'm not really sure why it's taking them so long or what's so hard for them to bite the bullet and get things moving.

At least simplify things for the user. Dassault can have all the complex data it wants, they just need to deliver it simplified to the user.

Simplify the process --> Less frustration generated ----> More people will participate ---> The voting will be more accurate.

The reason I say this is because the "Alin effect" shouldn't be seen as a negative effect. He is a prominent figure in the community and a lot of people look up to him as he is dedicated and also very reasonable. To him, it is more then work, it is a passion. The "Alin effect" only displays that people are looking up to him because the platform makes things too difficult for them.

[dave.laban]

I've had one-on-ones with the Enhancement ideas team. I've given all that feedback and more.

"Gathering support" means it's been loosely vetted by someone at DS and available for voting, like in the TTL.

The only stage after "gathering support" is "implemented".

Duplicate ideas are generally caught and filtered as "out". However if you find an "out" in the list you can still vote on it. I don't understand why they aren't just deleted.

Those ideas only go as far back as 2022 because that's when that community was launched. I've been submitting SPRs from way before then (because for "reasons" nothing was carried over from the old system).

Honestly it's about as simple as possible. Think of idea, search for idea, vote if it exists / create if it doesn't. Just needs more advertising (and probably dumping the TTL as a separate exercise and just run off of that community).

[AlexB]

Duplicate ideas are generally caught and filtered as "out".

Yeah, I had one in there telling them that the "Settings Editor" for the "Admin Options Editor" to configure Admin images doesn't work. The options you set aren't the options that get applied. It's been this way for YEARS and they changed it to "out" in less than a day...

Edit: oops, read that as "Delicate" ideas , I'll leave it anyway

[Damo]

Great idea, we should push for it!
Currently, the workaround to achieve that is opening multiple SW sessions.

I do this.. And I often wonder if anyone else does. And, if anyone else does, do they suffer the same issue I frequently do.?
Being: Oftentimes when one instance of SW is hungup doing something (saving, calculating, etc.) the other instances will often also be unavailable.
Almost like the CPU to power them all is being tied to only one.?!
I do note this doesn't seem to happen when separate instances are also separate versions.
(ie. a hung 2022 hangs all other running instances of 2022 but a simultaneously running instance of 2014 will remain available for use..)

[AlexLachance]

I do this.. And I often wonder if anyone else does. And, if anyone else does, do they suffer the same issue I frequently do.?
Being: Oftentimes when one instance of SW is hungup doing something (saving, calculating, etc.) the other instances will often also be unavailable.
Almost like the CPU to power them all is being tied to only one.?!
I do note this doesn't seem to happen when separate instances are also separate versions.
(ie. a hung 2022 hangs all other running instances of 2022 but a simultaneously running instance of 2014 will remain available for use..)

A lot of my coworkers do it on a permanent basis, I do it occasionally to use as a viewer. I advise people against it and tell them using two sessions at all time is at their own risk. SolidWorks tends to tangle itself so having 2 sessions leaves it with a bigger knot and more chances of issues/crashing.

[Damo]

I've been using v2023 SP5.0 a couple of days, and I've found a number of things that are wonky. Predominantly with respect to graphics.

Dimension text that's backwards, mid-plane extrusions only displaying on one side, etc, etc, etc. I'm certain SWx would blame it on my graphics card, which is considered obsolete and no longer has a certified driver, but still.

I'm seriously thinking about regressing back to SP3.0

I hear ya mate.. I swear. Every time I update to a newer version (or SP) it comes with a new glitch. Every. Single. Time.
Now I may just be unlucky and this may be due to my very infrequent update history as I update rarely.
In the past I have leapt thru several versions at once of often into a random SP#.
I skipped from 2014-to-2016-to-2019-to-2021-(that was a clusterf#@K)-to 2022SP5- Everytime a new bug or glitch.
I will require a very compelling and proven improvement to progress into my next update.
And yet my 2014-SP5 version is still the most stable and reliable I've used.

[Damo]

... so having 2 sessions leaves it with a bigger knot and more chances of issues/crashing...

Only 2...!? Why limit your potential fun..

But seriously, I do agree. And this has only been my experience.
I am the only one here doing what I do and sometimes it is necessary to be working on several projects at a time. Even if only briefly.
TBH tho I generally get away with it ok. 2022SP5 is fairly stable and rarely crashes for me..

[Damo]

Got curious and thought I'd take a look at what the TTL would be if it was generated just from the regular enhancement ideas community. Another example of one person being very good at garnering support for their ideas.

1. PDM: Cancel stuck tasks from Administration tool (44)
2. PDM: Configurability of workflow conditions (42)
3. PDM: Conditional actions for workflow transitions (41)
4. PDM: Dispatch copy all references (40)
5. Ability to insert Surface finish Symbols in concordance with Standard ISO 21920 (34)
6. DXF Export from 3D Experience platform or solidworks (27)
=. Dark Mode for PDM in windows explorer (27)
8. Assign ALL Drawing views to single BOM/Cutlist. (17) ... This pleases me greatly..
9. Capture username, date and transition comment of different users during parallel transitions in SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional. (16)
10. Fillet cut-out (15)
=. New file properties drop down boxes optional (15)
=. Ability to set "Exclude from BoM" on Design Tree folders (15)
=. Always work with latest version of files (15)

[Uncle_Hairball]

I hear ya mate.. I swear. Every time I update to a newer version (or SP) it comes with a new glitch. Every. Single. Time.

Yep, it's you. None of the rest of us have that problem.

[Frederick_Law]

SolidWorks tends to tangle itself so having 2 sessions leaves it with a bigger knot and more chances of issues/crashing.

IV does too.
Don't change any system setting, ribbon, menu bar.
Make sure you don't open same file in both session and edit.

It actually better to run different versions at the same time with SW.

[AlexLachance]

IV does too.
Don't change any system setting, ribbon, menu bar.
Make sure you don't open same file in both session and edit.

It actually better to run different versions at the same time with SW.

It's not surprising, I'm sure most programs have a hard time handling multi-sessions. Programmatically speaking, it would/could cause exponential growth in programmation and processing.

[Frederick_Law]

First problem is they create temp files in same location and same name.
IV undo only work on first session.
And any UI or setting change will go crazy.