SOLIDWORKS Task Scheduler - Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of or blog series covering the SolidWorks task scheduler.

In this section, we will cover the tasks of Print Files, Import Files, Export Files, and Update Custom Properties.

Print Files:

Click Print Files on the sidebar, or click Tasks > Print Files.

In the dialog box, type a new title for the task or leave the default in Task title.

Select the files or folders you want to print:

• To select files:
  • Under Task files or folders, click Add File.
  • Select the types of files to print in Files of type.
  • Browse to the file to print, then click Open.
  • Repeat steps a, b, and c to select additional files.
• To select folders:
  • Under Task files or folders, click Add Folder.
  • Browse to the folder that contains the files to print, then click OK.
  • Under File Name or Type, click in the row that contains the folder you just added, then select the types of files to print.
  • Repeat steps a, b, and c to select additional folders.
  • If you do not want to include subfolders, clear Include subfolders.

To delete a file or folder from the list, click its number in the leftmost column, thenclick Delete.

Under the options button you will find a list of printers and limited page settings.

Import Files:

• Click Import Files on the sidebar, or click Tasks > Import Files.
• In the dialog box, type a new title for the task or leave the default in Task title.
• Select the files or folders you want to import.
• Under Task output folder, select one of the following to specify where to store the imported files.

  **You can schedule tasks to import IGES (*.igs, *.iges) and STEP (*.step, *.stp) files into SOLIDWORKS part (*.sldprt) files.

  Click the Options button to access Import options similar to SW open menu.

Export Files:

• Click Export Files on the sidebar, or click Tasks > Export Files.
• In the dialog box, type a new title for the task or leave the default in Task title.
• Select the target file type in Export file type.

  Available selections for target file type:

  • Dxf (*.dxf)
  • Dwg (*.dwg) files
  • IGES (*.igs)
  • Adobe Portable Document Format (*.pdf)
  • STEP AP203 (*.step)
  • STEP AP214 (*.step)
  • JPEG (*.jpg)
• Select the files or folders you want to export:
• Under Task output folder, select one of the following to specify where to store the exported files:

Update Custom Properties:

• Click Update Custom Properties on the sidebar, or click Tasks > Update Custom Properties.
• In the dialog box, type a new title for the task or leave the default in Task title.
• Select the files or folders for which you want to update custom properties
• When finished selecting files click next.

Add new custom properties or modify existing custom properties in SOLIDWORKS documents.

To specify custom properties to add or modify:

1. Click in the first row in the Name column.
2. Select an existing custom property name from the list, or type a new name.

   Material, Weight, DrawnDate, MakeOrBuy, and CompanyName are a few examples of the many custom property names that are predefined in SOLIDWORKS documents.

   In a SOLIDWORKS part, assembly, or drawing document, click File > Properties > Custom to see the entire list of existing custom property names for that document. See Summary Info – Custom and Configuration Specific in the SOLIDWORKS Online User's Guide for more information on working with Custom Properties in SOLIDWORKS documents.

3. Press Tab to move to the Type column, and select a custom property type (Text, Date, Number, Yes or no).
4. Press Tab to move to the Value column, and type a custom property value.

1. Press Tab to move to the Configuration column. If the custom property that you are adding or modifying affects configurations within the SOLIDWORKS document, type the configuration name. Otherwise, leave blank.
2. Click in the next row in the Name column, and repeat steps 2 through 5 for each custom property that you want to add or modify.
3. Click Finish.

We hope this series has given you an insight to how to access the tools in the SOLIDWORKS Task Scheduler. 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:

• SOLIDWORKS Task Scheduler – Part1 (Bryan Pawlak 4/2/14)
• SOLIDWORKS Task Scheduler – Part2 (John Van Engen 4/3/14)
• SOLIDWORKS Task Scheduler – Part3 (Blake Cokinis 4/7/14)
• SOLIDWORKS Task Scheduler – Part4 (Neil Bucalo 4/8/14)