SolidWorks Assembly

Use

You can import and view SolidWorks Assembly (.sldasm, .asm) files.

The .sldasm and .asm formats display list assembly data.

Supported

  • Hierarchical structured Scene Tree

  • File properties, Model properties

  • Object Attributes: Color, opacity, visibility, and object names

  • Solid or Mesh Import:

    • Tessellation control with mesh import and dynamic tessellation option for solid import

  • Normals and UV coordinates

  • PMI (Functional Dimensioning & Tolerancing, Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing)

  • PMI to Surface highlighting and PMI to Edge highlighting

  • Configuration (Creates multi-BOM in the Visual Enterprise scene)

  • Improved instancing based on geometry and parts

  • Persistence Identifier and CAD Identifiers More

Limitations

  • No animation support

  • No texture support

  • Assembly level PMIs aren’t supported.

  • PMI to PMI highlighting not supported

  • Construction geometry; for example, Points, Coordinate Axis, Surfaces, Curves, Wireframes planes

  • UV Coordinates from Mesh not supported

  • Metadata in the Scene Tree sorts in alphabetical order so the original order isn’t preserved.

  • Initial view isn’t respected when loaded in Visual Enterprise scene.

  • To represent text and symbols for FD&T and GD&T, Visual Enterprise software uses its own RHGDT font. All monospace fonts are replaced by Roborto.tff. Text and Symbol display a different size and shape.

  • Missing geometry if no Parasolid data is present in the file.

  • Only Dimension Annotation created by the DimXpert tool in SolidWorks is supported.

  • Annotation Views, Default, and User-defined views not supported

  • Textures and animations not supported

  • Multiple configurations: Only resolved (activated) configurations are loaded.

  • Exploded views within configuration aren’t supported.

  • Embedded piping not supported (assembly level geometry)

  • Visibility of subcomponents in a Multilevel Assembly not preserved

  • No wireframes, points, and coordinate systems.

  • Quick view load approach has been disabled (Visual Enterprise Author and Generator 9.0 FP2 and onward).

Features

This format contains import options. You can use them to customize the way in which your file is opened.

Import Interface

Field

Functional Description

Common

Defines the general settings including tessellation (arrangement and density of the polygons)

Geometry: Defines the geometry settings

  • Import Hidden Objects: Imports all hidden objects. If you modify any visible objects that contain hidden subobjects after import, those hidden objects are also modified.

  • Display Hidden Objects: Displays all hidden objects in the viewport after importing the file

  • Import Metadata: Imports file metadata from the original CAD file (stored inside the file as the metadata category CADMetadata)

  • Import Configuration: Imports configuration from the original CAD file

    • As Saved: Imports all the configuration that was last saved in the scene.

    • All: Imports all the configuration in the scene.

    • User Defined: Imports the configuration as defined in the User-Specified Name option

  • User-Specified Name: If you’ve selected a user-defined configuration, the name of the configuration to import.

  • Collapse Part Geometry: Collects all the surfaces, and tessellates collectively, treating loose surfaces as one object. This option is used to avoid seams and gaps, and produce unified normals.

PMI Captures Model Views: Defines settings for PMI

  • Import PMI: Imports any Product Manufacturing Information (PMI) within the file. You can access the PMI data objects from within the 3D Objects list.

  • Import Model Views: Imports any custom model views within the file.

Tessellation Settings: Defines the tessellation settings

  • : Determines whether splines, surfaces, and solids are imported.

  • Tessellation Level: Applies different resolutions based upon preselected values for chord height ratio and normal tolerances. If you select User-Defined, further options become available.

    • Angular Tolerance: Determines the maximum angular deviation (in degrees), allowed between an analytical surface and its triangulation. Pairs of triangles don’t incorporate a dihedral angle greater than this amount. For example, this setting dictates the minimum number of facets around a smaller circle or cylinder regardless of the Surface Deviation setting. This parameter gives you added control over faces with small radii. Lower values result in finer tessellations, while higher values produce coarser tessellations.

    • Chord Height Tolerance: The value between the analytical surface and its triangulation that determines the distance and accuracy of the tessellation. The lower the value, the more accurate the result. 0.00001 is the minimum unit (high detail), and 1 000 000 is the maximum unit (low detail).

    • Chord Height Behavior: Determines how accurately the chord height tolerance is applied. Absolute applies the chord height tolerance as it is. Scaled adjusts the values depending on the scale of the object being tessellated.

Construction Geometry: Defines settings for the construction geometry

  • Import Surfaces: Imports all construction geometry

Geometry Transformation
Transforms (rotate, position, and scale) the scene along the X, Y, and Z axes:

  • Rotation: Sets the degrees of rotation around each axis from 0 degrees to 360 degrees. The rotation values can be entered with up to 6 decimal places.

  • Scale: Scales the object along the X, Y, and Z axes

  • Position: Sets the position of the scene along the X, Y, and Z axes
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