yang686526

blocks-autocad to sw
how come when i insert a block from autocad into sw the file size increases considerably? the original autocad file is 568kb and increases to 7.21 mb when inserted as a block into sw.
thanks

colin fitzpatrick (aka macduff)
mechanical designer
solidworks 2008 sp 3.1
dell 490 xp pro sp 2
xeon cpu 3.00 ghz 3.00 gb of ram
nvida quadro fx 3450 512 mb
i'm just a little verklempt. talk amongst yourselves. i'll give you a topic. pink floyd, was neither pink nor floyd. discuss!--"coffee talk" mike myers snl

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my guess would be that the block is exploded into huge amounts of straight, small line segments, destroying all the true arcs (not sure if sw still does that, but it used to). also the possibility of many segments stacked over one another (?) creating huge numbers of entities.
i wonder if there's a way of bringing those blocks into dwgeditor and then into solidworks for smaller file sizes? long shot...

jeff mowry
jeff, i explored all my options with this. i reported it to our var and sent it over to sw corporate. the job number is sr# 1-947582736. i'll keep you folfs poseted on the outcome.
have a good day,
colin fitzpatrick (aka macduff)
mechanical designer
solidworks 2008 sp 3.1
dell 490 xp pro sp 2
xeon cpu 3.00 ghz 3.00 gb of ram
nvida quadro fx 3450 512 mb
i'm just a little verklempt. talk amongst yourselves. i'll give you a topic. pink floyd, was neither pink nor floyd. discuss!--"coffee talk" mike myers snl

does the file size change when the acad file is not a block?
can you post the file for review?

cbl,
yes it does. the orginial file is 568kb and the block file is 468kb. not enough to make a difference unlike sw takeing to 7.21mb.
colin fitzpatrick (aka macduff)
mechanical designer
solidworks 2008 sp 3.1
dell 490 xp pro sp 2
xeon cpu 3.00 ghz 3.00 gb of ram
nvida quadro fx 3450 512 mb
i'm just a little verklempt. talk amongst yourselves. i'll give you a topic. pink floyd, was neither pink nor floyd. discuss!--"coffee talk" mike myers snl

i meant does the file size increase as much when the acad file (not the block) is imported into sw.
is the geometry being altered when it is inmported into sw? (eg. curves into lines, lines on lines, etc)
as theo' suggested, try opening the file in dwgeditor and then copying from there.

nope, i get the same results opening in sw as the insert block test. sw file size for both are approx the same with lines being lines and circles being circles.
colin fitzpatrick (aka macduff)
mechanical designer
solidworks 2008 sp 3.1
dell 490 xp pro sp 2
xeon cpu 3.00 ghz 3.00 gb of ram
nvida quadro fx 3450 512 mb
i'm just a little verklempt. talk amongst yourselves. i'll give you a topic. pink floyd, was neither pink nor floyd. discuss!--"coffee talk" mike myers snl

?!?!?

jeff mowry
ok, i have an auto cad file about 500kb. i have three options in sw:
1) open the acad file up directly into sw.
2) open a sw blank template, insert dxf/dwg
3) open a sw blank template, insert block, dropdown, path to the dwg
all options give me the same result, a 7+ mb file. circles import as circles, and lines import as lines. is that better?
colin fitzpatrick (aka macduff)
mechanical designer
solidworks 2008 sp 3.1
dell 490 xp pro sp 2
xeon cpu 3.00 ghz 3.00 gb of ram
nvida quadro fx 3450 512 mb
i'm just a little verklempt. talk amongst yourselves. i'll give you a topic. pink floyd, was neither pink nor floyd. discuss!--"coffee talk" mike myers snl

ok, i don't know where this might lead--but we might try a bunch of random things to see if there are any differing results.
two ways to bring the drawing into sw--into a part and into a drawing (right?). what happens if you've got the geometry in a part sketch?
wherever you are in solidworks, can you select an arc or line, right-click, and then choose select chain? if the arcs and lines are truly tangent connected properly, you should see multiple elements selected. what happens if you delete them? no bits under them?
is it possible to check the acad document for layers--and turn off everything you don't need (or remake the block this way)?
that's about all the random checking i can think of for now.

jeff mowry
ooh, let me try the inserting the file into a part sketch. i'll be back....
colin fitzpatrick (aka macduff)
mechanical designer
solidworks 2008 sp 3.1
dell 490 xp pro sp 2
xeon cpu 3.00 ghz 3.00 gb of ram
nvida quadro fx 3450 512 mb
i'm just a little verklempt. talk amongst yourselves. i'll give you a topic. pink floyd, was neither pink nor floyd. discuss!--"coffee talk" mike myers snl