SolidWorks 2007 bible phần 10 docx

FIGURE B.53 The different options for Dual Dimensions Display n Fixed Size Weld Symbols: This option toggles between the control of the size of the weld symbol being taken from the drawi

FIGURE B.45

The System Options➪File Explorer page

n Show in File Explorer view: File Explorer is the Windows Explorer–like part of the Task

Pane, as shown in Figure B.46 Notice that it has a folder for documents that are currently open in SolidWorks, as well as a recent documents list The panel will disappear after you use it once, although you can click the push-pin icon to keep it displayed This is a very useful panel.

FIGURE B.46

The File Explorer panel

The Task pane can be detached from its default location on the right side of the screen and either allowed to float or dock on the left side.

Search

The Search options are shown in Figure B.47 Windows Desktop Search is integrated into the new SolidWorks Search function In order for this function to work properly, Windows Desktop Search must be installed (it is located on the SolidWorks CD-ROM), and then your drive or drives must be indexed, which will take some time.

FIGURE B.47

The System Options➪Search page

n Search while typing: With this option enabled, the search takes place immediately as

you type the string to be searched instead of waiting for you to press Enter This enables you to see results on partial strings as well as the complete search name The SolidWorks Search feature is shown in Figure B.48.

TIP

FIGURE B.48

The SolidWorks Search function

n Results per page: The search returns results in the Search panel of the Task pane, with

easy-to-see previews, filenames, and path information, as shown in Figure B.49 You can also search on custom property information, as well as keywords.

FIGURE B.49

SolidWorks Search results

n Maximum results per data source: This setting allows you to specify limits, so that you

are not overwhelmed with all of the available data

n Index Now: After guiding you through a wizard to narrow down the hard drive areas

where you keep data that you want to be indexed, this option initiates the Windows Desktop Search Indexing function, as shown in Figure B.50 You can also specify search paths through the Search Paths option at System Options ➪ File Locations.

n Add shortcut menu items for multi-user environment: When you select this option,

the items Make Read-Only and Get Write Access become available on the RMB (shortcut) menu and the File menu.

There is no indication on the FeatureManager whether individual parts in an assembly are read-only or read-write The only indication appears at the top of the screen, after the filename, where it is indicated in brackets, for example, as [Read-Only] Another way to check is

to look at the File ➪ Find References lists; a read-only indicator appears after the filename.

n Check if files opened read-only have been modified by other users: This option will

check open read-only documents, at the indicated interval, for changes.

TIP

individ-I often hear the question, “Can individ-I change the template used by a document?” The answer is always

“No.” However, you can change the settings Some tools exist that can help you take a list of tings and write them to a group of documents These tools are available on the Internet for down- load One that I am familiar with is an Excel spreadsheet with some VBA programming that handles this function.

set-The following list details each of the Document Properties settings and gives some insight about when and why you should use each setting.

The Detailing Document Properties page is shown in Figure B.52.

FIGURE B.52

The Document Properties➪Detailing page

n Dimensioning Standard: The options are ANSI, BSI, DIN, GB, GOST, ISO, and JIS.

A very important note for American users is that for some default SolidWorks document templates, ISO is the standard When the ISO standard is used, First Angle Projection is used for projected views rather than Third Angle Projection, which is the standard for ANSI This can lead to drawings that are incorrect by the ANSI standard, and will seem more than a little confusing until you understand what is going on

Another situation where you encounter the First-versus-Third-angle-projection problem is in the System Options tab, on the Display/Selection page The Viewport tool is set to use First Angle, whether you install with ANSI or not.

There is no comprehensive list of all of the differences in SolidWorks settings between the various standards If you use documents with different standards, then you will need to create different templates for each standard Be sure to search through the options to find out the differences between the standards.

CAUTION CAUTION

Settings belowthis lineare foundonly in drawings

Settings abovethe lineare found

in alldocument types

n Dual Dimensions Display: Users of older versions will cheer when they see the options

that are available in Dual dimensions display Figure B.53 shows the effects of the display options.

