Properties - Custom and Configuration Properties

When you enable the Design with SOLIDWORKS app and update a model for compatibility with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the Configuration Properties and the Properties Summary tabs display in the Properties dialog box. The Summary, Custom, and Configuration Specific tabs display for models that are not compatible with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

On the Custom and the Configuration Specific tabs in the Properties dialog box, you can:

  • Specify custom properties for the active part, assembly, or drawing document.
  • Apply custom properties to specific configurations in the active part or assembly document.
  • Create blank custom properties. This option is useful when you want to create a template that contains custom properties but you do not want to give those properties-specific starting values.
  • Add associative dimensions. The dimensions can come from sketches, part features, assembly features, or assembly mates. Since part dimensions are associative, values in the Bill of Materials (BOM) update when the dimensions change.
  • Add system-defined mass properties as custom properties, using either the Custom or Configuration Properties tabs.
  • Edit the list of custom properties.

In addition to the BOM, you can use the properties in the following ways:

  • As advanced selection criteria for managing assembly configurations
  • In drawing sheet formats and to link notes to document properties
  • To specify a property named Description, to appear in the Open and Save As dialog boxes
If you plan to use the property as a custom column in a Bill of Materials:
  • For Excel-based BOMs, do not include any spaces in the Property Name.
  • For table-based BOMs, spaces in the Property Name are acceptable.

For models updated to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, on the Configuration Properties and the Properties Summary tabs, you can:

  • Specify configuration properties for the active part, assembly, or drawing document.
  • Add associative dimensions. The dimensions can come from sketches, part features, assembly features, or assembly mates. Since part dimensions are associative, values in the Bill of Materials (BOM) update when the dimensions change.
  • Add system-defined mass properties using the Configuration Properties tab.
  • Edit the list of configuration properties.