SOLIDWORKS® 2024 SP2 - 3D Interconnect and Legacy Translators

Starting in SOLIDWORKS 2024 SP2, 3D Interconnect is the only 3D translator available for importing models.

Even if the option Enable 3D Interconnect is unchecked, SOLIDWORKS will utilize the 3D Interconnect Translator and its functionality. This change is documented in the What’s New in SOLIDWORKS 2024.

This article is meant to provide some additional information about the changes.

Contents

User Interface

Import Data without 3D Interconnect Link

How to Enable Legacy Translators

Identifying which translator is being used

User Interface

The User Interface under Tools > Options > System Options > Import > General has not been updated to account for the change made to the 3D Translators. This means that the parameters for the Legacy Translator are still shown, despite having no effect on the import process. These parameters are highlighted in the image below.

This issue has been documented and can be tracked in the following BR.

BR10000377704 - In SOLIDWORKS® 2024 SP2, the User Interface in Options > Import > General shows old parameters

Enabling or disabling any of the Legacy Parameters will have no effect on the import process. Because of this, it is recommended to keep the Enable 3D Interconnect option checked to ensure the legacy parameters cannot be interacted with and avoid confusion. 

Instead, it is advisable to set parameters under:

• Tools > Options > System Options > Import > STEP/IGES/ACIS
• Tools > Options > System Options > Import > Inventor/Catia V5/Creo/NX/SolidEdge
  

Import Data without 3D Interconnect Link

Previously, users may have disabled 3D Interconnect to avoid retaining a link to the file being imported. To achieve a similar result while using the 3D Interconnect Translator, the following options should be set:

• General > Create 3D Interconnect links = UNCHECKED
• General > Create external files = CHECKED
  

How to Enable Legacy Translators

In specific scenarios, it may be necessary to utilize the Legacy Translator instead of the 3D Interconnect Translator. To accommodate these situations, the attached registry keys may be added to enable the use of the legacy translator. The attached zip file contains 2 registry files.

• 2024SP2-LegacyTranslators-ON.reg
  • Restores the Import functionality to how it was before 2024 SP2
• 2024SP2-LegacyTranslators-OFF.reg
  • Uses the new Import functionality where 3D Interconnect is the only available translator

To Apply the registry keys:

1. Close SOLIDWORKS
2. Remove the .txt from the filename
3. Double-Click on the Registry File
4. Confirm the Next Messages
5. Start SOLIDWORKS

The changed registry key is HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry and if the SOLIDWORKS core registries are renamed, such as HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\SolidWorks or its subkeys, due to the clean reinstallation of SOLIDWORKS, investigations of specific problems, etc., you must reapply the reg file on legacy translators.

Note: Unwanted changes made in Registry Editor can potentially be very harmful to your computer. It is therefore imperative that only suitably qualified people make changes to the register.

Identifying which translator is being used

The easiest method of recognizing which translator is being used when importing a model is the Progress Dialog Box that appears during the import. Below are images for both of the translators.

• 3D Interconnect Translator
  
  
  
• Legacy Translator
  

For further assistance, please contact our support team at support@hawkridgesys.com, or 877-266-4469 (US) or 866-587-6803 (Canada).