DesignSpark Mechanical Online Help

Support file options

You can specify the directories in which you store support files, such as drawing sheet formats or thread size tables. Drawing sheets contained in these directories are displayed within the Format tool.

Support Files Search Paths, defined in SpaceClaim Options, are also used when searching for models required by assemblies. This situation occurs, for example, when external components are moved to a different directory.

To set the location of support files

1. Select DS Mechanical Options from the File menu to display the DS Mechanical Options window.

2. Click Support Files from the navigation panel on the left.

3. Click Browse to replace the selected path or click Add to add another path, and navigate to the file or directory you want to include. (You can also select the path and click Remove to remove it.)

4. Select a path and click MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. Up or MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. Down to order the file paths.

5. Click OK.

To change the file location display

• Drag nodes to reorder the search paths, which determines the order in which files are searched.
• Right-click on the top level (or root) node and select Add to add a new search path.
• Right-click a node and select Browse, Remove, MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. Up, and MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. Down.

File backup settings

Check theBackup every checkbox to enable the Autosave feature. With Backup, you can save your files automatically, helping to reduce the risk or impact of data loss in case of a crash or freeze. The default Backup time interval is 10 minutes, but you can select a time interval from 1 to 100 minutes. Once you select a time interval, you can enter or click theBrowse button to select a location for the Backup files on your computer. By default, DS Mechanical stores Backup files on your C: drive in your Users folder. If you save your file before your session ends, your Backup files are purged. You can click the Clear Backup Files button to manually purge your Backup files at any time.

When you relaunch DS Mechanical after a crash or freeze, an information box displays to notify you that Backup files are available. To recover them, click Recover from the File menu and select the file you want to open.

Keep Backup files for ^ days: Use the scroll box to select the number of days (0-100) that you want to store your Backup files. By default, DS Mechanical sets the number of days at 7.

Number of recent files to show: Set the number of files to show in the Recent Documents list. The default is 8. Can be set to 0.

To use a template for new designs

To create a design template, do the following:

1. Create some geometry (or set some parameters) you wish to use as a template for new designs
2. Save the document as a DS Mechanical Template File (*.scdot)
3. In Support Files options, check the Use template for new designs checkbox and specify a path to the template files.

File Locations

Check the Initialize Open dialog to the following directory checkbox and specify a path. When you choose to open an existing design, the Open dialog opens and displays files in this directory.

Check the Initialize Save dialog to the following directory checkbox and specify a path. When you choose to save your design, the Save dialog opens and displays files in this directory.