FIGURE B.53

The different options for Dual Dimensions Display

n Fixed Size Weld Symbols: This option toggles between the control of the size of the

weld symbol being taken from the drawing standard (the option is turned on) or the ument font size (the option is turned off).

doc-n Display Datums per 1982: Figure B.54 shows the difference between the 1982 and

1994 standards for datum display.

FIGURE B.54

The 1982 and 1994 standards for datum display

n Leading Zeroes: Generally, leading zeroes refers to a single zero to the left side of the

deci-mal if that place is not occupied by a number The options are Standard, Show, and Remove Standard means that the leading zero display for that dimension will follow the standard Show will always show a leading zero, and Remove will always remove the leading zero

Standards for leading zeroes may be different for different units For example, using the ANSI standard, the dimension 015in does not get a leading zero, but the dual dimen- sion 0.38mm does.

n Trailing Zeroes: The options are Smart, Show, Remove, and Standard While the last

three options are self-explanatory, the Smart option means that even if the standard calls for trailing zeroes, they will be removed if they follow a whole metric number For exam- ple, in the measurements, 4.00mm and 4.50mm, the Smart option only removes the trail-

NOTE

n Alternate Section Display: Figure B.55 shows the difference between standard and

alter-nate section displays.

FIGURE B.55

Using standard and alternate section displays

n Centerline Extension: When a centerline lies on top of a section line, the centerline

extends past the section line by a value determined by the standard, unless the distance

in this text field is changed.

n Extension Line Gap: This is the distance between the part and the extension line, as

shown in Figure B.56.

FIGURE B.56

The Extension Line Gap, and the distance beyond the dimension line

Beyond dimension line

The gap shownbetween the partand the extension line

n Beyond Dimension Line: This is the distance that the extension line extends beyond the

dimension line, as shown in Figure B.56.

n Datum Feature Display Type: The options are Per Standard, Square, and Round (GB).

Figure B.57 shows the difference between square and round datum feature symbols.

FIGURE B.57

Square and Round Datum Feature Symbols

n Next Label: This option establishes the next letter to be used in the Datum feature

symbol.

n Surface Finish Symbols, Display Symbols per 2002: This option alters the display of

the surface finish symbols for the following standards to reflect changes to those dards in that year: BSI, DIN, GB, GOST, and ISO

stan-Up to now, I have discussed options that pertain to all document types Starting from here, I will discuss settings and options that are available only to drawing documents.

n Auto Insert on View Creation: This setting determines which entity types you want to

be automatically inserted from the model into drawings when the view is created New for SolidWorks 2007 is the differentiation between center marks for holes and fillets You can choose multiple items from the following options:

n Center Marks-Holes

n Center Marks-Fillets

n Centerlines

n Balloons

n Dimensions Marked for Drawing

n Bill Of Materials, Automatic Update of BOM: For this drawing document, the BOM

either will or will not be updated automatically This usually means that for every rebuild, the BOM will be updated If you want the BOM to remain static, then you can turn off

this option You can also turn this option off to increase speed For updated BOMs, turn this option on.

n Cosmetic Thread Display, High Quality: Cosmetic threads on the backside of a part

will be hidden if this option is on To increase speed, you can turn this option off Figure B.58 demonstrates that this setting only makes a difference for shaded model views on the drawing For any Wireframe mode, the hidden cosmetic thread is not shown unless the hidden lines of the view are visible.

FIGURE B.58

Cosmetic Thread display, using High Quality and Draft Quality

n Area Hatch Display, Show Halo Around Annotations: A halo is simply a gap in the

hatch pattern, as shown in Figure B.59.

FIGURE B.59

A measurement with the Show Halo Around Annotations option turned on and off

n Center Marks, Size: You can specify the diameter of the circle that the crosshairs of the

center mark fit into.

Draft and high quality Draft quality High quality

n Extended Lines: When this option is selected, extended lines go past the circular edge

that they were created from, as shown in Figure B.60.

n Centerline Font: This option applies a centerline font to the extended lines If this

option is off, then the extended lines will be solid.

