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The icons in the lower left of the Modify Configurations dialog box enable you to use the dialog box for more than just dimensions and feature suppression. Figure 11.10 shows that you can also use it to control custom properties. Some of these changes are relatively recent, so even if you are familiar with this dialog box from a previous release, you might want to have another look at it to see whether there is some new functionality that you can take advantage of.

FIGURE 11.10

Using Modify Configurations to control dimensions, features, and custom properties

The Modify Configurations dialog box does not give you control over everything. Some things that you can configure, you cannot drive from this dialog box, such as part color. Design tables are still the most powerful way to go, but Modify Configurations offers a lot of flexibility and immediacy.

Using Table Views

The Modify Configurations dialog box adds significantly to your options for creating and editing configurations. Two very nice tools that add to the convenience and power of SolidWorks configurations are called Table Views and Hide/Show Custom Properties.

Table Views enable you to keep a small table of only the parameters that you want to show. The Parameters drop-down list enables you to select which Table View you want to display, or to create a new one. Using drop-down lists on the parameter headings, you can suppress the display of any parameter in a new Table View.

Dividing what might otherwise be a large design table into several Table Views helps to keep your data organized and easy to access. Figure 11.11 shows the ConfigurationManager of a part with configurations managed with Table Views.

FIGURE 11.11

Displaying Table Views in the ConfigurationManager of a configured part

Adding custom properties with the Modify Configurations dialog box

The second nice option in the Modify Configurations dialog box is the Hide/Show Custom Properties option. When this button is depressed, the Modify Configurations dialog shows columns for existing custom properties, as well as a drop-down list that enables you to add more custom property columns. This makes it very easy to control configuration-specific custom properties within a configured part.

Figure 11.12 shows these tools in action.

FIGURE 11.12

Using Modify Configurations to control configuration-specific custom properties

Using custom property managers

The Property Tab Builder enables an administrator to create special Task Pane tabs that are used to control custom properties and configuration-specific custom properties. As an administrative function, the Property Tab Builder is covered in more detail in the SolidWorks Administration Bible (Wiley, 2009). Configuration-specific custom properties can be controlled through design tables, Custom Property tabs, or the regular SolidWorks configuration-specific custom property interface. Select the method that works best for the way you and your company use the software.

Figure 11.13 shows the Property Tab Builder interface. You can access the Property Tab Builder by clicking the Windows Start button and choosing SolidWorks⇒SolidWorks Tools from the menu. This is the place where you actually construct the interface that shows up in the Properties tab of the Task Pane on the right side of the SolidWorks graphics window.

FIGURE 11.13

Using the Property Tab Builder to construct a Custom Properties tab for the Task Pane

Using this type of interface enables the administrator to standardize custom properties values due to spelling or difference in interpretation. The Task Pane interface is easy to use and highly customizable. Notice that you can create regular custom properties or configure custom properties, and that option can be set independently for each property value entered using this interface.

Once you create a Property Tab file (called templates), save it to the location indicated at Tools⇒Options⇒File Locations⇒Custom Property Files. If you only have one template for a document type (part, assembly, or drawing),