Part V: Creating Drawings
- Depending on your options settings, you may immediately be prompted to place a
balloon that contains the new revision level. You can place balloons with or without
leaders. The balloons are meant to indicate areas of the drawing that are affected by the
revision. Press Esc when you are finished placing the balloons.
Note
Be careful when using balloons on assembly drawings or other drawings that already have balloons on them for
other purposes. It may be a good idea to use a distinctively shaped balloon for Revision Tables. n
- To add text to the Description field, simply click in the field and start typing. The
text automatically wraps to fit the box. - Practice by adding a couple of revisions, balloons, and descriptions.
- After you have added a couple of revisions, check the custom properties by choos-
ing File ➪ Properties ➪ Custom. Notice that a revision property has been added, and the
latest revision is represented by the value of the custom property.
Note
The number of revisions kept in the Revision Table is no longer an option as it was in previous releases, but in
its place you can now control how Revision Tables interact with multiple sheets. n
- You can add columns in the same way that they were added to the BOM. You can
merge and unmerge cells, and link properties to cells. With the cursor over the last col-
umn (Approved), RMB+click and choose Insert ➪ Column Left. In the Column
Properties, select Custom, and from the Properties drop-down menu, select DrawnBy.
If DrawnBy is not a property in this template, create it through the interface at
File ➪ Properties. Accept the changes by clicking the green check mark icon. - Save the template by right-clicking anywhere in the Revision Table and choosing
Save As ➪ Rev Table Templates. Then save it to the appropriate location outside the
SolidWorks installation directory.
Summary
SolidWorks enables you to work with both tables that are highly specialized for particular uses,
and General Tables, which are available for any type of tabulated data. The most frequently used
types are BOMs, Hole Tables, and Revision Tables. Design Tables that drive part and assembly
configurations can also be placed on a 2D drawing, but in these cases, some formatting is usually
necessary to make the Design Table presentable and the information on it easy to read.Other types of tables, such as Gauge Tables and Bend Tables, and Weldment Cut Lists are special-
ized for sheet metal and weldment parts, respectively, and are discussed in chapters that cover
those topics.