FIGURE B.60

Extended lines on a center mark

n Break Lines, Gap: This refers to the gap between break lines on a broken view, as shown

in Figure B.61.

n Extension: This refers to the extension of the broken view break line past the model

edge, as shown in Figure B.61.

FIGURE B.61

Break Lines Gap and Extension

GapExtension

The DimXpert enables you to apply dimensions to a drawing to fully dimension the selected tures The options for the DimXpert are shown in Figure B.62.

fea-FIGURE B.62

The DimXpert options

n Chamfer Dimension Scheme: This option allows you to select between

angle-by-distance or angle-by-distance-by-angle-by-distance dimensions for chamfers.

n Slot Dimension Scheme: This option allows you to select between center-to-center or

end-to-end dimensioning for slots.

n Fillet and Chamfer Options: When several fillets with the same radius are found, you

can specify whether SolidWorks uses “Typ,” the number of instances (Instant count), or neither (None).

Dimensions

The Dimensions page of the Document Properties controls how dimensions look The options on this page, shown in Figure B.63, are exactly the same for models and drawings.

n Add Parentheses By Default: This option applies parentheses around any reference

dimension Parentheses are not applied to driving dimensions.

n Snap Text to Grid: This option causes the dimension text to snap to regular intervals to

help alignment, whether or not the grid is displayed.

FIGURE B.63

The Document Properties➪Dimensions page

n Center Between Extension Lines: This option causes the dimension text to snap to a

location in the center of the extension lines, when originally created or when dragged.

n Include prefix inside basic tolerance box: Any prefix added before the dimension will

be included in a Basic tolerance box, if used This is demonstrated in Figure B.64.

FIGURE B.64

A prefix inside a Basic tolerance box

n Automatically Jog Ordinates: When ordinate dimensions become too closely spaced,

this option jogs the dimension lines to space them out.

n Show Dimensions As Broken In Broken Views: Dimensions that go across breaks show

a broken dimension line, as shown in Figure B.65.

FIGURE B.65

A broken dimension on a broken view

n Offset Distances: These are the spacing distances from the part to the dimension, and

between dimensions for Baseline dimensions.

n Text Alignment: The Horizontal alignment affects justification of the dimension text as

well as any added text This is also controlled by the justification buttons in the PropertyManager, as shown in Figure B.66 The Vertical alignment specifies the line of text that the leader aligns with The justification (Horizontal) setting applies to all stan- dards, but the leader position (Vertical) setting applies only to the ANSI standard.

FIGURE B.66

The Text Alignment settings

This row corresponds

to the vertical setting

Top row corresponds

to the horizontal setting

n Arrow Style: You can select the arrow style for dimensions The list of options is shown

in Figure B.67.

n Outside, Inside, Smart: The Outside and Inside options force all of the arrows to go

either outside or inside the extension lines The Smart option allows the arrows to change sides automatically, depending on how far apart the extension lines are You can change this setting manually by clicking one of handles on the arrows, as shown in Figure B.67.

FIGURE B.67

The Arrow Style settings

n Display 2ndOutside Arrow (Radial): According to SolidWorks Help, this option works

with radial dimensions However, it is for diameter dimensions, and does nothing for radial dimensions Enabling the option turns on the second arrow, as shown in Figure B.68.

FIGURE B.68

Diameter dimension outside arrows

Adds this arrow for diameter dimensionswhere the dimension is placed tothe outside of the circle

n Arrows Follow Position Of Text (Radial): This option is activated only when the arrows

are set to Smart When this option is off, radial dimension arrows are always to the inside

of an arc When the option is on, the arrow goes to the inside or outside of the arc, depending on whether the text is inside or outside This option is illustrated in Figure B.69.

FIGURE B.69

Using the Arrows Follow Position of Text option

n Angled/Linear-Angled Display: This option is only available for the ANSI standard This

option simply determines whether bent leaders will be used for angle dimensions and ear dimensions that are at an angle.

lin-n Break Dimension Extension/Leader Lines: These settings control breaks in dimension

and extension lines Dimension lines are the ones with the arrows, and extension lines act

as extensions of model edges Both line types can break The Gap number is simply the width of the gap

If the Break Around Dimension Arrows Only option is on, then breaks always involve arrows Figure B.70 shows the dimension line of the 6.374 dimension broken where the extension lines of the other two dimensions cross it To determine which dimension is broken, select the Break Lines check box in the dimension PropertyManager.

