The CUSTOMTOOLS functionality provided by the Properties feature allows you to manage the custom properties of the SOLIDWORKS document, including weldment cut-list items. The Properties pane is fully customizable. You can customize the pane in the CUSTOMTOOLS Options. The custom property values are stored into the custom properties of the SOLIDWORKS document and also into the CUSTOMTOOLS database. The Properties pane can be customized also specific for the different types of documents (3D model, assembly, part, drawing and weldment).
You can also maintain the color, mass and density of your SOLIDWORKS documents with help of the Properties pane.
Properties are grouped by the Property groups defined in CUSTOMTOOLS Options.
Use the following links to navigate faster to a section of the Properties pane help you are looking for.
Click the button in the CUSTOMTOOLS toolbar, or Click CUSTOMTOOLS, Properties.
The Properties pane appear.
. By default the active document is selected if the Properties command has been executed. Click on the Component box to select a different component from the feature manager tree or select a component from the model view to display/modify its Properties. The Properties dialog box automatically pops up while saving a document for the first time. The dialog box appears also when executing a Save As command in SOLIDWORKS if the Suggest filename for saved models when performing Save As option has been selected in File operation options. This option only applies to 3D Models, not the drawings.
The Action group remembers its' last state. For example, if the Action group has left collapsed on the most recent use, the Action group remembers the state so it opens as collapsed also on next time.
NOTE: If the Properties pane contains any unsaved changes and a different component is selected, then the changes will be lost.
To define the custom properties of different components, note that the pane can be pinned and changes must be accepted by clicking or by pressing the Enter key before selecting a different component.
TIP: The custom properties of the model can also be defined from a drawing. Right-click on the desired model component in the Feature manager design tree, and then select Properties.
1. Selected component in the Feature Manager tree view
Picture 1. Properties defined for the selected component are retrieved into the Properties pane.
. Select an action to perform against the selected component on click of the button.
TIP: You may confirm changes in the Properties pane also by pressing the Enter key. Confirming changes by the Enter key also perform the action selected from the menu against the selected component.
The Action options are not available for weldments and weldment cut-list-item
Default
If the value of the custom property used to define the filename is modified, then the prompt dialog appears where the user is asked to define an action to do. The filenaming rules are defined in the Project options.
If a different action is selected, other than the default action, for a virtual component saved inside an assembly, then the component is saved as an external file.
Save As
Saves the document with a new filename.
The values of the modified Property are only saved to new document. If the document is referenced by an opened assembly, then the file references are updated.
During a Save as action, the user will be prompt to copy existing drawing(s).
Save As Copy
Saves the document with a new filename and leaves the original file unmodified.
CUSTOMTOOLS offers the possibility to automatically open the copied documents. To open the copied document, select the Open created document when performing Save As copy option from the File Operation options in the CUSTOMTOOLS Options. The user can also define if the new file should always be opened or never, or always get prompted.
The new file name generated by the CUSTOMTOOLS will based on your File Naming settings. If no filenaming rules have been defined in the CUSTOMTOOLS Options, then the file name will use SOLIDWORKS rules.
While performing a Save as Copy action, if the model has one or more related drawings, then the user is prompted to copy the drawing(s).
Rename And Move
Use the Rename and Move action to move selected document into new location and/or change its' file name. References of the selected component are being updated in all open documents referencing to the renamed and moved component. Document references are not updated in documents that are not open while the selected component is being renamed and moved.
Rename
Renames the selected document. References of the selected component are also updated in all open documents referencing to the renamed component. Document references are not updated in documents that are not open while the selected component is being renamed.
Copy as new component
Copies the selected component and inserts the copied component into the assembly.
Replace components
Replaces the selected components by the copies of the selected components in assembly.
For Example: If you are designing a table and you want to edit two of the table legs, use the Replace components action to copy the desired components and replace them by the copied ones, then you can edit those two parts without making unwanted changes to the legs which does not need any changes.
Save As and break external refs
Select this action to save the document and break all the external references of the saved document. Any references does not change in the original document.
NOTE: The Copy as new component and the Replace components actions are available only when you have an assembly open, and you have selected a component from the structure of your open assembly.
The default action in the floating Properties dialog box is Save As Copy to avoid loss of data while handling existing files. Also the Save As dialog box which appear after clicking the OK button in the floating Properties dialog box have a dynamic title which refer to the save action selected.
Save Internally
Use this action to save the virtual component internally into the parent assembly in which it is being used in. All external references are deleted from the virtual component. In the source document of which the virtual one was made from, the external references stays unchanged.
Save Externally
Use this action to save the virtual component as a new part or assembly.
