CSWP Design Tables 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the recommended best practice when a Design Table grows very large and causes slow rebuild times?
- Split configurations into multiple Design Tables or use SpeedPak configurations (Correct answer)
- Delete unused columns only
- Convert to a CSV file
- Use a Macro instead of a Design Table
Correct answer: Split configurations into multiple Design Tables or use SpeedPak configurations
For large Design Tables, splitting configurations across multiple tables or applying SpeedPak to suppress heavyweight configurations helps maintain acceptable rebuild performance.
Question 2: A Design Table column header reads '$PRP@Color'. What does this control?
- A configuration-specific custom property named 'Color' (Correct answer)
- The visual appearance color of the part
- A display state color override
- The material color in Visualize
Correct answer: A configuration-specific custom property named 'Color'
The '$PRP@Color' header drives a configuration-specific custom property named 'Color', which can be referenced in a Bill of Materials or drawing.
Question 3: When inserting a Design Table from an external file, what is preserved if the source Excel file is later edited?
- Changes update the model when SOLIDWORKS reopens or the table is refreshed (Correct answer)
- The model retains a static snapshot and never updates
- Only new rows (configurations) are added, never removed
- Only dimension values update, not suppression states
Correct answer: Changes update the model when SOLIDWORKS reopens or the table is refreshed
An externally linked Design Table updates the model configurations when the file is reopened or the table is explicitly refreshed from the Edit menu.
Question 4: Which of the following Design Table column headers would correctly control the suppression state of a mate named 'Coincident1' in an assembly?
- $STATE@Coincident1 (Correct answer)
- $MATE@Coincident1
- $SUPPRESS@Coincident1
- $MATESTATE@Coincident1
Correct answer: $STATE@Coincident1
Assembly mates are treated like features in Design Tables, so '$STATE@MateName' controls whether a mate is suppressed or unsuppressed.
Question 5: If you want to prevent the Design Table from being auto-expanded with new parameters when new dimensions are added to the model, which option should you use?
- Disable 'Allow model edits to update the design table' in Design Table options (Correct answer)
- Delete the Design Table after each dimension change
- Lock the Excel spreadsheet cells
- Use a Macro to freeze table parameters
Correct answer: Disable 'Allow model edits to update the design table' in Design Table options
In Design Table options, unchecking 'Allow model edits to update the design table' prevents SOLIDWORKS from automatically adding new parameters to the table.
Question 6: In a Design Table, what is the effect of entering the same configuration name in two different rows?
- SOLIDWORKS uses the first row and ignores the duplicate row (Correct answer)
- Both rows merge their values
- SOLIDWORKS creates two separate configurations with modified names
- An error prevents the table from closing
Correct answer: SOLIDWORKS uses the first row and ignores the duplicate row
If two rows share the same configuration name, SOLIDWORKS applies the first row's values and ignores subsequent duplicate-named rows without generating an error.
Question 7: Which SOLIDWORKS feature allows a Design Table to display a preview image specific to each configuration?
- Configuration-specific preview images set via the Configuration Manager, not directly in the Design Table (Correct answer)
- A $PREVIEW column header in the Design Table
- Embedding image paths in the $DESCRIPTION column
- A $IMAGE@FileName column header
Correct answer: Configuration-specific preview images set via the Configuration Manager, not directly in the Design Table
Configuration preview images are set through the Configuration Manager properties, not via Design Table headers — there is no Design Table syntax for embedding preview images.
CSWP Design Tables 5
What is the recommended best practice when a Design Table grows very large and causes slow rebuild times?