FIGURE B.70

Specifying the Break Dimension and Extension Lines

n Fractional Display: For units with fractional displays, this setting determines how the

fractions are displayed The Stack Size setting allows you to use smaller characters for the fractions than for the whole numbers Examples of the settings are shown in Figure B.71.

FIGURE B.71

Changing the Fractional Display

n Bent Leader Length: Bent leaders can be controlled individually for dimensions, notes,

and balloons The lengths are not linked, and so to get them all the same, you must ually make them all the same, and ensure that bent leaders are enabled for each type.

man-n Radial Leader Snap Angle: When dragging or placing a radial dimension, the arrow

snaps to angles To disable this snapping behavior, set the angle to zero.

Stack height of 70 percent

n Leaders: If you want to override the dimensioning standard (such as ANSI or ISO)

behavior to dimension leaders, click the Leaders button on the Dimensions page, and select the desired behavior The available overrides are shown in Figure B.72.

FIGURE B.72

The Leader Override options

n Precision: This is where the number of decimal places is set for the primary, secondary,

and angular units, as well as tolerances The Units page duplicates these settings, but does not allow for setting the number of decimal places for the tolerance The Dimension Precision dialog box is shown in Figure B.73.

FIGURE B.73

Setting decimal places

n Tolerance: When you click the Tolerance button, the Dimension Tolerance dialog box

appears In this dialog box, you can set default tolerances, and you can change the ance font scale, as shown in Figure B.74.

The Notes settings

n Text Alignment: When you use multi-line notes, each line is aligned, or justified, as

specified in this selection box.

n Leader Anchor: The leader attaches to notes, as selected here.

n Leader Style: Straight and Bent leaders are common and self-explanatory The Bent and

Underlined leaders are shown in Figure B.76 These options are also available in the Notes PropertyManager, as shown to the right in Figure B.76 When you select the Bent leader option, the Leader Length option also becomes available.

FIGURE B.76

Leader Style options

n Leader Justification Snapping: This setting is only available for DIN and JIS standards.

n Border: Balloons are just notes with borders When you use these settings, SolidWorks

puts borders on notes, by default Border styles are shown with the Balloons settings.

Balloons

Although balloons are used for Bill of Materials item numbering, you can also generically use them for other types of items, or for manual part numbering The options for balloons are shown in Figure B.77 The figure also shows a set of stacked balloons, which you can stack either horizontally or vertically.

FIGURE B.77

The Balloons settings

Although you can use balloons in parts and assemblies, here they are only referred to as being used

in assembly drawings Remember that because the settings being discussed here are Document Properties, you will need to save each document type with the correct template settings so that they will behave the same across document types.

n Balloon Style Options: As shown in Figure B.78, the style options for both single and

stacked balloons are:

Balloon style options

n Balloon Size Options: Balloon size settings range from one to five characters, as well as a

Tight Fit setting, which enables the balloon to resize automatically, depending on its tents The other settings are fixed sizes, regardless of contents.

con-n Balloon Text: The Upper and Lower settings are only used at the same time if the style is

Circular Split Line Default settings are Item Number for the Upper setting and Quantity for the Lower setting If you use a style other than split balloon, then the Upper setting represents the only value inside the balloon The options for balloon text are as follows:

n Text: The Text selection enables the user to enter custom text into the balloon.

n Item Number: This option pulls the Item Number from the BOM This is typically

Pentagon Flag-Five Sided Flag-Triangle Circular Split Line

drawing, a question mark is displayed in the Item Number area because a single part has no Item Number.

n Quantity: This option pulls the quantity of the part that it points to from the

assem-bly If you use this setting on a part drawing, then the Item Number still defaults to a question mark, but the Quantity value defaults to one.

n Custom Property: The blank, grayed-out fields below the Balloon Text options are for

custom property names Custom Properties will pull values from the part custom properties and place these values in the balloon.

n Auto Balloon Layout: When auto-ballooning an assembly drawing, this setting

deter-mines how the balloons will be laid out.

n Bent Leaders: This setting determines whether the current document uses bent leaders,

and if so, how long they should be.

