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DriveWorks Pro 22
Model Insight

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Model Insight

Model Insight is an essential tool for understanding how a model is generated by DriveWorks.

Model Insight uses the Queued method of model generation and allows you to step through every action taken by DriveWorks when generating a model.

With Model Insight you can:

  • See the exact order in which dimensions, features, custom properties, etc. are processed
  • See the time it takes to execute each operation
  • See where a particular operation is not giving you the results you expect
Model Insight can be used on:
  • Assemblies
  • Parts
  • Drawings

Model Insight displays the operations to be carried out on the immediate model or drawing.

The operations for any sub components or drawings are displayed when that sub component or drawing are required.

When running Model Insight on an assembly create a Pause Point (see below) on the line that makes the call to Generate the component (the full path and name will be given).

For a drawing this will become available during the generation of the associated component.

Once the Pause Point is reached you can then Step Into that sequence to see the operations to be performed on that component or drawing.

DriveWorks Administrator cannot be used when the Model Insight dialog is open.

If there is interaction with DriveWorks Administrator, when Model Insight is open, the DriveWorks icon on the Windows taskbar will flash.

To Launch Model Insight

Model Insight can be launched in two ways:

  • Through Specification Test Mode.
  • Through the Generate Models dialog in SOLIDWORKS.

To launch Model Insight during Test mode:

  1. Run DriveWorks Administrator and go to the Specification Explorer.
  2. Click New to create a new specification. (If you have more than one project, select the required project from the New Specification window and click OK).
  3. When the first user form in the navigation is loaded into the Specification Explorer window, click the Test Mode button from the Command Bar.
  4. Select the Model Rules tab.
  5. Select the part that is required to be run through Model Insight from the Models list.
  6. Click the Generate (Queued using Model Insight) button from the Command Bar.
    Or
    Right click on the model and select Generate (Queued using Model Insight).

To launch Model Insight from the Generate Models dialog in SOLIDWORKS:

See Generate (Using Model Insight) for more information.

DriveWorks Quick Tips

DriveWorks Quick Tips: Accessing Model Insight

Model Insight is a great tool for debugging models to determine why they are not generating. Model insight allows you to place pause points, monitor the process of model generation, and evaluate the time spent during each step of model generation.

DriveWorks Quick Tips are a series of 1 minute videos, available on YouTube, that explain specific functionality. View all Quick Tips

Status Bar

In the left hand corner the status bar displays the current status:

  • Ready - Nothing is currently running (or you're just stepping into/over something).
  • Running - You've pressed "Run" and we're currently generating.
  • Finished - Generation has run to the end and stopped.

The 3 numbers in the right hand corner summarize the number of Successful/Successful With Warnings/Failed tasks there are in the Model Insight window.

Create Pause Points

Pause Points allow the model generation to pause at chosen operations.

To create a Pause Point locate the required operation and click in the margin adjacent to it.

To clear a Pause Point click on the Pause Point icon in the margin.

Clicking the Clear Pause Points Command Bar button clears all Pause Points.

You may interact with the SOLIDWORKS model while interactive generation is paused, however you may get undesired results if you select or deselect anything that DriveWorks is operating on, or if you make any other changes to the model that conflict with the operations that DriveWorks is performing.

Model Insight Commands

Run

Will start the interactive model generation.

Once interactive model generation has started the feature will take control of SOLIDWORKS.

If SOLIDWORKS is running, prior to clicking Run, the SOLIDWORKS window and the Model Insight window can be arranged side by side.

When interactive generation comes across a model that exists, the following warning will appear:

This gives you the option to overwrite the existing model or use the existing model. The options are:

  • Yes - to overwrite the current model.
  • Yes to All - to overwrite the current model and any subsequent models that exist.
  • No - to not overwrite the current model.
  • No to All - to not overwrite the current model and any subsequent models that exist.
The overwrite option selected will be superseded in the following conditions:
  • When a Pause Point, in the generation sequence, is reached. This allows all models up to the Pause Point to follow the same option chosen, and any models after the Pause Point to have a different option applied.
  • When interactive generation is reset or restarted.

Reset

This allows the current generation sequence to be restarted without requiring to close and reopen Model Insight.

This functions in two ways:

  • When nothing is currently being executed, Model Insight will restart immediately.
  • When a task is currently being executed, Model Insight will restart after the execution has finished.

    When this happens the following warning will be displayed:

    Click Yes to proceed with the reset.

    Clicking No or Cancel will close the dialog and return you to Model Insight. It will be in the same state it was in before clicking Reset.

Pause

Will pause the interactive model generation.

Copy

Any selection made in the Model Insight window can be copied to the clipboard.

Step Into

Once the generation reaches a pause point, Step Into will execute the next sub-operation and halt the generation process.

As DriveWorks processes features in a single operation, each action performed on a feature is listed as a sub-operation.

Sub-operations are indented in the Model Insight window.

Step Over

Once the generation reaches a pause point, Step Over will execute all sub-operations of the current operation, and then halt.

Step Out

When sub-operations are being processed (using Step Into or Step Over) Step Out will run all remaining sub-operations for the current operation, and then halt.

Continue On Failure

By default this option is not selected and if an error occurs during generation, the execution will automatically halt on the operation that failed.

When this option is selected, generation will continue until the next Pause Point or until it has reached the end.

Clear Pause Points

Will clear all Pause Points that have been applied.

Rebuild Model

Will force a rebuild of the current model.

Rebuild On Pause

When this option is selected, at the next Pause Point, DriveWorks will force a rebuild of the current model.

Skip Drawings

Will become available when a pause point is hit on a model that is to have a drawing built.

Select Skip Drawings to exclude the generation of the models drawing.

Show API Events

Select this option to show all API Event handler invocations:

"Notify the [Plugin name] plugin by [Plugin Author] of the [Event Name] event."

Export Log

Exports a Model Insight Report (.drivemir) file. Double click the file to open in the Standalone Report Viewer application.

Close

Closes the Model Insight window.

If the window is closed during execution, generation will be aborted and the current model left open.
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