Combination Editor
The Combination Editor is used to add and edit Property combinations. Combinations are used to combine multiple Property values together to create a new one. These combinations can be used, for example, in filenaming rules to generate more specific names for your SOLIDWORKS documents.
| Name | Name of the combination. |
| Properties | A list of the Properties available for the combination. Double-click the desired Property to insert it into the combination's Format String, or drag and drop the desired property from the Properties list into the Format String box. |
| Format String | Specifies the format string of the combination. The Format String determines the order in which the Properties appear in the resolved value of your Combination. You can also add different separators between the values. |
| Show preceding separator for empty field | Replaces empty Property values with a preceding separator. |
| Generate only when all properties have a value | Select this option to generate the combination value only if all Properties selected in its Format String box have a value. |
ATR CustomTools Property Combinations can be defined for models, drawings, and cut-list items. The scope the combination is created for determines the Property scopes available for the combination's Format String. See the table below for available scopes by combination type:
| Combination Type | Usable With | Model | Part | Assembly | Drawing | Cut-List Item |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model Combination | SOLIDWORKS Parts and Assemblies | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Drawing Combination | SOLIDWORKS Drawings | ✔ | ||||
| Weldment Combination | Cut List Items | ✔ |
When you add Properties into the Format String box, the following menu associated with the property appears:
| Preceding Chars | Determines the amount of characters from the beginning of the Property value to be retrieved to the Combination. |
| Trailing Chars | Determines the amount of characters from the end of the Property value to be retrieved to the Combination. |
| Remove First Chars | Determines the amount of the first characters to be excluded from the Property value to be retrieved to the Combination. |
| Remove Last Chars | Determines the amount of the last characters to be excluded from the Property value to be retrieved to the Combination. |
Click the 
button to add
Project specific values into the combination:
| Project Number | Retrieves the project identifier into the combination. |
| Project Name | Retrieves the project name into the combination. |
| Project Path for Models | Retrieves the project-specific models saving path into the combination. |
| Project Path for Drawings | Retrieves the project-specific drawings saving path into the combination. |
| Parent Project Number | Retrieves the parent project identifier into the combination. |
| Parent Project Name | Retrieves the parent project name into the combination. |
| Remove n Characters from Left | Select this option to exclude characters from the left side of the combination value. The selected amount of characters are excluded from the result once the combination value is generated based on the Format String. |
| Remove n Characters from Right | Select this option to exclude characters from the right side of the combination value. The selected amount of characters are excluded from the result once the combination value is generated based on the Format String. |
| Or Else |
Evaluate the Property values that are on the left side of the Or Else attribute. The combination value is taken from the first part of the combination that has a value assigned. |
Project values used as parts of the combination are retrieved from the project where the document belongs. If the document does not belong to any project, the project-specific values in the combination are empty. The empty values can be replaced with a preceding separator by selecting the Show Preceding Separator for Empty Field option.
A Format string typed as [item][revision]{STOP}[DrawnBy]{STOP}[Description1] shows up in the Combination editor as follows:
The user has assigned values into the [desc2] and [desc1] properties. In this case, the combination value is taken from the [desc2] property because it is the first part of the combination that has a value.
The format string is the same one used in the Example 1 above.
Let's assume that the user has now assigned values into the [item], [revision] and [desc1]. In that case, the result is the combination of values assigned to the [item] and [revision] properties.
ATR CustomTools combinations are used to combine several Properties together. Properties that belong to different property scopes are color-coded in the Format String box so you can recognize the parts of the format string more easily. The following colors are used to identify the blobs:
| Model property | |
| Cut-List property | |
| Drawing property | |
| Pre-defined function | |
| Invalid item |
If you get the invalid item blob in the format string of your combination, please ensure that the item selected in the format string exists and also check the spelling of the format string item names.
You can use arithmetic operations to make different calculations based on the Property values added into the Format String box. The calculations in Property Combinations follow the normal calculation order based on common math rules.
Example:
You can create a combination of the dimension values to calculate the surface area. To do that, create a combination with a Format String like <[dim1]*[dim2]>.