Arrows

You can use arrows on dimensions, notes, and balloons, but the arrow sizes are grouped together for these three annotation types Only Section Line arrows are given a different size The settings for arrows are shown in Figure B.79.

FIGURE B.79

The Document Properties➪Arrows page

n Size: The Scale With Dimension Height option disables the number selection box options

and resets any custom numbers that you may have entered This option is new for SolidWorks 2007 Proportion of the arrows cannot be controlled when you use the scale option.

n Section View Size: This setting works just like the numbers in the Size section, but it

applies only to arrows on the ends of section lines.

n Attachments: The Attachments settings enable you to specify which arrow type is used

when the arrow is attached to edges or vertices, and faces or surfaces, or whether the arrow is unattached Figure B.80 shows the options for arrow display.

FIGURE B.80

Arrow display options

n Foreshortened Diameter: You can control the Foreshortened Diameter dimension

dis-play by using this setting.

Virtual Sharps

Virtual Sharp display on a drawing (and in sketches) is controlled on this page A virtual sharp is the corner where two edges would intersect if they were not interrupted by a fillet, chamfer, or other item breaking the edge The options for Virtual Sharp display are shown in Figure B.81.

FIGURE B.81

The Virtual Sharps display options

Annotations Display

Annotations Display options are also available by RMB clicking the Annotations folder in the FeatureManager and selecting Details This page also displays differently, depending on whether you are editing the properties of a part, assembly, or drawing Figure B.82 shows the available options for Annotations Display.

FIGURE B.82

The Annotations Display options

n Display Filter: You can select the entity types to be displayed in this particular document

or template The Display All Types option shows everything.

Of special note here is the Shaded Cosmetic Threads option The difference between mal Cosmetic Threads and Shaded Cosmetic Threads is shown in Figure B.83.

nor-FIGURE B.83

Using the Shaded Cosmetic Threads option

Shaded Cosmetic Thread

n Text Scale: The Text Scale setting is available only for parts and assemblies, and only

when the Always Display Text At The Same Size option is off.

n Always Display Text At The Same Size: This option causes annotations and

dimen-sions to appear the same size on the screen, regardless of zoom state It is not active in drawings because drawings always need to show text at 1:1 size.

n Display Items Only In The View In Which They Are Created: This option is

some-times frustrating, because it hides annotations unless the model is in exactly the view in which the annotation was created It becomes very easy to lose annotations However, if you are disciplined in how you create annotations (consider using Annotation Views), then this can help to reduce clutter in drawing and model views.

n Use Assembly’s Setting For All Components: This option makes it easier to see all of

the component annotations in the assembly using a single set of settings, regardless of ferences between settings in individual component files.

dif-n Hide Dangling Dimensions And Annotations: SolidWorks has become increasingly

“error-phobic” in recent releases, offering more options to make errors invisible Best tice is definitely on the side of fixing problems as they rise, rather than covering them up.

prac-n JIS Surface Finish Size: Not shown in Figure B.83 is the JIS Surface Finish Size option,

which is available only with the JIS dimensioning standard.

The Tables options page is available for drawing documents only Figure B.85 shows the Tables options.

FIGURE B.85

The Tables options page

n Hole Table: A Hole Table is a chart that shows the centers and diameters of holes on a

face with respect to a selected table Origin Although these settings are listed in the Document Properties tab, they are probably best suited to being changed from the PropertyManager of the table Hole Tables use a separate template.

n Origin indicator: The options for displaying the Origin are either to link the display

to the dimensioning standard (Per Standard), or to select a standard The symbol on the options page updates to show how the Origin indicator looks for each standard The various standards include displays without zeroes (as shown), with zeroes, and with dots.

n Tag Angle/Offset From Profile Center: These settings position the text at an angle

and distance from the center of the hole The “A1” shown in Figure B.85 is closest to where it would be positioned if the angle were zero It appears to be positioning the lower-left corner of the text.

n Alpha/Numerical Control: This setting controls the hole labels When letters are

cho-sen, numbers are still shown after the numbers, as shown in Figure B.86 The only time the number after the letter increments is when holes of the same diameter are found; in this situation, they are all labeled with the same letter, and different numbers.

