Part VII: Working with Specialized Functionality
FIGURE 30.1SolidWorks 2010 has a new Direct Editing tab on the CommandManager.
Additional direct edit tools exist in SolidWorks that should possibly be added to the Direct Edit tab:l (^) Flex
l Deform
l (^) Freeform
Combining these tools with some of the new Instant 3D functionality gives direct editing tools in
SolidWorks many of the advantages of the direct edit–only CAD software. Before a discussion of
direct editing will make sense, you need to know a little bit about imported geometry.
Understanding the Basics of Imported
Geometry
Geometry that is transferred between CAD packages is called imported geometry. The transfer usu-
ally happens through IGES (Integrated Geometry Exchange Standard; pronounced eye-jess), STEP
(Standard for the Exchange of Product), Parasolid, or ACIS (named for the initials of three people
from one company who created the standard: Alan, Charles, Ian, and Spatial) formats. SolidWorks
also reads some native CAD data directly. For example, SolidWorks can read data directly from
versions of Pro/ENGINEER, Unigraphics, Inventor, Solid Edge, CADKEY, and Rhino, as Figure 30.2
shows. In almost all cases, features are not transferred between CAD packages. The geometry that
you wind up with is called “dumb” geometry because the smart parametrics and design intent that
the model had in its parent software is no longer there.
You can bring in imported data in one of two ways. The most common way is to use the Open dia-
log box and switch the Files Of Type to an imported file format. The other way is to use the
Imported Geometry feature by choosing Insert ➪ Features ➪ Imported Geometry from the menus.
The Open dialog box creates a new part with the imported feature at the top of the
FeatureManager, as shown in Figure 30.3. Using the Imported Geometry feature enables you to
insert imported geometry anywhere you like within the FeatureManager, even after other features
have been added.