SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Chapter 2: Navigating the SolidWorks Interface

amount of space available for a toolbar on the same row as a CommandManager, enter Customize

CommandManager mode by right-clicking a tab and selecting Customize CommandManager. Then

cycle through the available tabs, looking to see which one has the most icons. Remove icons from

the tab with the most. This makes more room for toolbars to the right of the CommandManager.

Tabs and document types

SolidWorks remembers which tabs to show on a per document type basis. This means that when

you are working on a part document, you will have one set of tabs. When you switch to an assem-

bly document, you will see a different set of tabs. The same goes for drawings. Notice that in

Figure 2.3, in the right mouse button (RMB) menu, the options Copy Tab to Assemblies and Copy

Tab to Drawings appear. These options make it easier to set up customizations that apply for all

document types.

Changing the appearance of the CommandManager

For an element of the interface that is supposed to save space, the default settings for the

CommandManager sure take up a lot of it! When many users see the CommandManager for the

first time, they ask how to deselect the text.

You can deselect the text in one of two ways. The easiest way is to right-click in the

CommandManager and deselect the Use Large Buttons with Text option, as shown in Figure 2.5.

FIGURE 2.5

Adding or removing text from the CommandManager buttons

Another way to remove text from the CommandManager is to remove it only from selected icons.

To do this, first enter the customize mode by choosing Tools ➪ Customize or right-click a

CommandManager tab and select Customize CommandManager, and then right-click a button in

the CommandManager and change the Show Text setting, as shown in Figure 2.6. The Show Text

option is only available when Use large buttons with text is enabled.

Notice also that the text by default goes to the right side of the icon, but using the RMB menu, you

can put the text beneath the icon. With these options and some patience to go through the entire

interface, you can almost totally customize the appearance and function of your

CommandManager ..........................................................................................