FIGURE B.86

The Hole Table interface and a chart

n Scheme: The Combine Same Size option combines all of the table cells that contain

the same diameter hole Combine Same Tags causes the A1, A2 tags for same-diameter holes to all be labeled “A” in the table.

n Location Precision: This setting determines how many decimal places are used in the

hole X, Y position.

The Show Hole Centers option, when used from the Document Properties options page, appears to have no effect, but the same (albeit inverted) function works from the Hole Table PropertyManager under the name of Hide Hole Centers.

n Revision Table: Revision tables help keep track of revisions to drawings These can be

used in conjunction with PDMWorks or other PDM products The revision level is stored

in a custom property in the file A simple revision table is shown in Figure B.87.

FIGURE B.87

A simple revision table

n Symbol Shapes: When a new revision is added to the table, you are prompted to

place a symbol containing the new revision letter near the item on the drawing that has changed in the new revision This setting determines the shape of the symbol.

n Alpha/Numerical Control: Revisions driven by revision tables can be either

alphabet-ical or numeralphabet-ical.

n Multiple Sheet Style: Different users may want to control revision tables differently

on different sheets of a drawing SolidWorks 2007 now offers three options:

n See Sheet 1: This is just a note in the revision table that directs the drawing reader to

the first sheet for the revision history.

n Linked: The revision tables on each sheet are linked.

n Independent: The revision tables on each sheet of the drawing are independent.

n Bill of Materials Table: Bills of Materials (BOMs) also have their own templates, which

have settings of their own, but drawing document property settings do contain a couple

of relevant options and settings.

n Zero Quantity: Before you ask why parts with a zero quantity are shown on a BOM,

this is usually for assemblies that are shown with configurations.

The options for a zero quantity are to show a dash, a zero, or a blank.

n Missing Component: Missing components are created by having deleted or

sup-pressed parts or subassemblies in the top-level assembly

n Don’t Add “QTY” Next To Configuration Name: This option eliminates the QTY

letters from the configuration column in the BOM.

n Don’t copy QTY column name from template: This option puts the configuration

name in the BOM QTY column, instead of a custom name in the template.

n Restrict Top Level Only BOMs To One Configuration: This option means that if a

BOM is designated “Top Level Only,” then the BOM can show only a single configuration.

View Labels

Three types of views — Detail, Auxiliary, and Section — can have special text labels, along with a custom scale label that accompanies the view The options on this page are shown in Figure B.88 The name for each type can either be blank, VIEW, or the name of the type of view (DETAIL, AUXILIARY, or SECTION) The label can either be the letter assigned to the view or blank The Scale label can be SCALE, SCALE:, or blank Options for the scale delimiter are blank, X:Y, (X:Y), X/Y, (X/Y), or #X, where # is an integer.

FIGURE B.88

The View Labels options page

Display Label Above View is a new option in SolidWorks 2007 The default setting is to display the label below the view.

One of the first questions that new users tend to ask is how to turn off the grid in sketches This is unfortunate, because the grid is most useful for new users, mainly to help them keep track of when they are in or out of Sketch mode The Grid/Snap options are shown in Figure B.89.

FIGURE B.89

The Grid/Snap options page

n Display Grid: This option turns the display of the grid on or off in the sketch.

n Dash: Minor grid lines, specified below, are dashed If this option is off, then the minor

grid lines are solid.

n Automatic Scaling: As you zoom in and out, the minor grid goes from ten divisions to

five to two, depending on your settings.

