Favorite Interface Features

I took 4 years and did something else, and when I came back to working with SolidWorks, I found that some of my old gripes had been addressed. In fact, some of these things were enhancement requests that I made, and they put them in the software anyway.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the glow of a new color for icons that sometimes we forget the simple pleasures of an interface that works for you. Here are some of my favorite new and old interface bits.

Enter to repeat This is an old method from AutoCAD. It works great for fillets and holes and features you add a lot of.

ESC in dimensions If you are using the Smart Dimension tool and have something selected that you want to deselect, just hit ESC. If you select a centerline to do several diameter dimensions, you can hit ESC to back up and deselect the centerline. If you aren’t using this, you really need to try it. This is a great tool.  It’s like going backwards through the selection set, and you can go all the way back to nothing selected.

Keeping focus on value entry boxes – This is for those times when you are trying to set a fillet size, and you have to change the number several times. 3 <enter>, 4 <enter>, etc. It used to be that you would have to re-click in the box every time you wanted to change the number because the interface focus went somewhere else. It turns out that this only works in the PropertyManager, not in the Modify box. Modify still works in the old annoying way. Interface focus is interface 101 type stuff, and it’s maybe a little embarrassing that it took them a couple of decades to figure it out partially.

Ability to get the current list of hotkeys  The hotkey interface was one of the earliest successes they had with really top notch interface design. This has been there for a while, but it still stands out for me as one of the first changes with big impact for those who use it. Being able to get a list of the current hotkeys is really helpful.

Sweep with circular profile  When you make a sweep, it is most often something with a circular profile. Like a spring, a wire, a pipe, hose, etc. So why not offer an option to save that step? It does save you a little bit of time every time you use it. Just draw the path and start the Sweep command. Nice.

Display Pane If you aren’t using the Display Pane to turn things on and off, and change colors, transparency, display mode, or appearances, you’re missing out. It’s a great tool. I wish it were turned on all the time, but its easy to turn on, just hit F8. Maybe I’m missing something here. Particularly useful in assemblies.

Through all – both  This really might not have been a big deal, but when you had to make the switch to both directions frequently, it just felt like a lot of extra clicking around. The option to just select Through All Both Directions simplifies and streamlines.

Loft Connector handles  This is another bit of the interface that not everybody gets to see, but those who use them are grateful they exist. At least I am. I’ve used software without this functionality, and, well, you don’t miss it until its gone. Rearranging loft connectors can help you get the correct character in a loft without a lot of guide curves. It’s just a slick piece of interface that makes things happen.

Callouts for tangency on lofts, boundary surfaces, except that they don’t work.  Callouts are those flags that attach to geometry on the screen and allow you change settings right there instead of goin g back to the PropertyManager. These can be a little clunky, and sometimes the just don’t work, but when they do, they are  great idea and very helpful. It takes some of the abstractness out of figuring which setting applies to which geometry.