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Using the 2D Command Line Emulator

This is a tool specifically for people who are coming to SolidWorks from AutoCAD. As the name suggests, it adds a command line to the bottom of the SolidWorks window that works like the AutoCAD command line in most respects. The available commands are somewhat limited compared to those that are available in AutoCAD. This tool only functions in the 2D sketch mode, on a drawing sheet, or in a drawing view; it does not work in a 3D sketch. The 2D Command Line Emulator is shown in Figure 2.34.

Available sketch tools in the 2D Command Line Emulator include Align, Arc, Array, 'Cal, Chamfer, Chprop, Circle, 'Color, Copy, DDcolor, Dim, Dist, Ellipse, Erase, Exit, Extrude, Fillet, 'Grid, Line, List, Massprop, Mirror, Move, Offset, 'Ortho, 'Osnap, 'Pan, Plot, Point, Polygon, Qsave, Rectangle, 'Redraw, 'Redrawall, Revolve, Rotate, Save, Saveas, 'Snap, Spline, Trim, U (undo), 'Units, 'View, and 'Zoom. You can use commands preceded by an apostrophe (') as transparent commands without exiting an active command. Notice that even the cursor changes to crosshairs.

FIGURE 2.34

The 2D Command Line Emulator in action

Best Practice

The best way to learn a new software package is to embrace the new way, not to cling to the old way. Although AutoCAD users may find the 2D Command Line Emulator more comfortable to work with, you will not achieve the same results as you will with the SolidWorks default-sketching mode. For example, the resulting sketch entities created using the 2D Command Line Emulator are not constrained in any way, and the endpoints do not even merge. You can deselect the 2D Command Line Emulator by going to Tools⇒Add-ins.

Note

The 2D Command Line Emulator is not available on 64-bit versions of SolidWorks.

Making the Interface Work for You

As engineers and designers, we all like to tinker with things to optimize efficiency and to apply our personal stamp. When the SolidWorks software is installed, the interface is functional, but not optimal. Earlier in this chapter, I discussed managing and customizing toolbars and menus. In the remainder of this chapter, I will focus more on customizing the interface and suggest some strategies that you might use to help customize your work environment.

Customizing colors

You need to be aware of a few things before you change the standard colors in the SolidWorks interface. The first is that SolidWorks does not automatically alter text color to contrast with your background. As a result, if you set the background to black, and the text is black, you won't be able to see the text. This may seem obvious to some people, but AutoCAD automatically changes text color to contrast with the viewport background, and so AutoCAD users may take this functionality for granted.

Exploring default selection colors

All the interface colors are controlled in the Systems Options Colors dialog box. You can access the dialog box by choosing Tools⇒Options⇒Colors. The selection color in particular is set at Selected Item 1, as shown in Figure 2.35.

FIGURE 2.35

Changing interface colors

Notice that you can set a color scheme. I recommend that if you want to change the colors used in the interface, you save the settings as a color scheme so that the scheme can be re-created easily later or copied to another computer. Color schemes are stored in the Windows registry, not as separate files. To transfer color settings to another computer, you will need to either use the Copy Settings Wizard or manually copy data from the Windows registry.

Before making changes, you might consider saving your initial settings as a separate scheme so you can get back to them if you need to.

Caution

Making changes to the Windows registry can adversely affect software installation and hardware performance. You should not attempt changes to the registry unless