Units

The Units options page enables you to either select a predefined unit system or create custom tings, including primary and dual length units, angular units, and special units for mass and sec- tion properties Units of force are included for the strength properties that are associated with COSMOS products The Units options page is shown in Figure B.90.

set-After the “How do I turn off the grid” question, the next most popular question regarding settings

is, “How do I make SolidWorks remember that I want to use inches instead of millimeters?” Of course, the answer is to use templates Set the units the way you want them on a blank document (or delete all of the features from an existing document), and save the file as a template This applies to parts, assemblies, and drawings

Decimal places or Denominator

Depending on whether Decimal or Fractions has been selected for the units, the precision is set either with a number of decimal places or a denominator for the fraction.

Line Font

Many types of edges, identified in Figure B.91, can have special line fonts assigned to them You can even create custom line fonts, although the custom line styles are limited to being used in drawings, not in parts or assemblies New line styles are discussed in the next section on Line Styles.

FIGURE B.91

The Line Font options page

The one setting that is not self-explanatory on this page is the End Cap Style This is new to SolidWorks 2007 In the past, thicker line types would have poorly jointed corners, as shown in Figure B.92 in the image to the left This line is using the Flat end cap style The square end cap style is shown to the right If this problem occurs when you use thick lines, you now have a way to fix it

FIGURE B.92

Using the End Cap Style option to make thicker lines look better

Line Style

The Line Style option page is where you can modify existing styles and even create new line styles You can follow the instructions on the page, using a simple code to create special line styles, as shown in Figure B.93.

n Advanced: This button enables you to specify transparency and other effects.

n Curvature: The curvature window is shown to the right in Figure B.93 This enables you

to specify the color spread for various curvature values Remember that curvature is the inverse of radius (c=1/r), and so the smaller the radius, the bigger the curvature.

n Apply Same Color To Wireframe, HLR and Shaded: This setting is only valid in part

documents This is probably one of the least-appreciated options in SolidWorks Many parts built and provided by SolidWorks Corporation as sample or tutorial parts do not use this setting, and so when you open an assembly where the parts do not have this option applied, and you turn the assembly to Wireframe mode, all of the edges become black This can make you feel as if you had gone back 15 years to using modeling wire- frames in AutoCAD.

Do yourself a favor and save your part templates to use this setting

Use the Apply Same Color To Wireframe, HLR and Shaded option to be able to tiate parts in an assembly by color when they are shown in Wireframe mode The alter- native is a black-on-black wireframe display.

BEST PRACTICE

BEST PRACTICE

FIGURE B.95

The Image Quality options page

The best practice recommendation for image quality is to set it as low as you can stand

it This may be at different levels for different parts.

The way SolidWorks (and indeed most 3D graphics applications) displays curved 3D geometry is

to create a set of smaller, flat, triangular facets This is called tessellation If these triangles become too large, then curved surfaces are not recognizable, and they may look more like hexagons than circles However, if the triangular facets become too small, then your graphics card may not be able

to process them quickly enough As a result, image quality settings require a compromise.

n Shaded and draft quality HLR/HLV resolution: The slider at the top of the window

applies to shaded models.

n Deviation: This setting measures how far from the real shape the displayed shape is.

By making a curved edge into a series of straight lines, the number shown represents the maximum distance from the line to the curve As the quality becomes higher, the deviation becomes lower.

n Optimize Edge Length (higher quality, but slower): SolidWorks is not explicit

about this, but it is assumed that what is being “optimized” is the quality of the play, and not the speed of the system.

dis-n Apply To All Referenced Part Documents: This setting is valid for assembly

docu-ments only In an assembly, display quality settings from individual part docudocu-ments are used unless this option is used in the assembly, in which case the assembly setting

is propagated to each of the individual parts However, if you use high part-quality settings for good visualization, and the assembly setting is low for increased speed, then you will need to change the part settings back to high after you have them open

in the assembly This can become frustrating unless you can find a good middle ground or a macro that changes the settings for you quickly and easily.

BEST PRACTICE

BEST PRACTICE

n Save Tessellation With Part Document: This setting is valid for part documents only.

