Part II: Building Intelligence into Your Parts
You can use several methods to put the model in this rolled-back state:l Dragging the Rollback bar with the cursor.l (^) Right mouse button (RMB) clicking and selecting one of the Rollback options.
l Editing a feature other than the last one in the design tree. (SolidWorks rolls back the
model automatically.)
l Choose Tools ➪ Options ➪ FeatureManager ➪ Arrow key navigation to control the
Rollback bar with the arrow keys.
l Saving the model while editing a feature or sketch, and then exiting the model. When the
part is opened again, it is rolled back to the location of the sketch that was being edited.
l Pressing Esc during a long model rebuild. This method is supposed to roll you back to the
last feature that was rebuilt when you pressed Esc; however, in practice, I have rarely seen
it do this, and it usually rebuilds the entire model anyway.
Using the Rollback bar
The Rollback bar, which typically appears at the bottom of the FeatureManager in SolidWorks part
documents, enables you to put the part into almost any state in the model history. This is not the
same as the Undo command, but is the equivalent of going back in time to change your actions,
and then replaying everything that you did after that point. Figure 11.1 shows the Rollback bar in
use. Notice how the cursor changes into a hand icon when you move it over the bar.
FIGURE 11.1
Using the Rollback bar