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Introduction
My point of view while writing this book has been that of someone who is actually using the soft-
ware, not of someone trying to sell ideas, nor of someone trying to make the software look good,
or even that of an academic trying to make a beautiful argument. I try to approach the software
objectively as a tool, recognizing that complex tools are good at some things and not so good at
others. Both kinds of information (good and not-so-good) are useful to the reader. Pointing out
negatives in this context should not be construed as criticizing the SolidWorks software, but rather
as preparing the reader for real-world use of the software. Any tool this complex is going to have
imperfections. Hopefully some of my enthusiasm for the software also shows through and is to
some extent contagious.Terminology
An important concept referred to frequently in SolidWorks is design intent. As a practical matter,
I use the phrase design for change to further distinguish design intent from other design goals.The reader needs to be familiar with some special terminology before continuing. In many cases,
I use a SolidWorks vernacular or slang when the official terminology is either not descriptive
enough or, as is sometimes the case, has multiple meanings. For example, the word shortcut has
multiple meanings in the SolidWorks interface. It is used to describe right mouse button menus as
well as hotkeys. As a result, I have chosen not to use the word shortcut and instead substitute the
words RMB and hotkey.I frequently use RMB to refer to right mouse button menus, or other data that you access by click-
ing the right mouse button on an item. The word tree refers to the list of features in the
FeatureManager.Differences are frequently found between the names of features on toolbars and the names in the
tooltips, menus or PropertyManager titles. In these cases, the differences are usually minor, and
either name may be used.Most functions in SolidWorks can work with either the object-action or the action-object scenar-
ios. These are also called pre-select and select, respectively. The Fillet feature shows no difference
between using pre-selection and selection, although for some fillet options such as face fillet, pre-
select is not enabled. Most features allow pre-selection, and some functions, such as inserting a
design table, require pre-selection. Although you cannot identify a single rule that covers all situa-
tions, most functions accept both.Frequently in this book, I have suggested enhancement requests that the reader may want to make.
This is because SolidWorks development is driven to a large extent by customer requests, and if a
large number of users converge on a few issues, then those issues are more likely to be fixed or
changed. Again, the enhancement request suggestions are not made to criticize the software, but to
make it better. I hope that several of you will join me in submitting enhancement requests.