Javelin / TriMech Author
Adam Bridgman, CSWE
Linking Units to Global Variables in SOLIDWORKS 2014 [VIDEO]
By Adam Bridgman, CSWE on May 26, 2014
If your SOLIDWORKS document units are not set to global variables this can cause the shape and size of your part to dramatically change when different document units are specified. Watch the following tutorial video to learn how linking units to global variables in SOLIDWORKS…
What I am showing is not technically a crash, but to users of SOLIDWORKS the result is the same. GDI objects are used to draw window elements that are not in the graphics area in SolidWorks. For maximum performance the Graphics area takes advantage of OpenGL…
SolidWorks Tutorial: Advanced Mate References [VIDEO]
By Adam Bridgman, CSWE on January 17, 2014
Mate references can be set up in two parts to correspond to each other. When created this way it is up to the user to add the appropriate part, but not to select a location for such a part. Follow the video below to see…
SOLIDWORKS Administration: Moving to a new License Server
By Adam Bridgman, CSWE on January 15, 2014
Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are out; they are no longer supported by SolidWorks. The following compatibility chart is taken from http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/SystemRequirements.html. SolidWorks Network License Server Operating Systems SolidWorks 2011 SolidWorks 2012 SolidWorks 2013 SolidWorks 2014 Windows 7(SP1 required for SolidWorks 2014) Windows 8.1…
The SOLIDWORKS Online Help provides a summary of all of the SOLIDWORKS sketch relations available. There is something missing from this table, it should show the icons associated with each relation. These are the symbols you see when you select the entities described under entities…
Add-in Series 5 – Handle Selections [VIDEO]
By Adam Bridgman, CSWE on January 10, 2014
The mouse events are triggered quite frequently, and many times nothing in SolidWorks has changed. It is possible to use selection change events instead. This means your code can assume that it needs to reprocess the selection. In this example I am going to set…
Add-in Series 4 – Handle Mouse Events [VIDEO]
By Adam Bridgman, CSWE on January 9, 2014There is a summary of all of the available mouse events in SolidWorks found under this help topic SolidWorks.Interop.sldworks Namespace The mouse event handler gives us access to the following events: DMouseEvents_MouseLBtnDblClkNotifyEventHandler Fired when the left-mouse button is double-clicked. DMouseEvents_MouseLBtnDownNotifyEventHandler Fired when the left-mouse button is pressed down. DMouseEvents_MouseLBtnUpNotifyEventHandler Fired when the left-mouse button is released after being pressed. DMouseEvents_MouseMBtnDblClkNotifyEventHandler Fired when the middle-mouse button is double-clicked. DMouseEvents_MouseMBtnDownNotifyEventHandler Fired when the middle-mouse button is pressed down. DMouseEvents_MouseMBtnUpNotifyEventHandler Fired when the middle-mouse button is released after being pressed. DMouseEvents_MouseMoveNotifyEventHandler Fired when the mouse pointer is moved. DMouseEvents_MouseNotifyEventHandler Fired whenever a mouse event occurs. DMouseEvents_MouseRBtnDblClkNotifyEventHandler Fired when the right-mouse button is double-clicked. DMouseEvents_MouseRBtnDownNotifyEventHandler Fired when the right-mouse button is pressed down. DMouseEvents_MouseRBtnUpNotifyEventHandler Fired when the right-mouse button…
Add-in Series 3 – Create Task Pane [VIDEO]
By Adam Bridgman, CSWE on January 8, 2014
A Task pane is a panel that resides on the right hand side of the SolidWorks graphics area by default. It is a great place to provide information to users regardless of their environment (part, assembly, or drawing). Follow the steps below to create a…
Add-in Series 2 – Create SolidWorks Add-in without the SDK [VIDEO]
By Adam Bridgman, CSWE on January 7, 2014
Creating an add-in from the SDK is very quick and easy, but it requires the full version of visual studio to utilize. An alternative to that is to download a source project created by the SDK without modifications and then make the changes below. The…
Add-in Series 1 – How to install the SolidWorks Software Development Kit (SDK) [VIDEO]
By Adam Bridgman, CSWE on January 6, 2014This video demonstrates how to download and install the SolidWorks Software Development Kit. It is part one in the series because the SDK is the easiest method for creating a new add-in. Creating a SolidWorks Add-in using the SDK is very simple, but a lot of people have trouble getting it set up in the first place. If you have an active subscription it is possible to download it from the customer portal. Just follow the steps in the video below. Please note that the SDK only works for full versions of visual studio.
SOLIDWORKS View Manipulation with Mouse and Keyboard [VIDEO]
By Adam Bridgman, CSWE on November 2, 2013
Using the mouse to its full potential can be very useful in SOLIDWORKS. Almost every view command in SOLIDWORKS can be accessed using the mouse and modifier keys. Fit the current model in the graphics area (zoom to fit) by double clicking the middle mouse…
SolidWorks Tutorial: Keyboard and Mouse – Controlling the Viewport Orientation [VIDEO]
By Adam Bridgman, CSWE on November 1, 2013There are modifier keys for every SolidWorks environment, their functions sometimes differ by environment but many of them are common. Many modifier keys affect how the mouse buttons behave, especially regarding controlling the view. Sometimes a combination of selections and hot keys also affect the behaviours. As of SolidWorks 2012 selecting view, normal to, aligns the view to the nearest primary plane if nothing is selected. If one planar face is selected the view will be aligned to that face, but it is pretty difficult to determine at what angle that face will appear. To control the orientation it is possible to preselect 2 faces, the first one selected is the face the view will be normal to, the second face will become horizontal. Many keys affect the…
When sketching in SOLIDWORKS for the first time there is a lot to take in. Even with the best of instructors the first time through you might forget some of the nice features. In this series I am going to compile the very basics of sketching that and generate a table of all the modifier keys in one succinct location. SOLIDWORKS Sketching Tips To start off with when creating a shape with lines there are two methods, click click, and click drag. Click Click will automatically start another entity of the same type, click drag will not. Click Click will have the same effect as click drag when closing off a profile, or when creating an entity that is closed, such as a rectangle or…
SolidWorks 2014 – Solar Access Studies [VIDEO]
By Adam Bridgman, CSWE on October 18, 2013A solar access study requires that sunlight be added to the model. Sunlight is added the same way as all other lights, on the appearance manager. Once the sunlight is added a solar access study can be added using the motion study animation wizard. There are two forms of Solar Access Studies, fixed date variable time, or fixed time variable date. These can be used to show a day or a season. All other appearances can be modified using the timeline like normal so it is possible to show the effects of the season along with the motion of the sun. SolidWorks takes care of all of the details. Enter the obvious details and accept, then calculate the study. Play back to review.
Sometimes it is the small things that make the biggest difference in day to day use. In this series I am going to show off the delighters in SolidWorks 2014. When selecting multiple parts in an assembly it is now possible to mate them in the context menu, just like relations in a sketch. When selecting a part in an assembly the feature tree scrolls to the part (if the option is set), but when you deselect it, it scrolls back to where it was. Smart mates now has a toggle button to easily add several smart mates without modifier keys. Lasso selection now allows a more freeform shape for making selections. It is simple enough that it is possible to use without any adjustment time. It simply…