The last selected action for the virtual component is selected automatically on next time you perform the Properties command for the virtual component.
Saving operation creates the destination folder automatically if it does not already exist when saving a component into an external file using the Save Externally action.
. Select the configuration(s) where the Property values will be written to.
Please notice that the Configurations are not supported for drawings, weldments and weldment cut-list items.
The model document remembers the last configuration selection.
Document properties
Modified Property values are written into the SOLIDWORKS document level property attributes. All the configuration specific Property values associated to an attribute with the identical name, are being deleted.
All configurations
The Properties are written into all existing configurations of the selected document.
This Configuration
The Property values are written to the selected configuration.
Select the target configuration by using the box.
TIP: You may apply changes to the configuration specific properties associated to several configurations by selecting the This configuration option and then changing the desired target configuration using the box.
Specific Configuration(s)
Allows you to select the configuration, which the Property values will be written to. You can select one or more configurations.
The box displays the name of the selected configuration and it becomes active when This Configuration is selected from the box.
A warning message appears into the Properties pane when saving the new property values into All configurations and one or more configurations does already have values assigned in the changed properties. Warning message appears also if saving the properties into the Document properties and one or more configurations already have values assigned on the configuration level.
Property Specific
Select the Property Specific option as the target configuration to write the assigned property values in a level of the target document specified in the Properties settings.
You can setup the desired document level to write the property value in by using the Initial Configuration setting located in the Basic Information page of the Property Wizard.
Document properties and active configuration
Write value assigned to a Property into the document properties and also to the active configuration of the selected SOLIDWORKS model. Property values written to the Document properties and active configuration appear in the document's Custom level Summary Information and also in the Configuration Specific level of Summary Information in the configuration active in SOLIDWORKS model at moment of saving the document.
Document properties and all configurations
Write value assigned to a Property into the document properties and also to all configurations of the SOLIDWORKS model. Property values written to the Document properties and all configurations appear in the document's Custom level Summary Information and also in the Configuration Specific level of Summary Information in all configurations included in SOLIDWORKS model at moment of saving the document.
Please refer to the SOLIDWORKS helps for the further information about the SOLIDWORKS document's Summary Information levels available.
Include only active/referenced configuration
Select this option to include only the active or referenced model configuration to the action performed by the Properties pane.
Name of the active configuration could be retrieved to a Property with help of the property combination. Retrieving the configuration name to the Property makes easier to create e.g. configuration specific drawings from the model.
TIP: See the video about creation of the configuration specific drawings from the CUSTOMTOOLS YouTube channel.
Example 1 - New Component
Let's say we have just created a new SOLIDWORKS part which is a piece of copper bar like shown in the following picture. The copper bar have been configured by it's length dimension for different purposes.
Picture 2. A piece of a copper bar with the Default configuration active.
The following table show where the Property values are written in the SOLIDWORKS document's Summary Information using the different options for the Property's Initial configuration:
Resolved Value in SOLIDWORKS File's Custom/Configuration Properties
Property
Initial Configuration
Properties Value
Document Properties
Default
L150
L200
L210
Purpose
Document properties and all configurations
Copper Part Sets
Copper Part Sets
Copper Part Sets
Copper Part Sets
Copper Part Sets
Copper Part Sets
Additional 1
Document properties and active configuration
General Usage
General Usage
General Usage
No property/value
No property/value
No property/value
Drawing No
Document properties
000001
000001
No property/value
No property/value
No property/value
No property/value
Dimensions
Active configuration
FB-15x100-15
No property/value
FB-15x100-15
No property/value
No property/value
No property/value
Example 2 - Existing Component
Let's say we have an existing SOLIDWORKS part which is a piece of gold like shown in the following pictures. This gold piece have been configured by its' features and the length dimension for different purposes.
Picture 3. A piece of gold with the Default configuration active.
Picture 4. A piece of gold with the H250 configuration active.
The following table show where the Property values are written in the SOLIDWORKS document's Summary Information using the different options for the Property's Initial configuration:
Resolved Value in SOLIDWORKS File's Custom/Configuration Properties After Changes (Old value if changed)
Property
Initial Configuration
Properties Value
Document Properties
Default
H200
H250
Purpose
Document properties and all configurations
Wall Support
Wall Support
Wall Support
Wall Support
Wall Support
Additional 1
Document properties and active configuration
Extra Long Walls (Corner Piece)
Corner Piece(Corner Piece)
Corner Piece
No property/value
Extra Long Walls(No property/value)
Drawing No
Document properties
000003
000003
No property/value
No property/value
No property/value
Dimensions
Active configuration
FB-50x250-20
No property/value
FB-50x150-20
No property/value
FB-50x250-20(No property/value)
The gold piece was saved for the first time with the Default configuration active. For that reason the Dimensions property still have its existing value untouched in the Default configuration while the model is being saved for the second time, while it has the H250 configuration active. This behavior comes from the Dimensions property's initial configuration which is Active configuration so the new value is always written only to the configuration active on the saving moment.
