SolidWorks® 2007 Bible

Appendix C. Finding Help

IN THIS APPENDIX

• SolidWorks Help

• SolidWorks Web site

• User groups

• Online forums

• Non-commercial Web sites

SolidWorks software has been around for over ten years now. In that time, the resources available to users seeking help have increased dramatically. The available help takes many forms, from personal Web sites with information obtained from individual experience, to commercial on-line magazines or forums with advanced Flash interfaces. In this appendix, I have assembled some of the more useful 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 is also called the Online Users Guide. It contains most of the information that you need to find out how a function works. There are topics for which searchability is poor, or when topics do not appear under expected headings, 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 looking up the significance of the Engage Belt option in the Belt/Chain sketch function described in Chapter 4, SolidWorks Help merely states, "Engage belt. Clear to disengage the belt mechanism," which is not at all helpful to the user. It turns out that "Engage belt" means that when one pulley turns, all of the pulleys should turn as if they ...