Solid Edge v20: Where Its Power Lies 21 Jun, 2007 By: A demo of the new Solid Edge release shows a mid-range application for high-end assemblies.A few weeks ago I was shown a Web-based demo of Solid Edge v20, and I have to say that, overall, I was quite impressed with the new version. A Web-based demo is not thorough enough to convince me that it’s the best MCAD application, but it does do some things that currently have no equal from the mid-range competition.

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The new version of Solid Edge is touted for its new key functionality in designing plant equipment. This isn’t too surprising, now that just about every 3D CAD application in the so-called mid-range claims that machine design is a major market and source of income, just not at this magnitude.Solid Edge takes a slightly different approach to handling what it calls “massively large equipment” - machine assemblies with 100,000+ parts. (The company admits that this is best accomplished with the 64-bit version of the software.) Do these types of assemblies constitute the majority of what Solid Edge is used for? Well, no, but handling assemblies of this magnitude was a major focus of this release. The company even claims to have a customer designing a massive assembly consisting of some 500,000 parts - that’s a lot of parts!UGS doesn't usually refer to Solid Edge by itself. Just like SolidWorks has CATIA to contend with, Solid Edge’s big sibling is NX, and UGS has defined a market for Solid Edge consisting of customers requiring, say, one to 50 seats of the software.

In other words, Solid Edge will continue to target small to medium businesses and NX will focus on larger enterprises. Although this was a Solid Edge launch demo, as a rule UGS would much rather talk about Solid Edge in terms of being a component of the UGS Velocity Series that includes Solid Edge, Teamcenter Express for PDM/PLM, NX CAM Express for machining, and Femap for FEA simulation.During the demo I asked if UGS cared about Solid Edge, a product acquired from Intergraph several years ago when Intergraph decided to get out of MCAD and concentrate on other markets. Has Solid Edge suffered from neglect in favor of NX in UGS’ eyes? I have to say, no it hasn't, because the Velocity Series seems to have had a positive growth path since it was introduced. The company also says that downloads of Solid Edge trial versions continue at a brisk rate, an indication of the attention Solid Edge garners, and that UGS will remain committed to Solid Edge.Speaking of Teamcenter, Solid Edge v20 integrates with the new Teamcenter Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) that is intended for enhancing supply chain collaboration by improving access to a central database over wide area networks. This means that Teamcenter is more efficient for remote operations when CAD models reside on a remote server.

For improved performance, TeamCenter can load real or virtual parts - virtual parts being “lightweight” graphical representations. Similar to when NX is demonstrated, Teamcenter gets quite a bit of face time during the course of a Solid Edge demo.Still A Place For 2DEven though Solid Edge is a 3D application, 2D still has a place in it. The presenters said that the 2D capabilities in Solid Edge v20 make it easier to lay out large plant equipment in the context of a plant floor using actual machine geometry. Solid Edge claims to be the first to offer what the company calls assembly zones for massive assembly design and shop floor layout.

Zones provide a distinct separation of a working area of interest, resulting in enhanced performance thanks to less geometry. Zones are envelopes that isolate 3D parts and assemblies, and loading a zone is faster than loading an entire model because turning on an assembly zone loads its parts into memory.

Zones may be a new function name for Solid Edge, but the functionality is not entirely new in the MCAD world; other competing applications, such as SolidWorks, have a roughly analogous technology.2D still has a place in some areas and aspects of MCAD, and AutoCAD users are still major potential customers to any 3D MCAD software; therefore, it seems any new version must address some aspect of AutoCAD. Solid Edge v20 is no different. For example, this version uses the ACAD Color 7 tool that automatically inverts black/white lines depending on background sheet color. You don’t have to change colors and layers on imported AutoCAD drawings to see everything that is contained in the drawing. Although this may not seem like a big deal, if you’ve ever had to change colors and layers just to see what’s on an imported AutoCAD drawing, you know it can be a frustrating and time-consuming process.I was told that Solid Edge v20 has more than 170 enhancements to its part design and drafting functionality, which may seem like a lot, but is about average today for major releases of MCAD software. One of the more interesting capabilities presented was Goal Seeking, which is used to solve 2D engineering problems graphically rather than with equations. For example, if you know the target value of an engineering calculation, the Goal Seeking tool allows you to set certain parameters as the system varies other factors to achieve the desired result.

