Page 97 - Mastering SolidWorks

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66 CHAPTER 3 Working With SketcheS and reference geometry

Angle: This setting enables you to specify an angle and drag a line at this angle. Again, I can
find no compelling reason to use this tool.
Infinite Length: SolidWorks parts have a working space limited to 1000 meters on a side,
centered on the origin. Infinite lines extend well beyond this, although you cannot draw or
dimension a regular line outside of this box. This feature would be most useful if you are
working with parts with vastly divergent scales of features (some very large, some
very small).

TIP the add dimensions option exists in several sketch-entity Propertymanagers and adds Smart
dimensions to newly sketched entities. the option appears in the sketch-entity Propertymanager
only if the setting at tools ➢ options ➢ Sketch ➢ enable on-Screen numeric input on entity
creation is selected.

the on-Screen numeric input option is not the same as the input dimension Value function; in
fact, it overrides that option. you cannot input dimension values when using the add dimensions in
conjunction with click-and-drag sketching. it appears to be intended for click+click sketching only, so
that you can enter values between clicks.
When you select the Corner Rectangle tool, you can create a rectangle by clicking one corner
and dragging to the diagonal corner. This action creates four lines with Horizontal and Vertical
sketch relations, as appropriate. The Corner Rectangle is also available as a flyout icon with a
Corner Rectangle, Center Rectangle, 3 Point Corner Rectangle (rectangle at an angle), 3 Point
Center Rectangle, and Parallelogram. Figure 3.4 shows the flyout and flyout icons, as well as the
PropertyManager for the Rectangle, which also enables you to switch types of rectangles easily.
Remember that the shortcut shown on the right cycles through all of the rectangle options in the
PropertyManager.
If you have activated any of the items under the Rectangle flyout, you can press the A key
to cycle through the rest of the items. If you have already started sketching the rectangle but
haven’t yet finished, pressing the A key will cancel out of the current rectangle and cycle to
the next type. This may be faster than actually using the flyout; just click the first icon and
cycle to the one you want. The cursor icon changes to show which type of rectangle it will
presently sketch.
Notice the Add Dimensions check box in the PropertyManager. Selecting this box while
creating a rectangle causes the software to add dimensions aligned with the sides of the rectan-
gle. This option is also available for lines, arcs, and circles.
Note that if you use this option in conjunction with the Enable On-Screen Numeric Input On
Entity Creation setting, found at Tools ➢ Options ➢ Sketch, it makes creating sketch entities to the
correct size immediately much easier.
The Parallelogram tool is used to draw a parallelogram (adjacent sides are not perpendicular,
and opposite sides are parallel). Click one corner of the parallelogram, and then click the
second and third corners. It works like the 3 Point Rectangle except that adjacent sides are not
perpendicular.