A property called Additional 1 have Document properties and active configuration as its initial configuration so, when the model is saved second time, the new value defined in the Properties pane, gets written into the document itself and, into the active configuration which is H250 the second saving time mentioned in this example.
Select the project where the selected component belongs to. You can either pick the desired project directly from the drop-down list or, you can start typing name of the project you are looking for, into the box to use the Project Search feature to ease finding the desired project.
Once you select the project, the default values are automatically loaded to the Properties based on the default values set in the Projects options.
In the CUSTOMTOOLS Viewer, the Project box shows in which project the selected component belongs to, but the project cannot be changed.
Unload project specific values from the Properties. Unloading the default values from the Properties does not remove document from the project selected from the box.
ID of the selected project is stored into the CUSTOMTOOLS database when saving the document.
If the selected component is assigned to a project that has been deleted, a warning message appears onto the top of the Properties pane on load of the component properties.
If the document does not already belong to any project defined in the CUSTOMTOOLS Projects options, <No project> appear into the box by default. You can still assign the document to some existing project but, <No project> cannot be selected for any document that already belongs to any project no matter does the project selected in the box exist or not.
The last project selected from the box is remembered by the CUSTOMTOOLS until the end of the current session. So for example, while you make a set of new SOLIDWORKS part documents for the same CUSTOMTOOLS project, you need to select the project only on while creating the first part. After that the same project is automatically selected again with the following parts until you close SOLIDWORKS.
Recently Used Projects
Based on your project usage statistics, CUSTOMTOOLS creates a project group called Recent on the top of your projects in the box in the Properties pane. In the Recent projects, you find the top five (5) of your most recently used projects.
NOTE: CUSTOMTOOLS always remembers the last selected project until the end of the current session. So if you use several projects during the same session, only the latest project is remembered and automatically selected for the next document.
Example Use Case:
Let's assume you have an old part that was created without CUSTOMTOOLS or, the CUSTOMTOOLS version used while the part was created, did not have the Projects feature included.
In this case, your part cannot belong to any CUSTOMTOOLS project. For that reason, your part have <No project> selected in the box when you open the part's Properties now using CUSTOMTOOLS version which have the Projects feature included.
NOTE: Because the Projects feature in CUSTOMTOOLS does not support cut-list items, the box does not appear to the Properties pane when the component selected is SOLIDWORKS Cut List Item.
A disk icon is located before every Property. It appears as when the value of a custom property is not been modified during the Properties session. If the related value has been modified or if the user clicks on the disk icon, then it changes to .
The icon appears like the value of the custom property has been modified manually. When exiting the Properties pane, only the modified Property values are written to document and to the CUSTOMTOOLS database.
If the is clicked, the icon changes to and the value is considered as modified. This can be used for example to easily write a custom property value to all configurations. If the is clicked, the icon changes to and the last saved value of the property is shown in the control. The property is no longer considered as modified. This operation can be used to cancel modifications.
The values of custom properties can also be retrieved from Lookup lists. The lookup list values can be defined by the user or retrieved from an external data source.
The values of the lookup list retrieved from an external datasource are always synchronized.
If the value of a custom property does not correspond to a value in the external data source, the value displayed will depend based on the type of the used combobox:
Combobox
The custom property will be empty if the value of the custom property does exist in the external data source.
Editable combobox
The new value retrieved from the database overwrites the existing value if the value of the custom property does correspond to a value in the external data source.
Changing the type of the Property to combobox does not clear the assigned value, no matter whether or not the assigned value exist in the lookup list.
When you link properties to the existing property which value is based on the some dictionary, the linked properties get their values automatically based on the same dictionary.
However, if you manually change the source value of translated properties and the new value does not exist in the source dictionary, the properties which are tranlated based on the changed value keeps their last saved values.
Add dimension values into the custom properties by clicking the dimension field and then clicking the desired dimension on the model.
The SOLIDWORKS model can be rotated to other positions while the Properties pane is active to ease selection of the dimension values.
TIP: While selecting the dimension values from the model, the next available box used for the dimension value becomes active automatically once the value has been retrieved to the current one.
Dimensions of the active component appears on the model automatically when dimension value box is selected from the Properties pane.
Each Property which type is Dimension, has the button associated to the dimension value box. Use the button to clear the dimension value from its associated dimension value box.