This option toggles the tessellated display data that is being saved in the part file This can have an impact on save time and file size However, do not become overly excited about turning this option off; you need to remember that it is faster to read existing data than it is to recalculate it There may be times when you need the extra data such

as when using eDrawings as a viewer.

n Wireframe And High Quality HLR/HLV Resolution: This slider works for wireframe

display and drawings Again, set it as low as you can stand it if you are having ance problems.

perform-Plane Display

Planes in SolidWorks can be displayed either with just a rectangular outline or with a transparent shaded face Each “side” of the plane can be viewed with different colors Although this may not seem useful immediately, I find it very useful when working in detail on a larger part It helps me

to keep my bearings The slider shown in Figure B.96 also enables you to change the transparency

of the planes.

FIGURE B.96

The Plane Display options page

Plane intersections can also be shown by a dotted line of a specified color, but because you cannot select them or actually use them for anything other than visualization, I tend to turn them off.

S olidWorks software has been around for over ten years now In that

time, the resources available to users seeking help have increased matically The available help takes many forms, from personal Web sites with information obtained from individual experience, to commercial on-line

dra-magazines or forums with advanced Flash interfaces In this appendix, I have

assembled some of the more useful sources of quality information.

It is not the goal of this book to endorse any commercial sites or services, but

some of the listed resources are commercial in nature, and may feature

advertisements, logins, or both.

SolidWorks Help

The SolidWorks Help file is also called the Online Users Guide It contains

most of the information that you need to find out how a function works.

There are topics for which searchability is poor, or when topics do not

appear under expected headings, but this is the exception rather than the

norm It is more common to find that some features are poorly documented

or not documented at all For example, when looking up the significance of

the Engage Belt option in the Belt/Chain sketch function described in

Chapter 4, SolidWorks Help merely states, “Engage belt Clear to disengage

the belt mechanism,” which is not at all helpful to the user It turns out that

“Engage belt” means that when one pulley turns, all of the pulleys should

turn as if they were all physically joined by a belt.

However, some functions, such as sheet metal bend allowances and the

refer-enced documents search routine, are extraordinarily well documented.

One problem with SolidWorks is its tendency to not alphabetize lists that users browse through, such as the Help Contents Although these lists may be full of useful information, many users will never find it because the information is so difficult to locate.

Index

This is the section of the Help files that I use the most because I can type something in, and if the terminology is correct, then most of the time I will quickly arrive very close to where I want to be Sometimes you need to change the order of words, try an alternate term, or check your spelling, but the Index works well when you have a good idea of what you are looking for.

Search

The Search function is for when you are not exactly sure of what you are looking for For example, you may know that there is a feature that uses stripes to analyze curvature across edges, but you cannot remember its name In this example, there are two words that you can use for your search: curvature and stripes If you use curvature, then the Search function returns about sixty possibilities The term that you are looking for is Zebra Stripes, but you may not quickly find it from scanning such a long list If you search using the term stripe, then Zebra Stripes appears at the top of the list The biggest complaint that you can have about the Search function in Help is that it will sometimes return too many options, and it is not immediately clear what the connection is between the word that you searched on and the topic title that appears in the list Still, too much information is better than not enough.

Many users overlook three options that are found at the bottom of the Search window: Search

SolidWorks Web site

Most of the valuable information on the SolidWorks Web site (www.solidworks.com) is behind the subscription login, but there is also some free information available It may be worthwhile to look around a little bit on the SolidWorks Web site because there is a large amount of information ranging from graphics card evaluations to training files.

Graphics Cards

The link to this area is located on the SolidWorks Web site main page SolidWorks has tested the most popular graphics cards and drivers for compatibility with various versions of SolidWorks, and has rated them at various levels, using the following criteria:

n Passed all tests

n Passed with limitations

n Card has significant stability or repaint problems

n Use the graphics card display settings for SolidWorks

n Multi-head hardware accelerated

n Supports RealView

n 64-bit native support

n Supports 3D-Stereo effects

Software downloads

Manually downloading and installing software and upgrades for SolidWorks is becoming a thing of the past, although you can still do it The SolidWorks Installation Manager works in many respects like Microsoft Automatic Update It downloads and even installs updates for you automatically It can also be made to work with administrative image installations I particularly like the way that it can download service packs before the links on the SolidWorks Web site are active Of course, if you need or simply want to download manually, then this option is also available.