Chapter 17: Using Hole Wizard and Toolbox
The advantage of a library is that it enables you to simply plug in the parts to make them work. All
Toolbox really needs to do for users is provide a library of parts. Anything more than that is only
beneficial if it offers some improvement over a simple library of existing parts without introducing
any risks or setbacks.How Toolbox works
No one asks how a staircase works, because it does not work; it simply exists and people use it. An
escalator, however, is a different issue. With an escalator, there is a complex installation, and then
to use it, you have to know how to get on and get off and what to do if it stops working. The end
results of using the staircase and using the escalator are the same (you start at the bottom and
arrive at the top), but the complex automation is supposed to save you some effort.That is one way you can look at Toolbox. The end product is supposed to be the same as using a
static library of parts, but there is some mechanism behind the scenes that has to be set up and
maintained properly in order for it to work in the way you expect. Most SolidWorks books, tutori-
als, or training materials are going to ask you to accept what happens inside Toolbox as a “black
box” and to just assume that the end results are exactly what you need and intend. Here, I supply
you with information about how it works, so you can decide how useful it will be for you.The database
Toolbox has three major components:l (^) Default parts of one size, with named dimensions and features
l A database containing all size information for all parts and Hole Wizard holes
l (^) A software application with settings and an interface
When Toolbox is installed, it starts as a set of SolidWorks parts with named features and dimen-
sions, some suppressed features (depending on settings), some dlls (executable programs), and a
database. The parts have a single Default configuration, which is typically one of the size extremi-
ties, either the largest or smallest. The database starts out about 87MB and includes all the size
information for all the parts, as well as all the standards information.
If you create a custom standard in Toolbox, it actually replicates a section of the database. By doing
this, the database file can easily double in size.
Later, you will see that a network installation of Toolbox requires the database to be on the net-
work, and every time you create a new fastener, it has to open the database. As a result, simply
placing a screw in an assembly can mean that even if your assembly is located on your local hard
drive, you still have to open a very large database file across the network. The first rule about per-
formance with SolidWorks is to work locally rather than across a network.
By default, the database is located at C:\Solidworks Data\lang\English. You can open this
file with Microsoft Access or Excel.