Design Tables and Equations

When you enter equation and global variables in a design table, the equations and global variables are automatically reflected in the Equations dialog box.

In a design table, equations must be preceded by a single apostrophe and an equal sign ('=). The single apostrophe ensures, that if the equation is exported to Excel, it is interpreted as an equation and not as a text string.

Equations_and_Design_Tables

You can also disable or enable an equation across all configurations by specifying a unique identifier (Relation ID) in a design table. This functionality is available when the Display unique equation identifier option is selected in System Options > Display.

In Ordered View of the Equations dialog box, when you hover over an equation under the Name column, a tool tip displays a unique ID (Relation ID) for that equation.

You use this ID in the following parameter: $Enable@Relation_ID@Equations, where Relation ID is a unique number that identifies an equation. For example, the $Enable@1@Equations parameter applies to equation 1. Then in the design table, under that parameter, enter Yes to enable or No to disable the equation for all configurations.

Conditions Limiting the Use of Configurable Equations

For files created with SOLIDWORKS version 2013 or earlier, you can use configurable equations unless:
  • The model has design tables.
  • One or more equations are suppressed in one of the configurations.
  • The model has two or more equations with the same name, for example D2@Sketch1.

To use configurable equations with one of these existing files:

  1. Remove conflicts by performing the following actions:
    • Delete design tables.
    • Remove suppressed equations.
    • Ensure that each equation has a unique name.
  2. Save the file with SOLIDWORKS version 2014 or later, and re-open the file.