SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [220]
You can access the Cosmetic Thread Display setting in both the Step 1 PropertyManager and the Step2 PropertyManager. However, you need to be careful not to misread the interface by thinking that either of these interfaces controls the View Quality.
FIGURE 15.33
The Draft quality options and cursor
Distinguishing Views from Sheets
It is sometimes difficult for new users to understand the difference between being in a sketch and being out of a sketch, or the difference between editing the sheet as opposed to the sheet format. In the same way, confusion frequently surrounds the difference between sketching in a view and sketching on a sheet. The easiest way to determine if a sketch will be associated with a view or with the drawing sheet is to look at the prompt in the lower-right corner of the SolidWorks window, on the status bar, which displays the message, Editing Sheet, Editing Sheet Format, or Editing View.
This issue becomes especially important when you want to do something with a sketch entity, but it is grayed out and unavailable. This means that whatever entity is active is not the one that the sketch entity is on. Drawing views expand to contain all the sketch entities that are associated with the view, and so if you see a view that is extended on one side, larger than it should be, then it could be extended to contain the grayed-out sketch entity. Activate the sheet and the suspected views; when the sketch entity turns from gray to black, you have found the place where it resides.
Tutorial: Working with View Types, Settings, and Options
This tutorial is intended to familiarize you with many of the view types, settings, and options that are involved in creating views. To begin, follow these steps:
1. From the DVD, open the part called Chapter 15 – Tutorial Part.sldprt.
2. Move the drawing template named Inch B Bible Template.drwdot, also found on the DVD, to your templates folder. If you do not know where your templates are located, choose Tools⇒Options⇒System Options⇒File Locations⇒Document Templates.
3. From the window with the open part, click the Make Drawing from Part button from the toolbar. The drawing becomes populated with three standard views and an isometric view, as shown in Figure 15.34.
4. In the drawing document, select the display of the Origins. This will help you to align a section view. You can display Origins through the menus by choosing View⇒Origin.
5. Click the Section View tool on the Drawings toolbar. This activates the Line sketch tool.
Figure 15.34
Using a template with Pre-defined Views
6. In the Top view (in the upper-left section of the drawing), draw a vertical line that picks up the inference from the Origin. You may have to run the cursor over the Origin to activate the inference lines. Make sure that the line goes all the way through the model geometry in the view, as shown in Figure 15.35. When you finish the line, the section view is ready to be placed. Place it to the right of the parent view.
Figure 15.35
Creating a section view
When sketching, remember to make sure that you are sketching in the view rather than on the sheet. A section view cannot be created from a sketch entity if it is not in a view. A glance at the status bar in the lower-right corner of the window lets you know if you are in Editing View or Editing Sheet.
To change the letter label on the drawing, click the section line and change the label in the top panel of the Section View PropertyManager.
Note that you may see a Section Scope dialog box asking you to omit rib features. Ribs are usually not hatched in section views.
7. Bring the cursor over the corner in the section line until the cursor looks like the image to the left. Double-click the cursor; the section arrows flip to the other direction, and the drawing view becomes cross-hatched.