SOLIDWORKS Free Xpress Utilities-Part 1-DriveWorksXpress

This month we are going to take a deep dive into the free SOLIDWORKS Xpress utilities. There are 4 utilities that are found in every version of SolidWorks under the Tools pull down menu; DriveWorksXpress, DFMXpress, SimulationXpress, and FloXpress. Xpress tools are lightweight versions of the larger tool. This four part series will breakdown each of these utilities to explain what each tool is capable of and what the limitations are.

SolidWorks

DriveWorks Xpress

DriveWorksXpress provides entry-level Design Automation. It is ideal for everyday repetitive design tasks, and can be used to create multiple variations of SOLIDWORKS Parts, Assemblies and Drawings quickly and accurately. These tasks follow a set of rules (defined by the user) that are saved in a rules-based project you set up once and run again and again.

Features:

DriveWorks Xpress allows you to perform the following functions:

  • Select parameters to "drive" or change
  • Create a simple form to input the parameters
  • Use rules to link the input parameters to your design
  • You can drive dimensions, features, custom properties, & file names
  • You can create drawings for each part and assembly

For a full matrix of functions available in the different DriveWorks packages please see the DriveWorks website:

http://www.driveworks.co.uk/products/compare/

Getting Started:

Launch DriveWorks from the Tools pull down menu. From the welcome window you can create or change you driveworks database, add models or edit existing models, or run new specifications to generate variations of your model.

SolidWorks

For additional steps on setting up the model, working with the forms, generating rules, and generating new models please see the SOLIDWORKS help menu.

For a step by step example of how DriveWorks Xpress operates, please see the DriveWorks Xpress tutorial found under Help, SOLIDWORKS Tutorials, All Tutorials, DriveWorks Xpress.

Additional how to videos can be found on the DriveWorks website:

http://www.driveworks.co.uk/training/driveworksxpress/

If you are interested in additional information regarding the capabilities of DriveWorks Xpress or other DriveWorks products, please see the Driveworks Website or contact CATI and our sales and support team will be happy to assist you.

http://www.driveworks.co.uk/

If your designs follow a series of basic series of rules, or are very modular in nature the DriveWorks is a product you should look into to save time and money. DriveWorks Xpress is just one of the free design utilities available in SOLIDWORKS, so please check back as our tech team continues to uncover all of the free utilities available to you.

We hope this series has given you an insight to how to access the free Xpress tools in SOLIDWORKS.  Please check back to the CATI Blog as the Dedicated Support Team will continue posting new series of articles every month that go further into the details of many of the SOLIDWORKS tools. All of these articles will be stored in the category of Daily Dose…..of SOLIDWORKS Support and links to each article with their release date are listed below:

Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

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