SOLIDWORKS Routing
Component properties you’ve never heard of
Written by: Shaun Bentley, Application Engineer
SOLIDWORKS Routing components can have a lot of different properties associated to them. You might notice a few of them if you’ve ever walked through the Routing Component Wizard or maybe seen a one of these in a library file somewhere, but never bothered to check into it.
Here is a consolidated table of all the routing component properties (as far as I know) so you can get a quick overview. For more details, you can search the SOLIDWORKS help for most of these items as well.
Routing Points
| CPoint<x> | For parts. This is the location of where any pipe, tube, or wire should terminate |
| ACPoint<x> | For assemblies. This is the location of where any pipe, tube, or wire should terminate |
| RPoint<x> | For parts. If you want to be able to drag and drop a component along a path, a Route Point may be needed to line it up, or clips may use RPoints to auto-route |
| ARPoint<x> | For assemblies. If you want to be able to drag and drop a component along a path, a Route Point may be needed to line it up, or clips may use RPoints to auto-route |
Routing Axes
| Axis of Rotation | Shift + arrow key allows you to spin about this axis when you drag and drop |
| Clip Axis<x> | The Autoroute command will filter these axes to make them easier to select and route through |
| Vertical | If you pre-emptively draw a centerline on your route, this axis will line up with the centerline when you drag and drop |
Other Features
| Mate References | Route paths can be automatically sized based on what faces/edges you select as a mate reference and the NominalDiameter@filtersketch> |
Custom Properties
| RouteOnDrop | Set the property to Yes, No, or Ask |
| IgnoreInBOM | Set the property to Yes or No |
| Component Type | Useful filter to use in the Routing database to search for components |
| Pipe Identifier | Value must be unique for each configuration |
| Specification | This property can be used with the specification parameter of a connection point to filter pipe and fitting configurations |
| BendRadius | Minimum bend radius used for tubes |
| IsogenSkey | Isogen required property |
| IsogenBom | isogen optional property |
| IsogenDescription | isogen optional property |
| IsogenComponentType | isogen optional property |
| IsogenAttribute<x> | isogen optional property |
***You can ignore the “RoutingTerminalBlockComponent” property; it won’t have any effect. It was added to some electrical parts for a development project that never saw the light of day.
Sketch Dimensions
| InnerDiameter@PipeSketch | Needed for pipe and tube |
| OuterDiameter@PipeSketch | Needed for pipe and tube |
| InnerDiameter@FilterSketch | Diameter of the smallest bundle that the clip can accommodate. Useful for auto-sizing clips. Use with a DESIGN TABLE |
| OuterDiameter@FilterSketch | Diameter of the largest bundle that the clip can accommodate. Useful for auto-sizing clips. Use with a DESIGN TABLE |
| NominalDiameter@FilterSketch | Commonly needed in a DESIGN TABLE. This dimension is usually responsible for SOLIDWORKS Routing’s ability to match diameters of components. |
| BendRadius@ElbowArc | Commonly needed in a DESIGN TABLE for elbows |
| BendAngle@ElbowArc | Commonly needed in a DESIGN TABLE for elbows |
| Diameter@Route | This doesn’t appear to do anything currently |
| BendRadius@Route | This doesn’t appear to do anything currently |
Feature Dimensions
| Length@Extrusion | Value needed for pipes so SOLIDWORKS Routing can automatically set the length of pipe based on route sketches. |
| Diameter@Cpoint<x> | Commonly needed in a DESIGN TABLE |
| Specification@Cpoint<x> | Commonly used in a DESIGN TABLE. The word “Specification” should be replaced with whatever word is being used in the “Schedule field name” field (edit the CPoint this references) |