You can then use the results to drive 3D geometry creation. Although this is a graphical way of solving engineering problems, you still have to have a pretty good understanding of engineering principles and why you’re doing what you’re doing in the graphical environment.As I said earlier, Solid Edge v20, at least from outward appearances, seems like a good release for those who deal with large assemblies - meaning a lot of parts. It’s a 3D MCAD application that seems more suited for users who have a true understanding of mechanical engineering principles, terminology, and methods. It’s not that the competition is not as well suited, it’s just that Solid Edge v20 has more of a mechanical engineering feel, and Goal Seeking is a good example of this.I’ve touched on the highlights of Solid Edge v20 because that’s all I feel comfortable doing with a new product introduced by way of a demonstration. I am eager to take a closer, hands-on look at Solid Edge v20 and experience how it really measures up to its competition, although I doubt that I’ll be trying to create an assembly of 100,000+ parts.

There's nothing wrong with testing software Beta versions if that's what interests you. I agree it is not advisable to do so in a production environment, but Beta versions need to be tested in a public environment to get the exposure to 'real world' use. If public testing of Beta's was not done, even more bugs would not be discovered till it was too late.Anyway, the reason I ask is more for a comparative survey.

A number of SW users on the official SolidWorks forum are testing SW/Win7 (for whatever reasons) on their home machines. I was just wondering if other mainstream modelling system users were doing the same, and if so, whether their findings were good, bad or indifferent.I have also posed this question in the Pro/E forum. RE: SolidEdge on Windows 7 (Mechanical) 17 Feb 09 07:59.

Fast forward to May 2009, I experimented with Windows7 build 7100 64bit and Solid Edge V20 32bit. As mentioned in previous posts, the installer hangs and never finishes it's job.

If you bring up the process manager (Ctrl+Alt+delete) and kill anything to do with 'printing', such as 'printer installer', the process will finalize and you will have a valid installation. You may want to reboot and restart Solid Edge to verify a valid install. My understanding is the V20 64 bit installs well with the same trick, but refuses to run after reboot. I wonder what was UGS response to NardoAPC. By the way I think it is not Windows7 causing this problem, my NEi-Nastran V9.2 X86 refuses to install searching for XP sp1, or Vista. Apparently installer programs are the root of these problems.

RE: SolidEdge on Windows 7 (Mechanical) 10 May 09 00:44. I don't know about the floating licenses, but the node-locked licences are tied to the HDD number. So no separate HDD if you have a node-locked license and want to dual boot.One thing that is coming along with the official release of Windows7 is XP Mode. It is an XP virtual machine based on MS VirtualPC, and includes an XP SP3 licence. It will be available as free download with Pro, Enterprise and Ultimate versions.

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It will allow XP apps to run in Seven. More details in this article:@ Pattry dual-booting Windows and Linux.(it is surprisingly easy to set up BTW)I've been running WinXP and Ubuntu (a Linux distro) at home for the past 18 months. Tried to install SE V20 and ST in Ubuntu with Wine, a software layer that allows some Windows programs to run on Linux, but without luck.(most CAD apps won't run: wine development is done mostly on games and graphics apps)I dream of freeing myself completely of Microsoft, but it seems it ain't happening anytime soon, except if I change my line of work!RE: SolidEdge on Windows 7 (Mechanical) 14 May 09 20:43. Just wanted to add some more info on XP Mode.After reading a little more about it, I don't think it's going to be of use for CAD apps that wouldn't run on Windows 7. I'm pretty sure all it does for video is emulate a basic and generic video card, it won't be able to address the physical video card on the host machine (no virtualization software can at the moment, to my limited knowledge). And one reviewer said he didn't find any setting to control how much memory to allow to the emulated video card.I don't understand why MS chose the virtualization way to run Win XP apps.

It seems to me adding a compatibility software layer to Windows 7 would have been more sensible, and would have needed much less overhead. RE: SolidEdge on Windows 7 (Mechanical) 6 Aug 09 03:29. Hello to all.This is my first post here.I apologize for English, I am Brazilian and I do not know speak very well.I also had problems in the W7 with Solid Edge ST but I managed to solve.- Upon installation, the end, when it crashes press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC, will enter the task manager. Tab finalize the process 'PrinterInstaller.exe' will release the installation window to click on finish.- The problem with the templates in the initial screen is only set up the shortcut to start SE in compatibility mode with Windows XP (Service Pack3).I hope I have helped.