SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Chapter 2: Navigating the SolidWorks Interface

FIGURE 2.11

Context toolbar settings

The purpose of the context toolbars is to save space by condensing some commands into a toolbar

without text instead of a menu with icons and text. The left- and right-click toolbars are the same,

but they work differently. The left-click context toolbar fades as you move the cursor away from it

and becomes darker as you move the cursor toward it. Once it fades past a certain point, you can-

not get it back, except if you have Ctrl+selected multiple entities. The context toolbar does not

appear until you release the Ctrl key. To get a context menu to show up again after it has faded,

you can just move the cursor back to approximately where the toolbar would have been and press

Ctrl again. This works only for multiple selection menus where Ctrl was used to multi-select. The

functionality is probably a bug, or unintentional in any case, or else it would also work somehow

for single selections.

Shortcut “S” toolbar

The Shortcut toolbar is also known as the “S” toolbar because by default you access it by pressing

the S key. You can customize this toolbar for each document type and another for sketches, so it can

have different content for sketches, parts, assemblies, and drawings. To customize the “S” toolbar,

right-click it when it is active and click Customize from the RMB menu, as shown in Figure 2.12.

FIGURE 2.12

Right-click on the Shortcut “S” toolbar to customize it

Many people claim to have customized the “S” toolbar to such an extent that they have been able

to remove the CommandManager and all other toolbars from their interface. This is possibly true if

you use a limited number of sketch entities, sketch relations, and feature types, or make extensive

use of flyouts on the “S” toolbar. However, if you work with a wide range of tools (say, surfacing,