SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [232]
I recommend that you use the manual dimension placement option, which works much in the same way as when dimensions are added to sketches. Dimensions that you place in the drawing in this way are called driven, or reference, dimensions. In drafting lingo, reference dimensions are usually shown with parentheses around them. In SolidWorks, reference dimensions are simply driven rather than driving dimensions. To find the setting that controls the parentheses around reference dimensions, choose Tools⇒Options⇒Document Properties⇒Dimensions⇒Add Parentheses By Default.
Rapid Dimension
Rapid Dimension offers a manipulator wheel that shows the possible locations of a dimension you are trying to place. Rapid Dimension works for dimensions inside drawing views, not on dimensions on the sheet. It enables you to choose from either two or four options, and you can move between the options with the Tab key, making your selection with the Spacebar. You can also left-click on the manipulator to select an option The Rapid Dimension manipulator wheel is shown in Figure 17.3 in the placement of diameter and linear dimensions.
The tool does have some limitations, however. It does not seem to be capable of handling combined aligned dimensions and horizontal and vertical dimensions. For example, if you dimension an angled line, Rapid Dimension would only allow a dimension that is aligned to the angled line. If you dimension between the diagonal corners of a rectangle, it would not allow you to place the diagonal dimension, only the horizontal and vertical dims.
You can disable the Rapid Dimension manipulator and control some of the other dimensioning assistance tools in the Dimension PropertyManager. This might lead to some confusion, because it seems that there are three separate Dimension PropertyManagers. The one I am talking about here is the PropertyManager that appears when the Dimension tool is active in the drawing. You see a different PropertyManager when the Dimension tool is active in the part, and another one when you select an existing dimension on the drawing.
FIGURE 17.3
Placing dimensions with the Rapid Dimension manipulator wheel
Figure 17.4 shows the Dimension PropertyManager that gives you some control over automatic dimension tools (on the right).
FIGURE 17.4
The Dimension PropertyManager for choosing DimXpert or Reference dimensions
Reference dimensions and the DimXpert
You can apply reference dimensions to the 3D model or to the drawing. In this chapter, I talk mainly about adding them to the 2D drawing, but I do want to take a moment to talk about how reference dimensions in the model relate to the DimXpert functionality, which you will find later in this chapter.
Reference dimensions on the solid model
By default, when you go to add new reference dimensions to a solid model, you may see some error messages you aren't accustomed to seeing and some odd toolbars. If you are not expecting it, the DimXpert can interfere with reference dimension functionality.
When you activate the Smart Dimension tool in the part environment, a PropertyManager appears, giving you the option to use dimensions to drive the DimXpert (the default) or use it to place reference dimensions. Figure 17.4 shows this Smart Dimension PropertyManager for parts on the left and for drawings on the right.
Reference dimensions on the drawing
I've already made the case for why I think it is better to use reference dimensions on the drawing than model dimensions. This is opinion, of course, and I realize that for many simple parts, you actually can model them the way you would detail them, so the model items make more sense in that case. Many respectable power users use model items on drawings. I mostly model complex plastic parts, which are often only annotated with a handful of critical inspection dimensions that you can measure with available instruments.
Using the DimXpert