This SolidWorks part for a weld neck flange has a design table with 132 different configurations in it. The configurations cover changes in size and rated pressure. When the file was first created it was 2,422 KB in size (2.4 MB). With use it has grown in size without any changes to the file.
 A standard flange |
 The design table has 132 configurations |
 A standard flange |
The original file was 2.4 Mb in size. Each time a different configuration is viewed, the file size expands when it is saved. When all 132 configurations have been viewed, the file has bloated to 68.5 MB. The file has to be saved, closed, re-opened and saved as (without viewing additional configurations) to get it back to the original 2.4 MB size. |
I have been told and I have no way of knowing if it is true, that SolidWorks stores the surface display information for each configuration viewed. If this is true, then the files would be made larger to prevent the requirement to re-generate the surface information when viewed. The save - close - re-open - save-as restores the original file size.