Users can import one or the other or both and each have some sub-options that let you control exactly what data you’d like to import from the STEP file. The “Surface/solid entities” checkbox and the “Free point/curve entities” control what exactly we’re trying to import. Only the general settings are important here, as the STL/VRML and IDF settings only apply to specific files types and don’t apply to STEP files. The defaults are usually safe to use, but it sometimes pays to take a quick look before importing a STEP file to make sure you get the results you’re looking for. Select “Open” and change the file type to look for STEP files.īefore we click “Open,” click the “Options” button to go over some of the options. The best way to import a STEP file is through the “File” drop-down menu. In the video tutorial above, we have a STEP file received from a vendor that we’d like to look at and potentially modify in SOLIDWORKS. However, importing a STEP file from another system can be a little tricky. With a part file open, you just go to “File,” select “Save as…” and choose STEP as the file type. This file format is well-known and is a widely used way to exchange CAD data between platforms.Įxporting a STEP file out of SOLIDWORKS is easy.
The full name is the Standard for The Exchange of Product Model Data or more commonly, a STEP file. The International Standard Organization (ISO) tried to solve this by creating a uniform standard format.
Do you want your question to appear in next month’s Customer Request Corner blog series? Simply email with the subject “Customer Request Corner.” Each month we will choose one of the topics submitted.Not all CAD programs have the same capabilities as and so exchanging things like a STEP file between SOLIDWORKS and other CAD software packages can become troublesome. If you have any specific question on what was covered briefly above, just drop us an email.
If you don’t want to deal with this problem every new install of SOLIDWORKS, please save this blog article: How to Copy Your SOLIDWORKS Settings Correctly When Upgrading to a New Major Release Here is a list of the default locations in File Locations. Hopefully, this information will train you to double check your File Locations when you get an error saying that SOLIDWORKS cannot find something. I bet you know where the answer is... Tools > System Options > File Locations > Design Library Hole Wizard is looking for a file called “calloutformat.txt” that is installed by default in “C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS\lang\english.” To fix this issue, go to Tools > System Options > File Locations > Hole Callout Format File to specify the file location.ĥ. For more help on this issue, click here.Ĥ. The correct default folder location is C:\ProgramData\SolidWorks\SOLIDWORKS \lang\english. SOLIDWORKS is simply having an issue finding the file gtol.sym. If a restart doesn’t fix this issue, then go to Tools > Options > System Options > File Locations > Symbol Library File. Simply set the Hole Wizard and Toolbox folder to the correct location.ģ. To resolve the problem, go to Tools > Options > Hole Wizard/Toolbox. Now, I know this one is not in File Locations, but it is still an issue with a wrong file location.
A common reason this error is given is because the swbrowser.sldedb file cannot be located. Read more in our blog article Missing Templates After Updating SOLIDWORKS.Ģ.
Go to Tools > Options > System Options > File Locations > Default Templates and Add the correct location. There is an easy fix for all of these issues.ġ. THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING! The default file locations path automatically points to the path specified in previous installation rather than the new installation path. A lot of SOLIDWORKS users do not realize that if SOLIDWORKS is installed and is run on a system that previously had SOLIDWORKS installed, the new version will take the settings from the old version and merge the settings into the new SOLIDWORKS registry.