SOLIDWORKS Property Tab Builder

If you haven’t heard of property tab builder in SolidWorks, it is utilized to define a list of properties to allow the users to input the values when a model is created.  It eliminates the extra steps to go to File -> Properties, and manually type in property names and values.

To begin creating the property tab, first create any new file in SolidWorks, and then go to the task pane on the right hand side.  The very last tab is the location to create the property tab.

Custom Properties Tab

A new window called property tab builder will pop up.  The left column is a list of types of properties can be used.  The middle column is what will be shown in SolidWorks when the property tab is ready.  The right column is the options/settings for each parameter.  When the entire middle column is highlighted (yellowish color), users can choose what type of template it is on the right hand side.  There are part, assembly, drawing, and weldment.

By default a groupbox is included in the middle column.  All the property types under groupbox have to go inside a groupbox.  Additional groupbox can be created by double click or drag-drop.  When a groupbox is highlighted, it can be either expanded or collapsed.

When any of the boxes is highlighted, in this example, the textbox.  The caption on the right hand side is just the name which appears above the text input field.  The name is the actual property name which is stored in the model.  This is similar to manual input in the properties page in SolidWorks.  A pre-defined value can be used.  This will automatically setup the property with the value when a model is created.  The property can be setup in the active configuration, or all configs in a model.

Another example we will look at is the list.  It can be as simple as a list manually inserted in the property tab builder, to importing from a Microsoft Access database.  There are other choices such as text and Microsoft Excel files.  The list is useful when the property is only allowed to have a number of choices.

When all the properties are setup, the location where the file is saved/loaded  is at the same location as the “custom property files” in System Options -> File locations.  If the file is saved somewhere else, it won’t be loaded in SolidWorks.