SolidWorks 2010 Bible

APPENDIX

Finding Help

IN THIS APPENDIX

Getting SolidWorks Help

Accessing information on

SolidWorks Web sites

Benefitting from user groups

Getting support from online

forums

Using non-commercial Web

sites

S

olidWorks software has been around for more than 15 years now. In
that time, the resources available to users seeking help have increased
dramatically. These resources take many forms, from personal Web
sites with information from individual experience to commercial online mag-
azines or forums with advanced Flash interfaces. In this appendix, I have
assembled some of the more worthy sources of quality information.

It is not the goal of this book to endorse any commercial sites or services, but
some of the listed resources are commercial in nature, and may feature
advertisements, logins, or both.

SolidWorks Help

The SolidWorks Help file contains most of the information you need to

research how functions work. There are topics for which searchability is

poor, or that do not appear under expected names, but this is the exception

rather than the norm. It is more common to find that some features are

poorly documented or not documented at all. For example, when you look

up the significance of the Engage Belt option in the Belt/Chain sketch func-

tion described in Chapter 4, SolidWorks Help says “Engage belt. Clear to

disengage the belt mechanism,” which is incredibly obscure?

However, some functions, such as sheet metal bend allowances and the ref-

erenced documents search routine, are extraordinarily well documented.

Isolated topics are surprisingly well documented.

SolidWorks Help is available in traditional Help files on the computer, as

well as online. SolidWorks Web Help was created because it is easier for