Part II: Building Intelligence into Your Parts
FIGURE 9.1The Equations interface
Using the Equations interface, you can turn off equations temporarily by deselecting the Active
check box in front of the equation. Equations can also be deactivated by a design table. I will
discuss design tables in more detail in Chapter 10, which discusses configurations.Best Practice
Although I do not cover configurations until Chapter 10, I will mention part of the relationship between
equations and configurations here. Equations and configurations (particularly those that are driven by a design
table) should probably not be mixed. This is not because they do not work together, but more for the sake of
organization. When controlling dimensions, it can become confusing if the changes are being driven from
multiple sources. In addition, there is no reason not to bring your equations into Excel rather than using the
comparatively limited equation functionality offered by SolidWorks. Of course, every user will have his or her
own reasons for working one way or another, and this is really just a question of personal preference. n
Creating equations
Equations are easy to create and useful for many purposes. A common situation where you would
use an equation is to space a pattern of holes evenly along an edge, including the gap on both
ends, where the gap at the ends is half of the regular spacing. Before you write an equation, you
need to take care of a few organizational details.Naming dimensions .......................................................................................
It is not necessary to name every entity in every SolidWorks document, but you should get in
the habit of naming important features, sketches, and even dimensions. Dimensions become
particularly important when you use them in equations, configurations, and design tables. Under
most circumstances, you do not use or even see dimension names, but with equations, you do.