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If the SolidWorks window is not wide enough for the toolbar to fit entirely in the screen, double arrows like those shown in Figure 2.15 appear at the end of the truncated toolbar. When you click the double arrows, a flyout toolbar appears with the missing icons, as shown in Figure 2.16.

FIGURE 2.14

Dotted bars enable you to move toolbars.

FIGURE 2.15

A truncated toolbar showing double arrows

FIGURE 2.16

You can display all of a truncated toolbar by clicking the double arrows.

Using flyout toolbars

You can use any toolbar as a flyout toolbar. Figure 2.17 shows the list of all flyout toolbars, which is the same as the list of all toolbars. Flyout toolbars are a nice space-saving feature for tools that you use infrequently, but frequently enough to want to avoid going through the menus. To use a toolbar as a flyout, select it from the Flyout toolbars list and drag it onto an existing toolbar. It displays with an arrow to the right. Clicking the arrow causes all the tools to scroll out temporarily until you click a toolbar icon or anything else.

To add icons to a flyout toolbar, temporarily show the regular toolbar that corresponds to the flyout toolbar and add icons to the regular toolbar. When you are done adding or removing icons, turn off the regular toolbar; the changes are applied to the flyout.

FIGURE 2.17

The Flyout toolbars are on the Commands tab in the Customize dialog box.

Tip

If you want to create a separate toolbar, you can commandeer an existing one for your own purposes. For example, because I do not use the Tools toolbar, I have removed all the regular icons from it and replaced them with relevant flyout toolbars, which I do use extensively. This enables me to consolidate space and not have unused icons on my toolbars. Alternatively, creating a custom CommandManager tab and putting on it what you like is much easier.

Working in Full Screen mode

Full Screen mode enables you to toggle quickly to the display so that only the graphics window and the Task pane appear; the FeatureManager, menus, toolbars, and status bar are all hidden. Alternatively, you can hide just the FeatureManager or the toolbars.

In Full Screen mode, you can still access the menus by clicking the cursor along the top border of the window, as shown in Figure 2.18.

• To toggle to Full Screen mode, press the F11 key.

• To toggle the toolbar display, press the F10 key (see Figure 2.18).

• To toggle the FeatureManager display, press the F9 key.

Customizing your workflow

When you first install and run the SolidWorks software, the SolidWorks Welcome screen shown in Figure 2.19 offers you the option to customize the interface using one of three preset option packages. Special menu and toolbar settings are made for Consumer product design, Machine design, or Mold design. After the software is initially installed, you only see this screen once, but you can change all the options in other places, including the Options tab in the Customize dialog box.

FIGURE 2.18

The SolidWorks window with all toolbars hidden using the F10 key

FIGURE 2.19

The Welcome to SolidWorks screen

The three-workflow customizations affect the interface as follows:

• Consumer product design adds the Surfaces toolbar to the CommandManager.

• Machine design adds Sheet Metal and Weldments toolbars to the CommandManager.

• Mold design adds Surfaces and Mold Tools toolbars to the CommandManager.

Similar changes are made to the menus to hide or show menu selections as appropriate. You can find more information about hiding and showing menu items later in this chapter.

If you want to select a different option after the initial setup, choose Tools⇒Customize and click the Options tab, where you can specify a different choice. Figure 2.20 shows the Options tab of the Customize dialog box.

FIGURE 2.20

The Options tab of the Customize dialog box, where you can select a different workflow customization

Controlling menus

Everyone has his own