Part VIII: Appendixes
SolidWorks to keep it up to date. You can access the Web Help by turning on the Use SolidWorks
Web Help option in the Help menu in SolidWorks or at http://help.solidworks.com.
SolidWorks Web Help
The SolidWorks Web Help is new in SolidWorks 2010. Web Help was introduced to help
SolidWorks keep the Help files updated without having to send out help updates in the service
packs. It also enables the use of other search tools and links to online data sources to make finding
help that much easier.
You can access SolidWorks Web Help through the Help ➪ SolidWorks Help menu selection as
usual, but you need to make sure that the Use SolidWorks Web Help option also in the Help menu
is activated. The following three sections only pertain to the traditional (non-Web) Help.
Contents
SolidWorks terminology has been a sticking point at times in the writing of this book because
terms are either unclear or overlap. Still, it is difficult for two people to talk about the software if
they are not using the same terminology. The Glossary, found at the bottom of the Contents list, is
one of the most useful and yet most underused portions of the Help files. Often when a new user
asks me a question, it can be impossible to discern what the user is talking about because he is not
familiar with the SolidWorks terminology, is substituting AutoCAD or Inventor terminology, or is
assuming all modeling terminology is universal. As dull as it may be, this Glossary should be
required reading for all new users. Simply understanding the language being used by the training
materials, Help files, and other users can give you a big hea start when it comes to learning the
software. Look through it. I promise you’ll learn something.
Index
Starting in SolidWorks 2010, SolidWorks has removed the Index from the regular Help, and of
course, it does not exist in the Web help either. An index is difficult to create, and this difficulty
was the reason SolidWorks gave for not including it in the new version.
Search
The Search function is for when you are not exactly sure of what you are looking for. For example,
you know there is a feature that has a funny name that uses stripes to analyze curvature across
edges, but you cannot remember its name. Begin your search with the words stripes and curvature.
If you use curvature, the Search function returns about 60 possibilities. The term you are looking
for is Zebra Stripes, but you may not find it by scanning such a long list. If you search using the
word stripe, Zebra Stripes appears at the top of the list.
The biggest complaint you may have about the Search function in Help is that it will sometimes
return too many options, and the connection between the word you searched on and the topic title
shown in the list is not immediately clear. Still, too much information is better than not enough.
