Tip/Trick Archives - Page 4 of 13

What’s New in Solidworks 2012: Search Commands

One more notable What’s New item from SolidWorks 2012 is the new Search Commands tool. Search Commands in the Search corner that allows you to quickly find a command by typing its name.

Simply start typing a common name in the Search Commands field and you will be immediately presented with possible matching commands. Not only that, if you click on the eye-glasses next to the command name, SolidWorks will automatically take you on a step-by-step path to the location of the command within the menu or toolbar interface.

But there’s more.

When searching for a command:

Click and hold on command from dropdown.
Drag the command to any visible toolbar or CommandManager.
Release mouse button to drop command at that location.

That’s right, Search Commands allows you to quickly add a found command to any toolbar within your user interface so you can keep at a favorite location for future use.

The customization doesn’t stop there. Multiple-letter shortcuts can be added to Search Commands! This can be done at Tools pulldown>Customize…>Keyboard tab in the Search Shortcut column.

As a bonus to even all of that, Search Commands is automatically accessible when the you strike the “S” key to bring up the Shortcut Bar. Whenever the Shortcut Bar is up, you can just start typing! Your entry appears in the Search Commands field and automatically initiates your command search.

This new tool helps new and occasional users find commands that they may never have used before or may have forgotten about because they don’t use the SolidWorks every day. Additionally, it can help experience users find commands on unfamiliar workstations, since many users like to customize toolbar layouts.

Some New Macros to tangle with

Recently I posted some new SolidWorks macro at Lorono’s SolidWorks Resources which you would like to try and might find useful for your day to day use.

Here are brief details on the macros:

Send Email via SolidWorks : Macro to send email with assembly name in subject.

Save and Open as PDF: Macro to save active file as PDF in the same location and open the created PDF file

Hide Show Note : Macro to hide or show note in the active drawing.

There are more useful macros and stuff at Lorono’s SolidWorks Resources and I’ll be adding more similar macro there, so keep watching.

Rulers!

Although the status bar of the SolidWorks drawing mode always displays the X and Y coordinates of the location of the mouse cursor on the drawing sheet, sometimes the visual aid of a sheet ruler may provide additional help.

SolidWorks drawing mode rules can be turned on at View pulldown>Rulers.

Once turned on, the rulers appear at the top and left edges of the drawing window.

The rulers also enhance the usefulness and feedback when the Grid is displayed. This is because the rulers provide constant confirmation as to the mouse cursor’s drawing location on the screen, no manner how far in the zoom level.

This makes keeping track of one’s position on the drawing sheet more intuitive, especially during sketching and using snap-to-grip functionality.

Control over various aspects of snapping and grid are available in Tools pulldown>Options…>Document Properties>Grid/Snap.

Changes to grid increments are reflected in the rulers.

Auxiliary views for those strange angles

I rarely used auxiliary views. Every once in awhile, parts defy orthogonal projection. These are when auxiliary views are useful. In those cases, auxiliary views are generally projected from some perpendicular surface. But once in awhile, there’s a part that defies even this, having no flat surfaces from which to project.

In the example below, there is a feature that cuts through a part at an odd angle. There is no flat surface into which it cuts. Normally, in SolidWorks, the direct view of this cut could be shown by using the Auxiliary View tool and selecting a perpendicular surface from which a view may be projected. Here, there is no such flat surface. SolidWorks does support these kind of oddball scenarios.

In this example, we are still going to make use of the Auxiliary View tool.

1. Add a side view of the part.

2. Sketch a line onto the view.

3. Add relations to the sketch line to make it perpendicular to the feature that is to be detailed.

4. Pre-select the line and then chose the Auxiliary View tool from the Drawing toolbar or at Insert pulldown menu>Drawing View>Auxiliary.

5. A preview will appear attached to the mouse cursor. Move the cursor in the direction that will be projected and click to place the view. Depending on the version of SolidWorks, some further adjustment may be necessary to show the view arrow and other details with certain perferences.

New in SolidWorks 2012: Unit of Measure

A common request from users has been to provide a quicker method to change a document’s unit of measure. Previously, the only out-of-the-box method was through the Document Properties window, which involves a whole series of clicks and mouse movement. In SolidWorks 2012, units of measure can now be changed via a pop up menu in the status bar (bottom right of the SolidWorks window).

Of course, more refined control is still available in the Document Properties. This area is now easy to access as one of the options in the unit of measure pop up menu.

(If your status bar is hidden, you can display it going to View pulldown menu>Status Bar (near the bottom of the list)

Controlling how flag notes are attached to leaders (part 2)

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Controlling how flag notes are attached to leaders

I’m finally getting around to part 2 of my article Controlling how flag notes are attached to leaders. Sorry for the long delay. There’s been a lot going on IRL. Also, for a very brief .001 second, I thought it might be funny to just do a bunch of part 1’s and never get around to doing part 2’s or 3’s. Unfortunately, that would only be funny to me, so it wouldn’t really be funny at all.

Add flag notes to drawings using annotation borders

In addition to flag note symbols mentioned in part 1 of this article, another way to create flag notes is with the use of annotation borders. Depending on the results you want, there’s two ways to add borders. The method is the same, but selection choices make for slightly different results.

1. Create an annotation note with a leader.

2. Type in the number of the flag note.

3. While still editing the annotation, highlight the number (either using SHIFT and LEFT ARROW or by selecting with the mouse)

4. While remaining in the edit mode (with the text highlighted), click on the Border drop down box in the PropertyManager. Choose the required shape.

5. Choose OK and this will be your result. Note the gap between the leader shoulder and the flag note (image below). This is similar to the result when using a flag note symbol from the Symbol Library. For triangles, this border method produces an equilateral triangle, where the Symbol Library is an isosceles triangle.

Flag note with touching leader (no gap)

Some people may prefer a flag note that touches the shoulder of the leader. This is my personal preference too. It follows the same look and feel as balloons and other symbols. To achieve this style, follow steps 1 and 2 above, then continue with these steps below.

3. Exit the edit mode. You should see a leader with just a number.

4. Select the leader note as one entity (LMB click anywhere on the leader note; shoulder, arrow, text, doesn’t matter).

5. With the note selected, click on the Border drop down box in the PropertyManager. Choose the required shape.

6. Choose OK and this will be your result. Note the leader shoulder connects with the flag note (no gap).

I hope this How-to (or is this a Tips and Tricks?) helps!