Problem
It can be difficult to tell what changes occur, if any, when migrating parts, assemblies, and drawings from an earlier version of SOLIDWORKS to a later version. The Upgrade Assistant allows you to test the migration of parts, assemblies, and drawings from an earlier version of SOLIDWORKS installed on your machine to the latest version without modifying the files.
This article will show how to use the Upgrade Assistant in SOLIDWORKS Task Scheduler. You can find a full list of tasks performed by the Task Scheduler here: Automating Tasks After Hours – Hawk Ridge Systems Support
Note: Before testing bulk files with the Upgrade Assistant, it is best to select a small sample file or a small group of files to test with first. Use the duration of that sample batch to estimate how long it will take to test the rest of the files on your hardware.
Solution: Use the Upgrade Assistant
Follow the steps below to set up and use the Upgrade Assistant:
-
Open SOLIDWORKS Task Scheduler and choose the Upgrade Assistant.
Steps 2-8 will reference the image below:
- Create a Task title if needed.
- Select the Earlier version of SOLIDWORKS from the drop-down list.
- Select Add File... or Add Folder... to choose the documents to test. Either files or folders can be specified. You cannot select both.
- If adding individual files: use the button 'Add File...' > browse to the file's location > select the file > click "Open".
- If adding folders which contain the files that need to be tested: use the button 'Add Folder...' > browse to the folder's location > select the folder > click "Select Folder". You can then check on "Include subfolders" to include files in subfolders.
- Under Task schedule, the "Running mode" can be set to Once, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly. If the Start time is set in the past before clicking "Finish," the task will start immediately.
- Click Options... to open an Upgrade Assistant dialogue box where you can specify to include configurations for a more in-depth report and create a zip archive of the failed files.
- Select Advanced... to access the options below:
- Set the Task Working Folder location. The task working files can include backup files, reports, etc.
- Set when the task would timeout, ending the task regardless of if the task has been completed or not.
- Run SOLIDWORKS in the background while minimized or not.
- Click Finish to set the task in motion after all requirements have been set up.
When running, the Upgrade Assistant will open each file using both your specified version of SOLIDWORKS and the installed SOLIDWORKS version that you plan on migrating to. A series of tests will run comparing each file and generating a comparison report that includes performance changes, rebuild errors, drawing pixel changes (color and position), and stability problems.
The following differences are highlighted if detected in the current version:
| Performance changes: | A full rebuild of the model is more than 10% slower. |
| File size: | The file has grown by more than 10%. |
| Drawing pixel changes: | One or more pixels in a snapshot of the drawing have changed color or position. |
| Stability problems: | Opening or rebuilding a model or drawing is causing an application to fail. |
| Volume: | The volume varies by 0.4%. |
| Center of Mass Comparison: | The Upgrade Assistant marks the comparison as failed and reports a difference if the following empirical formula returns a value greater than 0.025: 10,000 * ( (CMx_new - CMx_baseline)^2 + (CMy_new - CMy_baseline)^2 + (CMz_new - CMz_baseline)^2) ) / Area_baseline |
If no critical errors are found, you can be confident that your data will migrate successfully to the target version. If critical errors are found, send a copy of the comparison report to your reseller for further assistance.
For further technical support, please contact Hawk Ridge Systems at 877.266.4469 for the U.S. or 866.587.6803 for Canada and support@hawkridgesys.com.
Comments
Article is closed for comments.