Solidworks Design Tables

Eric_Bunn85361

I am currently a Solidworks user and use Design Tables quite extensively.  Are you going to be putting in similar functionality allowing use of Excel to drive the model?

Eric

lougallo

We will but will probably not use Excel.  We will have a more elegant way of doing tabular variants in Onshape.  It has been requested.

Eric_Bunn85361

Will what you are planning allow use of equations and/or VBA as is available in Excel?

lougallo

@Eric_Bunn85361 We already allow expressions in the dimensions but we will implement ways to parameterize your designs in Onshape.  The goal will be able to build in intent and intelligence.  We will have an API if you wanted to tie from a desktop tool and write your own connectors, i'm sure. 

andrew_troup

As a big fan and devoted user of Excel since 1985, I have to say ...

Good call. I like the idea of a dedicated design-table front end, with similar capabilities to the relevant subset of Excel's, but resident in and tightly integrated with Onshape.

I didn't personally see any advantage to invoking Excel for Design Tables in Solidworks that was not outweighed by the clunkiness involved, and it can be a pain to have to be running the correct version of yet another software package.

The clunkiness would be several orders of magnitude greater, it seems to me, with Onshape running on your servers and Excel running on any old box, any old where, alongside any old browser.

3dcad

+11 for not using excel, thank you!  

Having correct versions and updating add-ons on multiple computers is truly a pain and if it was created for excel it would certainly need support for LibreOffice too.. 

John_DesignSmith

When Shape-Tables are made it should have an autofill or pattern recognition capability like Excel. That will make it far easier to replicate the standards for holes, bolts, tubes and so on. (So says the voice of experience...)

christopher_owens

@lougallo & @andrew_troup  I have used "design tables" / "family tables" / "library parts" before, mostly for assembly drawings. Wondering what is the status. Here is an example I recreated (best I could in Onshape) from the past. I used a common commercial available product (and made use of the companies downloadable CAD) and then would "cut to length" the 10' piece as I needed. Back in SW I would create an offset datum plane that would drive where the "cut" was and create a "family table"/"instances". Best(?) way I figured to do this using Onshape was to Linear Pattern Part 1, Offset Planes (old habit, and I notice the offset planes do not display their name...I assume to save "screen clutter") and then create a Sketch and a Extrude-Remove for EACH length I would need. Cumbersome? I used this product a lot to mount sports lighting to indoor arena catwalks, and still have an "unfinished" idea. I might of even used Excel to do this.

koen_van_ham032

@lougallo
Is there already an indication when some comparable function will be available in OnShape?
Are there any alternatives to implement the same functionality now, like for example trough FeatureScript?