Decimals
Usually, the component dimensions have to be presented by some specific accuracy. To increase the value accuracy, we need to add decimals. By default, CUSTOMTOOLS respects the Windows Regional Settings (Additional settings) to determine the separator character for the decimals. So does SOLIDWORKS as well.
However, SOLIDWORKS have an option to set a custom separator and therefore ignore the separator defined in the Windows Regional Settings. While the SOLIDWORKS setting is being used, CUSTOMTOOLS uses the separator defined in SOLIDWORKS System Options too.
The component mass could be assigned to the custom property. The selected material could be the SOLIDWORKS material or it could be a custom material specified in the CUSTOMTOOLS Profile Options. Assigning a SOLIDWORKS material as the Property value, sets also the component material in the SOLIDWORKS Feature Manager.
By default, the component mass is calculated automatically based on the density of the selected component material. Click the button to deactivate the mass link and enable editing of the mass value in the related property box if necessary. Once deactivated the mass link, enter the desired mass value into the related text box to store the used defined component mass into the SOLIDWORKS file properties. The user defined mass value does not affect to the material information.
Activate/Deactivate the mass link. The state of this button is stored into the SOLIDWORKS file to determine whether or not the mass link is activated. The mass link is activated by default.
If the mass link is broken or inactive the user can enter the desired mass value to be assigned for the component. The mass value is written into the SOLIDWORKS document properties also in that case.
The total mass of an assembly is calculated based on the materials assigned to the parts included in the assembly. Select the desired part from the assembly to show the mass of the specific part.
The Property used to assign the mass value need to have the following settings selected in the Functions page of the Property Wizard:
Before function
GetMaterials
After function
SetDensity
The following table describes the states of the Property linking button:
Link Status
Meaning
Active
Property link is active. Property value is automatically retrieved based on the source property set in the Property settings.
Inactive
Property link is inactive. Property value could be typed by the user.
You can also have a property that combines a part of manual typed text and a property or properties that retrieve their values from some other properties and still maintain a link between the linked part of the value and its source.
The Button function allows you to define functionality to custom property control excecuted by clicking a button next to property value box.
NOTE: The custom property type have to be Editbox in order to be allowed to have a button function assigned to it, except the Read-only properties which cannot have any button function.
Opens the New Code dialog box which is used to get an unique code for the property.
Select a translated value for the Property from the dictionary.
Use the CUSTOMTOOLS Administration Tool or the Translation Options in the Database Options tab of the CUSTOMTOOLS Options to manage your dictionaries.
Handle the revision data of the document with help of the Revisions dialog box and its' functionality.
Allows you to get the values for one or more Properties from the external data source using the desired database search group defined in the CUSTOMTOOLS Options. This function allows you to populate custom properties for example from ERP system.
All buttons related to any other properties using the same Database search group goes to the disabled state once the link has been established from the custom property to an external data source.
Disabling the buttons related to any other properties using the same Database search group prevents the unexpected overwriting of the linked values.
Set entity data for the model. The entity data values are stored only into the database, so the values does not appear to the custom property boxes.
Writes the Properties and closes the Properties pane.
Cancels all the changes and closes the Properties pane.
Pins the Properties pane open so that it does not disappear when you click the button. Pinning the Properties pane open allow you for example to write the configuration specific Property model property values without having to open the Properties pane again after each configuration.
TIP: The Esc key's fucntion is equal to the button. Pressing the Esc key discards all changes made in the Properties and closes the Properties pane.
You can insert Properties as new columns into the BOM (Bill of Materials) of the SOLIDWORKS drawing created from the model document. Please see the SOLIDWORKS help about Bill of materials for the further information.
button in the CUSTOMTOOLS toolbar, or Click CUSTOMTOOLS, Properties.
. By default the active document is selected if the Properties command has been executed. Click on the Component box to select a different component from the feature manager tree or select a component from the model view to display/modify its Properties. The Properties dialog box automatically pops up while saving a document for the first time. The dialog box appears also when executing a Save As command in SOLIDWORKS if the Suggest filename for saved models when performing Save As option has been selected in 
or by pressing the Enter key before selecting a different component.
. Select an action to perform against the selected component on click of the 
. Select the configuration(s) where the Property values will be written to.
box.
when the value of a custom property is not been modified during the Properties session. If the related value has been modified or if the user clicks on the disk icon, then it changes to 
.
button associated to the dimension value box. Use the 
button to deactivate the mass link and enable editing of the mass value in the related property box if necessary. Once deactivated the mass link, enter the desired mass value into the related text box to store the used defined component mass into the SOLIDWORKS file properties. The user defined mass value does not affect to the material information.
