swBSD analyzes SolidWorks sheetmetal parts and annotates corresponding flatpattern drawings with bend parameters. This significantly reduces the time required for generating bending sequence production drawings from SolidWorks sheetmetal parts. swBSD is completely user configurable and the outputs may be customized to any specific documentation requirements.

Copy swBSD.dll to any convenient folder, maybe [$SOLIDWORKS/macros/swBSD/]. In SolidWorks open swBSD.dll file as you would any other SolidWorks document. Alternatively, you can also drag and drop swBSD.dll from the Windows Explorer into SolidWorks. swBSD will be added to the [Tools] menu of SolidWorks and you can start the program by clicking it. All necessary registry entries will be made by SolidWorks on exiting it.

You can disable swBSD anytime through the [Tools]->[Add-ins...] menu in SolidWorks.

Quit SolidWorks and delete the [swBSD.dll] file.

swBSD has been developed and tested with SW 2005.

Clicking on the swBSD menu item will invoke the swBSD Property Page that will allow you to set the operating parameters for swBSD operation. NOTE: the swBSD menu item will appear only if a drawing document is open in SolidWorks.

Selecting the appropriate choices and pressing [OK] will open the corresponding part document and analyze and collect the bend parameters. The drawing document is then automatically annotated with these parameters. The base feature for all bends is the face that is specified in the part "Flat-Pattern" definition, or in the "Sheet-Metal" feature definition if the "Flat-Pattern" feature is unavailable. The bend direction is determined with reference to this face.

Annotation Format Specification

Annotation Format specification is a text string that determines how the bend parameters are formatted. Each field ("token") in this string is delimited by a "|" (pipeline) character. In case the token is of the "reserved" type the corresponding value is output. In every other case, the token is copied directly to the output.

The following tokens are reserved and are interpreted as described within the context of swBSD:

Token	Description
BEND_DISTANCE	This is the reference distance between the bend virtual corner to its reference edge. In case the reference edge is also a bend then the distance will be up to its virtual corner.
BEND_DISTANCE_WITH_UNITS	As above, but with either (") or "MM" appended to the distance value as appropriate.
BEND_ANGLE	The included angle of the bend.
BEND_ANGLE_WITH_UNITS	As above, but with either "DEG" or "RAD" appended to the angle value as appropriate.
BEND_DIRECTION_UP_DOWN	The direction of the bend, "UP" or "DOWN"
BEND_DIRECTION_U_D	The direction of the bend, "U" (Up) or "D" (Down).
BEND_INTERNAL_RADIUS	The internal bend radius.
BEND_INTERNAL_RADIUS_OPTIONAL	Same as above but will be output only if the radius is NOT equal to the sheet thickness or the default part bend radius.
BEND_SEQUENCE_NUMBER	The sequence number of the bend as defined in SolidWorks.
BEND_NAME	The SolidWorks bend feature name.

• swBSD 0.80 Beta is for evaluation only and is not intended for production use. As with any design documentation, you must check and validate all swBSD output by other means.
• swBSD will not work as expected in case a component has bends with no parallel references.
• swBSD will not look-up Bend Allowances from Excel and text files but calculate them from the available K-Factor.
• Internal bends are ignored, for now.
• "Blank Size" is left blank, for now.
• Conical and cylindrical bends may give unpredictable results.

• The SheetMetal component needs to be folded and unfolded at least once after editing it to accurately (re)generate bend lines and bend information. This appears to be an issue with SolidWorks itself.
• The bend reference lines and bend lines drawn by swBSD are not automatically removed on running swBSD again on a SW Drawing Document; this is unlike tables and bend annotations that are replaced with newer ones. These lines can be manually deleted by the user before re-running swBSD.
• Full functionality is not available if a "Flat-Pattern" feature is not present in the feature tree. Specifically, "Total Pierces", "Cut Length" and "Area" are not calculated by swBSD. Also, the bend annotations may appear on the wrong side of the bend.
• SketchPoint locations are not accurately calculated in case of bends having non-parallel end faces. The drawn endpoints will appear tilted to the reference edge. This means that you should not trust the bend annotation value calculated by swBSD in this particular case.
• May not work properly with interrupted bends (bends with holes or gaps in them). The drawn SketchPoints will appear offset. If the reference is correct then the bend annotation value will also most likely be correct.

Version	Date	Remarks
0.50 Beta	23-Aug-2005	Initial Release
0.60 Beta	25-Aug-2005	Implemented "Show Base Feature". Colour and Layer selections. Minor tweaking of output formats. Hemming bend problem fixed.
0.70 Beta	27-Aug-2005	Use of some features that are exclusive to SolidWorks 2005. Part Summary and Bend Sequence Tables. Added "BEND_NAME" token to the bend parameter format specification. Removes all Tables and Notes previously entered by swBSD (but not reference lines).
0.80 Beta	28-Aug-2005	Works as expected with "SketchBend". These were previously ignored by swBSD.

• swBSD is not free. Do not redistribute.
• I retain the copyright to everything in the software, its features, functionality, the customization interface and the user interface.
• swBSD is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See especially the following:
  1. THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/ OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
  2. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
• Since the possiblity of expensive and dangerous mistakes and errors exists, you agree to additionaly check and validate all swBSD output by other means. YOU SHOULD NOT BLINDLY TRUST ANY swBSD OUTPUT.
• All copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
• You may wish to contact me at info@swCP3.com for any bugs and suggestions.